Power Failure

With the rain falling again today, I will continue the renovation work inside. One of those tasks that I have avoided successfully is the replacement and rewiring of the lighting in the main living area. As a retired home builder, the obvious question might be, "Why are you so reluctant to do this?" The long answer is that every home builder has strengths and weaknesses. Though I feel I have strengths, my nemesis is electricity. Not that I don't understand how it all fits together, in most cases, I've just carried some kind of terror at getting electrocuted my entire life. I'm sure the seeds of this are psychological imprints from my upbringing. My dearly departed father, bless his soul, did not know which end of a screwdriver was the business end. He was terrified of electricity and somehow this gestated in my consciousness during my impressionable years.

Too, our house has been "redone" before, some years ago. The person or persons that did it, without professional help, created what I would call a plethora of spider-web wiring that is nothing short of ridiculous. I have seriously thought of finding them and giving them a piece of my mind - or a well-attended public flogging.

On several occasions, I have employed a friend who is an electrician to assist me in avoiding my wife and me dying in an electrical fire. I've also spent a fair amount of effort over the past 6 months deleting wiring that ends up, uncapped, in the middle of the attic; sealing junction boxes that hold live wires but have no cover; fixing switches that activate, well, nothing, and replacing other switches that snap, crackle and pop when turning something on. I trust that by now, I have eliminated most of the "hot spots" in our home's wiring. Today, however, the hunt must continue. (See how much time I've wasted already?)

I could go on and on about my delightful discoveries but the point, and I'm sure I have one, is that regardless of my knowledge level, I still fear electricity. I've been "bitten" before, many times, but knowing that it takes a mere .7 amps to stop the heart in the correct location, it gives one pause. In my case, pause is translated to incredible periods of procrastination. Rained in today, I cannot reasonably explain not doing my rewiring. It must be done, sheetrock patched and finished, before I can paint the interior. Don't you just hate logic?

I suppose the main reason I'm telling this story is that my wife will be out of the house today and if you don't hear from me by noon, please call Fire & Rescue.