Oct 25, 2007

Nothing ever comes easy

Let's see...where were we? Oh yeah, the hot water heater. Yes! We bought the heater. And on Tuesday, the man came and installed it. However, he did NOT hook it up electrically. He said an electrician would have to do that, and he didn't bring one with him. How inconvenient, but since we had been without hot water only for ALL FRICKIN WINTER, we probably could wait till whenever the electrician came. But first we'd have to get an engineering consultation, then call the electrician, but he'd have to look first, then come back at a second appointment to install the parts and connect the wires. And, of course, he wouldn't be responsible if he did it wrong.

WHAT??? That was a crock of bull.

This morning, I sent O to the hardware store for the breaker and gathered a few tools. I opened the switch box and took off the face plate. Shutting off the main power to the apartment, I removed the wires to the hot water heater from their little slot and stripped the ends of them. O arrived with the breaker and I connected the wires in the same way that the others were connected...blue on the left, red on the right. Tightened the connectors down, snapped the breaker into place, and yup - time for the "smoke check"! (That's aircraft electrician lingo for "see if you did it right." Yes, I was an aircraft mechanic and electrician in my former life.) And the little red indicator light came on and the water began to heat. We NOW have hot water. Did I mention that O momentarily stepped out of the room before I flipped the breaker on? Heh...men. Oh, ye of little faith. No guts, no glory, I always say.

And, I finished a vest done in a triple curve stitch. The yarn is in shades of pink and old rose. I took several photos of Celeste modeling it and a few of it spread in the traditional way on the bed, but then the batteries in the camera went out and I need to replace them before I can post them.

I am doing one more triple curve vest in shades of blue, and this time a size larger and longer, because I want one for myself. It's about a third of the way done.

AND...I painted the laundry room. No more Celeste finger paintings on the walls and the window sills. It is painted in satin finish, washable paint - salmon color. I can wipe off the dirt without the paint coming off too. I still want to decorate the walls with stencil or border, but there are neither of those items to be found in my part of town. So I'll go to Hobby Lobby when I get back and check out the stencils and stenciling materials. And to Walmart to look at borders...maybe I'll find something that suits me, or maybe I'll get the stuff to make my own. I'm thinking of a sun stencil on the wall, done in metallic gold. Against a salmon background? Ooooo, pretty!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is very brave of you! I wouldn't dare touch electrics and neither would the farmer. Problem is it takes forever to get tradesmen in this part of the world so we too, go without.

Crystal xx

Pondside said...

When you want the hard stuff done.....call a woman!! Good for you for connecting the heater - you will really enjoy that hot water after such a long wait!!
I thought you were out of projects, and here we find you're knee-deep in vests!!

Wooly Works said...

Most excellent! I see you're the product of good upbringing and a "can do" spirit. I wonder where you got all that?

Marilee Rockley said...

Wow! Congratulations on getting the electricity hooked up correctly without getting "fried". I would never have the guts to mess with electricity.

Kathleen said...

Yeah, I was feeling pretty smart. I'm glad I did it right and didn't get fried. I'm glad it turned out right. The truth is, though, I closed my eyes when I through the breaker on.