Tuesday, July 13, 2004
We'll Leave The Light On For Ya!
The push to make the house more salable continues, as I go through the cellar. But before I do, I check Lileks, as he is doing some cleaning too, and uncovered some "valuable" comic books. Like James, I am not happy about discarding books, as he says, "it feels like you are shaving your IQ." But then there are records (12" discs of plastic with sound on them, kind of a prehistoric compact disc,) parts (to computers, phones, electrical appliances, R2D2,) clothes (so old that Salvation Army doesn't want them,) Christmas decorations (why did I buy new lights every year? And not throw away the old ones?)
Part of this project was to finish installing permanent lights in the cellar, the part behind the locked door (to keep four-year-olds away from the Christmas lights.) I cleaned out much of this area and put the contents into the garage, to make it look more open for the potential buyers. But, a coil of Romex tucked under some books told a tale of a project that needed to be finished.
So, I begin, and in a few hours, three overhead lamp sockets, the attendant wiring and a brand-new switch are ready. I fire up the circuit breaker, turn off the work lamp, and in the darkness, flick the switch.
Click.
Ok, click again. (think about this, if it didn't work the first time, why would I click it again? It's kind of like putting the mail in the mailbox slot, and opening it again to be sure it went down into the box. But I digress.)
So, I turn on the work light, take out the voltage tester, and begin to troubleshoot the wiring I just did. Off with the circuit breaker, on with the circuit breaker, voltage here, voltage there, voltage NOT here. Aha! It comes in here, around over there and out here. But not into the light. I find that a wire nut has not included the wire to the light, so I fix that. Back to the switch, turn the work light off and...
Click.
One light lit. There are three lights.
The circuit breaker goes off and I take the second light apart. It too, has a loose wire. Fix that, and put everything back, turn on the circuit breaker, and flick the switch.
Click. Glorious light. Well, two out of three.
I move over to the third light, loosen the light bulb, tighten it back in, and pull the chain. Click. The light goes on.
(insert sound effects="Hallalujah Chorus")
By this time, I am exhausted, full of ceiling pieces and 80 years of dirt, and I want to take a shower and lie down.
Next: the train table. It's a rainy day, should be a piece of cake. Where's the Saws-All?
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Part of this project was to finish installing permanent lights in the cellar, the part behind the locked door (to keep four-year-olds away from the Christmas lights.) I cleaned out much of this area and put the contents into the garage, to make it look more open for the potential buyers. But, a coil of Romex tucked under some books told a tale of a project that needed to be finished.
So, I begin, and in a few hours, three overhead lamp sockets, the attendant wiring and a brand-new switch are ready. I fire up the circuit breaker, turn off the work lamp, and in the darkness, flick the switch.
Click.
Ok, click again. (think about this, if it didn't work the first time, why would I click it again? It's kind of like putting the mail in the mailbox slot, and opening it again to be sure it went down into the box. But I digress.)
So, I turn on the work light, take out the voltage tester, and begin to troubleshoot the wiring I just did. Off with the circuit breaker, on with the circuit breaker, voltage here, voltage there, voltage NOT here. Aha! It comes in here, around over there and out here. But not into the light. I find that a wire nut has not included the wire to the light, so I fix that. Back to the switch, turn the work light off and...
Click.
One light lit. There are three lights.
The circuit breaker goes off and I take the second light apart. It too, has a loose wire. Fix that, and put everything back, turn on the circuit breaker, and flick the switch.
Click. Glorious light. Well, two out of three.
I move over to the third light, loosen the light bulb, tighten it back in, and pull the chain. Click. The light goes on.
(insert sound effects="Hallalujah Chorus")
By this time, I am exhausted, full of ceiling pieces and 80 years of dirt, and I want to take a shower and lie down.
Next: the train table. It's a rainy day, should be a piece of cake. Where's the Saws-All?
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