electrical
im really going to try to make this the last installment and get caught up because we're really just oh so close anyway that this might as well be a normal update [instead of a catch-up, hence changing roof to remodeling if you didnt already notice.]
electrical.
heh, well... this has proven to be a fun one. i think the last i mentioned electrical was when i was installing light fixtures, although i cant remember for sure. since then we've had more... lets say "fun" with the electrical in the house.
[kitchen]
it all started in the kitchen when we first moved into the house "permanently." as we were setting up the kitchen we tried plugging in the microwave to the outlet directly beneath the microwave cabinet only to discover that this particular outlet had no juice. well after a trip to the breaker box while karen stayed in the kitchen we discovered that resetting all the breakers did nothing to bring life back to this particular outlet. so plan b, extension cord to the nearest outlet that id have a little juice in it. im pretty sure you arent supposed to plug a microwave into an extension cord [although we did use a heavy duty orange outdoor cord that could handle a larger load, we're not dumb] and the microwave makes sure to let you know its unhappy by moaning and making the most pathetic sounds its capable of so that youre sure its going to give out on you at any moment. its kind of like when youre running out of gas and your car starts whimpering and having a pity party for itself. [damn electronics and their sulking!] so that was part one.
part two started on christmas day. mom-in-law had shipped us a really nice ceramic space heater as part of our christmas presents and it had arrived on christmas eve. well, while we were cooking and having a merry time on christmas day, we decided to plug that bad boy in and see if we could get the rooms we were in a little toastier as well. seeing as how karen was in the kitchen we thought that would be the optimum place for it [i was fine in the dining room near by] and plugged it in. well it kicked on with no problems and started warming up, but after about 5 minutes the circuit breaker tripped and the entire ground floor save the parlor lost power. [which alerted us to how poorly zoned in the breaker box our freaking house is... ugh! blow one and lose everything?!] well karen had just started up the microwave when it happened so she assumed that was the culprit [still pouting mind you] so i headed down to the breaker box and started throwing switched till everything came back and then up the stairs i went, back to my computer, and 5 minutes later... the exact same thing happened. damnit. back downstairs, start throwing switches, everything kicks on, back up stairs, 5 minutes later, you guessed it. this time i decided it had to be because of the heater and the microwave all on the same breaker, that little guy is pretty powerful. so i move the microwaves extension cord into the utility room around the corner this time, and we try again. and the same thing happens. at this point im getting frustrated so i move the heater into the dining room and we try it again, same thing. grrr... no more heater, sorry babe. additionally, ive decided to search the house until i find a shorter extension cord for the stupid microwave because its just getting weaker and weaker sounding [we had it on a 25 footer]. well eventually i found an 8 footer that we'd used at the first apartment for the fridge[dont ask] and the microwave seemed to like that one slightly better. [the longer the cord the more distance the power has to travel obviously].
[breaker box]
so the breaker box, as i mentioned is in the basement. i also mentioned that every time id go down id start throwing switches until everything came back to life. im sure you were all thinking that sounded pretty dumb of me, so let me explain. back at home in tx we had a breaker box and when youd trip one the breaker would flip to off and a little orange light would come on. this would alert you to the specific breaker that was tripped, enabling you to reset just that one and regain power. additionally, there is a handy little chart in the door of the box that lists the various zones and the corresponding breaker assignments. this is all pretty standard stuff in beaker boxes, hell in our systems 2 class back at a&m we even had to draw and plan one of these stupid things out, im fairly well associated with how they work. however...
in ciny, our break box trips and nothing changes within the box. none of the switches move to the on or off position, ever, they remain wherever you left them. the little orange lights, never come on, regardless of whether the breaker is tripped or not, they always remain off. and lastly, that handy little chart in the door of the box, is blank except for some chicken scratch on 3 of the lines that appears to say attic, kitchen and upper [all of which do not actually correspond to any of the named locations through our various trials, and keep in mind there are probably 20 something breakers in the box.] so really my only option is to start at the top and keep flipping until they all magically come back. i have figured out that number 14 is the furnace, and i believe is dedicated to it, but other than that, i havent taken the time to remember them. [mostly because im so aggravated and standing in the dark, that im not really in the mood to remember as i curse at the stupid thing.]
[attic]
which leads us to the most recent electrical problem we've encountered, the attic. for those of you that have been playing catch up or have fairly good memories, you might remember that since moving into the house karen and i have been residing in the attic space and primarily use the attic bathroom which has had the only working shower/tub [but not a working toilet - although in our defense we had bought a new toilet and even moved it all the way up into the attic and had it sitting just outside the bathroom door waiting for the fateful day it might be installed, but thats not this story...]. so given this information, i think its pretty safe to assume that the attic power outlets in and out of the bathroom + the bathroom lights are the primary electrical that we use on a daily basis. other than the kitchen theyre the top dogs. well i believe it was the day after new years and karen and i were getting ready for bed. she was brushing her teeth, i was taking out my contacts, i believe one of us had just gotten out of the shower[probably me, i bathe pretty frequently - although karen might have taken a bath, she likes to do that to unwind at the end of the evening sometimes as well] well out of the clear blue[black] the entire attic power shorts out. actually now that im remembering it all, karen was in the shower and i was brushing my teeth, but what we were doing was meaningless except to say neither of us were using the power other than the light in the bathroom. so grumpily... i trotted down to the basement[from the attic mind you] and reset every switch but the main power switch [ive never flipped that one, id really rather not - just seems like a bad idea...] and then back up to the attic. ef. nothing was on. i asked karen if theyd even flickered, and she said no. so while she finished her shower i went back down to the basement[lair] to see if i could figure anything else out. i started inspecting the box, trying to decipher any other words from the chart, and at some point i closed the door [dont ask me why, because i really dont know] and found that hiding behind it was yet another, much smaller breaker box with two switched. hm, maybe the attic was on a different box? would kind of make sense, the attic did have the newest electrical outlets and most likely the newest wiring in the house. so i reset both of those, it was really the only option i had left at that point, and slowly, but more eagerly trotted back upstairs. ef! still nothing! wtf?! well i was out of ideas, there was really nothing else we could reset if none of those had worked. so i went back downstairs to find our 50' extension cord and the standing lamp and then back upstairs and set the lamp up in the bathroom while karen did her best not to trip over, bump into, or fall over anything in the bathroom/closet as she got dressed. it took a while but after trying 6 outlets i finally found one that worked in the second half of the attic [hence two switches, two zones. at least thats my thought anyway] and the light came on. well, its not ideal, but itll have to do. and thats the attic.
[concluding thoughts]
at this point. we're a bit stumped as to what we should do about our electrical problem. its clear that we have one. but we're doing alright in our makeshift situation for the time being. additionally, we never set aside in our budget and planning anything to do with electrical problems [the inspections before we bought the house never lead us to believe we'd have any] so theres no money to do electrical. since all these problems, ive talked at length with my dad whos currently in saudi arabia [and used to be an electrician for at least a half dozen years] and we've come to the conclusion that its most likely going to take a lot of work to get us in a good situation [like rewiring the whole house for instance]. the most likely resolution for this problem is going to be for us to slowly rewire parts of the house [starting with the kitchen, then the attic, so on and so on as necessary] and get the outlets, lights, appliances, etc. on their own breakers and the right way this time. my dad is going to be back in the states in february or march and he might be able to come to cincy for a few days or something and he and i could attempt to do some of it ourselves, but we dont know for sure yet how possible that really is.
in the meantime, we'll make do. =]
well at this point i had originally intended to add remodeling into this blog, but that was when i was intending to cover that topic at the end of last week. then some work stuff came up and i never had the chance to write this blog last week and the story has changed since then. so now, im going to call this point the end of this saga [yes, there is an end!!] and starting tomorrow [i hope] we'll dive into all the fun that happened this last weekend! so in essence... we're caught up! woohoo!! didnt think id manage to do it, did you? oh ye of little faith... ;]
well, lunch time is up and ive got work waiting for me, so i hope you all had a marvelous weekend! have a happy mlk day today[although i dont think its ever been a very significant holiday in my life... im working today obviously. and happy inauguration day tomorrow!!
till next time...
1 comment:
all i have to say is dang...good luck with that. /:
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