RICHARD
02-03-2010, 08:25 PM
I am pleased and at the same time irritated about what happened today.
The house is old and there has been a long standing problem with the electrical system for the longest time.
If you turned on the mircowave the circuit breaker would pop and the lights in the house would go out.
Irritating as all get out......and frustrating because - long story alert?
My brother is a real jerk and when there were repairs to be made on the house, he would bully my mom into hiring the people he recommended. He would get someone to give her quote, then 'lose' the paperwork....
He was getting his friends to do the work, then charge her double the price of the job.....
I would intervene and my mom, because she was afraid of the tantrums my idiot brother would throw, would relent to having them done.
He brought in an electrician while I was there, this idiot began to act a little hinky when I started to ask him about the cost and how much labor I could do to lower the price- I thought my brother would have a stroke when I said this!
The guy refused the job and I figured out why soon after. :rolleyes:
The electrician said he would have to re-wire the house and install a new set of breakers....A few thousand dollars, maybe?
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I was outdoors and looking at a few small repairs I wanted to do. I wanted to put some weather proof outlet covers on the outside electrical boxes.
I grabbed one that was modified by my Dad years ago and saw a spark shoot out of it. He added a line out the porch for a motion activated light, Dad was frugal (he used wires from his old job to put the line in!) so I suspected it needed a little inspection....
I bought new wire, a new plug and grabbed my tools.
I replaced the wiring, remounted the light and thought about the circuit, It was the same one that was giving us problems for years.
Could this be the answer?
I grabbed a package of mircowave Macaroni and Cheese, which I hate-and was the only mircowave item in the freezer and tossed it in.
I said a prayer, punched in the time and held my breath....
3.5 minutes later I had HOT mac and cheese, the circuit breakers didn't trip and I was on fracking cloud nine!
I swear, it was a 20 dollar repair, some time out on the porch and a little bit of praying.
I HATE ELECTRICAL REPAIRS AND REFUSE to work on them.
This one was important because of the fire hazard and my paranoia when confronted with "S"tuff like that.
I just want all you to know that you can do home repairs. And save tons of money.
20 dollars and maybe two hours of work.......My hourly rate is beer and a meal.....
LOL, Now I can eat all the crappy mircowave food I want, without having to grab a flashlight.
If I can do it?:)
The house is old and there has been a long standing problem with the electrical system for the longest time.
If you turned on the mircowave the circuit breaker would pop and the lights in the house would go out.
Irritating as all get out......and frustrating because - long story alert?
My brother is a real jerk and when there were repairs to be made on the house, he would bully my mom into hiring the people he recommended. He would get someone to give her quote, then 'lose' the paperwork....
He was getting his friends to do the work, then charge her double the price of the job.....
I would intervene and my mom, because she was afraid of the tantrums my idiot brother would throw, would relent to having them done.
He brought in an electrician while I was there, this idiot began to act a little hinky when I started to ask him about the cost and how much labor I could do to lower the price- I thought my brother would have a stroke when I said this!
The guy refused the job and I figured out why soon after. :rolleyes:
The electrician said he would have to re-wire the house and install a new set of breakers....A few thousand dollars, maybe?
----------------------------------
I was outdoors and looking at a few small repairs I wanted to do. I wanted to put some weather proof outlet covers on the outside electrical boxes.
I grabbed one that was modified by my Dad years ago and saw a spark shoot out of it. He added a line out the porch for a motion activated light, Dad was frugal (he used wires from his old job to put the line in!) so I suspected it needed a little inspection....
I bought new wire, a new plug and grabbed my tools.
I replaced the wiring, remounted the light and thought about the circuit, It was the same one that was giving us problems for years.
Could this be the answer?
I grabbed a package of mircowave Macaroni and Cheese, which I hate-and was the only mircowave item in the freezer and tossed it in.
I said a prayer, punched in the time and held my breath....
3.5 minutes later I had HOT mac and cheese, the circuit breakers didn't trip and I was on fracking cloud nine!
I swear, it was a 20 dollar repair, some time out on the porch and a little bit of praying.
I HATE ELECTRICAL REPAIRS AND REFUSE to work on them.
This one was important because of the fire hazard and my paranoia when confronted with "S"tuff like that.
I just want all you to know that you can do home repairs. And save tons of money.
20 dollars and maybe two hours of work.......My hourly rate is beer and a meal.....
LOL, Now I can eat all the crappy mircowave food I want, without having to grab a flashlight.
If I can do it?:)