I usually take part in the My World meme on Tuesday, but I’m skipping this week.
When I woke up yesterday (Monday) morning, I had my day all planned out. The front lawn needed mowing, there were weeds in a periwinkle bed that needed to be pulled, and I had more work to do on a retaining wall I’m building along the road. With luck I could get much of that work done before it got uncomfortably hot outside (summer has returned to the Plateau).
Then I went into the kitchen and turned on the lights . . . only half of them came on. My day went down hill from there.
Don’t get me wrong — I really like our house and think it is just about perfect. But the lighting in the kitchen is one thing that I would change if I could. We have two eight-foot long fluorescent light fixtures in the kitchen, above a drop-down ceiling composed of plastic ‘screens’. To get to the fixtures the first thing that needs to be done is remove some of the screens.
I hoped against hope that the problem was just a bad bulb, but switching bulbs between the fixture that worked and the fixture that didn’t work produced no change. The bulbs were fine.
The next possibility was a bad ballast. We’ve had to replace the fixtures since we’ve lived here and we got our replacement fixtures at Lowe’s. So we wrote down all the numbers we could find on the old ballast and headed to Lowe’s. Of course the old ballast was no longer available, so we purchased an ‘equivalent’ ballast and headed back home.
I was able to get the new ballast into the fixture without any problems, but that’s when I noticed that the wires weren’t long enough to reach the two ends of the fixture. Much experimentation showed that there was no way I could attach the ballast to the fixture (necessary to ground the ballast) and get the wires to reach both ends of fixture. So I did some splicing, taped all the splices well, and put everything back together. I put the bulbs back into the fixture and flipped the switch. All the lights came on . . . FINALLY!!! Now all I had to do was put the drop-down ceiling back.
Of course once that was done, the day was practically over. Needless to say, I didn’t get much done on that list I had in mind when I woke up.
Maybe we should consider renting.
Tags: Frustration, Glade, Home, Repairs
Senior Moments 
July 28, 2009 at 5:21 am |
My hubby would feel for you George. We got up one morning and noticed the power was off to half the house. Took him forever to figure what was wrong. Finally called the electric company and they came out and reconnected one of the supply hooks to the house. The 220 one worked but other one had come loose.
=) Hope your day goes better today.
July 28, 2009 at 7:36 am |
We are having problems with our fluorescent lighting in the laundry room. Sometimes it comes on and others not.
Sorry you had your day planned and get done what you really had wanted to.
July 28, 2009 at 7:37 am |
I’m with you! We’ve had rain damage, from a leaking eavestrophe. Plus…plus…insurance won’t cover it as it is long-term damage. There goes our savings!
This is the Money Pit, for sure!
July 28, 2009 at 7:57 am |
Poor George….sorry but you made me laugh. All good plans go to heck some days. The joys of home ownership!!!!
Glad you got it all worked out though, can’t imagine you guys cooking in the dark!!!
July 28, 2009 at 8:13 am |
George: It seems your world consisted of home repairs.
July 28, 2009 at 8:27 am |
Nope…if you rented you would have waited six weeks to get the light fixed.
July 28, 2009 at 9:16 am |
Isn’t that always the case. I am going to save your post to show people that that is why sometimes I never get anything done.
Good vibes going your way George. LOL MB
July 28, 2009 at 9:22 am |
One good thing – at least you were able to do the work yourself, you didn’t have to wait for repair man who wouldn’t have shown up on time, and you saved yourself some money. That’s three good things. 🙂
Now today you get to do yesterday’s list!!
Enjoy your day!
July 28, 2009 at 11:55 am |
Sounds like you had a light day George.lol. sorrylol, .
Ive had days like that too, its so frustrating.
July 28, 2009 at 3:18 pm |
I’m convinced there are no simple projects.
July 28, 2009 at 5:26 pm |
I know if Mike was reading this he would commiserate. Just when you think you have a plan for the day, something else needs fixing. The part of owning a home that isn’t fun, but worth it. I know that I speak for Betsy that having a handy man around the house is wonderful! I’m always thankful that Mike can handle most repairs himself.
July 28, 2009 at 5:35 pm |
I don’t even like to think about your day….reminds me of when we have to change the bulbs in our kitchen light. It is only a four ft. fluorescent light, which I know some people don’t like but I love them. It is the fixture itself. I had a bulb go out one time when Sarah was here, and talk about a job getting it changed! I do not even know how to describe it to you. Lets just say both she and I totally worn out. She would mess with it, and I would take a turn…back and fourth!
That was years ago and I really figured we were missing something that would have made it easier. So the next time one went out, Roger was here, and it was the same thing. I cannot imagine designing something that way!
July 28, 2009 at 6:07 pm |
But if you were to rent, who is to say that the guy supposedly fixing stuff was not very good at it, so you ended up doing it yourself, rather than clean up after him…
July 28, 2009 at 6:35 pm |
At least you just have ONE house to tend to.
Leedra’s Photos For Fun
July 28, 2009 at 6:40 pm |
Those are the ‘joys’ of life.Sure glad that the end result was good.
Blessings,Ruth
July 28, 2009 at 9:40 pm |
We just had to get an electrician in to fix a short in a wall..what fun. I am glad that you could fix it yourself George….Michelle
July 29, 2009 at 12:29 pm |
Let’s hear it for the best laid plans! Seems like home ownership brings blessings and requires maintenance too. These days I need to PAY someone to do things like this.
Hugs and blessings,
July 29, 2009 at 11:39 pm |
Fluorescent light gives me headaches. We took ours out and put up different light fixtures. It made a big difference in the look.
July 30, 2009 at 4:26 pm |
If you rented, it would be the same. Why? Because you are obviously the handy sort, and you would get tired of waiting for things to be fixed. What a day-spoiler! But the picture is nice!