ZOT, continued

[qos]

Thanks and blessings on a_belletrist's P who drove a considerable distance to check out my electrical problem last night.

Unfortunately, he could not find the cause -- and therefore no solution for -- my dead outlet. The breaker is fine. Other outlets and lights on that circuit work. The outlet box itself appears undamaged. It just doesn't work.

Oh, and our breaker box is in serious need of upgrade. It's rated at 120, and modern houses are rated at 200+.

So the Ex and I had a lengthy telephone conversation last night, and we're upping the priority of getting the electrical upgraded. We've been talking for quite some time about getting the upstairs and downstairs on different breaker boxes, and we've known that we needed to upgrade the wiring -- but we're not looking forward to either the expense or the impact on our walls. (I've just recovered from last summer's plumbing upgrade!)

In the meantime, I have an unused wall socket on the wrong side of the living room, so I'll be investing in a very long extension cord -- which I am promising myself I will not overload. It will support an essential light and the electronics in the living room, on a rotating basis. The computer will continue to live at the kitchen table. The mini speakers and printer will go elsewhere to be used, or the tv and cable box will be unplugged while they are in use.

Why is home ownership such a struggle? We didn't have these problems when I was growing up. Water stayed where it was supposed to. Toilets occasionally got plugged, but never flooded. Eletrical systems were stable and dependable. I never saw a Shop-Vac.

Comments

[pasquin.livejournal.com]

Old houses, like old people, have their charms that newness can not emulate. Sounds like you are paying the costs of quaint.

[qos.livejournal.com]

Not quite. . . . My house isn't so much "quaint" as the result of strange and not entirely responsible decisions made by the previous owners. I live in the basement of a large house that was converted into a duplex so that previous owners could rent out the space to college students. They did all kinds of strange/lazy things when they put things together down here. (Every contractor I've had in shakes his head and mutters "What were they thinking?")

Welcome to my journal, by the way. I don't auto-friend, but after reading your Info page I've friended you. I really like your quotations.