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I barely find the time to post with my mother here. But with my brother here as well, that bit of extra occasional time is simply non-existent. I do visit a site or two, or read something, but before I know it, it is time to go to town, help with this, fix that, eat, or... any of a number of other things.
My brother is returning tomorrow, my mother returns Monday, I will then crash for a week or two. I have an appointment for cardiology heart transplant clinic (my usual clinic in SLC) and an appointment with my primary coming up, so I can't... crawl too far into my shell. And I have a few things I would like to get on, sort of while I am at it. And medicine might... or might not... help with things anyway. In the short term it helps mind but not body, or at least from what I have seen so far with it.
While my brother was here, he helped me get the light up in the back room, finally. We tinkered on several projects, actually. It was good to work with him, if he takes shortcuts I don't prefer to take. For example, for him, turning off the light switch (assuming it was indeed turned off since the old fixture no longer worked) was good enough for him. I prefer to have the switch, then the fuse, off, closed, whatnot. Still, it is done and works. It was good to work with him.
He really wanted to see my firearms. So I showed him. He is a bit jealous. Where they live they literally can't have guns. It has to do with several things, which I understand. The reasoning is something similar to living on a campus, though with an actual logic to it. I've shown him my home and storage. We have discussed alternative energy, of which he is... sadly terribly misinformed (he thought solar energy would pay for itself and more). I even let him drive some of the time, since he is used to driving. (Being a passenger drove me to distraction, so I could only share). I had to bite my lip often with him. He is... a typical city driver, in my estimation (not good, or... pro). Plus, he doesn't use the tech on the vehicle well. I've tried to explain when to use drive, overdrive, cruise, and such, but... nope. Ugh... Still, for his comfort, I split the driving.
We went to dinner tonight, his treat. I don't like it but that IS the way it goes. I am low on dough, but that wasn't really the issue. It was just that I didn't want to argue. I'm an ass enough that... sometimes I just have to swallow my pride on other things. Hmm, the more things change, it seems. He is who is he is and he will always be that way. As is my mother. As am I. People get locked, when together, as who they always have been. Not a bad thing, as things turn out, in my estimation, either.
Well, it will be a very early rise tomorrow. Good night.
"For example, for him, turning off the light switch (assuming it was indeed turned off since the old fixture no longer worked) was good enough for him. I prefer to have the switch, then the fuse, off, closed, whatnot. Still, it is done and works. It was good to work with him."
ReplyDeleteJEE-EBUS, have you been prolific in the last few days! I read the above a short time ago and thought about it today, meaning to comment on it when I had time.
Heh.
Had to wade through a novel worth of posts to find it, and could only scan as I went...
What I meant to say is, that works only as long as the hot wire is switched. I've found far too many instances in an old house where the neutral wire had the switch in line, leaving the fixture hot with the switch off. Hey, as long as the light shuts off, it's all good, right? Right? Bueller?
Prolific? Prolific! You should have seen me in the Navy! Seriously, or more, on topic, though...
ReplyDeleteYeah, not sure. I think I am having to deal with left over mother imbued go-juice. Hmm, actually, if I let anyone take the reins, they can probably jack a demi-god worth of effort out of me, for a while. Considering my condition, that is what she got. Can't do as much physically, as I come off that, so I write. As I have said, she is a force of nature. I used to be myself.
Oh, I did mention somewhere in later posts... while working on the light... well... let's just say that the electricity is still quite on. *PPOOPP* I even got a bit of a bite. Is that all 110/120 is? Just a little bit of a tingly feeling, just in socks? Maybe the flooring isn't very conductive, or... some other mitigating situation? Anyway... so, yeah, no. That's why I prefer hitting it at the box.
Come to think of it, now that I have words (from you) for what the problem is, I might see if I can find a fix for that, and fix that too. Bueller indeed.
We lived in our Andover house for years as Dad finished it bit by bit on weekends and after work (which, I presume, is where I got my ridiculous weekend work ethic), and the outlets were sans cover for years. I got my share of 110 volt shocks by inadvertently sticking my pinky into the box while reaching to unplug something. Yeah, it's a BZZT that leaves you a bit shaken and maybe stuttering for a few minutes. Be careful though. In the right circumstances, it is possible to be killed by 120VAC.
ReplyDeleteIf you dig into the boxes at both ends of a switch run, you can sometimes sort things out to get the hot line (typically the black conductor) on the switch instead of the neutral. But no guarantees they used the correct wire color for the correct phase. A pen-shaped voltage/current sensor (the kind that go "bledlededledeldle" in the vicinity of 120VAC) can go a long way to tracing and fixing wiring problems. Or a basic multimeter.
We lived in our Andover house for years as Dad finished it bit by bit on weekends and after work (which, I presume, is where I got my ridiculous weekend work ethic), and the outlets were sans cover for years. I got my share of 110 volt shocks by inadvertently sticking my pinky into the box while reaching to unplug something. Yeah, it's a BZZT that leaves you a bit shaken and maybe stuttering for a few minutes. Be careful though. In the right circumstances, it is possible to be killed by 120VAC.
ReplyDeleteIf you dig into the boxes at both ends of a switch run, you can sometimes sort things out to get the hot line (typically the black conductor) on the switch instead of the neutral. But no guarantees they used the correct wire color for the correct phase. A pen-shaped voltage/current sensor (the kind that go "bledlededledeldle" in the vicinity of 120VAC) can go a long way to tracing and fixing wiring problems. Or a basic multimeter.
Well, I like your work ethic, love it, am envious of it, if not in the sinful way. I didn't have a dad, per se, so... any mechanical I have was native and might be stunted (though... seems to be maturing at some kind of pace, probably thanks to the bit of eng. schooling I did get plus a strong native sense of it).
ReplyDeleteYeah, I have been looking over both the insta-probes and the loop-clamp probes. Each has their place. The insta-probe is good for simple testing, but I would like to eventually get a clamp one, to really go over my wiring, perhaps diagram it, before beginning a deeper effort. I'll be buying a pen-tester when next I get to the hardware store. I can at least track switch boxes to outlets and what of the other things I can reach with it, too, mostly. Plus to check for outlets before I get a (very minor, barely noticeable) zap. Still, yeah, I know people die. [Although, while they tote that more people die of that than high voltage, most people have zero real access to hv. Further, though everone is somewhat suspectible, it seems dolts find their way to death in this and other ways far more often than a typical serious(ly minded) diy'er, innit? Heh! Just thinking... Darwin had a point, it just wasn't in the natural world. :p ]
As for wiring... yep. I somehow knew that wiring and color coding isn't always right. Besides, haven't they changed codes in the last 30-40 years, necessarily because of some advents? (Wired?) Grounding, then gfr@$#@ whatever, and maybe other stuff even since then... or such. Not that I know, I just... hear things and they almost collate into some sort of reason or sense or such.
Still asleep, I can tell. Rambling. Sorry.