Dec 26 - electrifying

Ok, that's a bad joke ... would it be better to entitle this blog "a shocking experience" ... but that's what we did all day. We, in this case, only includes David and me.

After going to Home Depot, we wired all day. Starting with removing the dishwasher, we installed a receptacle on the island, drilling down through the floor to the basement and running a new 20 amp circuit with a GFCI outlet. The dummies who installed the dishwasher saved a foot of wire, so we had to disconnect the wire; they saved on plumbing by using copper tubing, which needed to be disconnected. We replaced the copper tubing with a braided steel supply line; didn't do anything about the wiring, but if it was my house and I had to remove the dishwasher once more, I'd put a junction box behind and have a longer wire. Hopefully I'll only be involved in removing this dishwasher once :).

Next we went to the basement, adding a circuit and receptacle by the panel and running two more receptacles on either side of the basement. The basement is insulated and they used steel studs, so that was a new experience. The work went quickly with two of us stringing wire and resealing vapor barrier.

It was getting late. Everything takes time. The last thing to do, probably David's top priority and the job I dreaded most, was installing a new receptacle at the top of the stairs. We checked the lights overhead and sure enough, they didn't have power, i.e. they only had power when the switch was turned on. That meant that we not only had to run power down inside the wall to a new receptacle, we had to run power up from a switch or existing receptacle. The existing boxes, naturally, were all attached to studs which means that they don't come out easily without drywall damage. After puzzling over this a bit and much grimacing, I hit upon a solution. In the master bedroom closet there was a switch. I installed an "old work" box a few inches over, running power from the switch box to the new box. David, from the attic, drilled down into the wall to run wire down. He hit a cross piece. Drat. We figured that we might have misjudged and hit the top or extension of the top of the doorway to the closet and moved over a few inches and tried again... we were in luck. We had a wire run down from the attic to the new junction box. Across the attic and drill down again, this time to the new receptacle box at the top of the stairs ... this time easy. Believe it or not, this became the shortest job.

Next up, cleanup. That took some time. I helped David get all the tools back in the basement, the closet put back together, furniture back in place and then had a shower. He finished with the vacuum and removed multiple extension cords in the basement that were powering everything and he just now had his dinner ... and we are having some of his home-made beer. It has a sweet taste, almost like one of the wheat beers that I bought last year and Mike Davies loves.

Dinner was leftovers of which there was quite a selection. We ate in stages - Megan first, then Abby, then Kim, then Sandy ... I ate at the tail-end of when Sandy was eating and after a gap, David ate.

Kim was out most of the day shopping and/or getting credits for things that they'd recently bought that were now on sale. Since they had recently bought a plasma TV and related electronic equipment, that was a big deal. I guess that the stores were a zoo -- this is "boxing day" in Canada -- akin to "black Friday" in the U.S. Home Depot didn't have crowds ... I guess that the electrical and plumbing sections weren't on the top of people's minds today :).

Tomorrow ... Mass for me at 9am ... pack and off to Jasper. Abby is looking forward to skiing. She told me.

Onward !