The other day, all of the power went out in the apartment.
My fault. Entirely.
Our, seemingly, hundred year old breaker box, which holds all of 4 breakers, is only capable of me using 1 electrical appliance in the kitchen at a time.
I forgot.
I started roasting some green bell peppers, then put a piece of short rib to reheat in the microwave.
Everything got quiet.
We had need of an electrician recently, that helped us replace a breaker, and I watched him, knowing that someday, in the future, I’d need that bit of stolen knowledge.
Yup.
I got my little step stool out, took off the face plate of the breaker box, and turned off all 4 of the breakers. My hands were shaking like leaves. I have an acknowledged phobia when it comes to electricity.
I pulled the 4 breakers out of their positions, knowing that the second one was the culprit, and went about “fixing” it. After said “fix”, I put the buggers back in place, which took a bit of umph for sure, flipped the switches, and voila, there was light. Or, in our case, electricity.
Mind you, that actually took about 15 minutes because I thought I had to bend the wire around the screw, in between the 2 metal plates, but that was not the case. It only needed to go beside the screw, but between the metal plates.
The power came back on, to our bedroom, as well, which had been out since just after the electrician left; go figure. We’ve had an extension cord running from the hallway to the bedroom so I could use my CPAP machine, and the air circulator; 2 modern marvels I can’t live without. (Ivan’s bright idea of the extension cord from the hallway. Thank you honey.)
I guess I can add fledgling electrician to my resumé now. Hahaha.
I am going to save up money, and have someone come, and update our breaker box. If I can, I’ll educate myself with some YT videos, and do it myself; shaking hands be damned.
That’s it for today folks. Until next time, stay happy, healthy, and safe. Wash, cover, and protect yourselves.
Here’s a photo of the POS breaker box, and its unholy contents.
