Friday, July 27, 2007

Mood Lighting is so Overrated

I don't know what came over me today, but I decided to fix a light switch by myself. Those of you who know me realize I would normally call up a friend who is an electrician. I don't normally do this kind of thing. But I fixed it all by myself! I have a book from Home Depot that showed me exactly what to do.

A little background might be needed here. We've lived in our house for 9 years, and this particular light switch has needed to be changed the whole time. It's a traditional switch, but with a dimmer slide on the right. It powers the chandelier above our dining room table. The problem was that when you turned the light on, with the dimmer all the way up, the faceplate would get warm, very warm. So, I've always been a little afraid of accidentally leaving the house with that light switch on. Maybe it would be the cause of a fire.

I fixed the problem by installing a normal switch without a dimmer. Now when you turn the light switch on, the chandelier just shines bright. No more of that mood lighting, where you can dim or brighten the lights at will. No, now the mood is always bright! And the face plate doesn't get warm anymore! I fixed it. I really did.

I still don't know how to wash the clothes. But my next project is going to be to flush out our two water heaters. Some of you call them "hot water heaters." But why in the world would you call them "hot water heaters." Don't you think that's a little redundant, like "ATM machine?"

2 comments:

Saren Sommers said...

Impressive, Maestro. The other day, my vacuum started smoking and we all know what an unhealthy habit that is. When can I drop it off for you to fix it?

Wendy said...

Wow! I'm impressed. Now we can call you "Handy Man Dan"!! Hee hee.