Another Fine Mess

We have long semi-joked that our next house will not have a single florescent light. After the bathroom light refused to go on for several days The Squire decided he’d Had Enough and we sallied off to Lowe’s after church yesterday, where we purchased three flush-mount ceiling lights (one for the bathroom and two for the kitchen) and two packages of “hard” ceiling tile to replace the fiberglass ones we had.

Next step was to remove all of the tile in the bathroom, and all I can say it’ll be a wonder we don’t both come down with Hanta Virus. Taking down the tile was one thing. Putting up the new stuff was an entirely different kettle of fish. Getting those little hummers in place was next to impossible. The old fiberglass tiles bent, but the new ones do not. We shall draw a curtain over what transpired during that phase of the job.

Next came installing the ceiling lamp. It didn’t look too complicated, but the first time we turned on the light, we blew a fuse. Yes, a fuse. This house was, to quote The Squire, not so much built as it was accumulated, and the oldest parts of the house still have fuses. Not, I might add, installed according to code, either; the box in the bathroom is upside down. Anyway, the first fuse got stuck in the box, and we had to get a pair of pliers to remove it. After we blew a second fuse we decided to get in touch with our grandson, who is an electrician. You know the expression, “Better call Saul”? This was a case of “Better call Matt”.

He came down this morning and had to admit he’d never seen anything like this contraption we had. He actually had to go online to find out how to hook it up. Hint: it wasn’t the way you’d expect. We paid him with a loaf of homemade onion-dill bread and a load of firewood.

The Squire spent the rest of the day cutting and installing the new ceiling tile, and I must admit it looks lovely, and the new light is much, much brighter than the old one.

And, it comes one every time you flip the switch!