Friday, March 12, 2010

Electrifying

Last year when a Realtor gave us ideas for updating our property, we found out that the polished brass light fixtures throughout the house screamed 1980s. She suggested that we change them out for something a little more contemporary, and said it was a job we could do ourselves.

Yeah, right, I thought. Electricity scares me. But after taking a basic wiring class last night, I think I might be able to tackle the job.

The one-night class was offered by the Continuing Education department of the community college. Since this was a non-credit course, I just had to show up. There were no books to buy, homework to complete, or tests to study for.

Even though I had never been to the branch of the college where the class was held, it was easy to park and find the correct building and classroom. I arrived a few minutes early, but I wasn't the first one there; several other people were already waiting in the hall outside the room. By the time the class started, there were two dozen predominantly middle-aged people sitting in the desks.

Linda, the instructor, was a contractor; this electrical class was one of a series of basic home repair classes that she teaches. The two-hour class covered all the basics--wires, boxes, outlets, switches, fixtures, and breakers. Since I live in a newer house, some of the material wasn't applicable to me, but most of it was.

At the end of the night, I had a mental list of several possible electrical projects. Hardware store, here I come!

7 comments:

  1. Hey..I've got a few electrical issues here...are you for hire? giggles!
    I think that class is an awesome idea. Not sure we have this here but now I'm going to check it out. Thanks for a great post and wonderful suggestion.
    Have a wonderful weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Whenever we do electrical work, light fixtures and such, I insist on complete electrical lock down, main breaker off...I know it's extreme, but we have survived, and I get to hold the flashlight....smiles.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You can jog the isles while you shop for light! haha. I have a lot of things in my house that scream the 1980's! I'm slowly replacing them...in order of the loudest screams on down! LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow! What a dare devil you are. You rock!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I know what you mean. Our "new" house is 20 years old and the former owners only updated something if it broke (and then their "repairs" were questionable!). We've spent the nearly 2 years we've lived here just trying to bring it into the 2000s!

    ReplyDelete
  6. You have a Mystery Picture Competition Award Kathy - do come and collect :o)

    ReplyDelete
  7. maggie-I think you might want to wait to see if I can actually DO work before you hire me :-)

    Emom-the first thing I'm going to buy is a tester that will tell me if I've successfully turned off the power. I also plan to work during the day.

    Betsy-exercising AND buying at the hardware store. Now that's multi-tasking!

    Teri-isn't home ownership wonderful?

    ReplyDelete