Adventures in electricity.

Let me start by saying I know squadoosh about electrical wiring. In shop class, I managed to make the light bulb come on through trial and error, but I had no idea how I did it. I can change a light switch and, on a good day, install a ceiling fan, but that's the extent of my electrical knowledge.

So yesterday when I noticed that the backyard outdoor light was on, a light that we NEVER turn on, I assumed one of us had bumped the switch. I went inside and flipped the switch.

The light got brighter.

I flipped it back down; the light got dimmer.

Since I, as I mentioned, know squadoosh about elecrical wiring, I threw the breaker, after several attempts to FIND the right breaker. When I got the right one, it took out the lights in both bedrooms, the living room, and the kitchen, as well as the outlet the air conditioner is plugged in.

It seemed to me that if the switch had burned out, it would stay off and not come on, not the opposite, since OFF was the position it was in when the problem occurred. But I knew light switches are cheap, so I decided to replace it anyway, just in case my reasoning was faulty. I do, after all, know squadoosh about electrical wiring.

So I made a trip to Wally world and picked up a switch ($.54). I installed it, flipped the breaker, and lo and behold the light went off when I switched it to OFF.

Having conquered this obstacle, I went on about my business. Until about 10:30 last night, when the light came on again. With a sense of defeat, I pulled myself out of bed and went down and flipped the breaker. Obviously this was beyond my expertise, and if I'd left electricity running through it, I might have been awakened about 4:00 this morning to a burning house. This morning we're calling my retired electrician uncle.

Have I mentioned that I know squadoosh about electrical wiring?