esrosedotblog

FLOOD

It all started with a floodlight bulb. Its fixture had been broken in a gardening project. Jon came today to fix it. There is a line of floods that illuminate the citrus trees and mark the line between the pool apron and the garden area. No big deal.

But then we discover that there is another fixture way down at the end which has been half buried. And while we are at it, the fixture on the skyduster palms has a broken screwhead and lets water in and what's that? Oh MY! Not one but two conduits rusted away. A stream of consciousness of all the suppressed electrical worries and wonders over the years. John even unearthed the old mystery switch in the kitchen; whether it connected to that dead floodlight under the olive tree.

Our house is over 50 years old and has been the victim of countless professional and amateur fix-it projects. We spent a LOT of money this summer undoing a lot of it when we had the roof done; all those random wires running back and forth had to be cleared off. It took a first class pro to undo the mess and redo the system. But, that was just the roof. It didn't have a lot to do with the yard area.

So it was no surprise today when Jon found that one outlet had a constant current with no apparent source even when the switch was turned off; and there were many other anomolies. That half buried outlet had two terminals both live and no place to go. Blah blah. A one hour job took three, a few outlets were deadened, the floodlight arrangement was altered to fit the new paradigm of safe wiring and so on. The kitchen switch mystery was not solved however. The olive tree flood was opened and closed again when there was no current; a project for a later visit; another starting point for another fix-it marathon.

We had a good time though and the price was right and Jon is a good talker. He is also a great companion for Franklin. He lets the pooch look in his bag and handle his tools and bite his ears. Franklin could ask no more of a full service provider. He loves to 'help'. A good time was had by all. And once again, we learned that all projects are more complicated than you think beforehand; more is revealed as each step is taken and owning an older home is a continuing puzzle to be solved.