Comments on: Please: Get Your Work Inspected

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:39:44 +0000

So glad you decided to do without electric in the parts of your home that haven’t been replaced. That’s exactly the same kind of wires that burnt down my parents farm nearly 20 years ago. They were replacing the wiring but it was getting close to Christmas so they decided to put off the last room until after the holidays. Unfortunately that was the room that burnt the place down. It took four days for the old place to stop smoldering. Thousands of heirlooms and antiques were lost and my mother was devastated for nearly a year after.

By: Denford

Denford — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 19:35:11 +0000

Oh yeah, I think it is the floor shim thing. You see, I thought these were pictures of your ceiling!!

Then again, I only learnt English by studying those Instruction Manuals that come with Japanese DVD players and televisions.

So, if that is a shim, you’re alright then, I will keep dropping by.

By: Mrs. Mecomber

Mrs. Mecomber — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:06:08 +0000

Karen, did you wire it yourself?! I did– I learned practically overnight how to do it. It would be so cool to find another lady who did it, too! It was quite an accomplishment. I just have to finish the rest of the house… *sigh*

My house was like yours when we bought the place– it was a fuse box with two small fuses. We had to update the service panel to a 220 by law, in order to buy the house. (We hired out for this job). The electrician was astonished that the house had not gone up in flames before this time- one of the fuses was blackened and smoky. The wiring is THAT bad here. So, I heartily sympathize with you!

By: Mrs. Mecomber

Mrs. Mecomber — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 13:57:09 +0000

Hm, Denford, I’m not seeing it. Firstly, which picture– the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd? As I do not know what a panga looks like, I am not 100% sure what I am looking for. In the first picture, I see something long and gray, to the left right below the floor boards. If this is what you refer to, that is a long piece of very old wood, serving as a floor shim. Perhaps the floorboards were warped, and the builder of the house put in an extra piece of wood there, to keep the floor boards from bouncing.

Let me know if this answers your question. I am very curious about what you see in the photo! But rest assured, we founf no weapons of any sort, not even any newspapers.

By: Karen, author of "My Funny Dad, Harry"

Karen, author of "My Funny Dad, Harry" — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 10:22:58 +0000

My dad decided to switch from the fuses and that old bype of wiring shortly before he died but never got to it so after he died, I went ahead and did it. I really had no choice because the insurance company said I had to have it replaced or they wouldn’t insure the house! It was pretty scary some of the things the electrician found–including some bare wires!

By: Denford

Denford — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 22:53:00 +0000

Mrs Mecomber, but what is that in the first picture, on the left hand side as you look at the picture, next to the two white round things that are close together.

Looks like a panga to me.

By: Mrs. Mecomber

Mrs. Mecomber — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:50:36 +0000

Ha ha! Denford, you are funny! Hm.. I don’t see any machete or panga! I almost wish I had found something like that, I could sell such a treasure to fund my renovations! A religion that forbids handiwork? If only the previous owners of my house had practiced that ritual!

By: Denford

Denford — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:37:44 +0000

You seem to have a large machete or panga in your living room ceiling.

Have you checked the attic, or dug up the garden to see if there are any bodies there.

Otherwise, what is that panga doing there, hidden in the ceiling? Or did you put it there yourself?

Or am I imagining things…..no, that is a machete alright, the kind the Hutus used to hack away at Tutsis in Rwanda during the genocide?

Come to think of it, do you come from Rwanda?

….seriously though, I love your blog, very very useful and the illustrations are a boon!!

I will not attempting any of this, since my religion forbids me from doing any handiwork except when my life is under threat.