Today, Mrs. T from Across My Kitchen Table wrote a fun post about her "super power" - which was a response to a week-old Wednesday Hodgepodge question originally posted by Joyce at From This Side of the Pond. I encourage you to read Mrs. T's post. It made me smile and will probably make you smile too.
The writing prompt was: ...when was the last time you felt like Superman? What's your superpower? Explain."
Okay, I confess... I don't have any super powers, but yesterday I had a highly successful moment that made me feel so completely satisfied, I decided to share it after reading Mrs. T's post.
We've had a lamp in our living room with a semi-broken switch on it for I don't even know how long. We've never bothered to fix it because it works some of the time. Often enough that it keeps us hoping the next time we need it, it will come on.
Well, yesterday evening - just as the news started, and after hubs had gotten the lamp turned on - I asked if he could turn it off because the reflection of the light really messed with my ability to see the debonair David Muir on the ABC World News Tonight (6:30 every weeknight in case you have no idea who I'm talking about).
Anyway... hubs looked at me disbelievingly and said, "Do you know how hard that lamp is to turn on?"
To which I replied, "Tell you what, if you turn it off, I'll switch that lamp with the matching lamp by my chair after the news is over."
He turned off the lamp.
Thirty-some minutes later I was true to my word. I gave him my working lamp and schlepped the semi-broken lamp over to the chair I normally sit in.
Realizing I would soon find the lamp frustrating, I decided to fiddle around with the bulb socket, hoping it was a simple thing like bending a metal piece inside to make better contact with the bulb.
No such luck.
So I asked Hub if we had any extra sockets out in the garage.
What? You don't have extra lamp sockets laying around? Hub's dad was an electrical engineer and I figured at some point Hub had brought home some old sockets, along with the old switches, outlets and various other electrical tidbits he'd found when going through his father's workshop after his passing - so it was a reasonable question.
Hub went out to the garage and triumphantly appeared a couple of minutes later with a plastic box holding a variety of old sockets. Old sockets because electrical engineer father-in-law never got rid of anything if it could possibly be used again - even if the last time it had been used was 1950. FWIW, there were several old sockets in old, but never-been-opened packaging. Great! One of those, even if it was old, should work!
I knew replacing the socket wasn't a difficult thing to do (because it seemed to me that I'd done this at least one other time in my life), but try as hard as I could, I could not separate the base of the socket from the socket itself. So I did what any red blooded can-do person does these days and I googled it. The answer was to press where it says "Press Here". 😕
Incredulous that we had missed that, I tried pressing and pulling, but it wouldn't separate. Thinking I must not have the hand strength, Hub tried and it still wouldn't separate. There was only one thing left to do, and that was to replace the whole thing (base and socket).
I shuffled through the plastic box of old lamp sockets and found one that was the least worst match for our silver-colored (probably brushed nickel) lamp.
And in about 5 minutes I had that socket changed, and the lamp put back together. And we now have two (well, actually four) perfectly good lamps in our living room! And truth be told, I much prefer this old fashioned and simple push on/push off switch to the 3-way turn-knob switch that it replaced.
Husband looked at me rather admiringly... And I knew what he was thinking (because he's said it many times") "You're the mechanic in the family."
Which isn't saying a lot, but it's true.
And now, I'm feeling pumped to find some old lamps to rewire and re-outfit with working switches. I'm a fan of old lamps. Maybe someday I'll take pictures of the ones we have Actually, I think we only have three old (and by old, I mean older than me) lamps in the house, and one (non-working one) in the garage. I think that's soon to change now, though.
Did I say I'm a fan of old lamps?
Old lamps will be the subject of a future post, I'm thinking...
So what's your super power?
The writing prompt was: ...when was the last time you felt like Superman? What's your superpower? Explain."
~~~~~
Okay, I confess... I don't have any super powers, but yesterday I had a highly successful moment that made me feel so completely satisfied, I decided to share it after reading Mrs. T's post.
We've had a lamp in our living room with a semi-broken switch on it for I don't even know how long. We've never bothered to fix it because it works some of the time. Often enough that it keeps us hoping the next time we need it, it will come on.
Well, yesterday evening - just as the news started, and after hubs had gotten the lamp turned on - I asked if he could turn it off because the reflection of the light really messed with my ability to see the debonair David Muir on the ABC World News Tonight (6:30 every weeknight in case you have no idea who I'm talking about).
Anyway... hubs looked at me disbelievingly and said, "Do you know how hard that lamp is to turn on?"
To which I replied, "Tell you what, if you turn it off, I'll switch that lamp with the matching lamp by my chair after the news is over."
He turned off the lamp.
Thirty-some minutes later I was true to my word. I gave him my working lamp and schlepped the semi-broken lamp over to the chair I normally sit in.
Realizing I would soon find the lamp frustrating, I decided to fiddle around with the bulb socket, hoping it was a simple thing like bending a metal piece inside to make better contact with the bulb.
No such luck.
So I asked Hub if we had any extra sockets out in the garage.
What? You don't have extra lamp sockets laying around? Hub's dad was an electrical engineer and I figured at some point Hub had brought home some old sockets, along with the old switches, outlets and various other electrical tidbits he'd found when going through his father's workshop after his passing - so it was a reasonable question.
Hub went out to the garage and triumphantly appeared a couple of minutes later with a plastic box holding a variety of old sockets. Old sockets because electrical engineer father-in-law never got rid of anything if it could possibly be used again - even if the last time it had been used was 1950. FWIW, there were several old sockets in old, but never-been-opened packaging. Great! One of those, even if it was old, should work!
I knew replacing the socket wasn't a difficult thing to do (because it seemed to me that I'd done this at least one other time in my life), but try as hard as I could, I could not separate the base of the socket from the socket itself. So I did what any red blooded can-do person does these days and I googled it. The answer was to press where it says "Press Here". 😕
Incredulous that we had missed that, I tried pressing and pulling, but it wouldn't separate. Thinking I must not have the hand strength, Hub tried and it still wouldn't separate. There was only one thing left to do, and that was to replace the whole thing (base and socket).
I shuffled through the plastic box of old lamp sockets and found one that was the least worst match for our silver-colored (probably brushed nickel) lamp.
And in about 5 minutes I had that socket changed, and the lamp put back together. And we now have two (well, actually four) perfectly good lamps in our living room! And truth be told, I much prefer this old fashioned and simple push on/push off switch to the 3-way turn-knob switch that it replaced.
Husband looked at me rather admiringly... And I knew what he was thinking (because he's said it many times") "You're the mechanic in the family."
Which isn't saying a lot, but it's true.
And now, I'm feeling pumped to find some old lamps to rewire and re-outfit with working switches. I'm a fan of old lamps. Maybe someday I'll take pictures of the ones we have Actually, I think we only have three old (and by old, I mean older than me) lamps in the house, and one (non-working one) in the garage. I think that's soon to change now, though.
Did I say I'm a fan of old lamps?
Old lamps will be the subject of a future post, I'm thinking...
So what's your super power?
I am impressed! Your super power is awesome. My super power? I will have to think on that.
ReplyDeleteWell, be sure to let us know what it is when you figure it out! :)
Deleteoh good job! I love those lamps and the push switch the best too! well done!
ReplyDeleteEverytime we've had a light switch changed out to something that was older style, I've found it much more satisfying. Thanks, Elizabeth!
DeleteSuper Power! Not really. Maybe it is that I have good visual memory. I remember having passed through a normally unfamiliar place when traveling and I have a good sense of direction. It is not much of a power anymore because I seldom travel anywhere beyond 30 miles or so from my home. But it used to serve me well when I was younger.
ReplyDeleteI think a agood visual memory is a great super power to have. Keeps you from getting lost!
DeleteI have been eyeing about 3 broken lamps that I need to fix. I did try one day but need to dedicate an afternoon and get my vice grips out! Good for you! I have no Super powers..I used to but not any more! LOL!
ReplyDeleteYou have all sorts of super powers! Visiting your blog reveals them to me. :)
DeleteI'm impressed, Becki! That was a superpower moment for sure! I agree, the push type of lamp switch is so much easier to use than those ones that turn. How satisfying it must have been to have that lamp operating correctly again, so quickly and easily.
ReplyDeleteOh, Im so glad you popped in, Mrs. T. It was so quick and easy, it astounded me that we had put up with it for as long as we did... :)
DeleteYou go on fixin that lamp!
ReplyDeletelol :)
DeleteI beg to disagree with you - you do so have super powers! Just think of all the crocheting you do!! And sounds like you're a budding electrician too. I would never in a million years do anything remotely electrical.
ReplyDeletelol - electrical, to me, is messing with writing coming out of walls and is attached to the electrical box of the house. THAT scares the bejeebers out of me. I wish I wasn't so afraid of it, though, because having watched and held a flashlight for friend electricians, I can see that hard-wiring light fixtures, fans, outlets and switches into walls and ceilings isn't hard to do. As far as I can tell, it just takes nerves of steel.
DeleteNerves of steel - yep, for sure!
DeleteI am not sure what my superpower is, but it is certainly not the same as yours! I am impressed! Hubby is extremely handy, so I have never needed to learn those skills. (I wonder if that's a good thing or a bad thing?)
ReplyDeleteBeing handy has its perks and drawbacks, it seems to me. While I'm more inclined to try to figure a thing like this out, truthfully, neither of feels particularly handy anymore. Which means, we're just as likely to hire a job done. While expensive, it does mean that once we decide to get a job done, it gets done. Otherwise... like the lamp in the post above, we're inclined to let a task linger knowing, when it comes down to it we can do the thing. It just sometimes takes something to motivate us to do it - or it sometimes also never gets done...
Delete