Shocking Truth

Sometimes I like to do electrical work on live wiring, though I do not recommend it to sane persons. With some precautions it's not overly dangerous. For example, I try not to do any work while sitting in the bathtub or taking a shower or wearing rain-soaked tennis shoes. I try not to put wires in my mouth or ears. Just basic precautions.

Once, when we lived in Arizona, I went up on the roof to speak to the roofer. The electrical power came from the street to the roof above the back porch of our house, and the roofer guy was concerned that the wiring was causing a water leak. I still remember that day because I am excessively afraid of heights, and I can see us squatting together there on the edge of the roof. "You mean here?" I asked, reaching out toward the wires, but he caught my arm with a sudden fierceness and scolded me like a child. "That would kill you dead," he yelled at me. I'm not sure if I was just pointing or I actually would have touched the wires.

A few days ago, one of our friend's daughters came over to spend the night and do crochet with Cheryl. The paneling project is on hold, and you can see the electrical sockets, still painted blue, were hanging out from the wall, which is not safe for young visitors, so I spent the day putting in new sockets.

It would make my mother proud to know that I did try to save money and clean the paint off of these--using steel wool--which is also not something I would recommend. After a massive shock, I went down and turned off the electricity to the room. One or two bursts of electricity per year is probably sufficient for me at this point.