I promise to post something more entertaining later, but, here’s how I spent some good drawing time –
I’ve been able to address this part of the house, so this much of it looks o.k. – but if I pulled the camera back, you’d see all the parts that still aren’t.
The switch that was here had been dysfunctional for decades. The original switch had trouble holding the “up” position. Last night, I finally got around to that item on my long, long list of fixes. This new switch is wired totally different than the original 50 year old switch – which was a three-way switch (two switches controlling one light). So we’ve got two extra complications here – the new switch is different because a ground was added, and it’s harder to understand how it works because it is a three-way switch. It took several trips to the internet, and several wrong attempts at wiring the new switch, to find the correct arrangement of wires.
And now it works right, and with the new metal wall plate it’s super pretty –
If you made it this far, here’s a pro tip – most cleaning jobs can be made easy with the right brush. That won’t sound like much until you have to apply it, then you’ll realize how big a difference such a mundane piece of knowledge can make in your life.
These little outlets and switches collect dirt and gunk, and look awful. A toothbrush and rubbing alcohol will get the dirt out, and the alcohol will evaporate away.
Most of you will never live in a log cabin, but if you do, a tire brush with bristles shaped to go around a tire works just as well on logs. Logs are terrible about collecting dust, and there’s no other good way to clean them.
I know this isn’t exciting, but, the absence of practical knowledge will have you beating yourself up over things that aren’t actually hard to do. Then you’ll end up living life poorly, for no good reason.
Since we’re moving to a civilizational model where everyone is alone with their internet buddies, we’ll all need to learn how to do the practical stuff. There’s no more splitting chores with a spouse anymore, for most of us. Most of us will have to learn it all and do it all.
So when you go into a store, look at their brushes. These things punch far above their weight. Some good ones show up once, and never again.