Let There Be Light!

 A few days ago I wrote that I was struggling.  Honestly, I was feeling a bit defeated.  This time of year, hitting all the anniversaries of losing Bob, is hard.  I feel bad about Don and Della having to sell the Mexico Beach house.  My replacing the dead outlet in the cottage didn't solve the problem.  And the overhead light in the bathroom burned out (not the light, the fixture itself)

I had gotten out the little stepladder and pulled the cover off of that light - I figured that I could just remove and replace the light sockets.  Nope - they're built into the fixture, so a new fixture would have to be wired in.  And at the time, I just wasn't up to it.  I figured when I got an electrician in to repair the outlet I would have him put up the light.  And that was going to have to wait, because Duke Energy is putting in new power poles and at the moment happen to be working literally in my driveway, so getting in and out of here is problematical (side note: they're actually being very nice about moving equipment when I have to use the driveway).

But that was Saturday.  Tuesday I went to see Gill to deliver some eggs - and have some scones (she now has a baking business).  Then I went to Lowe's and bought the new light fixture - just a basic one.

And what the heck - I dragged the taller step ladder in from the barn, looked at instructions, watched a YouTube video, and thought "just how hard can this be?"
In concept, not hard.  In reality, a royal pain in the butt.  You're up on a ladder, working in a confined area without much visibility, uncapping and untwisting wires, taking the old fixture down, holding the new fixture up with one hand while trying to reach in and twist and cap wires with the other.

I've watch Bob do this before.  The difference is that he knew the magical incantations, such as "I need a pair of needle nose pliers" and a pair would come floating out of the toolbox and into his hand.  Or "I need this held in place" and lo and behold, he could use both hands to do the wiring.

I am not good at these incantations, and they soon turned into swearing.  Especially at the end, when you have to press the fixture with quite a bit of force to compress the insulation while trying to get the two screws which you cannot see because you're holding the fixture against them and they're getting buried in said insulation.  My neck and shoulders were seizing up and the language was deteriorating.

Finally the screws came through.  I put in the bulbs, put on the glass covering. and with fear and trepidation in my heart I flipped the circuit breaker back on.

Nothing exploded.

I flipped the light switch.  

Light came on.

Sometimes people wonder why I do these things myself.  There are people to do this.  But getting it done, then writing a check and handing it over, would not have given me that moment of flipping the switch and then dancing around the room, arm pumping, and yelling "BOOYAH!!!  IN YOUR FACE!!"

So freakin' satisfying.