Workman's Hands

I am on to my second blister. This one from replacing the 'serious' electrical sockets in kitchen. These cost anywhere from $9-13 dollars a piece. Yes, I know, Outrageous! They also have 12 gauge wire in them, in other words, HEAVY wire that requires too many patience and a strong hand to twist them into place.

I also discovered that the sockets we had were old and came with the house, so they were of course, say it with me Dad, "Not Standard." I swear this is the running commentary on this house, nothing is standard.

But back to the switches, my Dad and Brother have been continually telling me to just replace the wires in the exact same places on the back of the switches. Fortunately, I also had a very complicated lesson from my Dad about ground wires, the white wire going into the silver screw and the black wire going into the gold screw. This came in handy, because the old switches had their wires switched and upside down and every which way.

The thing with electrical sockets is this: Once you start taking out wires, you're committed. Especially in this instance, because you can't just leave it there and turn on the electricity, otherwise you'd have Live, exposed wires. I committed and I finished and I tested and everything test ok. So why do I keep praying I don't burn down the house?