DIY 5

 New house, new projects

    We lived in our first house about 10 years.  Then we bought a Wausau home.

    For those of you not familiar with the concept, the house is built in a factory.  Walls are constructed with wiring and duct work in place.  The bathroom is built as a drop in unit, with a  tub, sink, stool and all the other needed things.  The entire house is loaded on flatbeds, trucked to the site and lifted into place.  We were both teaching and one of the kids in the new neighborhood told Jackie a lot of trucks were at our lot.  

    She went out at noon and they were just starting to put the roof on.  I went out after school and the roof was on and the trucks gone.

    It was not finished.  Electrical, HVAC, and some trim work all had to be done.

    It had a galley kitchen....about 4 feet wide and 10 feet long.

    We were putting a range hood in, but for some reason it was not there when the electrician was finishing up.

    He told me he left the wiring inside a hole in the wall.  All I had to do was fish it out with a coathanger, hook it to the hood, and screw the hood up.

    No problemo.

    I could do that.

    The hood finally came.  I turned on the lights in the kitchen, then went downstairs and flipped the breaker.  I came up, check the wall outlets, then went downstairs to flip that breaker.  I checked everything to make sure there was no power.

    You can see where this is going, right?

    I got a coathanger, poked it into the wall, grabbed the wire and pulled.

    It would not come through the hole....the bunch of wires was too big for the hole.

    I kept pulling and pulling but could not get it through.

    So I went and got a vice grips.  (I know it's a brand name and should be capitalized....sue me.)

    Got the wires close to the hole, held on with my coat hanger, clamped my vice grips to the wire and

BOOOOOOM!!!!!!

    I go flying across the kitchen in a blast of smoke and dust.  The wall is blackened and my normally straight hair suddenly became curly.

    My first thought was:  Why in the hell are there 3 breakers in a 4 x10 foot kitchen!  Then I check my shorts.

    Undeterred by  a near death experience, I went back downstairs and flipped the main breaker, cutting off all power to the house.

    I then safely, but with some slightly shaky hands, a major overdose of adrenalin, and a good amount of dread,  installed the hood.

    And it even worked.

Peace and Love