Thursday, May 11, 2006
Kitty power
I thought about posting a few photos of the new panel and meter, mostly for my father in Massachusetts (hi, Daddy!), but I probably won't. As Yoda would say: "Photogenic they are not, but important they are, hmm."
Previously, we had been running the house on roughly two-thirds of the power we needed, and that was before any work on the updated kitchen began. I think our salesman giving an enthusiastic, "Sure, we can do that!" when John asked about upping and replacing the panel is what sold him on the whole renovation idea.
So while yesterday wasn't very exciting in terms of photography, it was a big day for this tired old house. All day long we had plumbers' and electricians' giant trucks clogging our driveway as they finished those decidedly unglamorous aspects of the job.
The plumber hooked up the kitchen sink and water filter (which doesn't seem to work?!) and disposal, and installed a new toilet and vanity in the basement bathroom (bringing us up to two usable bathrooms in the house now -- up from one but still down from our usual three). The electrician did all sorts of electriciany stuff, which required power being off for most of the day and my shuttling the kids to playground after playground on a freakishly, unseasonably hot day.
Finally I could take no more running around, so we went home before the work was finished. The electricians were making lights flicker and testing apparati beep and throwing switches. The master electrician nicely asked permission to have the run of the house, which I gave along with a shy warning about the cat: "Just tell your crew that if the cat approaches, not to touch her. Don't make any sudden moves or try to be friendly, because she may bite. I mean, she hasn't bitten anyone in a long time, but she's been known to do that. In fact, she has bitten most of our friends and family members. But really, as long as they keep out of her way, it should be all right."
The master electrician considered this briefly, then called his assistant on his walkie-talkie: "Jason. Do not touch the cat. The cat will kill you."
No one died, either from feline-inflicted injuries or electrical shock. I think this means that not only is our electrical system adequately upgraded, but the Zelda the cat is past her prime as an attack-cat.
Previously, we had been running the house on roughly two-thirds of the power we needed, and that was before any work on the updated kitchen began. I think our salesman giving an enthusiastic, "Sure, we can do that!" when John asked about upping and replacing the panel is what sold him on the whole renovation idea.
So while yesterday wasn't very exciting in terms of photography, it was a big day for this tired old house. All day long we had plumbers' and electricians' giant trucks clogging our driveway as they finished those decidedly unglamorous aspects of the job.
The plumber hooked up the kitchen sink and water filter (which doesn't seem to work?!) and disposal, and installed a new toilet and vanity in the basement bathroom (bringing us up to two usable bathrooms in the house now -- up from one but still down from our usual three). The electrician did all sorts of electriciany stuff, which required power being off for most of the day and my shuttling the kids to playground after playground on a freakishly, unseasonably hot day.
Finally I could take no more running around, so we went home before the work was finished. The electricians were making lights flicker and testing apparati beep and throwing switches. The master electrician nicely asked permission to have the run of the house, which I gave along with a shy warning about the cat: "Just tell your crew that if the cat approaches, not to touch her. Don't make any sudden moves or try to be friendly, because she may bite. I mean, she hasn't bitten anyone in a long time, but she's been known to do that. In fact, she has bitten most of our friends and family members. But really, as long as they keep out of her way, it should be all right."The master electrician considered this briefly, then called his assistant on his walkie-talkie: "Jason. Do not touch the cat. The cat will kill you."
No one died, either from feline-inflicted injuries or electrical shock. I think this means that not only is our electrical system adequately upgraded, but the Zelda the cat is past her prime as an attack-cat.
