Odd jobs

I often need something to do other than read and drink wine so I do a few odd jobs around the place; before drinking the wine, of course.

The washing machine wasn’t filling up very fast so I cleaned out the filters. It made a slight difference but not much. After I put it back together, the hoses were leaking all over the floor so I ran up to the town for some new washers. Saying ‘new washers’ suggests that there were old washers, but there were none. It fixed the problem though.

The light over the patio wouldn’t light so I put in a new bulb. It still didn’t light.. I pulled the fitting and the whole thing fell apart in my hand. Another trip to the hardware store for a replacement. It works now.

The stairs to the roof have cute sconce lights to illuminate the stairs. There is a switch at the top and bottom but only the top one works. I discovered that the lights ran off the main breaker which was located at the bottom of the yard.

The wall running down the side of the garden has lights and creates a really nice ambiance in the evening. However, just after we got here there was heavy rainfall and they haven’t worked since—another job for Sparky Wells. When I took the switches apart they were all corroded and I had to replace three of them. The one for the stairs works agin now but the garden lights are going to be more of a challenge.

I was waiting in the hardware store with the old switch plate so I could show them what I needed and realized that it was modular. You can take out the switch and either replace it with a new one or an outlet socket. And the plate takes up to three units. Very convenient.

The biggest problem is that all this stuff is outside without proper protection. Even the main breaker for the house is on an outside wall and exposed to the elements.

Rosalie thinks the light in the kitchen isn’t good enough and I have to agree with her, even though it means another job for me. I pulled the old one down to see what I was in for and found that it was a very low-energy LED setup. I now have to find one on Amazon or maybe uptown to replace it.

Me, after fixing all that stuff.

Our shade cloth on the roof is a bit of a challenge as it’s quite big (16′ X 20′)and tends to sag in the middle. I’ve ordered some clips to see if I can pull it a bit tighter to raise it up a bit more. Unfortunately, the delivery is caught up in Amazon neverland and I see that the expected delivery date is yesterday.

I put up all the wire mesh to keep the cats, dogs, small kids, goats and turkeys out. That worked out well. Now I wait until a cat comes in over the neighbour’s wall and I chase it. I want to see its expression when it hits the mesh. Boy! I’m evil.