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It was 11:30, and the electricians left the apartment, with an appointment to come again next Monday for the next round of headaches. But things didn't go as bad as expected, as moving a couple of things resulted in a better apartment.
But first....
RQS and I usually get up around 10:30 when she's here. Today, both of us were up around 7:30, so that we could be showered and dressed by 9:00 am. The electricians were waiting outside at 9:00 am sharp, and had turned off all the power in the apartment by 9:05 - not giving RQS a chance to get acclimated to anything. (She made the minor mistake of opening the refrigerator door once to get milk for her coffee, and this was the only time I got slightly upset - no power meant no refrigeration, and I didn't want the contents of the refrigerator to get warm.) By 9:15, I was moving both boxes and furniture, so that the electricians could rewire the outlets and switches.
What was being done, you may be asking - and why?
When these apartments were built, virtually all the interior wiring was aluminum based. Over the years, it was shown that aluminum wiring could cause a fire, and that special connectors had to be used, so that the wiring in our buildings wouldn't be a fire hazard. Although it is a low risk, our bank required that we do this work in order to get our mortgage refinanced. This is for good reason. A fire in a building adjacent to our complex may have been caused by wiring issues. So we chose this month to deal with this issue.
I knew that this would be a headache for many of us, and I made sure that people knew that many of the seniors living here may need help moving things out of the way. (I did, and I still have most of my body mass and muscle strength.) So, when the electricians started work on the refrigerator and stove circuits, both appliances had to be moved out of the way. (The area behind the refrigerator is quite grungy, and I'll hate it if I ever need to clean the linoleum back there.) Once done, the refrigerator was pushed back into place, and voila!, the refrigerator was now level. I no longer have to play games to take care of this. Instead, I now have to figure out why the door won't close completely. (But that's another story for another day.)
Midway through the work, the owner of the electrical company came by, and I made sure to compliment the two fellows who worked on the place. However, the boss wondered why these fellows didn't turn on the AC once the breaker box was serviced, only leaving circuits meant to be dead as dead. (I wondered why as well, as it was as warm in here as in the NYC subway today.) Within 90 minutes, at least 10 outlets and 6 light switches were rewired. Only 3 outlets are left, and they will be done on 2 different days.
Once the 2 guys left, it was time to relax before taking RQS to the train station. Although I still had a lot to do at the end of the day, I no longer worry about how disruptive this work would prove to be....
