I'm not even gonna bother with the lame excuses for why it's been so long since I've updated.
So, last week I had my first home maintenance snafu. Since our living room lights tend to output roughly the amount of light needed in your average prison break spotlights I decided to install some dimmer switches in the living room. Everything was going according to plan until I couldn't get one of the switches to work when the other was turned off (i.e. if switch 1 was "on" then switch 2 would turn the lights on and off but if switch 1 was off switch 2 did nothing). Apparently that is just how dimmer switches work and is also why no one installs 2 dimmers to the same set of lights. Well, not knowing this I thought there was a "problem" and thought I could "fix" it. I made the "corrections" and upon flipping the circuit breaker was treated to a very loud and deeply unsettling popping noise followed by continued darkness. I then went back and hooked up the dimmers how I originally had them and now could not get the lights to turn on. Firmly convinced that I had in one fell swoop completely destroyed our new condo's wiring I proceeded to haul out a plug-in lamp and sat in semi-darkness in front of the tv, firmly demoralized. So the next day I decided to put back on the original light switches and Eureka! we had light again. I assumed (whether correct or not) that the reason they had stopped working was that I had blown out my dimmer switches when I wired one of the things wrong. I therefore decided to get some new switches and I am proud to say that we are now fully capable of multiple lumen outputs in our living room and front hall!
Somewhat bolstered by my eventual success, I decided to tackle another daunting task: mounting our flat screen tv on the wall. We recently bought a 37-inch LCD to replace our mammoth 53-inch projection monstrosity since it just took up way too much space in the bedroom. LCDs are quite a bit lighter than plasmas and I felt like a 50lb structure was something I could handle. So I got my first experience using a stud finder. I always wondered how the hell those worked. Apparently, it's just a magnetic sensor that detects the nails that are used to attach the drywall to the studs. Anyway, I am happy to say that as of now (8 days after mounting), our tv remains firmly affixed to our wall. Overall, there's really nothing to it. But let me just tell you how unnerving it is when you first hang the tv up! There are only 4 little screws that only go in about a quarter inch holding the bracket to the tv. Then there are only two giant screws that hold the frame to the wall. That means that all that stands between you and disaster are 6 screws. Considering that works out to only about 8 pounds per screw, though, I guess it's not so bad.
In other condo updates, we craigslisted our leather couch and sold it on Monday. In an amazing coincidence, the people that bought it live next door. That was a pretty amusing chain of e-mails:
Where are you located?
In Evanston
Great, me too. Where at?
Basically Noyes and Ridge
Wow, that's exactly where I'm at. What address?
2151
No way! I am at 2153
We bought the couch about 2 years ago (also off of craigslist) for $100. We listed it for $150, figuring that we would get negotiated down to about $100, but god bless the naive Northwestern student who didn't bother even trying to negotiate. So we made $50 on the deal. Not bad. The new couch is getting delivered tomorrow, so we have been sans couch since Monday. I'll tell you something; I never realized how therapeutic it was to come home and sit or lay on the couch until I didn't have that option anymore. Sitting in a chair just doesn't do it.
In other news, I am taking the first part of the CPA exam on Monday, so most of my free time that hasn't been dedicated to the condo has been spent studying for that. I feel decently prepared, but I still have a loooooong weekend's worth of studying to do before I'll truly feel ready (and I probably still won't even then). And once I'm done on Monday, the countdown begins anew with 28 days till the next one. Anyway, wish me luck!
By the way, you have no idea how old it makes me feel to have just written a very lengthy post about home improvement and couch transactions.
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5 comments:
Yay, home improvement stories are fun. Would it really be 8 pounds per screw though? In a way, it's 25 pounds per screw, when you think of what's holding it to the wall. And that is a lot.
No mishaps with Svorken or Troblek or Nyumbe or Morduv?
Good luck on the CPA!
"No mishaps with Svorken or Troblek or Nyumbe or Morduv?"
Becky has officially gone round the bend and started speaking in tongues.
The art of negotiating has been lost. Too many people think that even when they buy something from another person that the price is the price, period. It reminds me of the time on Seinfeld when George tried to negotiate for some mixed fruit at a fruit stand (I think I have that correct.) He was promptly thrown out.
When you said you had no couch I pictured you sitting on the floor with a dim one-lightbulb lampwatching TV and eating pork-rinds out of the bad.
Just to speak up for Becky's sanity (at least in this one particular case) she is referring to the swedish IKEA names of all of our furniture we put together. To set the record straight, they are:
Leksvik (Hutch)
Grevback (Bookcase)
Jokkmokk (Kitchen Table)
Markor (Entertainment Center and Sideboard)
And no, so far no mishaps.
Thanks for defending my honor, John.
Ha, I think it's hilarious that I just thought of the craziest, most tongue-twisting names I could think of, and they turned out to be very similar to the actual Swedish names. Awesome. My favorite is Jakkmokk. As if it wasn't hack-throaty enough without extraneous k's.
Find, fine. I return Becky to her regtularly scheduled level of crazy.
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