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Hodgepodge – Books, Mechanics, and Overall Cuteness

Posted on October 12, 2011 by auburnchick

I’m loving the short week, aren’t you?  With Monday off, the Hodgepodge sneaked up on me (that doesn’t sound right, but it’s grammatically correct)!

If you don’t know the drill, here’s what you do.  You answer the questions in you own little corner of the world, visit Joyce‘s blog, link up there, and visit others!  Easy peasy!

Now, on to the questions!

1.  Have you ever been “asked” to report for jury duty?  Were you chosen to serve?  If not, were you happy or disappointed?

I did have to report for jury duty…FEDERAL jury duty.  Let me tell you…the security was something else…a little unnerving!  I never made it out of the holding pen, though, as a jury was selected before I even faced the lawyers.  Honestly, I think I was somewhat relieved.

2.  On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being very), how mechanically inclined are you?  Give an example to back up your answer.

I’m going to say an 8 because of the many, many household repairs I’ve done.

For instance, I once repaired the doorbell…

I also fixed the heating element in the oven…

And last, but not least, I cleaned the carburetor of my lawn mower…

And no, I don’t chew tobacco and walk around with a toothpick between my teeth.  😉

3.  Beets-cabbage-cauliflower-butternut squash…of the four, which is your favorite fall vegetable?

Hmmm…this is a toss-up between cabbage and cauliflower.  Flatulence speaking, I’d have to go with cauliflower because as a teacher, I can’t afford for the cabbage to leave its residual effect.  Sorry if that’s too TMI, but I like to keep things real.

(Maybe I do walk around chewing tobacco…hmmm…you might be a redneck if you talk about flatulence on your blog…)

4.  What do you recommend to overcome self-pity?

Listen to a student tell you that he’s hungry, or listen while another student recounts a time when she heard gunshots.

Suddenly, your life seems pretty easy.

5.  Do you enjoy classical music?

Hmmm…let me think…for all of two seconds…NO.  I just can’t get into it.  Now, if Shakira was putting her little twist into it, that might be another thing (see last week’s Hodgepodge if you’re wondering why I even mention her name).

6.  October is National Book Month.  What’s on your reading list this month?

I am a reading teacher; however, I am also a second “first” year teacher (first year in the public school system).  I’m reading, but not necessarily stuff for fun.  I’ve currently got two or three academic books going…one of which is I Read It But I Don’t Get It.

I am getting ready to begin reading The Hunger Games to my students as a daily read aloud.  I finished this book a couple of weeks ago.  What a fantastic read!

This past weekend, I also finished Alex Cross’s Trial by James Patterson.  Oh my!  This is a powerful book!

BTW, have y’all heard of goodreads?  It’s a fun website where you can keep track of the books you’ve read.

7.  What is your idea of “cute”?

Aubie

Pele

Molly

8.  My Random Thought

I would greatly appreciate if you would pray for Chicky today.  A couple of weeks ago, she dislocated her right shoulder during a soccer game…the only soccer game I’ve been able to watch.  It broke my heart to see her go down, stay down, and then get up and play, hurt, the entire game.  She’s a tough competitor and hates being out of commission for any reason.

She had an MRI yesterday…the kind where you inject dye into the affected area so as to get a clearer picture.

She’ll be getting the results first thing this morning.

We are praying that nothing is torn, because surgery is the last thing we want.  We’ve been down that road before with other body parts, and it’s not fun.

Please pray:  1) that there’s nothing torn (might as well go for the gusto), 2) that we gracefully accept whatever the findings are, and 3) that God gives the doctor wisdom as to the best course of treatment, no matter what the results.

Thanks all!

Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: , , | 10 Comments »

Light Anxiety

Posted on December 9, 2010 by auburnchick

Light Anxiety occurs every year around Christmas.

It sneaks up on you ever so slowly.

One moment you have a beautiful tree…lit up in all of its glory…

Then, one night you look over and see a tree sporting a dark section near the middle…

You wander to the tree, praying that your eyes are deceiving you.  But no.  They aren’t.  You discover two rounds of unlit bulbs.

Light Anxiety sets in.

You have a problem.

You have already decorated the tree.

You have already placed presents beneath it.

What to do.

You growl to yourself every time you walk past it, determined to get to the bottom of the issue.

You try not to tear the tree apart in the process.

You give up in resignation.  Your tree will not be perfect this year.

But then…God intervenes.

Remember that His Word says that He will never give you more than you can bear.

(I kind of think that Light Anxiety is not what He had in mind when He breathed life into these words, but I also know that He is merciful.)

Oh yes, God works His magic and directs Anne Hanson, knitter extraordinaire, to blog about a handy-dandy tool (and then He directs you to read her blog at the very height of your despair)…

You head to Home Depot in search the gadget and eagerly hurry home to try it out.  The salesperson at the store vowed that it would work wonders.  You keep your fingers crossed.

Of course, you read the instructions carefully.  You are working with an electrical current, after all.

You remove one of the bulbs in the unlit section and plug the empty pod into one part of the tool…

Then, you press the trigger twenty times as instructed, but nothing happens.  On to Step 2.

You check the fuses by finding the end of the light strand…

Because you are so handy with home-improvement projects, you know that Christmas light strands have two fuses, and the covers slide open…

Fuses are tiny things, so be careful not to drop them…

When multiple light strands are plugged in together, it is not uncommon to blow a fuse or two.  Replacing them usually fixes problems, so you replace yours.

No cigar.  The lights still don’t work.

Then, you notice a part of the instructions you had previously missed…the part where the handy-dandy tool has a fuse checker…

Cool beans!  If the light turns on when the metal ends make contact with the metal ends of the fuse checker, then the fuse is good.  No more throwing away supposedly “bad” fuses!

But, the problem still isn’t fixed, so on to Step 3…circuit checking.

A tip:  Never, ever do this while your teenager is writing a rough draft of a research paper.  Said person will get very annoyed with you.  Of course, if this doesn’t bother you, by all means proceed.

Checking a light strand’s circuit is a little tricky.  First, you must do this with the lights plugged into a power source.  It is fine to leave the lights on the tree, plugged into another set of lights that works.

Second, you must hold the handy-dandy tool a half-inch away from an unlit bulb, beginning with one end of the lights.  Do not…I repeat…do NOT hold the tool close to a lit bulb.

What you discover will happen is that the tool will emit a high-pitched beep when you have a current (i.e. above a lit bulb).  An unlit bulb is a clear indication that there is no power getting to that bulb.

So, you hold your hand over the lit bulbs (to block false positives) surrounding the unlit ones and make your way around the tree, not really understanding what you are doing but persistently going forth.  Because you don’t know what you’re doing, you frequently test out the tool by holding it, on purpose, over lit bulbs, causing the tool to beep loudly.

Meanwhile, your boy-child grows more and more angry.

Let him stew.  It’s only a rough draft.

Continue making your way around the tree, holding the tool over each unlit bulb until you finally reach one where you hear the beautimous (yes, that is a made-up word, but it’s my blog, so who cares) sound of a beep.

Even though the bulb is dark, you know there is a current running through the circuit to that point.  Check the bulb beside this one.  If you do not hear a beep, then you can surmise, through your wonderful power of deduction, that this is the faulty bulb and, hence, the cause of the Light Anxiety you are currently experiencing.

But, you still aren’t sure.  It is at this point when you discover that your handy-dandy tool has another neat feature…the ability to check the bulbs from the light strand.  It even has a bulb puller-out thingy (which you don’t need to use because you are such a fabulous DIYer).

After pulling out the bulb, you stick it into the bulb checker…

You must make sure that the bulb’s wires make contact with the metal sides of the bulb checker.  If the bulb does not light up (see the picture above), then that bulb is dead and headed for the trash can.  Likewise, if the bulb is good, the bulb will light up…

You replace the bad bulb with a good one (remember to check the new one first).

This is when you hear the angels start singing again.

They are heralding the exodus of your Light Anxiety while ushering in the peace that accompanies a fully-lit tree…

Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: , , , , | 5 Comments »

It’s All in the Thumb Action

Posted on July 21, 2010 by auburnchick

Gomer Pyle came back to the house yesterday.

Don’t remember him?  Check out this post from last week.

This time, he carried with him a brand spanking new toilet tank…

This is model #706 which, according to my plumber, replaces model #703…

One would think that installing a new tank is a simple matter, and, quite honestly, it was.

Until…

Mr. Gomer Pyle the Plumber called me into the bathroom to check out the new commode.

“Notice the square edges of the tank?” he asked?  “I hope you don’t mind that it’s not rounded like the one before.”

“Uh huh,” I said.  “It actually looks quite nice,” I continued.

Honestly, it is a toilet, and I am not exactly Martha Stewart where the lines in the house have to mesh.

I am all about function.

Not only was the shape of the tank different, but instead of having the flusher handle on the front like before, it is now located on the side, and it is silver instead of white.

I like the silver.  It matches my bathroom fixtures.

But I digress.

Location, location, location.

Apparently, folks, location of a toilet’s flusher handle makes quite a bit of difference in the way a toilet flushes.

And that’s when I got a lesson in how to flush the toilet.

I kid you not.

After boasting of the curved edges, the plumber instructed me to “Give ‘er a flush.”

Um, okayyyyyyyyyyy…

So, I flushed (not having used the bathroom first, thank gosh).

The toilet only flushed half-way.

Great.

Here I have a new tank, but it wouldn’t flush properly.

Ahhhh…but that was part of the lesson (I’m picking up tips since I am going to be teaching my own classes for the first time).

See, Gomer knew I would not be flushing properly, and he considered it his duty to make sure he did not leave the house until I understood the proper method of flushing my new potty.

First of all, because the flusher handle is located on the side of the tank, there is less give between the chain of the flapper and the metal arm that connects the handle to said flapper…

This is a flapper, in case you ever need to ask for this part at Home Depot or Lowe's

Apparently, it’s all in the thumb action.

Folks, yesterday, I learned that one mustn’t throw his/her entire body weight into the flush motion.

Gee, it’s going to be like learning a new golf swing.  Sheesh Louise!

First, you quickly swipe your thumb down the flush handle, pushing it down firmly as you go…

If you use the correct thumb action, the flapper will pop open (as opposed to lingering in the up position), forcing the water out of the tank (and thus flushing your poo out of the bowl), and refilling the tank with a new batch of water.

The plumber made me practice several times before I got it right.

Before he left, he gave me the lid and handle to the broken tank.  That makes two that I am now storing in my attic.

Some people collect dolls.  I collect toilet tank covers.

Anyhoo…I am off to practice my thumb action…yet another skill I can add to the ole resume.

Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: , , | 4 Comments »

When Nature Calls…

Posted on July 15, 2010 by auburnchick

…you fight Daddy for the potty.

Allow me to explain.

My day was rudely interrupted when I discovered the following…

Yeah.

A crack in the kids’ toilet tank.

Thank goodness I got Vanish Drop-Ins on sale this week, because when I was in the kids’ bathroom trying on clothes a friend had given me, I happened to notice blue water on the floor.

Upon closer inspection, I saw that the crack is quite long…spanning almost the entire length of the tank…

It was like standing in front of a dam when the first pebble hits.

What started as a very small trickle worked its way into a full-fledged draining…on my floor, with some of the water going into the bucket I hurriedly placed underneath it…

The best that I can figure is that when I was putting in the Vanish Drop-In, I set the tank cover down too too hard, resulting in the crack.

Ugh.

I called the Mr. who told me the obvious…call the plumber.

I did, hating every moment of it.  They don’t come cheap.

Someone assured me they would have a technician on the way ASAP, and I hopped on Google.

I had to do my homework.

I hunted for videos on how to fix the toilet myself.  You know how I loathe paying others to do something I can take care of myself.

But, after I realized that the job would probably involve begging making the Mr. help, I decided to go with whatever the plumber said.  Plus, anything that involves water and leakage makes me nervous. Plus, toilets are just plain gross.

The plumber came.

What a strange man he was.

Very Redneck Southern.

But, he was nice and knew his stuff.

“Yeah, that there is probably a 703, but it could be a 706.  I think the 703’s were discontinued a while back…”

Oh my gosh.

I got the Gomer Pyle of toilet repairmen.

Whatever, whatever.  Just please order me a toilet tank, and could you hurry up with that, I wanted to say.  I have teenagers…one of whom is a girl.  She needs her bathroom!

I won’t tell you what the repair is costing.  I will only say that I gasped, knowing that most of the cost is for the labor, which I am quite capable of doing.

Grrr.

I signed away the rest of my life and saw the guy to the door.

Meanwhile, I put this note on the toilet…to remind the kids not to use it…

Folks, we’ve decided that we have been spoiled.

We have always had at least two bathrooms in our homes.  Once, we even had three.  Oh the luxury of all but one of us being able to tinkle whenever the urge hit.  And oh the satisfaction of beating the fourth person in the race to get there…

Yeah.  I know.  We find humor in strange things.

So, four people will be using one bathroom for…gasp…five days…

It’s going to be a long week!

Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: , | 2 Comments »

AuburnChick Fixes the Lawn Mower

Posted on November 1, 2009 by auburnchick

The lawn mower must have sensed my need to reconnect with my toolbox because it absolutely refused to crank last weekend when Rooster tried to cut the grass.

I’m comfortable enough with the mower to change the oil filter and spark plug.  When I removed the spark plug, oil poured out, and I knew I was in trouble…

I remembered over-filling the oil reservoir about a year ago.  I guess oil doesn’t “magically” disappear.  No wonder you’re supposed to dispose of it carefully!

Realizing that this wasn’t going to be a quick fix, I did what comes naturally and googled the problem.  My search led me to believe that the problem was probably the carburetor.

Say what?

As in a part that I know belongs in my car?

Oh boy.

I had no idea what a carburetor does until I found this link, but I had a feeling it was something important.

All I’ve got to say is thank you YouTube!  I found this informative video…

After running to Home Depot for parts, I got down to work…

The first thing I needed to do was change the oil.  A very knowledgeable associate at Home Depot had assisted me in the selection of a drip pan earlier in the day.  He also advised me to use sand or kitty litter to soak up the oil…

$2 - Not bad!

If you have the type of mower in which you need to turn it sideways, make sure you turn it away from the carburetor side.  You really do not want oil in your carburetor.

In the end, you’re left with this…

Next it was time to work on the carburetor.  The guy in the video directs you to remove the fuel tank, but I opted not to after reading someone’s comment that it wasn’t necessary.

First, to locate the carburetor.  It should look like this…

Pretty dirty, eh?

I used a rag and carburetor cleaner to get the dirt off of the outside of the bowl…

Now it was time to select a tool…AR AR AR (Tim the Toolman’s happy grunt)…

Which one would I use to remove the screw from the bottom of the carburetor?

Can you believe that after 20 years of marriage, this is probably the first time these tools have been used?

You would think that all socket wrenches are the same, but I’m here to tell you they aren’t!  I tried one but the socket was too long.  Thank goodness the Mr. had collected two sets of these babies.  I wound up using the one on the left, attaching the 1/2 socket after taking the picture…

As I removed the screw, gasoline started leaking out of the bottom of the carburetor.  Thank goodness I had watched the video, because I knew this was normal.  I decided that I better put on some gloves…

While the gas was draining from the mower, I had to inspect the screw I had just removed.  You wouldn’t think it’s all that important for it to be squeaky clean, but my research made me realize that debris interferes with the carburetor’s ability to mix the gas with air.  Even the little holes on the sides must be cleaned!  As you can tell from the picture below, mine wasn’t dirty at all…

The little black thing that’s sitting below the hole is the gasket the guy in the video was scraping off.  Mine was completely intact, so I didn’t have to replace it.

By this time, the mower had emptied itself of its gas, so I could remove the bowl from the bottom of the carburetor.  I was surprised to find that it was fairly clean.  Despite this, I sprayed a little carburetor cleaner and gave it a good shine…

Next, I removed the O ring, checking for damage and finding myself once again relieved not to have replace another part…

With the O ring off, I was now free to use compressed air to spray debris off of the rest of the carburetor…

Next, I reattached the O ring and carefully set up the bowl with the shallow end closer to the inner part of the mower…

I used the socket wrench to tighten the screw under the bowl…

Next up was the air filter.

An air filters plays an important role in keeping a lawn mower engine running properly.  If a filter is dirty, air cannot move around and out properly.  It was obvious that I needed to change mine…

Changing an air filter is so easy that even my friend, Rebecca, could do it.  Just take the old filter out of the rubber housing compartment that you’ve just rotated and pulled off of your mower and replace it with the clean one…

Line up the hole with the peg on the mower…

Rotate it to “set” it (notice the directions imprinted on the casing?)…

By now I’d removed the oil, drained the gas, cleaned the carburetor, and changed the air filter.  The next part of this task was to change the spark plug…another EASY task!

In the picture below, you’ll see that I had already removed the old spark plug.  I don’t know about other mowers, but mine is located on the front of my machine…

To change a spark plug, you need a large socket…

I had to use the larger end of this to fit around my spark plug.

First, screw on the spark plug by hand.

Then, fit the socket over the end of the spark plug (push it in as far as it will go)…

You can use either an Allen Wrench

Or a screwdriver to help turn the socket to tighten the spark plug…

Then, you replace the spark plug wire (it’s covered in rubber and is permanently attached to the mower)…

Yay!  Almost done now!

The last thing I needed to do was fill up the oil reservoir with SAE 30 oil…

Here’s where I actually got nervous.  You see, some time last year, I managed to put too much oil in, and I’ve been paying the price ever since.  So, I poured slowly…

And measured…

And poured and measured again…

I got a little aggravated and pulled out the manual discovering, in the process, that my mower would hold the entire bottle I was pouring (guess that’s why they make them that small).  So I dumped the bottle over without any more worries…

Finally, my work was finished!

And then it was time to see if my work had paid off.

I rolled the mower to the driveway, primed it, and pulled the starter cable.

Nothing.

In fact, I felt the cable pull back suddenly, which was how I got started on this little project to begin with.

Oh no.

I tried again, nearly spraining my wrist when it was roughly jerked forward again.

However, at the same time, I heard the mower sputter and saw it spew forth a little smoke.

Good signs.

I half-heartedly tried again, but my wrist and pinkie were hurting.

The Mr. came outside around this time.

Perfect!

He grabbed hold of the starter cable, jerked back once…

AND THE MOWER STARTED!!!

We watched as smoke escaped from a part I don’t know the name of.

We kept the motor running for a minute, and the smoke cleared.

I think it had been burning off leached oil.

I did a little happy dance and turned off the mower.  It had rained earlier today, and the grass was wet.  Plus, I didn’t want to take away Rooster’s fun (mowing is his job).

After he mows, I’ll prep the machine for the winter by adding fuel stabilizer to the fuel tank to prevent the gas from getting gummy.  I’ll also unhook the spark plug wire when we put it away.

I’ve learned a huge lesson through this.  Regular maintenance is a must…even on a little ole lawn mower.

Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: , | 1 Comment »

AuburnChick Repairs the Vacuum

Posted on June 17, 2009 by auburnchick

For some time now, we’ve had serious issues with our vacuum cleaner.  You know how, when something is sort-of broken, you tell yourself and everyone else that you’ll get to it…eventually?

Well, that’s how I’ve been with the vacuum.  Shame on me!  With three dogs, being able to vacuum is extremely important!  There’s a lot of dog hair in this house!

Just last weekend, the Mr. and I had talked about the need for a new vacuum; however, because of my lack of a job, it is not high on the list of must-buy items.

Yesterday, I decided to see if there was anything I could do.  I mean, last week, I fixed Chicky’s dehumidifier.  You’ve already read about me fixing the doorbell and the garbage disposal.  I’m in Fix-It Mode.

First, I retrieved the manual from the bag where I keep such items.  The back had a section for troubleshooting, and one of the things the manual suggested was that the hoses be checked.

I ambled over and peered down the long black coil.  I didn’t see anything amiss.

Back to the manual, where I read about taking apart such and such part off of such and such part.

Insert Tim the Toolman’s Ar, Ar, Ar.

AuburnChick was gonna get her hands dirty.

Woo Hoo!

Armed with a variety of screwdrives, I got to work.

First, I turned the cleaner on its side to look at the roller brush…

Oh boy.  Not good.  Chicky and I have long-ish hair.  I wondered if this could be the problem.

I found the reset button on the side…the one the manual suggested to get the roller brush turning again.  Could this be the problem?

Alas, no, it wasn’t.  Sure, the brush was turning, but it was still spitting out gunk.

No such thing as a quick fix, eh?  Time to get serious.

I unplugged it and began removing screws and eventually had the thing taken apart.  Look at what I found when I took the top cover off…

That’s dust and dog hair.

Gross!

I made a quick pass at the initial line of dust/hair only to spy this…sticking out of the hose that connects to the roller…

That was just the tip of the iceburg, so to speak.  I removed the rest of the hose and had to use the longest screwdriver to push out the rest of the junk that had gotten jammed inside…

What a nasty, icky job!  I meticulously cleaned the rest of the vacuum, cut the hair from the roller brush, and put all of the parts back together.  I didn’t even have any parts left over!

It was now time to test it.

Would it work?

Of course!  Never doubt AuburnChick’s ability to figure things out!

Never has vacuuming been so much fun (except for the first time I used it after pulling it out of the box).  After cleaning on 1/2 half of one bedroom, here’s what I collected…

Almost an entire container of gunk.

Ewww.

I eagerly made my way through three bedrooms, rearranging furniture in the process.

If you ever want Chicky to do something, let her fix it first.

Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: , | 1 Comment »

Peer Pressure

Posted on May 29, 2009 by auburnchick

The other day, when I pulled into my driveway, this is what I saw:

That is the area between my house and my neighbor’s.  For years, we’ve talked about landscaping the area around those green boxes.  We’ve never actually gotten around to it, though.  Apparently, she decided to take action.

I offered to help plant them, assuring her that I would follow her instructions since my thumb refuses to turn green.  She got the jump on me when she started work the next morning at the early hour of 8:00.

I was shocked when I went bouncing out of the house, showered, face made up, and wearing a fun, summery green skirt and white polo.  It was the last day of school, and I wanted to visit Ms. D, the Attendance Lady, and wish her a good summer.  The last thing I had on my mind was digging up grass and, thus, sweating thus requiring another shower.

I left feeling extremely guilty and called my good friend, Rabbitrescuer.  She told me not to worry.  If I was lucky, she would be done when I got home, and I could sneak into the house unnoticed.  Bad, but guiltily true.

And she was right…the work was done…

While my neighbor was slaving away, I stopped at the school, said my “End of the School Year Goodbyes,” and drove on to Lowe’s to pick up my own plants.

Yeah, I caved to the pressure…the pressure to pretty up my own yard.

A few pictures will illustrate the need for improvement.

Remember how the Mr. and I dug up the trees beside the garage?  We tried planting new shrubs, but they died.  I guess you shouldn’t plant them in the middle of winter.  Insert “I told you so” in the Mr’s direction.

I came home with two Knock Out Rose plants and two packages of Mammoth Sunflower Seeds…

I don’t know if you can read the brown label, but it claims that the roses are “Trouble-free shrubs…that suit any lifestyle.”

We’ll see.

Here’s what it looked like after I planted everything:

I planted sunflower seeds in the plant-less areas below:

The front right corner of this bed…

The small space in front here…

This narrow planter, which will be moved to ground level after the flowers start growing…

And two small pots (recycled from the Knock-Out Roses)…

Maybe, one day, I’ll get nicer pots.  As you know, I tend to wing it around here.  Changes come as slowly and as inexpensively as possible.

Speaking of recycling…my neighbor, kind lady that she is, saved the grass she removed from our new flower bed and told me I could use it for my yard.  My biggest dilemma?  Which bare spots to cover?

The seeds I planted a month and a half ago did not take.  So, I needed to do what I could and start somewhere…

I know.  It’s bad.

Here’s how I look at it.  The grass that I have is, at least, green.  Planting the seeds forced me to begin watering my grass regularly (so much for saving money).  At least the homeowner’s association can’t complain too much.  Thank goodness they can’t see the backyard!  It would take a truckload of grass to fix that area!

Anyhoo…getting back to the flowers…

I took the pictures hoping that in a couple of weeks, I’ll be able to post updated pictures of flowers that are actually GROWING.

One never knows…miracles still do happen sometimes.

Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: , , , | 2 Comments »

Honey, What Did You Do Today?

Posted on May 28, 2009 by auburnchick

Um…let’s see…

I fixed the doorbell.

Say what?!

Yes, AuburnChick’s been at it again…making home repairs.

A couple of days ago, I discovered that the doorbell at my house was defective.  I now suspect that it’s been broken for awhile.  I wonder how many visitors we’ve missed because of this.

What does AuburnChick do when faced with a new repair job?

Google, of course!

I found a few different sites that basically said the same thing.  According to the ‘net, doorbells are comprised of three elements:  the button at the door, the transformer, and the chime.

I printed out one set of instructions and proceeded to the front door, where I followed the first set of instructions.  After touching two of the wires together and getting a tiny spark(can we say scary), the doorbell still didn’t ring.  So, the problem wasn’t with this element.

On to the next.

I realized that a trip to Home Depot was in order.  I’m very comfortable in Home Depot.  I’ve gotta tell you that the doorbell aisle is a fun place to visit!  If you want to annoy a lot of people on a Saturday morning, take your kids and let them push all of the buttons.  Who knew that I could have Greensleeves play in the middle of the summer whenever someone visits?

I’ll admit that I was a bit overwhelmed by the different products available.  Do I get a wireless (which my friend Figaro mentioned in a chat earlier that day), or do I stick with the wired?  Do I get the entire chime set or just the transformer.

If you’re smart, this is where you look for an employee.

I’m smart, and that’s just what I did.  I got a 30-something male who gave me the eye that belied his thoughts, “You’re going to fix that yourself?”

To his credit, he didn’t give voice to this thought.  But he did give me a stern warning to mess with only one wire at a time…that the voltage would be strong if I messed up.

I started getting nervous.

Really nervous…especially after his third warning.

I wound up buying a transformer and a chime.

And I headed home.

I was relieved that Rooster would be there while I switched the parts out.  I didn’t want to electrocute myself and not have anyone find me for hours.

First, I set out what I would need…

Then, I went to the circuit breaker box to find the switch labeled doorbell, but there weren’t any!  Ugh.  What to do?

I went back to Google and discovered that most electricians wire the doorbell in with another circuit since the output is so small.

Great.

I knew that I could do the job without turning off the power, but the Home Depot employee’s warnings kept ringing in my head.

I decided to turn off the main switch.

Rooster had no clue what I was doing until, from the bathroom, he hollered out, “Who turned out the lights?”

I had to laugh.

I climbed a chair armed with a screwdriver and flashlight, which I placed between my boobs.

Go ahead and laugh.

I couldn’t figure out how to handle everything along with a flashlight.  You’ve gotta be resourceful!

I decided to change out the transformer first.  It was a nerve wracking job.  I think I’ve watched way too many shows about the Special Forces…the kind where they’re diffusing bombs, twisting wires together…that sort of thing.  Do I cut the green or the black wire?

In all seriousness, all I had to do was unscrew the tops of each set of wires, one at a time, and connect the same colored wires from the new transformer.

Still, it was scary.  I knew the power was turned off, but what if there was a little bit of juice flowing?

I got the transformer hooked up, and we tested the doorbell.

Still no go.

The problem wasn’t the transformer, but I wasn’t about to switch them back.  I figure the house is six years old.  The part probably needed to be changed.

It was now time to change the chime…a far easier task.

Notice the words Rear, Tran, and Front?  You can wire your doorbell for front and back doors, and they’ll ring differently so you’ll know which door your company is coming from!  Way cool!

My back door isn’t wired for a doorbell, so I didn’t need that.  I switched out the chime and connected the wires properly.

Rooster ran and tested it.

Ding-Dong.

Molly started barking.

It worked!

What an amazing feeling…to know that I fixed the doorbell!  One last task remained…the new cover…

When the Mr. came home and asked what I’d been up to, he cocked his head quizzically and said, “I didn’t know the doorbell was broken.”

Don’t even get me started.

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