Welcome to Episode LC, also known as Episode 50. Yes, I could have called it "Episode L," and most people probably would have, but I just didn't like how that looked. I think you might agree that "Episode LC" is much better from a visual perspective. In this special LCth episode we will be discussing yet another outlet replacement, we will be meeting a new team member, we will tour the aforementioned Chamber, and we will possibly surprise you with more, possibly much much more.
New Team Member
Meet Frisky, our new 13" pruning saw. In preliminary testing Frisky has proven to be very adept at pruning and cutting branches. We expect great things from Frisky. Here's a picture.
Outlet Replacing
This was not just another outlet replacing. This was a case of relocating an already replaced outlet. As such it was not technically an outlet replacement, but it did involve a j-box replacement. This particular outlet is in the master bedroom, near the bed. One night not long ago we noticed some ants emerging from a large gap between the outlet's faceplate and the wall. This prompted a quick faceplate removal and some fierce anti-ant spraying (with the cat-safe spray). The ants died and no new ants emerged. Here's a picture of the faceplate and the gap.
We began by turning off the appropriate fuse (items had already been unplugged to deal with the ant incursion) and extracting the outlet. We were happy to discover that there was plenty of slack and extra length in the romex. Here is a photo of the old j-box with the wires sticking out.
Note that the old j-box was made from the same fibrous/plastic-type material as all of the other old j-boxes. What exactly this material is, and why it was chosen for this application, is a question for which we don't have an answer. Perhaps a more experienced homeowner, or an electrician, can enlighten us as to what the material is and why it was used.
After carefully extracting the old j-box from its hole we noticed a mysterious air flow coming from the hole where the j-box used to live. We decided to look into the hole and we discovered the Chamber Of Secrets! More on that later.
We cut a new hole for a new j-box, mounted said box, wired up the outlet, stuffed it into the new j-box, and screwed on a new faceplate. Then we turned the fuse back on, patched up the hole leading to the C.O.S., and slapped on a couple of layers of Blackberry Harvest paint to cover up the scars in the wall. You can see the progression below.
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| The hole that leads to the C.O.S. |
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| The outlet wired up |
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| The passage to the C.O.S. blocked up |
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| All done. The C.O.S. is once again hidden from mankind. |
All this talk of chambers and secrets and mysteries is making me thirsty. Here's another mystery: why was this news helicopter hovering around near our neighborhood the other day?
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Yes, folks, we have our very own Chamber Of Secrets, and we stumbled upon it quite by accident while relocating an electrical outlet (see above). What secrets might this secret chamber contain? There were many options available to us to find out, and we chose to go with the least-invasive method - holding a camera in the hole and taking pictures. I gripped my phone securely as I tried to aim it usefully and get it to focus accurately. Alas, just like Al Capone's Vault (it wasn't Geraldo's fault) it was, and is, completely devoid of treasure, other valuables, or bodies (and we found no evidence of ants). It's just a big open area in our attic that we didn't know about before.
Here is some invaluable pictorial evidence of our investigation of the C.O.S.
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| Going in |
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| Looking straight in |
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| Looking to the left |
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| Looking to the right |
It might seem to some that the whole Chamber Of Secrets business was nothing more than a tease and a big letdown, so we'll end on what we think everyone will agree is a happy note. Behold the first poppy of spring (the first one in our yard, that is).
Attractive to the eye, and soothing to the smell...
bIsh
