This has been an interesting day.
I spent some time with my mento, but it was entirely taken up with helping him trying to find his father's Zune which he'd brought to school and then lost, possibly to theft. I helped him write a note describing the problem (he needed to document it), and afterward he thanked me, which he hadn't done before. Along the way, one of his classmates asked if I was the mentor who baked the 'awesome brownies and cookies', and I said that while I could not attest to the awesome part, the rest was true.
We had the electrician here all day, installing the new lamp post (hey, black's not so bad) along with the 'smart' switch so we could control it from the entryway rather than having to go down to the garage. The switch performs as advertised, though it did have problems with its antenna -- they say you can just let it dangle down in the wall cavity, but we ended up having to let it hang outside the switch - which doesn't all all that pretty. Then again, neither does the garage.
And we had two more sockets installed in the landscaping, including a switch which was supposed to light up when they're on, but actually lights all the time. Um, guys? We're going to ask about that.
3 comments:
I do not know what it is with electricians unless they all smoke pot. I have two wall switches that go to NOTHING and a patio switch that doesn't work unless the inside ceiling lights are turned on. As soon as we get ahead on the money we are having an electrician in again.
Literally go to nothing? As in, there's no wires connected to the switches? Granted, if there were, you likely couldn't tell where they went, though you could (or an electrician could) easily tell if they're got juice, and whether the switch turns it off.
I still say the patio light thing is two switches with a common ground -- perhaps a floating ground, though, as thats a phrase I used in working on radios, I don't know if its applicable to houses. Basically, it means that the circuit is getting return path, as it needs, but the path is not the common ground that all of the others are using. Essentially, they can be a little circuit all by themselves. Again, an electrician can tell that without too much trouble. Expense is another matter.
Oh, and the always-lit switch is if none of the sockets have anything plugged in. If they do, then the switch is lit when they are drawing power, and dark when they are not (ie, the switch is off).
NOT what I would have chosen....
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