24

Twenty-four hours ago:

"Pfft.  We don't need no stinking professional!  We can install the chandelier ourselves!"

Now:

"What time is the electrician coming to restore power to the front of the house?"

Comments

[Malia]

All I can say is, at least Fletch didn't purchase a stud finder for the express purpose of waving it in front of himself and grinning when it beeped.

[Lab Kat]

Try putting together an entertainment center. Oh yeah.

[Maureen]

I once heard a comedian refer to Home Depot by it's real name: "Place Where You Can Buy Shit to Fuck Up Your House"

[Tina]

Ugh oh Jen! What did you or Fletch do? lol. Doesn't something like this always happen? Whenever you think you can do it and "Oh it's only going to take 15 mins" it ends up being 2 hours and or something goes majorly wrong? That's why we hire people to do our stuff. We have been there done that way too many times and we don't fool around with that kinda stuff anymore. We just hired someone to put up our shades because my dad (ugh yes I am a broke college student) can't see worth a DARN to put any sort of shade up so we paid some guy $20 to put them up. Boy are we glad. He was done in like 15 mins where it took my dad 3 hours to put up one shade in my bedroom. (shakes head in hand.) lol. So yeah, I hope the electrition comes soon because you kinda need power now and it's friggin COLD out there. I live in Omaha, NE so Chicago isn't that far from me. (Well kinda but we have almost the same climate. lol)

[Melinda]

Ha ha ha--reminds me of an old boyfriend who claimed he knew how to fix cars. I needed a new motor in my car and he said he could do it for free (I was in college and broke so I trusted him). When he was finished, he held out a hand filled with nuts, bolts, and a few other important looking things and said, "This always worries me." And yes--the car broke down soon after. ALWAYS call professionals--LOL!

[sheri]

Not to turn this into a Twlight blog but...I fought reading the damn book and then wound up staying up all night reading the 1st one...when asked by friends I said...it was the stupidest thing I ever read, but I could not put it down...then resisted the other books in the saga...but then gave in and read all 3 in 5 days (Yes I do work very long hours in fact!!) But the movie just was blah, I sorta wish I never saw it. Oh, well
Edward and Bella will have to go on without me...

[L.]

Haha! That's exactly how it is here.

[Becky]

HA my hubby knows better than to attempt anything more complex than hanging a picture (even that can be a stretch).

On Sheri's comment on Twilight...I was very disappointed.

[gamma]

I've seen both sides of this predicament-I am the dispatcher for an electrical contractor. The wives either call to say their husband tried to do the job and now needs someone to fix/finish what they started, or they'll call to say their husband says "it'll only take 15 (or whatever) minutes" Okay......then why don't they do it themselves?
On the other hand, I was just complimenting my husband yesterday on the fact that over the weekend he tuned up my car and installed electrical outlets under the eaves of the house for Christmas lights, then proceeded to tear apart the valve on our furnace humidifier and rebuild it. In our 33 years of marriage he has also painted & re-roofed our house, rebuilt engines of our cars, remodeled our basement, and done so many other projects that I have lost count. Yes, he is a gem, and NO you cannot have his phone number!!

[sheri]

I have learned my lesson a long time ago....I either write the check or suffer later!!
Has anyone seen the Twlight movie? Can't decide if I liked it or not.

[ReneeInChicago]

You're scaring me. We want to attempt to add dimmers to our kitchen track lights. Maybe not...

[sarah]

haha. i'm married to a man that owns his own construction company so you would think that events like this don't happen at our place....it's like he checks his know-how at the door, and our house is his practice field.

[Erin]

A few months ago DF decided to take some time off and tile the kitchen. He took two days. He had never tiled a thing, had no idea of what to do...whenI mentioned that it would probably take two weeks, he got all huffy.

After 156 trips to Home Depot and *exactly* two weeks later, the tile was done.

He now listens to me a little better.

[nadine]

and you need an electrician why? hey, the neighbors still have power, yes?

time to get out the "how to" books. no worries.

[Emily Allyn]

I am thankful that my mother is a remodeling genius. I grew up around constant remolding (she did all the work herself, which is a lot for a woman of 4'11" stature!!), so aside from constantly inhaling sheetrock/drywall dust I also learned my collective vocabulary of curse words. Thanks Mom!!

[Handy in Massachusetts]

It took me two hours to replace the faux wood toilet seat in my house after I moved in. My excuse was that the old bolts were rusted. Thus, they broke, and I had to go back to the store and get a hacksaw.

[Jessica-Rae]

Would this be one of those occasions where you allowed an event to continue solely for the purpose of providing material?

[Sweet Herald]

Bahaah! The tag on this is hilarious.

[Katherine]

I can install the thermostat by myself!
First cold night we turned on the heat and shorted out the whole system. It was a long, cold night!! Way to go Katherine!

Same with the new faucet on the sink - they make those so you have to call for help.

The best was when I took out a wall. We don't need that, it's in the middle of the room. Hmmm, can you say load bearing wall?
Did it all on my own too. That was an expensive fix.

HGTV has been child blocked from my tv by my husband.

[I Am Landlocked]

First night in our new house, first time as homeowners. My ex-husband (that should tell you something right there) is mucking with stuff in the kitchen as I unpack boxes in the living room.

Suddenly I hear the "Paaaattttyyy" roar--the same noise he makes when I spend too much on strawberries at the grocery store or don't tell him how much the Visa bill is going to be. I run into the kitchen, and there he is: like the little boy with his finger in the dike. Both of his thumbs are shoved in the holes where the kitchen faucet handles should be, but they are doing no good. Water is shooting out of the openings with such force that it's hitting the ceiling.

"Do you know where the shut off valve is?" he screams.

"The shut off valve for what?" I ask nonchalantly.

"The water main!!!"

"Oh. Yeah. It's in the basement somewhere. I'll go look for it."

(Several long minutes later.) "I found it. Now which way do I turn it?" (Totally disingenuous, I know, but I was enjoying the moment.)

"To the right. Turn it to the right!"

"OK." (A slow minute later.) "All righty. She's off."

I return to the kitchen and hand him a mop and some paper towels. "NOW will you call the damn plumber?" I ask.

[Beth]

We've tried to do a few DIY things too, but none involving electricity! Men!

[rochel]

24 (Days!)

Convinced my very hesitant husband that anyone could replace the toilet in our master bathroom. (Zero dollars)

Realized 24 DAYS later that sewage was leaking into a storage room in the basement. (Zero clue)

Husband is totally off the hook from having to do another remodeling project himself.

Wonderful insurance company paid for a professional to fix the toilet and the entire basement. (PRICELESS!!!!)

[Leslie]

Always take the unknown path, the horrific end makes for a better story.

[AJMick]

And that is why we paid almost as much for the plumber as we did for the kitchen sink/faucet/disposal installed last Friday. The boyfriend hesitated briefly and considered trying to do it himself and then came to his senses and decided it was okay to let a professional do it. Whew! Considering the original plumbing wasn't necessarily up to spec it was an extra good thing we didn't even attempt it.

[MZA]

Yeah, that goes right up there with "yes, we can install our own faucet -- they do it on HDTV all the time."

Oh yeah, and that Home Insurance commercial with the stuff floating all over, but don't worry becuae you're in good hands or something? THAT'S A BIG FAT SIZE 24 LIE!!!!!!!!

'cause insurance doesn't cover stupid.

[teachergirl]

Look, my lawyer husband fell two stories out of a bucket truck trying to help the guys out one rainy day when the lighting company he owned was short handed. Don't talk to me about stupid crap like that. It was three weeks before Christmas, my kitchen was half remodeled, my inlaws were coming from Denver and, oh yeah, I was ten weeks away from delivering our second child. He broke his wrists, one elbow and shattered his heel. He was in the hospital for two weeks - he had major surgery after the swelling went down in his foot. My father and mother and brother had to come finish my kitchen and take care of my daughter so I could take care of him in the hospital. He has a plate in his foot and a knot in his head from where I hit him.

[Trish Ryan]

Yikes. The last time I witnessed do-it-yourself electrical wiring, my old landlord set the entire house on fire. As it turns out, firemen running into your bedroom and slashing huge holes into the drywall isn't all that sexy in real life...

[Kristen]

How easy do the men fall? Last year, my husband wanted to saw the arms off the tv table (for his spanking new flat screen)forgetting basic engineering which meant that the table would no longer stand. I had physically show why that was wrong. Thank god for Target!

[Emily]

Wow.... never let Fletch touch anything in your home, ever.

[JennF]

OMG Fletch and my husband must be related!!
I swear I had this exact conversation!

[Lee]

When my husband pulls stuff like that, I like to say he has testosterone poisoning...one shot of estrogen and he'd be calling an electrician....but I love him anyway.....

[Domestic Goddess (In Training)]

That is priceless. We own a rental property and when the renters call, my husband goes a runnin' complete with brown leather tool belt. Today, the electrician goes there, too.

[Carrie]

Doh!

[Korinna]

Been there.

New chandelier in dining room = some kitchen lights that come back on, some that don't and unrelated problem in the bathroom.

All of this then took an electrician two hours to sort through.

85 year old house or inexperienced husband?

[Kelly in St. Louis]

Oh no!!!! Don't worry, we've that same conversation. Good luck (fingers crossed)

[sue Treiber]

poor Fletch. Don't beat him too badly!

[derfina]

HA! You want to put one in, and I fought for three years to get one taken out (it is now hanging in a tree in the yard!)

[Britten Leigh]

hilarious... thanks for the laugh! (hope you get power restored in a timely fashion, and that the electrician is hot!)