Wiring and Basements

(Originally posted on Sunday, June 27, 2004 by Tim)

Today I made my first foray into the attic. It's actually not too bad up there. The previous owners covered the center portion with floor boards. We currently only have a 6 foot ladder that we borrowed from Larry and Jessica. This results in a bit of gymnastics to get in and out of the attic so Cat hasn't been up there walking around as of yet. I was primarily up there looking for a way to run electrical wire (romex) from the basement up to the attic without punching through too many boards. The only really promising thing I saw was the hole for the vent stack (venting for the primary water line). Cat wasn't thrilled about running romex next to the vent stack so it looks as if we will need to find a different route.

In addition, I found a small rectangle cut out of the floor boards that had been nailed back down. Now I don't know about you, but whenever I see things like that I think "buried treasure" regardless of the most likely explanation. Needless to say I pulled the board up to see what was under it. Unfortunately, instead of gold doubloons or Hitler's brain, I found the more likely treasure which was the connection to the alarm system on the second floor.

We've also been doing a lot of work in the basement. While running romex down there I noticed that I've completely gotten over my childhood fear of basements. It has only taken me 30 years which surely qualifies me as a high achiever in irrational fear management. Maybe Mom and Dad could get a bumper sticker for their car.

I'm not sure why I feel different about the basement in this house. Maybe it's because I now know so much about what the basement is for and how we are going to use it for our projects around the house. Or it might be that I subconsciously realize that any basement monsters that could survive the radon and asbestos would surely have perished messing with the electrical system. I am now ready to conquer other not so irrational fears. I'm making a list to plan my activities for July.

Catdrillnophobia: The fear that Cathy will miss a wall space and drill a hole from the basement through the hardwood floor.

Samyaknaphobia: The fear that Sam will puke in the bedroom sometime in the wee hours of the morning.

Mowerblowupnophobia: The fear of spontaneous detonation of the riding lawnmower when one of the blades hits a rock, the sidewalk, or the buried oil tank in the back yard.