I just can’t seem to catch a break.  I’m just going to cut to the chase because I’m enormously overwhelmed. 

My Dad and I looked at the plumbing in the basement and it should be an easy fix. I’m not worried about that…

The little problem that has become a nightmare, started with 2 outlets on the second floor that stopped working yesterday.

There’s no longer enough voltage hitting the outlets to even power on a light. 

The second and third floor are all old-school knob and tube wiring and it appears to be failing. 

My Dad consulted a family friend who’s an expert in this area and this could be a very dangerous situation.

The only real fix is to rewire the entire attic and second floor. 

Thankfully, the first floor has already been converted over but that’s only because that was easy.  

Until it can be rewired, I have to shut the breaker off that manages those two outlets.

Whatever is causing the problem presents a very real fire hazard.

Not a huge deal right? Wrong!!!

Here’s the real kick in the nuts..

It turns out the house is so horribly wired, that breaker in question, breaker number 5 (a single 15 amp breaker), literally controls 3/4 of the entire house. 

Part of that 3/4 of the house, includes the entire kitchen, including the refrigerator, stove and essentially the entire second floor (save for two outlets). 

There’s no working lights on the second floor anymore. 

The only things that work are in the living room, ceiling fan in the dining room and a single light on the landing of the staircase.

I could frame this in a positive light by saying, thank God we caught this before something really bad happened, like the house catching on fire.

It goes without saying, this is a huge positive because the safety and well being of my kids is the most important thing in the world to me. 

At the same time, this a fricking nightmare. 

There’s no easy fix here. Rewiring majority of the house is going to be in a universe far beyond difficult and expensive.  Until that happens, our house will be very challenging to live in. 

I mean, I have the goddamn refrigerator running off an extension cord in the living room.  I should add that the furnace isn’t impacted by this and neither is the washer or dryer, although we can’t use the washer until I replace the plumbing. 

I’m just a little bit overwhelmed and I don’t forsee myself sleeping tonight.

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