I Love Old Houses (part deux)

I love old houses. Really, I do. Oh wait! I said that yesterday!

But what I learned today is that, even though I had the electric service upgraded before I moved into this house, I'm pushing the limits.

I moved my sewing room to the basement to make room for Brad. The room I chose for my sewing room has two separate overhead lights, one over the space where I have my sewing machines.

So when I go to sew, the first thing I do is turn on the overhead light. The switch doesn't quite work, so sometimes I have to flip that switch several times to get the light to come on and stay on.

Then I turn on a sewing machine, an Ott floor lamp, and the radio or DVD player. When I need to press a seam, I turn on the iron and another Ott floor lamp that illuminates the ironing board.

Oh, I neglected to tell you one key fact: there are no outlets in my sewing room. I have a 25-foot orange extension cord that I plug in on the far wall and run clear across the basement. Into that, I plug a little device called an octopus or something similar. It gives me six outlets coming off that one extension cord.

Last Sunday and Monday, when I spent much of the day in the basement working on Music Man costumes, I realized the basement was quite damp. My nose hurt by the end of the day. So on Tuesday I ran into Sam's Club and bought a good dehumidifier.

It took Brad and me about three days to figure out how to get the dehumidifier to work correctly. And, by the way, it's plugged into the same outlet as the extension cord.

Then on Saturday my new washer and dryer were delivered. Sheer heaven to have an efficient set of laundry appliances again. The dryer is gas, but the washer is plugged into the same circuit on the same wall as the extension cord and dehumidifier.

Tonight Brad was doing laundry, the dehumidifier was doing its thing, and I was sewing, with both Ott lights running, along with the sewing machine, the DVD player, and the iron.

The circuit breaker tripped at least three times tonight. I've learned that I cannot simultaneously do laundry and sew.

The Gardener (remember him?) suggested on the phone the other evening that he'd love to come up to visit and help me out with the house. This boy is an electrician and an all-around fix-everything kinda guy. An electrician as a houseguest for a week or so? It's sounding better and better!