#2: Hire electrician to replace outdoor light control.

Date Completed: 1/8/2010 Purchased Replacement Switch, 8/13/2010 Identified Electrician, 8/16/2010 Fix Complete

This list item is all about the switch inside my house that controls the outdoor garage carriage lights (you may recall these from #31 on THE LIST). From the dates above, it’s probably clear that I procrastinate on home repairs. The truth is that the switch actually worked intermittently for several years so while it was annoying to re-set every couple of months, it didn’t necessarily bother me enough to hire an electrician (clearly). I knew early in the year that I needed to get this fixed, so I did at least buy the new switch as a first step. I’m sure I got distracted and also kept putting this off in general. However, a few months ago, the switch stopped working altogether and the carriage lights started staying on around the clock. At that point, I found myself less motivated (and honestly, a little cheap) so I had this brainstorm that I’d simply shut off that switch altogether at the circuit breaker – I mean, who needs outdoor lights anyway, when there are street lights. My brilliance failed me though, when I tried to go to the gym and the garage door wouldn’t open (apparently the same circuit also controls the garage door – grrr). I should have just called the electrician, but alas, I was busy and well…I had my nose pushed out of shape so I just tried to ignore it. That worked for a couple of months, but eventually the energy inefficiency got to me. I found a nice electrician to fix the switch, and for those of you who are wondering, no, he wasn’t single.