Friday, March 21, 2008
I just don't get it
The first apartment I lived in seriously confused me. I'm convinced there were gremlins in it, but that wasn't what struck me within the first 10 minutes I'd had a key to the place.
There was a light switch in the living room and another in the kitchen that did nothing. Not a blessed thing. So, I did the Monica thing, only I used noise AND lights. Because I'm cool like that.( No, really, it was because I was in my first apartment and didn't have enough things of one kind or the other to put in every outlet. But, to be honest, I am cool like that.)
I lived in that apartment for 3 and a half years. Never, never, never did I figure out what those switches went to. I don't think they did anything..they were a plant. Someone had designs to drive me crazy. Seriously.
Second apartment I moved into, same complex different building, also had a tricky light switch. This one was right by the door, on the same wall as the cable outlet. Which would be, typically, where one might want to put the TV. Also, by the door might be where one would like to put a lamp. But, because of the amazing lay-out of the place, switching off that outlet meant your TV (and VCR, and DVD, and cable box) were all shut-off as well. Again, because of the layout, you couldn't put the TV anywhere else and not have it look stupid. (Because furniture placement is everything, dahlinks.)
Now, this apartment, which I've lived in for almost 3 years, this one has a switch that only works one of set of holes on an outlet. (you know, they have 2, right? The switch only works the top one.) The outlet and the switch are next to the entry..which is fortunate. Because I actually do use it for a lamp. It's also the wall my TV, etc. are on, but there's a separate outlet for those things. Very handy.
But, it still bothers me that I don't know about those other ones. Frustrates me.
For other things that we just don't get, visit this week's Sunday Scribblings.
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5 comments:
... how fortunate you are :)
Our house was already old when we bought it 50 years ago, and one of the first things we discovered after moving in was that there was just 1 (one!) electric outlet in the large living room! I don't get it either, as I wander among the wilderness of extension cords that we still have snaking through the house.
We have a switch like that in our house, where we've lived nearly seven years. We've not a clue. I like to try it every so often just to see.
That's weird wired stuff. I used to have a light that turned itself on in the middle of the night and never turned itself off. Now that I remember it, it'll drive me nuts trying to figure why. :) Nice post!
Light switches and plug ins. I agree, electricity is a wonderful thing we can't live without, but it can be tricky. At one house we used to own there was some kind of short in the stove top. Whenever I stirred with a metal spoon, and reached the other hand into the sink to rinse it or something, a shock would run right under my arms. I'd drop the spoon, yelp, and feel really stupid that I had absent-mindedly done the same thing again. It took maybe a dozen times before I learned that lesson.
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