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How many power points do two writers need?

Electric lights. Something only half the house has at the moment. Look on the bright side. It's just finished winter here. It's dark when we go to work, dark when we get home. We can't see how those rooms need cleaning.
Electric lights. Something only half the house has at the moment. Look on the bright side. It’s just finished winter here. It’s dark when we go to work, dark when we get home. If those rooms are dusty, we can’t see it.

How many power points do you need for a computer?

Let’s see.  There’s the one for the computer itself. One for each of the two screens. A printer. The backup hard drive. That’s five already.

There are two computers in the office. That’s ten power points.  Plus the point for the laptop charger, one for the phone charger, and the one for the iPad. (Actually, we plug the iPads into a point in the dining room, for there are no spare points in the office.)  Then there’s the router, and the stereo.  The list goes on.

This is the second office we’ve had.  We added extra power points a couple of years ago we switched the then-study with the dining room.

Our house was built post-World War II. The switches aren’t that old, but a lot of the wiring is.  The fuse box is full of empty fuses that even the electrician has no idea what they do.  Not to mention, the fuse box itself is no longer legal.

We know the lighting and power needs work. We’ve known that for a while.  We’ve had a lot of electrical problems.

So last week, when half the lights in the house went out, and the electrician spent all day trying to find the fault and couldn’t, we weren’t surprised at the verdict.

“You’ll need to rewire the house.  And put a new fuse box in.”

“Sure,” we said.

The head electrician came around to inspect the electricals and give us a quote.

Let me tell you, people, if you’re going to get an estimate for rewiring, make sure the power points are accessible (and it’s a good idea if your house is cleanish).  The electrician goes into every room.

I got a bit embarrassed about all the power points in the study and the former study.  “Twelve power points along that wall.  Six along that wall. ” And in the other room.  “Ten on that wall, ten on the opposite. Do you want them all put back?”

“Yes,” I said, because we’re actually thinking of shifting back to the old study.  It has better light (or until last week it did, now it has none), and it looks out onto the garden, which makes a nice ambience for working.

I’m sure he thought I was crazy.

“And while you’re here, is there anything you’d like added?”

“Well, the kitchen light’s terrible, and we wouldn’t mind a heat/fan/light in the bathroom, and …”

“I’ll send you a quote,” the electrician says.

The quote arrived yesterday.

Ouch.  That’s all I can say.

But I’m looking forward to having working lights again.  And there’s an added bonus.  If we buy new lights they’ll put them in for us as they do the rewiring.

So tomorrow we’re going shopping for lights.