Ginger Unplugged

This is the question people keep asking me. No, I did not get killed by a drug-free electrician. I didn't even manage to electrocute myself (which was probably much more likely). The electrician showed up at my door exactly on time. He was 6 foot 8 inches (I asked him for police report purposes) but he had rosy cheeks and I'm not sure he was capable of growing a beard or anything. Plus, when I told him he really didn't have to wear those orange plastic booties, he insisted. It is impossible to look scary wearing bright orange plastic booties over your shoes. It cost (oh my gosh) $200 to get the lights connected to where I wanted them connected to. It would have cost $200 more to put the lights actually up and it would have cost $200 more (if I remember right) for him to check the outside outlet. You know when they wear those booties, it's going to be expensive. 6'8" guys won't do that for cheap. So, I just had him hook up the light wires and pestered him th...

I just called an electrician and I can't decide if this is a great idea or a big mistake. For about three months I've been disassembling a light fixture in my kitchen. Not just any light fixture--a sort recessed fisheye spotlight thing. Why? Because I got the coolest lights at (you guessed it) IKEA and I wanted to see if I could put them up. The little IKEA picture shows three wires coming out of my ceiling and when I finally got all the light bulbs, springs, screws and large metal parts out of the way, I found that I only have two wires. This is a problem I don't know how to overcome. I was actually going to experiment but then was wondering if I should turn the electricity off before cutting various wires and it all started sounding very permanent and dangerous and I figured it was time to pull out the little coupon I got for an electrician the other day. I called and this guy answered with a very reassuring voice, he sounded so much like a game show host that I thought h...

I have recently dubbed my 9 month old baby, "Flying Monkey." So we have Princess, Sunshine (who prefers "Crash"), Butterfly (who prefers "Princess") and Flying Monkey. This is the day he really earned his nickname. First, I was in the kitchen making lunch for Butterfly when there was a decent size crash from the other room. When I went in, the baby was well and happy but he'd pulled over a small table that had my laptop and a glass of water on it. I know, big mistake to begin with. Still, he'd never once tried to pull over that table. So there's my laptop, shut down with water spilling out the sides. Not good. I take out the battery and set it out to dry, not knowing if the laptop shut down from the crash or the water or who knows what else has gone on in that room while I made one speedy little sandwich. With no laptop, I grudgingly set to work on sewing a Halloween costume. I thought it was a wise move to set up the ironing board in the mudro...