shocking...no, not really

My husband is just not your stereotypical guy. He is a first born - like me - and is obedient, loyal, and cautious about just about everything. He hates using jumper cables to start a dead car battery...he hates starting the propane grill...and he especially hates any electrical or mechanical work in our home. Perhaps he's seen too many action movies where those things explode or cause severe pain.

When a strange buzzing sound was coming from the light over the stairs - and the light was flickering even after installing a new lightbulb - he asked..."Who do we know that works with electrical stuff?" Which I responded off the top of my head two very well trained and experienced electricians who we know from church.

He just happened to see one of them last week, and as quickly as that conversation happened, this friend stopped over after church on Sunday to help us out. He checked the light, and replaced a switch. He looked at our outlet in the back of the garage that had been giving us trouble...only to find out it was connected to the GFI cut-off in the upstairs bathroom. He taught us how to remove and reinstall new light fixtures in the front of the garage...and then only charged us half of a normal service call. What a great deal!

So...after lunch, my husband proceeds to go back to the bargain light fixtures we bought from Menards, and evaluate how to install them in the front of the garage - and hems and haws - and continues to stare at it, and read installation instructions - and hesitates to the point where I just couldn't stand it. I, who he will admit is much more mechanically inclined, jumped in to help twist the wires together and screw in the fixture. I needed his help, like a surgeon needs an operating room tech - to hand me the tools and pieces, and to stand by in case I would get electrocuted. HA! Don't send my husband to do a job I should have done in the first place.

It's really okay...he's good at so many other things around the house - like filling the holes in the cedar siding left by woodpeckers - and setting out bait to kill rodents - and climbing on the roof to clean the gutters and check the roof for lifted shingles. I refuse to mow the lawn, or fertilize it, or clean the gutters. And, I insist he put up Christmas lights as we get closer to Thanksgiving... but since that includes electricity...I suppose I'll be helping with that as well. (smile)

My husband is not stereotypical...but his goofy fear of legitimately scary things is actually one of the things I love about him.  He'll actually do the dishes and fold some laundry if he sees it needs to be done. He's not fond of house cleaning, but he'll run a vacuum if I ask him to.  It's not shocking...but neither was the electrical work today.