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Improve Your Craftmanship By Reading Electrical Books
Most of us have little experience with, awareness of, or knowledge about electric books. I know that my Dad, a carpenter and a mason, would attempt to consult one or another of the existing electrical books but even he would instead call his brother, a lineman for the telephone company, when he had to so some wiring or repairs. As a kid with no interest whatsoever in building, re-modeling, plumbing, or electrical books or otherwise, I still was required to help hold beams, apply glue to wall-paper, retrieve specific tools, and hold flashlights and such while Dad did his genius crafting…though I didn’t appreciate it at the time, getting all stuffed up with sawdust or toxins or aching from so much apprenticing.
I didn’t appreciate Dad’s skill of craftsmanship or his adeptness when repairing or installing anything until I was much older. In fact, my most direct experience and one that made me therefore most closely identify at some level just happened a couple of weeks ago. I moved into my first home, or the first home I owned. It’s a trailer. It isn’t in a trailer park, and it doesn’t have the lovely stereotypes or anything else, as it is way the hell out in the woods, is quiet, is self-contained. But it is also a creature, an entity, a piece of ownership that has secrets, and nuances, and complexities that are way over my head. I moved in, and having to get right back on (or continue with as smoothly as possible) the writing gigs, I left most everything in boxes, set up a few hygiene items, a bed, and the computer hard- and software and services.
I began writing. Day five, still with dial-up (after two years with DSL), I urge the people in the main house to get some kind of high-speed internet connection out here. They finally do, and I get one computer wired. Twenty minutes later, the connection cuts out. I have no electrical books, and no electrical knowledge (about the 500-foot cable running from the ranch to the trailer, for example), so I am stuck with trial-and-error troubleshooting. The next day, both the heater and the stovetop stop working. They are on propane, but so, I was told, is the dryer, which works fine. I have hot running water, as well. Again, all my books are #1 still in boxes and #2 not electrical books of any great help. The only literature I have is the packet of appliance manuals and one RV repair book. That has many fine exploded diagrams, troubleshooting options, and phone numbers—all of which are either written for people with some electrical function and safety know-how, offer tricks I had already tired, or have phone numbers that are way outdated.
I did a LOT of research before buying this beauty. I LOVE it. Absolutely love the autonomy and peace it affords. But I tell you what, I am going to go to EBay and get a slew of electrical books, plumbing guides, and homeowner dummy manuals asap. Yesterday the power went out in this area. I have a back-up battery (for the trailer), so I should have been able to keep typing away at that analysis of Mencken’s linguistic studies. Instead, I found I have trailer lights here, here, and there, but have no plug-in lighting and no plug-in anything else. Something to do with how some stuff is on 120-V and other stuff is only on 110? See what I mean, we all need one of each of the books, which for smart enough folk will help us at least have heat, cooking fire, and computer juice.
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