The SRE and I are both rather laidback and lazy. We also tend to accept situations and work around them, rather than make enough of an effort to change them in ways that would improve our quality of life.
Since we have spent most of our lives so far in either company or company leased property, we tend to accept the structure and fittings of our house as a given, unless forced to do otherwise.
A case in point are our electrical points and wiring. Our present apartment already had a split air conditioning unit in the drawing room, with a long, thick wire running from it, snaking over the French windows, down to the power switch, a good 30-35 feet or so. It was only after
a) getting an air conditioner installed in the kitchen as well as b) getting the house painted did we realize that at a relatively low cost we could get the wire hidden within a slim white plastic casing!
This seemed like a huge achievement! When the SRE decided that he had enough of our old dabba TV and bought a 42" flat screen TV that I irreverently insist on calling The Blackboard, the installing engineer told us to get a separate plug point for the TV, in the interests of its long term health. He must have been quite disgusted by the sight of four plugs hanging from a multi-point adapter, one each for the TV, the Tata Sky set, the DVD player and the music system. Since the sockets tend to work loose over time, getting all four machines to work was often frought with much tension.
Our building's electrician was summoned, and two plug points were installed! Such riches!!!!
However, all these riches remained on the far wall- the wall away from the French windows. There are no options for lamps or charging points on the other wall. (Even the dining room has one lone point behind the sideboard, apart from the fridge point). So when our children decided to give the SRE a massage cushion for his birthday this year, it seemed obvious that it would sit on the armchair near the corner table, where there is a plug point. The younger son, however, felt that the leather recliner was a far better chair to keep it on. And so, our trusty electrician Vimal was summoned, and
voila, the 'electric chair' :
It seems like a huge triumph, the plug point on this wall. It gives us so many options! We might even put a lamp on this side of the room. Phones and laptops can be charged here. The possibilities are immense!!! We are quite convinced that now that we have made such significant improvements in our living space, the landlord is sure to want his house back very soon!!!!
Since we have spent most of our lives so far in either company or company leased property, we tend to accept the structure and fittings of our house as a given, unless forced to do otherwise.
A case in point are our electrical points and wiring. Our present apartment already had a split air conditioning unit in the drawing room, with a long, thick wire running from it, snaking over the French windows, down to the power switch, a good 30-35 feet or so. It was only after
a) getting an air conditioner installed in the kitchen as well as b) getting the house painted did we realize that at a relatively low cost we could get the wire hidden within a slim white plastic casing!
Our building's electrician was summoned, and two plug points were installed! Such riches!!!!
However, all these riches remained on the far wall- the wall away from the French windows. There are no options for lamps or charging points on the other wall. (Even the dining room has one lone point behind the sideboard, apart from the fridge point). So when our children decided to give the SRE a massage cushion for his birthday this year, it seemed obvious that it would sit on the armchair near the corner table, where there is a plug point. The younger son, however, felt that the leather recliner was a far better chair to keep it on. And so, our trusty electrician Vimal was summoned, and
voila, the 'electric chair' :
You'd hate living with me. I'm always fiddling around the house. I've put a glass sheet in one corner near a plug point and that serves as the shelf on which we leave everything that needs to be charged. Phone, iPod, iPad, camera. The OA screamed and frothed when I said I was getting it done. Now he uses it more than i do.
ReplyDelete@the mad momma: I do appreciate change! I just need to push myself to do what ought to be done, and be less accomodating to what exists already!
ReplyDeleteYou should invite Teja over for a while, and leave some tools lying around. :)
ReplyDeleteWe are the same Dipali. And you're so right - when you finally get around to making that small change that makes a big difference to your quality of life - well, it feels good !!
ReplyDeleteGreat! Congrats, Dipuji!
ReplyDeleteMy Engineer sahib has his own fads, one of them is using DIY and jugaad together, so we have a situation wherein most electrical appliances work only when he's around to operate them ;)
@Banno: I remember the story of your study!!!!!!
ReplyDelete@Anonymous: Good to know that we are not alone:)
@Lakshmi:Your Engineer sahib is unique! DIY plus jugaad sounds awesome, actually!
This is interesting! I enjoyed reading your great post.Thanks for the valuable information and insights you have shared here.Las Vegas electrical contractors
ReplyDeleteLOL - the electric chair !! My daughter had one in her house, it was quite nice. But I would rather use it somewhere else than have a contraption at home.
ReplyDelete