I am far too excited and proud about a small project I completed at home this weekend. I finally added a new outlet in the attic so that I could hang up and plug-in the fluorescent light that has been sitting up there for about 8 years. Up until now, the attic was lit by one incandescent light bulb, which was laughably insufficient for the space. And now that we are starting to officially use the attic as part of our filing/storage system, I wanted to make sure the attic was usable.
I had never added an outlet to an existing circuit before, so it was unknown territory for me. I have a general home care book (from Home Depot) that describes how to add to an existing circuit, so at least I had some confidence that I was connecting the correct wires to each other. The job was also made much easier when I realized that I could hang the fluorescent light first, and then run an extension card to plug it in. That way, at least the attic would be lit while I was working in it.
Now I have to resist the urge to go up there every day just to bask in the wonder of my newly-installed light. Elena helped me clean up some of the attic yesterday (where there is flooring, it had been covered with bits of wood, insulation, and in many places, nails), but there is little else to do up there now. Maybe I can come up with something else to do up there before it gets way too hot to set foot in the attic (in about a month).
