The giant electric oven which Lena bought has been lying idle for almost a year now. We couldn’t use it to bake anything because the existing wiring could not take on the higher power requirement. The initial testing melted the plug. Besides there is no way the existing wiring could take on the power load as it was strung up in such a way that the refrigerator, the microwave oven, the water boiler, the washing machine, etc all uses the same serial line.
So what to do? According to Alan our usual electrical wireman, the best way is to pull a cable from the fuse box, that way it will be very sure there will not occur any overloading and thus blow a fuse. However by doing so, there will be an unsightly wiring going from the living / dining room, through my PC workroom before ending in the rear kitchen where the electric oven is located.
So the next thing to do to conceal the wiring, Lena decided to do some home improvement project. Deciding that it was about time for some changes in the house, she hired a plaster ceiling contractor to spruce up the living room which would also effectively cover up the wiring.
This was supposed to be a small job, but like any home improvement job no matter how small still created a big mess! In order to put up the cornices, the furniture has to be moved, and worse of all, the TV and its associated devices like Astro cable decoder, VHS recorder (yes, I’m still using this old obsolete recorder!) and DVD player has to be dismantled and shifted. The devices may occupy a small area but the cables and plug points are the most complicated! Before unplugging, I had to mark down each cable was from where to where so that I can reassemble them later. Not to mention my WIFI set was located next to my TV too! And that too had to be dismantled. It will be a big job later to fix them all up later.
Thank goodness for my PC room, I needn’t had to unplug my PC, otherwise it would really be a major disassembly! We just cover up the area with some cloth; pull out a few important components like my WD MyBook 640GB external hard drive for safe keeping and some valuable items and important storage media. I tried my best to cover up the vents in my PC, but somehow it won’t help much to keep out the dust from the PC innards. Oh, well…
The plaster ceiling project is expected to take two days, while a week later, they will start the repaint job after ensuring the plaster has dried sufficiently. I guess the next step would be fixing the light fixtures and the cabinet for the electric oven.
Phew…! So much home improvement work to do just for the sake of the electric oven. I sure hope when it is fully functional, Kar Hoon would drop by over and give some pointers to bake some goodies. Especially the scones! I have got the recipe and have been reminding Lena when she would bake me some! Sure hope it would come out well!