"You guys are lucky to be alive."

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

That's what the electrician said to us today. That up there in the photo is why. 

When we found out on New Year's Day that the wiring had to be redone, I had a nightmare that night. It threw me back to the fire in September of 2015, the electrical fire that started us on this effort to build a real home again in the first place. Twice in the now-seven winters that we've been stuck in this tin can, we've had "experts" tell us what we needed to make it all work, and "experts" eager to sell us what they said was the right equipment.

A fire started in the very same spot again this morning.

Yes, we caught it again, just in time. Not before we had smoke and flames, though. The electrician who was going to start rewiring the house today instead spent his time rewiring this. I have not stopped shaking all day. He told us that when you go to school to learn to be an electrician, that up there in the photo? THAT'S what they pull out to drive home the risk of fire — what's left when a home burns to the ground. He said that we're lucky to have survived the night, and he doesn't understand how. Someone's watching out for us, apparently. [Not, obviously, the two separate "experts" who told us how we needed to have it hooked up, nor the "experts" who sold us the cords and cabling either time.]

To say that I'm freaked is . . . well, understatement doesn't cover it. The day has been one long anxiety attack, and I'm still shaking. The last time, it took weeks for me to feel remotely confident again (erroneously, as it turns out, so how's that for irony?). I know the new guy says his fix has taken care of everything finally, and we're completely safe, but I'm not going to feel safe again as long as we're in this thing. Given the fuck-up with the wiring in the house, I'm suddenly not feeling too confident about any of it, and that scares the hell out of me.

The cold today has been absolutely brutal, and we were without power for a good chunk of the day, so I'm still not thawed out. I'm also not really feeling up to much right now; this kind of even doesn't do much for my blood pressure or my peace of mind. Cut and paste is all I can manage tonight.

We still need shares:

• Shares of our YouCaring page via the widgets provided, especially the widget code, which has once again been moved back to the purple box at the lower right-hand side of the page, that produces the image shown just above:
• Shares of Wings's site; sales also fund the construction (indeed, they are the baseline for it). Testimonials help.
• I've added Lowes gift cards to our Amazon wishlist. 

Oh, the irony of last night's section in this post about avoiding a bonfire. We almost were one. Nine below zero, and the whole time, that damn thing was sparking.

Still, before you share our links, please go share Laura's. Lin's spirit is on its journey to where the water meets the light, but Laura will still need our help for a while. Please T/R/share/donate to her fund if you can. Especially that last. It's needed.

Thanks, everyone.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.