=SHOCKING=

Nearly 1 million home improvement books were recently recalled by Oxmoor House because of errors that could lead do-it-yourselfers to make risky mistakes while installing or repairing their electrical wiring. The errors in technical diagrams and wiring instructions could cause people to be shocked or create a fire hazard. Great. Not only am I sure to have this book, but I have probably read it multiple times, memorized it and can recite from it verbatim. I do not get along with electricity. It started when I was a teenager when my every interlude with a blow dryer or set of hot rollers resulted in our entire house going dark and my father yelling "PENNY...YOU BLEW THE @#$%^ FUSE AGAIN". Our house was full of booby traps...don't touch the refrigerator while standing too close to the oven...don't turn the bathroom light off if it hasn't been on for at least 15 minutes...don't, under any circumstances, use the outlet at the bottom of the stairs...the list was endless. When I got married and my husband and I moved into our first house, things weren't so very different. There is me, standing on a chair in the kitchen, below a temperamental light fixture we were changing out, looking apprehensively at my spouse, saying 'are you sure I won't get a shock?' and him, reassuring me when BZZZZZZ - I fly OFF the chair I was standing on and land on my ass not so much in the middle of the room, but sort of crumpled in the corner by the door. Oops. Wrong wire. Needless to say, I like to leave those sort of projects to the professionals, or at least, my spouse, who knows enough to avoid electrocution!