It’s Electric

One of the most frustrating things about moving into a new apartment is the time it takes to fix all of the mistakes made by all of the fools who came before you.  “Mistakes” probably isn’t the right word because it isn’t deliberate enough: these fools chose to paint over the outlets and wall plates again and again.  Who does that?  Every single wall plate in the apartment looked gross.

See?

Gross.

Gross.

Gross.

Replacements are only $0.19-$0.29 each at Home Depot (don’t get swindled by ACE’s $0.79 plates!), so it’s one of those cheap, satisfying fixes.  I cut around each with a box cutter to help free it, and then pried and pulled with screwdrivers, pliers, paint keys and hammers to get the damn things off the walls.  I also replaced a few outlets – another cheap and satisfying fix, though slightly more dangerous.  I’m always very safe about it, of course: I shut off the power via the main breaker and double-check with my voltage tester before proceeding.  And Jarrod was on hand with a fire extinguisher… in case I caught on fire, I suppose.

(Old picture: our bedroom has furniture in it now.  Thanks again to Kim and Kateri for helping me paint this room!)

Much better!