One Shot

Here’s a little tool-time tip. Never install two new square boxes, a run of conduit, and a new socket in a corner of your garage in which you have already parked a giant compressor.

And if you do, never squeeze in behind the compressor before you have made a complete list of the items you’ll need and put them within reach.

Man, what a time I’ve had, standing in a tiny, bent space in which I couldn’t stand up, sit down, or straighten my knees. I think this is how the Vietnamese used to break people.

I managed to get one box and the socket installed, but I still have to do the other one. When I came in here to have a drink and take a break, I threw my shirt on the floor, and it made that familiar “WHOP” sound. It’s amazing how much you can sweat while standing still.

Thank God I bought a tubing bender. That will save me twenty minutes of grief, trying to cut tubes to fit and slop it all together and screw it to the wall. Instead, I’ll bend one tube, make two quick cuts, pop it into place, and screw in the support things.

I can’t wait to get the garage part of this done. It’s about 84 degrees in there, with 70% humidity. As soon as I’m done, I’ll be able to work in the air handler closet. Which is small and uncomfortable, but cool.

When this is all over with, I plan to stand in the closet and flip the lights on over and over, for about an hour. Just so I can say I won.