Volunteer Day in Bakersfield

Our middle son is the Executive Director of the Bakersfield Homeless Center and Women's Alliance.  (a physical and sexual abuse shelter)  The offices for the Alliance are housed in an older building in the downtown area.

A call from my son Tuesday afternoon late, described an electrical problem of sparking and smoking proportions, that was going to require my attention.  So yesterday morning at 8:00 a.m. I was at the back door of the Alliance, ready to chase down the problem.

Of course to accomplish that, I had to feed the horses (in the dark), fill hummingbird feeders on my front porch (all 6 of them - also in the dark), write a script for my Stock Market Report for Central Valley Business Times and send that off to Doug, get a shower and shave then get dressed, and finally, on the way out go by the barn and feed the cattle and horses some hay.  And, by golly I still got to Bakersfield by about 8:05.

After a careful description of the problem, it became apparent that some wonderfully generous folk had volunteered to put new stools, floors, and fixtures in the bathrooms used by clients, as well as replacing the light fixtures.  The well-meaning soul who got tasked with replacing the light got thoroughly confused by the mass of wires in the light pots in the ceiling, and things didn't work.

But I was still baffled by the sparking.  That would indicate a dead-short somewhere and I couldn't find one.  Finally, an application of a multi-meter on wires revealed a hot wire here, a hot wire there, what appeared to be common wires, and then I made a MOST startling discovery.  From common to hot revealed 110v.  But from hot to hot ... a blistering 240v.  Aha!  THAT's what caused the sparking.

Light bulbs burn really brightly at 240v, but only for a few seconds.  And, as it turned out, the new exhaust fan I'd replaced a year or so ago, ran really quickly for a moment before fricasseeing the coils.

Once the new fan motor was installed, the lights were a snap, and by 2:30 I was on my way home, tummy full of a good lunch out with son and staff, and very self-satisfied with my efforts.  And, of course, the Alliance didn't have to call an electrician, for they have good-ol' volunteer Dad.

Funny how, as parents and grandparents, we get the "opportunity" to provide those kinds of services for our families.

But in retrospect, I get great satisfaction out of being able to chase out the problems, making everything work right while keeping things humming along.  Trouble-shooting like that is a real mental challenge, and requires careful, and thoughtful efforts.  So, in truth, I'm grateful for the opportunity to do it.