Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Electricians in Stockholm

I’m having electrical problems. And I am not an electrician. Some things I’ll try to fix on my own, until I finally give-up and call an expert. Electricity is not one of them. This dates back to 7th grade and the Invention Convention when ACC and I decided to invent an electric lock, creatively called the Electrilock, not to be confused with Swedish Electrolux. We attached an old boat battery to a lock. Turns out old boat batteries have a bit of juice left in them. And boat battery juice hurts like hell when coursing through my 7th grade body in the safety of my garage.

This may explain a lot of things in my life. Like my earning a Bachelor of Arts degree and taking all of my science classes pass/no pass in college. It most definitely explains my hesitance to trying to fix anything electric.

This is one of the reasons why I have had only two working lights in my kitchen for about six weeks. Another reason being that I am lazy. For nearly six weeks I have cooked my evening meals by candle light. This is not romantic. This is not adventurous. It is ridiculous. What makes this worse is that I had asked a buddy of mine if he knew of any electricians. It just so happened he did. A friend of his was, in fact, an electrician.

This was about five and a half weeks ago. Because, despite my laziness, I don’t really like wielding knives and using stovetops in the dark. It doesn’t seem like a good idea. So I got a number. And never called. It sat in my phone for weeks. Five and a half weeks. In case you forgot.

Finally, I called on a Saturday. I did not expect an answer. In fact, I was just hoping for voicemail. At least then I could convince myself I made an effort. No one answered. So I left my message, explaining who I was, who told me to call, you know, the usual. It was a wonderful message. One of my better really.

Less than one hour later, the lights in my kitchen were working. Now you may think this is because the electrician manned up, got back to me immediately, and went out of his way to come help me out on a Saturday. You would be wrong. The electrician still hasn’t returned my call. But my lights work. I can’t explain why. Six weeks I flipped the lights on and off every day for those two lights. And nothing. One hour after calling the electrician my lights work. And have continued to do so.

My message was good, but I didn’t realize it was that good. I almost expect to get an invoice from the electrician any day now. Like he somehow had something to do with it.

Welcome to Sweden. Where the electricians are so good they don’t even come to you.

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12 comments:

  1. wow that's amazing hahaha. It seems as if your lights have a mind of their own!

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  2. whats even worse is that they just died on me. this time about two hours after writing this post. I couldn't make this stuff up. the lights are taunting me.

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  3. thank you, i needed a laugh. i laughed even more when i read your comment here :P

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  4. Love this too. I know you didn't make it up because only life can be that creative. Call the electrician back. But just think how you're saving energy by using candle light. And it is romantic. Candle light can never not be.

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  5. @emmylish - actually I laughed too... it was just too ridiculous.

    @m8 - Im going to have to give him a call. I was so excited that they were working again though.

    and youre right. I am conserving energy like noones business.

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  6. That's a damn good and fast electrician and the best is that you didn't have to pay a dime!

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  7. @robban - if it was only that easy whenever there were problems in my apartment.

    @me - are you suggesting that sweden may have nationalized the electrical control center of the entire country?

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  8. Not sure if i should leave my comment in swedish or english. But i guess ill write it in english. Better safe than sorry.

    The same thing happend to me, in my kitchen. I called my dad who's an electrican (and a plumber and a whatever is needed). He got there, switched the lights on and everything was working. Three out of four lights hadnt been working for a week.

    He left, and later that night when it was time for dinner - the kitchen was dark again. Completly dark this time.

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  9. Good luck with the lights! We have the same thing occurring in our bathroom, but the intervals of no light are much shorter than 6 weeks so I've managed to ignore it so far...

    By the way, you have an award to collect on my blog!

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  10. @agnes - either one works.

    Its almost as if the lights just want to mess with you. They have a mind of their own. I've had similar experiences when something is wrong with the car. Take it in to get it checked out and suddenly its driving better than ever. Until the day after you get it back fromthe mechanic.

    @Ewa - thanks. Hopefully you dont end up showering in the dark!

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  11. You better get an electrician, if you haven't. My mother had the same problem in her apartment. And since my english doesn't cover enough to talk about electrical problems I will take the rest in Swedish.

    Min mamma hade upplevt problem med glappkontakt i sin hall. Vissa veckor fungerade ljuset och vissa inte. När min pojkvän som är elkunnig tog ner lampan och tittade så såg han att anledningen till glappkontakten var att det hade bränt vid fästet (där kablarna kommer ut från väggen, alltså inte på själva lampan). Hade det inte åtgärdats så hade det kunnat börja brinna hemma hos min mamma.

    So you better check it up...

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  12. thats good advice, because I definitely don't want anything bursting into flames. thanks!

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