amanda123's Journal, 03 Sep 10

Oh I forgot.... I have a job interview next week for a Teachers Assistant position for Pre-K! Can I really do this? Take care of 4 year olds all day and not pull my hair out? 

Good golly Amanda, definitely have that electrical looked at. Maybe theres just an issue w/ that circuit your using for the microwave. Maybe it's pulling too much and overloading the system. Good luck on the teachers assistant interview. At least you'll get a chance to see if this is for you before you invest too much into teaching education. 

Uh, Amanda, my dad is an electrician, and I am pretty sure that it isn't safe to have breaker box that is sparking and sputtering. It is a fire waiting to happen, and should take precedence over everything else. Your children's lives could depend on you getting hat checked right away. It may be nothing more serious that a weak breaker. If nothing else find out which breaker is sparking and turn it to the off position until you can get it fixed!! How old is the house and are the wires copper or aluminum? If they are aluminum, then they need to be replaced!...........Sounds like the teaching assignment may be really fun!! I am sure that you will enjoy it and be good at it! congrats on the loss and on being below that dreaded 220!! 

Well we bought a 1980 mobile home a couple of years ago and we had to pretty much gut it. We put in new floors, tape & bedded the walls, new kitchen cabinets, new countertops, bathtub, sinks... pretty much everything in it had to be replaced. We still have the old windows but we have new doors and light fixtures etc. It is still a work in progress. The outside needs painting and new shudders but it's paid for and that is what we need while I am going to school. We did not replace the electrical. The breaker that is sparking runs pretty much everything in the house. So my father in law changed it out with another breaker below it and it did the same thing so its not the individual breaker...... at least that it what I think he said... I am not an electrician so they are pretty much speaking greek to me. Cody says we have to replace the box but that that will be a problem because we can't get one the exact same size as ours and the wires are going to be too short coming into it .... something like that. So I don't know what we are going to do. It was hard to sleep last night with it sizzling above my head in the bedroom. You can smell it burning. I know an old mobile home will burn down fast. It is pretty scary. Cody opened the box up and pulled it away from the wall so hopefully that will help. We have copper wire. 

Oh, AManda, that would scare the shit out of me! Our house burned in 1998, and it was awful!! The only thing that saved our lives was th smoke detectors, but by the time they went off the whole attic was on fire!! The fire deparment said another 5 minutes and we all would have died of smaoke inhalation! Please, please, beg, borrow, or steal, but get a registered electrician out there to check it. The lives of your children, your husband, and yourself may depend on it!! I am praying that you all are safe! That is just toooo scary!  

If nothing else maybe you can call the local fire department and tell them what is going on and they can recommend someone who will look at it for lesser charge or free. I won't be able to stop worrying until it is taken care of. You and your family are just too precious to lose 

Absolutely. Stop. Do not pass "go." Call a licensed electrician immediately.  

Don't worry we are taking care of it this weekend. My husbands dad has worked in construction for years so he knows a bit about it and my dad can wire an entire house up. I think he used to work for an electrician years ago. If they can't figure out how to fix it we will definately call an electrician. It would be awful to lose your house in a fire. I laid in bed trying to fall asleep and planning what I would grab that was most important. The kids of course, but pictures, memories. It would just be awful. We don't have insurance so we would have nothing. That's too scary to even think about. I am so sorry your house burned Stef! I didnt even think about the danger from smoke inhalation. We have one smoke detector in the kitchen. I am going to buy a fire extinguisher tonight. We will get it fixed asap this weekend.  

I will be praying for you immediately! 

Amanda please tell us you have had that electricl problem fixed!  

Amanda, the next thing is that you need o do is to install smoke detectors in each of the bedrooms, the hallway, and the living room. And I hope that you were able to get the electricity fixed! 

Yes, pleeeeeze get some smoke detectors. The wireless ones (since you are having a wiring problem right now) cost about $30-40 each. Get a couple to put up in other areas of the house beyond just the kitchen. It will give you added safety while your working out the electrical problem and also piece of mind while you sleep. The extinguisher is also a great idea. Hoping it all ends up being a minor problem for you in the end and you and your family stay safe.