I was never particularly good at sports at school. Except perhaps swimming, which the English boys had few opportunities to practice back then. Prep school colors at rugby were cut short suddenly when it became rudely apparent that the other boys had matured more quickly than me.
Despite spending so much time at an all-boys school, most of us assumed that excelling at sports was the way to impress girls. These girls were, presumably, living in all-girls schools.
So what a pleasant surprise that, when I was well past my prime, my wife intimated that she would be very impressed if I was willing to re-wire light fixtures. Late middle-age is even more mysterious than adolescence.
We immediately plunged into the copious opportunities presented by eBay’s lighting section. Many Saturday afternoons in pursuit of the right fixture led us through the wasted byways of salacious advertising offering, for example, “Stunningly beautiful, completely re-wired, ready to be hung.”
But, with some experience, we explored the bayous of vintage lighting possibilities. There is nothing like “French chandelier, original condition, may require re-wiring” to quicken a man’s pulse.
The truth is that refurbishing vintage lighting is extremely satisfying. I sell real estate during business hours and outside those hours too. But, when I can steal some private time, I love to work on totally decrepit, rusty and filthy light fixtures while my wife looks on in admiration.
This work requires precision. If you enjoy crosswords or jigsaw puzzles you might like it. Re-wiring a light fixture allows no room for error. Electricity is not forgiving, and any mistake could be fatal. There are many apocryphal tales of the disaster of faulty technique. If you feel insecure, call for a professional.
But, if you enjoy a challenge and live relatively close to a good locally owned hardware store such as Bering’s or Southland (the larger stores rarely have the parts required), you might dabble in restoring vintage fixtures, or even creating new ones from salvaged parts.
