One advantage of having me quit teaching and staying home was that I have had time to solve problems that I normally wouldn't have. None of these have been earth shattering, but I have made a difference in the Heinisch Home. It started last fall when I decided to help with a couple of technology issues that we were having. Patience and research payed off and I was able to solve several problems and actually make our scanner/printer useful once again.
Since that time I have become more confident in my ability to fix things around the home that I hadn't even been able to attempt in the past. Along with the gains in technology knowledge I had also done some plumbing work over the year and learned how to put in overhead ceiling lights. I thought that the recent success of putting in a new ceiling fan with my Dad several weeks ago was the pinnacle of my capabilities, but it actually may have been today's project.
The ceiling fan in Meg's room had always made a humming sound. The noise had increased to a point that she just couldn't really use the it much at all especially when she was trying to sleep. My goal was to fix or replace it by the time she came home from IU. As she had a visit planned on the 3rd of October, I knew I couldn't wait. I had researched ideas on what the problem could be and decided to try a few different suggestions before I gave up and bought her a new one. I really wasn't looking forward to putting up a new ceiling fan as I knew how much work it was with Cam's. As I checked everything listed in one of the articles I read, it became clear to me that the humming was not actually coming from the motor or the blades, but instead from the light fixture attached to the fan. I had hoped by changing the weight that I would stop the noise, but unfortunately that didn't work.
Today I talked Doug into helping me take the light off. I knew that I couldn't do that on my own as the fixture was heavy and awkward to remove. He agreed and soon we had the fixture down. As we looked through it to find any loose screws or abnormalities that would make noise, it became clear to me that the electric box in it was not stable. It didn't look anything like the one in Cam's fan and I was positive it was the problem. Doug thought it was likely as well and helped to stabilize it before rehanging the light. It took some work to get the fixture back up, but it was well worth. I turned the switched on and lo and behold, no obnoxious humming noise - what a relief.
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