Two more adventures with electricity than I wanted

1)

Our outdoor Christmas lights stopped working.  I fiddled with the fuses like I knew what I was doing and I had Braeden unplug and replug the lights but then I was pretty much out of ideas.  I called the company that hangs our lights and a guy came to look at it.

He cut the cord and installed a new plug.  He asked me to flip the switch.

A horrible and scary sound ensued, kind of like a train was running through the house. There was popping and black smoke coming from the outlet.  "Turn it off!  Turn it off!" the guy yelled.  I did then we looked at each other with wide eyes.

He said, "That shouldn't have happened."

I couldn't agree more.

He told me his plan of how he'd fix it.  I said, "Christmas lights are not a necessity.  If this isn't safe, we don't need them."

He assured me he could fix it and he did.  The lights work.  I may even get brave enough to actually turn them on.

2)

As promised, Mark and I went to the DMV after school.  We waited in line and got the book.

We went back to the van and it wouldn't start.  Nothing.  Mark popped the hood, and after talking on the phone with Adam, was going to check if the battery connector was OK.  A guy nearby asked if Mark needed any help.  "I think so," he said.

As luck would have it, the guy was a mechanic.  Our battery was indeed disconnected.  This has happened before and I completely blame the really terrible roads in our fair city.  We didn't have any tools in the van and he didn't have any tools.  He was with his girlfriend.  She had a socket set in her car but the one socket that would fit was missing.

He was chatting with us while he tried to make the wrong sized socket work.  "So are you here for a driver's license renewal?" he asked Mark.  I explained that Mark had just turned 15 and we were there to pick up a book.  The guy looked at Mark and said, "Wow, really?  I thought you were a lot older than that."

"Just 15," I said, "He's tall."

The guy was super short.  He smiled up at Mark and said, "Yeah, I get that all the time too."

I love it when you meet real life heroes who just stop what they're doing to help you.

He couldn't get the connector tightened but he set it on and said we might be able to make it home.  And we did!  It was a little nerve wracking but Mark read the driver's manual to me while we drove.  (Which is not as interesting as it sounds.)

Mark had watched everything our mechanic friend had done.  When we got home he said, "I can fix the van.  I have the tools I need."

Of course he does.  In a few minutes, Mark had it running fine.

I like people who can do things!  And I'm going to start keeping the right tools in the van.  Mark will just need to tell me which I need.