Wednesday, March 5, 2025

Wednesday, March 5, 2025

Tonight's picture was taken in March of 2008. I will never forget this moment in time. Mattie came home from kindergarten and that afternoon we went outside to our commons area for him to fly his kite. Our commons area was absolutely perfect. It was enclosed and accessible to only residents, and the wind blew in just the right way to make it an ideal condition to fly a kite. We accomplished a lot together in this commons area..... Mattie learned to walk, fly a kite, ride a bicycle, play with our resident Jack Russell Terrier (who belonged to our neighbor), and drive his ride on vehicle, Speedy Red. 

Quote of the day: You have to understand that PTSD has to be an event that you experience, a very traumatic event. And actually, there is evidence that brain chemistry changes during this event in certain individuals where it's imprinted indelibly forever and there's an emotion associated with this which triggers the condition. ~ Dale Archer

I was going to write about something completely different tonight, but then as I always say.... NO DAY IS COMPLETE FOR ME WITHOUT A CRISIS.

I had just finished making dinner. I spent time chopping up olives, tomatoes, and artichoke hearts and made a very tasty pasta tonight. I was in the process of getting my parents to the dinner table and serving dinner, when I happened to look outside the window. I SAW NOTHING. I saw nothing because half of the lights in our backyard weren't working. 

Let me clue you in, when dealing with someone who is traumatized like myself, the littlest things can set us off. The reaction may not be in line with the problem! I can immediately go into panic mode because I constantly live in fear that things will happen that I can't fix or control. This is not just some unfounded reality in my life that has led to this anxiety but instead it is anxiety that exists as a result of multiple traumas. 

I went outside with my flashlight and saw this red light staring back at me from the electric GFCI outlet (a safety device that detects imbalances in electrical current). Typically there is no light on or a green light, so I knew there was a problem. I tried pressing the reset button of the GFCI, that accomplished nothing. The light remained red. So I went back into the house and looked at the circuit breakers. One was tripped, so I reset it. I went back outside, hoping that would have solved the problem. It didn't! I assure you at that point, I began to panic. I panic because I always worry.... how I am going to fix this and how costly will this fix be? 

Okay, I did not give up there! I tried to brainstorm the problem. I unplugged both of the transformer boxes that serve as timers to the outdoor lights from this GFCI. I then took a phone charger chord from inside the house and plugged it into this outlet to see if it would work! It did! So what that told me was NOTHING was wrong with the outlet or the GFCI (after I had reset the breaker and pressed the reset button on the GFCI). So clearly this was a multi-pronged problem!

So then I examined the transformer boxes near the GFCI. I noticed that they were connected to the GFCI outlet through an extension chord (pictured here). I ran back into the house and found another extension chord, brought it outside and reconnected the transformer boxes to a new extension chord. Voilà, it worked!

Then there was light! A glorious sight!!! My plumber says I am learning so much on my own that I am becoming a plumber, and now apparently I can add electrician to the list. 

Circuit breakers, resetting GFCIs, replacing extension chords and reprogramming the transformer boxes for the outdoor lights..... this all occurred after dinner. The problem with my day is this is NOT the only task or issue that I manage. I manage so much from the moment I get out of bed until I go to sleep at night. It is exhausting, it is NO WONDER why I am frazzled.