so, we got tired of our industrial kitchen equipment and went out and bought a new refrigerator and range/oven. we thought we had purchased an all gas appliance, but once it arrived we found out that it had a gas range and an electric oven. i guess maybe i've been living under a rock because i've never heard of such a thing, but supposedly it's a desirable "feature". as you might have guessed the electric oven needed a 220 volt receptacle which we were lacking, but we didn't think it would be a problem to have an electrician come by an install a new one, not realizing that in our new, small, rural hometown that it can take weeks to get an appointment with certified electrician.

now, i can calculate the unknown given a few knowns with ohm's law, but when it comes to doing actual electrical work, about the only thing i know is that if you stick your screwdriver in the wrong part of a electrical box, the results can be dire indeed. but i decided to give it a go after a few days of attempting ( and failing ) to make 3 square meals in a toaster oven ( we're luddites and don't own a microwave oven. ) and after a bit of chiding from a brother-in-law who not-so-subtly insulted my manliness when he heard i didn't think i had the skills to install the receptacle, run the wire and rig the box with a new circuit breaker.

i'm happy to report that after being empowered with a small bit of knowledge from lowes how-to and making a half-dozen trips to the local hardware store, i reclaimed my manhood and actually managed to install the receptacle without suffering grievous bodily harm. w00t!

perhaps next week i'll get to work on that flux capacitor i've always wanted to build.