OK, I am writing this in response to this #freewrite challenge post: https://steemit.com/freewrite/@mariannewest/day-69-5-minute-freewrite-prompt-grounding

I hope I'm doing this right, so here goes:

Grounding

Messing With Electricity

I heard this cracking noise from the wall beside my bed. Popcorn? Is somebody popping popcorn in my wall? When I turned towards the wall, I saw that my electric outlet kept flashing. Oh, no, that can't be good. You know, this house was built in the late 1960s, and I've heard stories about the old wiring starting fires.

My first impulse was to call to my son and ask him to come and look at the flashing outlet. "Hey," I said, "we've got to fix this!"

"Uh," my son responded, "don't you think we should call an electrician?"

"Oh, come on," I said. "I watched an electrician fix a similar problem in an outlet before. It took him five minutes, and he charged me $150. We just need to shut off the breaker, head to the hardware store, and fix this ourselves for $5."

My son reluctantly agreed. He went out and flipped off the breaker while I went to the store to get the new outlet from a helpful clerk. With the power off, we changed the outlet. Heck, it was only four wires to unattach and then reattach.

What could possibly go wrongt?

When we turned the power back on, the outlet did not spark any longer, but it didn't work either. I stupidly stuck in my screwdriver to tighten a wire and felt electricity flow up my arm. It felt weird, but it didn't kill me, so there was that.

My son shut the power back off. I tightened the screw again. This time, we were rewarded by an outlet that not only did not spark but actually worked. "Look," I told my son, "we're great at fixing things!"

Two days later, Hurricane Harvey hit. The house shook . The outlet stopped working again.

I got an electrician to come by and fix it the next week.

Is there a moral to this story? It's probably that I should have just called the professional in the first place.

Don't Play With Electricity!

Yes, this is pretty much a true story. This is my first response to the Freewrite Challenge. I didn't edit or proofread, as the rules said. So, please be kind. :)