EMF - not the band

When we first moved into our house, the electrical system was totally insane. There were tons of live wires hanging in the utility room - the previous owners had been working on making a shop and it was not yet done. The electrical panel was rusted out and quite a few circuits were overloaded. In addition, the power lines run from the poles by the street past our bedroom windows to get to our panel. So we had the interior rewired and all seems to be well. The power lines always bothered me though and I had planned on looking into this at some point. Turns out that that point is right now...

I developed a healthy but not crazy concern about electronic devices and microwaves over the past few years. When we were remodeling our kitchen and living primarily off of microwaved food, I cringed every time I turned it on. Not just because of what it may be doing to the food, but because it was at waist level and worried about that being in line with reproductive organs and with Peanuts little head. Recently, I have been more conscious of the possibility of cell phones causing problems and have begun to hear more about fluorescent lighting as well. I have been interested in LED bulbs for a while, but they are so expensive that it has not been an option for us thus far.

Well, our moms group is having a speaker in January talk about wireless safety. I know that I will want to change some things about how we use our wireless network, cell phones, blackberry...etc but I had hoped to live in ignorant bliss for a while longer. Not so much. I got the new Prevention magazine this week and saw this article and had a little freak out. Now, LED light bulbs are at the top of my list, I'm happy that we have replaced our bedroom dimmer switches with regular on/off light switches a couple of months ago, and I am on a mission to deal with those power lines outside our windows. I have already arranged to borrow a Gauss meter since the local electric cooperative thinks I am a loon. I've called and spoken with several people, asking if they have someone who takes Gauss meter readings. Even though EMF's are addressed on their website, I have yet to speak with someone who has a clue.

My only solace is that most things that I have had concerns about and been deemed nuts by others have eventually proven to be real issues - plastic in the microwave, that horrid smell of new shower curtains... So I may be crazy, and I hope I am in this instance, but I fear there is more to the story and "dirty electricity" could have significant health repercussions. Better safe than sorry.

I really did like EMF when it was just an 80's party band...

Just Fun Show and Tell

Here is an example of the craziness we see all over the house. This junction was behind the wall, without a junction box. The microwave was hardwired here. This wouldn't be so scary except the wire was pulled from the outlet that the range was connected to. So two appliances connected to one circuit with completely unsafe fire hazard wiring.












Here is a shot of our calendar on the apartment wall. It is the only way anyone remembers what the plan for each day is and what needs to be followed up on.

Well, this one is a little blurry, but you will note that the plumbing on the right is for the old washer and dryer that were in the kitchen, and the pipes come off of that set up and travel completely around the corner and wall to the sink area. All of the pipes are exposed, every cabinet must have been cut to make this work. The black pipe you see is the vent/drain and the smaller copper pipes at the floor are the hot and cold water lines. This, we did not anticipate - I really thought it was the other way around - the sink

branched off to the washer. Ah, wishful thinking!