S-M-R-T!

I don't know if Electricity makes me smart, but the opposite is certainly true


Being smart generates electricity? Maybe your brain could generate enough electricity to light up a city. Not A Real City, mind you, but definitely a tiny ant city whose government has recently passed a series of stringent energy-conservation laws.


Actually, was more referring to the fact that a lack of electricity makes me an idiot.


It takes less than that, trust me.


I'm okay without power. I have flashlights and candles and whatnot, I have books I can read, a piano I can play, and plenty of other things I can do if the power is out. If worse comes to worse, I'm even a fairly experienced camper who can make a fire without using gasoline and cook several things over if if need be. I don't need electricity to survive.

That said, I'm institutionalized when it comes to electricity. I'm just accustomed to having it around, and when it's not there, I simply get confused. I'll continue to flip on light switches, look toward digital clocks, and push "Power" buttons on various electronics. I know that my laptop will still work, so I ponder using the internetz, but briefly forget that the cable modem and the router both rely on electricity to work.

I told you that story so I can tell you this story. Not long ago, I had an electrical problem at the Jeremy Household that required a new circuit breaker. It's not a difficult thing to do...you turn off the main power, pull out the old breaker, wire in the new one, snap it into place and you're set. This, of course, requires having a new breaker that matches the old one...so the best way to do this is in two stages. Remove the old one and bring it with you to "High's Home Improvement Store" find a new one that matches, then bring it home and install. This was my method...it involves leaving the main power to the house off while I'm driving to the hardware store.

At the store, I find my new breaker, and bring both that and the old one up to the cash register. I explain to the cashier that I'm paying for one, and brought the other just as the model for replacement. The cashier makes a joke that she probably shouldn't charge me for the old one as I tuck it into my pocket, then relates a story of one time, under similar circumstances, she tried to ring up somebody's cell phone, and how she shouldn't tell that story because it makes her look stupid. We had a quick chuckle at her expense, and I made my way home. As I rounded the bend to my house, I clicked the button for the garage door opener. Upon seeing the door not move, I clicked it again. After the second click, it finally dawned on me that the opener relies on electricity to run, and I could click this little button May 21, and it still wouldn't work. At least the radio in my car still worked.