The Bathroom Switch That Gave People a Shock

I recently replaced the bathroom wall switch at home. A few people who came over for a Mid-Autumn Festival barbecue got a shock when they pressed it after using the bathroom. The wallpaper also made the switch hard to find.

To sort this out, I went to buy the materials to replace it.

Seeing that I was a woman, the owner of the plumbing and electrical supply shop asked whether I knew how to replace it. He even took off the cover plate to remind me how to connect the wires.

“Thank you,” I told him.

After all, repairs are taken for granted as men’s work, and women are few and far between in hardware shops.

Back home, I got things ready and had it replaced in no time. Wiring a single switch is quite simple.

From Hiring a Tradesman to Doing It Myself

Several years ago, I tried to hire a tradesman to modify an outlet at home, but couldn’t get anyone to come. After repeated requests, someone finally showed up. Who would have thought he hadn’t even brought any wire? He actually went outside my home to cut some wire to use for the connection. I found that a little worrying.

He charged me NT$1000 when he finished. Quite a price!

After that, I started figuring out wiring myself and stopped hiring someone to do it. Little one-off jobs like these are expensive, and it’s hard to find anyone to take them on. Learning to sort it out myself is still the quickest way.

Could a Woman Work in Plumbing and Electrical Repairs Too?

A while ago, I heard Jensen Huang say that skilled trades such as plumbing and electrical work could become increasingly popular in the future.

I was actually quite tempted after hearing that. I wondered whether I should take a course and get certified.

Still, thinking about it is one thing. The gender barrier seems as hard as ever to get past.

Even if I really learned the skills and got certified, who would want to hire a woman to come and fix things in their home?

Perhaps having my sons learn first would be a little more practical.

I Fixed Something Else Today

A while ago, my son broke his phone. The screen was completely black, with nothing showing on it.

I thought, “Good thing it was a secondhand phone, or I’d be heartbroken!”

Little did I know that for the whole next week, he would keep coming to borrow my phone to listen to stories.

Watching him with my phone in his hands, I couldn’t help worrying: what if mine suffered the same fate?

While I was debating whether to buy him another one, I decided to try fixing it first.

So I bought an LCD screen assembly. As soon as it arrived today, I got straight to work taking the phone apart and replacing it.

▲ The new LCD screen assembly I bought for the phone.

Sure enough, once I opened up the phone, I could confirm that he had broken the screen by dropping it.

After I connected the new screen, it lit up again!

What a relief!

He no longer has to keep coming to borrow my phone to listen to stories!