It's a simple concept, but a premise we all seem to forget far too often. You can't be an expert in everything, so when you find yourself outside your area, be smart, find an expert and hire them. Then let them do what they do best.  

 

I recently had an electrical problem in my home, and while I can rewire an outlet or change out a light switch...this was a more serious tangle of wires. So I smartly pushed the nasty mess of wires back into the wall and called an electrician. When he showed up, I showed him the issue, described the problem, and told him what I wanted. Then I went and sat on the couch and watched something on the Discovery channel. When he was done, he came and got me. He explained what he'd done and why, then instructed me to flip on the switch – everything worked. I paid him and went back to the couch.  

 

It's not a very exciting story, but it's not meant to be. Instead it's a demonstration of hiring smartly and letting the expert do his job. The funny thing is, while he was explaining what he'd done and reviewing his invoice, he pointed out that he used 30 wire nuts that cost a total of about $60.00. Now being the quasi-handy guy I am, I asked why 30 wire nuts cost $2 each? That's when he explained that he purchased special wire nuts for use with my aluminum wiring - they contain an anti-oxidizer in the wire nut which make them better and safer to use. And while I knew that aluminum and copper wiring don't necessarily get along, I'd never realized that the wire nut mattered too. My brain immediately tried to start counting the number of "incorrect" wire nuts I've used in my house. While I thought what I was doing was correct (after all, changing an outlet or switch is simple, right?) – turns out, I was doing it wrong. Yup, the expert knew better.

So my point is?

Sometimes, even when you think you know what you're doing...you should rely on an expert. Or at the very least, get the advice of an expert. Perhaps my anecdote is really just about recognizing you can't know it all and there's always something that can be learned by talking to a professional. But one thing is for sure, I'm going to be replacing my bad wire nuts with the $2 ones as soon as I can. And maybe, in the future, I'll watch a bit more Discovery channel while I leave the electrical work to the professional.  

As the old joke goes....