Now that I am an old retired fart, I have purchased a home in the South of Texas. The home is ten years younger than me, and like me, needs constant repair.

The electrical panel was like a pimple on the nose that needed to be squished. Definitely needed to be replaced. Luckily for me, I am an old retired electrician. In all honesty, I stood for hours looking at it, salivating on how I was going to do the work. I purchased all the material and when I was ready, I called the Electrical Provided (EP) to pull the meter so I could begin work.

The young guy who came out apologetically informed me the EP requires all work on electrical services to be 200 amps. I had purchased and prepared to install a 100 amp service. So, back to the design board.

So, finally all the gods were in line and the work was completed with the help of a pretty Brazilian assistant. Here are pictures of the pimple on the nose.

And here is the upgrade:

If you look at the closed panel above, you will see two arrows. One pretty red arrow and one pretty blue arrow.

The blue arrow is pointing to a receptacle I mounted to provide temporary power to my shop. The red arrow is pointing to a full house surge suppressor that all of you should have on your house service, if you get frequent electrical storms. It is the same thing that is in many power strips, except this covers the whole house. If any of you would like to inquire about it, let me know and we can discuss it over whiskey and cigars.

More later.