Handy Sandy Sheds some Light on the Situation

 Hullo! Today we are going to switch out the motion activated light in the carport...

This is it! It only works in "Test" mode which means the little photo sensor on the top is fried.

It's been here as long as we have and it's time for a refresh...

This is an easy job for anyone to do!

We bought the new light fixture, which is basically the same as the existing one, except in black.

There were a TONNE of options at Home Depot but this one was reasonably priced AND it uses the same bulbs as the existing one!

First step... turn off the breaker for the light!

Whew... that's a lot of breakers!!

Luckily, the humans had mapped them out when they first moved in. And it looks like Breaker #7 handles the carport...

We tested it out beforehand too just to double-check...

So we turned the breaker off...

And are going to test the light again... this little bear does not want frizzy fur and fried stuffie brains.

Double check... yep, the light is dead!

Alright, let's get started!

There are no obvious screws but... see that little cream-white nubbin in the middle... if you pry that out with your fingernails (assuming you have them)...

There's the screw!

So we took out the screw and...

There's the gasket (we are going to keep that)... and then all the wires tucked in there...

Pull them all one and undo those orange thingies... then connect the appropriate wires of the new fixture to the house wires and...

There's the new fixture... all hooked up!

Tuck all those wires back in, fasten the screw and...

It works!!! 

Well, of course it works... Handy Sandy was supervising this job!!! And yes, one light is an old bulb and one is a new LED.

Handy Sandy and the Shed Roof...

 Alright... it's looking pretty good so far... I think...

Oh, hullo!!! I have been helping with the replacement of the shed roof!! The old metal panels were really beat up and had so many screw holes, it was like swiss cheese... so we go the old panels off, put down new underlay, and then bear-handled the new panels up into place...

Now, let's get the new panels fastened into place... up the ladder we go...

Oooh... I almost forgot!! We got a Bee Barn!!! For mason bees!

And look!! Some of the tubes are clogged with mud... that means that there are little bee pupae in there, ready to hatch next spring. Cool!!

Of course, mason bees don't make honey but... they are super-pollinators...

Alright... back to the roof...

And I'm up!!

Right then... what next... well, we have the fancy grommet screws to use...

The panels were only 12 feet long and our roof needed 12'8", so we had to get some extra bits to cover the overlap.

Ready to fasten!!

And of course the driver's battery died... and then the spare battery died so we need to wait for them to charge...

A perfect time for some liquid refreshment...

And we're back!!

And that didn't take long at all... It always goes quicker when you have fully charged battery packs... speaking of which, this little bear's battery is running low...

Oooh... a treat!!? For moi??

I kind of think my sekrebeary is trying to improve her score for the end-of-the-year sekrebeary evaluation...

Is it a bribe? Mmmm... I don't think so...

It is a delicious pain-au-chocolat though!!!

Yum!!! 

Handy Sandy and the Burnt-out Tail Light

 Hullo! Handy Sandy here! Today we are working on a slightly different project... You see, this tail/brake light is working...

But this one is not! And if you're wondering who is holding down the brake pedal while we are doing this...

It is "Large Paving Stone"!

So... we did some research and figured out which light bulb to get for this light. Because it is a tail & brake light... it needs a dual filament bulb...

Which we found at Canadian Tire (of course).

And yes, I did watch a YouTube video about how to remove the light assembly and replace the bulb...

First... we are going to remove the screws that are holding the light assembly in place. We had to open the back hatch to access those...

There... that's all done... Let's not lose these!!

Then we just wiggled our fingers (OK... the human's fingers) under the edges of the light assembly and popped it off. But it's still attached with this power supply

Again... if you're doing this at home, you will need human fingers to disconnect the power supply...

Then we have the three light sections - the bottom one with the coloured wires is the one we want.

You turn that grey bit and... voila! Out pops the socket with the light bulb...

So we changed out the light bulbs and... put it all back in...

That was easy! Let's test it, shall we...

Um... Houston... we have a problem...

What the heck??? Maybe the paving stone is not doing its job?

Nope... other light is working fine... just not this one...

We had to put our thinking caps on for this one... and check a couple of reddit forums where we saw one comment that said it matters which way you put the light bulb in... Because it has two filaments, it needs to be put in one way, and one way only... So we dismantled the whole dang thing, took the bulb out, rotated it 180 degrees (it has two little bumps on the side that slot into the socket)... and...

It works!!!! 

Handy Sandy saves the day! And note to others... if it's a dual filament bulb... it will fit both ways, but it will only work one way!