The Broken Switch!

Sunday evening as I prepared to take my evening shower, I flipped the light switch in the master bath. Nothing. Of course i jiggled the switch, nothing! There is another switch which controls just the lights above the medicine cabinet. Those worked, so I went ahead, showered and thought I'd worry about it on Monday. Yesterday, I purchased a new single pole switch at Walmart in preparation for my journey into electrical repairs.
 (Let it be known, in 70+ years, I have installed new plugs on the end of extension cords and screwed in light bulbs. That being the full scope of my electrical experience. Oh, I handed tools to my former college roomie when he came from Ohio to help [read here: he did the work] wire my new garage back in 1994.)
Today I made several trips up and down the cellar steps, which involves opening a trap door on my screened porch, clambering down 9 steep rickety steps to the circuit breaker box. Of course, the breaker to the bathroom was not marked, so it involved guessing, flipping, trekking up the steps across the entire house, thru the master bedroom and checking if the above-the-sink lights were on. After about 5 tries, I found the right breaker.  I removed the cover of the switch, removed the old switch, and attempted to install the new one. To no avail. The new switch had the ground screw in a different place and the ground wire wasn't long enough to reach it. Hmmm! Now this called for a trip to my local True Value Hardware store. I knew Walmart only had the one style, so I took the old one along, and found just what I needed for $.85 less than what I paid for the other one. Back at home I installed the new switch, went down and turned the breaker back on, Nothing!  What the heck is going on. Another trip down the stairs, turn off breaker, back up and tried it again. There was one wire that I wasn't sure exactly where it went. I thought I knew, but obviously, I was wrong. Frustrating to say the least.
My friend Curley texted me and wondered why I didn't come to our club meeting at the Senior Center today, and I told her what I was doing. She said that if I needed help, let her know and she and her hubby Phil would stop by after work. After one more try, another trek down, up and down, I sent her an HELP! text.  About 4 PM, they rolled in, I explained to Phil what was going on. He checked everything out, reinstalled the switch, still nothing. I happened to have a power checker (layman's term) and he used it and said I was getting power, but it was only going to one switch and if one didn't work. neither would work.  He reversed the wires. Nothing. Bear in mind that I was trekking up and down, Curley was standing in the doorway, and she was relaying "breaker off, breaker on" messages to Phil. Finally Phil decided that the one odd wire was to go into the switch on the bottom instead of the top. New wiring isn't done this way anymore, but this add-on to my house was done in 1995, so times have changed. So he moved that wire, hooked it up and we had lights. The only trouble was, when he put the switch back in the hole, then it wouldn't work. Investigating this called for Phil and I both to trek to the cellar, take off the face of the breaker box, pull the breaker, clean the contact, and reinstall all of the above. Nothing. So once more, Phil took off the switch, tried the back wire, and found that it had a small kink that was letting it slip as he tightened the switch back into the wall. At long last, he solved the problem. So once more I trekked down. threw the breaker, and "hallelujah" let there be light!  I thanked them over and over, and Curley said that Phil had learned electrical "stuff" when they built their house, barn and wired the basement. Guess his step dad was an electrician and taught him all he needed to know.
What did I learn from this experience?  Just call someone who knows more than I do about a problem when it arises. Lot less stress on the old man. I also learned what treasurers good friends are!(Which, incidentally, I already knew. These two have been my salvation since my wife died.)

Until Next Time,
Peace (and light)
JE