This blog is now quickly approaching the Twentieth Century, with this post #1998. Monica Lewinsky made big news that year as part of the President Clinton sex scandal. Ironically, the FDA approved Viagra for erectile dysfunction about that same time. I was in the process of leaving WISH-TV in Indianapolis to run WLFI-TV in nearby Lafayette, while in the unpleasant business of going through a divorce. My son had already permanently moved to Florida, far removed from the knock-down, drug-out battle that ensued. He’s still in Florida to this day, twenty-four years later, and sadly going through this horrible ordeal with his wife and three kids at home. 

When we moved in to our Florida home a year ago, there were ten “holes” in the ceiling that needed to be filled. They were each hidden with a white plastic cover that hid the wiring above. Last night, my son installed the final overhead fixture, one of which moved with us from Portland. It was my twentieth anniversary gift for my wife, a crystal chandelier from a nearby display window, as close to “China” as we could get. (See Post #1995). We had an electrician hang it in our new dining room, along with three lights suspended over the kitchen bar, LED lighting to highlight the backsplash under the cabinets, and two bathroom lights. We called him about installing the rest of our purchases but he never responded. My son offered to help, needing a distraction from his home life.

He has already situated two lanai fans, decorative fixtures in both bedrooms, a complicated, artsy installation in the great room, and an overhead light in my office. In addition, he replaced the lights on each side of the garage door and will soon add a matching pendulum light in the front outdoor entrance foyer. Finally, a motion sensor has been installed in the garage for hands-free light operation, while my wife has plans for more of these. Next, we’ll look into landscape lighting to further keep him busy. Watching my grandkids is all part of the deal, along with what we would have paid an electrician, who would have turned up his nose at several of these intricate crystal pieces that took hours of patience to install. We’ve still invested over $18,000 in this project, with several thousand yet to go, but we’re finally starting to see the “light” at the end of the tunnel.