Scorch Marks

A couple of months ago, I started noticing a burning smell periodically. Sometimes I'd be here in the family room, sitting at the computer, but I ruled the computer out as the source of the smell. It seemed strongest in my scraproom, but I couldn't locate the source there, either. It was very faint, but my Bionic Nose picked up on it every time.

Finally one day, I realized where it was coming from: the light fixture in my scrap room! I told Darren, but since he'd never smelled it, he mostly blew me off.

One night, several friends were in my scrap room cutting Sizzix letters, and they smelled it too. I yelled for Darren to come downstairs and take a whiff. He smelled it, and got up on a chair to investigate. One of the metal decorative thingies that contains the wire to one of the light bulbs was hot to the touch. He determined that that one wire was overheating, but he wasn't concerned about it causing a fire. In fact, he told me to keep using the light. I refused. I'm scared to death of the old wiring in this house as it is, and.....WAIT! I forgot to tell you the dream that I had a few nights before!

I dreamed that my house was on fire. I awoke to flames in my bedroom doorway, so Darren and I escaped out the second story window in our birthday suits. Then, as if being naked wasn't bad enough, we had to shimmy back UP to the second floor in the front of the house, to rescue the kids from their bedrooms. Once they were safe, I ran into the house, and straight to my scraproom to save - not my own photos and albums, but - the albums and photos belonging to my clients. (Which disturbs me. Wouldn't a normal person retrieve their own photos???) But my scraproom was engulfed in flames. Everything was a total loss. Then I woke up.

So, I refused to use the light. Finally, the day came when Darren headed to Home Depot to buy a new fixture. He took the old one down. And that's when he stopped cold. The wires inside the ceiling were burned through. There are scorch marks inside the ceiling. This will require the skills of a certified electrician.

Hmph.

I'm considering this fixture: