The lamp stopped working. Blinked off and on once, and then went permanently off. I swapped lightbulbs, extension cords, and wall outlet, so I guess the lamp itself is the problem.

I’m unused to investigating and fixing mechanical and electrical problems. Other traditionally maybe-male tasks like basic carpentry, yard work of all kinds – sure. But for some reason cars, electrical appliances, and just machinery of all kinds feels irrationally scary. I know it’s not going to blow up just because I open it up, and I know I can be careful enough to put it back together the way it was, but still. Somehow I expect to fuck it up before I’ve even started.

I did disassemble and then reassemble an electrical plug recently, to get the cable through a too-small opening. Nothing exploded. I guess the lamp is another super-small, super-safe project to ease me into this.

(It turned out to have a little black box inside, labelled “dimmer” on one side and “fuse” on the other. Probably the thing that broke, then. And look – nothing exploded this time, either.)