Hooray! I fixed it!

I have always enjoyed tinkering around with electrical things - putting things together and making minor repairs.  Maybe it's because I am naturally curious about how things work, or just blissfully unaware of the inherent dangers of electricity gone wrong.

Ever since I can remember I have taken apart plugs to rewire them if the cords frayed, installed new lighting in the ceiling, or other such minor repairs.  I remember getting quite fascinated once with a failed low voltage lamp post in the front yard that no longer worked.  I had to install a new electrical eye for the automatic on-off at dawn-dusk to function.  I can remember the look of disbelief when I asked the salesperson behind the counter of a lighting store for the necessary parts so that I could repair it.  Not only did I manage this by myself, but the lamp worked for many years after that.

Don't get me wrong though, I do have a healthy respect for the electricity that runs through the  breaker box...

Which is why, when one of the circuit breakers tripped then failed during a storm and refused to be reset I did not automatically jump at the task of repairing the circuit.

Because the offending circuit only affected only a small portion of the basement - and only half of my soap and candle kitchen - and because I like to hold on to my hard-earned cash, I was able to ignore the problem for a while.

Ok, so it was over a month and it was starting to wear on my nerves.

I had asked a couple of my (male/engineer) friends for advice and they assured me it was a simple task.  I set about to search the mighty internet for more information and some practical/video advice.  My first search yielded a not-so-informative lesson on what to do - but no video.  My second search found exactly what I was looking for:
http://www.5min.com/Video/How-to-Replace-a-Circuit-Breaker-57208272

I have to say, it really was as easy as it looks in the video.  I took the necessary precautions, had my flashlight handy, and, but for the time it took me to drive to the home improvement store, it took me about 10 minutes total to fix the circuit.

I have power and light in my soap and candle kitchen once more.
But more importantly, I feel empowered.
This is a good thing.