I’m sure you’ve heard that back in the day, things were built to last. Not like our plastic-filled, easily breakable, planned-obsolescence modern trash. And that’s probably true about a lot of things. Take cast iron pans, for example. My great-grandchildren will still be using mine.

Sometimes, though, modern innovations have made things much, much better. Take this lantern lamp, for example. The good old fashioned plug on it might last for decades, but it might also burn your house to the ground.

Paul (Gordon’s dad) found this lamp in Arizona while staying in a camper with his 93-year-old friend. The guy who had it said it didn’t work, but Paul tends to take that as a challenge.  Of course, usually when Paul starts a project he quickly realizes that it is faster and easier to have his sons do it. So Gordon replaced the wiring and installed a plug that is both new and better. Take that, old people (jk, I love old people and Gordon wishes he were born seventy years sooner).

Here are the steps to the repair:

1) Clean all the spiders out. Many old things are full of spiders.

2) Take out the old all of the scary, old, flammable wiring.

3) Modify the pieces to fit if necessary.

4) Wire it up. Make sure that you wire the hot to the base of the light (Gordon assures me that all of those words mean something, and that you’ll know you’ve done it wrong if you shock yourself trying to take the light out).

5) Plug it in and enjoy the ambience.

This beauty is going up to the cabin because it is rustic and will fit right in.