So, the Mrs. and I decided to replace the nasty, brass ceiling fans in two of our rooms with something a little better to look at as well as something with better lighting. The fans we have now have directional lights on them and when they’re on they produce a harsh spotlight that doesn’t really help. So we purchased two fans from Lowes. Nice ones too and I have to admit I choked a little spending so much on two fans.

So we get home and I go to work getting the one in the living room replaced. Now, we have high ceilings, but the box said “downrod included” so I didn’t think much about it. Upon opening the box, the ‘downrod’ turned out to be about 1/2”. @!#$*

So, yesterday I took Georgia with me to Lowes to pick up 2 downrods for the fans.  They didn’t have one that matched the one we’re using in the living room, that has to be special ordered. Of course, I couldn’t actually order them, the place to order them from was closed. @!#$*. They did happen to have one that matched the one going in our room, so picked that one up.

So I get home and after Georgia went to bed and Irelyn was calm, I started working on the bedroom fan. I open the box and pull out a part to compare the finish to the downrod I purchased. Not exact, but from a foot away you wouldn’t be able to see the difference. Happy with my purchase I start pulling out the rest of the parts……including the downrod that came with this one. @!#$*

Now it’s 8:30, I’ve got 2 very similar downrods, and it's time to take down the dust collection and redistribution system ceiling fan. Came down easy and quick. Then I look at the directions on putting up the support plate for the fan which calls to use the included 3” wood screws to attach it to a support beam, through the existing electrical box. 3”…… the @!#$* electrical box is at least 2½” deep and the plate has vibration reducing tabs on it that stick out an inch so 3” just doesn’t cut it. Of course, at that time of night both Lowes and Home Depot were closed, so I had to venture into (shudder) Wal-Mart which only sold up to 3” wood screws.

Talk about getting screwed….