For me, a rare brain flash regarding a McGyver solution

[IrishAyes]

5. Excellent info and application, thank you.

Even though you were not given all pertinent details. I always worry about boring people, and my stories run long enough as it is.

But when I moved here, almost all the wiring had to be redone. The place didn't need redeocrating - it needed and still does need a lot of heavy renovation. Classic good bones, as they say, well worth the expense and time. I did leave the original wiring that was probably done in the 1930's intact - I just don't use it for anything heavier than a small lamp or radio, that sort of thing.

The circuit that blew out in the bathroom was one of the new ones where the electrician supposedly used the finest materials(?). He certainly charged a king's ransom. But yes, I had a little 1500 watt ceramic heater plugged in there via a surge suppressor. I use those literally everywhere. Normally I unplug everything when storms threaten. But I hadn't even used the heater in a while, and I forgot to unplug it last time we had lightning. So the event might've happened anytime over a 3-4 week period. I discovered it when the heater wouldn't work - I tried to turn it on and then noticed the surge suppressor was burnt to a crisp. Later on it turned out that the heater itself is okay, as is the heavy duty extension cord that actually plugged into the wall. Only the power strip surge suppressor fried, and of course I had nothing else attached.

The much better handyman/electrician husband of a friend, who now does virtually everything for the house, said he might be able to fix the outlet w/o having to entirely rewire. I hope so. I certainly won't ever forget to unplug a heater again, you can count on that.

Any further thoughts you might have on the matter would be welcome.