Well, I've really done it now!

[donnalee]

I think I'm out to the neighborhood since last night. I've lived here going on 30 years and am in a "gentrifying" neighborhood. One of the new neighbors is a very sweet woman a few doors away who walks her dog past my house in the evenings she always stops and says hello and we usually chat for a while. It has been very cold here and I have been using an infrared heater in the bedroom (it actually works so well it can heat half the house if needed). However, due to a somewhat miswired breaker panel, kitchen appliances are wired into the same circuit as the heater and will trip a breaker if both are on. Due to "senior moments" I forget this occasionally and need to go outside to reset the breaker. I dress almost 24/7 and it's too much trouble to change, so I've been doing it dressed. Last night my neighbor came by, (breaker box is behind some tall bushes) and I hear" "Hi (insert male name here)" and thought "Well, it looks like the jig is up!" reset the breaker and stepped out. She must not have seen how I was dressed; I saw the surprise in her face as I petted her dog (a beautiful and very sweet Bernaise), then we had a nice conversation. I went inside and she and her dog continued their walk.
I figured she would be OK with it as she and her husband rent their house from a gay friend of mine (in fact, my late SO found the house for him), but suspect that the word is out, as, apparently, am I!

[kimdl93]

Well, interesting that she didn't mention your attire. Perhaps she wasn't all that interested, and if so, equally disinterested in sharing the news. But, you know, it's not terrible. I'm out to several neighbors and although I've lived here more than a decade, don't know the rest....so their opinions are irrelevant to me.

[Brenda456]

It will be interesting to see if anything is ever said.

[~Joanne~]

You know, maybe it's just me but seriously, you couldn't change to go outside if you didn't want to be outed to the whole neighborhood? It's been said here time and time again that other girls think people such as yourself do this purposely, that you wanted to out yourself. I never totally believed that but I am starting to have second thoughts.

I don't know what more I can say about this. I am not trying to be mean or anything but you made your bed and so forth. I guess since your neighbor had a "surprise in her face" that outing you really depends on how much she talks to people and from the sounds of it, she talks to everyone. good luck.

[CynthiaD]

Good for you, dear. The "deep dark secret" thing is such a pain.

[Andy66]

I saw the surprise in her face as I petted her dog (a beautiful and very sweet Bernaise)

I think the lady has bigger things to worry about than your clothes, if shes walking a fancy steak sauce around on a leash.

[Ineke Vashon]

Too late for this occasion, however an easy at hand raincoat or something like it to put on for a quick trip outside......

Ineke

[Rachelakld]

welcome to the club, since my neighbours found out - nothing has changed

[Jilmac]

Who in the heck builds a house with the breaker box outside?

[DorothyElizabeth]

Who in the heck builds a house with the breaker box outside?

Not someone who knows anything about NEC, I'm guessing. But, that said, I have a mains switch outdoors, just below the kWh meter, that occasionally trips if there's a power surge.

I have (once) gone out to reset it while "dressed", and on later reflection, think it was a subconscious wish to be "outed". It DOES get tiresome, being "closeted" - In a way, I can understand how gay men and women must feel.

[donnalee]

To those interested, at this point in my life I really don't care that much; I'm retired, I lost my accepting SO 3 1/2 years ago (I think she worrIed about my safety) and I do try to avoid complications in my life.
As to the breaker box, this is California, where idiots abound and collective amnesia is rampant. The box was installed by someone hired by the city who was too lazy to put it in the proper access area and was there before we bought the place. Next question?

[Nikkilovesdresses]

Obviously donnalee is past worrying what other people think of her crossdressing, and that is something to celebrate.

I have a Bernaise too! She is totally accepting of my crossdressing by the way.

[ambigendrous]

Not someone who knows anything about NEC, I'm guessing

Does the current NEC require breakers to be indoors? My house, built in 1965 has the breaker panel on the exterior of the house, in the back yard - the panel is directly below the electric meter. Our rental house, built in 1959, also has the breaker panel on the exterior of the house, in the side yard - again, it's part of the meter panel.

[Annaliese]

Good then it a non issue now, you don't have to worry any more. Take a deep breath and relax.

[justmetoo]

Maybe the outdoor breaker boxes are a regional thing? They seem to be pretty common in California.

Well, hopefully your outing turns out to be a non-event.

[AllieSF]

I have seen those out here in California before. I think that maybe they wanted a quick power disconnect accessible in emergencies from outside the house. Also, some of the much older simple houses did not have garages initially so maybe that is another reason.

To the OP: Hang in there and do not say anything else. Let the other bring it up, if they ever do. Some neighbors have enough common sense to limit their gossip. Good luck.

[BLUE ORCHID]

Hi Donna Lee, Watch out for the villagers coming down the road with pitch forks, a bucket of hot tar and a box of feathers

[scarlett]

" for residential service applications, the switch must be located outside in the immediate vicinity of the meter socket and accessible from the same working area as the meter socket."

There's your code

[Lori Kurtz]

So now both donnalee and the breaker box have been outed.

[VAWyman]

So now both donnalee and the breaker box have been outed.

Funny, I love a good pun.

[lingerieLiz]

Who in the heck builds a house with the breaker box outside?

Where the electrical code requires it.

I'm out to many neighbors and they haven't changed as far as I can tell. They still come over and I get my paper in the morning in my robe and nightgown.

[Jonithan]

So now both donnalee and the breaker box have been outed.

My panel is outed too. Where as at my parent's duplex, the panel is in the closet. Not kidding. Guess I'll have to overload a circuit just to get this out with the neighborhood. My luck, I'll lock myself out.

joni

[donnalee]

Orchid, I am more than prepared for rioting villagers and plan to divert them downtown toward the city governmental offices.

[DanaR]

Who in the heck builds a house with the breaker box outside?

That would have been my question too, but last summer my daughter was looking at a house with the breaker panel on the front porch.

[DorothyElizabeth]

When I read the op, I was thinking "breaker Panel" not the mains feed. Yes, NEC says there is supposed to be a mains switch located outside, where it is readily accessible. The Panel box, though, with all the individual circuit breakers is supposed to be inside the house, because they are not weather proof enclosures.