Switched Outlet

How to Wire a Switched Outlet
Saturday, John & I wired up the disposal in his kitchen. It wasn't too tough, just run a cord to the outlet. The whole outlet was switched, but we wanted one side always on for the instant hot water dispenser, which meant we needed to break off the little tab on the hot side that connects the two sides of the outlet. There was already a hot wire in the outlet box, so we all we had to do was connect it.

It wasn't very difficult, or rather no more of a pain-in-the-watuzzi than any electrical work ever is, but that evening after sitting watching TV for a while, I couldn't get up. I had a muscle spasm in my back that made it almost impossible to move. I thought it was very weird since I hadn't strained anything. Here it is four days later and it is nowhere near as bad, but it is still noticeable and is still restricting my freedom of movement.

P.S. When did white become the default color for outlets? When I was a kid, everything was ivory. Now all new installations are white. And why did they change? And how much longer will we be wiring all rooms in a house with 110VAC? LED's are taking over as are battery powered appliances and tools. You go to Home Depot to look for a power tool and the default selection for everything is battery powered. You have to dig around to find tools that run off of power from the wall.