Wife wanted this picture:
What I did today--besides pack up all my CRAP--was to remove the exhaust fan I installed BADLY some time ago. It has not been there 20 years, I don't think, but long enough. And yeah I totally butchered the frigging drywall, because I did not know how to cut it, and my guess was...off.
To make things more entertaining, then, the ceiling fan was wired through the exhaust fan, so when I unplugged it, the ceiling fan stopped working. I've removed the ceiling fan now, and figured out what needs removing, and got it pulled out. Interestingly enough, the flex conduit that formerly went to the exhaust fan will probably end up being recycled for use in adding that new outlet under the counter.
Later.
Mrs. Fungus thinks she wants to replace the ceiling fan, too, so it's just as well I pulled it all down. The ceiling around the light fixture box is a mess, exactly as it was in the hallway around that fixture, but I can't find any evidence of any activity which would cause paint to peel, so I think it's just another case of the paint giving up.
I can see that there is yellow paint under the yellow paint that is flaking off, so it might just be poor prep; as I recall Dad had only about ten days to paint the interior of the house, meaning everybody had to help out, and some of us were less than good helpers when it came to physical labor like painting...which I think is why some of the woodwork has paint on it, and some obvious spackling was never sanded but painted over.
Anyway, it's all going to need work.
For the moment I have a board laying over the hole in the ceiling where the exhaust fan was, and what I think I'm going to do is to cut back the drywall to the joists on either side, then screw in a new chunk--this way I won't have to use anything to hold the drywall in, and can just spackle it in with some reinforcing tape.
It'll look pretty good, and be a solid repair.
Anyway, that's the latest and greatest. Thrilling, no?