A hard lesson

[Sodapop]

... I remember one brand-new house where a toggle switch in a bedroom closet controlled about half the receptacles in the house. ...

Sounds like the switch was cut in wrong. The hot feeding the other rooms was tied into the switchleg of the switch. Easy fix more than likely.

[Jim Baird]

John,

Thanks for the story and for shoring up my always policy of never throwing a breaker from a position I find it in, except for arc-faults, which I do test with the little button.