On Wed, 20 Jan 2016 10:45:55 -0000 (UTC), "E. Robinson"
wrote:

To "disconnect the load at the breaker", do you mean that I should just
physically *remove* the breaker, and see if it trips on its own, in
my hands?

UMM... AHHH, UMMMM, AHHHHH ..... WOW ............ AHHHHH OK....
I think they meant you should remove the LOAD from your telephone book,
(such as a stack of other books on top of it), then look up electricians
and call one.
The only only thing that might trip in your hands, is your index finger,
if it trips while your fingers do the walking thru the yellow pages.

Yep, that's what they meant!

To "disconnect outlets and switches", do you mean to pull them out of the
wall, one by one, disconnecting the hot wire only? (Would that be enough?)

They just meant you should disconnect (unplug) everything until the
electrician arrives.

No, I didn't recently install anything (that I know of).

That's good!