Decided not to attempt the electrical job, so did some other electrical stuff instead. I'd found a junction box in a really stupid place, joining a nasty clutch of cables that are all coming out sooner or later. For now I want to keep a couple of sockets active, so joined the necessary cables back together but in a way that lets me put the ceiling fan there. One of the sockets is now dead, as it's all but inaccessible and I figured I might as well take the opportunity to not reconnect it back into the clutch.
Then I lifted a load of cellulose insulation from an awkward crawl space, replaced it with fiberglass and laid a couple of boards. That will make it much easier to get at the electrical job I want to get done - instead of balancing precariously on joists in an area full of cellulose and with a very low pitched roof I can lie on the boards. That alone will make a big difference.
Now I just hope the cable I ran from the basement to the attic is long enough to connect everything the way I want them connected. If not I'll have to rethink a few things - I don't really want to be running another cable for the sake of being a couple of feet short.