Monday, March 22, 2010
3 comments:
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Gayle Miller said...
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When I bought my first house in 1958, my father - an electrical engineer - was unhappy with the level of wiring in the house and decided to add two new panels - one to support the washer/dryer and the other to add outlets throughout the house. He had me sitting on a stepladder in the basement, holding two wires - one in each hand.
He commented in a very offhand manner - "Don't let those two wires touch - I didn't turn off the main". I still laugh about that with friends to this day. My father was a character down to his fingertips! -
3/22/10, 4:50 PM
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Rodger the Real King of France said...
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3/23/10, 8:49 AM
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Rodger the Real King of France said...
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Gayle, that story is evocative of so many things about my grandfather. When I was a kid he installed the electrical for our new basement clubroom. I was his "apprentice." Gramps wired the whole deal with live circuits. When I told him I was afraid of getting shocked, he said, well don't touch both wires at the same time, like this, whereupon he did just that. Then he made me try it. It sure gave my arms a stiffy, but it could be done. He explained that it's not the voltage that kills you, it's the amperage, and with proper grounding household electricity doesn't have the amps. . To this day, I never turn off the power to repair, or install new electrical. It's a G. Gordon Liddy thing.
A few years later the girl next door, whom I had a severe crush on, was electrocuted while watching television. The inquest ruled that she evidently had one foot on a metal light stand, and the other on the metal tv casing which television was shorted out. I never do that anymore. Her name was Pam, and I still remember her in my prayers. -
3/23/10, 9:00 AM
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