Today, I electrocuted myself.

[notlovinit]

So for a long time I have had the notion that I am better than everyone around me. I try not to let on to this fact, but I think about it a lot.
First, it was because I was a manager at all the jobs that I was employed at.
Then, it was because I have aspirations of becoming a police officer. How noble and brave of me.
Most recently, it was because I got my B.S. and nobody I know has been to any college and gotten a degree of any kind. I must be so smart. Except for the fact that I don't know how to punctuate properly and grammar is just lost on me.

This thinking I'm better than everyone thing mostly came from my thinking that if I don't show people my flaws then they can't make fun of me and call me stupid. Recently, I realized, this isn't preventing anyone from doing anything. It just makes me a douche. So I will now start admitting my faults, if for nothing else that they might be funny.

So on to the story:
Today I went to this training for my new job installing security alarms. (I'm still not sure if this company is a scam or not, but that is besides the point. They gave me $400 today so I'm happy with them.)

I have no experience with tools and today when they told us all to get our wire cutters out I had to look at what everyone else was getting out in order to select the right tool. I was pleasantly surprised though that even without any prior use of a level I was able to use a level like a champion today. No one else was impressed though.

So anyway, we get to a part where we are practicing hooking up phone lines or something and since all day there hadn't been any live power to anything I just assumed that was the case with this. Although, even if I hadn't assumed that I wouldn't have known that what I was going to do would electrocute me, so I guess that doesn't even really matter.

It started out alright. We started out with these red and black wires and even I knew that black meant negative and red meant positive. But then they started adding other colors into the mix! It started out slow. It was just green as well, which I guess in this situation is also negative. (Maybe even in all situations, I don't know.) So I connected the red to the red and the green to the black. All is going well. Then out of nowhere these stupid blue and white wires show up with no explanation. I knew that they needed to be connected to the red and green wires as well, but I wasn't sure the proper color to color connection.

So I decided the best thing to do was to guess and then see if the phone line would work and if it didn't I could reverse them. No, this is not the way to do things. This results in me connecting the blue cord to the green cord (which was WRONG) and getting shocked.

No one else got shocked in that class.

Note: I just told my mom this story and she has informed me that if I electrocuted myself that I would be dead and that I just shocked or zapped myself and to not be so dramatic. So I guess I fail at terminology too.

But then I googled this and I found that it is common for people to use electrocuted to mean an electric shock so there, mom! Also, it is weird, because google says that both blue and white wires are negative, but I swear that those wires were blue and white and one was positive and one was negative.

Agh, I'll get it eventually. On the bright side, the alarm that I installed was SO level.

[Food Lady]

Heehee, you are related to me. I've electrocuted myself on more than one occasion.

[Bandit]

I get zapped all the time at work when dealing with the analogue phones and lines. Does not take much to be the ground if the previous people didn't do their job correctly.

Fun Fact - A regular phone line always has -48 volts DC on it. Enough to get your attention.
But it rings at 96 volts. Not enough current to do any damage, but dang! It'll wake you up on a Monday morning. BerZZEEERRRTTT!

B

[dalesys]

But it rings at 96 volts. Not enough current to do any damage, but dang! It'll wake you up on a Monday morning. BerZZEEERRRTTT!

B

Try getting rung up when you're hanging out your (upstairs) bedroom window, splicing onto the wires you can barely reach down to!

[Mishi]

As my dad jokingly says, "All you need to know is Red to Red, Black to Black. Cut the others and turn them back."
He's an electrician that's done a bit of everything and now works in a power plant. Dad has the unfortunate habit of finding other people's shoddy work and at last count he'd been zapped 6 times. Luckily, his heart has restarted each time by itself with no known damage.

[Dreamstalker]

I've been zapped three times by computer innards. Twice was only via USB which wasn't that bad, but the third was when I was working at a questionable repair shop and the 'assistant' plugged a screwy powersupply (that she could see I had open and was inspecting the insides) into the wall to be helpful.

Luckily I saw what she was doing and was able to get clear before I was too badly shocked, but it was still an moment, especially when I realized if something really bad ever happened she would just stand there...as it was I was on the floor for a few minutes before I could actually get up, and she had an expectant look on her face (what do you expect me to do besides rip you a new one? You are LUCKY this wasn't more serious).

[CatsLairArchives]

I can top all of you - I have actually gotten several shocks that I would estimate at about 15 amps, WITHOUT the need for wires or external current. And the discharge is loud enough to be heard 150 feet away.

I do not know if it is the boots or my cold weather gear, but I get zapped every time I go shopping.

[Kazim]

I know how it feels to generate a strong enough charge of Static electricety (sp?) to make your arm go numb for 3 hours...it hurts...alot.

[emax4]

I can top all of you - I have actually gotten several shocks that I would estimate at about 15 amps, WITHOUT the need for wires or external current. And the discharge is loud enough to be heard 150 feet away.

I do not know if it is the boots or my cold weather gear, but I get zapped every time I go shopping.

WOW! How do you stay alive, dude? I remember in Electronics class in 11th grade, the teacher said that 1/10 of an Amp can shock you, but 1 Amp will kill you. I'm not about to test that theory.

My own shocking account was when I had damaged a friend's old Sony Mavica digital camera. I didn't know what I was tampering with but that the zoom no longer worked, so I didn't know if it was something electrical or mechanical that needed fixed. Whatever it was, I just knew that there was nothing like the shock when touching the capacitor for the flash...

[yeahwhatev]

meh..

Whatever you do.. don't reach up into a ceiling of a Spanish Bodega and grab wires... some of them have live AC..

I know..

[CatsLairArchives]

WOW! How do you stay alive, dude? I remember in Electronics class in 11th grade, the teacher said that 1/10 of an Amp can shock you, but 1 Amp will kill you. I'm not about to test that theory.

My own shocking account was when I had damaged a friend's old Sony Mavica digital camera. I didn't know what I was tampering with but that the zoom no longer worked, so I didn't know if it was something electrical or mechanical that needed fixed. Whatever it was, I just knew that there was nothing like the shock when touching the capacitor for the flash...

I was estimating based on the pain compared to when I got shocked from a wall outlet as a kid - the circuit it was on was a 30amp, though I am not really sure what it was at the outlet.

At least this time my whole arm did not hurt, just my finger. I have GOT to remember to wear rubber gloves while shopping!!!

[Lace Neil Singer]

Shock me, make me feel better... XD

[emax4]

I was estimating based on the pain compared to when I got shocked from a wall outlet as a kid - the circuit it was on was a 30amp, though I am not really sure what it was at the outlet.

At least this time my whole arm did not hurt, just my finger. I have GOT to remember to wear rubber gloves while shopping!!!

It's ironic you mention those gloves. I had purchased a sensor and outdoor light for the back, so that when my wife and I would come home at night, the sensor would activate and the back porch light would come on. While I was at Home Depot I picked up some $5 Gorilla Gloves. They're nice and stretchy but have this rubber- or epoxy-like material on them. I had the mains turned off while I was working, but kept those gloves on when I was working with anything electrical. I figured I was safe with the mains off, but believe that you can never be too safe.

[Andara Bledin]

Whatever it was, I just knew that there was nothing like the shock when touching the capacitor for the flash...

My ex liked to have people click the flash control from his old camera for shits and giggles. It's likely about the same thing.

The closest I have gotten to electrocuting myself was when I replaced the fan on my computer power supply some 15 years back when they were still expensive enough that it made sense to pop the case rather than just get a new one. I put the fan in backwards and had to pull it off and put it back in the right way. I forgot to unplug the supply the second time around, and if it weren't for the fact that I was using a driver with an insulated handle, I'd have zapped myself pretty badly, possibly fatally.

Needless to say, I now make absolutely sure the power is off and the plug disconnected before I wade into my system's innards.

^-.-^

[Primer]

I've been paranoid about electricity since I was a little kid, when my older brother touched a dead 9-volt battery to his tongue, and then gave me a new one!