I generally handle wires as if they're live even when I know they're not
Wise move Dave, I was taught to treat every wire as if it were live, I believe if you follow that rule you should minimise your risk of electric shocks,it would not be the first time that a "dead" circuit became live while you were working on it.
I realize it's the amps that kill you, but it's the volts that push it through.
I have always thought of voltage as the pressure pushing the current through the circuit.
