When I was young, wet behind the ears, and had just moved out "on my own," I rented a room in a house that housed several such as I.
My 'introduction' to the trade came when a very upset man appeared one day, looking for one of the other residents. He had hired the guy to do some electric work in his new home, he said, and the guy did something wrong, that 'blew up' hs TV set.
Later, in the course of my work, I was introduced to properly trained, real electricians. The bits and pieces I told of the story made no sense to them.
With hindsight, of course it was not something the 'real' guys had ever dealt with; they had been taught right, and had not done what this self-taught self-appointed "electrician" had done - they had never left an open (or loose) neutral.
Much as I value saving money myself, I draw the line at 'cheating.' I don't hire the local 'aw shucks' guy to do my brakes; nor do I try to do my own haircuts! So many of the problems we encounter (and the pictures we post) are the result of someone trying to 'beat the system.'
It is one thing, in dire circumstances, to try to "McGyver" something; quite another to make such "self-reliance" one of your lifes' basic principles.
