ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Had to happen sooner or later..

... Don't sweat it, trollog,..
Just the other day I was cutting in a plastic gem box for an outdoor GFCI (should've been a 45 minute job, at most) you know,..in the vinyl siding, and thru the plywood beneath that,..all was going well, until I saw a bright light,..mind you, I'm outside, in broad daylight, sun shinin' and all, and I STILL saw the spark..I checked my (now pitted) sawz-all blade, and it was just as I had suspected,..I cut right through a 12/2 romex line tacked to the wall stud..I had to refeed the receptacle inside the living room, as well as refeed the receptacle downstream of it, and make the hole wider now to accomodate a 2-gang box, as the "lightning" of my "wanton disregard" blackened the bleached white vinyl siding...the darn GE breaker didn't even trip...all the while my helper was sitting right there, saw the whole thing,...and I had just yelled at him the day before to be more careful, and to check before cutting or drilling,...I was mortified!!
I told him,... "even I, the Jedi Master can make mistakes...only,..I'm ALLOWED to....you're not"..

Does anyone smell a DOUBLE STANDARD?? LOL



[This message has been edited by Attic Rat (edited 04-08-2006).]

Is this is a free club to join, with no membership dues?


Fell from the attic into a masterbedroom. My pride got hurt more than my body, and it turned a $175 motion sensor job into a $600 loss...


Oh well...another life experience...


Dnk....

while doing work in a hospitial its now a respite for people who are real sick and a dementia respite but at one time it was a dry outhospitial. When I removed the ceiling tile a whole bunch of whisky,beer,and wine bottles fell out of the ceiling and onto me. What a mess and what a lot of broken glass.Although I havenot stepped thru a ceiling (YET) I did get the rest of the day off. Boss was laughing too hard to get back to work.

While working for an EC at a ritzy private school, I fell through the ceiling in a storage closet, standing on a very narrow area with lath and plaster ceiling. Thankfully it was planned that the closet was to be demo'd anyway.

I had an apprentice working for me who was quite small, very light. I was talking to the owner downstairs while the apprentice was waiting for me in the attic. He got tire of waiting, so he starting walking out of the attic. We could see every step he took, as he avoided every beam and walked on the sheet rock. He did not break one piece of sheet rock, but it all needed to be replaced. Imagine his luck.

Does this count? I was inspecting a brand new service installation, I was outside looking at the meter pan, and looking to see if any openings, duct seal, type of wire, etc. The next thing you know, I dropped straight down 5 feet. I didn't know it at the time, but the lady said that there was a slab of stone over top of an open pit. The pit dropped 5 feet down on top of an old sewer pipe. When I fell, my feet landed on each side of the pipe. Luckily I didn't hit the pipe wrong or break my leg,ankle or foot.
The poor homeowner was screaming, she thought I was hurt real bad. Once I took stock of my senses. ( I wanted to make sure that I had my wallet, keys etc.) Then I was able to shimmy myself out of this 5'deep by 4'round circle in the ground. I got out and contiuned doing my inspections for the rest of the day. Thank God, I wasn't leaning over or else I would have caught my chin on the ground. Just imagine the old silent film joke where someone drops in a manhole.

I've done the same thing. Walking across a piece of ply on a construction site when all of a sudden the ply flipped up and I ended up in the pit it was supposed to be covering.
Took off half the skin on my legs on the way thru.

Years ago,I worked for a guy who took his dog with him everywhere. One day a call came from a jewelery company located on the first floor of an old mill building. They were looking to expand onto the second floor. Boss took the dog,of course! After suveying the work,as they were making their way down the stairs , they passed a place where it was possible to see out over the drop ceiling of the office. Well, the dog saw a mouse run across the ceiling and he promptly gave chase!! Got about 20ft. before he fell through,landing on a girls desk while she was typing! We didn't get the job.

Stick this one under "stupid dumb things the GC did." While roughing in a new house one winter month, the GC got the bright idea to place a piece of sheetrock (wallboard) over an opening in front of a fireplace where the hearth was suppose to go. All was alright until another installer who was new to the job step off of a six foot ladder thinking that the sheetrock was on solid ground. He fell through the floor to the floor down below. Luckily, he didn't get hurt real bad. He could have broke a neck or leg, but luck was with him. Once he got up, he let the GC have it. I thought he was going to throw the GC down the hole.

yet another example where it would have been safer if the idiot hadn't done anything.
A few years ago I lost my balance while walking up a plank to the top floor of a house. Normally I would have grabbed the nearest stud and saved myself but the project manager thought it would be safer to have a railing which they fixed in place by shooting nails thru into the stud. When I grabbed it the nails pulled straight out and down I went. I now have screws and staples holding my foot together thanks to that "safety" railing.