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Posted By: gfretwell Too good not to share - 03/20/08 06:05 AM
From alt.electrical.engineering newsgroup
"Gabriel Thomas Mondragon, 29 years old, who recently arrived from New Mexico, explained to Sheriff’s Deputies that in an attempt to make the people on Orcas “suffer just like the whales and trees”, he attempted to use a tree limbing saw -on a metal pole- to cut through a 69,000 volt power line..."


continues on link below

http://www.islandguardian.com/archives/00001878.html
Posted By: SteveFehr Re: Too good not to share - 03/20/08 10:44 AM
Quote
Being well informed on the power of high voltage power lines, Mondragon cleverly put on several pair of latex dish washing gloves to isolate him from electrocution, and proceeded to touch saw to power line.

...Mondragon was found laying on his back some distance from the line, his pants had been on fire, where they had burned away from his hips down. His gloves had partially melted, and he had “first, second and third degree burns’ on various parts of his body.


hahahahaha, this is too much! Guy is damned lucky to have survived.
Posted By: Texas_Ranger Re: Too good not to share - 03/20/08 10:45 AM
Oh.my.god!!!

It's quite a surprise he's still able to explain something...
Posted By: pauluk Re: Too good not to share - 03/20/08 06:17 PM
There's nothing like a pair of Marigolds for protecting you from 69kV..... shocked
Posted By: noderaser Re: Too good not to share - 03/21/08 04:34 AM
Unfortunately, he survived. We'd be much better off if idiots like this successfully removed themselves from the gene pool.
Posted By: LarryC Re: Too good not to share - 03/21/08 12:31 PM
Well he did survive, but will he ever reproduce?

Like someone once told me, "No one is ever useless, if nothing else, he can be an example of what not be."

Larry C
Posted By: andyenglish Re: Too good not to share - 03/21/08 03:34 PM
He's probably in line for an award. The Darwin Awards are given to people like that.

Andy
Posted By: JValdes Re: Too good not to share - 03/21/08 04:01 PM
I wonder if they had to shock him back to life. What a jerk.
Posted By: wire_twister Re: Too good not to share - 03/21/08 09:18 PM
He missed out on the Darwin award, they are only given posthumously. Maybe the burns sterilized him and he will not be able to reproduce.
Posted By: pauluk Re: Too good not to share - 03/21/08 09:20 PM
Speaking of posthumous awards:

[Linked Image]
Posted By: JohnJ0906 Re: Too good not to share - 03/21/08 11:13 PM
Originally Posted by wire_twister
He missed out on the Darwin award, they are only given posthumously.


You have to remove yourself from the gene pool, for a Darwin award. Usually, this does mean death, but you might only make yourself unable to reproduce, and win.

What a nut case....



Posted By: SolarPowered Re: Too good not to share - 03/22/08 05:14 PM
Paul, where is that? "Newcastle" sounds like your part of the planet, but last I heard you weren't using "$" over there.
Posted By: Rewired Re: Too good not to share - 03/22/08 06:07 PM
Latex dishwashing gloves??!?! 69,000 volts??!?!
Wow this guy is something special! What was he trying to do "shock" the gene pool?!?!

A.D
Posted By: pauluk Re: Too good not to share - 03/22/08 10:30 PM
Originally Posted by SolarPowered
Paul, where is that? "Newcastle" sounds like your part of the planet, but last I heard you weren't using "$" over there.


It's not the Newcastle in England. As you say, we haven't switched our currency to dollars while you weren't looking! wink

My first guess upon seeing this sign was Newcastle in N.S.W., Australia, but a little searching revealed the fact that the tramway (streetcar) system there closed down in 1950 -- Over 15 years before Australia changed from £.s.d. to dollars.

My best remaining guess for English-speaking and using dollars would be somewhere in the Caribbean. There's a Newcastle in Jamaica which is of a reasonable size, although I don't know if it has, or has ever had, a tramway system.

Posted By: gfretwell Re: Too good not to share - 03/22/08 11:58 PM
This is the guy who was supposed to have taken the picture

http://www.flickr.com/people/jurvetson/

the picture

http://www.mrbrown.com/blog/2004/10/newcastle_tramw.html
Posted By: andyenglish Re: Too good not to share - 03/23/08 01:36 AM
In response to SolarPowered... I believe this is in WA State, just across the border from Victoria, BC. Orcas Island. You can find it on Google Earth.
Posted By: noderaser Re: Too good not to share - 03/24/08 04:28 AM
I doubt a town of 7,000 would have their own tramway authority. I did some Googling, and took a look at the comments on the Flickr page. Best I can tell, it was probably manufactured for sale in a giftshop or something, or just a plain old fake.
Posted By: andyenglish Re: Too good not to share - 03/24/08 04:47 PM
For what it's worth, if you check out the original link to islandguardian.com you'll see that it certainly appears legitimate.

Cheers,

Andy
Posted By: noderaser Re: Too good not to share - 03/25/08 02:55 AM
I was talking about the Newcastle Tramway sign... If you're referring to the original topic, this thread was hijacked at the bottom of the first page.
Posted By: Elviscat Re: Too good not to share - 03/28/08 08:48 AM
Why are there so many darn fools from this state... He probably drove a beat up VW Bus, that burned oil and belched polutants into the air, down the interstate at 45MPH, heck, he's probably changed lanes in front of me (at 45, while I'm doing 65) before, on a trip to Seattle...
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