"Please, throw my number away..."

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sdbob

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Here's a code violation search game for ya... how many do you count?

Allright, so we all have friends that need a hand from time to time with their wiring needs; no biggie (most of the time, lol).

So here I am last weekend at my buddy's house, he's owned it for about 8 months and the post lights on the driveway have never worked. Switched from the entry, fed from..?

Simple, right?

I've got two blacks leaving the switch going underground from the entry, and I found a source going underground from the garage. That's it, and a neut & sw. leg magically pop up at the first light location... and I'll be damned if someone didn't walk up my driveway the night before and help themselves to my $300.00 POS locator .

I start to sweat as I realize that I'm dealing with a "Location X". Somewhere, switchlegs tie to hots and neutrals tie together... the problem is, WHERE? There's a couple hundred feet of potential "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" here.

Have you ever asked yourself; Why wasn't I a gynecologist? "Hey Bob, buddy, could ya help me out here? You see, my wife"..., maybe in the next life, but for now we have to make this damn tungsten glow.

Check this out; found underground, underneath a sprinkler pipe! Clearly an Al Quaeda electrician was at work here...

Med school suddenly becomes a no-brainer...

[ February 04, 2005, 07:48 AM: Message edited by: sdbob ]
 
Re: "Please, throw my number away..."

oopsweb.jpg
 
Re: "Please, throw my number away..."

a commercial property similar story:

bank parking lot has lost power to two rows of parking lot lights??? my "new" (at the time) 3-M circuit tracer says it can trace underground problems??? i isolate the circuit from the power source and install a 9 volt battery in series with my trusty tracer and it starts blinking. i start at the battery source and start tracing and listening to my tracer. the tracer stops at the new handicap ramp ---- yes they poured the handicap ramp over the parking lot lighting junction box!!!!!!!!!!
 
Re: "Please, throw my number away..."

When you're done with that can you take a look at the receptacle in the laundry room? :D
 
Re: "Please, throw my number away..."

Originally posted by sdbob:

Check this out; found underground, underneath a sprinkler pipe! Clearly an Al Quaeda electrician was at work here...

Med school suddenly becomes a no-brainer...
Click to expand...
I don't think gynecology is all it cracked up to be, believe me! :)

[ February 04, 2005, 03:57 PM: Message edited by: lady sparks lover ]
 
Re: "Please, throw my number away..."

I find it best to keep it a secret what i do for a living.If they do find out use excuse like my tool stay on the job or i am not allowed to do side work or i get fired.Very few will want to pay the right amount for your day off.
 
Re: "Please, throw my number away..."

I don't mind helping out now and then, just make sure there's beer and a porterhouse in it for me.
 
Re: "Please, throw my number away..."

How many have had family members tell their friends that my bother,cousin sister is an electrician and when you go there and quote a price they look at you like you have 2 heads.WHAT YOUR GOING TO CHARGE ME ? But so and so said .... Well tell so and so to pound sand.That`s why i charge top $ for side work people think if you do side work they will get it for almost nothing ;)
 
Re: "Please, throw my number away..."

You mean, you don't want to work four hours overtime on saturday and not get paid too.
 
Re: "Please, throw my number away..."

I tell people that if I work on the job on for 8 hours on Saturdays or over eight during the week, they pay me 1-1/2. Anything else, I get double time.

If it's a good friend or close family, I get beer and dinner.

Hahaha...Hey, I hear you're a damned good chef. How about coming over and cooking me some dinner this Saturday? What say you?

[ February 04, 2005, 08:36 PM: Message edited by: paul ]
 
Re: "Please, throw my number away..."

As a one-man shop, I really don't have "side" work. My good friends get freebies, but everyone else gets to pay. I can count on one hand the number of people I consider good friends. Additionally, these friends are more than happy do favors for me, and they have done so many times. They also feed me very well.

One friend recently had a couple of three-way switches in the kitchen that never worked. I spent an hour looking into it, and now they work just fine. Lucky for me I did this work right around dinner time... :D
 
Re: "Please, throw my number away..."

For the record, I have NO problem helping out friends and family. I do have a personal policy though, there's only two prices, free and full price. I learned a long time ago doing work for friends for free is much better in the long run than giving them a discount. Look, it all evens out at the end of the day. I would jump on a grenade for my good friends, and they for me.

In any event, I went back there today to fix the problem, and would you believe there was a second buried box between the two post lights?

Unbelievable.

I wonder how much money was spent for the current leaking to ground in this case? The first box (in the photo) had a hot wire directly from the panel, and I guaranty there was leakage.
 
Re: "Please, throw my number away..."

where "Friends" are concerned....I work up a trade....I estimate the job my friend wants me to do, my friend can pay the estimate or we can trade it out...take me and my family out to lunch, cut my lawn a few times...wash the truck
26 times...etc. There is no such thing as a free ride! I have friends that make over $100,000 a year and friends that make less than
$10,000. They pay or trade what they can afford!
Watch out for the "friend of my friend" deal!
My friend told his friend I did a simular job for
4 truck washes and a gallon of boiled peanuts,
would I give him the same deal!! This guy was not my friend, but my friends' friend! My friends' friend got an estimate at full cash price! He would not become elligable for the friend discount until we actually became friends!
He will let me know next week if he wants to be my friend!!!go figure!!! WILDMAN
 
Re: "Please, throw my number away..."

This is why I don't keep score with my friends. We just do favors for each other because we are friends. Right now, my friends' dog is staying with me for a week while they are out of town. They did all my graphic design work for my advertising and business cards. When the weather gets warmer, I'm going to upgrade the service on their house (they will have to pay for materials and the permit, though). They once gave me an extra circular saw they didn't need. My lawyer friends look over my contracts. I babysit their kids if they need me to. It all balances out over time.

If I were to formalize a barter system, word would get out to friends of friends, and then I'd have to deal with people trying to pay me with chickens or Shake 'N Bake coupons. I like the policy mentioned above: Free for friends, full price for everyone else. Exceptions are sometimes made on a case basis.

[ February 06, 2005, 12:01 AM: Message edited by: jeff43222 ]
 
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