3 ms·

I installed a dimmer switch for the living room light today. It only took 5 min, but lifting up that faceplate and peering into the junction box felt like openi

I installed a dimmer switch for the living room light today. It only took 5 min, but lifting up that faceplate and peering into the junction box felt like opening a portal to the afterlife. My connection to this world hung on by a copper wire, 120V separating a cozy evening from the Great Fire of 2024. There's no type checking, no syntax highlighting, just my predecessor's loose reading of the National Electrical Code and my heart as the debugger. It's been two centuries since the first electric light, and I've spent every minute of that terrified. This is why I'm a software guy.

rhmw2b 2y ago
Save yourself the stress with one of these… https://www.homedepot.com/p/Klein-Tools-Non-Contact-Voltage-Tester-Pen-50-1000V-AC-NCVT1PR-NCVT1PR/317460355 https://www.homedepot.com/p/Klein-Tools-Non-Contact-Voltage-...
- solardev 2y ago
  I actually have one :) Besides, it's easy enough to turn off the circuit at the breaker (turn light switch on, go to breaker, turn each breaker off until light goes off). Wiring up the new switch is straightforward enough too. But what's really terrifying is having to then walk back to the breaker box and flip the breaker back on. I can never tell if it's going to "just work" or blow up the neighborhood. I've worked with electricity more than the average person already, between growing up in a place and time that had frequent grid outages, having to replace household fuses instead before breakers were common, engineering classes in school, and working in solar. But I'm still never comfortable with electricity. I've been shocked by improper wiring in a swimming pool locker room, fried motherboards from accidentally shorting them to the case, melted laptops from missing drivers, etc. In my mind, every wire is a fuze to an atomic weapon aimed at me personally, just waiting for the right moment to strike. Some people are afraid of heights... or public speaking... me, I'm terrified of circuits. They're like a bunch of snakes imbued with the power of lightning, where one bite could melt you from the inside out. Ugh. I'll stick to Javascript, thank you very much.

rhmw2b 2y ago

Save yourself the stress with one of these… https://www.homedepot.com/p/Klein-Tools-Non-Contact-Voltage-Tester-Pen-50-1000V-AC-NCVT1PR-NCVT1PR/317460355 https://www.homedepot.com/p/Klein-Tools-Non-Contact-Voltage-...

solardev 2y ago
I actually have one :) Besides, it's easy enough to turn off the circuit at the breaker (turn light switch on, go to breaker, turn each breaker off until light goes off). Wiring up the new switch is straightforward enough too. But what's really terrifying is having to then walk back to the breaker box and flip the breaker back on. I can never tell if it's going to "just work" or blow up the neighborhood. I've worked with electricity more than the average person already, between growing up in a place and time that had frequent grid outages, having to replace household fuses instead before breakers were common, engineering classes in school, and working in solar. But I'm still never comfortable with electricity. I've been shocked by improper wiring in a swimming pool locker room, fried motherboards from accidentally shorting them to the case, melted laptops from missing drivers, etc. In my mind, every wire is a fuze to an atomic weapon aimed at me personally, just waiting for the right moment to strike. Some people are afraid of heights... or public speaking... me, I'm terrified of circuits. They're like a bunch of snakes imbued with the power of lightning, where one bite could melt you from the inside out. Ugh. I'll stick to Javascript, thank you very much.