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**Mark McIntyre** · #24 July 6th 08, 01:14 PM posted to uk.telecom.broadband

wrote:

I've been around for long enough to recognise attemts by "specialists"
to bamboozle the punters.

And I've been around long enough to recognise the "why should I pay
someone to do this, any fool could do as well" suspicion of
professionals that causes electrocutions, car crashes and twisted ankles
every day.

Come on Einstein, how difficult is it to put a plug on a cable
properly?

I once had a qualified electrician who swapped live and neutral on a
boiler circuit. Every time the hot water came on, the fuse tripped. The
T valve motors were fried.

Anyone who wishes to can find the tools and clear,
Illustrated instructions available on the Internet.

I once had an assistant who was so ham-fisted with wire strippers that
he nicked the insulation of both power and data cabling. The resulting
shorts were very hard to diagnose as he had done it almost everywhere
but on a different wire virtually every time.

I had another who was even more hamfisted and nicked the core conductor.
During the screwing-back of the faceplates, live, neutral and earth
would randomly snap off from the socket and be dangling around inside
the box. When we were lucky it would short, trip a fuse and we'd know at
once. When we got unlucky, you got a shock when you touched the box.

Moving on to cars, I once saw the results of a DIY attempt to replace
the head-gasket. The clown had ignored the "this way up" sign, blocking
some waterways and some oilways. The engine not merely seized, but the
cores blew out of the side of the block due to the heat.

You underestimate the rest of humanity.

Having witnessed some peoples' DIY attempts at car & home maintenance,
electrical repairs, cable

--
Regards,
Dick Treen

--
Mark McIntyre

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