You have got to be kidding me right?

[SeaCat]

This morning I went down to the local Home Improvement Store to pick up a new circuit breaker for the trailer. I wandered through the store and found what I needed. A 50 Amp single throw douple pole breaker. I carry it up to the check out counter and am surprised to hear they won't sell it to me. I'm not an Electrician. WTF? Since when did you need to be an electrician to buy a breaker?

I'm informed that this is a county ordanance put in place to stop unlicensed contractors from working in the county. I asked what happens to the home owners and the counter person just shrugged. I ended up driving out of the county to pick up what I needed.

I picked up the breaker and returned home. Tomorrow I'll replace the old breaker with the new one and fix the problem.

Cat

 

[R. Richard]

This morning I went down to the local Home Improvement Store to pick up a new circuit breaker for the trailer. I wandered through the store and found what I needed. A 50 Amp single throw douple pole breaker. I carry it up to the check out counter and am surprised to hear they won't sell it to me. I'm not an Electrician. WTF? Since when did you need to be an electrician to buy a breaker?

I'm informed that this is a county ordanance put in place to stop unlicensed contractors from working in the county. I asked what happens to the home owners and the counter person just shrugged. I ended up driving out of the county to pick up what I needed.

I picked up the breaker and returned home. Tomorrow I'll replace the old breaker with the new one and fix the problem.

Cat

You just need to remember, from your Cape Cod days. If you went in and bought an entire case of booze Saturday and drank it Sunday, that was OK. However, if you bought a beer Sunday, you would burn in Hell for all eternity.

Obviously the Massachusetts booze law people have relocated to Florida.

Simple.

 

[DesertPirate]

Politicians and actual productivity are always a problem

 

[voluptuary_manque]

How dare you try and cut into the business of a sub-standard sub-contractor! Don't you know that building codes are designed to prevent evolution and creative thought in the trades? Imagine what would happen if all home-owners tried to maintain their own residences. Why, contractors might have to start really taking care of business!

 

[SlickTony]

That is crazy. Your county has too many rules.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I mentioned the deputy who jailed a man for possessing a pack of clove cigarettes. Its legal to make them and its legal to sell them, but at the time it was illgeal to possess them (they were taxed, too). The Supreme Court threw it out of court.

I used to run into those silly laws all the time.

I took one zoning official to court. He tried to argue that a curve is a corner.

 

[SweetPrettyAss]

This morning I went down to the local Home Improvement Store to pick up a new circuit breaker for the trailer. I wandered through the store and found what I needed. A 50 Amp single throw douple pole breaker. I carry it up to the check out counter and am surprised to hear they won't sell it to me. I'm not an Electrician. WTF? Since when did you need to be an electrician to buy a breaker?

I'm informed that this is a county ordanance put in place to stop unlicensed contractors from working in the county. I asked what happens to the home owners and the counter person just shrugged. I ended up driving out of the county to pick up what I needed.

I picked up the breaker and returned home. Tomorrow I'll replace the old breaker with the new one and fix the problem.

Cat

I think what you ran into was the county watching out for unionized employees of contracters.

 

[SweetPrettyAss]

I mentioned the deputy who jailed a man for possessing a pack of clove cigarettes. Its legal to make them and its legal to sell them, but at the time it was illgeal to possess them (they were taxed, too). The Supreme Court threw it out of court.

I used to run into those silly laws all the time.

I took one zoning official to court. He tried to argue that a curve is a corner.

You are talking about a dumb law that should have never been on the books and should have been taken offf decades ago. Seacat is talking about a new law that was designedf to protect unionized employees by removing competition.

If a street changed its name at the curve it might be a corner.

 

[jomar]

Unlicensed electricians aren't smart enough to load up on parts they might need. And they're cheap on gas.

 

[jomar]

...
If a street changed its name at the curve it might be a corner.

In my town we have streets that change names when you go straight at stop lights. I hate it.

 

[oggbashan]

In my town we have streets that change names when you go straight at stop lights. I hate it.

In my town we have streets that change names in the middle and then change back.

We have a Sea Street that stops fifty yards short of the sea; a Beach Street that stops fifty feet short of the beach (and there is a continuous row of houses in the way); a Sea View Road that you can't see the sea from and never could; a Cliff Avenue nowhere near cliffs etc.

But this is England. Any town could claim street names just as perverse.

A nearby town has a Squeeze Gut Alley because that's what you have to do to walk down it; a Coffin Alley because a section in the middle is coffin-shaped...

Og

 

[Vermilion]

In my town we have streets that change names in the middle and then change back.

We have a Sea Street that stops fifty yards short of the sea; a Beach Street that stops fifty feet short of the beach (and there is a continuous row of houses in the way); a Sea View Road that you can't see the sea from and never could; a Cliff Avenue nowhere near cliffs etc.

But this is England. Any town could claim street names just as perverse.

A nearby town has a Squeeze Gut Alley because that's what you have to do to walk down it; a Coffin Alley because a section in the middle is coffin-shaped...

Og

My fave so far is a street in Oxford called Crotch Crescent...
Though a small street I came across called Chickabiddy lane is a close second...

 

[fieryjen]

My fave so far is a street in Oxford called Crotch Crescent...
Though a small street I came across called Chickabiddy lane is a close second...

Does that mean anything? Sure sounds cute.

 

[oggbashan]

The City of London has no streets named "road".

It also had a place called "Grope Cunt Lane" which described what happened there.

It has been renamed "Threadneedle Street" which is a euphemism for what happened in Grope Cunt Lane (put a prick into a hole) and is the address of the Bank of England.

Og

PS. Back on topic. My local electrical wholesalers offer me a TRADE discount on electrical supplies because I am a member of the Chamber of Commerce.

 

[driphoney]

Unlicensed electricians aren't smart enough to load up on parts they might need. And they're cheap on gas.

I think what happened to Seacat is atrocious.

But show me an unlicensed electrician and we're probably staring at a smokin' burnt ember of an electrician.

 

[JagFarlane]

I think what happened to Seacat is atrocious.

But show me an unlicensed electrician and we're probably staring at a smokin' burnt ember of an electrician.

-shudders- that reminds me of people that would visit when I worked at Home Depots electrical dept. One guy wanted to run bare wire under his siding so that he didn't have to drill holes in his wall

 

[Vermilion]

Does that mean anything? Sure sounds cute.

definition: A chicken; a fowl; also, a trivial term of endearment for a child.

Term of endearment is how I would use it

I know nothing about electrician work, so I'm sticking with street names

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

SWEET PRETTY ASS

No. The street didnt change names. The street curved and the issue involved the placement of a new home on the property. The zoning guy wanted the property treated as a corner of an intersection. He lost in court because there was no intersection.

Now, these kinds of conflicts are common with bureaucrats. Theyre common with judges who misinterpret the law. And my example applies to SEACATs case because maybe there is no ordinance that applies to shadetree electricians, maybe a bureaucrat decided to make up his own rule AND EVERYONE THINKS ITS A REAL ORDINANCE. The clerk doesnt know.

Here's a better example of how things get screwed up by misinformed people. The case was brought to me and I untangled it. Two local clubs had an agreement to share facilities and costs and functions. They used the same building for events, etc. Well, one group got pissed at the other over a trifle, then the other group retaliated, and it became a major pissing contest. I examined all the legal documents relevant to their mutual assistance agreement and discovered something that shocked everyone. They were one and the same organization and corporation....except one bunch of 'officers' werent really officers at all. One guy who thought he was president was really a committee chairman of the sister organization.

We have another local where a kid killed two people when he ran a stop sign. The kid had 2 lawyers and pled no contest to the charges. Everyone assumed he'd get probation or maybe a short sentence. But the judge made no promises and sentenced the kid to 30 years. The kid's lawyers appealed the sentence, and the sentence was upheld by the appeals court because 30 years was within the sentence guidelines for vehicular homicide. The judge had every legal right to give 30 years, and he did. He's an asshole, and the lawyers knew he was an asshole.

Anyway, everyone is upset and there is no legal remedy, but they'll likely put the kid on 30 years probation, which violates the law, but its the right thing to do.

 

[SeaCat]

Well I did some esearch on this so called ordinance this morning and believe it or not I found it. There actually is an ordinance about selling electrical parts to unlicensed people.

The reason behind this was a while back the county had some heavy damage due to a hurricane and there was an influx of people from other states coming in and doing repair work. These people were not state licensed and the contractors here were upset about this. They petitioned the county claiming this was a dangerous situation. Those in the county on their payrolls agreed and the ordinance was created.

Now here is the funny part. When I took the box apart I found the problem. There on the inside of the box was the documentation when the same breaker had been replaced a couple of years ago. (By a licensed Electrician I might add.) Then I looked at the breaker and found that it hadn't been put in place correctly. The tabs on the hot end of the breaker hadn't been pushed over the Hot Bus. Instead they were just barely touching and had been held in place by the cover pushing the breaker down.

You could easily see the burning caused by the arcing on the tabs. (Remember this had been put in place by a licensed Electrician.)

I replaced the breaker, making sure it was firmly in place before closing up the box and turning the juice back on. (I also inspected the other breakers and pushed two more of them properly in place.) Hmmmmm this could explain why the box seemed to get warm. Now everything works as it should.

Oh and by the by, I have in the back room a complete set of breakers as well as a much larger box for them. One of my goals/jobs for when I open up the walls is to redo the wiring in this older Mobile Home and bring it up to my specs. (Which includes but is not limited to replacing the wiring, the circuit box and doubling the number of circuits.)

Oh I am not a licensed Electrician but I do have a little experience in it.

Cat

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Some of those "licensed electricians" got their licenses the old fashioned way, they bought them and never had a day in school nor did they ever apprentice with a skilled journeyman.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

SEACAT

Licensed electricians wanna make all the money they can, just like everyone else. They'll fuck you in a heart-beat, just like the unlicensed ones.

 

[john-the-author]

Well I did some esearch on this so called ordinance this morning and believe it or not I found it. There actually is an ordinance about selling electrical parts to unlicensed people.

The reason behind this was a while back the county had some heavy damage due to a hurricane and there was an influx of people from other states coming in and doing repair work. These people were not state licensed and the contractors here were upset about this. They petitioned the county claiming this was a dangerous situation. Those in the county on their payrolls agreed and the ordinance was created.

Now here is the funny part. When I took the box apart I found the problem. There on the inside of the box was the documentation when the same breaker had been replaced a couple of years ago. (By a licensed Electrician I might add.) Then I looked at the breaker and found that it hadn't been put in place correctly. The tabs on the hot end of the breaker hadn't been pushed over the Hot Bus. Instead they were just barely touching and had been held in place by the cover pushing the breaker down.

You could easily see the burning caused by the arcing on the tabs. (Remember this had been put in place by a licensed Electrician.)

I replaced the breaker, making sure it was firmly in place before closing up the box and turning the juice back on. (I also inspected the other breakers and pushed two more of them properly in place.) Hmmmmm this could explain why the box seemed to get warm. Now everything works as it should.

Oh and by the by, I have in the back room a complete set of breakers as well as a much larger box for them. One of my goals/jobs for when I open up the walls is to redo the wiring in this older Mobile Home and bring it up to my specs. (Which includes but is not limited to replacing the wiring, the circuit box and doubling the number of circuits.)

Oh I am not a licensed Electrician but I do have a little experience in it.

Cat

I rewired the house that my ex now owns, replacing the old knob-and-tube stuff with 12 gauge copper Romex throughout and a 200-amp Square-D breaker box. It was a royal bitch, but we did it the right way and I know that house will never burn down because of an electrical problem related to overloading.