Shocking, I Know

So, today, I was working through all the goodness that Twitter and tumblr have to offer AYW. I was buzzing through a BUSY day of it when I got the notice on my iPhone that Keith and the Girl was about to start.

This is how it went down.

T: Must be time for me to hop in the shower, @keithandthegirl is about to air!

You see, this is me multi-tasking.

I wanted to plug in a speaker, but didn’t have the correct cord handy. I grabbed another that looks just like it (except for the brand). When I touched the power button of the speaker, it popped (loudly, I might add). I’m a jumpy person, so I squealed. I saw, and then smelled, smoke. It popped like that a couple more times while I ran to the breaker box.

Our breakers are decently labeled, just not the guest bathroom. I turned off all the ones that could have it on the circuit and then ran around in the dark wondering what to do. I was afraid to unplug the thing, even with the breaker off.

I called E, but his phone doesn’t get good signal at work. I remembered something about rubber soles so I put on my hiking boots. I knew L was home, so I called her. She wasn’t laughing at me, but I could tell she wanted to. Oh, and she was no help at all, either. 😛 And without power, I couldn’t quickly Google. (Yes, I could have from my phone, but I wanted to talk to someone.)

E called me back and walked me through what to do: which consisted of “if the breaker is tripped/off, unplug the thing.” Maybe that part of science has changed since the fourth grade when they scared us about electrical outlets and shock. He then had me turn on all the other breakers I turned off. E and I decided I’d call the office for someone with electrical skills to look at it. We didn’t think it was on the Ground Fault Indicator. And, our bathroom plugs don’t have those cute buttons in the middle….which we never noticed before today.

I tried to Tweet, but the bathroom (on the far interior of our apartment) and the router for the Internet (on the far exterior wall) are on the same circuit.

I called the apartment office and had to talk to the ditz. I don’t care for her because she’s not reliable. She proved me wrong today. I never though she’d really get a guy here today, so I jumped in the shower. I was getting dressed and telling  L that I was okay when he knocked on the door. Good thing I shower quickly!

He looked at it all, turned the breaker back on, and assured me that it is on the GFI. He had no explanation for why the router is, too, but that’s good to know, I guess. I knew it was working when I heard Twitter chirp, so the line I tried to Tweet went out, next:

T: OMG I think I just broke our apartment. I shocked myself and have melted a speaker. #idiot

T: Thank YOU, @RiataWoodTrail for the FAST response to my electricity emergency. I’m back to the Internet.

T: The electric shock hurt my finger (the 1 that was on the power button), & gave my mouth a metallic taste. I’m still kinda shaken. #survivor

…and then I happened to be chatting with my friend C, when I realized I had more e’splain’ to do.

T: RE: Shocking myself. Was plugging in a speaker, didn’t have right cord, thought another would work, BOOM, ack!, ouch, uh oh. Called @E285

My finger still hurts a little.

 

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *