I feel your pain. I had to suffer dial-up until a few years ago the arthritic little old lady in my small town phone company retired and her younger replacement was able to switch the plugs fast enough for DSL. At first it was 256K which was 10 times better than dial-up and cost $2 less per month. A few months later QWEST upgraded to 1.5mb with no extra charge. I realize those in the big city think I have only progressed from the stone age to the iron age but I appreciate it. I pray you get DSL. We all can appreciate Common Sense Answers!
'A 25-year-old man had a cardiac arrest in the back of a
trailer where he was running a lawn mower to stay
warm. (Another victim was dead on arrival of the EMS
personnel, and his postmortem carboxyhemoglobin level was
45.0%.)'
N Engl J Med 2012; 367:1270-1271 September 27, 2012
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc1114820
'Falsely Low Carboxyhemoglobin Level after Hydroxocobalamin Therapy'From a few years ago, using open buckets of gasoline and a bottle to pour gas into the engine followed by an explosion when they tried to restart the van.
http://www.bellevuereporter.com/news/114238254.html?mobile=true
I think one of the reasons accidents happen is because of safety devices, equipment, and procedures. I think all the safety devices we have can lull us into a sense of security, and many people today have never been exposed to the dangers that previous generations have been, and therefore donât know how to think or act in the absence of total safety. Most people have never been taught just how dangerous ordinary everyday things like a flat tire can be.
When I was about 10 my dad decided it was time to learn how to change a tire. I had seen him do it before. We loosened the lugs, used the bumper jack from the car, removed the lug nuts, and I went to pull the tire off when WHAMâI got a big slap to the side of my head. âDonât be stupid! Never grab a tire like that with your hand at the top! Always grab it toward the bottom, with your hands at 4:00 and 8:00. If the car falls off the jack with your hand up there youâll lose your arm.â
Once my cousin and I were mowing the tall grass in my auntâs yard. We were using an aged LawnBoy mower, he was mowing and I was leaning on a rake. Next thing I know Iâm on the ground. The blade had broken off the mower and came flying out and knocked the rake out from under my arm. I could have lost a leg that day.
I spent my summers growing up on a farm. Lots of dangers there. Something as simple as opening a grain chute can break your arm. Starting a truck wrong can kill you. Having your hands in the wrong place on a steering wheel can dislocate your thumb. Not watching where youâre walking can get you a snakebite.
If youâre constantly aware of whatâs happening around you, if youâre mindful of what youâre doing, and if you act like there are no safety devices anywhere, youâll be fine.
No doubt @asemaster. Todays drivers are lulled into believing their technology will take care of them when in reallity the technology just raises the threshold for loss of control.
Years ago an electrician showed me that the first time you touch a wire (generally AC house current, but stillâŠ) just gently slap at it with the back of your hand. The reason was if you touch voltage with the front of your hand your muscles will contract and grab and pull the wire harder, and you could die. And, in cars, I know from experience about that. Who among us hasnât grabbed a spark plug wire on a running engine and promptly punched yourself in the face?
I guess my question would be why this guy thought it would be a good idea to do work on a running car in a warehouse thatâs storing hundreds of objects made out of flammable wood and fabric.
That would be my last option.
First, I would use a meter.
Not having a meter, I would grab the wire by the insulation and touch the bare conductor end against a ground wire/metal or the companion neutral wire.
The last option is to test the power by touching it with your skinâŠyou could be adequately insulated and not know it until⊠youâre not insulated anymoreâŠrisky business practice 
In my little shop I have a couple work lights in the ceiling for when I want more light on the table saw or whatever. The outlets are switched but after some time not using the switches, they corrode. So how do you find the right breaker for a switch you ask? Since the white and ground wires all terminate at the same place in the main box, you can put your meter on the black wire and the ground if white is not available in the switch box. Even so I try to only use one hand on one wire at a time. I replaced one switch but Iâll have to do the other one sometime when its not too hot out.
Now I have gotten tickled a couple times doing wallpapering when you use a utility knife to cut around a live outlet. Gotta be careful not to touch the terminals with the knife blade. Iâm very careful now. I remember as a kid grabbing the plug wire on a briggs and stratton engine and having something like 20,000 volts go up your arm and its not fun. I wonât ever tickle myself just to see if something is live or not.
I have a friend who can hold a hot plug wire and not flinch. He can hold a hot 110v lead if heâs dry. If I grabbed either it might take EMTs to get me up.
If youâve not seen it, âgoogleâ the Mr. Bean episode where he gives first aid to a heart attack victim and uses a makeshift defibrillator.
Perhaps this is one youtube linkâŠ
CSA
Skin types vary considerably across the population. In addition, age is usually a significant factor as well. Some skin types and condition are so resistive, they are very hard to conduct electricity through them. Learned all about that during my years designing defibs, patient data monitors (ECG, EEG) and also a short stint with the group that designed disposable electrodes for themâŠ
There is a reason that professional garages have a metal container with a spring-loaded closure to put their old greasy, oily or gas-soaked rags in⊠itâs stupid not to do this at home if you must keep them inside. You can always put them out to âairâ instead which renders them a bit less dangerous⊠
Just seems like common sense to not use concrete blocks as jack stands for a vehicle⊠but I guess not all people use common sense.