Have you ever wondered what the world would be like if everything had faulty wiring? No? Well we have. In fact, it is a rather common topic of conversation around our office. So, we got some electricians to ask the tough questions and give the most true answers. So, if you are interested to take a trip into a world where quality wiring does not exist, then join us as we take a look into a dismal and sad world.
Our journey begins in the house. Imagine your home (or ideal home), it is a warm, comfortable, beautiful place where people do not wear clothes but just wrap themselves in blankets and comforters. Your enormous TV shows football/cartoons/Rock of Love all day. You have 3 taps at your sink, one for water, one for microbrew beer and one for fine wine. Now imagine your surprise when you enter a world where all the wiring is faulty.
For starters, your house is icy cold because your heater is malfunctioning. In order to avoid burning your house down, you had to shut it off because the wiring was causing sparks. People cannot simply wear blankets as those too flammable and the risk of fire is high. Instead, they are forced to wear fire blankets that make that weird crinkly noise whenever moved. Your TV is about as useful as a painting of dirt as turning it on would cause your fusebox to blow up and send shrapnel careening into the eyes of your new puppy. Darkness is an ongoing theme in your life because turning on your lights would result in your whole house becoming a brilliant show for the neighbors who would be standing next to you as you watch your TV melt in the inferno where your home used to be.
What about the workplace? Let us assume that you work at a comfortable desk (at least some of the time). You have a nice chair that has one of those flippy levers that makes you move up and down. Your ability to work with computers is legendary and your boss always considers your personal feelings when choosing a direction for the company. You revel in the love and adoration of your peers, bask in the glory of being an all-around stud, and enjoy a hot pot of coffee ready for you each day. Yes life is good.
BAM here comes faulty wiring. You come in to work and sit at your chair. That is still more or less the same as the chair uses hydraulics to move. However, due to chq wire in your computer, you cannot start it up. You call IT but they do not answer because your phone is broken. You curse your luck and take a look into your computer. Upon touching the case you are shocked… literally shocked. Intense voltage courses through your fingers and singes your hair. The smell of pain, fear, and burnt hair attracts your boss. He promptly tells you that he is tired of your inability to work your computer (as faulty wiring is an ongoing problem) and that you are a terrible person. Your peers shun you and laugh insidiously as you walk by. Just as you are about to snap, a beacon of hope appears. The pot of coffee sits before you, a shining light sandwiched between the gray reality of your peripherals. You approach the coffee and pour yourself a cup. You sip from the mug and, to your despair, you realize you are drinking 3 day old coffee as faulty wiring has put the machine out of commission since then. Your screams echo down the hallway.
Finally we move to something so sacred, it pains us to have to even mention it. The car. A car is something so personal, it is difficult for us to describe. Think of yours and we will tell you about ours. A beautiful four door with seats of leather. Some would call it a chariot for the mighty. The sun glinting off the ocean is nothing compared to the sheer beauty of this blue paint job. The acceleration is smooth and fast. Hitting the gas pedal is like absorbing happiness through your foot. When you press the brakes a sadness reaches your very core but is counteracted by the sheer beauty of deceleration that the car shows you. You lock it and it feels as though the car looks at you longingly, its only thoughts focused on the anticipation of your next excursion.
In the faulty wiring universe, the car is much different. You walk to your car after having to manually open your garage door. Heading between your bonfire-waiting-to-happen house and your job which you wish was in the same state as your house. You press a button to unlock your car and nothing happens. As you reach to unlock it by hand, you drop your keys, having to get down to grab them. The tip of your tie dips in the oil on the ground leaving a black stain that transfers to your shirt. After three or four attempts to start the car, it finally goes. You roll out of the driveway, manually close your garage, and head to work. Each press of the gas pedal is a roll of the dice on your life as your car is basically an overpriced grenade and the gas pedal is the pin. If you make it up to the first stoplight you are lucky. You hope that your brakes connect as the light goes yellow. Suddenly the light switches back to green, then yellow, then shuts off completely. You curse the city for not fixing the wiring as you are rear ended. Explosions ensue, the screams of the populace echo in your ears a symphony of terror. You are beset on all sides by fire and twisted metal only barely managing to escape. Then you wake up in your garage realizing you fell asleep after never being able to start your car at all. So you start your 3 mile walk to work.
Wiring is an essential part of modern life. The technologies we utilize today could turn on us if faulty wiring were a more common problem. It is an issue that we must all be aware of, and we must appreciate the enormous amount of craftsmanship and skill that goes in to a good wiring job. So when you lie in bed at night, your house not aflame, your job at least bearable, and your car working properly (kind of), think of the electricians that made it all possible.