I seem to be tempting death every waking moment these days... first I enrol for driving lessons... then experiment with various recipes in the kitchen (both of these could result in homicide along with my death)... then lastly my body seems to have become an exceptionally good conductor of Electricity of late... I was operating the geyser (not the ones that abound in nature like the Old Faithful, which spouts jets of water every five minutes, the domestic variety that is used at home, for the connoisseurs of warm bath water)...
Now this monstrosity that is fitted in my house has three taps in all, one to let the water into the geyser, one to let it out of the geyser and the third one a normal tap which lets the water into the buckets. Now this third tap seems to hate me, for I have received shocks of varying intensities over time whenever I touch it with wet hands. We have had the tap checked plenty of times but same verdict, there is nothing anywhere near the tap which could be accounted for as a cause of these electric shocks, after the Electrician has left, I get a stern look from my parents which says "Don’t you have anything better to do with your time, use it fruitfully rather than cook up such a cock and bull story ?"... I don’t blame them; they never seem to ever have any problem with this... this tap!!!
The last of the series of electrifying experiences took place day before yesterday, normally, of late I am very vary of the tap and would not touch it with a barge pole...but in a unguarded moment I touched while trying to hang my cloth hair band on it... and what do you expect... BZZZZZT.... my hand was flying north like there is no tomorrow....after a mini war dance and checking to see whether all the fingers are intact and I still have sensation it that hand I calmed down... I need a few answers and I need them fast...
Q 1) Why is it that only I get zapped ??
Q2) Any suggestion on how to avoid this ??
(P.S. give up bathing does not count as a valid suggestion, I personally don’t mind, but as I have the utmost feeling for my fellow human being, this in the least I can do for them :p)
You get Zapped...coz God knows you can handle :P
ReplyDeleteI am sure this has some thing to do with your driving instructor. God has finally listened to the poor chap and somehow trying to make even for the trauma and sleepless nights you have given to him :)
ReplyDeleteEven i had the same problem, folks never believed my plight until my brother experienced it. :)
ReplyDeleteBtw, u must have got a new hairdo. :):)
@ scrawler...if I ever meet god, he/she has loads of answering to do :))
ReplyDelete@ scattered thoughts...for all the squirming and praying the poor soul(driving instructor)does when he is in the car with me God is sure letting me off the hook cheaply,I am sure the trainer will do cartwheels the day my trainig ends and I am out of his hair... :)
johnny... finally a kindred spirit... No re, no such luck as my hair always looks like I have received an electric shock :)...
thoda gyaan before I ans ur qns.
ReplyDeletednt laugh at electric shocks. Body Resistance varies greatly in different parts of your body. A value of 1,500 ohms is commonly used as the resistance between major extremities of an average human body: hand to hand, or hand to foot. For example, suppose you accidentally grabbed a wire carrying 120 volts alternating current (V ac). We can use Ohm’s law, I = E/R, to figure how much current would flow through your body : E = 120 V ac (the voltage you grabbed) R = 1,500 ohms (your average body resistance) Therefore: I = 120/1,500 amp I = .080 amp I = 80 milliamperes. Therefore, if you grabbed a 120-V-ac wire, 80 milliamperes of current would flow through your body. Generally any current more than 30 milli ampere makes our arm and hand muscles close involuntarily: u cant leave what you holded which gave you shock. This might be fatal. 30 milliampere means 45 V. So make sure the output of your geyser is less than that.
Q 1) Why is it that only I get zapped ??
Ans.] i second scrawler.
Q2) Any suggestion on how to avoid this ??
Ans.] How many suggestions do you need? :-)
i) change to less electrifying experiences by investing on gas geysers. it doesnt give shock.
ii) if you cant afford a gas connection, solar heater would be a good option.
iii) make sure there are proper circuit breakers or fuses installed in your house's electric wiring.
iv) if nothing could be done, better change the tap. chemical spills on tap could conduct electricity even if there is proper insulation. hard water deposits over a period of time triggers chemical spill formation around the tap.
be safe.. i dont wana stop reading u :-)
@ scattered thoughts... three blind mice story for you :)... and thanks for correcting the spelling "Raconteur" for me :))...I have this habit typing directly and not running a spell check on my posts :))
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thenegotiationguru.com/what-can-we-learn-from-3-blind-mice
@ sawan... this is why I chose commerce over science :)... the grand equations scare the life out of me...for me CA is a better option any day :))...
ReplyDeleteFind the 4th option feasible...will try and get the tap changed... "na rahega baas, na bajegi baasuri"...hehehe...feel like Amrish Puri just now, kinda like out to eliminate the hero...
sawan - did you read my last comment on Scrawler's post. I really need to reserve you for that man..
ReplyDeletesen - oh yeah.. your story reminded me of a true incident from the local market. There was a local drycleaner here with 10-12 guys under him. So to keep them firm and dedicated to work, he had a simple policy. He used to call the first person and tell him “you know, you are my best employee and I trust you more than any body else here. So you just keep an eye on others and keep telling me whats going on in my absence” the poor chap used to think, wow I am the favorite of boss and I should live up to his expectations. Then the boss used to repeat the same story with the second guy and so on. So you can imagine the final result when every body in staff was actually thinking of himself as the most important person around and spying about the others.. Hell of management trick, I would say :)
about spellings – thanks to my mum who is an English teacher and used to beat the s**t out of me on spelling mistakes. Otherwise I was such a dumb kid who used to write “b” instead of “d” in kindergarten ;)
@ scattered thoughts.. fundoo management gyaan man...worth a try :))
ReplyDeleteatleast you wrote “b” instead of “d”, according to my parents I used to religiously washed my socks in class every single day when I went to nursery, my mom was beginning to despair that I my end up as a dobhi...and I am the butt of jokes thanks to my kindergarten year book which has pages with headings like "See what my little hands can do" on which I drew something which was supposed to be an umbrella but looks like a dried out flower from outer space ;)
heyyy Senoritaaaaaaa....u never told me about that tap before..what if i would have got Bzzzzzzzzzt ?? i'd rather be caught dead in that state than come running out :) :)
ReplyDeleten Sweetie, the answers for ur questions have been beautifully answered;) adding a suggestion: u reduce sugar, salt, spices, oil, cheese, cakes, sauces, purees, ghee, chicken, spaghetti, lasagnia, pasta, etc,etc..
ur body will not only become bad conductor of electricity but bad conductor of everything !!
Sawan has given some electrical greek/latin..hope they work for u:)
All the best, gal n do let us know what happened ??
@ Vin...why dont you just say "Starve to death, I would go raving mad, if I dont eat, you know how much i like Foooood...me and Garfield have a common passion food :))
ReplyDelete