30 year bond resultsbeware

[raja]

Re: 30 year bond resultsbeware

That's probably about the most ignorant thing I've read on Itulip.com since Starving Steve's history of Stalin.:mad: Changing out light fixtures and switches hardly makes for the equivalent of a licensed electrician. And that same attitude is why I can go onto almost any unlicensed job in my area and find dozens of code violations and some amazingly stupid stuff done by amateurs who think they know about electricity. People who say they "wired their own house" only to fail any serious inspection that requires it to actually pass the NEC and not just work when you flip the switch. HUGE difference between just making electricity work and making it work safely.

I have a business degree AND an several professional contractor licenses. The training and skills needed to master electrical work far exceeded any I needed to get that business degree from a major university. While its nowhere near the level of education you need to be a doctor, saying it requires almost no training shows how little you really know about the subject. Have you ever even seen the National Electrical Code?

Sure, a lot of the funtions electricians or plumbers do are routine. But its not good enough to get part of the job right. We have to get it all right. There's a lot more going on than just what is readily visible. I've been doing it for 25 years and I'm still learning. And I don't even work in sector that requires a high level of skill. In my opinion, I wouldn't even consider most men trustworthy until they have at least 5 years experience. Anyone can pull wire and bend pipe. That's the manual part. Its the mental part the novices don't understand. And that's where the problems start. With people who think they understand but don't. Half my business is now going behind jacklegs. They range from just incompetent to downright criminal. And unfortunately, only another electrician can fully understand how wrong these types are. When you know and understand the code, its downright scary what these idiots are doing.

I can show you dozens of pictures I've taken of burned out panels, house fires, and other disasters from work by people with a "anyone can do this" attitude. I could write a book on the amazingly stupid stuff amateurs do. And they really believe they did it correctly. Being only 90% correct can kill someone. All I'll say is you had better know your limitations. I have a sticker on the back of my truck that says, "Beware the Handyman!" When I arrive to troubleshoot a problem, the first thing I ask is " Did you have any work done recently, and if so, were they licensed?" At least 75% of the time, the problem is related to the unlicensed individual screwing things up. Almost never is there a problem on a licensed and inspected job other than routine parts failing. The work might not be up to my standards, but it is usually correct.

I'm not saying these trades are rocket science. And I really do understand that people can do some jobs despite little training. But its like knowing how to take off in a plane but not how to land. Smart people bring along a qualified pilot. I do all the work around my house. I change out plumbing fixtures, but I don't presume I could plumb my whole house. I fixed a capacitor on my AC unit, but I don't know how to size a system. Like Dirty Harry said, " A man has to know his limitations".

You no more have an understanding of what it is to be a well trained electrician than someone who puts a bandaid on a kid's knee thinks he knows what it is to be a doctor. :rolleyes:

I don't doubt that there are a lot of idiots out there that do destructive things. I also would not be surprised to find that the National Electrical Code is incredibly complex, having to cover all possible scenarios. But I also believe the wiring of the average house is very simple . . . if one takes a little time for self-education. And I would say that house wiring -- both repair and installation -- is the majority of electrical work done in this country.

Just because someone is licensed doesn't mean they will do a good job . . . .
The worst experience I had with all the properties I've owned was with a licensed electrician. He came to disconnect a hot tub, and called me over to show me that the electrician who had originally installed it had left the ground wire unconnected -- it was just lying on the ground. I thought this was strange, since the original electrician had done a very careful job in many respects, from what I could tell.

This licensed electrician then said that a ground fault interrupt had been installed but was not required, costing me around $200. He took it out, and since I had no use for it, I gave it to him. He then installed the hot tub at my new house -- without the ground fault interrupt.

I was suspicious of this guy, because of what he said about the other electrician, and I just had a bad feeling about him. A couple of days later, I checked the hot tub manual, which he had read before reconnecting the tub, and it indicated that ground-fault protection was necessary. So this slime-ball had put my life at risk, in addition to slandering the former electrician. I called him and asked for the ground-fault switch, but he never returned it.

I thought about reporting him to some regulatory agency, but he was the kind of guy that would probably do something nasty like throw a rock through your car windshield in the middle of the night, so I just let it go.

[kartius919]

Re: 30 year bond resultsbeware

Do you mean the swap facilities and expansion of the balance sheet? That is only a fraction of the debt pie. What is the Fed's B/S that you are referring to?