Electrical House Wiring in Georgia:
or
Why You Should Never Turn On a Light Switch In the Dark!
It is easy to take some things for granted.  Safety, for instance.  I have never before lived in a place where being "shocked" (literally) in the course of day to day life was such an issue!  After arriving here, the state of our apartment's wiring became a bit of a running joke (how terrible it is, how glad we are that the apartment building cannot burn because it is entirely built of concrete, etc.).  Anyway, I decided it was time to offer some kind of prize for the apartment with the most "interesting" wiring job.  Don't go away . . . . . . .

  See all those wires going in our front apartment entrance?  The concept that "the grass is greener on the other side of the fence" has set in, as it appears that the people across the street have electrical power a little more often than we do on OUR side of the street.  So, folks who live in our buliding have run these tiny little extension cords out the front of the building and across the street, where they find a live wire somewhere to tap into.  "But" you say, "Don't the power company people object and take down the extra wires?"  When asked recently, a local professional electrician stated "We don't touch those wires- that could be dangerous".  As Highly Technical People, of course, we pilots would NEVER run little wires over the street to "borrow" from our neighbor's electrical sources.  That would be rediculous.    Ours are great BIG wires, and we hooked OURS to an electrical conduit that runs UNDER the street for all-weather protection and reliability!!

This is a "typical" wall switch with wires, added sometime during or before Nixon's final term in office.  Yes, those are bare wires.  Yes, we use the circuit breaker as the on-off switch.  No, there are no covers over the terminals.  Luckily, this installation is high enough up the wall that small children cannot touch the wires accidentally.  For an adult a convenient (and well grounded) step ladder is sufficient to reach the switches.
Incidentally, I was warned by my predecessor in the program to never empty my clothes from the washing machine in my bare feet.  He said "the washer will find a good grounding point through the wet clothing, through your hand, up your arm, down and out your leg, which might make sparks come out between your toes".  Well . . .  I certainly am not interested in "Pedal Pyrotechnics" so I always wear my rubber soled Running Shoes when I do my laundry.  I refer to this as "An Ounce of Prevention" or "Safe Laundering Practices my Mother Never Told Me About" indeed!
 
 
 
 
 

 
 

n Now I would like to present our third runner up in the worst wiring contest.  This installation is, in fact, the main power buss for the entire apartment complex.  Third place was the best we could award, however, because this installation is functional, which causes a loss of points in our grading system.

 
 
 
 
 
 
  Now, this is the "power selector" for my apartment, to which I have awarded an honorable mention.  Not a winner because it is too neatly done, it works (loosing points) but has caused at least one or two good hand jolts when changing from the generator to city power (left knife switches with 220 volts a few centimeters from your unprotected hand) and the center switch, which is a "phase selector".   In the US, you probably have two phases (sources of power) coming to your house.  They both will be 110 volts, within a fraction, and will almost always be on.  Here, the phases are usually different (suppostedly 220 volts, but in reality anywhere from 100 to 350 volts, the latter of which causes the light bulbs in your house to explode and causes other interesting and entertaining effects as well).  You take a deep breath, look expectantly at your GREAT BIG RUSSIAN VOLT METER YOU BOUGHT AT THE OUTDOR ELECTRICAL MARKET and slam the knife switch closed on one of the phases.  If the volt meter goes over 300 you try to get the switch back open before you destroy the remaining lights/appliances/washer/dryer/television in the apartment.  If the meter reads 220, it is a good day, but probably won't last.  If it reads 170 volts, your lights will be dim but won't explode, and is likely as good as it is going to get.  My third phase never works, because I think someone from across the street is using it for THEIR little sneaky wire.  All is fair in . . . .

  Here is our second place winner.  This installation clearly demonstrates some real artistic creativity, particularly in the aspect that no person, (other than the electrician who created this work of art) will EVER be able to figure out which wire goes where and does what.  This was obviously the work of an electrician representing the impressionistic genre.  Unfortunately, this installation did not qualify for first place because of excessive use of insulating tape (which safely prevents electric shocks) and his unfortunate inclusion of a LIGHTBULB to increase safety when switching phases at night (see comments on Phases above).  None the less, this was an excellent effort, and we salute the artist responsible.

  And NOW (drum roll, please) I would like to introduce our first place contestant.  This is a work of art, which includes all of the major elements of a well developed electrical nightmare.  Note the inclusion of the large Russian voltmeter on the right.  Liberal use of bare wire connections- no insulating tape in sight!  This installation also includes a light bulb, and we were almost taken in by the deception.  This grand prize winning electrical installation does ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!  The light bulb is operated through a little wire that runs across the street, giving the impression of an operational installation that might actually (occasionally) provide power to this apartment. In fact, nothing electrical has operated in this apartment since, well, uh, hmmm, -- we aren't sure.

Congratulations to each of our highly skilled contestants, and we look forward to the plumbing competition that will surely follow!
  PS... In an attempt to grasp the skills necessary to produce electrical works of art such as those represented earlier on this page, I attempted to create my own masterpiece.  Although a valient effort, it is easy to see that I have "a long way to go" . . . .. . . .

 
  Press button to go to the Mountains page
 
 
  Press button to return to main page