I finally listened to my old boss from the Denver area

He always told me to spend an extra five minutes checking the whole attic path before running a line. I blew it off for years, but last week I had to redo a whole house drop in Fort Collins because I missed a fire block. That extra five would have saved me two hours. Anyone else have a simple rule they ignored until it bit them?

3 comments

3 Comments

smith.nancy25d ago

Oh man, do I feel this! I used to think my journeyman was just being a worrywart when he'd make me double-check my wire nuts. I'd be up in a ceiling, thinking "Yeah yeah, it's fine," and give it one lazy twist. Cue me, three months later on a service call, tracing a flickering light back to my own half-done connection in that very house. The shame was real. He laughed for a week.

shane_park9225d ago

Man, @smith.nancy, that's why shortcuts always come back to bite you later, right?

lucasw5725d ago

My old foreman used to say the same thing about checking junction boxes for backstabbed wires. Called it a five minute insurance policy. I argued it was a waste of time right up until I spent a whole afternoon chasing a ghost circuit in a split-level. The universe really loves to send you the exact bill for the shortcuts you take.