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AIBU?

to think most people wire their own plugs

144 replies

Toadinthehole · 28/04/2013 02:14

The Guardian has begun an online photo gallery which exhibits people's personal experiences of the cuts in Britain.

Exhibit One is a picture intituled "Wiring my own white goods because I can't afford an electrician".

Link here.

Is someone having a little joke?

OP posts:

Report

JollyPurpleGiant · 28/04/2013 06:40

There was an AA guy on the news one day that had done lots of years service. He said that he wouldn't expect anyone to change their own tyres and advised all AA members to make a call out for it.

I would call someone to change my tyre, even though I do know how to do it, I'm not sure I'd be physically capable.

With widespread access to the internet, you can find instructions for doing pretty much anything. My parents have had their house over 20 years and they've only ever called out a contractor for the burglar alarm and the gas fired heating. DM does everything else herself.

exoticfruits · 28/04/2013 06:51

Of course I can do it, there is nothing to it, but I haven't needed to for at least 20years- everything comes with a plug already attached now.

mathanxiety · 28/04/2013 06:55

My mother was completely shocked to hear that I can use power tools without amputating an arm or destroying a supporting wall. I honestly think she has some sort of phobia about household appliances/machines, with the exception of sewing machines. I had to google her 1966 cistern and talk her through the simple fix for running toilet. My sister wrote instructions for her to programme her thermostat with a diagram included but she ended up switching it back to manual because that sequence of buttons is easier and she doesn't trust things that pretty much run themselves, thinks she will end up with heat coming on when she doesn't need it, even though it is a thermostat she is dealing with.

AnnoyingOrange · 28/04/2013 06:55

I've wired many a plug in my time, but not for years now.

I guess my children wouldn't know how as they've never had the need

dashoflime · 28/04/2013 06:56

This one is my :

favorite

It could be GMO or anything!!

This is my one

Not the most serious on there by far and thankfully things are all sorted out now.

JollyPurpleGiant · 28/04/2013 06:57

I've done it when a wire has been damaged. And replaced the odd fuse too. I'm pretty sure we also had to do something with the plug when putting in our dishwasher, but I think the plug was too big to fit through the gap so I just removed it, fed the wire through and put it back on again.

dashoflime · 28/04/2013 06:58

Sorry links are shit. this is my favorite

this is mine

TeWiSavesTheDay · 28/04/2013 07:23

When does anyone wire a plug?!

I know how to (learnt at school in the 00s), but I've never had to. Everytime something electrical has broken it was nothing to do with the plug.

TheFunStopsHere · 28/04/2013 07:40

I don't know how to. Never would occur to me to do it and it's not come up in nearly 40 years. When/why would I need to? Can't quite imagine the context. Appliances come with plugs, don't they? Can't recall ever being taught to - and my father is an electrician!
Just to feel a bit less useless, I do many other practical things but this is not one of them.

Toadinthehole · 28/04/2013 07:41

Or this one (a derelict club house formerly funded by the local colliery welfare).

Quote "This hasn't happened overnight but shows the inevitable result of cutting funding".

Quite what that has to do with recent government cuts (or any government cuts) is beyond me

OP posts:

Tee2072 · 28/04/2013 07:42

BTW, I actually trained as an electrician in the US, so I could wire a plug.

I just can't believe you had to...

TeWiSavesTheDay · 28/04/2013 07:43

Eh? Of course cuts in funding mean social spaces close down.

Toadinthehole · 28/04/2013 07:53

it wasn't recent.
it was funded by colliery welfare, not government. I suppose you could say that the ghostly retracting hand of government is just about detectible, but it's stretching a point to say the least.

OP posts:

SoupDragon · 28/04/2013 08:00

Probably the same people who get the AA out to change a tyre

What's wrong with that? You need specialist equipment to change a tyre. A wheel on the other hand... seriously though, I am physically incapable of loosening the wheel nuts once they've been put on by a garage. I know he to but simply can't. I didn't bother getting a spare for my new car, it just comes with a can of sealant or the AA can tow me home.

I can wire a plug, change a light switch, change a light fitting... Pretty much anything.

TeWiSavesTheDay · 28/04/2013 08:01

It doesn't say when it was, unless you are local and know?

There's lots of sound reasons why privately funded projects struggle when state funding is low, as well as being in recession, so I don't think that's a stretch.

noblegiraffe · 28/04/2013 08:03

Why are you lot wiring plugs? I was taught how to do it but haven't ever needed to.

People who feel superior for changing their own tyres are weird. I'm pretty sure I could do it, it doesn't look mentally challenging or anything, I just don't want to grub around on the floor.

Toadinthehole · 28/04/2013 08:07

I think the clue is in "funded by colliery welfare".

I agree there are lots of sound reasons why privately-funded projects struggle when government cuts have a knock-on effect (I think this is what you are trying to say). This is hardly the government's concern, and furthermore, this example has precisely nothing to do with the current government's austerity policy. It's just someone's whinge about someone else not stumping up money anymore.

OP posts:

Jojobump1986 · 28/04/2013 08:13

I could wire a plug but have never yet felt the need to. I'd quite like an excuse to though... Maybe I can go around damaging wires or bending pins! DH would probably fix it though. He loves DIY so I hardly ever get a look in! He's more competent than me too so usually I just let him get on with it.

Even he says he's never had to wire a plug & he's designed & built a remote control plane from scratch!

picnicbasketcase · 28/04/2013 08:16

Yep, same as a lot of you, was taught it in school in Physics but have never ever needed to do it. I'm not sure if it would even occur to me to try it. If something electrical broke, I'd assume it had died and either live without it or buy a new one, not arse about with wiring.

SoupDragon · 28/04/2013 08:18

Why are you lot wiring plugs?

Well, in the past I've made an extra long extension cable so I could mow the lawn. Socket + wire + plug.

Toadinthehole · 28/04/2013 08:23

I have to admit that I've never changed a tyre.

I have changed a wheel, ie, bunged the spare one on so I can get home. But the process of actually putting a new tyre on a rim is something I've always left to the mechanic when I've needed replacement tyres.

OP posts:

GibberTheMonkey · 28/04/2013 08:24

Wasn't taught at school but do know how
Can't remember if I've ever actually needed to
Never changed a tyre or wheel either, on a car that is. I have plenty of times on a (push) bike or fixed the puncture
Never filled a car with fuel either

Jojo - another married to a rc person I see. Is the plane still alive?

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RustyBear · 28/04/2013 08:28

When I learned how to wire a plug, the colours were red for live, green for earth and black for neutral- much more logical, as red was the danger - now it's brown for live, which seems daft to me.

Toadinthehole · 28/04/2013 08:29

Bike tyres are easy, albeit a bit fiddly. Bike brakes I find to be the manifestation of Satan.

OP posts:

mercibucket · 28/04/2013 08:33

There is no need to ever wire a plug, surely?
Do they mean wire it directly eg when you buy a cooker and it comes without a plug and you wire it direct into the wall?

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