The DU Lounge
Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsSo I have this strip surge protector that is plugged into the wall right next to my couch
where I play on the laptop and charge my phone. I also have lights plugged one of the outlets. Last night the red light on the surge protector wasn't turning on so I started moving plugs around trying to get it to work but nothing was helping. So because the laptop has a battery and so does the phone I decided to keep the lights on and use the other plug hole in the wall outlet to alternate between filling up the battery on the computer and then the phone. I was a little frantic and irritated because I knew I had to go out and get a new surge protector and I didn't want to let anything loose all its battery power.
So today I was getting ready to go to Home Depot for a new surge protector. I went to where I had left the cords and grabbed the old one that was broken to throw it out. I glanced at it and then realized that I found a new way of being an idiot. Note this:

dweller
(26,198 posts)like you want it to …
😁
✌🏻
True Dough
(22,493 posts)a self-generating surge protector!
MOMFUDSKI
(7,080 posts)through the cord with the electric saw he was using! Not the first time, either. Life is a trip
DENVERPOPS
(11,581 posts)they now have battery powered tools! LOL
Don't feel bad, anyone on this website has done similar things.
Being in the trades at one time, people would call to tell me a light fixture or table lamp was not working. AND Expecially true of Fluorescent lights. They would say, it still isn't working after changing the light bulb.....I would tell them to try another "New" bulb. they would call back and say it worked. There are so many light bulbs, (lamps) that don't work, even when new, due to poor quality manufacturing...
I once removed an access panel that had 18 bolts.......Regretfully, it didn't allow me to see anything I needed to know to troubleshoot what ever was wrong. I tediously and methodically replaced all 18 bolts, only to look down on the floor to see that I had not installed the cover's gasket...............Duhhhhhhhhh
I call these instances: *Brain Farts*, and they don't have anything to do with getting old........
lonely bird
(2,189 posts)My wife calls three IRPs: Involuntary Rest Periods
DENVERPOPS
(11,581 posts)that is PRICELESS.............
I nearly sprayed by keyboard and computer with coffee.........You should post a warning in the title before posting things like that.....
50 Shades Of Blue
(11,095 posts)ret5hd
(21,325 posts)i bet you’re a flat earther too!!!
GreenWave
(10,870 posts)
It never stops running. Atmosphere I believe.
SeattleVet
(5,664 posts)it was his retirement gift from the Borden company after he worked there for 40 years.
It's probably still kicking somewhere around the house where my sisters live.
Lonestarblue
(12,488 posts)grumpyduck
(6,657 posts)Hate it when that happens.
captain queeg
(11,780 posts)sdfernando
(5,637 posts)is if it were a perpetual motion machine.
LoisB
(9,889 posts)crud
(942 posts)keep finding new ways to be an idiot. Love your phrasing. LOL
brewens
(15,359 posts)coffee and he said, "nah, it keeps me up." LOL
Arne
(3,608 posts)hlthe2b
(108,891 posts)
getagrip_already
(17,641 posts)So far my wife embarrassed herself by asking him to replace a timer on an outside light that went out only to find out that all 6 bulbs in the sconce light were burnt out.
Then I asked him to check to see why the pool pump wasn't getting power and it turned out the entire row of circuit breakers in that box was off (its outside and we were just opening it up). D'uh.
We all have our moments.
MOMFUDSKI
(7,080 posts)Last week I was stuffing my towel into the bag and I heard the garage door open. Thought it was my husband returning home. No, it wasn’t him. Closed the garage door and went to the pool. We decided maybe someone was driving down the street trying their opener on all garage doors. Got the book out and read everything and I decided I would call the manufacturer to ask about safety. It was only then that I realized I pushed the opener in my pool bag accidentally! Duh
DENVERPOPS
(11,581 posts)who carry their iPhone in their back pants pocket.....I get what are called "Butt Calls" from people all the time......
AND, so do the folks at 911, by the way.......
MOMFUDSKI
(7,080 posts)we are all members!!! lol
SarahD
(1,732 posts)A classmate in junior high insisted he was going to build a motor-generator setup that would power itself forever. Even the non-scientific among us knew it was impossible. When we needed a laugh, we would ask him about his perpetual motion machine. Weird part was, he was pretty smart, but he thought he was so smart he could conquer the impossible. I wonder if he's still working on it.
yonder
(10,046 posts)
rubbersole
(9,605 posts)..reminds me of the time my college girlfriend told me to go screw myself.
PatSeg
(49,995 posts)Years ago I threw out a curling iron that wasn't coming on after being plugged in for quite some time.
It wasn't until much later that I realized the light switch to that outlet was off and I had thrown away a perfectly good curling iron.
Pinback
(13,104 posts)and you’ll have closed-circuit TV!
peppertree
(22,850 posts)Would also make a good album cover.
The predicament reminds me a little of Steely Dan's Pretzel Logic:
richdj25
(200 posts)Which I put a replacement blade on backwards. After cutting a few tree limbs, Kept telling myself somethings not right here. Had to go look at a picture from the manual to figure out the asinine thing I did.
Ass backwards thinking has caught me like this before.
LiberalFighter
(53,544 posts)grumpyduck
(6,657 posts)when you want to "undo" the limb you cut off.
Didn't the manual tell you that?
Hermit-The-Prog
(36,631 posts)AverageOldGuy
(2,513 posts). . . that YOU did that?
I mean, do you have a cat? They are sneaky -- really, really sneaky.
Dem2theMax
(10,626 posts)Because this is 100% something I would do. Only it would take me at least a week to figure it out!
usonian
(16,832 posts)And it looks like the power switch is "on", unless that's the sun hitting it.
If it's lit, then please don't throw it out. Take it to the nearest college with a physics department.
You might get a Nobel Prize.
or a free cup of coffee and bus 🚌 fare home.
Maraya1969
(23,229 posts)SCantiGOP
(14,417 posts)Someone came in to deposit a check to their account because they had received a notice that their account had a “shortage of available funds.”
DENVERPOPS
(11,581 posts)There are alot of these style surge protectors that are manufactured to be defective and don't even work for surge protection.....
Alot of items today are defective crap or just don't work. The manufacturers know this, and count on you just throwing it away, rather than returning it......
SWBTATTReg
(25,067 posts)BaronChocula
(2,620 posts)who would still take it down to Home Depot and demand their money back (even though they bought it at Lowe's). We all know some of those.
aggiesal
(9,896 posts)Aussie105
(6,921 posts)how do you know the electrons aren't racing around the loop frantically searching for something to power?
Plug a phone charger into it as well, maybe . . . you have discovered free electricity!
(Wife did that and got confused by that too. lol)
nuxvomica
(13,222 posts)Simply plug each into the other because it's just plain silly to have a power strip plugged into itself.
For weeks, I kept a plug-in light in the downstairs half-bathroom because the overhead light stopped working. I decided to buy a DYI book on fixing fixtures and a thingy to check the voltage. When I finally identified the right circuit breaker and mustered the courage to remove the cover of the switch and test it, everything seemed okay. I checked the bulb again, noticed it was little loose, tightened it, turned the power back on, and voila!
ThoughtCriminal
(14,477 posts)came partially charged. Bonus electricity, made in China
lonely bird
(2,189 posts)Won’t run US stuff.
“220,221 whatever it takes”
ThoughtCriminal
(14,477 posts)has an adapter - so no problem.
lonely bird
(2,189 posts)Sorry😢
Niagara
(10,408 posts)I'm putting this in Red Dog's movie quote trivia OP.
lpbk2713
(43,203 posts)
Oopsie Daisy
(5,563 posts)slightlv
(5,238 posts)more than once! And you don't want to know how long it took me to figure out what I'd done! (LOL)
Consider yourself in good company!
Richard D
(9,648 posts). . . how to create infinite energy!
KY_EnviroGuy
(14,678 posts)n/t
dchill
(41,785 posts)Sneederbunk
(16,002 posts)ProfessorGAC
(72,137 posts)...I'd have notified the Nobel Committee on your behalf! : chuckle:
Think of the potential! (Potential; get it?)
Xavier Breath
(5,444 posts)