Spark fun
On a lighter note, remember that joke I made a month ago about NZ fuseblocks?
Yesterday I managed to coax a six-inch flaming wrath-and-brimstone spark out of our electrical range. Still not exactly sure what happened, but I think it involved the pyrotechnic properties of miso soup. If the blackened, welded briquette left on the burner knew anything, it wasn’t talking.
Being a big stinkin’ fraidy cat, I waited for Anna to get home before I messed with the fuse block. Well, the hunk of wire in the block certainly fused, but ’tweren’t no fuse, if you get my drift. It was a piece of paperclip, happily distributed as a fine metallic spray all over the fuse holder.
We replaced it (yes, with real fuse wire), and gave it the proverbial shot, to no avail.
A little more investigation revealed this rather disheartening metallic massacre inside the fuseblock.
Copper everywhere, except in the terminal. For reference, here’s the other side of the fuseblock, with a nice fat bundle of household wiring.
Looks like we, uh, stress-tested our household wiring. And it failed. Does make me wonder about all the seventy-year-old wiring creeping through the walls. Sigh. At least we’re just renters. Electrician should be here any minute…
Update: Looks like my blame of miso soup was groundless. Here’s our old burner, with a very impressive looking hole blown in the back of it. Hooray for random component failure.
Oh, and the rheostat must have been destroyed as well, as the new burner won’t turn off. Another call to the electrician.
Which leads to your random Kiwi anecdote for the day. Electricians are called “sparkies,” which is just a little funny. Our landlord previously said his brother-in-law is a “chippie.” We have no idea.
Category: New Zealand 3 comments »
May 30th, 2007 at 2:21 pm
Let’s see where does one begin?
1. “Honey, I blew up the stove today!”
2. While Home(is)land Security is checking on the smuggled bird, they might also investigate the homemade cyclotron (pictured above) whose particle velocity clearly exceeded the impact strenth of the tube wall. They will probably want to examine the box of yellowcake (mix) as well.
3. “Gee, Aaron why don’t you…um…go boil some water! Yeah, that’s it, go boil water”
“That ought to keep him occupied for a while.”
May 30th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
Indeed, thanks to the electric kettle, household functioning remained close to normal throughout the crisis. I shudder to think what might have happened had our ability to make tea and ramen been compromised.
Truly, the electric kettle is a miraculous device.
June 5th, 2007 at 2:33 am
A chippie would be a carpenter of course, except when it is a fish and chips shop. I believe the word also applies to the oldest profession, and, as an adjective, refers to a style of play in hockey and soccer. Truly a versatile language.