Signs and portents

( Strange things are afoot on 495 )

Wiring

My father was an electrical engineer. But, there were times he thought he
was an electrician. He had the house wired up in some strange ways that
only he understood. The fire chief once looked at it and said “I’ll trust
you. But, once you’re gone someone is going to have to check all this out.”
Makes me wonder what’s gone on in the last 12 years since he died. But,
not enough to go look.

Anyhow, the weird wiring seems to extend to his children and can be very
annoying. In addition to our brains not being quite in spec, our fingers
aren’t either.
My brother and I can not sense temperature with the tips of our fingers. I
was in my twenties before I found out other people could. That was when I
worked at the iron foundry and the folks who worked for me thought it was
funny to ask me to pick up something that was hot. I would, and then a bit
later it would burn to the point where there are nerves and I’d shout and
drop it. (They were in prison on a work release program. I guess
entertainment is limited in those situations and you take what you can get.)

Today I was reworking some plastic parts that were melting as I cut them.
I am annoyed to get back to my desk and find I burn some of the skin off of
my thumb while doing it.
It’s not the first time I wished for better wiring.

Someday I’ll learn.

( This is disgusting, you probably shouldn’t read it. )