Truth is Stranger than Fiction

[Platonic Solid]

So my tenant emailed me to tell me the GFI receptacle in the bath no longer works. Now this is the second time in 5 years I'll be replacing this thing. Then she tells me she has a 3 outlet adapter plug in the bottom outlet that won't come out, but no rush as she's getting by with an extension cord from the living room outlet. Oh, and she has a 1500W electric heater she uses in the bathroom.

 

[Musicinabottle]

And the problem is......?

 

[Shawn S]

I had a tenant come into the office a couple months ago hotter than a pistol that their dishwasher wasn't working. I was very curious to get more information, since their house doesn't have a dishwasher. Turns out they were putting them in the oven and turning the dial to clean. Thankfully they didn't figure out that you have to lock the oven to get the clean cycle to start or they probably would have burned the house down.
In their defense they had just moved here from another country. They had heard about dishwashers, and ovens, but had never had either.

 

[The Cobbler]

In my property management days we had a call from the super of a complex in the wee hrs of the morning. a tenant was complaining their water must be frozen up. It was a late September night in the 40's farenheit. water freezes at 32 right?
turns out the water line to their townhouse split in the basement and there was about 4' of water in their basement

 

[Musicinabottle]

We built a whole fleet of town houses that I later managed for a time when the housing crash hit. Each unit had fire sprinklers, and wouldn't you know it, a kid in one unit tried it out and it worked! Extensive water damage city!

 

[laser3kw]

I was very curious to get more information, since their house doesn't have a dishwasher. Turns out they were putting them in the oven and turning the dial to clean

I want to call "BS" but with the Tide Pod eating / condom snorting crowd these days....

 

[CJ7VFR]

I want to call "BS" but with the Tide Pod eating / condom snorting crowd these days....

I can attest to what he said about the "Clean" function on an oven being used by an idiot.

When I lived in my townhouse years ago, a wife and husband moved into the unit next to me. They were very nice people, but holy **** if brains were dynamite they didn't have enough between the two of them to blow their nose!

One day I was outside and I see smoke start to come out of their kitchen window. I run up to their back sliding door, look in, and I see smoke pouring out of their oven! I banged on the door but got no answer. I called their house phone and both of their cell phones, but got no answer. I was just about ready to call the fire department to come over when my neighbors pulled into the driveway.

I went over to them and said something is wrong with your stove and your house is filling up with smoke! They rushed in, shut the stove off, and opened up the stove door to let the smoke out. They opened up all the windows and I gave them a few fans to move the smoke out.

When the smoked cleared I looked at the stove and it was set to "Clean". We looked into the stove, and there was what looked like melted plastic all over the inside of the stove.

I asked them what the hell were they doing putting plastic in the stove and turning on the cleaning function?

Their response: "The dishwasher didn't clean all the spots off of our tupperware containers, so we thought the oven cleaner might work better."

Yes, this is exactly what they said, word for word!

Jim

 

[Milton Shaw]

I ran into a lot of idiots in 20 years o appliance work, but the one Shawn S mentioned is about the worst I have ever heard. CJ7's is just as bad. Where did these people come from. I did service at a few apartment complexes that had Section 8 renters that had never seen dishwashers or ice makers and saw a lot of problems with them and a lot of customer education was all that some units required after cleaning the Tide out of dishwashers for instance.

 

[Lelandwelds]

I want to call "BS" but with the Tide Pod eating / condom snorting crowd these days....

I get the toddler eating tide pod reference. But, . . . What the hell were you typing that spell check turned into " condom snorting crowd"?!?!

 

[48RON54]

I get the toddler eating tide pod reference. But, . . . What the hell were you typing that spell check turned into " condom snorting crowd"?!?!

Autocorrect didn't do that, it is apparently a thing at the moment. Its all over social media. I'll be glad when we move on to the next stupid thing that everyone can't stop talking about.

 

[Platonic Solid]

. . . What the hell were you typing that spell check turned into " condom snorting crowd"?!?!

OMG - google it - it's actually a thing.

 

[malibu101]

And the problem is......?

No problem.
I'm sure the extension cord is a couple of lamp cords plugged together to reach.

 

[laser3kw]

I get the toddler eating tide pod reference. But, . . . What the hell were you typing that spell check turned into " condom snorting crowd"?!?!

Actually, I saw it / heard it on the evening news. I couldn't believe it either.

 

[Morrison]

I get the toddler eating tide pod reference. But, . . . What the hell were you typing that spell check turned into " condom snorting crowd"?!?!

You unroll a rubber, **** it into your nose and pull it out of your mouth. Great way to floss your nose

 

[Dirtydan69]

I had a customer call me out for several minor repair one of which was his dryer wasn’t drying anymore. I had to fight to remove the lint screen as it was jam packed FULL. In his defense he was foreign born and had never operated a dryer until he came to America. I explained how he needed to clean it upon each and every use.

 

[Platonic Solid]

Here's the outlet I replaced today.

​

Second outlet still worked, though for some reason tenant thought it didn't - hence why it's not fried there.

Yanked one of these things out of it, except it was of the 2-prong no ground variety.

You'd think the stench of burning plastic would have made her suspicious much earlier.

 

[jd_1138]

Here's the outlet I replaced today.


You'd think the stench of burning plastic would have made her suspicious much earlier.

Never underestimate the stupidity of the average humanoid. George Carlin said "consider how dumb the average person is, and then try not to freak out when you realize that half the population is even dumber than that".

My brother and his wife used to manage some apartments in exchange for free rent. It wasn't worth it, and they moved out and bought a house. Tenants would stuff feminine hygiene products, diapers, and wipes down the commodes, then call at 3 AM pissed off that they can't flush.

A couple of the tenants let their 6 to 8 year olds run around unattended. My brother and his wife had to baby sit them.

 

[nadogail]

I believe Einstein once said that two only things are infinite: the universe and human ignorance; and he is not sure about the universe.

There is no limit to human ignorance; and they also reproduce and vote.

 

[Musicinabottle]

I believe Einstein once said that two only things are infinite: the universe and human ignorance; and he is not sure about the universe.

There is no limit to human ignorance; and they also reproduce and vote.

So much truth in that. Just look at the stupidity we're stuck with these days!

 

[Platonic Solid]

I'm wondering if the primary issue may have been the old style 3 outlet adapter with phenolic backing may have absorbed moisture.

 

[Shiftless]

I'm wondering if the primary issue may have been the old style 3 outlet adapter with phenolic backing may have absorbed moisture.

Good theory.
Being in a rental bathroom means the occupants probably didn’t bother to open the windows turn on a fan after hot steamy showers so the room stayed dripping wet for long periods. I bet the outlet was near a sink where they splashed all over during face washing.

 

[jeffer949]

You unroll a rubber, **** it into your nose and pull it out of your mouth. Great way to floss your nose

Ill have to admit.. Did this with spaghetti as a kid... I know I wasn't the only one also.

 

[Norcal]

Never underestimate the stupidity of the average humanoid. George Carlin said "consider how dumb the average person is, and then try not to freak out when you realize that half the population is even dumber than that".

My brother and his wife used to manage some apartments in exchange for free rent. It wasn't worth it, and they moved out and bought a house. Tenants would stuff feminine hygiene products, diapers, and wipes down the commodes, then call at 3 AM pissed off that they can't flush.

A couple of the tenants let their 6 to 8 year olds run around unattended. My brother and his wife had to baby sit them.

Would of been a fine time to call the authorities as they seem to take a dim view of leaving kids on their own.

 

[cory58]

OMG - google it - it's actually a thing.

And it's not toddlers accidentally eating Tide pods. It's dumba**es eating them on purpose. Google it.

I thought the Idiocracy movie wasn't supposed to come true for a few more centuries. I was wrong.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[laser3kw]

And it's not toddlers accidentally eating Tide pods. It's dumba**es eating them on purpose. Google it.

I thought the Idiocracy movie wasn't supposed to come true for a few more centuries. I was wrong.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

everyone should watch that movie!
and people thought Orwell was far fetched!

 

[Copymutt]

Ill have to admit.. Did this with spaghetti as a kid... I know I wasn't the only one also.

Your not a Neanderthal till you do it with a night crawler.
Jim

 

[wyliesdiesels]

I want to call "BS" but with the Tide Pod eating / condom snorting crowd these days....

I get the toddler eating tide pod reference. But, . . . What the hell were you typing that spell check turned into " condom snorting crowd"?!?!

Autocorrect didn't do that, it is apparently a thing at the moment. Its all over social media. I'll be glad when we move on to the next stupid thing that everyone can't stop talking about.

Actually, I saw it / heard it on the evening news. I couldn't believe it either.

You unroll a rubber, **** it into your nose and pull it out of your mouth. Great way to floss your nose

Have you guys heard of the hot coil challenege?

It came out shortly after the tide pod challenege.

Google the video. It will make you cringe and or jump...

 

[Lelandwelds]

So my tenant emailed me to tell me the GFI receptacle in the bath no longer works. Now this is the second time in 5 years I'll be replacing this thing. Then she tells me she has a 3 outlet adapter plug in the bottom outlet that won't come out, but no rush as she's getting by with an extension cord from the living room outlet. Oh, and she has a 1500W electric heater she uses in the bathroom.

I once had a co worker ask me what she could wedge the little button with because it wouldn't stay in.

My second and third jobs(EMT and repo man) were even better. I had calls where the renter was rebuilding motorcycles on the living room carpet. Another renter was building fires on the kitchen vinyl. One renter fighting eviction was raising a few dozen rabbits in the hallway. I helped with two drug grow raids where the humidity was kept so high all the sheetrock had to be replaced.

It could be worse.

 

[mike93lx]

They were very nice people, but holy **** if brains were dynamite they didn't have enough between the two of them to blow their nose!

Ha! That's a great saying

 

[Platonic Solid]

I once had a co worker ask me what she could wedge the little button with because it wouldn't stay in.

My second and third jobs(EMT and repo man) were even better. I had calls where the renter was rebuilding motorcycles on the living room carpet. Another renter was building fires on the kitchen vinyl. One renter fighting eviction was raising a few dozen rabbits in the hallway. I helped with two drug grow raids where the humidity was kept so high all the sheetrock had to be replaced.

It could be worse.

I really can't complain as I've had the same tenant for 17 years and she's had to endure my ongoing space invading Raising the Rat Shack (link) construction project. She just tends to wait till something completely fails before telling me there's a problem.

 

[nsula_country]

Your not a Neanderthal till you do it with a night crawler.
Jim

I thought we were the only ones that tried that. Clean the dirt off first, reasons are obvious!

CT

 

[Lelandwelds]

I really can't complain as I've had the same tenant for 17 years and she's had to endure my ongoing space invading Raising the Rat Shack (link) construction project. She just tends to wait till something completely fails before telling me there's a problem.

17 years! You must be doing something right. I have had terrible luck with the interviewing process.

I read the first and last of your "Rat Shack" thread. I use a similiar method to tear down and partially salvage. I would not have tackled your rebuild job. It turned out well. Stop looking at small defects. I hope you find time for a nice paint job. It deserves one.

 

[b-boy]

Here's the outlet I replaced today.

​

Second outlet still worked, though for some reason tenant thought it didn't - hence why it's not fried there.

Yanked one of these things out of it, except it was of the 2-prong no ground variety.

You'd think the stench of burning plastic would have made her suspicious much earlier.

Looks like a hair dryer to me. Those things are dangerous.

My Wife smoked an outlet using one. It looked just like that. It got so hot that the wire caps melted. The breaker never tripped until I opened up the outlet to see the damage. The hot wire touched the side of the outlet box and BLAM.

 

[bwringer]

My Dad, a retired instrument engineer, did a lot of general handyman stuff to keep from getting bored. He lived in Northern Indiana.

Once (several times, actually) he was asked to look at a leaking washer. Turns out the owners previously lived in a tropical climate, and some people down there put the washer and dryer outside on an enclosed porch to keep them out of the way, and to keep the moisture and heat out of the house (there were some sketchy extension cords and hoses involved as well...).

However, this plan doesn't really work in Indiana in the winter -- the dryer actually worked OK, but residual water in the washer froze and cracked various parts.

To be fair, they obviously knew it got cold here and someone had told them about freezing faucets, so they removed the hoses and shut off the water. They just didn't understand that a quite a bit of water stays in a washer after use, which is something a lot of people probably don't know.

The Mom was sort of pissed that she had to give up her nice storage space to put the washer and dryer in the house...

 

[dwasifar]

The dumbest thing I ever saw anyone do was someone's handyman idea of connecting a neutral. They didn't pull one all the way back to the panel; they just stripped about two feet of insulation off, bunched it up, and jammed it into the conduit.

 

[b-boy]

This is the dumbest thing I've seen anyone do with electrical.

I found this in my house while remodeling.

It was powering about a dozen other outlets in my house. I guess running the cable an extra 10 feet to the breaker box was too much work.

 

[aka Larry]

This is the dumbest thing I've seen anyone do with electrical.

I found this while remodeling.

It was powering about a dozen other outlets.

Would have been OK if they had hooked up the ground.

 

[b-boy]

Excellent point!

 

[dwasifar]

This is the dumbest thing I've seen anyone do with electrical.

I found this in my house while remodeling.

It was powering about a dozen other outlets in my house. I guess running the cable an extra 10 feet to the breaker box was too much work.

You win. That's WAY dumber.

Probably not quite as dangerous, but it gets a lot of extra stupidity points.

 

[Platonic Solid]

Love the romex/outlet picture. At least they didn't try to hide the cluster ...

When renovating the same bathroom that had the above fried outlet issue I uncovered a cheapo extension cord under the bathroom door threshold with romex wire nutted in the walls at either end. This was done to avoid drilling 2 holes in the floor of the walls and temporarily running the romex into the basement.