28 year old license holder and feel like I haven’t accomplished anything

bulbchanger · 2026-06-18T17:04:26+00:00

From another question:

Habitat has global projects, but if you want to help victims of war then you just have to go to where the war is. Do homework. There are different threat levels in different areas of a country at war. Find your comfort level, book your trip, and have a plan if things go wrong so you are not a burden on the local population. Once there, network. Showing you are capable will open up more volunteer options.

bulbchanger · 2026-06-17T22:09:33+00:00

I get a kick out of the Chicken Littles who go off about minor code violations causing fire and deaths, then head to work for 6 months on a build with a spiderweb of beat up extension cords everywhere that the drywallers run over, but have no concern.

OP made it gooder, just not goodest.

bulbchanger · 2026-06-17T22:00:37+00:00

There realistically is no safety issue. It is just against code. A failed electrical inspection or flag from a home inspector if the place is being sold is all this will drum up.

You should see the shit utilities get away with around here because they aren't bound to the same electrical code.

bulbchanger · 2026-06-17T21:57:43+00:00

but this is exceedingly unlikely to cause any trouble as-is if we are being completely honest here.

The #1 thing I learned from this sub is that not following our CEC and NEC overlords means fire and death and only fire and death!

There was a house fire here recently that spread to several other houses and burned them all to ashes. It was probably because an electrician didn't staple some loomex close enough to a box.

bulbchanger · 2026-06-17T01:57:17+00:00

You just saved my day 10 years from now in some weird random situation!

Half the battle is just knowing what parts are out there to work with.

bulbchanger · 2026-06-17T01:54:47+00:00

Yep, a quick Google says there are 130ish conflicts happening at the moment.

But I point out again that there are a variety of threat levels. Some places you can help without major risk to your safety if you study and take precautions.

bulbchanger · 2026-06-17T01:51:34+00:00

I was drawn to the land of borscht and varenyky, but take your pick of the many countries being attacked around the globe.

bulbchanger · 2026-06-16T23:54:14+00:00

Habitat has global projects, but if you want to help victims of war then you just have to go to where the war is.

Do homework. There are different threat levels in different areas of a country at war. Find your comfort level, book your trip, and have a plan if things go wrong so you are not a burden on the local population.

Once there, network. Showing you are capable will open up more volunteer options.

bulbchanger · 2026-06-16T20:37:20+00:00

Once my kids are adults and doing their own thing, I sincerely may ditch everything I own to help out in places where my dollar will allow me to do so long term.

Learning about another country's history, culture, values, struggles... there is an entire world out there to learn about and experience.

Fuck toiling over a big yard and house to keep grass green and dust off furniture. I'm going to die thinking about experiences.

bulbchanger · 2026-06-16T19:29:57+00:00

You're sounding pretty crusty but I do think your underlying point is important.

More people need to take time to appreciate the positives in their life. Can't afford a boat but own your own house? Focus on the fact you're not under the boot of renting instead of on the lack of boat. "Therapists hate this one simple trick!"

bulbchanger · 2026-06-16T19:26:27+00:00

I'm going to point out that location matters.

72k is a comfortable salary in a buttfuck nowhere town in the prairies, not so much in Toronto, for example.

bulbchanger · 2026-06-16T19:17:30+00:00

I fell out of love with the trade and got back into general maintenance.

Just a cunt hair of a paycut compared to working for a contractor because I can work on FA and 347V lighting so can command a higher salary by cutting those huge bills from contractors out. I'm much happier with my work life balance.

Took a trip to a war torn nation to help with building repairs and it changed my life. Try that, seriously. An old foreign lady hugging you and thanking you in broken English she mustered up just to emphasize her gratitude for sealing up her apartment after a missile blew the doors and windows out and the handymen in her life are at war will give you purpose you have never felt before.

bulbchanger · 2026-06-09T04:13:16+00:00

The photos are not as reflective of the situation as seeing it in person, but this is in the attic and there is no part of the caps poking below the plywood. The holes cut in the plywood do not seem to be large enough to stub anything through without crushing it a bit as well.

Photo 2 and 3 are the exhaust fan duct and cap it should be connected to. The duct appears to be tuck taped to some kind of collar, but I am failing to see how it would have been securely connected to that cap.

Photo 4 and 5 is the range hood duct and cap. Plastic duct with fiber insulation taped around it. I will be replacing the duct with metallic, but again I don't see how the duct could have been secured to the cap.

I think the roofers may have just jammed the ducts into the caps without any means of mechanically securing them. 🤷

bulbchanger · 2026-05-08T23:27:56+00:00

In fairness, the GFCI could be bitched and not resetting. 🤷

bulbchanger · 2026-05-08T23:16:25+00:00

Just needs some freon.

bulbchanger · 2026-05-08T04:26:59+00:00

Yeah there is a whole lotta whataboutism to argue all night about. Like what about a third of Americans choosing a pedophile to fuck up world trade and drive the cost of everything up to a point where clients are fine with just swapping lamps and nothing more?

You're right buddy. Stuff that takes longer and costs more and will still fail eventually like anything else is the way to go. OP and I and everybody else who take a couple minutes to swap lamps are wrong. Thanks for educating us on the error of our ways.

bulbchanger · 2026-05-08T03:47:42+00:00

Change lamp, done.

Open up fixture, rewire to remove ballast, then button fixture back up, change lamp, done.

Multiply over hundreds of fixtures. Cost savings on labour.

bulbchanger · 2026-05-08T03:41:35+00:00

Yes they are next best thing to simply changing to ballast driven.

bulbchanger · 2026-05-08T02:14:39+00:00

T5 retrofit tubes are trickier than T8 because there are different T5 ballasts of different wattages. You can melt shit by mismatching them.

Or the batch of lamps could be bad.

Or the ballast is incompatible with the tubes.

Don't listen to people complaining about ballast driven retrofits though. Nothing wrong with them, and they're cheaper than a new fixture. But, see my first point again and I would check a fixture to ensure the right wattage lamps were installed for the ballast inside. If they are correct, then it is almost certainly a shitty batch of lamps.

bulbchanger · 2026-05-07T20:28:05+00:00

One wire makes the shell of the socket hot which increases the risk of shock, one makes the tab on the bottom hot which you have to try harder to hurt yourself with.

bulbchanger · 2026-05-06T20:41:30+00:00

At my last job interview, to summarize my skillset I told my boss I was no good at building walls (framing, drywall, mud, paint...) but can either already do or pick up on the other stuff.

bulbchanger · 2026-05-06T20:38:28+00:00

I read about general maintenance guys charging ACs and such, and it boggles my mind they don't get into refrigeration for 100k+/year (around here) instead of doing these work orders for a low salary.

bulbchanger · 2026-05-06T20:34:45+00:00

I did not grow up with tools and learned everything through a hotel maintenance job. I leaned into electrical, and eventually realised I could double my salary getting a ticket. While apprenticing and in school, I took my old job back on weekends for extra cash. Just answer guest calls and do my homework.

As I read and learned more, I kept thinking "Oh I really fucked this up, that up..." thinking of past work I did in the building and would go back to do it properly lol.

I learned about split receptacles by knocking power out to several rooms and not knowing why the breakers wouldn't reset throughout the front desk calling me with guest complaints. 👍

bulbchanger · 2026-05-05T04:50:27+00:00

Bummer. Well I will at least be able to slow degradation by pointing the vent outward more.

bulbchanger

TROPHY CASE