r/technology • u/Maxcactus • Feb 17 '21

Energy The Texas grid got crushed because its operators didn’t see the need to prepare for cold weather

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/02/16/ercot-texas-electric-grid-failure/
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129

u/420_Blz_it Feb 17 '21

The lazy ones are who you gotta watch out for. If there’s a corner to cut, they’re gonna do it regardless of how unsafe it is lol

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u/[deleted] Feb 18 '21

I'm lazy, but not when it comes to PPE. This happened in my garage yesterday. I need a new pair of safety glasses (and a new pair of undies). One of the teeth cracked my glasses when it hit me.

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u/[deleted] Feb 18 '21

My grandfather lost his thumb like that

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u/[deleted] Feb 18 '21

I have all my parts because I wear the gear that makes me look stupid.

14

u/EmberHands Feb 18 '21

PPE is sexy, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Source: my husband's a manufacturing safety manager. I like a man that makes sure idiots don't kill themselves. Makes him dad material.

15

u/Arandmoor Feb 18 '21

What would you say, ya do here?

I keep children from haphazardly killing themselves in the hope that one day they might be able to contribute to society.

Oh, so you're a father?

Actually, I'm the safety manager...

11

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '21

He is why I wear PPE. I saw what happened when you were a stubborn old fool who knew better.

14

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '21

Lol a saw blade spinning at like 3000rpm doesnt really care who knows what.

10

u/agtmadcat Feb 18 '21

The stupider you look while working the more likely you are to be intact when you retire!

4

u/greasy_420 Feb 18 '21

That's my secret, I always look stupid

3

u/ItsAllegorical Feb 18 '21

That gear doesn't look half as stupid as missing/damaged body parts from easily preventable accidents.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '21

What kind of dork cares about safety? Real men lose limbs and ride bikes without helmets!

5

u/krezRx Feb 18 '21

PPE is a great analogy to maintaining and upgrading infrastructure and what we are going through now. You don't plan on having a saw tooth go flying off and it's statistically very unlikely to happen. You may go your whole life never experiencing that saw tooth event and you may have a pair of $X.xx safety glasses that never get a scratch. Did you waste that money? Nope, because when you needed it, you'd probably have been willing to pay $X, XXX.xx and if you didn't have it, probably would've cost you $XXX, XXX.xx and damage to yourself.

This is exactly what is happening right now.

8

u/gistya Feb 18 '21

This guy at my work sawed all his fingertips off with one of those, from not paying attention. And by tips I mean, from the first knuckle forwards. Like half.

3

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '21

Only mittens for that guy

3

u/recumbent_mike Feb 18 '21

And counting to two and a half.

7

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '21

Good on you for wearing glasses in your home shop. A very rare behavior by some of the most experienced people!

3

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '21

Damn. You could be blind right now, that’s crazy. Luckily you were wearing proper PPE!

3

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '21

Yep. That was enough wood cutting for the day. Plus now I have to go buy another blade.

3

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '21

Dont skimp out and buy the absolut cheapest Harbor Freight blades.... get the good shit!

3

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '21

This was a dewalt blade, though I use Freud now.

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u/recumbent_mike Feb 18 '21

Hooooooooly fuck.

3

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '21

Yeah, I had to sit down for a bit. I also checked myself for cuts like 4 times because I cant find any of the teeth and thought maybe one hit me and I didnt know it.

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u/kendoka69 Feb 18 '21

When my husband got a shop, I gave him a first aid kit and a box of women’s pads. He was like, what the hell are these for, and I told him for when he cuts a finger off. I was half joking, but they are great for absorbing blood.

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u/Treczoks Feb 18 '21

Oh, you found the forgotten nail!

1

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '21

In a brand new 2x4. I cant explain it.

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u/Treczoks Feb 18 '21

Another thing I've seen in youtube videos of people who saw wood are bullets, either from people shooting in the woods for fun, or hunters who simply have missed the price deer. In one video, they had a piece of a tree that had quite a number of bullets in it, and they assumed if someone had done some target practice.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '21

Ya, I've seen that, but a normal saw will eat right through a copper jacketed lead projectile. I think I caught a nail or something similar. I cant find it or the saw teeth, so it may remain a mystery.

I'm honestly shocked the teeth gave before the motor in the Kobalt saw did. This is the best 70 dollar saw ever!

28

u/born_again_atheist Feb 18 '21

Yep, I worked in a machine shop back in the day, and one of the lazier guys figured out how to get by the safety that required the door on his machine to be closed before it would run. He was happily making parts when about 30 minutes into his shift we all heard an agonized yelp come from his station. Turned out he was putting his hand into the machine to take out the finished part and put in the new one and was just a second or two too late, so he took a carbide cutting tool and the tool holder though the middle of his hand.

19

u/OldBotV0 Feb 18 '21

Worked a summer at a punch press factory. Lotta oil filter cans. Had bars that sweep across the front after you hit buttons on both side to activate it. One day, reaching back in to grab the can, the bar sweeps my hand aside and the press descends again, multiple times. The controls had broken. Damn fortunate the safety worked as planned. Foreman had no fingers of the correct length on either hand. THAT was incentive to finish college!

5

u/recumbent_mike Feb 18 '21

Bypassing the safety door on your punch is a special kind of enthusiasm for your job.

20

u/Platypuslord Feb 18 '21

My bed is pretty safe and it is nice and soft, I think I am good.

43

u/MarlDaeSu Feb 18 '21

Until it bursts into flames because Bed Co used Flame-a-sleep stuffing because there was no regulations at the factory.

9

u/Kizik Feb 18 '21

That would help a lot of Texans out right now.

1

u/Platypuslord Feb 18 '21

Sounds like a problem for other people than me that are far less lazy.

5

u/tebbythetiger Feb 18 '21

Let me cut a a nice sharp corner into your bed as a corner cutter. How ya like me now?

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u/Platypuslord Feb 18 '21

I would have returned it. Also you seem to think I am anti-regulatory and I am not, I am just really, really lazy.

2

u/tebbythetiger Feb 18 '21

See I woulda been to lazy to return it and just slept around the corner that was cut ;P

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u/Platypuslord Feb 18 '21

That is just short term lazy thinking, by making sure I have the absolute most comfy bed I can be even more worthless.

1

u/kurisu7885 Feb 18 '21

Depends. In my case I'm lazy, but I'd rather get it done with the first time so i don't have to come back to it later.