Late For Lunch
While working on a multilevel apartment building in Orlando, Fla., myself and two others were pulling service cables through the second-floor trusses. One would feed from the spools while the other would walk through the trusses and drag the cable. This project had lots of workers, so of course it was important to get to the break truck quickly when it arrived. As the break truck blew its horn one day, we all started for it. After we finished our break, though, we noticed one of our fellow workers was nowhere to be seen. When we got back to the building and heard him yelling for help, we knew why. As we entered the first floor we saw his legs protruding through the 0.375-inch plywood decking between two of the trusses that supported the second floor. In his rush to get to the break truck he had jumped from the second-story trusses instead of taking the ladder, but the floor couldn't support him. It wasn't easy to free him, and you can be sure he never jumped from the trusses again.
Randy Mitchell
Altamonte Springs, Fla.
When Coax Attacks
While remodeling a restaurant in Chicago, I was wiring a panel next to the office manager's desk, which abutted an outside wall. He was standing in front of it while I was in the room, and suddenly the top drawer slowly — and mysteriously — opened. He was somewhat startled, but he pushed it back in. When it immediately flew open again, he exclaimed, “What the hell is going on?” We soon realized that my partner was outside tapping a hole with an 18-inch carbide drill to run a coax cable through the wall. He had drilled through the wall and the back of the desk, pushing the drawer out in the process. Measure twice, drill once!
Bill Stevens
Lancaster, Ohio
Illustrations by Clint Metcalf
