Have you ever heard speakers spit, sizzle and sputter because of a loose wire? This week, I was under a desk on my hands and knees angrily trying to plug a printer cord into the back of a computer when I bumped the computer, and before I could swear at it, I heard that spitting, sputtering electrical sound. I didn’t know it was the speakers. I thought the computer was exploding into an electrical disaster, and there I was trapped under the desk with it. I started pulling plugs out of the surge protector. The noise wouldn’t stop. I kept trying, figuring I’d get the right cord eventually. Somewhere beyond the desk I could hear my son the salesman telling someone on the phone to wait, and I heard an alarmed voice, “Mom! Are you OK?” He was at my heels in an instant. About that time, I realized I could switch the surge protector off, which I did, and the sizzling noise stopped.

Backing out of the cobwebs, I looked around and said, “What’s wrong?”
He told me something I didn’t know. With the right voltage, a person being electrocuted cannot speak or holler for help. Oops. Didn’t mean to give you a heart attack! I should have cursed and yelled and said all the things to that computer that came to mind!

I learned two things that day. First, when a computer sounds like it’s frying, just turn off the surge protector. And second, yelling at machinery is OK sometimes!