About a genuine scare

The power wall socket in my living room didn't seem to be working very well. Apparently, a piece of the plastic 2-pin adapter broke off and lodged itself within one of the holes.



So, I decided to pry open the wall socket, and, as expected, saw a tangle of red, green and black wires.

There were 4 screws I could see and I had to release them in order to gain access to the broken chip.


However, after doing that, the broken chip wasn't dislodged.

I saw a few more screws, and figured that maybe undoing those screws might do the trick.





The red wires came loose even as I loosened a screw.



Next thing, an invisible wave jolted through the sinews of my left arm and I was forced backwards.


I staggered to my feet.

The mad thing was, I knew exactly what had happened, but I told myself that for a big man like me, that jolt should be peanuts.


But when the tingling sensation never ceased, I gave up working on the power socket, which laid dismantled in the living room.

I warned my wife to stay away from the area.





I felt as if my arm lost half its strength. The tingling was incessant.

But worse was to come.


My breathing became laboured, and my heartbeat felt as if it was pumping harder than usual. I could literally feel my heart beat and forcing my lifeforce with every beat.


I put my finger to my neck, where I could feel my pulse. What I felt sent a chill down my spine.


My heartbeats were irregular.





Somehow the electroculation messed up my heart rhythm. It could have burned my nerves in my arm.




I went to the doctor's. I really needed to make sure I'm all right.




The doctor said, "Oh dear," when she took my pulse. She felt the erratic heartbeat too.


An ECG was promptly administered. The readings revealed some irregularities.

But she assured me that my condition was not serious. More importantly, she told me what I really needed to hear.

She told me that I will heal. My heart will sort itself out.


Thank God.





Some medication was prescribed to me, and I am making sure that I take them regularly. Even in my weakened condition, I continued to work as usual. I was still limping around when I went back to school the next day after the marathon, but it's not so bad. Staying at home would have been worse. I'd rather have my students come for training.



Anyway, I called in the electrician to help me to repair the power points. I observed the way he repaired the power socket, so that next time, I will do it on my own again. Though I was severely bitten this time by my inexperience and carelessness, I think I will still do it if my power point ever get damaged in the future.


But if I ever have to do this again, I better shut off the electric supply first. It's a painful lesson I will never forget.