Update: I was using a voltage tester wrong for a solid year

I was checking a keypad in a Denver condo and kept getting a weird reading, so I called my buddy over who just stared at my tester and said, 'Dude, you've got the leads backwards.' How many other basic tools have I been using like a total goof? Anyone else have a facepalm moment with a simple piece of gear?

3 comments

3 Comments

nina_jenkins1mo ago

My GPS tried sending me down a one-way street for months before I noticed.

kelly_nelson951mo ago

Wow, that's wild @nina_jenkins. It makes you wonder if the map data is wrong or if the city changed the street signs and never told the app companies. I bet there are a bunch of other spots in town with the same kind of outdated info.

rowan7251mo ago

My old man showed me the right way to hold a framing square about twenty years after I started using one. It's that kind of basic, assumed knowledge that never gets taught twice. @nina_jenkins, your GPS story fits right in. We get used to a tool doing its job, even poorly, and just accept the weird result as normal until someone points out the obvious fix. It's a quiet little epidemic of user error hiding in plain sight.