TIL the hard way that cheap extension cords aren't worth it while bingeing Succession at my desk

I was in my tiny studio in Seattle last Tuesday, finally bingeing the season 3 finale of Succession on my lunch break. Right as Kendall was about to drop the bomb on Logan, my monitor flickered and the whole setup went dead. Turns out a $6 extension cord from the dollar store had a loose internal wire that just gave up after three months. I had to spend my whole next lunch rewiring everything with a proper cord from Home Depot for $18, but at least I finally learned my lesson about cutting corners on power stuff. Anyone else have a cheap fix that cost you more time than it saved?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_oscar6d ago

...and that's exactly why I always tell people to spend the extra few bucks on a solid power strip with surge protection built in. A cheap cord can fry your whole setup if it shorts out, and at $18 you basically bought insurance for your monitor and computer. You definitely made the right call switching to that Home Depot one, those have always held up way better for me.

the_paul6d ago

Totally agree @the_oscar, it's wild how people will drop $2k on a PC and then plug it into a gas station extension cord. Makes me think about how that same "cheap now, pay later" logic shows up everywhere in life, like with phone chargers or even car tires.