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5 Shocking Things That Everyone Needs

Updated on March 10, 2013

GFCI Receptacle

Should you plan to deploy electricity in the bathroom, be sure that your walls are festooned with Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) contrivances. They work like regular electrical outlets except they probably will not kill you when you drop the hairdryer in the bathtub.

They cost a little more relative to the $1.99 outlets you might see throughout the other rooms of your dwelling. They are certainly worth a couple extra dollars. Any moderately competent electrician can hook them up for you in all your bathrooms and kitchens.

Surge Protector

Sure, your local electric company cares about you and your family and your stuff, but they can't be there for you all the time. Sometimes your electricity surges beyond normal operating parameters. This might happen due to a nearby lightning strike or a problem in the neighborhood power grid.

No one is happy about this situation, but you can do something about it. A handy and inexpensive surge protector will put itself between you and electric Armageddon. Complex analog circuitry literally melts to absorb the energy produced by a spurious surge. Spend a few bucks to build a few bucks worth of protection between excess electricity and your precious possessions.

UPS

The acronym UPS stands for Uninterpretable Power Supply or Universal Power Supply, neither of which is accurate. The thing won't provide power forever nor will it work very long on the surface of the Sun. What it will do is provide much-needed electricity when your devices very much need it. Sometimes a tree falls on a power line or the guy next door fires up his arc welder: your voltage sags dangerously. It may sag to zero and it may stay there for a while.

A UPS contains a big battery, similar to a automobile battery, along with custom electronics designed to monitor your power for surges and sags. Plug in your computer and forget about it. Your neighbors may lose data but you will not.

Otterbox Phone Case

Shocked you would be to observe an otter operating a cell phone. These unfortunate creatures simply cannot get reliable 4G or even 3G coverage in their natural habitat. The Otterbox phone case protects your crucial communications gizmo from shock when you accidentally elect to drop it onto a hard surface such as an otter's head.

Nestle the phones of all your family members into separate Otterbox cases. No otter will ever ask to borrow them.

Woman is shocked to realize that her glasses don't fit. Courtesy freeDigitalPhotos.net: imagerymajestic
Woman is shocked to realize that her glasses don't fit. Courtesy freeDigitalPhotos.net: imagerymajestic

Shocks and struts

Bouncy your ride would be if your vehicle had no shock absorbers. Worn-out shocks aren't much better. Push down on the bumper: if your car bounces up and down more than two times then it's time for new suspension parts. Your local mechanic or nominally intelligent high school kid can help you pick out a new set of shock absorbers and, perhaps, struts.

Sadly, no two cars use the same type of shocks and struts. Don't order the first set pop up on eBay: be sure to identify the units designed specifically for your mode of transportation.

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