Don't You Hate When Murphy Won't Leave?

[Julie Moriarty]

I mean Murphy, as in Murphy's Law

The last two days I have been trying to get the ductwork run from a pop-up vent at the cooktop to the fan motor then to the outside. Absolutely nothing has been easy. Every time I think I'm home free another PITA pops up. This run is so tight it's been like an engineering challenge of Biblical proportions, if there ever was such a thing.

Today was no different than yesterday. Tired and frustrated I took my Festool vac with it's new 36mm hose and pushed it out of the way to clear some room for me to reposition the ladder so I could stick my head up into the floor trusses to get a better angle on assembling the pieces of ductwork, much of which I had to custom fabricate.

I've had two 500W halogen lamps shining up into the ceiling. I pushed them back out of the way too. About 30 minutes later I was getting off the ladder and noticed something funny-looking out of the corner of my eye. Right in the middle of the brand new $150.00 hose was this gaping wound. The halogen lamp had melted it. I was so tired and frustrated and fed up with how hard this project has been, when I saw the hole in the brand new hose, I almost broke down crying.

If I see Murphy hanging out tomorrow, you'll be reading about me in the news.

[Bill Geibe]

Julie, I feel you pain. Today I was up in the hot attic crawl space to drill a hole so I could snake a wire down into a bedroom wall for a ceiling fan wall switch. It had to go between two studs that were only 6" apart. so after a lot of careful measuring I drilled through three 2x4's with a 5/8" spade bit to find I got right between the studs. Unfortunately I had the angle slightly off and put a hole through the wall's drywall - twice. I didn't feel like crying but I did say some words I can't repeat here. Now I get to spackle and paint.

Bill

[Bill Neely]

Sorry Julie, Thankfully, I haven't had a day like you've described in a long time. I wish you a much better day tomorrow.

[James Baker SD]

Murphy always bites with home upgrades. When my new roof was installed, the contractors used nail guns, one shot a nail through the OSB and slats and severed my phone line. Took me a while to hunt that one down. Later I was installing an over island cooktop hood and need additional electricity for it. The electrician offered to cut the hole in the ceiling for the ducting to go through, so I accepted his offer, thinking one less thing I had to do. He used a sawzall and cut my TV cable in two. I didn't have to cut a that hole, but I had to cut another bigger one so I could reach through and splice the cable.

James

[Jerry Thompson]

Ferguson's Law "Murphy was an optimist."

[Bill Huber]

Julie, I think if I am not mistaken that Mr. Murphy lives just down the street from me, he has to because he is always in my shop.

[Julie Moriarty]

Thanks for the replies. They put a smile on my face and reminded me Murphy is everywhere. But I can''t remember a time when there were so many of them around me at one time. I hope today will be different and I can finish this thing!

[Bill Huber]

I hear that a garlic necklace will help keep him away, at least I think that is what they do...... I do know they keep people away.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Julie, I can sympathise with you, I've had weeks like that.

I also have a solution for you, I bought an LED worklight from HD a year ago after burning something with those stupid incandescent work lights, I also have some flourescent work lamps.

Best wishes, Rod.

[johnny means]

I guess we're neighbors, Bill, because Murphy turned my shop office into his bachelors pad years ago. Funny thing, I rarely actually see him around, but I see that he comes and goes on a daily basis.

[Don Morris]

I have some duct tape around some flex hose that was melted from sitting on a halogen light. When asked about it I just say it's a decorative touch.

[Rick Potter]

Can't write now, gotta clean up that open faced peanut butter sandwich that just fell on the floor.........face down.

Rick P

[Julie Moriarty]

Well, I'm finally done with The Project from Hades. Murphy popped his head in by telling me it's okay to measure once so I could cut twice. After that, I kicked him out.

The ceiling tiles are back in place and everything works fine. :D

Oh, Murphy did try to mix it up when Julie the Electrician was working but she's way to smart for him. It's Julie the Everything Else that falls for his shenanigans, and he knows it. :rolleyes:

[Chris Hachet]

Glad to know you made it through....

I was saving up to build a really nice new work bench, and then wound up ill and in the hospital for several days. Thankfully I have insurance and am doing fine, but the co payments pretty much ate up my bench budget.

[Peter Quinn]

My own relationship with Murphy has been murky at best. I caught him out of the corner of my eye once, which is no small feat because he's a quick devil. In my haste to teach him a lesson I threw my hammer at him, swore I'd scored a glancing blow only to find I'd missed Murphy and hit my window. He's hard to see, but its easy to recognize when he's arrived. Spend enough time doing the same thing and you can box him out, keep him in his corner. Like the matrix. Dance around him as if he weren't there. But as soon as you get your feet on new ground, try to learn a new dance step......

I've found for me its best not to insist he leave, but that I do. I've realized when I'm on my game, well rested, in my element, whits about me, he's got nothing on me and is frankly no match. But when day's light is waining, or saturation has set in and frustration begins, or I'm off peak, he's at the top of his game, rises to my lowest occasions. No more of that "Get it done" from me, I just concede defeat and walk away. Oh, I'll be back, rested and ready. Trick is to know just when he's arrived and be prepared to do what is necessary, to leave before he scores his victory, to win by not playing. I'm still working on that part of my plan.

[John Piwaron]

Mr. Murphy ain't no friend of mine. He's done untold amounts of damage and is responsible for so much lost time. How is it possible for him to get around so much?

[Rick Potter]

OK, so here I was tonight, cobbling up some mock up face frames, which I like to use, so I can get a visual on what the finished project will look like. Made up three of them after dinner, and gave it up for the day. One of them was 5" too small.

It's all your fault, Julie. You let him out.

Rick Potter

[Chuck Wintle]

Murphy came to see me at work today....discoverd some parts were incorrectly installed and the blame generally falls on the installer, the engineer and me for not paying close enough attention. its 2 parts that seem to be interchangeable upon inspection yet they are not. got caught because the installers did not read the instructions well enough and me because i assumed, incorrectly, that the parts were interchangeable. Will certainly here more about this on monday.

[Michael Dunn]

This last week I guess I had my own Murphy experience. It's detailed in another thread so I'll be brief hear.

I didn't realize that there were severe drum sander marks (BB plywood from a new supplier) on my workpiece. ALL over my workpiece until I was applying the first coat of stain. I had already gone through he grits while sanding. Twice in fact. I was sanding a bit too fast admittedly, but this was revealed to be a mfg defect.

My lead sales rep at the lumber yard says they can give me 8 new sheets for free. However, the mfg won't give them a credit unless I give them the defective sheets back. It's too late. There already made into table to be installed on Monday after MANY hours wasted on excessive sanding and now tinting my clear coat to cover the leftover blemishes.

In spite of all this things are looking pretty good. I believe the customer will be pleased and that's really all that matters. Oh yeah, and that I get paid.

So much for being brief.

[ray hampton]

where can I buy Murphy Oil ?

[Michael Dunn]

where can I buy Murphy Oil ?

Speaking of Murphy... And his oil... I know someone who's girlfriend allegedly put Murphy's Oil in her car engine.