Cray J932SE (was Re: Straight 8 up on Ebay just now)

[Swift Griggs]

On Tue, 19 Jul 2016, Paul Koning wrote:
> It all depends on what you're comfortable with.

My original point was that it's not trivial. I'd stand by that point no 
matter how comfortable someone is with the install. Of course, even that 
is subjective, I suppose. If you have tons of time, money, and you were 
born with rubber duck feet, okay, sure, it's trivial for that particular 
human-duck hybrid. :-)

My real point is that if someone thinks they are just going to un-do a few 
screws on the breaker panel, slap in a 30A breaker, and they are done: 
that's not realistic. That's kinda how using the word "trivial" struck me 
along with the original description, at least. Maybe I'm over-thinking it.

> There are plenty of books explaining to homeowners how to wire outlets, 
> add breakers, and even larger scale stuff like replacing whole panels.  

Perhaps it wasn't obvious, but I've also done this type of work myself 
before, IRL. I choose not to use as much jargon, but that does not mean 
I'm speaking about hypotheticals. Personally, I don't need the Amazon 
book, though others might appreciate that. Again, I wasn't saying, "OMG, 
that's impossible!" My points were, simply "It's not trivial" and "It's a 
tad bit dangerous to trivialize it.".

> Yes, it takes time to do it right, and installing conduit and thick wire 
> demands some muscle.  Clearly, it's not for everyone.

I think most able-bodied folks would have the "muscle" to do it. It 
doesn't require winning any strongman competitions. No matter if you are a 
skinny little waif like me or some bodybuilding strongman, as I'm sure you 
all are. The issue I was bringing up wasn't despair at the inhuman 
physical strength required (joke!), but that it's going to take time, 
energy, and money... ie... subjectively non-trivial resources. 

To your point, it's definitely going to be cheaper to do it yourself 
versus using a licensed electrician, and it's not black magic.

> Then again, neither is carpentry, or plumbing.

Fair enough, but there isn't as much of a chance for 
instant-electrocution-death involved with plumbing and carpentry. Putting 
in 3-phase 208 isn't rocket science, but it can definitely kill you, burn 
your house down, or ruin your gear if you do it wrong. Of course, plumbing 
and carpentry done wrong could eventually flood your house or cause it to 
fall down in some extreme cases, too. The results just *usually* aren't 
quite as immediate and dramatic as electrical mistakes are.

> Personally, I will readily do electrical work, plumbing on a more 
> limited basis, carpentry hardly at all.

To your point, I'm quite the opposite. I'm a woodworker and setup to do 
just about any kind of carpentry imaginable. I don't have the butt-crack 
power (or the slightest detectable will) to properly plumb, that's for 
sure. When it comes to electrical work the issue is often permitting and 
inspection that are a problem in my area (building boom etc..) that makes 
it non-trivial. That and dealing with Xcel Energy, who could probably 
screw up a wet-dream, for the feeds.

> Other people have a completely different list of what they would 
> undertake.  For example, a lot of people would not tinker with software 
> or networks.

Agreed.

> This very definitely is an area where, if you're not 100% comfortable 
> with the job, the right answer is to pay to have it done.

Yeah, that's sort of my underlying point. While it might be easy to some 
people in terms of them not feeling intimidated by the task, it still will 
take some time, effort, money, and risk to your person (small or large 
depending on your levels of caution and experience).

-Swift