I think I might have dodged a bullet...

I tend to like the house warmer than the SO, and have a parabolic heater set up to direct heat to me on the couch, while it leaves the SO relatively untouched. I had it plugged into an outlet with 2 other lamps, using a regular brown, 2 prong extension cord (because my house doesn't have 3 prong, grounded outlets, only those 2 prong directional plugs).

It was late, the SO was asleep, and I was heading to bed. When I go to bed, I turn the heater off, and unplug it, because I had noticed previously that the extension cord female receptacle end was getting hot with use. I know, I know... means it's probably not a heavy duty enough cord, but I just use it a few hours a night, and we have the plug problem...

Anyway...

My hands were full, so instead of picking up the cord and unplugging it using both hands (as I always do), I just set down stuff in one hand, put my Ugg slippered foot against the extension cord head on the floor, and attempted to wiggle the heater plug out of the extension receptacle. I was pulling on the one cord, bracing the other against the floor with my slippered foot. But it didn't want to come out, it pulled partially to the side, but still plugged in. So I reached over with one of the fingers that was pulling the cord, braced it on the extension cord, and pushed harder to get the prongs out.

What followed was a huge flash of light, many sparks, and the smell of something burning and melting.

Of course, I threw the cord when it did this, and jumped back. Doing so had pulled them the rest of the way apart. I looked at the floor... and there was a huge black scorch mark on the hardwoods, where the extension head had been pressed to the floor and along where it's cord was for about 6 inches. The extension cord head was partially melted and blackened where the wires leave it, and the bottom of my slipper (& the sheepskin where my toe was holding it down)? Scorched.

I checked the wall outlet, it was fine. I got a scrub pad and cleaned up the soot from the floor, noticing that there were 3 burn patches, one a very small, very deep point, the other two larger (about 1" square), but more shallow. On those areas, it's more scorched, doesn't look as "charred" as the small deep one.

So I'm wondering... do I have my Uggs, and the fact that my hands were full & I had the extension cord on the ground instead of held between my two hands (as would be usual) to keep from getting shocked to hell & back? The SO was asleep, didn't wake up when I came in, so if something bad had happened (and I didn't make a lot of noise doing it), I probably would have had no one notice anything until morning, and if it was an electrocution? Not a good thing.

Or is household current just enough to hurt you some, but not kill you?

I shiver when I think of the burns to the hardwood floor (and the soles of my Uggs), and imagine what that heat/electricity would have done to my hands...

I think I might have dodged a bullet...

I tend to like the house warmer than the SO, and have a parabolic heater set up to direct heat to me on the couch, while it leaves the SO relatively untouched. I had it plugged into an outlet with 2 other lamps, using a regular brown, 2 prong extension cord (because my house doesn't have 3 prong, grounded outlets, only those 2 prong directional plugs).

It was late, the SO was asleep, and I was heading to bed. When I go to bed, I turn the heater off, and unplug it, because I had noticed previously that the extension cord female receptacle end was getting hot with use. I know, I know... means it's probably not a heavy duty enough cord, but I just use it a few hours a night, and we have the plug problem...

Anyway...

My hands were full, so instead of picking up the cord and unplugging it using both hands (as I always do), I just set down stuff in one hand, put my Ugg slippered foot against the extension cord head on the floor, and attempted to wiggle the heater plug out of the extension receptacle. I was pulling on the one cord, bracing the other against the floor with my slippered foot. But it didn't want to come out, it pulled partially to the side, but still plugged in. So I reached over with one of the fingers that was pulling the cord, braced it on the extension cord, and pushed harder to get the prongs out.

What followed was a huge flash of light, many sparks, and the smell of something burning and melting.

Of course, I threw the cord when it did this, and jumped back. Doing so had pulled them the rest of the way apart. I looked at the floor... and there was a huge black scorch mark on the hardwoods, where the extension head had been pressed to the floor and along where it's cord was for about 6 inches. The extension cord head was partially melted and blackened where the wires leave it, and the bottom of my slipper (& the sheepskin where my toe was holding it down)? Scorched.

I checked the wall outlet, it was fine. I got a scrub pad and cleaned up the soot from the floor, noticing that there were 3 burn patches, one a very small, very deep point, the other two larger (about 1" square), but more shallow. On those areas, it's more scorched, doesn't look as "charred" as the small deep one.

So I'm wondering... do I have my Uggs, and the fact that my hands were full & I had the extension cord on the ground instead of held between my two hands (as would be usual) to keep from getting shocked to hell & back? The SO was asleep, didn't wake up when I came in, so if something bad had happened (and I didn't make a lot of noise doing it), I probably would have had no one notice anything until morning, and if it was an electrocution? Not a good thing.

Or is household current just enough to hurt you some, but not kill you?

I shiver when I think of the burns to the hardwood floor (and the soles of my Uggs), and imagine what that heat/electricity would have done to my hands...