My home project for today is to change out a dimmer switch for newly installed lighting. Unfortunately, I rested drywall against the current switch and broke it within 5 days of it being installed.
My visit to Home Depot was a little overwhelming. I had no idea there were so many dimmer switches that ranged in price from $15 to $60. How bad to you need to kill the lights that you need a $60 dimmer? It didn’t even come with a remote!
This is where my color blindness, or lack of electrical experience became a slight hindrance. The switch came out of the box with one black wire, one green wire, and two red wires. Logic told me that the two red wires needed to be attached to the “hot” electrical circuit, while the black wire goes to the ground wire
The wires were attached the way I thought they should be, and I flipped the breaker to give it some power. I tuned on the switch, staring up at the lights, waiting for the brightness to fill the room, when….POP! A giant arcing spark flew out the switch, smoke rose from the wires, and I heard the break trip. Son of a bitch! I just ruined a $40 switch! What the hell went wrong? 
I finally broke down and read the instructions. This parchment revealed that one of the red wires was the ground wire. WHAT!? Is this some new international wiring change I was not aware of? Who would use a red wire for a ground? Obviously the same guy that has never jumped a stalled car. What was the rational for this anyway? If we get people to blow up a $40 dimmer switch, they will have to buy another one? Where is the logic behind the coding? What if everyone just randomly changed historically created given truths? 
Like changing the pattern on a traffic light, and indicating green really means stop, but only a handful of people know that. Do you know how much chaos that would cause? This would be one way automotive manufactures and insurance companies could make some extra cash. Or maybe this is how China expects to take over the world. One dimmer switch at a time.
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