Re: How to import "global" variables into sub-scripts from main script?

(Yes, I've had a UPS backup damaged by lightning only because it was well grounded--within weeks of when I'd installed the copper grounding rod myself. After that, I never used ground again, and never had another problem in years. Go figure.)

This sounds to me like you have rather misinterpreted the moral of your own story. Because the UPS was well grounded the only thing that went wrong was that the UPS was damaged. If it had not been well grounded your building could have burned down and/or lives could have been lost. The point is that the discharge went through the UPS and straight into the ground, not through your heart or the gas pipes.

This is a good parallel to draw with strict as it is also there to save you from calamity. There is a small cost of convenience in using it but the potential rewards exceed this many times over.

🦛

Comment on Re: How to import "global" variables into sub-scripts from main script?

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Re^2: How to import "global" variables into sub-scripts from main script? by Polyglot (Chaplain) on Mar 22, 2021 at 11:23 UTC
Sigh. Perhaps a little more context is in order. In a third-world country, the electric grid is not what you are acquainted with. Furthermore, being in the tropics, the lightning storms would be tremendously active during rainy season. My copper ground rod was the only thing grounded in the entire house. I believe the lightning actually struck the pond next to the house, and traveled UP the ground rod to my UPS. It was the ONLY thing in the house that was damaged. I'm very grateful that the UPS did save the computer that it was attached to--but I never again dared to ground anything in my house. We would sometimes have transient power issues (not surges) where one could measure 270 volts between the ground and the neutral on a 220V system. For these reasons, I never dared to install an electric water heater, preferring to take cold showers than risk electrocution. My copper ground rod was very likely the only such ground rod for at least 200 meters radius of my house. Beyond that there may have been a business or two that had one--I don't know. In the housing sector, where I was, likely no one had one. It was an area of relative poverty where many homes would have been condemned by the standards of the West. As one person told me after the lightning damaged my UPS, "Sucks to be the best ground around." Having no ground isolates one in a similar manner to putting on thick rubber boots before grabbing the electrical wires--as many electricians will do. There are definitely times when one does NOT wish to have any path to ground! Blessings, ~Polyglot~	[reply]

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Re^2: How to import "global" variables into sub-scripts from main script?
by Polyglot (Chaplain) on Mar 22, 2021 at 11:23 UTC

Sigh. Perhaps a little more context is in order.

In a third-world country, the electric grid is not what you are acquainted with. Furthermore, being in the tropics, the lightning storms would be tremendously active during rainy season. My copper ground rod was the only thing grounded in the entire house. I believe the lightning actually struck the pond next to the house, and traveled UP the ground rod to my UPS. It was the ONLY thing in the house that was damaged. I'm very grateful that the UPS did save the computer that it was attached to--but I never again dared to ground anything in my house.

We would sometimes have transient power issues (not surges) where one could measure 270 volts between the ground and the neutral on a 220V system. For these reasons, I never dared to install an electric water heater, preferring to take cold showers than risk electrocution.

My copper ground rod was very likely the only such ground rod for at least 200 meters radius of my house. Beyond that there may have been a business or two that had one--I don't know. In the housing sector, where I was, likely no one had one. It was an area of relative poverty where many homes would have been condemned by the standards of the West.

As one person told me after the lightning damaged my UPS, "Sucks to be the best ground around."

Having no ground isolates one in a similar manner to putting on thick rubber boots before grabbing the electrical wires--as many electricians will do. There are definitely times when one does NOT wish to have any path to ground!

Blessings,

~Polyglot~

[reply]