Are you smart?

[trof]

I think I am. Not necessarily "intelligent", just smart. Logical. The kind of guy who plans ahead, trying to make everyday life run smoothly with as little hassle as possible. Horse sense.

Today I went with a friend to Home Depot. He's intelligent. He flies giant jets. From here to Singapore and back. Wherever you want. Has a degree in Electrical Engineering, no mean feat. I don't know if he's so smart.

He's running an electrical line out to his dock on a salt water bay. Needs some conduit for part of it. Also needs a couple of outdoor wiring boxes, an outlet, switch, some little plastic cable hangar thingys and some screws.

We head for the conduit racks first. 3/4" ought to do it. He grabs three 10' lengths.
I say "Um...maybe it'd be easier if we get the conduit LAST so we won't have to drag it all over the store".
Oh? Hmm. Good idea.

We get the rest of the electrical components and he needs some screws to mount the cable hangars, conduit, etc. He grabs a box of drywall screws. "Uh, John? I don't think drywall screws will last over a year around salt water."
Oh? Yeah. I'll get galvanized.
"They might last 2 or 3 years. I'd get stainless. Cost a little more, but you won't have to do the job over in 3 years."
Oh. OK.

What would he do without me?
;-)
What's your story?

[short bus president]

1. I'm smarter than

Matcom's ass.

[MiddleRiverRefugee]

2. I'm smart, and I owe it to one thing....

I am always prepared to be dumb at a moment's notice.

[JitterbugPerfume]

3. I used to think I was

but now that I am getting older, doubt begins to creep in

but I was so much older then

I'm younger than that now

[XNASA]

7. Agreed. That's my approach too.

I'm never too shy to ask a dumb question, and I never presume that I know everything there is to know about anything.

Plus, I'm an excellent sandbagger.

[Lars39]

4. Please make sure he's done the job right!

Remember the newstory a few years back of the guy who got electricuted because things weren't grounded and he held on to the conduit with one hand while he peed off the end of the dock?
Ya never know......:evilgrin:

[trof]

6. Plastic conduit

plastic everything.
I remember when galvanized was all you could get.

[Skittles]

5. your friend lacks common sense

a very common malady among the brilliant. :)

[trof]

11. He has some.

Just not about the day-to-day stuff I guess.
We flew together, military and commercial. You got to have a certain amount of common sense as well as some book learning and pretty good eye-hand coordination to do that. I think his just unplugs at home. Today he had me mentally shaking my head.
Mabey I should have just KICKED HIS ASS!
No, wait.
That's YOUR line.
;-)

[dolo amber]

16. My dad says I have blonde roots...

(I'm a brunette)...I have what's considered a *genius level* IQ (162), but a few years ago, he told me that the word "gullible" wasn't in the dictionary...and I went to look. :eyes:

[trof]

18. Thinks for the chuckle, dolo

and welcome to DU.
:hi:

[Skittles]

36. HEY

IT'S FAKE BLONDES WITH BRUNETTE ROOTS WHO ARE STUPID.

[TXlib]

8. There's book intelligence, ...

There's "book intelligence", "practical intelligence", and many others.

Sounds like your friend has book intelligence, but maybe not so much practical intelligence.

When I was a physics grad student I knew a few people, students and professors, who were among the most brilliant physicists in the world, but who were clueless at almost anything else. There were many others who weren't exactly clueless at everything else, but somewhat lacking; sometimes this was because they were always preoccupied with physics.

[KCDem]

25. uh, don't forget, honey,

you're exactly like many of them!

[TXlib]

29. I never said I wasn't.

:P

[LuLu550]

9. you tell me if I'm smart...

I let the 19-year-old buy a Firebird and the 16-year old pierce her bellybutton.
You tell me. :shrug:
LuLu

[Lars39]

12. That's called being outnumbered! A whiny teen can seem like 4 people.

:)

[trof]

14. Smart enough to pick your battles.

;-)

[LuLu550]

15. thanks...

Single Mom guilt, you know!
LuLu

[trof]

19. Do I?

I tried to lay the guilt trips on my mom but she was guilt-proof.

[LuLu550]

22. I'm a push over

my kids make fun of me...
"OK you can do it, I don't want you to be sad."
I'm pathetic.
LuLu

[trof]

33. No fair ganging up.

With my mom and I it was just one-on-one and it wasn't always a democracy.

[TXlib]

30. Don't know about the 19-year-old

AS far as the 16-y-o piercing her bellybutton, that's no big deal.

It'll heal, if she decides it was a mistake; plus, they've become pretty mainstream lately. At the pool this summer, I see few women between the ages of ~16-ish and 30 without navel rings.

[trof]

32. As long as it's not a Naval ring.

She's too young to be hanging out with sailors.

[Kolesar]

10. If he flies jets, he can afford a union electrician

Now, that would be smart! There are some obscure details concerning electrical safety that a trained electrician knows. Requirements and regulations are always changing.

[jus_the_facts]

13. Ive been called a smart ass.....

....but that's really just my witty charm shining through or obnoxiously sarcastic...*sigh* whatever!!:evilgrin:

[Semi_subversive]

21. I've always thought I was quite the wit

But my wife told me I was only half right. (rimshot)

[northzax]

17. no

but I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night.

[trof]

20. Close enough.

[slackmaster]

23. I hope you got all weathertight connectors, boxes, etc.

But since you are smart I'll assume you did.

[trof]

24. Natch.

And I really like all the plastic stuff.
No rust and corrosion ever again.

[Shanty Oilish]

26. I'm sent from the room when quiz shows are on

but I go quietly. :)

[5thGenDemocrat]

27. Mom was a member of MENSA

Dad served as an analyst of Radio North Korea in the Counterintelligence Corps during the Korean War. The CIC is not a place for dummies.
So God only knows what happened to me.
John
I think I'm smart -- but not as smart as either of them. And I can be dumb as a Bush on practical matters.

[Az]

28. I am Smart S-M-R-T

I mean SMART. Doh.

[TrogL]

31. I'm smart, real smart

IQ ~ 130
I do UNIX for a living.

Ank wanted me to give him a ride home from his doctor's appointment
so I told him I'd pick him up afterwards.

Just remembered I rode my bicycle to work.

:shrug:

[SOteric]

34. No. I have the I.Q. of a small soap dish.

[ProfessorGAC]

35. Man, Is This A Loaded Question

Say yes, and you're full of yourself.

Say no, and it's false humility, since nobody thinks they're stupid.

Geez, even Georgie boy thinks he's smart. He'd be wrong about that, but i'm quite sure he thinks he's smart. His mommy probably even told him so. This morning!

I ain't touchin' this one apropos myself.
The Professor

[ElsewheresDaughter]

37. just when i think i am...i regain conscienceness