You ever put in an AFCI just to watch it trip when someone turns on a ceiling fan? Makes me feel like I'm the problem, not the wiring... and that's saying something. @kaiking has a point about the hidden faults, even if it drives us nuts. Old systems are so finicky that good connections might not catch everything. Still, wrestling with these breakers on a Friday afternoon is its own kind of hell.

Oh man, this is so common. I see people post these heavy black rocks online all the time, convinced they've got a space rock. Slag is almost always magnetic and has weird bubbles or a glassy look. A real meteorite usually has a thin, dark crust called fusion crust. Your uncle is probably just holding a piece of old industrial waste, not a piece of Mars.

That's a weird thing to ask at a party.

You're right to warn people about this. My friend got stuck in a similar mess with a minivan that had no real insurance. Checking for a proper license is the most basic step everyone should take.

Know that feeling. See it with cleaning clients who keep scrubbing the same stain instead of fixing the leak causing it.