Looking as a lark, I found the item I needed.

About three weeks ago the nursing home's fire safety consultant told me that I needed to have a compliant power strip for my desktop PC – it had to be 1363 A UL. That means it can be used in a hospital or nursing home room near a patient/resident bed. I asked him if he knew of any company manufactured a desktop PC line surge protector that was 1363 A. I was surprised that he didn't since he's in the fire prevention business.

That evening, or the next day, I searched online for a 1363 A compliant line surge protector. I could not find one. I'll admit I had no idea where to look. But I found a 6 outlet power strip, with a surge protector for almost $63 on Amazon.com. My line surge protector had 12. I also have a brand-new unused one that I bought four years ago that was never plugged in. I wanted to use it with my desktop.

I thought I would wait to see if the facility would buy me a compliant one. After all, it's a new rule that wasn't around when I came here, or when I updated my desktop's line surge protector. Nevertheless, I felt badly about it. I am very safety and fire conscious. So I wanted to be compliant.

I inquired to one particular company if they made a 1363 A compliant line surge protector and they said they did not. They sent me a link to the same power strip I found on Amazon. I sent the power strip's link to the facility's maintenance man so he would know what is available. I even got an email from the company saying they do not make a 1363 A compliant line surge protector for a desktop PC.

I went to a computer forum and asked about a 1363 A compliant line surge protector. Several days passed and then I got a question about whether I needed one, and why. I told the person who replied that I needed one for my nursing home room.. But the one that was available did not meet my needs. I received no reply to that.

Then, a few days ago I got an answer from another contributor on that forum who told me that my question was not one that should have been asked on a computer forum.

I wrote back and apologized for asking there, but I thought the answer might be helpful to some people in situations similar to mine. Even so, I felt the man was rather rude.

I ended up messaging the computer forum telling them I had gotten a negative comment and told them to feel free to take down my question.

I did not receive a return email.

This afternoon the maintenance man was in my room plugging in that unused line surge protector that I bought for years ago. We were talking about the compliance issue with 1363 A. Since I could not dictate with my Dragon software, I decided to search for a higher priced line surge protector.

Without even trying very hard, I found one. It's a 12 outlet Tripp Lite line surge protector that costs $69. Tripp Lite makes the six outlet power strip that Amazon sells for around $63.

I told the maintenance man I had inquired of Tripp Lite about a 1363 A compliant line surge retractor, and they said they only had the 6 outlet power surge protector.

So I want to email Tripp Lite to see if the $69  with 12 outlets is compliant.

I'm so amazed that I googled in a different way and found what I was looking for specifically – three weeks ago.