A small rant

[Petrol & Powder]

My region recently experienced a snowstorm. It wasn’t a big storm, but several factors made it a damaging storm. Heavy/wet snow, rapid accumulation, soft ground, and some wind all combined to bring down a lot of trees and consequently – a lot of power lines. I was without electrical service for 5 days; a lot of folks are pushing 7 days and may go longer. I was prepared and with the occasional use of a generator, it wasn’t that bad for me. You adjust and life goes on. No phone or internet isn’t the end of the world. (in fact, it may be a good thing )

The power companies and their contractors are working hard, like REALLY HARD, to restore power. Those men, thousands of them, are working long days and performing difficult work. Many of them are far from their homes and families. The conditions suck, the hours are long, the work is physically demanding and dangerous.

I’m tired of hearing people whine because their electricity is off, and they are inconvenienced. I understand their frustration, but I don’t care for their verbal attacks on the people that are working hard to restore power.

OK, I’m done.

 

[Brad]

Working hard in some really bad conditions.

When the power is out I know that someone is out in the crap working to get it back for ME. I appreciate the hell out of them.

 

[Jeff H]

I am fortunate to be on a rural electric co-op.

When we do have an outage, they know, they let YOU know and they give a reasonable estimate as to how long it might be. They'll even tell you WHY it's out if you ask. Everyone is highly professional, helpful, competent and committed. T hey don't patronize you, make up BS answers to questions they can't answer (they NEVER don't know the answer), don't lie to you and they don't apologize fifteen times in a five-minute conversation. They are amazing people.

Now, the phone company, upon whom I am dependent for Internet, which I have needed a LOT more since the current situation to do my work and to communicate - and stay away from people, is the absolute antithesis - they are virtually impossible to reach, don't know anything once you do, lie, make things up, deny there is a problem, etc. The guys out in the field are a completely different story - they are on the ball, professional, competent, committed, etc. There are just too few of them. The phone company cut the number of service techs by about 80% when the money Congress put up for improving rural Internet ran out. Oh, there was no improvement except that we had more techs fixing aging infrastructure issues for a few years. No actual upgrades or extension of service areas or quality.

There are a lot of folks out there who don't get near the credit they deserve for what they do, but they are in the same boat so many are these days - too many entities choose to operate with way, WAY too few people to do what needs to be done. Ever get the recording that "we are expecting higher than usual call volumes,...?" Almost EVERY time I call someone looking for answers or help, for the past twenty years! How can it be "higher than usual call volume" if that's the volume that's been experienced for the past twenty years for EVERYTHING?

OK, everything except my electric co-op. If it's during business hours, someone answers the phone and I know her name and recognize her voice. A very pleasant lady who has or finds the answer every time. Their linemen and engineer have stopped and helped with things which amounted to "favors" while I was researching certain t hings for class material.

 

[Cadillac Jeff]

A long time ago an ol lineman told me "every time there is lightning that's a hundered doller bill to in lineman's pocket"

Ah with inflation----bring it up abit !

But YUP those guy's are payed well,& work for it too!!

They are payed a good wage so they will go out in the storm & "get the lites back on"

funny most run from a storm----A Lineman run's to it !

sorry I kinda miss it!

Jeff

 

[Petrol & Powder]

It's hard work. They get paid for it but they earn every penny of it.

 

[Winelover]

I am fortunate to be on a rural electric co-op.

When we do have an outage, they know, they let YOU know and they give a reasonable estimate as to how long it might be. They'll even tell you WHY it's out if you ask. Everyone is highly professional, helpful, competent and committed. T hey don't patronize you, make up BS answers to questions they can't answer (they NEVER don't know the answer), don't lie to you and they don't apologize fifteen times in a five-minute conversation. They are amazing people.

Now, the phone company, upon whom I am dependent for Internet, which I have needed a LOT more since the current situation to do my work and to communicate - and stay away from people, is the absolute antithesis - they are virtually impossible to reach, don't know anything once you do, lie, make things up, deny there is a problem, etc. The guys out in the field are a completely different story - they are on the ball, professional, competent, committed, etc. There are just too few of them. The phone company cut the number of service techs by about 80% when the money Congress put up for improving rural Internet ran out. Oh, there was no improvement except that we had more techs fixing aging infrastructure issues for a few years. No actual upgrades or extension of service areas or quality.

There are a lot of folks out there who don't get near the credit they deserve for what they do, but they are in the same boat so many are these days - too many entities choose to operate with way, WAY too few people to do what needs to be done. Ever get the recording that "we are expecting higher than usual call volumes,...?" Almost EVERY time I call someone looking for answers or help, for the past twenty years! How can it be "higher than usual call volume" if that's the volume that's been experienced for the past twenty years for EVERYTHING?

OK, everything except my electric co-op. If it's during business hours, someone answers the phone and I know her name and recognize her voice. A very pleasant lady who has or finds the answer every time. Their linemen and engineer have stopped and helped with things which amounted to "favors" while I was researching certain t hings for class material.

We are also with an electric coop and pretty much receive the same courteous service. Our phone and internet is now provided by that same electric coop............they recently installed fiber optic in my area. Been along nine year wait but well worth it.

 

[BBerguson]

This is a video I ”produced” a number of years ago. All the “actors” are our employees, their family or our members.

 

[Cadillac Jeff]

Thank You Mr. Berguson

That is how it goes!!====just ask my daughters, I missed a lot of birthdays & holladays.
dang the cupcake at the end brought back alot !!

 

[CZ93X62]

Linesmen are stone heroes in my book.

 

[Rick]

Linemen is a great job . . . Right up until it's not.

Storms that have most people hunkered down in storm shelters have them out in the storm climbing poles.

 

[RBHarter]

Rural coop here also . What a change from conglomocorp .

We had a line from the pole short and set the lawn on fire . As a matter of appreciation for the guy that was going to come out I waited until 8:30 to call .....it was Sunday ...... He came out got the line fixed and fixed another unrelated but preventive bug .

A bit later I may or may not have injured a guy wire on our corner pole with the brush hog in the bamboo ......I had turned it in but I guess it got lost in the deep freeze last winter ..... A crew doing a transformer swap or something came by and I asked if when they had the priority stuff done they could fix it . " Huh looks like the road crew got another one " , it 15' over off the road . " Yeah we'll be a couple of hours and get that " . About an hour later they had a come along stretcher on it and the swage union ready to go in . Years past out west I'd have gotten a bill addendum for the damages . No fees and the crew as well as the guy that came out Sunday morning seemed happy and were pretty much of the mind set of stuff happens and that's why we have jobs .

I am getting the bamboo sort of controlled .

 

[popper]

Dad graduated from MU, got married, and went to work for Black & Veach as a line man near Rolla, stringing wires for REA. Yup, even good weather, a tough job. Then he got a job with GE in Schenectady designing motors. Think he liked it better but times were still tough then.

 

[Jeff H]

We are also with an electric coop and pretty much receive the same courteous service. Our phone and internet is now provided by that same electric coop............they recently installed fiber optic in my area. Been along nine year wait but well worth it.

Dang, man! Someone else on this forum told me the same thing. I wish MY co-op did that. Actually, I wish they did car repairs and drywall too, but I'd take Internet without complaint. Fiber-optic runs right in front of my house, but the phone company is not interested in serving individuals - they use that for transmission, carrying other carriers' bits in volume for more than they'd make bothering with a few bucks they'd have to actually earn from each of the individual users along the way.

 

[Jeff H]

Linemen is a great job . . . Right up until it's not.

Storms that have most people hunkered down in storm shelters have them out in the storm climbing poles.

I don't know what would be worse, shinnying up a pole or swaying around in a bucket, but yeah, they're out in the worst of it and up in the air to boot.

 

[Hawk]

My Dad worked for Dallas, Power & Lght before it became TXU.
I can tell you he worked a lot of 24 hour shifts in sleet, rain and snow to get power up for people.
I have nothing but admiration and gratitude for the guys working with eletricity in the worst possible conditions to get my power up!

 

[Petrol & Powder]

My power company advises its customers by text or e-mail when there's an outage and they provide a reason (if they know) and an estimate of when it will be fixed. That's handy when you're not at the site of the outage and allows you to plan. That communication is something we didn’t have 30+ years ago.

 

[KeithB]

I've been told that text messages take up less resources and will get through when voice telephone calls often won't.

 

[BBerguson]

Thank You Mr. Berguson

That is how it goes!!====just ask my daughters, I missed a lot of birthdays & holladays.
dang the cupcake at the end brought back alot !!

You’re welcome sir! We put this video together because we were tired of people calling in complaining when their power was out and they didn’t think anyone was working. We have 3,400 miles of line over 5,000 square miles of territory. Being a cooperative, we serve the areas the Investor Owned Utilities (IOU’s) wouldn’t serve so we basically have the hardest territory to deliver electric to. With 5.5 members per mile of line, our guys are usually working where people are not going to see them. So, the employees in the video all volunteered their time and we did this after hours.

Our lineman are my heroes too! They are the face of our company, they don’t complain about going out after hours and I too have the utmost respect for them. People you can count on.

 

[BBerguson]

Dang, man! Someone else on this forum told me the same thing. I wish MY co-op did that. Actually, I wish they did car repairs and drywall too, but I'd take Internet without complaint. Fiber-optic runs right in front of my house, but the phone company is not interested in serving individuals - they use that for transmission, carrying other carriers' bits in volume for more than they'd make bothering with a few bucks they'd have to actually earn from each of the individual users along the way.

It would be an entirely different system to deliver internet to you from the “transmission” fiber there now. Very similar to the high voltage transmission lines vs distribution lines. Call your co-op and ask if they have any intentions of building fiber to “their” members. Get your neighbors to ask, call your director. You own the co-op, get them to at least study it.

We started a new company under the co-op for our internet, Tricoconnections.com Show your directors this, it can be done.

 

[Snakeoil]

As a general rule, people in the USA have no idea what true hardship is. We've turned into a bunch of soft, namby-pamby whiners that cannot deal with adversity. Participation trophies were the first indication that we'd lost touch with reality. I spent most of my career working in or with 3rd world countries. Power outages are a daily occurrence. Most restaurants cook with bottled gas so they can keep working when the lights go out, which is usually around dinner time.

Yup, linemen, guys that plow the roads, paramedics, cops, firemen all tend to get taken for granted. Everyone loves to make fun of volunteer firemen until they need them.

Anybody remember that commercial for Subaru back in the 90's. It asked the question, "How does the guy that plows the road so you can go to work in the morning get to work?" Then you'd see the tailights of a Subaru in a driveway as the car starts and backs out of a driveway with about a foot of snow in it. Not a fan of Subarus, but always thought that commercial was great.