Community Chat

[Anonymous032819]

Today, Pacific Gas & Electric had a planned outage so that they could replace an electric pole.

The had the street in front of my house blocked off so that they could do the work.

They had three trucks and I got to watch them put in the new pole, and up to five linemen attach the lines to it, all from my bed, which is right up against a window.

They started at 8a.m. and finished at around 3:30.

I had a couple of errands to run, so when I came home, I could not park in my usual spot, which is right in front of my house.

I had to go up one street, cut across (where the street was still open), to go up the alley that goes behind my house, and park in the empty lot that's next to my house.

I really admire those linemen.

Where would we be without them?

We would be in the dark, that's where.

Plus, they go out in all kinds of weather, day and night, in emergency situations to fix/repair downed poles an lines.

It's funny how we take electricity for granted until it isn't there.

Oh, I had just finished washing a load of laundry when they turned the power off! *lol*

Now that the power is back on, I can finally put that load in to the dryer.

[haddon9]

A few years ago I received a phone call around 10 pm (I usually don't answer but this time I did) from PECO telling me that in an hour or so they would be shutting power for a few hours to work on upgrades.  This had never happened before (or since) so I decided to get ready for bed and have a flashlight nearby just in case.

I went to bed, the power went off & there was no moonlight...it was totally pitch black in the room.  Suddenly I felt like I couldn't breathe!  I grabbed my flashlight, a kindle to read & add more light and went into the kitchen to splash water on my face.  I finally felt better & the power returned.

I agree that it's not an easy job to be a power lineman working in all sorts of weather & hours!

[LyndaGee]

I admire them, and I do like to watch stuff like that, too!

[Financialgrl]

When I lived in the country we had telephone poles and above ground wires.  If we had bad storms and lost power they rarely could fix it from the power station.    

I was always thankful for the work they did to restore power as soon as the storms moved on.  Once a dorecho came through and we were without power for a week - not until that happens do you realize how dependent we are on electricity!  I'm now in the burbs and it's pretty populated and all utilities are underground so we usually get power restored much faster.