update from central lousiana

[Al Smith]

They made such a terrible mess of things in New Orleans the last go around that it has became a political football .

At one time the building in Florida was the worst methods nearly on the face of the earth .Those building could not even stand a typical gale force wind like we get around these parts let alone a hurricane . This rash of hurricanes along with massive insurance claims has forced the area to require much sturdier methods of construction in the later years . Not a bad idea but should have been implemented years ago .

 

[NeTree]

I don't know why the hell they bother with power poles anyways.

I know running utilities underground is more expensive, but I would think by now they've spent far more in replacing the poles every time a wind blows thru?

 

[SkwerI]

Erik, the wind doesn't blow the poles down. Poles get knocked down by trees which are abused and tortured by line clearance workers to the point where any idiot looking at the trees can tell they are certain to fail and take out power any time a breeze kicks up. The line clearance workers do it for three reasons- job security, limited by administrative rules and/or they don't know any better.

 

[NeTree]

Brian, I know that.

I should have added the millions spent on line clearance crews would be negated by putting them underground. (The wires, not the crews )

 

[Al Smith]

--that fact plus in many cases the wooden poles are not in the best of shape .

When one pole goes often you often get a domino effect which might lay over a half a dozen or more .

Geeze when these storms hit every tree trimmer and lineman from 40 states mobilizes and heads south . What a mess that must be .

 

[NeTree]

A big mess indeed. Been there, done that... got the t-shirt. (Well, the hat anyways...)

 

[Thor's Hammer]

The photo of Sarah Palin is a fake. Much prefer the fake picture of her in short skirt and heels
http://www.snopes.com/photos/politics/palin.asp

 

[Doc]

Yeah I know its a fake but I still like posting it

 

[Thor's Hammer]

I prefer this one

 

[Frans]

Sorry folks but I gotta say it... You good folks down in the hurricane belt have been dealing with them since the earth was flat and starting to cool but have made no attempt to protect infrastructure and like from the menace;.... yet year after year Millions and now Billions are thrown at the cities and towns to rebuild them....

I agree wholeheartedly with you in principle. But like Al said, it has become a political football.
We have a river area here where folks got flooded out year in and year out. Most moved away after the insurance refused to cover them, and some got a low interest loan from the gov. to help them raise their houses.

I like the idea of the gov. helping out with infrastructure issues. But like the food that gets brought to these starving countries, most of it goes into the politicians own pockets.

 

[Magnus]

The thing I reacted to on my visit in USA was that it was all hanging wires.

We dig them down over here, if the wind catches them when dug down.... Power is not the most important thing...

 

[Doc]

Its that way in the more affluent states as well, Magnus. I agree its the only way to fly.

The deep south though is very poor and the infrastructure is dangerously antiquated. There are poles on my street that are literally held up by the lines and the trees they lean on. Its absurd.

 

[wiltingoak]

Hey - my phone lines are still stretched along a mile of fence!!

 

[sotc]

any new news on butch?

 

[Doc]

nothing new, he's got power, but no internet.

 

[Bodean]

I hope he's taking all this down time and pumping some iron.

Like the Hulkster would! or BA Barracas

 

[JonnyHart]

Haha bet he's curling a 12 oz right now!

 

[Old Monkey]

I bet its like the Simpsons episode where Itchy and Scratchy make nice and all the kids turn their TVs off, go outside and start playing again, making May poles and having soap box derby races. Butch probably went into serious withdrawals without the net but I bet once the shakes subsided he went out into the light and met some flesh and blood folks, joined a book club, planted a victory garden and painted a mural on the side of his house.

 

[Stumper]

Darin, You captured a beautiful scene in your prose....but this is Butch so he is probably whiling away hours thumbing through smutty magazines.

 

[Husky385]

I'm pleased to hear hes ok

 

[Altissimus]

Deep down inside everyone here knows the house without the MB is a little weird... I still use dial phone with a cord... computer/internet are new toys to me still... You gotta love Butch's posts in the house as well as Treebuzz... C'mon Back Mon!

 

[TC3]

Butch, come home (stop).
All is forgiven (stop).
Stumper is out of control, but don't tell him I told you (stop).

 

[Che]

Deep down inside everyone here knows the house without the MB is a little weird...

true

 

[Doc]

he's ba-ack!

 

[MasterBlaster]

And the weirdness has returned!