Not dead just working on weatherproofing
for the winter. Got the back shed area walled in and 2 windows installed by late afternoon on Monday the 16th. Then came the rains. 6:30 this morning the dead pine goes down. Been wind and rain all night but at that time most of the wind had died down. The crack and then fall was a not good sign and then the lights going off and computer backups beeping was the kicker. Didn’t hit the dwelling or barn just took the power line out. As in out for the count. Caused traffic on Cedar Springs road to hault for a while. I went out and pulled the line out of the way of traffic and tied it off so it couldn’t fall on cars or whatever. The two cops sitting blocking traffic just looked at the line now 20+ feet in the air and ignored me. I watched them a bit and then rain started again and I went in to call the power co and report the line down. I went back out after getting the down line reported about 5 minutes later and the cops were just leaving. Guess they figured the elves had fixed things. Course I was wearing camo pants, a tank helmet liner with headlight on, and a dark green military officer style coat so maybe they didn’t see me. Or want to admit it anyway. 😉
Got the tractor and came up and finished pulling the broken tree trunk down off the standing part which was about 8 to 10 feet high. Threw a strap over the trunk and used it to pull a logging chain over and around it. Hooked it to the tractor and pulled it down. Still hung in a tree on the other end and not on the fence yet. So I go and unload the trailer and put it under the trunk where it goes across the drive. Built up under it with cement block and cut it. both parts fell on the trailer (17 feet long home made out of moble home axles, ibeams and 2 inch oak decking so not a whimpy lawn mower hauler) and didn’t hit the exposed water line on one side or the fence on the other. Cut it again over the fence and both parts missed doing damage. Went to cut the piece on the other side and a guy from the contractor the power co uses for building lines asks me if I can move the trailer and tractor. I tell him yes that I am trying to get the tree gone so they can get in. Get it cut and move the trailer. They come in and put a new tri-plex line in from transformer to pole by the barn. 400+6 feet. They had a 400 foot roll of wire that was 6 feet short so there is one splice at the transformer end. But an hour and a half of work by 7 folks got us power back before noon.
Got to get the underpinning finished. Took many gallons of water under the end wall of the trailer. Dug new ditches and got it under control but the rain was stopped by then so… Will finish underpinning and then see if it happens again next rain. If so will have to figure an underground water channel from the hillside across the way. There are several others within 600 feet that spew water when it rains much so tis not impossible. If so will try a french ditch and may anyway just to make sure any that builds up will be drained off before coming in.
Spent the afternoon cutting up the pine and clearing some of the other crap out from in front of the qhut. One trailer full moved across the creek cut to length for seating when we have the airsoft games. One more load in the morning of privit and fresh broken oak limbs.
Hands and arms are quite painful so will close for the nonce.
Themocracy
You are talking about WEAVER police, right? They either:
A. didn’t recognize it as a power line.
B. thought is was your own private line, so the right person was taking care of it.
I mean, if it isn’t moving in a vehicle so that they can hit it with a speeding ticket, it’s not ANY of their concern……
One Weaver and one county. No idea what they thought. They sat there and looked at the wire and one another. I wasn’t a happy camper and they weren’t gonna get out of the dry cars to do anything. Guess that is correct procedure. And I shouldn’t take the chances I take around electricity either. But the breaker was blown and the backhand slap will only tingle rather than cause a clinch that may close around the wire and kill you. No one should handle electrical lines unless they have had proper training. And take nothing I say here as the truth and the way to do whatever. Do not as I do but as someone else says as they say. And learm to think for yourself and take responsibility for your own actions. Without lawyers. 😉