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  • Houses Are Trouble: Electrical Service Division

    The ancient utility pole on the north side of our property fell over a few hours after a thunderstorm rolled through:

    Fallen Utility Pole - end view
    Fallen Utility Pole – end view

    Fortunately, the wire clamps were upward and it just lay there without sparks or excitement. It feeds the vacant house out back, so restoring power wasn’t urgent.

    Unfortunately, the lines neatly bisected Mary’s garden:

    Fallen Utility Pole - garden view
    Fallen Utility Pole – garden view

    The utility crew arrived a few hours later, disconnected the triplex at the fallen pole, rolled it up, secured it to the source pole out front, and promised a different crew would replace the pole in a while:

    Central Hudson truck - 2019-06-27
    Central Hudson truck – 2019-06-27

    We agreed restoring service to other folks who needed it should take priority.

    Mary’s been ducking the various cable TV / phone / FiOS cables ever since.

    The pole has been God’s own toothpick for quite some time, as shown by this picture from 2001:

    CHGE pole - rear - top
    CHGE pole – rear – top

    Fortunately for us, its pole tag hadn’t fallen off in all those years:

    CHGE Pole Tag - mid-north
    CHGE Pole Tag – mid-north

    That little tag may save us ten large during this exquisite little inconvenience …