There seems to be a problem with this road . . .
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Big winds yesterday on the near east side of the Cascades last evening for a couple of hours, and it just snowed 10" in less than 10 hours since dawn today and much more expected. Good news for the drought, hell on trees and roads.
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Yikes! (And 20 chars)
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I still fail to understand why it wouldn’t be cheaper to bury large conduit along roadways to handle utilities in forested areas. I ran my lines over 1200’ in the Adirondacks after an ice storm put us out for 2 weeks. I didn’t want those dang things falling on me or my buildings!
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I’ve heard underground power lines can cost as much as ten times the cost of overhead lines, and are more difficult to service being covered in dirt. Some of the new above-ground lines are stronger and can even be effective in catching falling trees from landing on roads or cars.
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When run through large conduits, they can actually be improved easily as there are “runs” that can be pulled in junctions. Maybe the initial cost is high but your are done after that. We serviced big estates that way in NY and Connecticut. I can tell you from experience that cutting a 60’ fallen pine off your sparking line can be thrilling but knowing it could start a fire or put you out of service for weeks when there a zillion such trees on lines, you just do it. I would rather look at the tree across the easement area that i cleared and smile. (I did it where I could here in TX, too)
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HEMLOCKS. Yikes. Those were some serious trees!
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That makes sense, and obviously the overall cost for continuously repairing above-ground lines could easily become much more than underground conduits. The damage from this storm is so extensive crews are coming in from Oregon to help with repairs, I got grid power back today at house in town but will me many more days at least for everyone out in the country. I don’t really like electricity in general, but is helpful for being able to power a freezer use my truck engines as generators for that with an inverter.
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That 20 character thing is annoying, I usually use asterisks to fill that if I’ve finished talking before making it all the way to 20 characters. For some reason a line asterisks turns into a flat line like this:
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That does sound exciting to cut a fallen pine off a sparking line!
Been there done that. Trying to figure out where to touch the birch on the line with your chainsaw is even more exciting. They tend to spring in the air and if your calculation is wrong (ie, not experienced starting with little guys in the woods when you find them bowed like a coil) they can throw your chainsaw in the air and everything lands on you. THAT is exciting.
I built a garden center with my husband in the Adirondacks and then in January, age 43, (1993) he died 6 weeks from being diagnosed with cancer. My closest neighbor was 2 miles away in winter and both my dogs died not long after he did. You learn A HELLOFALOT living like that, burning firewood to stay warm at -40F by yourself on the side of Hurricane Mountain.
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As a former homesteader and caretaker, back to the land person, albeit in the west, I appreciate electricity for not having had it on 2 of 300 acre remote tracts. My young family was pretty resourceful out of necessity. Those hard won skills are useful these days in all sorts of unexpected ways.
As always, justa, I can relate to many things you speak of, but you outclass me in determination and moxie. As JPF says, “a doff of the hat to you”, for what sounds like an extraordinary life.
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Thanks. It was never my goal to try to prove that my ancestors who broke sod in the midwest and told of snow storms that crushed their tents should be something I would try to emulate. Life just (or justa) has a way of making these things happen and you either are ruined by them or you take a few very long tokes on your cigarette and make do.
BTW, that is why I refuse to just sit and do crosswords (which I do at night when I can’t sleep) but it is why I am always looking for the next project. Even though I see my grandmother in the mirror, I refuse to accept I am not the person who can still carry the water and make it work.
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Nah, manufactured home; total it, pull it out and pull in a new one. Like automobiles.
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That might be a better idea for this one honestly.