Hurricane Sandy won't hold us northeast US pool players down!

[ignomirello]

As of Friday about 1.2 million people still don't have power

As of Friday 11/4/2012 about 1.2 million people still don't have power in the NY'NJ area.
Staten Island, Atlantic City, Seaside Heights got hit the hardest.
Schools in the area are still closed.
NY is going to try to open some schools that are not damaged & has power.

 

[sfleinen]

Internet restored

Folks:

Finally got my Internet back -- last night. I kind of wish that the outage reason for my cable service was on that same telephone pole that the religious fanatics absolutely flipped their lid over on Halloween (see post #95 above), because my Internet would've been restored that same day as my electric. But hey, the companies involved are working around the clock to fix all this damage, and I'm just glad to have my Internet back.

To have some fun with a famous Homer Simpson quote, "Ahhh... Eeeeenternet... Mmmmmm..."

My lady and I have been doing our part to in helping neighbors and friends get through this -- offering our time, elbow grease, and resources -- in helping them get on track. Obviously, our chainsaws, lopping shears, and axes have been in full swing to help clear downed trees and limbs.

Feeling a bit sore (muscle fatigue), but it's a "good" soreness -- a feeling of satisfaction.

Those without utilities or left homeless are in our constant thoughts.

Feeling v-e-r-y fortunate,
-Sean

 

[Tramp Steamer]

Hang in there, Sean, and stay warm. I hear there's a Nor'easter brewing so stay dry, as well.

 

[sfleinen]

Hang in there, Sean, and stay warm. I hear there's a Nor'easter brewing so stay dry, as well.

Thanks, my friend. We picked up a larger generator yesterday, so this time around we'll have more power in case the Nor'easter knocks our power out again.

And after all this tree-clearing, we've p-l-e-n-t-y of firewood so on the heat/keeping-warm front, you can bet the fireplace will be going non-stop. :thumbup:

-Sean <-- rolling with the punches

 

[Lock N Load]

Folks:

Finally got my Internet back -- last night. I kind of wish that the outage reason for my cable service was on that same telephone pole that the religious fanatics absolutely flipped their lid over on Halloween (see post #95 above), because my Internet would've been restored that same day as my electric. But hey, the companies involved are working around the clock to fix all this damage, and I'm just glad to have my Internet back.

To have some fun with a famous Homer Simpson quote, "Ahhh... Eeeeenternet... Mmmmmm..."

My lady and I have been doing our part to in helping neighbors and friends get through this -- offering our time, elbow grease, and resources -- in helping them get on track. Obviously, our chainsaws, lopping shears, and axes have been in full swing to help clear downed trees and limbs.

Feeling a bit sore (muscle fatigue), but it's a "good" soreness -- a feeling of satisfaction.

Those without utilities or left homeless are in our constant thoughts.

Feeling v-e-r-y fortunate,
-Sean

Hello Sean,
I am so glad to get another update from you. Good that you and your lady are OK and have your Internet back. Lot's of fire wood now. I am glad you are feeling fortunate. I was still worried about you all even though you had let us know that you were OK. I know how it is to not have power for a long time, and can't travel anywhere. Keep that feeling of satisfaction, you deserve it after what you have been thru and your helping other people. You are in my thoughts and prayers, Sean.
Best Regards,
Lock N Load.

 

[Lock N Load]

I'd like to see the the people involved in this thread to check in.
Sean and Brian seemed to have made it through okay.

Our area caught the fringe of Sandy...but we still had over 30 thousand
homes without power, and one fatality...a poor woman was hit by a flying
sign.....NYC had a lot more troubles and deaths.

For those who live far enough away that the news becomes like a report
from a foreign area....here's some pics from a few days ago.... lots of them.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ople-die-Superstorm.html?ICO=most_read_module

I am glad to know that you are and your family are OK and made it OK in the storm. Even a little part of a storm that big is a lot. Hang in there and I am keeping you in my prayers and thoughts.
Best Regards,
Lock N Load.

 

[Lock N Load]

No damage here----- we got lucky.

I am very glad you came out OK. Big and bad storm.
Many Regards,
Lock N Load.

 

[Kickin' Chicken]

a few sandy related thoughts and pics . . .

Mr. Lock & Load, you're a good man to be checking in on everyone in sandy's path - thank you, sir!. And thanks to all other well wishers, too. AZ really is our extended family.

As was previously mentioned, I got through this hurricane just fine, didn't even need my generator.

I had one casualty here at my home, my jaguar's tail ended up 30 yards away. I placed it on ice in the garage in anticipation of the upcoming reattachment procedure. All kidding aside, this jag (approx 80 yrs old) proudly hung over the entry of a boys and girls summer camp in Essex, CT. He'll get fixed up soon. I feel very blessed to have avoided what many have had to deal with, and some continue to.

Yesterday, I went to my close buddy's house to bring some hot meals and a little moral support. He and his wife and their 3 kids had to evacuate their beach house and it's looking like a couple of months before they'll be able to return. Their house, thankfully, is salvagable. About 6 of the immediate neighbors houses weren't so lucky.

The pictures below may not look so impressive as compared to the ones that have been seen on the news, but believe me, there are some real jaw-dropping sights just **************** I'M EDITING MYSELF MID-POST. I FEEL LIKE I'M STARTING TO RAMBLE . . .

Bullet points would have been much better.

Well, suffice to say; everyone I know personally is okay.

My thoughts and prayers remain with the people and pets who are continuing to deal with the aftermath of this storm. It effected 1/5th of the US population. That's impressive!

I hope my fellow az members will stay safe during the cleanup and according to the latest reports, we may be staring at another nor'easter this wednesday so do be well.

regards,
brian kc

 

[Kickin' Chicken]

a couple more pics . . .

here's 3 more...

best,
brian kc

 

[Lock N Load]

here's 3 more...

best,
brian kc

Hello Kickin Chicken,
I am very glad to hear the good news that you and your family are OK. Thanks for the photos. I was worried about you, Sean, and PT109. And all of the other AZB people and none AZB people as well in the storms path. I cannot see how this thread could ever leave the front page on the forum.
I and pray that you all will have a speedy recovery from this storm! Please keep us posted on your recovery and any other news about the people in the North East corner of the USA and Canada!
Many Regards,
Lock N Load.

 

[sfleinen]

Hi folks:

Just wanted to let you guys know we're battened and hunkered down for another one -- this time, a nor'easter hitting us today. Snow has already begun to fall, and these are HUGE flakes -- some as large as half the span of your hand (no kidding). They're sticking, too.

As mentioned, we've plenty of firewood for heat and ambient lighting, as well as a larger generator, full 5-gallon gas can, and loads of charged batteries.

Don't expect this one to be as nasty as Sandy, but we're as prepared as can be. The only "gotcha" might be the gasoline crisis right now (with waiting lines extending for literally a mile down the road), but we'll deal with that as best we can.

Interesting time we're in right now. Just chalking this up as more "life experience."

The pool table's all clear and ready for play!

Best regards, and warmest wishes to everyone,
-Sean

 

[powerlineman80]

Wow what a crazy trip!

We were dispatched to Worcester Massachusetts to ride out Sandy then helped National Grid with their outages in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. We then were sent to Long Island until I came home last Sunday. I think I got a whole 10 days of work out of this storm compared to 9 with Hurricane Isaac in New Orleans.

Safe to say this ol country boy had a culture shock up North (my first ever trip up there) but the experience wasn't bad. The people in and around Worcester were great to us and I didn't have much interaction with people in Long Island.

We slept in tractor trailers the whole trip (bunk beds three beds high all the way down) sucked and I think I had 2 showers the whole week I was stuck in the trailers. Not to mention the terrible food.

And people say us utility workers have it made

 

[Lock N Load]

Wow what a crazy trip!

We were dispatched to Worcester Massachusetts to ride out Sandy then helped National Grid with their outages in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. We then were sent to Long Island until I came home last Sunday. I think I got a whole 10 days of work out of this storm compared to 9 with Hurricane Isaac in New Orleans.

Safe to say this ol country boy had a culture shock up North (my first ever trip up there) but the experience wasn't bad. The people in and around Worcester were great to us and I didn't have much interaction with people in Long Island.

We slept in tractor trailers the whole trip (bunk beds three beds high all the way down) sucked and I think I had 2 showers the whole week I was stuck in the trailers. Not to mention the terrible food.

And people say us utility workers have it made

The main thing is that you were able to help some people that needed help real bad. Good deeds always make your life better. I found that to be true, in my life time so far. Sorry you had to give up showers and good beds. Look what the people you helped had to give up!
I am glad you came to New Orleans, Louisiana to help us with our storm recovery. Thanks for your help.
Many Regards,
Lock N Load.

 

[powerlineman80]

Well you have to remember I leave a wife at home to take care of everything too and she doesn't generally handle our bills and all that jazz too so it causes mass confusion here when I have to leave but she is getting better at it.

Yes I love my job. Even though we have some of the worst conditions to live in while on the road (most of the time we have hotels so it's not that bad) we still love our job. In bed around midnight (if we're lucky) and up by 4:30am to be back at it. You turn into a robot after about a week and get used to it, except for not having a shower.

The biggest thing for me was the DRIVE! Took us 23 hours to get up there.... The people of Massacusetts were great to us and I would go back in a minute to help.

Yea Isaac was a weird one too. I was in Bucktown right where the 17th Street Canal breached during Katrina. They were great to me as well.

 

[ignomirello]

Thanks!!!

Well you have to remember I leave a wife at home to take care of everything too and she doesn't generally handle our bills and all that jazz too so it causes mass confusion here when I have to leave but she is getting better at it.

Yes I love my job. Even though we have some of the worst conditions to live in while on the road (most of the time we have hotels so it's not that bad) we still love our job. In bed around midnight (if we're lucky) and up by 4:30am to be back at it. You turn into a robot after about a week and get used to it, except for not having a shower.

The biggest thing for me was the DRIVE! Took us 23 hours to get up there.... The people of Massacusetts were great to us and I would go back in a minute to help.

Yea Isaac was a weird one too. I was in Bucktown right where the 17th Street Canal breached during Katrina. They were great to me as well.

THANKS for helping us here in the Northeast

 

[Lock N Load]

Well you have to remember I leave a wife at home to take care of everything too and she doesn't generally handle our bills and all that jazz too so it causes mass confusion here when I have to leave but she is getting better at it.

Yes I love my job. Even though we have some of the worst conditions to live in while on the road (most of the time we have hotels so it's not that bad) we still love our job. In bed around midnight (if we're lucky) and up by 4:30am to be back at it. You turn into a robot after about a week and get used to it, except for not having a shower.

The biggest thing for me was the DRIVE! Took us 23 hours to get up there.... The people of Massacusetts were great to us and I would go back in a minute to help.

Yea Isaac was a weird one too. I was in Bucktown right where the 17th Street Canal breached during Katrina. They were great to me as well.

Good luck to you and your family. May God bless you all.
Thanks again for all you do and have done to help all of the people you have helped!!!
Many Regards,
Lock N Load.

 

[Sloppy Pockets]

Thanks for helping us up north, Powerline.

The situation is still real bad in the Rockaways, almost two weeks aftler the storm. There are a lot of impoverished elderly folks living down there. Nobody is watching out for them. My oldest boy lives in Brooklyn and has been volunteering there on his days off. My nurse daughter went down for three days to help. It's a mess, but I gotta say, I'm mighty proud of my kids.

My son said there are old folks that haven't made it out of their highrise apartments in over ten days. He delivered diabetes meds to an old lady who has been basically trapped on the tenth floor since before Sandy made landfall. He has been bringing food, flashlights, blankets, water, etc. to folks who might not survive if not for the volunteers.

My son's employer, Blue Bottle Coffee, is donating ALL revenue from all of their NYC stores today. In the meantime, FEMA is doing basically nada for these poor old folks. So, if you live in NY, stop at a Blue Bottle Cafe and help refill their coffers. Best cuppa Joe in town, bar none.

 

[powerlineman80]

That's nuts Sloppy. You could really tell nobody in NY/NJ was ready for a hurricane. A lot didn't heed the warnings and paid the price. Of course the South never learned their lesson until Katrina. National Grid was alittle better prepared but Long Island Power Authority was totally unprepared and of course National Grid is responsible for that. Long Island was a cluster-**** and they only made it worse. Had another lineman from Florida attacked by some guy mad about his power and received a broken jaw, facial fractures, and a shattered cheek bone. Talk about crazy.

From what I'm hearing today most of the other crews are coming back home as well so the restoration is winding down. Hopefully FEMA wakes up and does their job...

 

[pt109]

That's nuts Sloppy. You could really tell nobody in NY/NJ was ready for a hurricane. A lot didn't heed the warnings and paid the price. Of course the South never learned their lesson until Katrina. National Grid was alittle better prepared but Long Island Power Authority was totally unprepared and of course National Grid is responsible for that. Long Island was a cluster-**** and they only made it worse. Had another lineman from Florida attacked by some guy mad about his power and received a broken jaw, facial fractures, and a shattered cheek bone. Talk about crazy.

From what I'm hearing today most of the other crews are coming back home as well so the restoration is winding down. Hopefully FEMA wakes up and does their job...

Sitting at a diner in Biloxi when I was a kid...they just had stools...
..got into a conversation with the man on my left..he was a lineman.

He was working in northern Louisiana when Betsy (I think) hit the Gulf
Coast....came back to Biloxi to find his house, wife, and two children
were washed out into the Gulf.
The way he told me was like many country people do, straight-forward,
no phony emoting...if he had've asked me for my car I would've given
him the keys and the ownership.

Here's a song for you, your friends, and that man in Biloxi...
https://www.google.com/url?url=http...county&usg=AFQjCNEj70_7O7rgbvSXi7bHyaART-TZQA

 

[powerlineman80]

Yep know the song well. There is not many about us out there so we know the ones that are

Yea that's how it goes with us. We don't "have time" to fix things around the house before we leave as we are on call 24/7 and are expected to leave right away with hardly any warning. If we are in harms way then we have to hope our family can do what is needed without us. That is what the media wont put out either. I was working an ice storm in Arkansas in 2000/2001 and a F4 tornado hit just West of our county back here in Alabama. Talk about a lonely feeling as we don't get to see the news, etc. and I had no idea if the family as ok until I called to check in the NEXT morning.

Only bad thing I've heard about the Sandy trip was that lineman in Florida that got attacked. I think he had surgery today and he had a broken jaw, cracked cheek bone, and multiple facial fractures. All because a customer was mad over his power. Sad.