If any of you guys are linemen or family, thank you for your service and/or sacrifice. That group may have more of my respect and appreciation than any other single job.

I second that. When we had the ice storm in KY a few years back, linemen worked day and night to get the power back on. A heartfelt thanks from us civilians...

Dad did that sort of work for nearly 40 years.
He's got some stories!

quote:

Originally posted by chongosuerte:
If any of you guys are linemen or family, thank you for your service and/or sacrifice. That group may have more of my respect and appreciation than any other single job.

On the way home from work today I saw about 30 bucket trucks heading South on I-85 toward Florida. All within a 10 mile stretch of highway. Thanks for the work you do.

Some great, hard working guys. I worked for a power company for 10 years and got to know a bunch of them. Tough job with some long hours.




Link to original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDt4HZx4MP4

Ya gotta love pole dancers.

 
The guys who do the emergency work out here are called "Trouble Man". My next door neighbor is an APS Trouble Man. They have to be good trouble shooters, and they are. They work with from the highest power transmission lines to neighborhood drops.
 
 

Indeed.
A Tennessee lineman was killed while working in Texas repairing Harvey damage.

VICTORIA, TX -- A Franklin County man died in Texas Tuesday while working as a lineman assisting with recovery from the devastation of Hurricane Harvey.

Lachlan Brain, a 2013 graduate of Franklin County High School, was in a bucket lift, working a line in Crescent Valley southwest of Houston. He apparently came in contact with a live wire while still in contact with the wire he was working, according to the Victoria County Sheriff's Office.

https://patch.com/tennessee/ac...aking-harvey-repairs

These massive restoration efforts are tough. You work long hours in unfamiliar areas. What usually happens is guys will get tired and complacent, take a break from wearing their rubber gloves for a minute, and that's when they get bit. But the sense of satisfaction from helping people out is very rewarding.
Thanks Chongo, and thank you for everything you do.

The linemen in this area are great. I can't give them enough credit. We lost power at 1:30 am last night and it was back on by 3:30 am. I don't think we've ever been w/o power for more than 4-5 hours and we live 8-9 miles outside of town on a country road. One cold Christmas eve during a severe wind and rain storm we lost power in the middle of the night and I told my wife not to expect power for Christmas day. When we woke up the next morning we had power. I was truly impressed.

My father was a lineman for 43 years in NJ.
I remember as a kid growing up the phone ring all hours of the night for my father to come back to work for emergency calls.
He wold sometimes go to work for days or weeks at a time.

At one time I worked as a construction cable splicer for the phone company. We were always happy to see the electric company linemen come through a head of us. Some of our stuff was heavy, but their stuff was down right scary.

Amen. Our power came back on in the wee hours. Grateful for their work - and for all the folks doing the work that never stops.

We have been watching convoy after convoy of linemen and their trucks on I-10 heading east for the past several days. Just a few weeks ago we saw the same sight going west toward Houston. Those guys get my highest respect and gratitude for the work they do.

quote:

Originally posted by jbcummings:
At one time I worked as a construction cable splicer for the phone company. We were always happy to see the electric company linemen come through a head of us. Some of our stuff was heavy, but their stuff was down right scary.

Lineman for Verizon from 1996-2005. Still carry the title but mostly splice fiber and locate nowadays. Great working relationship with the electric lineman over the years in the DC area. Shared many a hot coffee on the hood of a reel carrier on a cold morning. Heard years ago that electrical lineman looked down on telco lineman, but never saw that at all. I've walked the wood as high as 40-50 ft but the electric guys have gone a bit higher. Bucket trucks are our friends.
Verizon is sending down a small fleet to help out in both Texas & Florida. I was asked. Declined. Pole climbing at 60 would be a bit harder then at 50.

I've not run across much 'looking down' on the telecom guys unless you count when they're 15-20 feet above me. In that case, I'd usually be getting out of their way.

Generally they were good guys and they travel in packs. Considering they train for emergencies, it's nice to have folks like that around when things are more than a bit dicey.