Ground Breaking Soon

[kodydog]

Everything was going great on this project until now. Yesterday was four weeks that we have been waiting for power. Monday a bucket truck pulled up. The guy got out and walked over to the meter box. On the way back I met him and told him how happy I was to see him. He told me there is no wire.

So now I'm looking at him like duh. I told him I was told by the guy who did the estimate that Duke Power would supply the wire. He said no, A subcontractor (supplied by the power company) digs the ditch and supplies the wire. Now I'm looking at him and thinking, then what are you doing here?

So he leaves. Rose calls the guy who gave us the estimate 4 months ago (keep in mind we already paid to have the power hooked up). He told her the ditch digger would be here either Friday (yesterday) or Monday. So lets see, so far we have had 4 guys show up and no power yet.

1. The power company estimator.
2. The guy who marks existing underground wires.
3. Another guy who marked where the new wire will go.
4. And the guy in the bucket truck. Nice guy by the way.

Now 2 more people need to come before we get power. And the final code inspection.

About a month ago we upholstered two chairs for Chuck Clemons, our State House Representative. Duke Power is a regulated company. Chuck told me if there is ever anything he can do just give him a call and he gave me his card. If the ditch digger does not show up Monday would I be out of line to see if Chuck can help? Or do I just need to be patient?

[gene]

I like the prayer, "Dear God, please give me patience. And hurry up about it!)

I don't think your state rep is going to be of any help.

If this is your first problem, that in itself is something to be grateful for. It doesn't get the electricity turned on, but it may help your blood pressure stay down, at least to a manageable level.

Here's something you probably do not want to do. If, however, you do, make sure Rose gets a video of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4R_7ZzLiHp8

I've enjoyed reading about the progress on your shop.

[sofadoc]

It wouldn't hurt to give ole Chuckie a call. Maybe he can get you moved up the list a little.

One of my regular customers was our mayor for many years. When I had problems, I could call her, and someone would be at my shop faster than you could cuss a cat.

[sofadoc]

1. The power company estimator.
2. The guy who marks existing underground wires.
3. Another guy who marked where the new wire will go.
4. And the guy in the bucket truck. Nice guy by the way.

Now 2 more people need to come before we get power. And the final code inspection.

Reminds me of the joke about the 2 city workers in a truck. One guy would get out and dig a hole, and 10 minutes later the other guy would get out and cover the hole up. They continued doing this every 50 feet for several miles.

A man observing all this asked them why. One of them replied "Well, we're normally a 3 man crew......the guy that plants the trees is sick today".

[gene]

It's too late for you now kodyD, but maybe on your expansion project.

https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/7e53pk/i_laid_a_concrete_foundation_for_a_shed_today_and/

gene

[gene]

SofaD, I used to laugh at those government worker jokes. But as I get older and my taxes continue to go up, and I see how wasteful our government is, I can no longer laugh.

gene

[byhammerandhand]

June of 2016 the bridge was out for repair one road over.  My street was not the designated detour, but a lot of people used it anyway* A semi made a turn at the corner, did not realize the ditch was there and tipped it over on the power pole.   Within a day (but not sooner) a replacement pole was up and power restored.    Drove by this morning and noticed the old post is still there, all shattered and 4 feet away from the new one.

Last Xmas eve day, at 3 am, about 1/2 mile down that side road, clear and straight, a guy ran off the road and hit a telephone pole.  Power company sent out a sub-contractor, determined it needed a new pole and transformer and at 8pm, had power back.  Merry Christmas

Earlier this year, the road one over had a power outage and needed 17 poles replaced.   Don't really know what happened there because road was closed most of the day.

Love living in the country.

* Neighbors complained, "There's so much traffic now."   Geez, a car every minute instead of every 5 minutes?   I got 20,000+ cars by my last house every day.

[kodydog]

Last summer one of the major roads coming into town was getting a badly needed repave. Often the road would be down to one lane. Impatient truck drivers decided my neighborhood would be a good way to by-pass stalled traffic. The problem is our intersections are too small for some of those big simi's. The truck drivers would swing wide onto the empty lot across the street but the back tires would still roll across my lawn. Its amazing they didn't knock down the stop sign. Every time I saw one coming I would run out into my yard, jump up and down, shake my fist and yell look what you're doing to my lawn. I felt like Walter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D60yjEbQnDg

[kodydog]

Monday went by and no sign of the ditch digger. Rose called the power company and they told her, because of the storms this year they are sometimes backed up 8 weeks or more. Gaaaa.

Tuesday I called and got a message saying they are all on vacation until next week. Bah. I left an unhappy message.

Today Rose and I returned from our last delivery before Thanksgiving. As we turned the corner I saw a truck, a trailer and a backhoe in front of our shop. The hour was 3:00 and I had given up any chance of having the power line installed until next week. But there they were. And they got the job done. Now Duke Power needs to hook it to the transformer. Hopefully next week. I'm a happy camper.

[kodydog]

Today a bucket truck shows up and I'm thinking, hot damn here comes power. It was the same guy from a week ago who couldn't hook up the power because the ditch haden't been dug and there was no wire. He takes one look and says there is no pedestal. A pedestal is a box that splits the power between my house and the shop. I'm like just damn. He keeps looking at it trying to figure out whats going on. He finally says he will make some calls and try to get someone out later today. Now I'm thinking yeah right.

At 3:00 a bigger bucket truck shows up with two guys, the pedestal and heaver gauge cable. And they get to work. By 4:30 we have power. So cool.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/3OCOdhf0FudsnEqh2

https://photos.app.goo.gl/txnpsPLGRgCdwde83

[kodydog]

This afternoon a young lady from the town of High Springs pulls up. We told her we have all our permits. She said she is not code enforcement but her job is to ride around town and look for new building that are not registered on the tax rolls. She measured the shop and leaves. That didn't take long. We are now officially paying taxes on our new shop.

[65Buick]

Well... it had to happen at some point.

Sure looks nice.

[kodydog]

The last code inspection was completed today. Its official. Now the real work begins. I built a small shed last weekend to store my gas powered tools. This weekend I need to dig a ditch and install the phone line. Then I need to build the partition wall and work benches. I have tools in storage I haven't used in two years. I can't wait to get the whole thing set up.

I still have some chairs I need to get done before Christmas. A cold front is coming Wednesday. Sure wish I was in that new shop.

[SteveA]

That's funny - a cold front is coming !   We're in the 30's today on Friday with possible snow on Saturday.  Send some of that stuff you call cold this way LOL
I hope you're thinking about the grand opening and the Catered meal w/plane tickets this group will need to be there with you guys
SA

[kodydog]

I'll provide the meal but your going to have to provide your own transportation. Hamburgers and hotdogs okay? Low budget Grand Opening. A truckload of snow would be nice for the kiddos.

The funny thing is it took 7 people and 7 trips to get the power hooked up. And every year the power company asks for rate increases.