Ice Storm '08

[Darth_Rob]

So yeah, we were hit pretty hard from that ice storm. We are out of power, my job is out of power...so we are living with my parents until power is restored in our area. Estimates are a few days, up to a week. My cousins living in New Hampshire live in a very rural area, and guaranteed to be out of power for a week, so they are going to be staying at my parents also. Its gonna be a cramped house...

[DarthTofu]

That sucks. I hope you brought your PS3 or Wii with you, Rob!

 

BTW: It's getting cold down here, too. All the way down to *checks thermometer* 72 F! Brrrrrrr!

[Eagle]

What do you mean with "out of power", rob? No electricity?

 

This is hard to understand that the country which owns the most sophisticated weapons systems is still unable to provide a proper power network for its citizens.

 

I know it wont take long and Tex will chime in to say smth against that, but that wont help, wouldnt it.

[DarthTofu]

It's a fundemental problem all over the place, mate. You can bury the power lines in newer areas, but some areas still rely on older, above-ground power. Same goes for a lot of the folks down here- we live on an island, so you can't dig too deep before you hit water. Water + high voltage electricity = bad. Thus, we have to have the aboveground power lines that can be damaged in storms, or short-circuited by birds with abnormally large wingspans and the like. It isn't just here, though- it's everywhere.

 

It's kind of like saying, "I have a hard time understanding how a jet that can go faster than the speed of sound can be disabled by something as simple as a goose." There's really no way to design so that that won't happen. Not without a tradeoff, at least.

[Ceorl]

Stoping the goose is easy; just install steel plates in front of the turbines

[Eagle]

Oh, I do remember well that huge blackout you had at the east coast back in 2002(?). Your absolutely outdated powerlines have been shown in our news programs and it was unbelievable. We also do have isles in the North Sea and its so easy to put isolated powerlines under the surface. Just put them in pipes. You may also once have seen these big isolated cables which go right through the sea to provide electricity and enable us to phone to overseas. Thats all nothing new. If your government doesnt want to spend money on that than ki** their a**es.

[DarthTex]

What do you mean with "out of power", rob? No electricity?

 

This is hard to understand that the country which owns the most sophisticated weapons systems is still unable to provide a proper power network for its citizens.

 

I know it wont take long and Tex will chime in to say smth against that, but that wont help, wouldnt it.

and ...

Oh, I do remember well that huge blackout you had at the east coast back in 2002(?). Your absolutely outdated powerlines have been shown in our news programs and it was unbelievable. We also do have isles in the North Sea and its so easy to put isolated powerlines under the surface. Just put them in pipes. You may also once have seen these big isolated cables which go right through the sea to provide electricity and enable us to phone to overseas. Thats all nothing new. If your government doesnt want to spend money on that than ki** their a**es.

OK, I'll bite ...

 

It's nice to know Germany is the top leader in engineering technology and can do everything better than everyone else.

[activating Princess Leia hologram]"Oh, help us Germany, you're our only hope"[hologram off]

 

Satisfied?

 

 

j/k Eagle; it doesn't matter what technologies are available, it depends if the power company has the funds to do it, and if it's cost effective (also you can't compare Gov't vs. private spending). At the old homestead I had problems with the phone lines, and placed a call to have service. I found out from the tech I was one of the "last" houses on the end of the circuit. There was nothing wrong with "my" internal lines, there was something wrong along the main line. So basically, it was cheaper for the phone company to send a tech to my house every time I called about the problem, than fix the actual problem. If I called everyday, it would take a 100+ years for them to break even on a new main phone line. I eventually moved and got cable for the PC .

[Darth_Rob]

I have returned!!! Heres the gist.

 

On Thursday night there was a heavy ice storm all over the northeast U.S., and the ice from the storm either brought down powerlines or brought trees down onto the powerlines. So Friday we had no power, and headed home to keep warm for the night. On Saturday our neighbors (who had stayed up there) had called to tell us the power came back late Friday night. So we got here in the afternoon, and by the time we were here, the power was out again. But it was relatively warm in the apartment still, so we decided to wait it out and see what happened. So we slept in the coldness Saturday night, and woke up this morning to some chilly 49F in our apartment. We decided to wait til later in the afternoon to see what would happen, so we went to the mall for a bit, and by the time we got home, the power was back. Its stayed on since, so I think we are in the clear.

 

The worst part was the loss of heat, and our apartment doesnt have a fireplace. Also, with the loss of electricity, we couldnt go out and buy any portable heaters. Luckily we still had running water, so we were able to keep clean when we were here. The misses aunt lives about 1/2 hour from us, and she doesnt have power yet.

 

So we were lucky to get it back this quickly. The estimates all had it pegged until the middle of the week for our area, but I guess they changed their mind and got to us sooner. So all is well now. But I must say, this is the first time Ive had to live though something like this. It makes you realize how much we take technology for granted, when you think about how we used to survive before electricity and all...

[Slocket]

Ice is real good at weighing down power lines and tree limbs breaking them. Here in the Central North MidWest we get them too often. Tonight the artic blast is below 0 degrees Farenheit with serious wind chill around 35 below zero. Fun. Looks like Hoth. Summer time the humidity is so terrible. Extremes in temperature changes.

 

Does Germany get crappy weather like ours?

[Eagle]

At the old homestead I had problems with the phone lines, and placed a call to have service. I found out from the tech I was one of the "last" houses on the end of the circuit. There was nothing wrong with "my" internal lines, there was something wrong along the main line. So basically, it was cheaper for the phone company to send a tech to my house every time I called about the problem, than fix the actual problem. If I called everyday, it would take a 100+ years for them to break even on a new main phone line. I eventually moved and got cable for the PC .

Ouch! That hurts! But just another example who some companies do work and all their phrases about their so "great service" are just that - phrases and nothing more.

 

After I wrote that above what you have quoted I remembered that two years ago they had some heavy frost up their in Westfalen which made the poles of the powerlines bend downwards and produced a big short circuit where a huge area of Westfalen had to live without electricity for days. That was also another example of how some companies rather tend to leave old things as long as they do work until they feel the need to replace them for something more sophisticated.

[Darth_Rob]

So my job still has no power. Ive been out of work for a week as of today...

[Eagle]

Oh, thats hard. Or do they pay you anyway?

[Darth_Rob]

Im a waiter, so my income comes from tips. I think the manager is negotiating with the corporate offices to see if they will pay us for days we missed due to the power outage, but that wont mean much to me, since my hourly wages are below the minimum wage.

 

The good news is that Im working from open to close on Sunday, and with it being the last weekend before Christmas, we should be getting a lot of business, which will definitely be great.

[DarthTofu]

Good luck with it all, mate, and happy holidays. Things will turn out alright in the end- hope you're nice and warm for the rest of the winter season.

[Eagle]

Heard there is still an ice storm going on. Is it still that bad?

[Darth_Rob]

HAHA. Yeah, my plans of mad money yesterday were foiled by yet another snowstorm. Luckily, we didnt have ice or any power outages. I believe the mid-west US was hit by ice. But yeah, we had a lot of snow again, so the restaurant was dead.

 

Then to make matters worse, the snow storm cancelled the misses' sister's flight in. The misses family is spending Christmas at our apartment, and her sister was coming from Las Vegas last night. She had a stop-over in Boston, and was supposed to transfer in to Albany. However, the Albany flight got canceled, and apparently the airport was not handing out any vouchers for rooms, food, or buses. So once I got off work at 11pm last night, I drove with the misses mother up to Boston in ridiculously bad roads and weather. Needless to say, I got home at 5:30am. It was horrible.

 

And the snow is not over yet. We are supposed to get another big dropping of snow on Christmas Eve, bringing us up to a total accumulation of 2 feet for Christmas!!!

[Slocket]

Yes. we had 2 inches (5 cm) of hard ice here in the Midwest. Temperature was 11 below zero Farenheit , wind about 30 miles per hour. -35 degree wind chill. Fatal stuff if your not in shelter. Survivorman from the TV show should see if he can handle it here for a week outside.

 

Yep another day in paradise. I think Moscow does get worst weather -so that makes me feel better.