Subj : Howdy! To : Daryl Stout From : Barry Martin Date : Sun Feb 08 2026 15:05:00 Hi Daryl! BM> You made the news up here! DS> We fared much better then portions of Mississippi, Louisiana, DS> Alabama, and Tennessee. Good! The damage is bad enough. then compounded with snow and freezing conditions. BM> ('Jack knife' or 'jackknife') ...Yes, take a curve a hare too BM> fast, get pushed by a gust of wind, loose traction and there BM> goes that load. DS> Everyone thinks they can stop just as quick on a wet, snowy, or DS> icy pavement, as they can on dry. Definitely a 'nope!' Even dry pavement can be a bit slippery. I'll admit to being a bit of an "anal orifice" when driving: if I don't feel comfortable driving the speed limit I won't -- others can blow their horns, make rude gestures, etc., all they want -- I'm concerned about my life and well-being, not theirs. I will attempt to be nice and allow them to pass, etc., - their risk! -- but if I need to make a left-hand turn in a few blocks I'm moving over (with blinker) when necessary BM> Good news on not loosing power -- a few hours in the spring or BM> fall not a problem (generally) whereas even an hour (or less) BM> in the middle of a summer heat wave or winter sub-freezing can BM> be deadly. DS> The power company came through, and trimmed a lot of trees that DS> were too close to power lines...including some on my property. Yes, MidAmerican Energy does that also excpet for 'on the property': they will do the right-of-way (here between the backyards) but not the drop from the pole to the house. Darn: right at the corner the neighbour's scrub tree is going into my lines. BM> With that much damage it does take a much longer time. When I BM> had the derecho a few years back the cause of the power outage BM> here at the house (and neighbourhood) was a tree snapped, BM> breaking the high-voltage transmission line and blowing a BM> sub-station fuse. Normally would have been a few hours without BM> power; because of the thousands of repairs needed to the BM> overall power grid took five days, and 'mine' was placed BM> towards the top of the repair list because of a downed wire BM> (potentially fatal if touched). DS> That's why they say "Always assumed downed wires are DS> ENERGIZED". That's a bit too much power for the bunny, though. Yes: an absolute case of 'better safe than sorry'. I knew the line was dead but still marked it off and warned the neighbours. Just because this time the line was off doesn't mean next time it will be. BM> The consonants provide fiber? DS> F, B, and R of it, anyway. Ah! ¯ ® ¯ BarryMartin3@MyMetronet.NET ® ¯ ® .... I eat only the vowels of alphabet soup. Why? Sometimes. --- MultiMail/Win32 v0.47 þ wcECHO 4.2 ÷ ILink: The Safe BBS þ Bettendorf, IA þ RNET 2.10U: ILink: Techware BBS þ Hollywood, Ca þ www.techware2k.com --- QScan/PCB v1.20a / 01-0462 * Origin: ILink: CFBBS | cfbbs.no-ip.com (454:1/1) .