Colleen Thomas
Ultrafemme
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2002
- Posts
- 21,545
Ok, lets set the stage for this blunder. Katrina knocked power out all over Jackson. She also knocked out basic services like phone, cable etc. I worked for the phone Co. before becoming disabled. My capacity to move debris, chop up limbs etc. is prety minimal, but I do have a skill that I have been using to help. I've been fixing folk's phones when the trouble is on thier side, i.e. I've been going to the houses of people who can't afford a 135$ Ma bell service charge, elderly folks, members of my folk's church, etc. Word has gotten out and I have done quite a bit.
Today I went over to an elderly church member's trailer to see if I could fix her phone. Now I don't have the correct tools for the job. No b-tool, no wire stripper, no voltmeter, but a lot of it is just sight stuff. It's prety easy to see where wind or limbs have broken exterior wire.
This lady lost power and phone. What everyone neglected to tell me was she had phone right up until they cut her power back on. Shocking.
I found her wires, opened the box, ran a new IW from a spare bedroom with some station wire and was about to make my hook up. No wire stirppers. So you just stick the small wires between two teeth, bite down gently and pull. Done it a million times. Did it on my IW. I realized I needed to hook her old IW back in as well, or she would only have dial tone in the spare bedroom. Took the wire, bit down and knocked myself almost out. Electricity, electricity.
Let make sure you understand, it's hot, I'm sweating, my mouth is full of saliva and metal bridge work. Felt like someone hit me with a tickley 2 X 4.
So I crawled under her mobile home, and found, surprise surprise the problem. During the storm, she must have been on the recieving end of a very strong power surge. Powerful enough, to say, arc between some electrical wire and the phone wire some genius had wire tied to it. The arc, melted the thin insulation on the telephone wire and basically, welded it to the electrical wire. The reason her phones went out when power came on was because her telephone wires are now carrying a good percentage of the same current her outlets in her house are.
My mouth hurts, my tits hurt, my chest hurts, my shoulders ache. On the plus side, my sinuses are clear.
Another instance of Murphy's Law going out of it's way to smack me.
In the midst of so much tragedy, I hope everyone can get a smile from katrina's little surprise for Colly.
*HUGS* all around
Today I went over to an elderly church member's trailer to see if I could fix her phone. Now I don't have the correct tools for the job. No b-tool, no wire stripper, no voltmeter, but a lot of it is just sight stuff. It's prety easy to see where wind or limbs have broken exterior wire.
This lady lost power and phone. What everyone neglected to tell me was she had phone right up until they cut her power back on. Shocking.
I found her wires, opened the box, ran a new IW from a spare bedroom with some station wire and was about to make my hook up. No wire stirppers. So you just stick the small wires between two teeth, bite down gently and pull. Done it a million times. Did it on my IW. I realized I needed to hook her old IW back in as well, or she would only have dial tone in the spare bedroom. Took the wire, bit down and knocked myself almost out. Electricity, electricity.
Let make sure you understand, it's hot, I'm sweating, my mouth is full of saliva and metal bridge work. Felt like someone hit me with a tickley 2 X 4.
So I crawled under her mobile home, and found, surprise surprise the problem. During the storm, she must have been on the recieving end of a very strong power surge. Powerful enough, to say, arc between some electrical wire and the phone wire some genius had wire tied to it. The arc, melted the thin insulation on the telephone wire and basically, welded it to the electrical wire. The reason her phones went out when power came on was because her telephone wires are now carrying a good percentage of the same current her outlets in her house are.
My mouth hurts, my tits hurt, my chest hurts, my shoulders ache. On the plus side, my sinuses are clear.
Another instance of Murphy's Law going out of it's way to smack me.
In the midst of so much tragedy, I hope everyone can get a smile from katrina's little surprise for Colly.
*HUGS* all around