Normal life would be good, right now

frankhardy · February 8, 2009 5:28AM

I have been absent for quite some time. On January 26, we had the ice storm of the century in western KY. Some may already know, but I work for the local power company. We have 30,000 customers and 28,000 were without electricity. The first week, the storm did not hit until well into the work week. Our pay period runs from Saturday morning at midnight until the next Saturday morning at midnight. The storm hit late Monday night and early Tuesday morning and I got 65.5 hrs in at work. This past week I have put in 113.5 hrs. I basically got up at 5:00 am and didn't go to bed until midnight or after since I live 30 minutes away from the office. This week looks like I will put in just as many or more hrs. We still have around 9,000 still without power.

We have over 40 crews (over 200 people) in from out of our state to help us. I am a staking engineer and not a line worker, so I take the out of town people to where we need to work, help them, run back and forth for supplies, ride out the rest of the line to search for other problems, and coordinate where everybody goes. I have 15 men from out of town that I am responsible for and it is quite overwhelming.

I just had a quick minute at a computer, so I thought I would check in. I am back at the offices loading up a couple of transformers to take back to my crew.

I would love to just get back to normal life with my family. It looks like there will be another week and a half of this. Can't wait to get back on the boards and talk about cards and what not.

Y'all take care.

rube26105 · February 8, 2009 5:31AM

that sucks shane, i kew you guys got hit hard, we got the freezing rain too , and snow and ice,ect....
its all melted off now, is it melting now? its 55 here, was 10 last week, great getting sick weather

Ladder7 · February 8, 2009 5:36AM

Very few get OT anymore. Enjoy it.

Bosox1976 · February 8, 2009 5:39AM

Good man.

scooperqpr · February 8, 2009 5:41AM

Frank think of all the money you are earning

SoFLPhillyFan · February 8, 2009 5:51AM

Shane -

Thanks for the hard work. I know personally how hard your crews work after a storm like this.

I just came off 12 hours days for the Kentucky operation myself. My job is in Atlanta, but we were running the show from here for our people until they could establish field ops in Kentucky.

The people of Kentucky are to be commended for their response to this storm. They have really stepped up to the plate to help in getting things back to normal.

Keith

nightcrawler · February 8, 2009 6:10AM

Them ice storms are brutal, good luck to you and the rest of the guys.

rube26105 · February 8, 2009 7:36AM

we are currently in the works to build a 20 mile tall wall all along the border so all the cold air and snow stay in canada trent

Stingray · February 8, 2009 7:45AM

My sister-in-law lives in Owensburo, Ky. Not sure if they have power back??

Dboneesq · February 8, 2009 9:33AM

Shane,

I know it must be real tough working all those hours. Try to keep warm and stay healthy! But remember, there are MILLIONS of people who do not have a job right now ... keep that in mind and it might make your tough days a little easier to handle! GOOD LUCK!

frankhardy · February 8, 2009 9:45PM

I've got just a minute to check in. Thanks for the encouragement. I know that the check will come in handy, but it's hard to think about that right now because the task is so large and so many people are surviving without power. We are trying to get the main primary lines up, and I am having to tell people that we can't hook up their service to their house because we can't stop getting the main lines hot. That part stinks. They are begging me to let the crew hook them up, and we just can't do it. Believe me, I am very thankful for my job, but that's not my focus right now. I'm just trying to get people power. We got a couple of hundred people's power on yesterday, and we were pumped up.

Dboneesq · February 8, 2009 10:57PM

Shane ... a few hundred at a time and in a short while everybody will be back in business! GOOD JOB!

TheThrill22 · February 8, 2009 11:08PM

Shane, keep up the good work. Many people are depending on you. As for normal, I too would like that. I lost my job after 25 years and have been off for 6 months. I would sure like to have 'normal' back!

Stingray · February 8, 2009 11:21PM

<< <i>Shane, keep up the good work. Many people are depending on you. As for normal, I too would like that. I lost my job after 25 years and have been off for 6 months. I would sure like to have 'normal' back! >>

I am truly sorry to hear that. You would hope that after 25 years your job would be safe!! I hope that something comes your way in a hurry!!

bigwilli · February 8, 2009 11:28PM

I know how you feel TheThrill22 , I lost my job 5 months ago after 15 years . I try to remain positive but its becoming
nore and more frustrating here in Upstate NY.

jeffcbay · February 8, 2009 11:36PM

I hope things get better for you down in Kentucky. Hang in there man! If you need to purchase any supplies, try Professional Electric Products Company (PEPCO) in Green, Ohio! (shameless plug)

TheThrill22 · February 9, 2009 1:38AM

Thanks Stingray and Bigwilli. I work (worked) in group health care, administering benefits for people. However with all the job losses in our country, not as many folks have health insurance.

stown · February 9, 2009 1:46AM

Anyone else see the irony in this thread?

Rather than reading and posting on internet forums, shouldn't you be working on restoring power to those less fortunate?

jeffcbay · February 9, 2009 1:50AM

Give a brotha a break! lol

TheThrill22 · February 9, 2009 2:00AM

Yea, really...the man worked 113.5 hours in a week! Enjoy your electricity dude, you earned it.

stown · February 9, 2009 2:35AM

Geeze.. Figured a

would show that I was joking.

Trust me, I know exactly where he's coming from. After Ike, I went 2 weeks without power, during the summer (90+ degrees and higher humidity), along with 1MM+ others.

frankhardy · February 16, 2009 10:17PM

Day 22, and we are still at it. We now have the outages down to around 900. I am still working 15 to 16 hrs per day. We are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. One thing that does aggravate me is the lack of national media coverage. As far as structural damage, there were only a few houses that were messed up because of trees. But as far as the electrical grid goes, this was a major disaster. Every (and I mean, every) lineman that I have talked to says that this is the worse than anything they have ever seen. Worse than Katrina and even worse than Hurricane Hugo. I have been with lineman from North Carolina for 2 weeks, and they said that this was more damage to the electrical grid than Hugo.

Anyway, I hope to be back to normal by next week. I still see me working these hours on into next week. We shall see. I am in the office now and headed out the door to the pole yard.

bcwcardz · February 19, 2009 7:10AM

just sittin here in 75 degree weather doin nothin but lookin at the mountains.After hearing all these stories i have no desire to ever go east.Good luck, now you can keep penguins as pets

WinPitcher · February 19, 2009 8:02AM

Shane

hang in there, spring is right around the corner.

Steve

MeteoriteGuy · February 19, 2009 8:03AM

Sounds like a big mess Shane. Kansas got hit with a big ice storm about three years ago. All the trees were touching the ground....it was pretty bad. Trees knocking down lines faster then men could put them up. Workers from Texas and Oklahoma came to help us...so I guess several states have set up like contingency plans.

Anyway, those affected are greatly appreciative in your efforts, keep up the hammer.

Normal life would be good, right now

Comments