Cottage Status Report: 20200722
We have acquired a ten-foot pole. Or actually, this pole has been around for some time, but it has been living under my radar. It is supposed to be an extension for poles you wish were longer, like brushes for washing stuff on the outside of the house. Or something like that. Whatever its real purpose in life, I have an irresistible urge to go around touching things with it.
The helicopters have been hovering around for the past three days. This usually means the power is out somewhere and the Hydro crew is trying to find the break in the line. It’s not out here, which is good because I just put a cake in the oven.
The other day, when we were in the process of taking the smelly garbage to the transfer station (extensive list of benefits we get for forking over $4500 in taxes: ability to take the garbage to the transfer station when it is open), there were two Hydro trucks blocking the exit from the marina parking lot. One was a regular truck and the other was a bucket truck. There was a guy in the bucket, up by the power line that goes to a pole near the marina store. It looked like he was trying to remove something that was dangling on the line, using a ten-foot pole with a snagging thing on the business end. (Note, this was a different ten-foot pole than the one I have, so don’t be thinking I stole it.) Anyhow, we loaded the stinky garbage into the car and hunkered down to wait until the trucks would let us take advantage of the privilege afforded by our tax dollars.
The bucket guy continued to try to snag whatever was on the line. Turns out he was trying to position it properly rather than remove it. “What’s that thingy for?” I asked. He told me it was an electronic device that would allow them to find out remotely whether or not there was power on the line. Hmmm. Wouldn’t that be obvious by the lack of power at the marina (which the marina would most certainly report)? I guess I don’t understand much about Hydro trouble shooting.
Hydro One (otherwise known as Hydro None) is nice enough to send me texts whenever there is a power outage, with the approximate day and time it’s expected to be restored. This means I get more texts from Hydro None that anybody else I know. Soon I’ll have to add them to my Christmas list. In fact, a text arrived a moment ago. It said “A planned outage near 482 IS 290 is underway. Estimated restoration is under investigation.” One would think customers should get a little more warning about a planned outage. One would also think a planned outage ought to have a planned restoration time. In this instance, one would be wrong. The power, which was not out when the text arrived, went out. I removed the cake from the oven. It is nowhere close to done. As I pondered what to do with a par-baked cake, the power came on. I put the cake back in the oven and crossed my fingers. Hydro None sends me another text. Estimated time of restoration: ten minutes from now. Better check that power-detector thing, Hydro None.
The cake survived though, so all ended well. Now that it’s out of the oven, I’m going to find some things to touch with that ten-foot pole. I’ll let you know how that works out.