Whoops...

Well, here's the un-whoops....l

 

Some guy hauling a load of poly pipe from one of the plants here had a bad morning...

 

R O W crew is trimming the powerlines below our company office. They had this nice shiny new cutter working. I guess the operator found out that tracks will get stuck also...

 

Our electric Co-Op is getting after the ROW in our area and I’m happy about that. They are extremely prompt when we do get a power outage and it’s very much appreciated! The crew that is doing the work this go around is contracted and not the Co-Op employees. This crew took 4 days at our place and in the past it has been done in one day! I agreed to let them use a forestry mulcher for the limbs instead of a chipper and truck. Won’t do that again, it left a mell of a Hess! Not anything like I’ve seen on videos where the forest floor looks like it’s ready to plant grass! It looks like I’m going to need to try and use a root/rock rake to get the bigger stuff off and them move it with the loader bucket. Or, do I call the Co-Op and get them to bring back the mulcher and do a better job? I really hate to be “that guy” but don’t need another project, got enough of my own to keep me amply busy.

PS. The power line runs through a pasture. We’re not raising any animals on it anymore but do keep it mowed and maintained.

 

I'd call em back personally...since you agreed to let them use that machine, the least they can do is to do it right for you!

 

Don't be scared to hold people/businesses to a higher standard. If you don't complain, they probably think they're doing a great job.

 

Pictures??

 

^^^^^^this^^^^^

We have 2 power line ROW's on our place, local co-op and GA Power transmission line. They ran the mulcher one time over my cousin's place that we mow, he called them back to re-mulch it. After I saw how they did, we took our grapple and piled the limbs in an area where it didn't matter what it looked like

 

I did call the Co-Op. Also called the BOD member who lives close by. Not long after I got a call from the supervisor over the crew doing the work in the area. He will be out Monday morning to take a look at this mess. If this was in a pine plantation planting I wouldn’t give a rat’s *** but we look out of our back great room and have to see this mess. I am beginning to sound like a real pain. I’m not willing to clean up someone else’s disaster..Heck I’ve got enough of my own to deal with

They have been the most disorganized crew I’ve ever seen. Were here yesterday and it took them most of a day to limb and take down a small water oak. Must have had 5 guys with one or two coming and going with the bucket truck, grapple and small dump making at least 5 trips. Still didn’t clean up well at all. Left the trunk and larger limbs where they dropped, which is right in front of the path we take with the SBS to drive to the back pasture and pond!Whatever the Co-Op is paying for this is obviously way too much. Oh, they don’t work on Friday.

Done with this rant but I am HOT!!

 

Sounds like very little respect for the property or property owners.

 

Yes, not bad guys but I suspect they do very little other than big power line jobs and don’t do any “residential” type of work so they haven’t been schooled on the differing environments. While we are rural, still keep our pastures and such in very good shape. Like I said before, I’m not super picky but to leave such a huge mess that I have to spend my limited strength and energy on with so much else to do was just too much

 

Had my meeting with the crew supervisor and they came back to run the forestry mulcher again, haven’t been out there to see the results but he wasn’t there very long so my expectations are not high They did clear up one mess that they left by the power pole so that’s good. I think the biggest problem is that the crew just isn’t well trained and supervision doesn’t show up to check the work while they’re here. When he does show up he’s not inspecting the work just giving them their next location. Worst cluster of a work crew that I’ve ever experienced! I’m not hard to get along with if folks just do satisfactory work….not expecting perfection If work was checked every so often then it wouldn’t take multiple trips to finish the job, instead they have taken 4 1/2 days which should have taken one. Oh well, hopefully no power outages from downed limbs here and the lines probably won’t be cleared again for at least a couple years

 

Not sure if this really falls into the "whoops" category, however I figured people could use a good chuckle on a Sunday (at my expense).

Been wanting to cut the grass and have been trying to get a time between all the rain we've been having. Rained yesterday (again) and they forecasted thunderstorms this afternoon, so I took a chance and went out to tackle the grass around ten this morning. Of course, the battery on the riding mower was dead (new mower last summer) but no problem. Slogged back in and got the jump box. Went to work cutting and when it came time to cut around some of the apple trees, I was trying to be careful as certain spots are very boggy (got stuck there last time cutting). Well, despite being careful I still got stuck. No problem, hopped off, put the mower in neutral, and started to shift it over onto more solid ground (just great for my hip/back). When I went to lift the front, I accidentally grabbed the bottom of the hood instead of the frame and the hood popped off. I stumbled back a bit and my boots stayed where they were in the mud and I was now sinking about 5-6 inches into the muck in my socks. (As a note here, due to hip/back issues I have a lot of difficulty bending so have moved to slip on boots instead of lace up...note to self, not good in mud). At this point I felt like I was on an episode of the Benny Hill show.

Anyway, I put the hood back on, finished lifting and moving the mower and got on and went to start it and nothing...again. Sat there for a minute and then shrugged, slogged back to the house in my socks, put on some footwear and got the jump box (again). Went back and got the mower running and went to put it in reverse and nothing. No forward or reverse. Could only laugh at this point. Slogged back to the house once again and got the ATV, drove over, strapped the steering wheel on the mower to keep the wheels straight and towed the mower back to the house. Crawled underneath and thankfully it wasn't the belt but the connector for the neutral lever had come disconnected from the gear lever. Manually put it in gear and finished mowing (it actually started without the jump box this time...go figure).

There should have been a lot of f-bombs and other expletives, as well as frustration today, but all of this just thankfully kind of rolled off as just another 'day in the life'. Maybe part of my lack of negative emotions came from subconsciously putting things into perspective. I'm rereading Junger's Storm of Steel (WWI trench warfare) and was thinking a lot about what they went through while I was trying to sleep last night. Compared to that, today's series of whoops was more comical than anger inducing (although there was a time...).

Hope you had a good laugh reading this.

 

Funny story and even though you've got a couple years on me, I can relate. Mostly back and hips my joint issues. Similar things happen to me and I'll just talk/laugh it off.. bout all we can do as getting mad/cursing seems to make it worse.

Glad it was just some dirty clothes were the worst that came out of it.

Oh, and my famous last words if I drive the truck over soft ground are "I wont get stuck" Eventually i've learned my lesson.

 

I hope you recovered your shoes that slipped off.

 

Thanks for sharing. Seems like some days are like that.