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Old 03-08-2007, 04:19 PM   #1
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tip: do not vacation in iowa in march!

as many of you know i work for a midwest utility company that has a name that starts with a capital A.

i just got done with a weeks worth of work doing restoration after a rather nasty ice storm.

here are some photos showing my march vacation in iowa.

enjoy.

john
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Old 03-08-2007, 04:23 PM   #2
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this is a shot of what passes for a side road in iowa, they mean it when they say enter at your own risk!

we made it about 300 feet with tire chains on, had to get pulled back out by a 4 wheel drive international dump truck.

basicly mud with some corn stalks mixed in. luckily it got colder and the road froze up so we could drive on it after we chain sawed the downed poles out of the way.

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Old 03-08-2007, 04:25 PM   #3
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Looks like some of the backroads here on the CO plains ~ no thanks!

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Old 03-08-2007, 04:26 PM   #4
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more broken stuff
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Old 03-08-2007, 04:29 PM   #5
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new poles set and laying up wire...
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Old 03-08-2007, 04:36 PM   #6
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day 3, more broken stuff, reinforcements arrive and saw some pigs! it is iowa after all!
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Old 03-08-2007, 04:41 PM   #7
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day four same same, new poles lay up wire after digging it out of the ditch.

the weather started to turn for the worst, 3 day blizzard warning if this wasn't enough fun!
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Old 03-08-2007, 04:51 PM   #8
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our next job was told to us "hey can you guys run over to highway 151 and clear some wire up that is laying in the road" it turned out to be 12 70 foot poles snapped off and laying in the road. now i was not enjoying my vacation much.

did i mention it started to rain?
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Old 03-08-2007, 04:58 PM   #9
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at this point we pooled our resources and put a 20 man crew on this job and got it back up and energized in less than 24 hours. this line fed 3 towns.
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Old 03-08-2007, 05:02 PM   #10
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day six, full blizzard, my drive to work from the motel. en route to conroy iowa. a small outpost, the whole town is running on it's third rental generator. burned up the first two, these are semi truck sized units.
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Old 03-08-2007, 05:04 PM   #11
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forgot the pics
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Old 03-08-2007, 05:06 PM   #12
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John...put in for hurricane duty this fall...at least it is warm

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Old 03-08-2007, 05:08 PM   #13
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since at this point one is thinking this is a real mess, and we were given no maps i had to rely on my trusty laptop with GPS mapping. here is a screen shot, i can't see much out the window due to the snow but i kinda have an idea where i am!
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Old 03-08-2007, 05:12 PM   #14
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we got our running orders and the wind kicked up to 40 mph.
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Old 03-08-2007, 05:15 PM   #15
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then it got dark and really started to snow...

that is pole laying in the middle of the road.
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Old 03-08-2007, 05:20 PM   #16
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day 6 1/2 weather got better but it got cold and the wind still blew.
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Old 03-08-2007, 05:26 PM   #17
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day 7 we have to unload unneeded material in cedar rapids and head home, only 6 hours and it is miller time!

that is me on the left in the last photo.

john
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Old 03-08-2007, 05:33 PM   #18
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so to sum it up, don't vacation in iowa in march, it is not hospitable.

choose labor day weekend, it looks something like this instead! our annual run to davenport. much nicer!

john
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Old 03-08-2007, 05:54 PM   #19
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Thanks John,
Interesting series. I think I'll heed your advice...
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Old 03-08-2007, 06:06 PM   #20
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Awh, you're making me homesick. Naw, don't miss it at all!! Thanks for the trip down the frozen memory lane.

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