A lineman working with spikes and a belt. Didn’t know anybody still did that.
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They say that Louis XIV had the inscription Ultima Ratio Regum cast into all the cannon of the French Army. It means “The Ultimate Argument of Kings,” and that always struck me as one of the most honest and up-front things any ruler or would-be ruler ever said. “We can dress it up prettier than this, but when it comes down to the unvarnished truth this is what it’s about: You’ll do as I say or I’ll send my goons to kill you.”
I thought about that for a long time. If there’s an ultimate argument, it seems only logical that there must be an ultimate answer. For years I thought the ultimate answer must be the bullets in my rifle, but it never seemed quite right. I’ve got bullets – he’s got frigging Cannon Balls. I mean, if there were three hundred million rifles throwing bullets at him, then maybe. But we all know that’s not going to happen. So if there’s an ultimate answer to his ultimate argument, it sure as hell ain’t bullets.
It finally came to me – and that’s when I abandoned the city and most of my stuff, and gave all that was behind me a good stiff Randian Shrug.
The ultimate answer to kings is not a bullet, but a belly laugh.
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Previous OPSEC Violations
Well, if’n ya can’t get the bucket truck where ya need it. Always wanted to try it on a dead pole; no desire to get anywhere near that stuff that hums ‘n crackles.
Given how careful they were being with insulators and such I did not have the impression it was a dead pole. They had two bucket trucks there but the one guy was using spikes so I guess there wasn’t room for two buckets. They transferred the lines from an old pole to a new one and then chainsawed down the old one in pieces.
Cumberland Electric Membership Corp. (the little local outfit from which I buy my lightning) has a bunch of poles at their office, on which their linemen train, & occasionally hold competitions. Out in the sticks, at least, it’s still necessary. As Robert said, there are some places you can’t get a bucket truck.
I’ll take beatings for $500, Alex.
Treat it as though it’s live.
Good equipment – gaffs and boots – reduce but do not eliminate the discomfort. Dress for the ride down and resist the urge to hug the pole on the way.
Joel: Oh, yeah, insulation is a good thing. Don’t you just love watching other people do stuff that no way in heck you would do? 🙂 Linemen earn their money. I led the local power guys to a cutout that was melting and clobbering the entire radio spectrum. The new guy went up the pole while the safety guy kept up the mantra “Remember, don’t put your arms over your head”. It was interesting. For a value of interesting that makes a certain orifice pucker slightly.
Pat: I never climbed but had an aquaintance that did. He said “burning a pole” meant he had to pick splinter out of his hide for waay too long. Apparently, one hugs a pole just once…
I climbed once, or tried to, just so I could say I had. Many years ago. Had a landscaper friend in Florida who used spikes to climb coconut palms that needed trimming. Turns out that climbing with spikes is one of those things a man without an ankle is absolutely not qualified to do. I got halfway up a respectable tree before I decided not to find out what hugging the tree feels like.
Lean back and dig in. Do not hug the pole.