Verizon Dumping Usenet Servers

... until the kids jump in the pool and play with powerful water guns. Then that "idea" quickly mutates into an ugly lawsuit.

me.

Tree trimming is done by seperate crews or subcontractors. Why tie up a line bucket when you need a hydraulic chain saw with 25 HP to cut big limbs in a hurry? Both are specailized vehicles that carry all the suppliesthey need to do a specific job. It would be pig ignorant to tie up a line bucket for tree removal. Some carry a small saw for emergency repairs, but who can afford to tie up a trained crew to do grunt work? You should see a six foot hydraulic chain saw cut a foot thick limb in seconds.

Those are scattered all over the county. At first it was the transition point from fiber to copper. Then they added more to add DSL.

Some old central office buildings were a full city block, and two story to house the 16 foot relay racks.

These were poles in Europe and over there the whole PCB issue became a concern much earlier. So (hopefully ...) they didn't use old transformer oil. Also, only the part that goes into the gound was usually creosoted. Sometimes not even that, they also had a technique where they smeared tar onto that section, wrapped tar paper around into the freshly applied goo, basted that with some more tar, and in it went.

However, there isn't much above-ground electricity grid left over there. Most of the poles I climbed had other purposes such as carrying an antenna.

me.

The big stuff is done by a contract company here as well. Like when they do the regular clearance runs or must clear for a re-route. But when little stuff needs to be done such as branches entangled with the low-voltage side that goes to the weatherheads I've seen PG&E crews do that with the bucket truck. After all, they'll have to pay extra if they called out the contractor every time.

Yeah, I remember those. Big old diesel in the basement. Plus they had boxes and boxes of spray cans sitting in a corner.

You can sure be dense. How is a 'water gun' going to penetrate insulated power lines, telephone lines of any other insulated cable? I have never seen non insulated secondaries. The one bare wire in a triplex drop is the ground wire.

I'd like to see a 'water gun' that will shoot a 25 foot stream without breaking into a string of droplets.

If someone is brain damaged enough to put a pool under a power line, they deserve to die.

In our neck of the woods the top three are bare. Those happen to carry the high voltage. This has caused a few fires in the past, mainly when large hawks got into them, were instantly fried and the smoldering remains fell into dry grass.

Piece of cake. You should get out there and play some more :-)

I have one similar to the version the kid in this pool used. Basically looks like 3ft of tube. You hold the tip or the whole thing under water, pull out the inside PVC tube which acts like a piston, and then have at it. Once my wife got me with it clear across out (large) pool. So I had to have my day of reckoning. One night I came home and saw my wife working in the yard. Left the car quietly at the street, tiptoed to where that water shooter was, loaded it in the pool (you don't even hear a splash). My wife was at least 50ft away. Aimed, pushed piston in, and a long solid string of water flew threw the air. It was amazing. Seconds later a scream .... she was drenched :-)

Easily said. This property had only one backyard, like usual. And at the easement at the end of the yard was the power line. Where do you supposed they put the pool? A doughboy out in the street?

It's against the law/code in Arizona.

...Jim Thompson

That isn't all that potent. There are far worse things active at ppb levels. The now banned beta-naphthylamine for instance. Some people are immune to its effects and others hypersensitive. The exact form of cancer induced is so specific that traceback to source was possible.

I wouldn't bet on that. They were (unintentionally) feeding waste PCB transformer oil to Belgian chickens and pigs as recently as 2002 when I lived there. The government tried to hide it until a vet went public after large numbers of chickens developed very severe fatal chloracne. Chickens, eggs, pork etc vanished overnight in the ensuing food scare (which was a genuine serious risk to human health). It hit the headlines as a dioxin scare (a trace impurity in the PCBs). Most chemists I knew were a lot more worried about the major PCB component.

It is still fairly common in Belgium and rural part of the UK. Almost nothing above ground now in towns or cities though.

Regards, Martin Brown

It is everywhere. Its only common sense. News story at noon in Orlando showed where a neighbor's tree fell over a fence and into a family's swimming pool just seconds after their son had climbed out. They had been trying for years to have the tree removed, but as usual, the greenies blocked it.

Anyone fool enough to put a pool under power lines needs do jo to jail. Now you are claiming the top three wires are 25 feet off the ground? You must live in a land of midgets.

And you're still breathing?

Then call the building inspector to condemn the pool. They DID GET A PERMIT, didn't they?

If the yard is that small, they should never be allowed to put in a pool.

BTW, I had a friend in Ohio who had two front yards, according to the city. You were only allowed to put a satellite dish in your back yard. Lots of arguing ensued.

I didn't say 25ft, you said 25ft. Don't turn stuff around. All I said was that you can easily shoot 25ft in the air with those things, and then some.

As far as I know :-)

Sure, no pool builder puts in a pool sans permit. It wasn't under the lines, I said the lines were on the _easement_ at the _end_ of the yard. But: With air-charged water guns you can shoot clear across a two-story house. The kid couldn't have quite reached the street but the HV lines with ease, and he almost did (a pole got wet almost to the top).

But they did. Several such pools in this neighborhood where the connector lines are.

Whoops :-)

A dose of reality:

Quote "Any electrical wiring run over a pool or spa must be at least 22 ½ feet above the water level. This includes power lines and broadband wiring communications systems. Clearance height above diving boards is not less than 14 ½ feet above the platform or diving board, whichever is the highest."

So, there.

So there, what? They require a clear zone, and its damn stupid to put a pool that close to any power lines. That's why ladders, antenna masts and some tools come with those stupid yellow warning labels to watch out for wire. You complain about other regulations, then excuse poor planning just to accommodate a pool?

That's like the TV news vans with a telescoping mst for their STL antennas. There are warning labels by every door, warning yo not to set up near a power line. At least one station lost an employee in spite of the warnings when they set up to cover a story. The reported insisted they move the van, so it was moved under 7200 volt lines. The person died when climbing out of the van to see why the antenna didn't go all the way up.

Not much of a clear zone in there, I'd say. It does not matter whether you think it's stupid or not. The code is the code.

And the code is never wrong?

Sometimes I think it is. But permit folks, inspectors, insurance people and the like go with one thing: The code. T'is life.

Easy as pie - all you need to do is establish a laminar flow before the water leaves the nozzle.

It's done routinely in fountains and big water displays.

Hope This Helps! Rich

Well, I've just signed up for news.eternal-september.org.

Kewl! Screw Verizon, albeit I should ask them if I get a break on the bill.

Cheers! Rich

So you can only post in September ... ? :-)

You won't get one. They know that nearly all other ISP have dumped Usenet as well :-(