The General Chat Thread (2025)

OVER…HEAD…POWER…LINES 😢
Yep those words leave me cold and jittery inside!
We still have them. It was a deciding factor in getting solar power cos it drove me bonkers.
Yeah, the power lines into our development are underground, but not the ones that feed ours - overhead power lines are still the norm around here.

Funny story (probably mentioned it before), but we’d moved to Minnesota and lived there for eight years, and most of the power lines are underground, even out in the middle nowhere.

We’d go for a lot of long drives, out from the city to the prairies, up to the big lakes, whatever, and just absolutely stunning, jaw-dropping beauty, very expansive and wide-open, but it always looked just…a little off somehow, and I could never explain what it was.

A few years after moving there, we flew into Bethlehem, Pennsylvania for a long weekend trip, mainly to go to Nazareth (“Pulled into Nazareth, I’s feeling ‘bout half past dead…”), and we drove to the hotel in the dark, got up in the morning, made the drive down to Nazareth, and it hit me:

“THAT’S IT!!!”
“Jesus, you scared the shit outta me! What’s ‘it!’”
“I know what’s wrong with Minnesota,” I said, pointing all around outside, “No damn telephone poles. That’s what they’re missing.”

For me, growing up with them, those poles are an indelible, necessary part of the landscape. Just doesn’t look right without ‘em.
 
Yeah, the power lines into our development are underground, but not the ones that feed ours - overhead power lines are still the norm around here.

Funny story (probably mentioned it before), but we’d moved to Minnesota and lived there for eight years, and most of the power lines are underground, even out in the middle nowhere.

We’d go for a lot of long drives, out from the city to the prairies, up to the big lakes, whatever, and just absolutely stunning, jaw-dropping beauty, very expansive and wide-open, but it always looked just…a little off somehow, and I could never explain what it was.

A few years after moving there, we flew into Bethlehem, Pennsylvania for a long weekend trip, mainly to go to Nazareth (“Pulled into Nazareth, I’s feeling ‘bout half past dead…”), and we drove to the hotel in the dark, got up in the morning, made the drive down to Nazareth, and it hit me:

“THAT’S IT!!!”
“Jesus, you scared the shit outta me! What’s ‘it!’”
“I know what’s wrong with Minnesota,” I said, pointing all around outside, “No damn telephone poles. That’s what they’re missing.”

For me, growing up with them, those poles are an indelible, necessary part of the landscape. Just doesn’t look right without ‘em.
Up here I just assume it's an Amish community if there are no poles and lines. Yeah, you'd think that the buggy in the front yard and Amish clothes hanging from the line would be a giveaway but could've been Mennonite, so no...
OVER…HEAD…POWER…LINES 😢
Yep those words leave me cold and jittery inside!
We still have them. It was a deciding factor in getting solar power cos it drove me bonkers.
We only get 180 days where the sun actually comes out up here. Totally gray most of winter.
Yep, as long as the power comes on today, it should be ok.
I sure hope so. Snapped poles aren't quick to fix.
 
400,000 people still without power here - although all the downed trees and power lines is due to ice, not wind.

Luckily for us here, the damage is further north. We only got a couple mm of freezing rain, the rest of it was all regular rain.
…and another severe storm predicted for us Wednesday-Thursday. 😒
Here in Akron we're kinda sandwiched in between you two. We got steady rain and some wind but nothing major. I'm not complaining.
 
We only get 180 days where the sun actually comes out up here. Totally gray most of winter.
That’s double what we have 😂 Edit: Hmm I might check that at some point, the person who told me that isn’t a reliable source.
Solar powers come on a long way, you don’t have to have bright skies to make it worthwhile anymore.
Although I suspect all those trees around your place would scupper solar power for you anyway 🤷‍♀️
 
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