In a message dated 11/1/01 10:24:59 AM Eastern Standard Time,
aussierob@odyssey.net writes:
<<
For those few wealthy do gooders who have recently written to the message
boards, ...why don't you try this sometime.
Turn your heat and water off for a day ! Then you will view that little
Electric Meter Seal quite differently.
Unless, of course, you're a high paid person with a fat bank account that
can afford to rip your house apart mid winter to replace several frozen
burst pipes ...Remember, that is, all for the sanctity of preserving the
little meter seal. As for me and my family I chose heat .
>>
Gosh, now I'm a "wealthy do-gooder" and/or a "High paid person with a fat
bank account".
For the record, I'm not either of the above, thank-you, although I do
occasionally have a thirst for the luxuries, you know, potatoes, toilet
paper, soap. I am not rich, I own one necktie and one suit, and I have scars
on most of my remaining fingers.
Additionally, let me tell you that living on an island in the North Atlantic
does offer some interesting surprises, from an electrical outage standpoint.
We are "serviced" by LIPA in the same sense, apparently, that a bull services
a cow. LIPA stands for Long Island Power Authority, a government agency that
is just as corrupt and inefficient as the agency to which it is the
successor: the Long Island Lighting Company, which was essentially put out
of business by the feds because they were convicted under the RICO statutes,
usually reserved for the Mafia and similar crime syndicates.
Only a fool would live here without a standby generator. In the last year,
my house has lost commercial power for a total of ten days, (on one occasion,
for three days straight) Only a fool, however, would pay "$1500" for a
transfer switch. (Last time I checked, they were about $250 wholesale) Only a
fool would accuse someone whom they had never met of all the things that I
have been accused of. Only a fool would put his family in jeopardy by using
an unorthodox, if not illegal, scheme to provide juice.
I applaude the ingenuity of anyone who can figure out how to get his house
back up under trying circumstances. It is in the finest military tradition,
in fact: "Adapt, improvise, overcome" However, the gentleman who criticizes
my heritage, income, education, credentials, perceived motives, and probably
my mother's virtue, failed to see the difference between pre-planned lunacy
and field expedience under emergency circumstances.
Oh yes, I forgot to remind you...I'm also the S**T head who, with no motive
other than protecting my brethren from bodily injury, warned them about
electric winches. I seem to recall that I was chastised for that
transgression, too. This list certainly has opened my eyes to the human
capacity for over-reaction, to say the least.
Good bye.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Dec 07 2001 - 00:36:57 PST