No power, No phone

My title would have been a bit more colourful but I didn't think Blogger would allow it. The highlight of the weekend was sitting here, getting a blog post ready, and having the power go phsst. Dead. Nothing. Upon further investigation we found this at the top of the driveway:

This machine is known as an excavator, in the bush it's used mainly for building roads, but this one is normally used as a back spar for a yarder. It does not belong to the ranch but rather a company in town who loaned it to my BIL, Hubby's middle brother. Upon moving less than 10 yards down the driveway he apparently forgot to look up. He has been driving under these lines for ohhhh about 20 years or more but on Saturday his head was up his... well you all get the picture.

Another angle:

The very top:

So we had no power from about 4:30 in the afternoon until about 8:30 PM. I immediately put my computer into sleep mode because there was no way I was losing a blog post. Hubby was already on his way to the shop to grab the generator and three extension cords (he does know me :)). One to my satellite modem, the second to my computer/server/router, and the third for the rotisserie on the barbecue for the roast I had to take out of the oven.

I called BC Hydro and they were nice enough to come out and fix it that night.

The next day they were back. They needed to repair the pole as they had only done a temporary fix the night before. When they left we had no phone, but we didn't know right away. I called them when we realized it and after getting the standard "You'll have to call Telus," I informed the man that it was Hydro who took it out and they had best do something to get it back. He then told me that he had spoke with the crew after they had finished and everything was fine when they left. I said "Look mister, I'm talking on my cell phone hooked up to a booster to get a signal in my driveway sitting in my truck! Do you think everything is fine??"
He told me that he would call the crew and get right back to me. In the meantime I call Telus repair (I wasn't holding my breath for Hydro) and they say they can send a repair person out on Thursday, FOUR days! Four days with no phone?? My hands start to shake, I feel faint, my heart is pounding... I feel like I'm in a horror movie!

And then I was even more heated when I called my BIL's phone number and his phone line was still working!! Oh that was the icing on the cake! I really felt like going up there and ripping his phone off the wall. I wouldn't have been so choked but he did the exact same thing last year teaching his ex-girlfriend how to operate the machine!

This morning Hubby went up the driveway to see what he could do, I guess my whining was really getting to him ;). I told him I would go with him but I was up to my elbows in grapes getting them ready for the dehydrator. He comes back and tells me that one end of the wire is wrapped around the pole, and the other end is propped up with a stick. We have an underground wire from the pole down our driveway and I cannot believe that BC Hydro doesn't "Dial before they dig"?? And the kicker is the agent I spoke with the night before said the crew had told him that everything was fine when they left? Apparently hanging one end of a person's phone line on a stick is fine?

Hubby grabbed some wire strippers, black tape, and hustled right back up there. Within 10 minutes we had a dial tone and he got a hug :) I've informed Telus that our line is working but they should still come out and repair it because it's only a temporary fix, it still needs to be buried, and maybe they could throw my BIL in there for fill?