Fanatical on the Friday OPEN thread
Shot by Dan at Black Dog Salvage
“The movers and shakers have always been obsessive nuts.”
Theodore Sturgeon
January 18, 2013 - 10:00 AM
- Contact us |
- Customer care |
- Subscribe |
- Advertise |
- Submit news |
- Sign in
Check It Out
Local efforts are under way to help Oklahoma tornado victims. Find out how you can help here.
January 18, 2013 - 10:00 AM
Join the conversation [ADD A COMMENT]
View our commenting policy and standards | Commenting FAQ | Report a problem
44 COMMENTS
Error submitting comment
Name is required
A valid email is required (test@test.com)
Comment is required
Add a comment
Your email address will not be published.
All fields are required to comment.
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
THE ROANOKE TIMES
I grew up in the Raleigh Court area in the 60′s and 70′s, and I cannot remember a single long-term power outage. Perhaps I have blocked those events from my memory, but, my question is, has our electric grid gotten worse over the years?
A shout out to my intrepid paper delivery guy…despite there being a tree down in my road, my paper was right on my porch this morning where it always is. Thanks dude!
I grew up in SoRo in the 60′s and we NEVER had power outages, thats what you get with liberals in govt
It would be interesting to know the amount of money spent by AEP back in the 70′s on right of way maintenence and how much they spend today (adjusted to today’s dollors of course ) I think it would be much less.
Oh and by the way, my newspaper carrier was right on time this morning as well!
AC, in general, the infrastructure network in this country…be it roads, bridges, highways, water and sewer systems, electricity grid…you name it, is degrading more rapidly than we’re keeping it up. It’s a multi-pronged problem. Public funding for infrastructure construction and maintenance is down substantially, causing expansion of systems to be delayed or canceled…putting more stress on the existing systems. Simultaneously, maintenance schedules on the existing infrastructure is being delayed and deferred, or simply reduced, due to lack of adequate funding.
Net result is an infrastructure network that is much older, increasingly unreliable, over-burdened, and that needs some serious upgrades and expansions to adequately service our still-growing population and demand. Both public and private utility providers have the same problems…and unfortunately I don’t see anything that will change the trajectory that we’re on in those regards.
pammala said, “I grew up in SoRo in the 60′s and we NEVER had power outages, thats what you get with liberals in govt”.
But wasn’t that the decade when we had Dem. Presidents 8 of the 10 years? hmmmm…
What I don’t understand is why the utilities continue to argue that it is to costly to invest in putting utilities lines under ground……Nothing is ever going to change with mother nature easing up on resulting damages from storms from one end of the country to the other, earthquakes, fires, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, wind storms and snow and ice. One would think if they would go ahead and bite the bullet on cost, it would pay off in the future. Think in the long run the beauty of neighborhoods with beautiful tree lined streets without the middle of the trees being carved cut out for utility lines….More trees for shade….of course if you have neighbors like I know…they butcher everything so they don’t have to deal with the leaves. Know someone over in Vinton who just cut down a number of beautiful mature trees so he would not have to deal with the leaves in his swimming pool….Sad, ones priorities isn’t it?
Other John, thanks for the reply. Your answer makes sense. With the never ending price increases, you would think they could provide the same quality of service as years ago. But, I guess not. DJ, I would love to see that maintenance dollar study.
Hats off to the RT and my carrier, also. Paper out front by 6:30 am.
The other problem with the power grid and our infrastructure is that there are more people using them – more cars, more driving, more electric/electronic gizmos plugged in all the time.
Gee, pammala, when did the government take over Apco?
How doltish.
AC, the 1970s saw one of the longest, worst ice storm outages ever. Some folks in the city were out for up to 10 days. I can’t remember the year. In addition, my father worked at Apco and I can remember any number of times he had to work because of outages, although I can’t tell you from memory how long most were.
OJ already talked about our aging infrastructure that everybody seems to think will fix itself at no cost. Also, in the city, trees have grown larger and aged AND the city has focused more on keeping more trees longer as well as planting more. The downside is that trees and branches fall on lines.
E Duane, there is a HUGE cost for burying utility lines. For putting in new underground lines, or burying existing ones, the cost truly is a solid 8-10 times more expensive than overhead. The cost for conduit, relays, junction boxes, pedestals, right-of-way acquisition, directional bores under paved roads and driveways, costs to rehabilitate shoulders and ditches, cost to reconstruct gravel driveways…it all adds up quickly.
Plus, underground utilities are not immune to problems. Conduits break, water infiltrates systems, lines can corrode and go bad, the above-ground pedestals get hit by cars and lightning…a heavy truck driving over mushy ground (or even solid ground repeatedly) cause compaction that can severe lines…other construction activities frequently impact underground utilities…be it a road improvement project or simply some guy planting a tree or installing a mailbox…lots of things can and do go wrong.
AC…one would think, but a lot of materials costs…like steel, copper, concrete, asphalt…their prices have jacked through the roof far faster than inflation due to huge demand in places like China and India, so that our dollars simply cannot buy the same amount of stuff today that they did 20 or 30 years ago…even when accounting for typical inflation. Sadly, I think things like the I-35 bridge collapse in Minneapolis, levee breaching in New Orleans, massive blackouts like the northeast in 2003, water mains rupturing or sewer lines collapsing and causing sinkholes (like are pretty common just about anywhere) will be more common as we go forward. Not a doom and gloom statement…I think it’s just reality.
It’s like the old Purolator commercials…you can pay a little now, or a lot later. We’ve done that to our country. We sold out the future to save a either some money or some political headaches in the now…and when the piper gets paid, it’s going to cost us far more than if we simply owned the responsibilities effectively and appropriately from the get-go.
sure but they weren’t radical marxists then scotty !!
http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2013/01/security_guard_leaves_gun_unat.html
Yep. This is a great idea. More guns in schools, please. Thanks!
“I grew up in SoRo in the 60′s and we NEVER had power outages, thats what you get with liberals in govt”
–Comment from pamala
To add to scott whitaker’s response:
Dems indeed had the presidency for 8 years in the 1960s
Repubs had it for 7 years in the 1970s all of the 1980s and for the first 3 years of the 90s.
Another Chuck asked “has the grid gotten that much worse?” Well maybe, but the trees certainly have grown over the years. Good citizens, don’t plant trees under the power lines. The trees are pretty, but troublesome. Also, it’s probably good to make a distinction between the Grid, and local transmission and distribution. The Grid is one system made up of many generating stations and all the transmission and distribution for those stations. When the Grid has problems, widespread outages occur. When a tree falls on a local line, interrupting your power, the Grid is still working just fine.
pammala, you are putting your fingers in motion, before putting your brain in gear today.
Debbie,
When I was growing on the family farm and I said something stupid to my dad or grandfather, I would usually hear the phrase…
“Next time make sure your brain is engaged before you open your mouth.”
By the way, I’m implying that pammala is the one who needs to take your advice and the advice I used to get from my father & grandfather to heart.
“pammala, you are putting your fingers in motion, before putting your brain in gear today.
Comment by Debbie — January 18, 2013 @ 4:05 pm”
How is that different from any other day?
The maturing trees make a sense as a big part of the problem. If there was a choice, I wish they would be more proactive with line maintenance rather than waiting for the outages to occur. Then they lobby the General Assembly to recoup the loss of revenue, which seems inefficient at best.
well pammy i’d say jfk and ol’ lbj were pretty “radical” for their time but as gdad pointed out what did they have to do with power outages in rke?
The big one was either ’76 or ’77. It was bad. We lived in Botetourt and were served by the Craig Botetourt Coop and we were without for maybe a week. Nice folks with that company but my goodness, back then it seemed our power would go out when it got cloudy. I’m pretty sure they weren’t Marxists…
Still waiting for pammala to show us where the government took over Apco. Still hearing crickets.
hey gdad,
yep.. it’s the tree huggers’ fault! Even I hadn’t thought of that one. Good for you. Critical thinking isn’t so hard, is it?
…have you all been paying attention to what hillary is saying about Bengha…oops, ah, …Algeria? Boy, does she LOOK piss-d! Holy cow, i sure wouldn’t wanna be a terrorist …NOW! I mean, she’s really callin’ ‘em out, ya know? I mean, she actually said, “the perpetrators are the terrorists!”
You know, we’ve got to appreciate the confusion on the terrorists faces about now!
Imagine, they thought that hillary would mince and prance about with obama, …make a tv commercial about the “terrorist” act having been perpetrated by erstwhile Muslims who were all piss-d off by some cartoon about allah, and instead, she calls out, ….THEM? Wow, they sure read HER wrong, didn’t they?
Now, THEY’RE piss-d at us, ’cause hillary’s all piss-ed at them. And, they’re thinking, hey you Americans…, give us a break…, have you forgotten about Benghazi?
Well, the libs have.
Go figure.
…have ya’ll been following the Lance Armstrong fiasco?
Seeing two recent pictures of Steve C on a bike, along with Oprah’s interview, kinda brings ol’ Lance to mind. Imagine if Lance’s interview with Oprah had gone like this:
Oprah: So, Lance, did you use performance-enhancing drugs?
Lance: Yes.
Oprah: Why did you lie about it so vocifierously to the American people, and instead point your own finger directly at the folks who said you did, and angrily call THEM liars?
Lance: Well, Oprah, it’s really not that complicated. You see, I remember how the lib-news media treated former president clinton (here’s where you need to get ready, Steve C…) after he did what he did with Monica Lowinski. He lied, and lied, and lied some more…to the lib-media and to the American people. And, he’d have probably gotten away with it, if hadn’t been for that ol’ blue dress, you know?
So, I did what HE did. I lied, and lied, and lied some more…just like ol’ bill. However, i musta left behind some figurative stains of my own…kinda like bill clinton. So, there you have it.
Oprah: Well, Lance, what did you hope to gain by lying so long to your fans, and to the American people?
Lance: Well, you know, Oprah, I think that the lib-media will be on my side, eventually, just like many stayed on bill clinton’s side, and the rest came back to his side soon after he “admitted” what he did.
Oprah: So, it’s all part of a larger plan, is that it, Lance, for you to get back to racing?
Lance: Yes.
Frank, when I read “obsessive oddities” , you came to mind immediately.
Frank – it snowed last night – it’s Obama’s fault
I had to shovel a path to my mailbox – it’s Obama’s fault
I had no internet service this morning – it’s Obama’s fault
I had no cable service – it’s Obama’s fault
Boy,this whole Blaming Obama for everything is so EASY! No wonder the Right always does it!
“yep.. it’s the tree huggers’ fault!”
Of course, not, Frank. Wrong again. It’s not just the “tree huggers” who know that urban areas are better off with more trees. Anybody with even a tiny bit of brains is aware of that fact.
“Critical thinking isn’t so hard, is it?”
Get back to us on that if you ever do any.
#27 Looks like suzieQ and Frankie have been consulting the same BS MSM-hating Interweb site for full-of-crap trolling ideas. Either that or they’re just copying each other.
Despite Frankie’s claims here, Lance, of course, was dogged by constant “MSM” and cycling media questions about doping throughout his career. Others who said he did it were quoted frequently. But he could lie with impunity BECAUSE he also never came up positive, so from the testing viewpoint, there was no proof of anything. Doctors and professionals who worked with and on him denied it.
Bad try, Frank.
Gdad is 100 percent right about the MSM dogging Lance. He even won a libel case against at least one outlet. They were right to dog him, too. It was obvious as the day is long that the guy was doping. Bike racing is by far the dirtiest sport out there. Racers pioneered doping. They’ve always been light years ahead of the rest of athletes when it comes to doping.
Kristen, …thanks!
Hillary, You blamed obama …FIVE times! I didn’t even blame him once, …for like, anything.
All I did was say obama was hillary’s dance partner in that Pakistani tv apology commercial you and I paid for about that red-herring movie about allah that obama ended up jailing the American film-maker for. You need to lighten up on obama. I mean, yes…he’s a horrible president. But, you should’t blame him for the things you say he is responsible for. I’m a little suprised that you feel so strongly about him in that way.
gdad, …well, your response is pretty, ah, …weak.
hey gdad and dano,
Thank you guys for making my point! I never even implied that the lib-media wasn’t hounding Lance!
Clinton had been lying about his affairs, and it was only after he, well, messed up with that blue dress that he had to come clean. The only difference between clinton and Lance is that the lib-media never left clinton’s side…and now they adore him…to the extent that the media could come up with a whole clinton ward-robe full of messed up dresses, and they would still worship him.
On the other hand, Lance is from Texas…I guess that rules him out of being worshipped by the lib-media.
Lance proved last night what a selfish arrogant jerk he is, at best. But I’m ignorant on this: does any medical knowledge or epidemiological association suggest that his testicular cancer could have either been caused or exacerbated by steroids, HGH, blood doping, or whatever else he was doing to his body? So many baseball, football, wrestling and other athletes have developed cancers after exposure as users, not to mention the apparently justified lore about testicular shrinkage. For that matter, do hardcore bike racers have greater TC incidence due to wear and tear somehow?
The Roanoke Times called for Clinton to resign, Frank. Newsweek broke the story on Monica.
Frank realizes Dan and I have shredded his ridiculous scenario so he’s forced to claim we’ve made his point for him. What a silly boy.
I used to think Armstrong was a lying dishonest self-absorbed smug cheating jerk. But after his complete fail at rehabbing his image, I now think he’s also a sociopath. I’d love to see some of those whose lives he destroyed come after him in court now. He’s got plenty of cash…it would be a pleasure to see him part with some at the hands of the court.
Sociopath was precisely the term that ran through my mind as I watched portions of the interview. It’s also remarkable that there are allegations he’s still lying, to Oprah, about blood doping in his 2009 comeback. What else could explain the sudden jump, twice during the 2009 tour, of his red blood cell count, given that there was an increase ONLY in mature red blood cells, and not in baby ones? Smells like a couple of transfusions.
Lance Armstrong shares the same level of credibility as Ahmadinejad, to me. If he claimed he’d had a burger of lunch I’d assume it was a lie.
I’ve always figured he was skating by somehow and was doping, simply because it seems that every single person in that sport is doing it. His health doesn’t interest me and if he wanted to mess with his fortunate recovery from very serious cancer….mmmk dude, have at it. In my eyes his by far worst crime is the way he completely savaged anyone who dared to question his mythology. He’d publically call them out, bully them, throw them off the team and poison their reputations. And their wives. He is a malignant character.
Good point, dano.
…but, you libs and your media worship clinton now. for goodness sake, he’s even “father of the year”!
the media outrage over Lance is palpable, now. As I said to start this conversation, I think Lance “came clean” in hopes of regaining his cachet with the media….just like bill clinton has.
bill clinton has gotten away with being a slimey lying creep.
why shouldn’t Lance?
hey Kristen,
Please explain how bill clinton’s escapades enable him, in your view, to not to be a malignant character, while Lance is.
Comment by Ron May — January 18, 2013 @ 4:16 pm
Ron, I knew who you meant, although it’s a lesson I need to remember myself sometimes.
Dan:
“Smells like a couple of transfusions.”
Armstrong is hard core crazy.