Well, Today’s The Day
At least, in theory it is. Remember the tree? The big, huge tree in our backyard that the power company was sending someone to cut down? Well, there were a couple of times that I thought it’s end was, as they say, nigh, but they were false alarms. Once the tree people had been in BOTH of our neighbors’ yards, and then moved on from our neighborhood entirely without ever setting foot in ours, we started to get concerned. So, Kris called them.
Turns out that the branches of our tree are too close to the power lines (Um… duh? That’s why it’s coming down in the first place…), and for safety reasons, they couldn’t take it down without having BG&E cut the power to our neighborhood. So, we got a letter last week (as did, I assume, everyone on our street) that today was the day they had scheduled the outage. I am HOPING that at 8:30 this morning, as promised, the house will go dark, and then the guys can come and start taking out the tree.
The other thing Kris found out when he called was that the people in the house behind us (They are at the top end of a cul-de-sac) agreed to let the tree company bring a crane into their yard to get at our tree. We would have, but because of the way our yard is and where our fence is, there isn’t any way to access it. Happily, this should mean they can get the tree down faster, because they don’t have to climb it and take it down one tiny branch at a time – they can take out bigger sections and remove them directly from tree to truck. (And yes, Scott, this does mean that there won’t be any firewood. Sorry, man.)
So, I’m hoping I can find somewhere to park myself today, because this house with no power is going to be FREAKISHLY quiet. I may be at Panera or B&N, at least for a while, because I know they have WiFi. I’m pretty sure Panera’s is even free, so, bonus!
Keep your fingers crossed, folks, and I’ll try to update tonight.
UPDATE – 10:21AM: Still at home, still have power. This does not bode well for the likelihood of the tree going away anytime this freaking CENTURY!
UPDATE 2 – 1:36PM: Yup. Not here. It is raining VERY slightly, which means… no tree guys. Now, we wait to see when they schedule it again. I’m guessing 2010 or so.
December 10th, 2008 at 9:52 am
Your yard is going to be so much brighter without that huge honkin’ tree. I hope everything goes according to plan!
December 10th, 2008 at 10:10 am
Sorry to see such a beauty of a tree go, but at least they are doing for you! I had the pleasure of having to remove one myself and it was a nightmare!
Panera’s bagels are pretty good… but the cookies are better!
December 10th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
I think they didn’t show up because it’s raining.
December 10th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
grrrrr…..
I hate BG&E.
December 10th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
Meanwhile the tree is sighing a big sigh of relief!
December 10th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
That’s crappy. I guess next time your power goes out, be on the look-out for the tree guys.
December 11th, 2008 at 9:22 am
Damn.
December 13th, 2008 at 5:00 am
BG&E–We’ll be there when you need us. Maybe. If we can work you in the rota. We can try. Because really, that’s about all our incompetence will let us do.
Bleah.
December 14th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
I wish they didn’t wait till it’s an emergency. We were visiting some friends when a tree in their neighbors’ yard went down, landed on the power lines, and promptly began to smoke. Then, it began to burn, and we still didn’t lose power… at which point the fire department showed up, followed immediately by the power company and the tree guys. When the crap hits the rotor, they sure show up quickly.