...rain and cut wires...a revisit

The text has to be blue, because we've seen so much water lately! Falling from the sky, mostly. I'm not sure if Wisconsin has overlooked spring, or if the western half of the country has, in fact, broken off and fallen into the sea, and we are left to take the place of Seattle. But it's been chilly, rainy, and dreary here for about 10 years (okay -- I'm exagerrating. It's only been about 10 weeks.)

Now that you have a clear understanding of the current weather conditions in western Wisconsin, I'll ease into the topic of weather and how it affects cut utility wires.

In a previous blog or two, I addressed the issue of flooding bandrooms, excavation equipment onsite, and the blatant destruction of clearly-marked-with-orange-paint utility wires. Following the blatant destruction (I'll call it BD), came the sudden cessation of phone service. Service was restored because we know a phone service worker who takes pity on stupid people.

But this week, as the rain-soaked tundra became more sodden, so didst the spliced phone wires. I didn't see what spouse used to splice the last cut, but I wouldn't be surprised if silly putty were an ingredient. I KNOW there's duct tape underground hugging wires somewhere, and surely there's a yard or two of electrical wire. None of these things is impervious to damp--no, swampy--soil. So, when spouse ran through the house with my cell phone the other night, my interest was piqued. Then, when he returned with cell phone to ear and landline phone in hand, the intrigue grew.

As I picked up the extension phone, I realized what he was doing. Using my cell phone to get help because the landline had lost viability!! In fact, the sound on the landline was a combination of clicks and whistles and two different but simultaneous dial tones, and a lot of static. Aha! I knew what that sound combination was -- it was the sound of water leaking into the spliced phone lines! (Or we'd made contact with whales.) How did I know, you ask? Well, because I've heard this sound many times before! Specifically, in our previous home, where the phone lines went through similar incarnations, from whole, sealed lines, to a system of cuts and splices throughout the yard. In our house, we not only check the batteries in the flashlight when the tornado season begins -- we also check the battery in the cell phone before a rain.

Finally, at 9 pm, out the door he went, returning 15 minutes later, drenched and muddy. Seems he had run out to DIG UP the phone lines, laid them across a saw horse and covered them with a plastic drape --"so they could dry out." It just doesn't seem like this will be a good resolution each time it rains.

I've always worried about contaminated surface water seeping into the wells and aquifers. Now it can even get into the phone system! What is the world coming to?!