Hi John and Rich
For some reason your show won't download for me from iTunes. It's ok direct from your blog, though, I'm listening to it now.
You know I can't help telling you, after your stories about power lines, about the guys here in Tasmania who fix them. There was a bushfire 7 years ago down south where I have a place, and I'd gone a few kilometres away to help save a friend's house which was in trouble. When we got there the fire had just passed through - perhaps ten minutes before, and it had burnt out several power poles so the lines were lying on the ground. So there were the Aurora repair guys, putting the poles back up, surrounded by burning trees and stuff, including one big one which had fallen over the road and they needed to chainsaw it into pieces to get their truck past.
If that seems crazy it's not, because up the road all the people who needed power to run pumps to pump their tank water to put out their houses were getting power back on so they could do it. Fantastic :)
Of course, your situation in NY is that there's so many people with lines down that they're stretched thin...
cya...

Yes, there were some odd technical difficulties getting our feed working properly. But have no fear, all is working now...I think.

Yes, I think the linesmen (and women) do some amazing work. In the Northeastern US, there are frequent winter storms and the crews work around the clock to restore service in the worst conditions. Those folks often put their lives on the line.

I certainly wouldn't have wanted to have been on a ladder or climbing a pole in those winds. Yeesh.