Monday, April 18, 2011

Powerless

Not only did I NOT get my electric power turned on today, my temporary power was turned off. I am now completely powerless. The main electric line coming from the circuit breaker box inside to the electric meter box outside was wired to where the electric coming from the pole was supposed to go. The electric company insisted it be done their way and that the wires from the cabin be put on the other terminals in the meter box. They ran the line from the pole through the buried conduit and disconnected my temporary pole. Call us when you get it right. Who inspected this? Who was the electrician? At least one of the electric men said he'd seen the same thing two or three times before.

Now without power the Hughes satellite internet installer uninstalled his modem, his dish and his wire, packed them back in his car and left. Call for another appointment when you get your electric.

AAArrrghh!!!

So I rewired the electric meter box. Praise be there was enough slack in the line for the other terminals that were further away. It would have been near impossible to get new longer lines through there. I called the electric company and they said they'd be back tomorrow.

I'll be turning things on slowly one circuit at a time, testing every plug with a tester I bought before anything gets plugged in, light by light. I think my electrician may have been a little rusty.



This crushing disappointment called for a slow walk through the deep forest. It's about time for the Showy Orchis to bloom anyway. I see purple violets.



White Squirrel Corn



White Wood Anemone



The trilliums are blooming and they are everywhere. A nodding trillium.



A Large-Flowered Trillium, T. grandiflorum perhaps.



Wake Robin, Trillium erectum. I am heading in the general direction of where I remember seeing the Showy Orchis last year.



There is so much to see on the way. Larkspur, Delphinium tricorne.



Bishop's Cap, Mitella diphylla



A teeny tiny white violet, one of two species of white violets here.



Jack-in-the-Pulpit. I'm getting closer to where I remember seeing the Showy Orchis last year.



The wild geranium, Geranium maculatum.



I think this is a Buttercup, a Ranunculus species of some sort.



Some where out there is the Showy Orchis, but where oh where?



Finally, I found it, but the Showy Orchis, Galearis spectabilis is not blooming yet. I'll have to come back every few days to check. I knew exactly where another patch of Showy Orchis where and could not find them. I don't think they have even come up yet.



The trilliums are just getting going. A slow walk through the deep forest was a perfect thing to do once my electric meter box was wired the way the electric company insisted it be. Something about the meter having to register the usage. It wouldn't register anything the way it had been set up.



It's a good year for trilliums.



One good thing did happen today. I took down the ugly temporary power pole after a slow walk through the deep forest and no longer have to look at that eyesore.



I can be happy with small incremental steps to eventually reach the completion of a process. I'm very good at that now.

9 comments:

Larry said...

What a wonderful life you lead there in the woods! One can just sense the spring coming alive around you... L

Lola said...

A lot of beauty to be seen on that slow walk in the deep woods. It's amazing how a walk in the woods can calm one's senses.
So sorry there was another drawback.
Seems Spring is there with all the blooming that is going on.
Planting more here. Wish there was more property. More tomorrow.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

It's a good thing you don't drink. You would have been pushed over the edge this time. A beautiful way to walk off the disappointment. Better luck this time.

Christopher C. NC said...

Larry it is a nice life up here though getting various utilities can be trying. A delivery driver said to me a short while ago, "I don't know why anyone would live up here." I thought his feeling was odd, but just said , "It is beautiful up here."

Lola this is the time for the forest floor. I should get power today. Maybe even the propane gas will get delivered. I think Tuesday is their regular day on this route.

Lisa if I still drank this cabin would not be completed yet. I need to make some paths through the deep forest for future walks.

Rose said...

Who needs cable when you have all this beauty surrounding you? It's been awhile since I've visited here; you have accomplished so much, Christopher! Hope your power is hooked up soon.

alivshecrd said...

I used to have Hughes net .I hated it .It was slow ,tore up repeatedly,had to have the satelite replaced twice.Water would condensate inside some vital part and it wouldnt work for days.I paid for two day service and it still took a week to get it fixed.Also customer service is terrible.Just thought I would let you know my experience with them.

Anonymous said...

Oh brother. As an electrician I knew used to say, 'electricity is still a theory.'

I hope everything gets straightened out. Maybe your electrician wasn't rusty at all; he just knew how to get power without meter usage!

The forest floor is gorgeous this time of year; wow. You are a lucky man despite the setbacks.

bev

Gail said...

Christopher, I could spend hours in the woods admiring and looking at your wildflowers~They are divine. Sorry about the electricity! gail

Fairegarden said...

You are so patient, Christopher. Getting good at it, yes. All those wildflowers to help cleanse those electrical thoughts away. Hooray for the showy orchis, and being able to find it, or anything! The Black Jack is blooming here, too. :-)
Frances