Tried all summer and now that summer is gone, I had to try to salvage our power pole to survive another winter. It is one of those issues that Russia has a problem with…
Trying to get even the power company to do its job is like pulling teeth on a raging bull….just does not happen very easily…
In Russia you are either self-sufficient or simply don’t care. It takes much patience, stamina and willpower to accomplish things and humans look the other way most of the time… – Me
It is one of the reasons I love Russia, yet at times it also can be one of the most frustrating things that you have to deal with. Thus, I did my best and put an oak beam against our failing power pole…
You have to do what it takes to protect your own…
I dug a hole at an angle about 3/4 of a meter deep and drug a 400 lb beam and actually the main trunk of a small oak tree and finally after hours and tearing old injuries in my grouchy bear body, The beam fell into place….I was smart and drilled three holes through the beam at the top and cut the beam at the top at an angle to lay against the power pole, before starting the project….I had bought a box of long heavy steel spikes to attach the beam to the pole through the holes I drilled…
You should have seen the look on my face as the beam fell against the power pole and sat in its hole in the ground at a perfect angle….It was one of those, never in a million years will that happen again. It as my grandma would say, “Was meant to be!”
Believe me, I can appreciate how huge and heavy a power pole is after what I did…
Then I painted it white, because it is so close to the edge of the main road and this morning I orange stripped it to make it stand out better. I am sure that there will be many Russians wondering, “What the Hell?”
It is better than nothing and since we cannot get the power company to do a damn thing about it, I hope that this, with the other work I have done on it, will keep the pole up for the winter!
Then we can start again and try to get the power company to replace the pole…
You do what you gotta do, for they seem to do what they wanna do also!
You wait, tomorrow they will come with a crane huge truck and replace it… 😉
WtR
Yesterday, I had to try to support our power pole near our home. We called and asked for help, but, as you can imagine, coronavirus is the boss and they will be very longtime before getting out to help us. Therefore, I wrapped wire and wedged wood and drove spikes and cussed a bunch. I hope we can get it to stay upright until they can get out to fix it. I also had to put a brace on a home that is hooked to the same line. The home is trying to fall over… and it will take our pole down… which will tear a huge hole in our roof of our village home…
Source: Just looking around in my morning and evening walks around Russia… | Windows to Russia