First Energy rant...

[blksn8k]

I'm beginning to really dislike my electric utility, First Energy. Last week their hired butchers made a real mess out of the two maples in my front yard. They trim your trees for you if they are within fifteen feet of the power lines. I don't have a problem with that. It's how they trim them that sucks. My trees now have no limbs on one side except for two at the bottom that stick out under the phone lines but that's ok because the phone lines don't belong to First Energy. What a joke!

Now I get back from a weekend trip to PA and find that the power was off sometime during the past two days. All my clocks have to be reset and every electronic device is haywire. I had to reset the TV and the satellite receiver. The illegal aliens they have trimming the trees probably dropped one on a line. If gasoline wasn't so expensive I'd buy a generator and tell these clowns to kiss my butt. Rant off. :angry:

 

[Tom Schindler]

Because First Energy was responsible for the national black-out a few years ago, they are cutting trees and they do not care how they look.



You can stop it, you just need other people with you to stand up to them.





Tom

 

[blksn8k]

I know why they are doing it Tom. But I don't have to like it. I would be curious to know if they pull this crap in all neighborhoods or just the middle income areas. Sure would be nice to have underground wires.

 

[Tom Schindler]

Drive up to West Hill in Akron. The Trees do not look like that.As long as we roll over and don't fight it, they will continue to do it.





Tom

 

[Dingo]

When they come to trim, shoot them with paintballs for trespassing.

 

[Shelby Crane]

Ah, don't give paintball a bad name Dingo.

 

[Darrel Chaney01]

I know, it stinks. If is like it is here in Henderson, KY, if it is in front of your house between the street and your house it falls within the "Right of Way". If it goes across your prosperity it is up to you to keep them trimmed. For the right of way they ask your permission. That you have to sign a paper if you do not give your permission. By signing this, if there is a problem that comes up from not trimming you are at fault. Even if you didn't plant the trees. And yes when they trim them they look like crap!. What I wish they would do is start replacing them when with trees that won't grow up into the power lines. Only replacing them when they come down because of a storm or other such reason, but not just cutting them down. I have learned that when you are going to plant a tree or even a bush, get it from a nursery so you can find out how big it will get in the future. That way you will know if it will get in the way of anything such as power lines or something else. Of course here the power company is owned by the city. Which means they can do anything they want to. You know the whole government thing and all. But saying all that, I can't complain about how much we pay compared to other parts of the country. Anyway good luck!

 

[Nelson Atwell]

If it is in an easement (Right-of-way), call the city and tell them that because the tree is now unbalanced you are afraid it will fall over in a storm and tell them you want the tree removed. We did this in OKC with my ex-fiancee, and they removed them within a week. Cities don't want to be liable for damages if a tree falls unto someone or something.

 

[Jimmodifier999 Boyles]

Here in good ol' St. Joe, Aquila has you sign saying it is ok to trim your trees. You can even specify how much to trim.(I think). My mother in law had to have two big maple trees cut away from the power lines, signed the paper, and told them only to cut what absolutely needed trimming. They pruned the trees off at the ground! Now she has two little pear trees, courtesy of Aquila. What a joke.:angry:

 

[Johnny O]

I used to have two big maple trees in my side yard (I live on a corner) that began in interfere with the power lines. The electric company said they could either trim them back, but only where the lines were, or take them down totally. I said "It's free, right?" They said yes, so I said take 'em down. Less leaves for me to rake. Now I've planted dogwoods where the maples used to be.

I'll point out that I hate yardwork. Low-maintenance is good.

 

[Gavin Allan]

Same thing here. Regional utility company Ameren is under heavy fire for several outages due to storms. They are trimming like hell. Utility claims they cannot find good tree trimmers--that they have to use what they can get, even though they (we customers) pay through the nose for them.



The tree-butchering looks awful. Instead of cleaning the tree free of all limbs on one side except for the limbs that are tangled in the phone and cable TV lines, they should just take the trees down.



Underground utilities are nice. My house was built with underground utilities, but they only run out to my front yard, where the utility co put a pole to string them across the street to another pole. So even if you put underground utilities when you build your house, they won't tunnel under the street--they just sink an ugly pole that is leaning and has multiple guy wires set out in the yard.



I would imagine that utilitie co's have a hard job, but it can't be that hard.



Don't get me started on the lazy cable TV hacks.

 

[Johnny O]

Since I live in a older area there are utility poles all over. I think they're ugly and I wish all the electric and cable companies would get together and put everything underground. I wouldn't care if they dig up my yard. Temporary inconvenience, permanent improvement.

 

[LaRue Medlin]

The illegal aliens they have trimming the trees probably dropped one on a line

Let's start a peeing contest.. HOW DO YOU KNOW THEY WERE ILLEGAL ALLIENS? IS EVERY PERSON THAT IS OF NON-AMERICAN DECENT AN ILLEGAL? NOT! Half of my family is of Hispanic origin,, so does that make them illegal? I usually let remarks like this ride but I'm getting tired of "everyone" (not just here) blaming everything on illegal aliens. Hell,, If a lot of "Americans" weren't so LAZY or "TOO GOOD' to do manual labor and were really wanting a job,,, there is more than enough work to go around. IMHO and yes it's MY OPINION.

 

[Tom Schindler]

LaRue,



It is no different than blaming the unions for businesses closing down.



The problem with illegal aliens is not that Americans are so lazy or think they are "too good" to do a job, but if you could hire 5 people that will work under the table for 3 bucks an hour, no workers comp, SS, insurance, etc. you would be in a good financial position.



That is why illegal aliens are under the microscope. They work for nothing. The live 50 to a house. They have no insurance, they have no SS benefits. They have nothing.



Would you be willing to live with 50 people in a small house? Would you be willing to share a car, or not even have one?



If it takes the average human to live off of $20,000/year (Not acutal numbers, just made them up) and an employer is only going to pay $5,000/year would you take that job?



Are you too lazy or "too good" to work on that job or do you know you need to make more money than that to make ends meet?



I do agree, the whole "It is caused by illegal aliens" is getting old, but there is a hint of truth to it too. If I work for 1/4 of someone elses wage, my boss can let certain things slide, much the same as getting paid double working for an A-Hole, but knowing that working for someone else wouldn't keep food on the table because I am overpaid working for that A-Hole.



Where I used to work, they had a hard time replacing us with qualified people. If they could find someone, they wanted too much money. So, if I was late to work, so be it. If I wanted to leave early, I went home. If they did not like it, I did not care. I left that place because of travel and some other issues.





Tom

 

[TomT]

Immigration problem in a nutshell:

 

[Thomas Rogers]

I had dinner with friends the other night, a young couple expecting their first baby. We gave them the crib that saw us through our 3 kids.



Anyway, the husband works as an installer for a "furnace" company. They make industrial furnaces for heating metals, primarily for sertilization and manufacturing (where ultra-clean parts are needed). It's a local company and non-union.



His plant and company was just bought out by a competitor out of Illinois. They have a plant out there that builds some of the same product, but more and more of the business is being shipped to the local plant in PA. Why? Because the local plant in PA is non-union and the Illinois plant is unionized and the non-union plant builds product faster and cheaper.



He said they simply don't get the same level of production out of the union shop. It takes forever for them to produce products, and half the time you simply see guys sitting around. The attitude of most of the union workers is "I have my job, I have done my part, I'm waiting until I have more work to do!", all as they sit. Meanwhile, there are floors that could be swept, trash that could be hauled, slack that could be pulled up on other lines, etc...but due to specialization and union rules, no one helps out or does anything more than "their job!".



He even said that the president of the company enjoyed coming to tour the local PA plant. He enjoyed talking to the workers. Compare and contrast that to whenever he tours the union plant, where works ACTUALLY throw screws and bolts and such at him as he walks around.



So, the president figured out that if he buys a competitor, ships more and more work through them, he ultimately can close down the union shop.



Why...because the union folk and their old-school attitude worked themselves out of jobs.



And, the American worker has done the same in many labor jobs. We have forgotten WHO is boss and what real work is. The "hunger" isn't there.



TJR

 

[Tom Schindler]

TJR,



Just one example. The company I work for has a union shop and a non-union shop. We are paid more than the non-union shop, but our quality is higher and we are more productive than that non-union shop.



Your point is moot.





Tom

 

[Tom Schindler]

Just to add to it. Why don't they close down the non-union shop? Because the location of the plant is why it was put there. If it wasn't for out quality and production, our plan would have been shut down because we have no river to ship our vessels on. We have to use trucks and trains and we are limited on what we can ship because of the sizes of stuff we build. Even having to pay the big bucks for shipping/oversize/overweight permits, the company is still better off with our production numbers and quality vs the lower cost, but having to do it over and over and over at the non-union shop.





Tom

 

[blksn8k]

The illegal alien comment was thrown in to add a little humor. If you are an illegal alien and were offended by that statement, oh well. You are, after all, illegal...

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Caymen, I agree, it's just one example, but it's the stereotypical anti-union example. I mention it not to bash unions but to draw the parallel between the stereotypical, complacent union worker who unduly burdens his employer and the rise in illegal workers.



Union employees used to cry "scab" when non-union folks took their jobs. Now, the cry is "illegal alien".



The basic dynamic at play is the same; a job is being taken, there are folks that are crying about it, yet the ones that are crying about it wouldn't take that same job at the same rate/terms/benefits.



It's protectionism. Rhetoric about living 50 to a house, etc, is villification. It's the first thing one does when trying to divide "us" vs. "them". It's part of the problem, not part of the solution.



TJR