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twilight33I know that somewhere in LJ I've previously explained that my mom & I renamed our holiday Festive Fudge recipe to Boobs & Bombs (B&B) Fudge on January 16, 1991 with the start of the Gulf War and the news that my mom had a suspicious looking breast tumor on the same day. It was too much for us to process, so we made fudge. Prior to that day it was sacrosanct to Christmas, but in addition to the holiday season it's seen my friends & I through many a pregnancy scare, death, hospitalizations & assorted other crisis situations.
On November 25, 2005 the two of us handled another crisis by making the fudge and renaming it to Boobs/ Bombs/Tree Fudge.
Approximately 60' cypress tree
The plan for the day was an early morning run to Fred Meyer for some modest shopping (our primary goal since we started this tradition while I was pregnant was the free donut holes), feasting on leftovers for lunch, settling down for a nap in the early afternoon with Kieran, then going to the Marine Life center to check out the indoor tidepools. That last part never happened.
After settling down for a nap, someone banged on the door (my mom's piano studio is a downstairs MIL unit that we stay in when we visit). It turned out to be my mother with a rather panicked look on her face saying "Um... I watched the tree fall down and it's on the power lines, just wanted to let you know in case someone comes knocking on the door. The city said someone from the power company should be here soon."
Once Kieran settled down & fell asleep, my husband stayed in the studio with him as I went upstairs to see how I could be of help. I watched from the window as some official looking truck stopped & surveyed the scene then left within 10 minutes without setting cones or otherwise rerouting traffic. I didn't recognize the logo on the side of it as being from the power company in the area.
An unmarked police car was parked clear of the wires with its lights & windshield wipers going, a university police car joined it, the cops conversed for a few minutes, then the U-cop drove on. Still no cones, still no rerouting traffic. I lost count after 20 cars nonchalantly drove right under the tree & precariously bent power line without a care in the world; mom & I were both freaked out the entire time about liability if the line suddenly gave way and the tree and/or lines landed on someone.
90 minutes go by. My mom has had it with the lack of anyone doing anything, and drives up & down a hill to go talk to the cop in the unmarked car so she doesn't walk under the lines. While she's talking, the city emergency dispatch coordinator (who initially didn't know what to do when told of the situation) called to see if the tree was taken care of. She kept asking the truck I saw was a city truck, I kept explaining that I was my mom's daughter and didn't live in the city so I didn't recognize it. She said she'd call the power company again to see what the holdup was & get back to me and I thanked her.
I stepped out on the deck (that's the view of the first picture) to shout the news to my mom & the cops (one in a marked city car stopped by while I was on the phone) and one of the cops shouted back 'Nah, it won't be the power company, I'll call dispatch.' After that the cops & my mom chatted a bit longer, then finally the one in the marked car set out the cones. The dispatcher called and again and said 'Some guys with chainsaws will be there soon to take care of it.'
Mom comes back, says that the unmarked car cop was pissed off for having to sit there with nothing happening, but also didn't call dispatch to see what (if anything) was being done until my deck shouting update. About a half hour later, the same truck & driver I saw surveying the scene before arrives with another truck (both are from the city), break out a chainsaw and have at it while the line is still live. The unmarked cop car leaves.
It was not a pretty sight to watch as they had to cut a notch under the tree to break the main trunk & kept dashing away each time it shifted. The first break made the lines & pole shake something fierce, but that was nothing compared to the violent upswing with the second break that finally caused the tree to fall off the line. In retrospect, it's somewhat amazing that the power didn't even flicker the entire time. They hacked the rest of the tree that was on the street, flung the remains onto my mom's property, then drove away.
After that, we made the fudge. The moral of the story is that I'm getting my mom more emergency supplies as part of her Christmas present after observing the underwhelming amount of communication regarding what could have been a very nasty situation.
So, how was your Thanksgiving holiday?
On November 25, 2005 the two of us handled another crisis by making the fudge and renaming it to Boobs/ Bombs/Tree Fudge.
Approximately 60' cypress tree
The plan for the day was an early morning run to Fred Meyer for some modest shopping (our primary goal since we started this tradition while I was pregnant was the free donut holes), feasting on leftovers for lunch, settling down for a nap in the early afternoon with Kieran, then going to the Marine Life center to check out the indoor tidepools. That last part never happened.
After settling down for a nap, someone banged on the door (my mom's piano studio is a downstairs MIL unit that we stay in when we visit). It turned out to be my mother with a rather panicked look on her face saying "Um... I watched the tree fall down and it's on the power lines, just wanted to let you know in case someone comes knocking on the door. The city said someone from the power company should be here soon."
Once Kieran settled down & fell asleep, my husband stayed in the studio with him as I went upstairs to see how I could be of help. I watched from the window as some official looking truck stopped & surveyed the scene then left within 10 minutes without setting cones or otherwise rerouting traffic. I didn't recognize the logo on the side of it as being from the power company in the area.
An unmarked police car was parked clear of the wires with its lights & windshield wipers going, a university police car joined it, the cops conversed for a few minutes, then the U-cop drove on. Still no cones, still no rerouting traffic. I lost count after 20 cars nonchalantly drove right under the tree & precariously bent power line without a care in the world; mom & I were both freaked out the entire time about liability if the line suddenly gave way and the tree and/or lines landed on someone.
90 minutes go by. My mom has had it with the lack of anyone doing anything, and drives up & down a hill to go talk to the cop in the unmarked car so she doesn't walk under the lines. While she's talking, the city emergency dispatch coordinator (who initially didn't know what to do when told of the situation) called to see if the tree was taken care of. She kept asking the truck I saw was a city truck, I kept explaining that I was my mom's daughter and didn't live in the city so I didn't recognize it. She said she'd call the power company again to see what the holdup was & get back to me and I thanked her.
I stepped out on the deck (that's the view of the first picture) to shout the news to my mom & the cops (one in a marked city car stopped by while I was on the phone) and one of the cops shouted back 'Nah, it won't be the power company, I'll call dispatch.' After that the cops & my mom chatted a bit longer, then finally the one in the marked car set out the cones. The dispatcher called and again and said 'Some guys with chainsaws will be there soon to take care of it.'
Mom comes back, says that the unmarked car cop was pissed off for having to sit there with nothing happening, but also didn't call dispatch to see what (if anything) was being done until my deck shouting update. About a half hour later, the same truck & driver I saw surveying the scene before arrives with another truck (both are from the city), break out a chainsaw and have at it while the line is still live. The unmarked cop car leaves.
It was not a pretty sight to watch as they had to cut a notch under the tree to break the main trunk & kept dashing away each time it shifted. The first break made the lines & pole shake something fierce, but that was nothing compared to the violent upswing with the second break that finally caused the tree to fall off the line. In retrospect, it's somewhat amazing that the power didn't even flicker the entire time. They hacked the rest of the tree that was on the street, flung the remains onto my mom's property, then drove away.
After that, we made the fudge. The moral of the story is that I'm getting my mom more emergency supplies as part of her Christmas present after observing the underwhelming amount of communication regarding what could have been a very nasty situation.
So, how was your Thanksgiving holiday?
