[conspire] 1999 called, and wants its backhoe returned

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Mark Weisler (mark at weisler-saratoga-ca.us):

> 1. The 811 telephone number for Call Before You Dig is a pretty
> serious operation that accurately marks underground water, electrical,
> sewer, communications, and other utilities on the street or ground so
> this sort of incident can be avoided. It usually works very well and
> contractors strive to cooperate with it.

It may be that the excavation contractors were careless and didn't
consult, or didn't heed, the Underground Service Alert people at 811
(https://www.pge.com/en_US/safety/yard-safety/digging/call-811-before-you-dig.page).
Or, possibly the unusual circumstances of that area have created extra
risks:

For whatever it's worth, when the Sharon Estate[1] was carved up for
development and annexed by the City of Menlo Park in the early 1060s, 
the new Sharon Heights neighbourhood's total lack of above-ground
utility gear seemed weird and startling (no overhead wires, no telephone
or power poles, no visible power transformers, etc.). 

> 2. I hate unbalanced power. It can quickly destroy equipment.

We had that happen here, for a day, at Chez Moen when the neutral line
parted at the point where the main house feed entered the garage roof.
There were indeed some electronics losses.

> 3. I’m reminded of Rick’s posts in the past about the importance of
> protecting electrical power against this sort of problem. Unbalanced
> power is often more damaging than simply losing power. Hence, Rick
> offered tips on equipment that can condition the power as a measure
> separate from having a battery backup. I’m pretty sure his
> recommendations are still in the list archives.

I mostly pointed out that what one _probably_ needs isn't a UPS but
rather a voltage regulator appliance.  Our household now has a couple of
those, to protect the more-vital electronics.

Archives entries:
http://linuxmafia.com/pipermail/conspire/2019-December/009986.html
http://linuxmafia.com/pipermail/conspire/2018-November/009491.html
http://linuxmafia.com/pipermail/conspire/2018-November/009492.html
http://linuxmafia.com/pipermail/conspire/2017-February/008712.html

Last of those URLs was just after the broken-main-power-feed incident.


[1] https://www.newspapers.com/clip/7128409/frederick-w-sharon-remembrance/
https://www.mercurynews.com/2016/11/30/matters-historical-from-san-francisco-to-europe-to-menlo-park/

-- 
Cheers,         "I suppose the process of acceptance will pass through the usual
Rick Moen       four stages: (i) This is worthless nonsense; (ii) This is an 
rick at linux      interesting, but perverse, point of view; (iii) This is true, 
mafia.com       but quite unimportant; (iv) I always said so." -- JBS Haldane