"This is nothing out of the ordinary". This was a reported quote on Channel 6 news tonight... not from a weatherman talking about rain in September... not a reporter reporting that there is a scummy election shaping up over the next month and half... nor even from a sports caster telling that the Yankees are close to being in the playoffs.
No, this ordinary thing is a manhole cover becoming airborne because of some bad wiring underground. It's sort of like saying it happens all the time. And Reportedly, a National Grid spokesperson calls this ordinary. It happened three or four times in the Albany-Troy area during the past week. Of course it's ordinary. Just like the leaves change in fall, the robins return in spring, and yes even a blue moon.
Now I go back in my mind and remember fondly all those other times in my life when we were treated to such a display of pyrotechnics from beneath the earth. Volcanoes come to mind, but no where near where I live. I can't think of a single incident where this "ordinary" phenomenon of a manhole cover hurtling through the air took place.
So I will try to think of the "ordinariness" of these incidents. Okay, sometimes wires get crossed. There are thousands of strands in some of the cables they lay. Maybe a pink one got switched to a light pink wire, and bam! the manhole blows. Or red to black. It happens all the time! Right?
I guess I do wonder why it doesn't happen more often. There are lots of wires, lots of colors, and very few in my opinion, of flying manhole covers (I understand they weigh over 200 pounds each-falling to earth like the autumn leaves). I am thankful for a wonderful group of technicians who know how to do their job.
I hope National Grid does not take this as ordinary, and figure out what the heck is going on. If this is old infrastructure that is worn, or out dated, it probably will be ordinary, and we are in deep trouble without a real commitment to fix these things. And our rates will rise, problem solved or not... watch!
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