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Gimme the Box

Started by Chicken Little, December 11, 2007, 07:05:13 PM

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Chicken Little

Just talked to an in-law in the Francis Scott Key area.  She just got the infamous green box a few months ago.  She loves it...says they used to have blackouts all the time.   But as of Tuesday night, they still had power.

RecycleMichael

I agree chicken head.

The boxes look pretty attractive to me right now. I always thought they were a good idea and could have been hiddeen behind a bush.

My power in east Tulsa is out. The fifteen houses nearest to me are without power, but the people across the street have power. Because we are in a little pocket, we are probably one of the last to be addressed. That and the fact that we are east Tulsa means I am probably lucky if I get power by Christmas.
Power is nothing till you use it.

sgrizzle

I have power back. Our power is underground so once they got the feed to the area back, we were back on.

AVERAGE JOE

CL, I think you're looking at this all wrong. The people who were behind Stop the Box are probably very happy with their position. Because as they're looking out the window from their cold, dark house at the tree limbs scattered all over the neighborhood, at least they don't have to bear the sight of a 3 x 3 green metal box halfway down the block.

PonderInc

This morning in the shower (I still don't have power, but I do have hot water!), I was thinking about "the box."  It occured to me that I might not mind a green box defacing my yard so much if it meant never losing power (or not having to worry about my neighbor--who is 97 years old and on hospice--losing power).  Then I had an epiphany.

Entrepreneurial alert: genius idea conceived in shower to follow!

Who says the green boxes have to be boxes?  Why not invent some different sorts of boxes that look like real landscaping stones?  (I've seen some really cheap looking fake rocks that cover up gas meters...but I'm talking high-quality, Vegas-style fake rocks!)  You could match your fake boulder to the natural geology of the region...choosing from simulated limestone, sandstone, granite, etc.  (The folks who like a country motif could have fake hay bales...) Maybe someone could invent a box covered in fake elephant grass or fake bamboo...to better blend in with surrounding landscaping efforts.

I'm thinking the time for this idea has come!

OK, venture capitalists, I'm awaiting your calls...operators are standing by...


RecycleMichael

Could the box look like a pink flamingo?
Power is nothing till you use it.

PonderInc

Absolutely!  Or a large angus bull!

Conan71

What about a fat lady in a polka-dot dress bending over in the garden?
"It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first" -Ronald Reagan

sgrizzle

If I remember correctly, Maple Ridge was only going to have like 6 boxes in front yards. I'd volunteer to put all 6 in my front yard if I had guaranteed power. Of course, I'm also considering making covers that look like boulders or trellis covers and getting rich.

I suggest that Tulsa ask to revise it's PSO franchise agreement. Let PSO raise rates 5% for 5 years, in exchange all residential and commercial distribution lines and service drops are put underground by the end of 5 years.

I also suggest PSO take their Cat D11 bulldozer from Oolagah  to Maple Ridge and go reclaim all of the easements. If you have a pool, concrete wall, house, whatever. Down she comes. The price you pay for violating easements and still wanting backyard power.

pmcalk

Not trying to defend Maple Ridge, but it was going to be much more than 6 boxes.  Also, because they weren't burying lines on arterials, they still would be having some outage (by the looks of 31st, 21st & Peoria), though probably restored much faster.  What I would like to know is why PSO didn't bury lines along streets like Peoria while the city was repaving & tearing up sidewalks?  And if they were going to pass the cost onto customers anyway, why didn't they even consider burying the lines in the back yard?

Personally, I would have opted for the green boxes.  But I hate that everyone is piling on Maple Ridge, as though they are responsible for an unprecedented event like this.

PS--it's not as though they haven't been punished enough.  As of today, south Maple Ridge remains one of the last areas without power.
 

RecycleMichael

I thought it was a green box for every fifth house. That would make it well over a hundred boxes for Maple Ridge.

Up with trees...Down with poles! (No offense to people from Poland intended).

Power is nothing till you use it.

RecycleMichael

Maybe the green boxes could also be multi-purpose.

Make them serve as mailboxes or frames for campaign signs...
Power is nothing till you use it.

PonderInc

Remember when everyone painted their fire hydrants for the Bicentennial?  As a kid, we loved driving around looking at all the great designs.  Perhaps the green boxes could become fabulous displays of public art...

...oh yeah...first we'd need PSO to actually bury the lines... Last I heard it was going to take them 20 years to bury just 700 miles...

sgrizzle

quote:
Originally posted by recyclemichael

I thought it was a green box for every fifth house. That would make it well over a hundred boxes for Maple Ridge.

Up with trees...Down with poles! (No offense to people from Poland intended).





27 boxes in front yards:
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=070807_1_A9_hWhat80780

AVERAGE JOE

Even if the green boxes wouldn't completely prevent a power outage in the case of main feeder lines or a substation going down, it would prevent one thing for sure -- the need for individual homeowners to fork out money to an electrician to re-attach a meter that got ripped off the side of the house.

There will be many people across town who won't have power this week because they couldn't get an electrician to make repairs to their meter box - repairs that likely wouldn't be necessary with buried lines.