# Not sure I should post



## BBQ (Nov 16, 2010)

It is stupid crap and makes impressions with people that last a lifetime.


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## mattsilkwood (Sep 21, 2008)

That makes absolutely no sense to me.


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## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

The wheels of a monopoly are always slow and up hill and their bad reputation is well deserved...


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## edward (Feb 11, 2009)

i work for a utility now and i got to say its one of the nicest gigs ever. good pay and steady work. i will say a lot of guys that have been doing it for awhile seem to be a little to secure in their job and it tends to slow down their work.

i dont think it is a union thing as much as it is a monopoly.


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## RIVETER (Sep 26, 2009)

brian john said:


> We had a main switch go bad at a hospital yesterday and we needed a utility outage. I kind of fudged the facts, it was a hospital but it was a parking garage, and not the main facility. Still an emergency, but the local utility typically has no concern for customers, so to get them on site you have to exaggerate the emergency or you could wait a full day. Minor point, as they should respond to all emergency with haste.
> 
> Anyway the closest truck was from a different office than where the hospital was located. The on site men were very helpful and friendly and arranged to shut down the power. But they could not restore the power. There was overtime involved and they would be stepping on the toes (OT money) of the men that normally service this area. So we had to wait on the local crew.
> 
> ...


Who told the customer about the underlying cause of the conflict? If there are contractual obligations in place then nothing should be said except that when we get done, we'll let you know.


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## Frasbee (Apr 7, 2008)

It's not just Union.

Doing cell sites we had been called out for landing the grounds to the outside of a cabinet. Apparently we were only allowed to land the grounds on the ground bar (and a specific ground bar), but the other end was reserved for a completely different company that wasn't even on site, and may not be on site for days, even weeks.

This is AT&T's 4G expansion.


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## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

RIVETER said:


> Who told the customer about the underlying cause of the conflict? If there are contractual obligations in place then nothing should be said except that when we get done, we'll let you know.


The first responder told the customer about the union work issue, the lack of concern on the companies part is well known, their customer service agents are pin heads.


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## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

Frasbee said:


> It's not just Union.
> 
> Doing cell sites we had been called out for landing the grounds to the outside of a cabinet. Apparently we were only allowed to land the grounds on the ground bar (and a specific ground bar), but the other end was reserved for a completely different company that wasn't even on site, and may not be on site for days, even weeks.
> 
> n.


Typically what you are discussing is an engineering issue/ design spec. 

This was some mis-guided policy that screws the one paying the bill.


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## captkirk (Nov 21, 2007)

I hate going to the POCO here. THe office is run by a bunch of old, crabby ass ladies and one young chubby chick. When ever I go there I have to kiss major ass and call the old bags "lovely ladies" and crap... Yesterday I told the young chick her shoes were "Hot" she ate it up....
What can I say, im a whore, I really need them to open up a meter can for me on thursday......
This afternoon I drove past about four PSEG trucks and they were all running with all of them sleeping , I guess it was lunch break....


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## Southeast Power (Jan 18, 2009)

brian john said:


> We had a main switch go bad at a hospital yesterday and we needed a utility outage. I kind of fudged the facts, it was a hospital but it was a parking garage, and not the main facility. Still an emergency, but the local utility typically has no concern for customers, so to get them on site you have to exaggerate the emergency or you could wait a full day. Minor point, as they should respond to all emergency with haste.
> 
> Anyway the closest truck was from a different office than where the hospital was located. The on site men were very helpful and friendly and arranged to shut down the power. But they could not restore the power. There was overtime involved and they would be stepping on the toes (OT money) of the men that normally service this area. So we had to wait on the local crew.
> 
> ...


I can tell you that the management here for our utility does not care one bit about how much they charge a customer. The more the better for them as they get to put a fixed margin on every dollar they touch. Blaming it on the crew at the site is as much of a faux pas as the guy bragging that it was a union thing.


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## Jlarson (Jun 28, 2009)

brian john said:


> This was some mis-guided policy that screws the one paying the bill.


Quite a few of our clients would have been raising hell over that. I had one tell the service guys they weren't getting a dime in a similar situation, I just stood there and laughed.


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## doubleoh7 (Dec 5, 2009)

captkirk said:


> I hate going to the POCO here. THe office is run by a bunch of old, crabby ass ladies and one young chubby chick. When ever I go there I have to kiss major ass and call the old bags "lovely ladies" and crap... Yesterday I told the young chick her shoes were "Hot" she ate it up....
> What can I say, im a whore, I really need them to open up a meter can for me on thursday......
> This afternoon I drove past about four PSEG trucks and they were all running with all of them sleeping , I guess it was lunch break....


 
When I need to open a meter can I open it. Cut the damn seal and open it.


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

I haven't experienced what Brian John relates, but I have experienced them calling in extra, unnecessary, men when on OT. They called in more people to spread the wealth, I suppose.


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## doubleoh7 (Dec 5, 2009)

MDShunk said:


> I haven't experienced what Brian John relates, but I have experienced them calling in extra, unnecessary, men when on OT. They called in more people to spread the wealth, I suppose.


 
I think those lineman are some pretty tough mother****ers. If they pick up some extra easy OT, good for them. Don't forget about some of the stuff they have to do in the middle of noght in the worst weather conditions.


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

doubleoh7 said:


> I think those lineman are some pretty tough mother****ers. If they pick up some extra easy OT, good for them. Don't forget about some of the stuff they have to do in the middle of noght in the worst weather conditions.


Yeah, it doesn't appeal to me. The work does, but not the working conditions. When the weather is the nastiest, that's when they're needed the most. Screw that.


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## doubleoh7 (Dec 5, 2009)

MDShunk said:


> Yeah, it doesn't appeal to me. The work does, but not the working conditions. When the weather is the nastiest, that's when they're needed the most. Screw that.


 

That's why I ain't gonna bust their balls for getting a little easy O.T. Probably don't add much to your electric bill. Keep 'em happy and busting ass.


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## cabletie (Feb 12, 2011)

doubleoh7 said:


> When I need to open a meter can I open it. Cut the damn seal and open it.


 PSE&G uses a barrel lock that goes through the cover to an L bracket in the pan. Or if it is an old style pan the lock is like the boot the police put on your tire. It could take an hour to sawzall the meter pan open after you pry it off the building without breaking the meter. I don't know what the fine is for opening a meter this way. If you have a permit and set a date for the service change they will have it open for you. It also the reason they don't want the ground rods run to the meter. They want you to have no reason for going into there equipment.


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## cabletie (Feb 12, 2011)

brian john said:


> My issues was the customer never should have heard from the utility employees that this was a union thing. Customer was less than happy about the wait and thouht the OT issue was stupid.
> 
> Me I had to agree with my customer.


 Absolutely true



> It is stupid crap and makes impressions with people that last a lifetime.


Also true along with picket lines.


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## doubleoh7 (Dec 5, 2009)

cabletie said:


> PSE&G uses a barrel lock that goes through the cover to an L bracket in the pan. Or if it is an old style pan the lock is like the boot the police put on your tire. It could take an hour to sawzall the meter pan open after you pry it off the building without breaking the meter. I don't know what the fine is for opening a meter this way. If you have a permit and set a date for the service change they will have it open for you. It also the reason they don't want the ground rods run to the meter. They want you to have no reason for going into there equipment.


It ain't their equipment, it's the homeowners isn't it? Around here, I just take the seal the the utility involved and they send someone out to reseal it.


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## MF Dagger (Dec 24, 2007)

doubleoh7 said:


> It ain't their equipment, it's the homeowners isn't it? Around here, I just take the seal the the utility involved and they send someone out to reseal it.


That's the way I see it too. I always cut the seal and do the temp reconnect until they can get to it.


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## cabletie (Feb 12, 2011)

I hope someone from PSE&G's territory will chime in here, but when I did services in there area you needed a permit from them and the town. You went to there office for the permit and they gave you a meter pan. You can also buy one at the supply house, but they are different than the other utility JCP&L. I thought you also had to prove thru the permit that you needed a larger service. I was told you are not changing from a 100a two a 200a just because you want to. I am sure most of the ownership would belong to the homeowner but not the gas or electric meter. They do a good job with there barrel lock making sure you don't tamper with *there equipment.* We are not on the honor system here. On the other side of the bridge (south) we have JCP&L (first energy) and yes you just cut the seal. I still do not run any grounding electrodes to the meter pan (old habit). It is still there meter. If it was mine I would take it out and throw it in the trash. The three utilities are mixed throughout the state but for the most part it is top to bottom. I haven't worked south of Ocean County so I don't know about Atlantic City electric. But I can imagine there customers don't supply there own meters.:whistling2:


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