Post by Mike RiddlePost by Jim Redelfs...they just get OLD. <sigh>
Well, "Hopalong," I guess you would know. ;-)
Post by Jim Redelfs<http://www.redelfs.com/photographs/timeline79-87/19830903_37.html>
Was that back when you got an extra $25 every time you climbed a pole?
Say what?!?
When was that?
(Hmmmm... I must've missed that one.)
Time was you couldn't achieve top pay if you were a "ladder lineman"; you were
held back to the next-to-top pay progression.
Today, there a LOTS of ladder linemen at top pay. Considering the cost of
benefits and health care, they don't care HOW you get up there (ladder or
"hooks") but that you get it done properly and SAFELY.
This particular pole was is in the backyard of my former residence. The pole
pictured had already spent ~30-years along West Maple Rd and wound up
(literally "up") in my backyard in late 1982. I constructed and erected what,
to this day, is known as Fort Ramblewood. They are arranged in a
ten-foot-square arrangement and have swings, a hang bar and climbing rope.
One pole, the one I am on, is buried into the ground 5-ft and I am at about
the 30-ft level, erecting the steel mast that served for MANY years as a flag
pole.
It's all still there, but I'm not sure I'd have the nerve to climb it today,
after all these years. Besides, even back then, it was a pretty "squirrely
ride" since there is no power or other attachments at the top that, under
normal circumstances, would make the climb MUCH more stable.
Notice in the pic the wind blowing from the SW - you can tell by looking at
the ropes and handline blowing away from the pole.
At Christmas, I would climb this thing and hang 250 BIG outdoor lights. It
looked like a huge Christmas tree from miles away.
:)
JR