Just happy to be here to post this

[loner]

Glad it worked out O.K. The rescue squad would still be trying ta catch me! Hope ya didn"t have yer favorite overalls on!

 

[Rick Jay]

cowboydoc,

Glad to hear you're O.K. Your incident serves as a good reminder to all of us to be sure to call whichever service is available in your area to have them mark the property before digging.

In this case, they messed up. But at least now it's their fault, and not yours. If you didn't call them to mark the area, then the real shock would have been when they sent you a bill for damages./w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif

Again, glad to hear you're O.K.

~Rick

 

[JDGREEN4ME]

happy that you are safe, shows how quick our lives can change!

 

[Alan L.]

Hope your local Walmart had a good supply of replacement Fruit of the Looms!

 

[rf33]

Glad to have you here too Doc. Those locating services are great for removing personal liability for all that you dig up, but that is about it as far as I have seen. I have dug up all kinds of stuff (including a bundle of fiber optics about 8" in diameter) which they have forgotten to mark. I know thier jobs must be difficult, but to me their greatest benefit is that of having someone else to point the finger and the bill towards. Hitting power has always made me a little nervous, both with a trencher and with a backhoe, but nothing makes me as edgy as hitting gas lines./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif I (perhaps stupidly) really do not worry too much about getting shocked too badly, since while operating the equipment, I am not an easy path to ground for the electricity, but those gas lines blowing up scare the dickens out of me. Glad to see you are still around though/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif.

 

[frank_f15]

jim: watch out for that gas line if u are going to be digging anywhere near it.very dangerous.

 

[fishman]

SCARY!/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif

Glad you are o.k.

 

[Golfgar4]

Wooooo! /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif That could've REALLY ruined your day!/w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

Glad to hear you're O'K. and no major damage to the equipment.

If it's any consolation, our locators in Wisconsin screw up just as good as the Iowa locators. One of our crews was excavating 75 feet away from the marked locates for gas/water/telephone and they tore through a telephone cable. /w3tcompact/icons/sad.gif Not quite as exciting as your fireworks, but it knocked out the service to about 200 homes and businesses. Those folks were not happy campers! /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

WOW, Glad you're still here to tell us about it. A few years ago in Leander Texas, a guy hit a gas pipeline. Toast. The flames burned a radius of about 60 yards, further in the direction of gas flow. Most gas lines carry about 800 psi around here. Huge compressors in the gas fields suck it out of the ground and pack it into the pipelines. Some are V-16's. But most are smaller V8's and V12's. Depends on the well. Most folks up there in the cold weather don't realize what it takes to keep those blue flames burning.

 

[grandad]

What a unique way of celebrating Thanksgiving! Sounds like you indeed do have some "thanks" to express this year. Glad it wasn't more serious.