To all the Linemen and Roughnecks balanced on top of lifts throughout the NE tonight:

[11 Bravo]

Stay safe. I can do without Monday Night Football ... your family can't do without you!
And thanks for leaving the safety of your own home to try and improve the comfort of mine.

[msanthrope]

1. Excellent OP. nt

[nolabear]

2. Amen to that.

Stay safe.

[Teamster Jeff]

3. K&R

[riverwalker]

4. amen to that.

[Stinky The Clown]

5. They're from many different places

They'll all part of utility company Mutual Aid agreements. Trucks and crews from places like Mississippi, Alabama, Michigan, Indiana, and probably many other states, are in eastern states, ready to rock and roll as soon as the winds goes down to 25 mph and they can raise their buckets.

We're grateful for them.

[calimary]

6. Hear, hear!

I hope everybody can ride this out okay! Stay safe! Take cover! Take the warnings seriously!

[Buddaman]

7. Amen........

[Patiod]

8. Thank you for coming from all over the US to help us!

[11 Bravo]

10. I bought coffee for a crew from SC this afternoon. (I'm in Northern Virginia.)

[Patiod]

14. Oh, that's great!

Nice gesture.

[Curmudgeoness]

9. Agreed. These men and women are heroes. Be safe. nt

[many a good man]

11. In D.C. region, Pepco crews halted

It's not worth losing your life over....

Tropical storm winds have forced Pepco crews back to staging areas in
Rockville and the District.

Pepco ordered its above-ground power line crews to take shelter, as the
Washington region began to feel the full force of Hurricane Sandy.
For safety reasons, the power utility’s crews can only work when wind
speeds are below 35 mph.

As of 6: 30 pm, more than 19000 Pepco customers had lost power.

The utility will have to wait until winds die down before starting damage
assessments, Pepco officials said. The earliest opportunity could come
sometime tomorrow. It may take more than a week for Pepco to fully restore
power, they said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/liveblog/wp/2012/10/29/live-blog-hurricane-sandy-news/?hpid=z2#liveblog-entry-3263

[usaf-vet]

12. Excellent message. Stay safe and thank you for doing the jobs you do.

finally to all the governmental emergency services people thank you and be safe.

[Populist_Prole]

13. Yes yes

Here's hoping they don't put extra risk on themselves trying to fight a losing battle. It's bigger than all of us combined.

[NNN0LHI]

15. Don't forget the tree trimmers who the linemen and roughnecks depend on

I trimmed trees for Com-Ed for a while. Pretty dangerous work under good conditions. Real dangerous under bad conditions.

Don

[lillypaddle]

16. K&R

Absolutely. Stay safe everyone.

[PD Turk]

17. Indeed

A couple close friends of mine are linemen, departed Oklahoma yesterday morning headed up there. Bless and keep all of them safe

[sarge43]

18. Bless 'em all, the long and the short and the tall.

They can save lives, sometimes at risk to their own.

Thank you all.

[madrchsod]

19. yup...i`ve done some dangerous work in my life but nothing like those people do.

you would`t catch me anywhere near that much voltage!

[B Stieg]

20. Nice call!

Stay safe, all!

[Actionman]

21. X2

[Lilma]

22. 100 Linemen from Illinios

Illinois has 100 linemen from Amerin now stationed in New Jersey. May they all be safe in the long hours of work ahead of them. We had a tornado in my small town on Leap Day this year and these guys are amazing.

[sarge43]

25. Team Illinios are here in NH. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. n/t

[alp227]

23. K&R, solidarity! 49ers now up 7-0 2q!

Follow the game online http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/gamecast?gameId=321029022

[obxhead]

24. I heard on the radio 25 MPH winds are their cut off point.

HOPEFULLY many of those working to keep and repair our grid are protected by strong unions.

We can ALL do without a great deal for the safety of all of the safety, rescue, volunteer, electric, phone, and sewer people that will likely put their own lives in danger so that we can do with instead of without.

I applaud this op and wish I could rec it more than once.

[malaise]

26. Great post

Rec

[Ship of Fools]

27. Thanks, but my husband

is a lineman. He deserves better than the moniker *roughneck* and all it implies.

His crew almost bit the dust last weekend in a freak accident. He spent the next two days going
through some pretty hellish panic attacks.

He's proud of his job and would risk hell and high water for anybody. Just sayin.