Saturday, May 28, 2022

The Last Derecho Post with Poles and Fish and Chips

I had thought the previous derecho post to be my final word on a most boring topic for the rest of you. But on the road to Almonte, Sue took many a photo, and I might as well use them, for it is a remarkable thing.

The road to Almonte from Carleton Place is the blue line superimposed on the ↓ map. It says 11.6 km, but that is from point to point; the actual highway – 29 – isn't that long, but it is the corridor for power supply to Carleton Place.


Back in 1989 it took 6 months to build the powerline between the communities. In 2022, they replaced it in 3 short days!

I am not sure how long the damaged section was, but I have heard that between 70 - 90 poles had to be replaced. I think that would include the poles in this photo and many more besides.


As far as I can tell, all of the poles along the route were replaced although I am not sure about one stretch of road. It was a lot anyway. Occasionally, we passed half poles sheared off  ↓ or even dangling. We learned that they were other utility poles and not hydro poles. Consequently, they had to be left for those companies to deal with.


This ↓ is one example of an ongoing repair to one of those other poles.


The reason for the little trip was to visit a food truck called the Cheeky Chippy. We had visited once previously in the peak of COVID when we wouldn't have dared to dine in, but the fare is good enough to have drawn us back, even in better times. This time I didn't even wear a mask when I placed my order because we were in the great outdoors. Others did, however. On the whole, I am pretty good about masking up.


The food was grand. The fish was very tender and flakey with perfect, thin and crispy batter.





24 comments:

  1. Yes, that is a fine truck. Poor hydro crews must be exhausted ... the damage here is worse than the ice storm because the downed trees are bigger.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Incredible how much infrastructure was lost. I hope everyone gets on line soon. Crews must be exhausted!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Now I'm hungry for fish and chips! Those power poles sure are tall, and carry a lot of lines! That must have been quite a job to repair all of those that were felled by the storm. Kudos to your repair crews!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Interesting post, AC. Your derecho series is getting to be like the positively final appearance of the tenor!

    ReplyDelete
  5. That's a lot of poles to fix. Yikes! Love the name of the Cheesy Chippy and the food looks great! I haven't had a good fish and chips in a long time!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Power poles seem to be the weak spot in the grid and get battered by the wind. I'm hoping to never experience a derecho! That fish batter looks perfect. I dislike thick breading and it looks thin and crisp. Yum!

    ReplyDelete
  7. The force required to snap those poles must be incredible. The fish & chips look great.

    ReplyDelete
  8. It's remarkable that the poles could be repaired/replaced so quickly. That looks like a really yummy treat. As for masking up, we just returned from a European Cruise and the last flight out of Vancouver to Hawaii was the most strict of all. It required a negative PCR test and a record of our vaccinations. On WestJet, we were told to be sure to keep our mask over our mouth and nose. When eating, we were to take a bite and mask up to chew. If you did not comply, you could lose your flying privileges. It was strict, but we sure felt a lot safer.

    ReplyDelete
  9. A good food truck is quite welcome.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Fish and chips are one of my favorites but I can't seem to find anything that's really good anymore.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Fish and Chips look so good.
    Coffee is on and stay safe

    ReplyDelete
  12. The food looks delicious, I can just about smell it. LOLL ... very tender and flakey fish with perfect, thin and crispy batter is PERFECT. I LOVE that. Thanks for sharing this with us. I enjoyed it.

    Wishing you a wonderful Memorial Day!

    ReplyDelete
  13. That looks delicious. I've been avoiding those kinds of food though to lose some weight.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I LOVE fish and chips and those look perfect.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Great picture of you AC ... and I love the hat !

    ReplyDelete
  16. I really like the “old school” style packaging for the fish and chips. And the lemon slice was a nice addition too! A lot of the places around here do not have lemon or if they do it is lemon juice in one of those small rectangular disposable packets. A fresh lemon slice is much preferred!

    PipeTobacco

    ReplyDelete
  17. Oh those fish & chips look SO tasty ... I'm impressed your take away food truck, knows about presentation & the proper way of fish & chips with a lemon slice.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Reading Kay's comment was quite surprising. They were strict, but very wise. I like your fish and chips.

    ReplyDelete
  19. My comment disappeared.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Love your fish and fries. Gigi hawaii

    ReplyDelete
  21. I'd heard CP had some longer issues! Such a mess.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Food looks good. Is that a tray n your lap?

    ReplyDelete
  23. @Tabor. Yes, it is a tray. Eating the fish was a bit challenging.

    ReplyDelete
  24. So much damage.
    I love your cap!

    ReplyDelete