Brad is a skilled amateur electrician. While he has no formal training, he has studied the codes, and has yet to encounter something that he can’t tackle. There are those who think they know what they are doing, but in reality should not own a pair of wire cutters. He is on the opposite side of the spectrum. Always overly critical of his work and meticulously paying attention to the details.
It is no surprise then that he studied the overhead wires that run from the pole to one building and then the next and so on. There were a few things he wanted to get taken care of concerning the over head lines before winter arrived.
First was to disconnect the Homestead. I was in disbelief that this sad little sentinel still had power going to it. He reached inside and turned a light on. Not sure if I should be impressed or scared that the light still worked.
First thing he had to do was turn the power off at the fuse box in the barn so he could work safely. He disconnected the bare (yes bare) wires from the Homestead. They had been spliced back together at least once. A thick scab of friction electrical tape gave testament to their having come down and being patched and put back up over the years. He took note of the vintage insulators as he clipped the wires off. Saving those insulators would happen another day. With no power he needed to work by the light of day. He knew this should be a simple job, so he started it after work, but that meant we were racing against the sun.
Then he clipped the feed to the Homestead off at the granary roof. He wanted to be sure that they were each snug enough on the granary and secure to the insulators so that the winter winds wouldn’t take them down, or make them cross. While that would probably give the neighbors a cool light show, that was something we wanted to avoid.
After securing them well he flipped the breaker back on. No snap, crackle, or pop. That’s always a good sign. And the light in the granary still worked. One more item to check off the to do list.
Lannon on the Hill 