Newly connected underground power – done.
Lines run into the main house – done.
Thankfully it was done before it got colder out, since they are the largest lines next to the lines that run to the panel from the transformer – the weather was still unseasonably warm, and that was the only thing that made it possible to get them inside. We could tell the difference in pliability as the day wore on and the temperatures dropped. They had been a bugger to get inside as it was.
Insulation on the wires has seen its better days. 
From the trench to the conduit. 
Fun fact – the clay like stuff to seal out the weather is called Monkey Sh-t in the trades. (If you go to buy it, it’s duct sealing compound.) 
This was on the house – notice how frayed the insulation is. 
More of the same wire – notice the lack of insulation. 
The old wire was copper, unlike the new line which is aluminum. 
Ta-da! New panel!
Brad was ready to move on to the next building, but first he had to determine what still worked in the house and what didn’t. You see, the main house has 2 panels, one of which is now dead (its upstairs in a small attic), both were independently fed from the overhead lines. Before flipping the breaker to the house at the main panel Brad re-connected all the lines that were in the old basement panel to the new one. The lines that were connected to the attic panel will have to be re-wired as we work inside.
Far left – 3 insulators for the power coming from the pole.
Middle -2 weather head. Top – for cable going into the breaker panel in the attic closet. Bottom – for the cable running on the outside of the house to the basement breaker panel.
Right – weather head for the line to the yard-light.
Far Right – Insulators anchored to the house with lines for the yard-light.
With the power company disconnecting their overhead line from the yard pole, the neutral line to the yard-light was cut. With power on to the main house, the yard light came on – this should be impossible. Without the neutral the circuit couldn’t close and there should not be power flowing. Brad spent 1/2 an hour to an hour physically cutting wires trying to figure out how it was still on when it was physically impossible. The light was on, so as much as we thought it to be impossible, it was obviously possible. In the words of Sherlock Holmes “Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.” The only explanation – it was being grounded by – the ground. There was enough moisture in the ground to make a connection and ground the load, completing the circuit, and letting the light work. In the end he determined that it was no more dangerous than before, and shrugged his shoulders and moved on knowing that in the near future it would no longer be an issue.
This should not be working! 
Abandoned dog house where the power used to enter.
I don’t think its supposed to be rusty.
Lannon on the Hill 