Wilma, Wilma, Willma Sue - USM Forum -- Message Board

Date: Oct 17, 2005

Wilma, Wilma, Willma Sue

Date: Oct 17, 2005

Me, I will use smoke signals. I have a lot of dead wood available.

Date: Oct 17, 2005

LET'S GET SERIOUS....CAN WE NOT BE MORE PREPARED THAN WE WERE BEFORE KATRINA TO COMMUNICATE WITH EACH OTHER? LET'S GIVE IT SOME THOUGHT.

EVEN MORE IMPORTANT.....DOES OUR ADMINISTRATION HAVE A NEW PLAN FOR DEALING WITH A DIASTER?

SERIOUS COMMENTS ONLY.

Date: Oct 17, 2005

The administration might want to read the October 9 USA Today story about Mississippi Power's response to Katrina: http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/2005-10-09-mississippi-power-usat_x.htm

The key elements to Mississippi Power's success:

A can-do corporate culture.

Clear lines of responsibility.

Decentralized decision-making.

Date: Oct 17, 2005

Googler wrote:

The key elements to Mississippi Power's success:
A can-do corporate culture.
Clear lines of responsibility.
Decentralized decision-making.

And the IBEW, which I am convinced is a secret society bent on world domination on the order of the masonic lodge or the trilateral commission. Evidence? About 10 days after Katrina, I saw four bucket trucks from four different companies in four different states (heck, from four different parts of the country) parked on the side of the road. The linemen got out, shook hands (the secret handshake is the key, I think), went to their individual trucks, started working on separate poles & in about 30 minutes I had electric power. It's the secret handshake, I tell you.

But see-riously, the power companies (not just Mississippi Power) were the only entities around that had a plan for a disaster of this magnitude. They plan for an event that will totally destroy the grid. And by empowering the guys in the field to make command decisions when necessary, they're able to work around unforeseend problems quickly & efficiently. My hard hat's off to them!

Date: Oct 17, 2005

I wish Bell South would take a page from MP's book. Vict is right, the decentralized decision-making was critical. Anyone who's ever been a fed (moi) knows that having to go up the chain of command to buy a box of paper clips makes it hard to get things done.

As for communication, coastliner, my Cellular South phone worked most of the time. Just be sure you have gas to run your car to keep it charged. Let's face it, all we have is landline, cell, ham radio, etc. Ham radio is great, but limited and cell depends on where you are and who you're with. Landline -- heck, we're still sharing one phone among three households. I understand your concern, but unless you plan to raise homing pigeons, I don't know what other options there are.

This time I'll have small cans of food, the one thing I overlooked in my overplanning. I did, however, have enough batteries, a radio, plenty of water, and way too many snacks. I also learned this: freeze water in containers. It will hold longer than bagged ice. Fill up the big cooler, put your down comforter or other fluffy blanket over it (fluffiness helps insulation) and then put the next smaller cooler on top, a blanket over it, then in the little travel cooler, put two day's worth of ice and drinks. Put towels inside the coolers to fill up empty space (assuming everything inside is enclosed.) Then work your way down. I had ice for five days, cold for another day after that. Also, hardboil all your eggs the night before and make a thermos of coffee. Get your oldest relative to tell you how to make "boiled" coffee with a can of sterno. You're all set.

Oh, pray.

Date: Oct 18, 2005

[Image of 5-day forecast of predicted track, and coastal areas under a warning or a watch]

Date: Oct 18, 2005

I live in Naples, Florida. Not looking good for at the current moment

Date: Oct 18, 2005

LVN wrote:

I wish Bell South would take a page from MP's book.

The reason Miss. Power works and Bell South doesn't is because of labor unions.All of the Bell South repairmen are unionized while just a few of the out of town electric crews are. That 's why you pay a little less here and get better service relative to the rest of the country. The electric repair crew in my neighborhood was from Michigan and was unionized. The workers hated the union and their restrictions. They had a couple of no count crew members they couldn't get rid of because of union rules. Sort of reminds you of the tenure system for college profs.

Date: Oct 18, 2005

No Unions Needed wrote:

LVN wrote: I wish Bell South would take a page from MP's book. The reason Miss. Power works and Bell South doesn't is because of labor unions.All of the Bell South repairmen are unionized while just a few of the out of town electric crews are. That 's why you pay a little less here and get better service relative to the rest of the country. The electric repair crew in my neighborhood was from Michigan and was unionized. The workers hated the union and their restrictions. They had a couple of no count crew members they couldn't get rid of because of union rules. Sort of reminds you of the tenure system for college profs.

That's not the reason. Bell South couldn't do anything until after all the power issues were dealt with. It works that way after all hurricanes. The cable system is much easier to get back up and going. The issues have nothing to do with unions or tenure.

Date: Oct 18, 2005

"No Unions Needed" sure didn't pass up an opportunity to bash two things that s/he obviously doesn't know very much about: unions & the tenure system. But I can forgive him/her, because most Mississippians don't know anything about unions except what they've been told by the bidnessmen who enjoy being able to pay substandard wages & benefits & know absolutely nothing about universities except where the stadiums are located.

But I never mentioned IBEW as a "union." I stated that I believed it was a secret society akin to freemasonry.

Date: Oct 18, 2005

How many out-of-state telephone trucks have you seen trying to assist Bell South in the Katrina torn areas of our state? I've seen NONE. How many out-of-state electrical power trucks have you seen trying to assist Mississippi Power Company in the Katrina torm areas of our state? MANY, MANY, MANY. Following the hurricane, the Southbound lanes of major highways were crowded almost bumper-to-bumper with power trucks from other states making their way to Missisippi, Alabama, and Louisiana. Most of our homes now have power. But many are still without telephone service. It's sort of like a fourth tier university being run in a blind and idiosyncratic manner with total disregard to how certain important things are done at premier institutions elsewhere. The academic power is not going to turn back on at USM unless it adopts a Mississippi Power Company type of mentality rather than remain the insulated and parochial Bell South type of institution it has become over the past three years.

Date: Oct 18, 2005

Please note that I only said I wish Bell would take a page from MP's book. I did not make the comments about unions which appear to follow. ActiveBoard's quote mechanism is screwy.
btw, I once belonged to a union and hated it, but I recognize the good they have done. I also recognize the false and gratuitious comment about tenure being equal to union membership.
Bell is a big cumbersome bureaucracy. Everyone I know is having billing problems, including the inability to make online payments and/or incorrect charges. Two people I know are switching from DSL to cable modem and are dropping their home phone service in favor of cell-only. I look for this to be a trend.

Date: Oct 19, 2005

The Bellsouth repair workers that fixed my phone line were here from Maine.

Date: Oct 19, 2005

Point of Clarification wrote:

The Bellsouth repair workers that fixed my phone line were here from Maine.

Actually it was the first time in history of Bell South they asked for outside help, i.e. Verizon, SBC, etc.

Or so announced on televison a few weeks ago

Date: Oct 19, 2005

Point of Clarification wrote:

The Bellsouth repair workers that fixed my phone line were here from Maine.

Bell South does not operate in Maine. If the truck said Bell South, it was not from Maine. Some of the Bell companies may have sent some workers, but I've not seen any trucks from other companies.

Date: Oct 19, 2005

Well Ernestine, not knowing that I would need documentation for a future pi$$ing contest, I neglected to get their truck tag numbers. However, in conversation, the repair workers told me that they were here from Maine to assist Bellsouth telephone customers, an act for which I thanked them.

Date: Oct 19, 2005

I think the one thing we all can agree on is that labor unions hurt productivity. In the old days when competition was restricted it didn't matter. Today,the dynamic ,forward looking people in labor and in management are non-unionized. Many of us are members of management indirectly through ownership of stocks directly or through our retirement plan. Labor unions are the refuges of the losers in today's world.

Date: Oct 19, 2005

You make an excellent point about many companies being de facto owned by employees through 401K and other stock holdings.

Date: Oct 19, 2005

D.L. Armond wrote:

I think the one thing we all can agree on is that labor unions hurt productivity. In the old days when competition was restricted it didn't matter. Today,the dynamic ,forward looking people in labor and in management are non-unionized. Many of us are members of management indirectly through ownership of stocks directly or through our retirement plan. Labor unions are the refuges of the losers in today's world.

Right you are. The forward looking people in management are moving their production to South Asia & Central America so they can escape the unions. And in a true "twist of fate," the employees who're left out of work here in the U.S. are the very ones whose retirement plans demand fast returns, forcing management to look for ways to cut costs.

You knew this was coming:

<RITUAL INVOCATION OF FAIR USE>
Well, you know, lots of people complainin' that there is no work.
I say, "Why you say that for
When nothin' you got is U.S.-made?"
They don't make nothin' here no more,
You know, capitalism is above the law.
It say, "It don't count 'less it sells."
When it costs too much to build it at home
You just build it cheaper someplace else.

Well, it's sundown on the union
And what's made in the U.S.A.
Sure was a good idea
'Til greed got in the way.

Well, the job that you used to have,
They gave it to somebody down in El Salvador.
The unions are big business, friend,
And they're goin' out like a dinosaur.
They used to grow food in Kansas
Now they want to grow it on the moon and eat it raw.
I can see the day coming when even your home garden
Is gonna be against the law.

Well, it's sundown on the union
And what's made in the U.S.A.
Sure was a good idea
'Til greed got in the way.

Dylan, Bob. 1983 "Union Sundown," Infidels. Special Rider Music

</FAIR USE>

Date: Oct 19, 2005

Point of Clarification wrote:

Well Ernestine, not knowing that I would need documentation for a future pi$$ing contest, I neglected to get their truck tag numbers.

Goodness gracious, PofC, if you view my innocous comment (which was an accurate representation of what I observed) the start of a pi$$ing contest, I suggest you not join the debate team.

Date: Oct 19, 2005

D.L. Armond wrote:

I think the one thing we all can agree on is that labor unions hurt productivity. In the old days when competition was restricted it didn't matter. Today,the dynamic ,forward looking people in labor and in management are non-unionized. Many of us are members of management indirectly through ownership of stocks directly or through our retirement plan. Labor unions are the refuges of the losers in today's world.

Ahem, D.L., I am afraid that I will have to call B%ll Sh!t on your statement. Mississippi Power is Unionized. They did a great job. Ergo, not all labor unions hurt productivity. My brother is a Miss. Power Lineman, and he belongs to the Union, as do all the field guys.

Date: Oct 19, 2005

Point of Clarification wrote:

I neglected to get their truck tag numbers.

Getting their tag numers is not the way to do it. Look at the side of their truck. If the sign on the side of their truck reads V-e-r-i-z-o=n, S-B-C, Q-w-e-s-t, or C-i-n-c-i-n-n-a-t-t-i B-e-l-l, chances are the truck is from out of state. Did you see any of those trucks around here? Unlikely. By contrast, there were many trucks with the name of an out of state electrical power company pouring into Mississippi to assist Mississippi Power Company. My house sustained damage and I lost power and telephone service. Power was restored with dispatch. There is still no telephone service - only a fat cellphone bill that is growing over time. Could it be that Bell South took the cheapest way out? Cheapest for their company maybe.

Date: Oct 20, 2005

FWIW, there ain't no "witch" in Wichita.

Date: Oct 20, 2005

Another Point wrote:

FWIW, there ain't no "witch" in Wichita.

My given name appears as "Witchita" on my birth certificate.

Date: Oct 20, 2005

Ernestine and Witchita (per birth certificate) Lineman,

You're both right and I overreacted. I had enjoyed a conversation with a couple of nice guys from Maine who fixed my Bellsouth phone line and that was my only point.

A bad week to quit smoking.

Date: Oct 20, 2005

I'd just like to suggest to the phoneless living in Hattiesburg that part of the problem is that there are a LOT of phone accounts in Forrest & Lamar counties. And a lot of trees to mangle the lines. Smaller towns had landline service restored faster, because there are fewer accounts to restore.

Not defending Bellsouth 100% here, but bear in mind that there's a difference in complexity between restoring transformers, stringing powerlines, or bringing a substation back online on one hand & repairing a bud box or telco central office on the other. (There is a reason that phone lines are fatter than power lines & it's not that the wires inside are bigger. There are a lot more circuits in a telco "grid" than in a power grid.) Consider also that telco lines are more frequently underground, so it's a lot more difficult to locate places where they're mangled than it is for a power crew to cruise an area looking for poles down or trees on the lines.

The outfit that really stunk in the aftermath of Katrina -- at least where I'm located -- was Cellular South.

Date: Oct 20, 2005

Granted, Invictus. However, their massive grinding bureaucracy is still causing people to pull their hair out over the billing issues. I have one relative who was told "if you don't pay this bill, your service will be disconnected." Of course he had been trying to tell her that he WAS disconnected and that's why he was challenging the $200+ bill for phone and DSL. They're some of those I know switching to cable and cell asap. He said "Everybody else got it --- electric company, cable, credit card, bank, but the phone company doesn't seem to understand what's going on."

Date: Oct 20, 2005

Invictus wrote:

(There is a reason that phone lines are fatter than power lines & it's not that the wires inside are bigger. There are a lot more circuits in a telco "grid" than in a power grid.) Consider also that telco lines are more frequently underground, so it's a lot more difficult to locate places where they're mangled than it is for a power crew to cruise an area looking for poles down or trees on the lines.

Invictus, you've given two reasons BellSouth needed help from other telephone companies. Even with a less complex task, Mississippi Power called in the reinforcements.

Date: Oct 21, 2005

Leave it to Beaver wrote:

Invictus wrote: (There is a reason that phone lines are fatter than power lines & it's not that the wires inside are bigger. There are a lot more circuits in a telco "grid" than in a power grid.) Consider also that telco lines are more frequently underground, so it's a lot more difficult to locate places where they're mangled than it is for a power crew to cruise an area looking for poles down or trees on the lines.

Invictus, you've given two reasons BellSouth needed help from other telephone companies. Even with a less complex task, Mississippi Power called in the reinforcements.

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051021/OPINION01/510210327/1014