HE'S BACK!!! Justin's Trip to NYC with Hurricane Irene

My husband works for a company that is contracted by our local electric utility to do line clearance...basically, they cut trees away from power lines.  It's not the prettiest sight once they go through your neighborhood and homeowners have no say in the matter, but you'll be thanking them next time a storm--ice, wind, whatever--rolls through town!

On occasion, Westar will subcontract the guys to other communities when storms hit...or even when another utility finds themselves in need of routine line clearance.  The move is a huge money saver for Westar (and it keeps them from raising our electric rates!).  As a result of the subcontracting, Justin has been to Texas and Louisiana for Hurricanes Ike & Gustav; Oklahoma and the Mexican border for ice storms (yup, you read that correctly); Iowa  and Wichita for windstorms; and finally Dallas and Seneca, KS for routine line clearance. 

When they're "called out," they may be gone anywhere from 2 days to 6 weeks.  Sometimes you can tell it will only be a few days...all other times, bags are packed with 2 weeks worth of clothing and ya just sit back and take it day by day.  The 4 and 6 week jobs really get old after a while, but I never complain.  I have too many friends and family who get sent into battlefields for 15 months at a time...who am I to complain?

Once Irene started making news, his crew went on stand-by on Sunday, August 21...just as they pulled in from another storm! The call finally came in Thursday night that they were being released and they hit the road at 5am on Friday, August 26.

When they eventually left, all Justin's crew knew was that they were heading East.  Where to?  Only Irene would know.  They spent the first night in Ohio and the next night they stayed across the river from Manhattan to ride out the Hurricane in a hotel.  Trust me, I wasn't too keen on the idea of my husband being sent INTO a hurricane with a motel room as his only shelter!

Once Irene hit, they immediately had a contract lined up and their crew moved into New York City...NEW YORK CITY! *In my best ever Pace Picante Sauce commercial voice*  When I went to church the following Sunday, everyone was asking where Justin was.  I told them, "He's in New York City--for a hurricane."  That's not something you say very often! 

The guys finally got back this afternoon.  There's such a high level of energy as the guys unpack their huge orange trucks and the wives pull into the parking lot.  You know everyone is ready to be back and excited about leaving the 16-hr work days behind!!! 

As much as I miss Justin during the storms and *hopefully* he misses me, there are some upsides to him being gone...

--Hello, overtime pay!!!  Because they're union, they lucked out and ended up on New York's wages...Justin was loving it!

--Justin eats out nonstop on the other utility's tab and I don't have to cook unless I feel like it!  Once again, because of their union they were on New York's (generous) per diem...he definitely ate much better than I did!

--This time around, they lucked out and got individual rooms at the Courtyard by Marriott (huge improvement from the trucks and SuperDome they slept in during Hurricanes Ike and Gustav) while Mitz and I had the bed to ourselves...

--I can keep the house however messy or clean as I want it to be...Justin gets daily maid service in his room!

--I can go to bed whenever I want!  I can't necessarily say the same is true for Justin but at least he doesn't have anyone nagging at him to turn the TV come bedtime...

But the best part is knowing he's home safe!  The combination of water + chainsaws + electrical lines always makes me nervous!  Justin's also been gone 5 of the last 6 weekends so I'm hoping the remainder of Hurricane/Thunderstorm season stays quiet :-)

Looks like they managed to have a good attitude while they were hard at work!