Roasting marshmallows while the pole burns

I'm pretty sure this problem is not limited to Austin, but it certainly qualifies under the unofficial motto of the Chamber of Commerce - "Keep Austin Weird."

Today's American Statesperson has a front page article about all the utility pole fires around town - some 17 at press time early this morning. You don't have to make up stuff like this folks; you just read it out of the paper!

It seems that when there is a prolonged drought, such as we are experiencing, "grime" builds up on power lines. Then, if it drizzles - not rains outright, but drizzles - the mist causes the grime to "ooze" from the lines to the poles, creating a path for the electricity. The electricity seeping into the poles causes them to smolder, and in the case of 17 poles and counting, burst into flame.

Think of it as the old boy scout experiment where you attach live wires to frankfurters to watch them sizzle (unless you happen to substitute a finger or 2 for the wiener, in which case you only see stars - if you're lucky). Only in this case the wiener is 40 feet long and soaked in creosote. They burn like roman candles!

If it were not for the fact that your electricity goes off soon after the pole turns on, it would be a spectacular sight to see. At last count some 10,000 customers were without power for a period of time.

There's always something exciting going on in Austin. Gotta' love it.