Here I am, an Idiot/Savant, being asked my opinion on what in the hell is going on around L.A. I’d say I lean more towards the Idiot part of that equation, but, I do gossip with a lot of old timers, and once in awhile, younger bulls. Here’s the lowdown. It’s positioning. Hey, you can do it too. Figure out future growth, buy up land in the surrounding areas. What’s the big deal? Well, the big deal is the difference between BUYING, and TAKING. Now, my tower is gone. Sob, wail. BIG DEAL. I’m just pissed my material was destroyed. That too is now a dead horse, well whipped, so, let’s move on…I need more beams and utility poles. Good ones still viable…Hey! A MATERIAL LIST!…A good utility pole has to be free of these defects. Especially if over seventy foot long…No major splits. No rotted spots. No bends or twists past six inches from top to bottom. No knots that affect integrity. No creosote. No insect infestation…On slow days for Pacific Telephone, the Foremen would give guys five pound stepping hammers, hand them an area off of Mulholland or Benedict Canyon, tell them to go inspect poles. Now, lots of guys blew it off and sucked down brews at Barneys Beanery. At the end of the day, who was the wiser? Well, for one, that Foreman. If that pole fell into a kitchen and killed someone, or, went down across Laurel canyon, well, guess who’s name popped up on the inspection report. Now, a rogue pole is nothing to sneeze at…If a ninety foot pole goes down, get ready for some real problems, FAST. What will also go is the strand wire. That’s the continuous wrapped wire that holds the actual cable onto all the poles, for MILES. If that baby snaps, say, from the two thousand pound pole going down into a canyon full of expensive homes, OH MAN! That bastard can go like a 5,000 pound Anaconda right through a house, taking the roof right off. And its not close to stopping. Then it will whip back and really show some carnage. We saw films of tests done by Bell Labs and Western Electric about what some poles had done, all over the world. AWESOME! As long as your family wasn’t the star of said film. Oh, I almost forgot. Those big high power transformers are usually come down too. The fun just never stops…