<p>percussiondad, Metro North says the Hudson line, which Poughkeepsie is the end of, is running normally. You can keep an eye on that here: [MNR</a> Stations](<a href=“http://as0.mta.info/mnr/mstations/default.cfm]MNR”>Train Time)</p>
<p>Garland–earlier this week my D said Starbucks was the ONLY place with power–and everyone was packed in like sardines to recharge all their devices.</p>
<p>There is a part of me that wishes I could offer our in-law apartment to someone, but there is the stranger factor . I find myself feeling guilty for having my home intact while others do not. I am volunteering at our community center that is supplying fresh hot meals to people who are displaced as well as emergency workers.
It doesn’t seem like enough</p>
<p>lje62–Nothing ever seems like enough. The stranger factor is real–stick with what makes you feel comfortable. Volunteering to provide meals is wonderful and much needed and very appreciated.</p>
<p>My SIL brought her deadbeat BF and their annoying dogs when they took refuge with us–almost would rather have the stranger problem! (kidding, mostly.) But not kidding that I was glad when they got power back. Yikes.</p>
<p>And what you’re doing is fine and necessary.</p>
<p>lje- all the stress you have with business on barrier island, hosting a family and their pets,and as you know. another storm is due Wednesday! Really that’s quite enough !</p>
<p>I really feel guilty having my heat and electricity though. The looks on the faces of the parents and children who are forced to live in hotels ( Absecon ) really gets to me. I will never take my life comforts for granted ever again</p>
<p>cartera45–compared to how much to replace them every 2 years or so when they blow down in a storm??</p>
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<p>There’s a bridge in Tyngsboro, MA that was shut down for repairs in 2006. It was finally opened this year though the roadwork around the bridge is still incomplete. Why did it take six years to finish refurbishing a bridge? Well, the transportation budget in MA has been very, very tight for a long time, partially due to the Big Dig and so the state dished out a little money at a time and that results in a bridge taking a very long time to finish.</p>
<p>If you were voting on putting stuff underground and that involved a large increase in rates or a large one-time fee, how would you vote? How do you think most others would vote? Personally, I’d vote to do it because I prefer capital expenditures to regular costs but my personal observation is that I’m in the tiny percentage that likes to do things that way.</p>
<p>Heartbreaking before & after pics. Almost anyone who grew up in NJ will recognize these places. </p>
<p>[url=<a href=“Archived Page - ABC News”>Archived Page - ABC News]Link[/url</a>]</p>
<p>BC, fwiw, [Should</a> the Northeast Bury its Power Lines to Prevent Outages? - Popular Mechanics](<a href=“http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/efficiency/should-the-northeast-bury-its-power-lines-to-prevent-outages-14295683]Should”>Should the Northeast Bury its Power Lines to Prevent Outages?)
Immensely expensive and I don’t know if this is even feasible in beach communities or on a barrier island.</p>
<p>Aggressive tree-trimming and tree removal would go a long way. Our utility used to regularly come down our street and trim branches away from the lines, and remove weak trees.</p>
<p>They stopped doing this 10 or 15 years ago, presumably to save money.</p>
<p>People scream bloody murder if you touch a leaf on their trees though.</p>
<p>My parents are still without power. I spoke them this afternoon to see if where they were. They were playing majong at a friend’s house. They are having dinner there before they go back to the hotel. </p>
<p>I heard from my parents and our friends that the gas situation is easing. They are seeing gas stations with very few cars. It is a good sign.</p>
<p>My family in Sussex County just got their power back!:)</p>
<p>Good news: Long beach (NY) has sewer service back. Water is ready but waiting on health dept approval. Power is back in some parts of the city.</p>
<p>Bad news: the nor’easter that’s likely to hit this week is going to hit a barrier island without dunes. The city is urging people to evacuate if they are still there.</p>
<p>Also for my family…looks like 2 out of 3 houses will be condemned. They’ll find out for sure soon, hopefully.</p>
<p>A good friend of mine from here in Ohio who works for the Humane Society has been in NJ since the storm. The head of HSUS came to work with her team this weekend. This is a cool youtube video that shows the kind of work they are doing:</p>
<p>Parents just got electricity back. Hope it doesn’t go out again.</p>
<p>Glad their power is back. Do they also have heat?</p>
<p>Yes. They have gas heat, but needs electricity to run.</p>
<p>H’s father is still without power. We keep telling him we’ll drive to Long Island and bring him back to stay with us (especially since we were able to get gas) but he wants to stay with his girlfriend, without light or heat. I guess she keeps him warm :)</p>
<p>Thought I’d chime in and say hi. Glad to see zoosermom’s name as one of the recent posters as I was particularly worried about her boro. We live about 20 miles north of NYC and still do not have power, heat, etc. We are thankful that our 3 boys are away at school and don’t have to deal with this. Both DH and I did not work last week, me because the school was closed for the week and DH because he wouldn’t have been able to get to work before Thursday and his office was useless without phones and steady Internet access. He gave blood on Friday and his blood pressure was lower than he ever remembers it. I wonder why??? Hmm, maybe no work for a week.</p>
<p>Con Edison is incompetent. The left hand does not know what the right hand is doing. Trust me on that one. I’m just too tired to give a detailed explanation of what I’ve encountered so far. And with this new approaching nor’easter, it could be forever and a day until we get power back. I think it’s in the 40’s in our house, but at least the house is intact. Neither of my brothers has power, either. One lives on Long Island and one in northern Westchester. We are all served by different power companies. My recently married niece, who actually got married on the day of Hurricane Irene last summer, lives in a rented condo on Long Beach, Long Island. They had to abandon it because the basement where all of the heating and electrical equipment was got destroyed.</p>
<p>I am in the public library now which is being kept open later to accommodate the need for heat, electricity and the Internet. There are others who are so much worse off than we are. I finally saw some TV coverage last Friday while sitting in the car dealer having a radiator replaced. Stunning. And not in a good way.</p>
<p>limabeans: just read back a few pages and see that you are “roofless.” Ouch, I hope you can get something temporary up there!</p>