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Verizon vs. the Needham Fire Department
netbuzz writes "At issue is whether — or not — there was a minor fire in a house on Pine Grove Street in Needham, Mass., caused by a Verizon employee drilling through an electrical main. Everyone agrees that whatever happened — or didn't happen — was indeed the fault of the Verizon employee; it's "fire or no fire" that is at issue. Verizon says no fire, not even smoke. The Needham Fire Department begs to differ. New eye-witness reports are emerging ... and it's not looking good for Verizon."
Verizon burns customer.
Verizon technical workers are careless and unqualified?
I'm shocked!
Interviewer: Sir, what was the reason for leaving your last job?
Employee: Actually, I started a fire in a customers house and denied it ever happend, even though there were eyewitnesses. Needless to say the incident received national attention and my company spent a lot of money in litigation.
Interviewer: We'll let you know.
In a world of acronyms, the words are the real victims.
One of our new techs was installing a triple play at a Needham home (they're selling like hotcakes, btw).
Perhaps not the best turn of phrase to use, all things considered...
In my experience the easiest way to find the owner of a cable is to break it and wait for the complaints.
http://michaelsmith.id.au
/Verizon waves hand This is the not the fire you are looking for...
Employee: Sounds great. I look forward to working with you Captain Hazelwood.
I hope, when they die, cartoon characters have to answer for their sins.
The roof the roof is on fire we don't need no water...................Oh wait
I totally agree. This story just is not worth it. I am much more interested in this idea about a slashdotter having a "girlfriend," though. Could you share some more information on this so we can get a better idea what it is about?
What, companies send their employees home if the building loses power? Hmm..
Yes it does. Awhile back I had cable internet installed at my parent's house. When I asked the tech how he planned on getting the actual cable into the house, he pulled out a drill with an 18 inch long, 7/16" bit, told me to stand back, and just haphazardly poked a hole right through the siding, insulation, drywall, everything.
I'm sure if the guy would have hit a wire, electrocuted himself and fell off the ladder you would have read about him suing me.
Check out the cave on the east side of lake Hylia. Strange and wonderful things live in it.
But it does give everyone a chance to complain about editorial quality here, soothe the masses before double posting a story about the RIAA, Microsoft, SCO, or illegal wiretapping.
And if it hadn't been posted I would have missed my chance to read this:
All right, cute writing but perhaps not enough, so let's spruce up the story submission to meet Slashdot standards then:
--
parody parody parody...
This sounds like a joke but I assure you it is true....
Some years ago the water/sewage pipes were being repaired just outside the office where I worked. The trench was gradually making its progress up the road, across the pavement [sidewalk] and was closing in on the visitors' car park in front of the building.
The facilities manager walked out to meet them and spoke to the foreman.
"Please be careful and watch out when you're digging here, there are some comms cables running across the car park here, they are about 1 metre down"
"Don't you worry about that sir... we'll be digging much deeper than that" came the reply.
The really sad part was that he couldn't see why we were laughing.
.02 cents per damaged .00001 square foot of property!
A couple years back, during the 4th or 5th time they have repaved/dug up Lee Rd. near my house someone nicked a water-main with the shorewall (the metal things they stick in holes so they don't cave-in on workers) and caused a little bitty leak.
Turns out there was an 100+ year old pipe under the watermain that nobody had been using or known about. The little water leak washed out the soil under the pipe, and while they were trying to figure out what it was the pipe cracked and someone screamed "GAAAAS!". Not 15 seconds after that, the entire Lee Rd. was lit up with 15' tall flames that I could feel well over 500' away on the corner of my street. Houses and the local video store were completely melted on the sides as well as the walgreens and 7-11.
So yea. This stuff happens. All the more reason why we should have open and accessible standards and records.
If at first you don't succeed, call it version 1.0.
If you're going to steal, doing it stationary is a good way to get caught
We lose power where I work, on occasion. It always astounds me how little I can get done without it. We usually hang around and chat for an hour, then go home - after all, how long can you chat with your coworkers with no coffee?
It's not wasting time, I'm educating myself.
Believe it or not, this happens more often than you might think. The only difference is: this one got national attention somehow.
Maybe if it had happened in Billerica instead of Needham it would have appeared on PBS. "On Tonight's episode of This Old House - what happens when you drill through an electrical main."
All of this could have been avoided if he had only drilled .002 meters to the left.
There's also a corollary that says if you ever need a backhoe, just bury a few feet of fiber in the ground and one will show up shortly to cut it.
May contain traces of nut.
Made from the freshest electrons.
Founded during the great pork shortage of 1680.
Agreed. If I got my name in the news every time I drilled through a power line in my house or hammered a nail through a water pipe, I'd be more popular than Paris Hilton.
I can't imagine it's any better for someone who isn't familiar with the house at all!
SCANDAL ON SLASHDOT
An article published on a popular Internet news site Slashdot has been revealed to contain inaccuracies. This shocking revelation, centered around an article concerning a possible attempt at arson committed by Verizon, Inc's employee against the company's customer in Needham, Mass., is only the latest scandal surrounding Slashdot. While the police did not give any details at this time, an attempt to indicate the local fire department of lying is rumored to be at the heart of the matter.
A Slashdot reader, identifying himself as a veteran of the Mission to Mars, expressed his outrage of the incident, but felt confident that the mental skills honed at that mission would help him cope through these traumatic times.
"I feel like a piece of my life was just wasted reading the article.", said one reader. Others have engaged in anti-social behavior; one caught in the act said: "Just had to do something to make reading this article worth my time."
-Ultranova, reporting live from Slashdot.
Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.