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An Electrifying Scene
black mamba
Registered Users Posts: 8,321 Major grins
I've been fascinated for a long time with this old country manor that sits in the middle of nowhere....I mean nowhere. A couple of years ago, someone spruced up the front porch and installed a new roof of asphalt shingles. I thought " Hooray, the old place is going to be fixed up ". Well, I guess that's not to be. Nothing has been done to it since that little bit of work. It is still abandoned.
I stopped to grab a quick shot of the place. I set up my tripod as close as I could next to a fence that surrounds the property. After taking a couple of shots, one of the tripod legs started to collapse...I had not tightened it properly. I reached for the tripod but, in doing so, I lost my balance. I grabbed out for the fence post I was closest to. Unfortunately, I missed the post and caught the top wire to the fence. You may have guessed....the fence was electrified. I hadn't even noticed.
HOLY S***. Darlene said I went back about 4 to 5 feet and dropped like a sack of potatoes. I don't remember. I can tell you, though, that it hurt like hell. Maybe double hell. In all my years of stomping around in rural environments, I had never tangled with one of those infernal devices. I knew all about them but had never crossed swords with one of them. Hope I never do again.
I stopped to grab a quick shot of the place. I set up my tripod as close as I could next to a fence that surrounds the property. After taking a couple of shots, one of the tripod legs started to collapse...I had not tightened it properly. I reached for the tripod but, in doing so, I lost my balance. I grabbed out for the fence post I was closest to. Unfortunately, I missed the post and caught the top wire to the fence. You may have guessed....the fence was electrified. I hadn't even noticed.
HOLY S***. Darlene said I went back about 4 to 5 feet and dropped like a sack of potatoes. I don't remember. I can tell you, though, that it hurt like hell. Maybe double hell. In all my years of stomping around in rural environments, I had never tangled with one of those infernal devices. I knew all about them but had never crossed swords with one of them. Hope I never do again.
I always wanted to lie naked on a bearskin rug in front of a fireplace. Cracker Barrel didn't take kindly to it.
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Seriously though glad there was no permanent damage. I'd love to get in there with a camera!
Jack
(My real name is John but Jack'll do)
Glad you're OK - I'll have to watch for that when I'm out in the future!
http://www.moose135photography.com
Thanks for the thoughts, Jack. I'm with you. I'd love to get loose in this old place. Somebody had some real money when this place was built. I'd like to see some of the home design features that would have been perhaps representative in a home of this stature during those times.
Since my episode of being educated to the intricacies of electric fences, I've thought a lot about that stuff. I wonder if there are any rules and regulations that dictate how much amperage is allowed to pulse through such a setup. I have a monumentally enhanced appreciation for the fact that farm animals that touched such a fence once, never get close to the fence again.
Take care, buddy,
Tom
Well, as I'm sure you know, it was not an elective process I went through.:D And I am fine....thank you.
Darlene recounted to friends how I was violently flung backwards into a crumpled heap on the ground. At that point, I was forced to remind folks that I was falling backward anyway and that, naturally, I would have " crumpled " when hitting the ground. Feeling that I'd adequately defended my manhood somewhat, I'm taken aback when she comes in for the kill and asks me to explain why I laid there on the ground briefly....jabbering the whole time.
I tell you. I don't remember any of it.
Take care, John,
Tom
You can guess the rest.
:cry
Gee, Sam, that's awful. Your friends don't call you Squeaky, do they?
Tom
Thanks, Taz. It was an experience I don't want to repeat.
See ya,
Tom
We'll have to wait for Tom's next pictures to really assess if there is permanent damage or not!
More seriously, I'm glad you're OK Tom, be careful. The place seems great, I would really like to shoot the interior.
www.mind-driftphoto.com
Thanks much for your concerns, Cristóbal. I'm sure there have been scads of people who were unfortunate enough to have tangled with these kind of fences. I can attest that it's no fun.
It appears that a few of us would like to shoot the interior of this grand old manor house. I say we gather up and storm the place. When the rest of ya'll have successfully dealt with that mean-spirited fence, I'll make my grand entrance.
Take care my friend,
Tom
I'm glad you had a friend with you.
Nice pic too!
When I was a kid (city kid), we visited cousins on a farm in Minnesota - they tricked me into touching the wire around the soy beans... ouch!
Don't think I got the amperage you did, but I kinda' know how you feel.
Yo Eric,
There's no doubt that I got a mighty righteous jolt from that fence. But I seriously doubt that Darlene's version of the affair is totally devoid of her natural concern for her husband....who was, as she put it, getting hammered by this thing. I had already slipped and was falling backward, away from the fence, when I grabbed that wire. I doubt it played a role in slinging me. And, naturally, after I hit the ground I was bound to most likely go prostrate. I don't remember falling and hitting the ground. I do, though, clearly remember being on the ground and cursing a blue streak. That must have been when she claimed that I was lying there, jabbering away.
Thanks for the comments,
Tom
Looks like a really neat place and it does peak my interest as to why some work was done on it and then not completed.
www.Dogdotsphotography.com
Most of the time you see a restoration work started and stopped like this one, money ( or the lack thereof ) is the root problem. Folks will launch a program, find out that it's way more than they bargained for....in cost and required skill levels....and they're not prepared to pay for professional help to finish the deal. I really don't know what the deal is in this case, though.
There's an old church not too far from this house. The next time I'm near this place, I'm going to stop there and see if anyone can give me the story to the place.
Good to hear from you,
Tom
I'm surprised that a rounder like yourself has not tangled with one of these before.
Guess I need to give you a tip on how to disable it.
1) Drink a lot of fluids (coffee, soda, water, etc)
2) Walk to approximately 12" of fence
3) Proceed to purge yourself of said fluids
4) Make SURE you hit the wire with fluids!!!
Like magic, SOMETHING will no longer work!
Hope that helps!
How 'bout we back our trucks up to the fence and hop over? First, we drop a step ladder--a wooden one--to the other side and use that to jump back over.
If it weren't so hot here your adventures would inspire me to get back out and shoot. When fall comes you will have to remind me how to use a camera.
Like everyone else, I am amazed at the depth of the green shades there.
Thanks for sharing. Now that I know you are fine.....I am laughing like crazy!
Lauren
Lauren Blackwell
www.redleashphoto.com
Yo pard,
Like I said, I know all about these electric fences. In years gone by, I was just real careful to avoid them. This one snuck up on me.
Your directions to disable such a fence bring back a story my dad used to tell. My grandfather had owned a big produce packing operation down near Ft. Myers, FL, on the edges of the Everglades.
On the weekends, quite a few Seminole Indians would filter into town, looking to get some whiskey. While it was against the law, several townsfolk would see that they could get some. My grandfather was one who helped them get their booze. The Indians would come up and hide behind some of his buildings....proceeding to get drunk. After a while, they'd stagger back into the Everglades.
There was a section of corrugated steel roofing that leaned up against one of the buildings. For whatever reason, the Indians chose that as their primary pissing spot. Grandfather and one of his buddies decided to have some fun. They wired up that sheet of roofing and waited for one of the Indians to start pissing on it. They would then throw the power to the metal roof and enjoy the show. Didn't take too long.....the Indians wouldn't get anywhere near the metal sheet. According to my dad, grandmother threatened to shoot my grandfather and his buddies if they didn't stop that crap.
Take care, buddy,
Tom