by Miravanni

Created on: June 22, 2009   Last Updated: June 24, 2009

Journeyman power lineman making a living at one of the most dangerous under appreciated jobs out there.

Most people don't think much about their electric till the bill comes or when it goes out. Our life revolves around the utility company whether we want it to or not. People talk about how brave police officers are or fire fighters. Somehow the only time people seem to take note of my husband's job is when the power is out. Not what is takes to keep it on. So this is our life, the family of a journeyman. Everyday my husband goes to work and I pray that, he won't get distracted. That the guys with him leave their personal life at home. That he's awake enough after working 16 hours that he doesn't get shocked or fall asleep on the drive home.

My husband works on 34,000 volts. We aren't talking about a wall socket here.I think we all have been warned about the dangers of our own outlets,think all the outlets in your house and the next say 10 blocks. I swear if my husband saw a danger sign he would run towards it .This is the career he chose so we just have to live with it.I love my husband more then a paycheck and if I thought that anything else would make him happy I would gladly steer in quit aggressively in that direction. I think it takes a certain kind of person to survive this trade, where you may not be home for dinner or nites or weekends. where you miss your kids birthdays or family gatherings and Christmas when it rains or snows or hell if the wind blows it's "love you baby", back to 16 hour days.

These guys don't just trust anyone and are slow in letting new people into their ranks. For good reason though. Electric is unpredictable,circumstances vary all the time. They count on their co-workers to literally keep each other alive. We aren't talking battling bad guys here, even criminals are some what predictable. One wrong move,they could get crushed by the poles they climb,cause yes they set them there also. They could slip and fall off the pole,or drop load and puff it's all over in a flash.

They work grueling hours in the worst weather, lugging 70 lbs cross arms and 30 lbs tool bags up a pole. Literally carrying those cross-arms you see strapped to those poles .As if working on the electric isn't dangerous enough, they climb the pole with metal gaffs that look like spikes. This is not the job for the faint of heart. These guys beat their bodies and most of them will wind up having knee and shoulder surgeries multiple times before they are 40.

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