Though I don’t know much about electricity, I know I like to have it. I know how to use it in my home, and I have a vague idea of how it gets from one place to another but that is about it. The electrical transformer is something of a mystery to me, though I do think it has something to do with controlling the electricity so that it does what it is supposed to do safely. There have been many squirrels that have lost their lives thanks to an electrical transformer, so I guess that means they aren’t safe, and that might be why they are very high off of the ground.
My only experience with the fire department came thanks to an electrical transformer. I was living in Pittsburgh at the time, and I lived on the corner. There was an electrical transformer right across the street from me, but I never gave it much thought. I did know that my electric went out very easily. If there was an especially breezy day I knew my lights and my power might very well go out.
One afternoon I heard what sounded like firecrackers. Because it was July fifth, I thought perhaps it was just left over fun from the fourth, and I thought nothing of it. I smelled smoke too, and then my power went out. I started to get a little upset wondering if someone had set off fireworks and somehow damaged the power lines. When looked outside I saw no sign of anyone but the smoke smell was stronger. I called the fire department. Though I told him I honestly didn’t know where the smell was coming from they showed up right away.
As it turned out, it was not fireworks at all, but the electrical transformer that was across the street from me. The loud cracking noises I heard were signs that something was terribly wrong. The electric company came and replaced the electrical transformer. From the day on we experienced power outages only when there was a storm, which told me that the electrical transformer had been the reason for all of the power failures we had. It makes you wonder how many of them out there are a danger, and how many are an accident waiting to happen. Now if I could just educate the squirrels to stay off the electrical transformer that is outside my current house I’d feel a whole lot better.
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