I really didn’t mean to cause such a commotion
As I was monitoring the temperature of my smoker Tuesday, a utility truck stopped on the highway. The driver got out and set up some orange caution cones.
I assumed he was there to do some line clearing or road work but he walked right up our driveway and I learned he was a fiber-optics guy there at my behest. But not really.
On Monday I decided to install a small underground drainage system to pull water away from our cottage. It was strictly a hand-shovel job and my only worry, utility-wise, was an underground gas line. Our electrical wire is above ground and we have no land-line phone or cable TV and our Internet runs off our cell-phone hot spot.
I was 98 percent sure the gas line ran away from where I planned to dig, but not 100 percent. I figured the 2-percent doubt was worth a call to MSS DIG. With that call, I unleashed the cavalry. The conversation went something like this:
MISS DIG: “Representatives of six utility companies will come out to your house between now and Thursday.”
Me: “But I only need the gas line marked.”
MISS DIG: “All six with have to inspect your project, sir. It’s the law,”
And so they did. And it was free of charge. But I felt a little embarrassed about it.
