THIS JUST IN: I HAVE POSTED THREE MORE destroyed mailbox posts photos located under the “Broken Mailboxes” post below this post. Just scroll down the page until you can see the slideshow.
The photo of the white plastic mailbox post that has been completely sheared off is from a local resident, who states this is the second time in a few weeks that she has had her mailbox post completely destroyed.
THE UPDATED photos of her damaged mailbox post and two others I happened across are on the “Broken Mailbox” post below this. I am adding it to the photo gallery. The photos can also be found under “Featured Photos” located on the right hand side of the blog.
Now, I want to make one thing clear-I have total respect for our town employees and they know that, the plow drivers included. But we do have a situation occurring and it needs to be corrected. This may even include switching to another type of snowplow blade!! Possibly the V-shaped blade. You have to remember, wet heavy snow is like a projectile-it could damage property and even injure or kill-so possibly using the v-blade and going slower may eliminate excess snow being thrown. When people are telling me they have snow from the plow landing 10 to 12 feet into their property-umm Houston WE HAVE A PROBLEM!! And it may be the BLADE type!!
Also, I ran into the Town Manager, Michael Milone who is very concerned about the property damage. He is a man of his word and will do his best to correct the situation. But, Mr. Milone I have a word of advice-DO NOT EVER QUESTION GOD ALMIGHTY WHEN SHE WRITES ON HER BLOG!! NEVER!! Never question my intentions or my accuracy. NEVER!! I stand up for ALL people-I don’t care who they are, Town Employees included!!I
I try to weigh out all sides and balance out the issues, this is why I am including an excerpt from an article about snowplow blades, because that may be the major culprit-the shape of the blade not so much the driver.
Here is my suggestion to alleviate part of this problem:
Equipment
There are two different kinds of blades available for your snow plow, straight blade and multi-positional, or V-plows. Straight blades are the classic snow-plowing tools, able to angle either left or right. Multi-positional blades have added cylinders and hinges that enable them to form a V-shape when plowing, allowing the plow to move through deep snow more efficiently. Multi-positional blades can also operate in scoop mode, moving large piles of snow from point A to point B.
The photo at the top of the page is a temporary replacement mailbox I received from the town of Cheshire today. They are going to replace my mailbox post which was cracked, in the spring. I thank the town, but my hope is that they are going to replace everyone’s mailbox and/or post that was destroyed, That was the purpose of the photos in the last post, to call attention to this dilemma,
I wonder if the town has a mailbox “graveyard” Where did they get this mailbox from? Is it someones mailbox that got KOed from a previous storm? WHO KNOWS!! IS IT YOURS??? It is sort of creepy.
I have heard from many of you whose mailboxes were destroyed during Wednesday’s snowstorm. I am not going to take any more photos because after driving around today for about an hour I noticed that most of the people whose mailboxes were destroyed on Wednesday, either bought a new mailbox or they rigged up their old boxes so they can get their mail.
As you know, the postal service will NOT deliver mail unless you provide them with a mailbox. When my mailbox was stolen a few years ago, I called the post office and they allowed me to pick up the mail in person.
You people have got to call the post office and then call the Town Hall and tell them to replace your mailbox. DON’T ASK!! TELL THEM-I EXPECT A NEW MAILBOX BY SPRING AND IN THE MEANTIME I EXPECT A TEMPORARY BOX TO BE PUT IN PLACE BY THE END OF THE DAY!!
I never ask anyone for anything-I TELL THEM WHAT I WANT!! It works 90 percent of the time. TRY IT!!
This is an election year in Cheshire. Call your Town Council representative and let them know what is going on!!
I wonder if anyone from the Town Council drove around to see if the mailboxes were damaged. I wonder if the TOWN MANAGER DROVE AROUND.
I have an idea-START!!
Get in that gas guzzler SUV the Mighty OZ drives around Town Manager and make it a priority after each snow storm to see if there has been any property damage-then take appropriate action!!
My mailbox had a plastic sheeting or covering that is placed over the wooden beam. I have heard the town may be banning these plastic mailbox posts. I don’t see how they can-what needs to be banned-is the speeding by SOME plow drivers-nothing will crack or bend or become detached if speed limits are being obeyed.
Around 12:45 p.m. on Thursday, I saw a plow going down Devonwood Drive plowing the edges of the street near the curb and the plow was going SLOW-and guess what? The snow was being removed just as efficiently. This plow driver was doing the speed limit.
The only way the mailboxes that you all saw in the last post were in the condition they were in was because of speeding!! No other reason. These boxes were just not bent-they were destroyed!!
“Oh there is a governor on the plows” THERE IS? WHAT IS IT SET AT-75???
Now today, I had to go for another test!! They think my body is producing (can you believe this one) too much calcium!! Is this every menopausal woman’s dream or what!!
Instead of worrying about osteoporosis I have to worry about my body producing too much bone which will interfere with tissue-it will start degrading soft tissue and cause arthritis. I may actually have to take medication to REDUCE my calcium levels. Can you believe it? It is too bad, if this is true, that medical science cannot figure out how to benefit from this situation and alleviate all these issues with bone loss.
Unfortunately, as we all know from weather, Mother Nature often goes overboard. We need rain, we get a HURRICANE. We need a little snow, WE GET A NOR’EASTER. This is what essentially is going on with me.
IN OTHER NEWS:
I know by now most of you read news about Milone and MacBroom releasing a report that basically states artificial turf is safe.
Look, get this into your brains right now-NOTHING ARTIFICIAL IS SAFE!! Nothing that does not come from nature is healthy!! I know it costs a lot to water real grass, mow it, and fertilize it. Organic fertilizers can and should be used. In fact, I put a natural fertilizer mixture on my lawn that I got from an old CPTV show on organic gardening.
I also have an article about artificial lawns that some people are installing so they will not have to mow or water-Sound good?
Lastly, I did catch a few minutes of that Energy Forum that Councilman Tim White sponsored. I applaud Tim for his energy saving conscience.
But, in all honesty, these utility companies are full of crap. Do they REALLY want consumers to cut back and reduce their energy usage?
Apparently not in the case of United Illuminating. You see, U.I. which services mostly Fairfield County, was requesting a second rate increase in a year’s time. Well, people were outraged and so many of them attended the Dept. of Public Utility Control meeting that the rate request was DENIED.
The reason U.I gave for the rate increase? Demand for electricity had DECREASED, so they needed a RATE INCREASE to make up the difference!!!
