# I pit LIPA **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 5, 2012, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lipa/640005 "2012-11-05T21:51:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lipa/640005/61 "2012-11-10T16:04:19Z")
Have you got in touch with Occupy? They’re taking donations of stuff like batteries and blankets which may give you light and warmth, even if only to a limited degree. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lipa/640005/62 "2012-11-10T17:35:11Z")
I’m starting to tire of people who still have homes, food, blankets, warm clothes, and _their lives_, while others in their communities have lost everything, whining over no heat or gas. I am aware it sucks, and I am glad it’s not me, and I recognize that patience is wearing thin, and they have cause to wonder what’s taking so long. But I like to think I’m made of tougher stuff. If I have my house, a shelter I could move to, blankets, and clothing to layer on, I’m not sleeping outdoors, my family is uninjured, etc. I’d like to think I could resist the urge to stamp my foot saying, “What’s taking so long?”, while so many others in my community have lost so much more. I have empathy for them, and sympathy, but sometimes it borders on petty whining, though that could be the editing, I’m sure. ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2012, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lipa/640005/63 "2012-11-14T15:37:45Z")
[http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/14/nyregion/long-island-power-authoritys-flaws-hindered-recovery-efforts.html?hp](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/14/nyregion/long-island-power-authoritys-flaws-hindered-recovery-efforts.html?hp) NYT chips in with a longish piece. It would seem a management shake-up, at the very least, is coming. > [@](#): > > It was four days before Hurricane Sandy would arrive, and trustees of the Long Island Power Authority gathered as forecasters’ warnings grew dire. For more than two hours, the trustees talked about a range of issues, including a proposal to hire a branding consultant. > > But discussion of the storm lasted just 39 seconds. > [@](#): > > While oversight has drifted, politicians have installed relatives and friends in executive positions at the authority, turning it into a rich source of patronage jobs, according to interviews and a review of state records. > > These positions have an average salary of $110,000, the records show. > > “There are many, many people who have been placed at LIPA during my tenure here who have no utility experience or training in the job that they have been placed in,” said Tracy Burgess-Levy, the authority’s director of community relations. > > “Quite frankly, I think that’s a far bigger issue,” she said. > > _ **snip** _ > Politicians often seem to focus on the authority when they are looking to place relatives and friends at jobs there, according to interviews, local news reports and payroll records. > > Lynda Nicolino, the former counsel to the Suffolk County Republican Party, earns $260,000 a year as the authority’s general counsel. Barbara Ann Dillon, a $125,000 compliance officer, is the daughter of Denis Dillon, the former Nassau County district attorney. Andrew McCabe, an assistant general counsel paid $117,000 a year, is the son of a former top judge in Nassau County. > > Other top executives include former aides to the state comptroller, Thomas P. DiNapoli, the former Suffolk County executive, Steve Levy, and the former head of the Suffolk Republican Party. A little history - the government takeover became necessary because of the Shoreham Nuclear power plant debacle. LILCO - which built and owned Shoreham, would have gone into bankruptcy when the plant’s operating permit was denied due to the fact that there was no possible way to evacuate 2 million people in the event of a meltdown. Just this morning I was 15 vehicles from a North Carolina company parked and idle at Mill Dam Park in Huntington. That’s the second straight day of that. > [@](#): > > Kathleen A. Desio, a mother of two boys in Baldwin Harbor, said she had spent two weeks without power in a house so chilly that her family’s 17-year-old African gray parrot died. If the guys who sat around in front of my house for 90 minutes last week had actually fixed the downed line, our green iguana might still be alive. I did save our bird by keeping a fire going for 10 days in our fireplace. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2012, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lipa/640005/64 "2012-11-14T20:27:57Z")
I just jumped in to link to the NY Times article but Bucky beat me to it. And I’m TIRED of hearing LIPA quantify things relative to the total number of customers in Long Island rather than relative to the number of households that lost power…hearing that 93% percent of their customers in Long Island have power is rather meaningless when you consider that many customers never lost power. And the NYT article also blames the high outage rate on LIPA’s negligence of routine maintenance, specifically in the" tree trimming around power lines" arena. ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2012, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lipa/640005/65 "2012-11-14T20:39:49Z")
> [@Rachellelogram](#): > > Poor Iggy. Can you cuddle him on your chest for warmth? ☹ Uh… not sure the OP would like that. 😉 I fall into the ‘Suck it up’ camp. We did two months and change without power post hurricane. Sucks, but you’ll get past this. Initially we got to line up at the grocery. Homeowners and businesses were screaming for definite timelines for power restoration. Many areas were without water service too. There were gasoline shortages. Rumors of looting abounded. Bodies washed out of graves spurring rumors of a conspiracy to downplay the death toll. About 85% of structures were damaged and 25% uninhabitable. Landlords evicted long term tenants in favor of new renters who were suddenly willing to pay 3x the rate. It is all horrid, but these all shall pass. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2012, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lipa/640005/66 "2012-11-14T20:42:51Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > I just jumped in to link to the NY Times article but Bucky beat me to it. > > And I’m TIRED of hearing LIPA quantify things relative to the total number of customers in Long Island rather than relative to the number of households that lost power…hearing that 93% percent of their customers in Long Island have power is rather meaningless when you consider that many customers never lost power. > > And the NYT article also blames the high outage rate on LIPA’s negligence of routine maintenance, specifically in the" tree trimming around power lines" arena. Don’t have a link, but I saw some of a long CNN report on LIPA’s general incompetence. All their maps are still on paper, among other things. Anderson Cooper agrees with this pitting. I speak as a customer of PG&E, the gas company that lost track of its pipelines and blew up a neighborhood. Some utilities are pretty bad. ---
**Author:** ![grayhairedmomma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/47e85d/32.png) [@grayhairedmomma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grayhairedmomma)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2012, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lipa/640005/67 "2012-11-14T21:23:38Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > If the guys who sat around in front of my house for 90 minutes last week had actually fixed the downed line, our green iguana might still be alive. I did save our bird by keeping a fire going for 10 days in our fireplace. Was the lizard too big to move closer to the fire? ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lipa/640005/68 "2012-11-15T15:42:22Z")
> [@grayhairedmomma](#): > > Was the lizard too big to move closer to the fire? Dogs would have killed it. It also resisted attempts to wrap it up. Poor thing was miserable and wouldn’t let us help it. At least the people without power in New Orleans didn’t have to deal with 20 degree temperatures and four inches of snow. ---
**Author:** ![grayhairedmomma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/47e85d/32.png) [@grayhairedmomma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grayhairedmomma)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lipa/640005/69 "2012-11-15T16:13:17Z")
Oh, that’s too bad. ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lipa/640005/70 "2012-11-15T20:16:44Z")
> [@Deser2](#): > > Because I am at work and don’t have time to search the internet verifying everything I have heard. Not only that, but I specifically said I was not certain if it was true or not, only that I had heard it. > > It’s called a rumor for a reason. I didn’t act like I was spouting facts - I was just repeating a rumor I had heard indicating it as such. You as the reader are free to do your own research to see if it is factual or not. But that’s not my job. That’s your job. > > If I had presented it as fact then your criticism is valid. Since it was presented as a rumor, you should take it as such until you’ve done your own research and are satisfied as to whether it is fact or fiction. > > I love it when people here start foaming at the mouth over these types of things. It amuses me to no end. The right wing scream machine really grabbed a hold on this (mistaken) story. When I searched for it, I found three pages of hits before I saw a denial of the story. After a week of wing nut radio and TV repeats, no wonder people find it difficult to believe the simple truth. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lipa/640005/71 "2012-11-16T02:56:01Z")
A little dark humor might help cheer you up… [Oppa LIPA Style](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApfM0lW2OjU#!) ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lipa/640005/72 "2012-11-29T17:37:00Z")
Got my electric bill from LIPA last week. It was for $14 more than the prior month and covered 8 of the 11 days (through Nov 6) I didn’t have power. It was an ESTIMATED bill. When I compared my actual meter to the estimated usage, it was less than half and that was two weeks after the end of their estimated billing period!! Ultimately, I’ll get an adjustment on the metered usage, but the real kick in the teeth is the $0.36 / day connection charge. Yes, it’s only 8 \* .36 = $2.88, but doggone it, with no service, that should have been adjusted. I probably won’t get that back and probably will also be billed for the additional three days. Reforms are needed. ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2013, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lipa/640005/73 "2013-02-01T01:09:11Z")
Had a storm last night with rain (not too much) and high winds. Lost power around 4AM and had it restored shortly after 10 **AM**. (Reported the outage at about 5:30AM) LIPA promised to phone when power was restored. Well they just phoned (7:45 **PM** ) to tell me I was restored 9+ hours ago. Oh, and they called my landline and cell phone twice each with the great news. The tail end of their pre-recorded message was interesting and infuriating. It said some folks will be without power until 4PM tomorrow!. But they could check on their status by going to dubya dubya dubya dot the LIPA website dot com. Right. People without power are to use their computers. Even assuming one is hording the battery of a portable device, what kind of router is available when no one in the neighborhood has power? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2013, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lipa/640005/74 "2013-02-01T03:34:53Z")
3G, network I guess on a phone or iPAD. I can’t believe how many places were out again. I would have thought every week pole or branch had gone down by now! ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lipa/640005/75 "2013-03-12T22:06:02Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > Had a storm last night with rain (not too much) and high winds. Lost power around 4AM and had it restored shortly after 10 **AM**. (Reported the outage at about 5:30AM) > > LIPA promised to phone when power was restored. Well they just phoned (7:45 **PM** ) to tell me I was restored 9+ hours ago. Oh, and they called my landline and cell phone twice each with the great news. > > The tail end of their pre-recorded message was interesting and infuriating. It said some folks will be without power until 4PM tomorrow!. But they could check on their status by going to dubya dubya dubya dot the LIPA website dot com. Right. People without power are to use their computers. > > Even assuming one is hording the battery of a portable device, what kind of router is available when no one in the neighborhood has power? Power went out at 9:30 AM today and was restored at 1:40 PM. There was a fairly gentle rain and not much wind. Maybe this was due to a car wreck since I doubt the weather did it. The pre-recorded message on the LIPA 1-800 number was still talking about the flooded south shore houses, which is pretty horrifying. Those poor folks have been out of their homes for over four months now. When my wife got through to a person at 9:40AM the estimated restoration time was given as 11AM. I went into action and started a fire in the fireplace immediately on the assumption our bird would get cold before the power came back. Glad I did it. At 11:10 my wife called back and was given a new estimate of 12:30. At 12:35 when she called she was given 1:30. We did not call again before the power came back on. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lipa/640005/76 "2013-03-16T02:18:48Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Is it really that freakin hard to say “I’m sorry, I posted hastily. I’m glad to see I was wrong.” > > Jesus frickin christ. Yes, when you don’t think you did something wrong, and the only reason you have to apologize is to make the assholes feel better, yeah, it’s kinda hard. When you pick on someone who has gone days without power, chances are you aren’t going to get a fucking apology no matter how right you think you are. Note how you guys, despite your response to **miss elizabeth** , have not apologized for attacking a flood victim? Heck, notice how **miss elizabeth** hasn’t apologized for shitting all over the thread? You know you didn’t handle things the best way possible, but you don’t feel any inclination to apologize, do you? People don’t apologize because they did something wrong. They apologize because they think they may have hurt the other person and want to make amends. And if you don’t like my lectures, don’t act like high schoolers who need such lectures. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lipa/640005/77 "2013-03-16T02:54:53Z")
That post was five months ago. ---
**Author:** ![Deser2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dfb087/32.png) [@Deser2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deser2)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lipa/640005/78 "2013-03-19T19:39:37Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > That post was five months ago. Well, that is quite a long time for his anger to simmer then boil over… :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lipa/640005/79 "2013-03-19T20:17:07Z")
> [@Deser2](#): > > Well, that is quite a long time for his anger to simmer then boil over… :rolleyes: I can’t wait to see his pithy comeback, in July. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lipa/640005/80 "2013-03-20T19:12:44Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > And if you don’t like my lectures, don’t act like high schoolers who need such lectures. Shut up, **BigTard**. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lipa/640005.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lipa/640005.md?page=5)