Well, there's nothing more exciting than being stuck 30 feet in the air ib a bucket lift with an incoming thunderstorm! Yesterday evening I thought I would remove several large broken branches from our oak tree before they fell on cars that would be parked under them on Easter. There was no sign of any storms in the area so I thought I had better do this while I could. While I was up in the air I could hear thunder in the distance. Time to come down. As I tried to lower myself the system decided to fail. I turned off the upper controls and asked Rosanne to work it from the ground controls. No luck there. Then I felt the pouring rain hitting me along with some distant rumbles. Time for 911. I told the dispatcher the situation and she sent out the fire department, who fortunately is right across the street. Boy did I ever get a response. Our life squad and engine responded as well as Harrison's life squad and ladder truck. We even had two Sherrif's cars blocking the road for the equipment that had to park on the road. Ten first responders in total. After about a half hour they could not get the lift to work. There is a manual back up system but in all the rush we never gave it a thought, so they raised the ladder of the fire truck, and I had to crawl out of the bucket to get down. Besides, the ladder was quicker Fortunately, we just had the rain. The thunder went just south of us. I don't think my nerves (or underwear) could have handled any lightning strikes.
Vern
