Hello, I thought it would be fun to see what everyone has been up to over the Easter Holidays. I pretty much stayed at home, did some decorating and enjoyed the great weather. Tomorrow I may try and get out cycling. Richard

I only had one day off--Easter Sunday.  Sunday morning I got home after work to discover that my internet access was gone (just in case anyone wondered where I'd been).  My husband told me that it was still available around 2.00 am when he'd gone to bed, but when he got up around 6.00 it was not there.

We decided that we'd go for a long bike ride, and figured that the access would return by the time we got home.

We went off for the ride, planning on doing a loop through the paved path, then going for a ride around the local water reservoir on the mountain bikes.  We started off the paved path, and came across a work crew, consisting of three vehicles, park off to the side of the path.  Hmmm.  This did not look at all good.  A twenty foot long trench had been dug, with a lot of cable wire down in the bottom.  Hmmm.

We continued on, did our loop, and went through the doubletrack around the reservoir.  When we got home, we discovered there was still no DSL.  Hmmm.  Later in the evening, there was still no access.  Hmmm.  I got up the next morning.  Still no access. Hmmm.  This was taking much longer than it should!  I decided I'd go off for another ride.  I went along the same path, and discovered a solitary workman sitting in the midst of vast quantities of cable.  I asked him "So, is this why my DSL is out?"  "Yep, someone came along yesterday, dug this trench and tried to steal the copper wire".  

Yes, that's correct, someone tried to steal the copper wire that was attached to my phone line. That poor workman was going through each line in a bundle of about 3000 wires, working to connect each wire up correctly. At any rate, service was eventually restored sometime later that evening.

Now, I know everyone is asking--why would anyone steal copper wire?  Copper is selling for around $3.00 USD per pound, and the amount that the thief or thieves was trying to steal weighed about 300 pounds--in other words, it was worth about $900 USD--the equivalent of around 454 GBP.

Now I've gone back to work.  But I will be going down to California this Thursday, and ride in a charity ride.  It's also a chance for my husband to see his mum, and it's also our wedding anniversary on the 18th, so we figured on just doing everything at one time .

Kingfisher

That's unbelievable! Did the thief actually manage to take any? I have never heard of anyone trying to steal copper wire before, I've never even thought of the possibility.

Congratulations for your anniversary, and good luck in the charity ride!

No, apparently the thief or thieves got interrupted before he/they had finished cutting the one end of the cable.  Nevertheless, the whole thing had to be replaced.  

Thank you for the congratulations and the good luck wishes.  I'm hoping that we win the raffle being held for a trip to England for the start of this year's Tour de France.  The bike ride will be great no matter what, because it is after all, for charity (diabetes research), and it's something my husband always wanted to do.  It's called the Bike Around the Buttes.

Kingfisher

Well done for supporting such a worthy cause Kingfisher. I'll also be keeping a lookout for any copper thiefs in the future!

As for my Easter, I've just got back from a weeks break which has been very relaxing. Got to get back into work mode now though which isn't going to be easy! At least I've got the weekend......

Hi Kingfisher, I might have mentioned that we work for the fire service & we are always getting fires through people being after copper wire so the prices are at a premium here in the UK also. We have also had thieves stealing copper wire from working electrical sub stations.

We are just back from Lanzarote  & saw a brilliant bird of prey show culminating in the American Eagle. All the birds & other animals were very well cared for & in good condition, so we were happy with that & enjoyed the show.


Here is a pic even though it is not native to the UK especially for Kingfisher. It is sat on a mans hand.

This post was last modified: 17-04-2007 02:51 PM by tibbar.

tibbar14, that is very interesting about the metals thefts occuring in the UK as well. I had thought it was a phenomenon restricted to the US!

The Bald (or American) Eagle is a most impressive bird, no doubt. We are quite fortunate where I live, as they actually nest within the city limits of Seattle. We don't normally see them quite that close up, though . I would love to be able to hold one, just to be able to say I'd done it. Interesting, the females are larger than the males (apparently a common thing amongst the birds of prey). The one in your photo was a fully mature bird. Younger, immature birds do not have the full 'bald' head and white tail feathers. It takes over three years for the birds to reach the state of the eagle in the show.

I should post some of my photos from the ride, eh?

Kingfisher