Mailbox Makeover + 811 + Horror Story

So, I make DIY videos from time to time.

Produced for a wide audience, they are homeowner-y stuff like the mailbox “makeover” video that starts this story. (Pro takeaways in this one, maybe: There are mailbox regulations. I get a lot of mileage out of this built-up post.)

Well, I sent it to my friend, editor of Popular Mechanics Roy Berensohn, because this stuff is sometimes up his alley.

He asks if I called 811.

Because I am a consummate craftsman, the answer was obvious: Of course not.

Then this tale of utter woe:

I was talking to a phone-company tech back in April. A guy put a shovel through an old-school buried telecom cluster, a little more shallow than usual, but not crazy. All of the old-school cables that the guy damaged had to be repaired by hand, so the phone company dispatched a four-person crew to work through the weekend to restore the utility. The contractor who did the damage was not bankrupted by the break, for which the telecom billed his insurance company $100,000, but he lost his insurance. I’d put a little red flag on that video about calling 811. If nothing else, it’ll spare you the hate mail.

My experience is that nothing spares hate mail, and that Roy is worth listening to.