Underground Construction - April 2021 - 6

EDITOR'S LOG
Robert Carpenter | Editor-in-Chief

Summing Up a Year: It's a New Dawn

As I write my column for the April issue
of Underground Construction (I'm late
as usual), I'm working from Carpenter
Tower - basically part of the second ﬂoor
of my house.
For more than a year, my den/library/
oﬃce (mancave) has served as the
primary headquarters for the editorial
trust of Underground Construction
magazine and UCT, as well as Gas Utility
and the UtiliTech Conference.
It's hard to believe that a year ago
I barely knew what Teams was and
could only use Zoom if someone sent
me a link. Now I use both regularly and
interchangeably, even hosting the calls
and scheduling meetings. It's not unusual
for my days to be ﬁlled with many such
virtual calls. In one year, I've also attended
more virtual events and webinars than all
previous years combined.
Fortunately, I live in an area where
my internet service (AT&T) is generally
reliable and fast. It's accommodated
my needs for good working conditions
and diverse entertainment options as
we joined the " locked-down " crowd.
However, there were two diﬀerent times
where our ancient telephone pedestal had
signiﬁcant issues: the ﬁrst time we were
out of service for several days, the second
incident was only a day. The techs were
somewhat frustrated as they twice rebuilt
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APRIL 2021 | UCONonline.com

a pedestal that obviously needed to be
replaced. Fortunately, like most people
these days, we no longer have a land line,
just cell service.
But of course, the internet can always
be faster. We're less than a mile from
a main road with a ﬁber trunk line. In
recent months, I've noticed telecom
contractors stitching ﬁber lines around the
neighborhoods, businesses and hospitals
in the area. Reports are that in the near
future, lines will be running through the
neighborhood and we'll be oﬀered the
opportunity to receive true ﬁber service
to our homes. If the price is right, we'll
gladly sign up. Of course, price points are
something telecoms still struggle with as
they attempt to ﬁberize America.
We also survived the worst winter
storm of the century for much of Texas.
When the power went out and cell
service with it, we thankfully had several
LED-type lanterns that supplied light
and a working ﬁreplace. Still, reading by
lamplight is not something I want to deal
with again for any length of time. It was
amazing how much we missed our utility
services (thank goodness our ﬁreplace
and range were powered by gas). The
storm and extended bitter cold clearly
showcased how our current energy grid
in Texas relied too much on renewables
and not enough on gas. Thankfully, our
weather is back to normal.
Major infrastructure stimulus
discussions are now in full discussion
mode with our Congressional
representatives. While it looks like both
sides of the aisle favor such an investment,
the pay-oﬀ if going to be how to pay for it.
There is enough opposition to running up
the national debt any further that such a
bill could probably never pass without clear
means of funding. Of course, that brings
up the old battle over tax increases. Our
editor in Washington will follow closely.
About a year ago, we saw the oil market
totally collapse, with prices actually falling
into negative territory. Thanks to some

strong capacity cutting and leadership by
Saudi Arabia, combined with the rapid
recovery of the U.S. economy, oil and gas
have staged a miraculous comeback. Still,
the battle with misguided environmental
groups and political zealots pushing for
complete " electriﬁcation " of all power
consumption makes pipeline work tougher
to come by for the time being.
Now, in April 2021, things are changing
- and quickly. We've got three, highly
eﬀective vaccinations being dispensed.
While starting oﬀ slowly, the U.S. is now
exceeding 3 million vaccinations a day,
virtually seven days a week. President
Biden says he wants to hit 200 million
vaccinations by May 1. With several states
now having growing capacity, vaccinations
are starting to be made available to
anybody 16 and older. Increasingly
experts are predicting we'll easily and
quickly blow by the President's goal.
As COVID-19 infection and death rates
continue to drop, states are opening back
up to regular activities and businesses are
getting back on their feet. The economy is
beginning to purr. It's time for us to dare
inserting the long-absent word " normal "
back into our vocabulary.
As I wrap up my meanderings, I can
hear my aging dog Midas, a part-Corgi
mix, snoring on the carpet of the mancave.
Ever by my side, Midas has had three knee
surgeries and one back surgery, but still
gets around pretty well. Problem is I have
to carry him up and down the stairs and
he's a bit portly. While man's best friend is
worth the eﬀort, it's time to reengage and
give my back a break (no oﬀense Midas).
Our company is opening back up to
rotating days in April. The dog is going to
miss me (and vice versa) when I commute
to the oﬃce. But that's what a return to
normal is all about. I think we're all ready
to resume some normalcy in our lives. *
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Underground Construction - April 2021

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