From owner-nanog@merit.edu Thu Jul 8 23:42:27 2004
From: "Scot Bryhan" <dsbryhan@chartermi.net>
To: <nanog@merit.edu>
Subject: "it appears a beaver picked it up and chewed it in half"
Date: Fri, 9 Jul 2004 00:38:50 -0400> Scot,
>
> Here's what we received from the Assocaited Press.
>
>
> --
> Kendall P. Stanley
> Managing editor
> Petoskey News-Review
> (231) 439-9349
> (231) 881-4349 (cell)
>
>
> By JOHN FLESHER
> Associated Press Writer
> TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. _ Northeastern Michigan had a problem to chew
on:
> Long-distance phone service was interrupted for more than six hours after
a
> beaver apparently gnawed through a fiber optic cable.
>
> "In my 33 years with the company I've never heard of this happening," said
> John VanWyck, spokesman for Verizon Communications. "I've heard of
squirrels
> chewing aerial cable, but not this."
John apparently leads a rather sheltered life. <grin>
Northwestern University, in Evanston, IL, has a substantial squirrel population
on/near the campus. One which apparently does _not_ 'learn from experience',
I might add. All the campus utilities are underground, including the (dual,
redundant, diversely routed) main feeds from the local electric utility.
At about 2 year intervals, the livestock manages to find a way into one or
the other of the electric feed tunnels. 'whatever it is' that the cable
manufacturers use to insulate high-voltage high-ampacity wiring with, the
local squirrel population finds it to be irresistable. "Pretty soon there
was a 'squirrel boom'", and all the 'non-critical' stuff on half the campus
goes dark.
Note: the 'squirrel boom' is rather impressive -- sounds like the big
brother of an M-80 firecracker/simulated morter round. The fault does
tend to be self-clearing -- the only physical evidence of the perpetrator
is a grease stain for several feet surrounding. plus a distinctive stink.
From owner-nanog@merit.edu Thu Jul 8 23:17:23 2004
From: "John Ferriby" <john@ferriby.com>
To: <nanog@merit.edu>
Subject: RE: concern over public peering points [WAS: Peering point speed publicly available?]
Date: Fri, 9 Jul 2004 00:14:39 -0400> Which almost begs the question - what's the oddest "WTF??" anybody's
> willing to admit finding under a raised floor, or up in a ceiling or cable
> chase or similar location? (Feel free to change names to protect the
guilty
> if need be....Raccoons. Came in late one night and heard noises that I didn't
really expect. Turns out the facility had diverse entrances and
multiple conduits - and one of them had been exposed outside due
to some erosion and had been damaged. We found little surprises
for quite awhile after that.Undergarments and shoes. His and hers, but no other clothing.
Not 'raised-floor', but qualifies for retelling due to the manner in
which the situation was dealt with --
When: 50+ years ago.
Locale: An urban newspaper, the office of the (personally quite
conservative, but not moralizing) editor-in-chief.
Found: A brassiere, under the cushions of the couch in his office.
Result: Memo to _all_ staff, announcing the 'find', and requesting that
the 'rightful owner thereof' please reclaim their property.
Follow-up memo, a couple of days later, when there had been no
results from the first one -- again requesting the owner to
claim their property, and an announcement that if _not_ claimed,
the boss was considering 'holding fittings', to ensure that the
lost property WOULD be returned to its rightful owner.
[And that is where the story ends -- except to note that "fittings"
were _not_ held; there was never any identifiable 'fallout' from
the event, in any way.)