Apropos of Nothing

This is kinda cool, even though it doesn't have a thing to do with biking or training or the Underground Railroad...

The gym where I've been training is next door to a set of cross-state power lines. A huge project has been underway to upgrade this set of lines. Enormous poles, far larger than the existing ones, have been installed. The other day I was transfixed watching workers in a bucket on the end of a very long boom hang the cross pieces and other line-attachment-thingys at the top of nearby poles. (Note the old, much-shorter poles to the right of this new, tall one.)

Yesterday as I was leaving the gym, I saw an even-more-incredible sight. A lineworker was working on the top of the pole down by the river--while standing outside the cockpit of a helicopter on a landing skid!

Then, the copter took off with the worker still standing on the landing skid, circled around, and hovered next to a nearby pole while the lineworker worked on the top of that pole.

I'm sure this must be fun, exciting work for the lineworkers who do this. My legs would be too wobbly; I definitely could not do this!

Update 4 Apr 2014: When pulling into the gym today, more work was happening on the power lines. Lines have now been run across the new poles. This time, the lineworker standing outside the helicopter is running something along the line as the helicopter very slowly moves along the line. The lineworker must have nerves of steel to do this, and the pilot must be very skilled not to injure the lineworker. Just mesmerizing.