Sandy stirs up trouble for horse racing fans

Editor’s Note: In this column, Dick Syriac details how he was affected by Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath.

Mon., Oct. 29
Megastorm is coming, should be okay until about 6 p.m.
I’m off to Cumberland, R.I., at 5 a.m. for a factory liquidation gig: Not much traffic on the Mass Pike, no posted gas prices at Blandford Oasis – they have no gas.
I reach the Westfield meeting spot, pick up a New York Post at a convenience store. Wow, gas is 15 cents cheaper than it was in Lee. I must have missed the announcement the Town of Lee seceded from western Massachusetts and annexed itself to Cape Cod. (Monk’s Professional Barber Shop of Lee has always maintained standard pricing for his cuts.)
Ludlow fuel depot is also out of gas… maybe my wife was right that I was nuts to make the journey.
It’s mostly rain and wind on the Pike and 146 South, but Honey Dew Donuts is open.
Maybe nobody will come to pick up their auction purchases under these conditions. Wrong – three trailers are waiting to load out. If 310-ton plastic injection molding machines are so much in demand, why did this place shut down?
Throughout the morning everyone had weather updates… Connecticut has shut down all roads to tractor trailers.
Gee, maybe the Mass Pike will shut down? And lose all those tolls? Never. And where would all those troopers hide?
Someone asks, “Who is playing on Monday Night Football tonight?”
Some guy takes out his phone and verbally asks his phone for the answer. His screen responds “San Fran vs. Arizona.”
When did high tech get so high-tech? My phone tells me the time, how many minutes I have left and sometimes gives me cell service.
We leave at 4 p.m., an easy ride back to Westfield. I was smart enough to park my car away from all trees and light poles, so it was still there in the same condition I last saw it.
Back in Lenox, I notice Walker Street houses have no lights.
My street is lit up until I come over the hill to find a tree in the road and all power lines to my crib under the tree, now we have ourselves a hot potato… no cable, no phone, no internet, but electric is hanging on by a thread.
Start the process: police place orange safety cones to warn traffic, notify National Grid and Time Warner. Wait it out.

Tuesday, Oct. 30
Lewis Tree arrives and removes the tree, now we just have live wires in the street. Confirm the various utilities are aware of our quandary.

Wednesday, Oct. 31
Lenox Fire Chief Dan Clifford arrives to survey the predicament and soon after the road is secure and the action starts… National Grid kills power at the pole.
We now need an electrician to reconnect the boxes that were ripped from the house… track down the cell number of Scott Pignatelli, he says he will be right up. I’ve heard that one before.
Ten minutes later Scott is in the driveway: “I’ll have a crew up here within the hour.”
I’ve heard that one before also… 30 minutes later another red truck is in the driveway, this one has ladders and workers with tools.
Wires are out of the street and reattached to the house, now what?
I call National Grid, and a nice lady told me I need an inspection by the wire inspector to confirm that the job was done right.
Scott calls said inspector, and he arrives and compliments the fine work done by the guys in the red truck and he notifies NG to turn on juice at the pole.
Meanwhile, we accommodate 120-plus trick-or-treaters at a neighbor’s house with power.
At 8 p.m. power is restored, must call Time Warner to connect cable and phone service.

Thursday, Nov. 1
Right on schedule, Time Warner hooks up cable, internet and phone so I can bang out this report.
Everyone involved with helping our mini crises deserves to be commended. There were many folks in tougher situations than us and we understood there is a process involved and teamwork is required.
This particular team hit it out of the park. Thank you.
How does this story relate to sports? I’m getting to that.
I am currently dealing with another ordeal possibly just as stressful as the last few days. Leslie Albert at Loeb’s Foodtown broke the news to me at 7:30 a.m.: there are no Daily Racing Forms available in Berkshire County because of the recent storm. Oh, by the way, the Breeders’ Cup begins on Friday.
Compared to this news, the previous few days would not even qualify as a dilemma.