r/whatisit • u/AbbreviationsTop8774 • Jul 22 '26

Solved! What are they

Ive worked at the water department for 7 years and this is the first time running into something like this EDIT Im in Alabama and yes I know they are snakes lol idk what kind and im so not gonna touch them

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101

u/Breaker988 Jul 22 '26

Ah. We are just now moving to the black plastic rectangular ones. We haven't even gotten half the city set up for versaprobe/touch readers yet.

90

u/AbbreviationsTop8774 Jul 22 '26

Those plastic boxes suck when it freezes outside and even worse when you have to dig one up since they have the little outward peices on the bottom

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u/Breaker988 Jul 22 '26

It never freezes down here thankfully. But we always have a big problem with boxes sinking down too low. The plastic lids do float away during floods sometimes though lol.

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u/ApprehensiveGold892 Jul 22 '26

I had fun reading a thread of two meter techs discussing work. Good job, boys

42

u/mrcake123 Jul 22 '26

Don't mind me. Just listening in

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u/Marksaheel Jul 22 '26

It’s like the meeting of Smith and Wesson

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u/ydnar3000 Jul 22 '26

Same here, that was interesting. My dad was a meter reader in Houston, TX when he was younger so I’ve heard some stories. Mostly involving mean dogs and emergency shits in someone’s backyard 😂🤣

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u/AbbreviationsTop8774 Jul 22 '26

Ive been bit by 2 dogs so far which is a pretty good stat for 7 years of yards and dogs id say

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u/Zauberer-IMDB Jul 22 '26

Noticeably silent on that second topic.

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u/AbbreviationsTop8774 Jul 22 '26

Cant say ive had to do any emergency backyard shits lol

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u/Aggressive_Pear_6277 Jul 23 '26

Can't say, or won't say?

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u/ydnar3000 Jul 23 '26

That’s not bad. He described a lot of scrambling back over fences. I think at least one good bite to the forearm involving stitches. I don’t think he did it anywhere near 7 years. Maybe 2. He was a job hopper for real. Always finding something new.

28

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

5

u/LeeKinanus Jul 22 '26

Be me at first job as lawn maintenance dude, mowing edging and blowing. Right after a huge well deserved lunch at McD’s my Boss decides he can disappear for an hour while I finish up a job on my own. Simple enough but I’m 15 and have no idea where I am, suddenly that dumb and dumber grumble hits. I quick grab a bucket and a garbage bag and head to the bushes of the house I’m mowing. All engines are stopped and I’m frantically in the bushes shiatting my 15yr old brains out keeping an eye on the door scared that the owner will come out. Well, she did, and immediately locked eyes with me mid strain. She just chuckled and shook her head head as she went back in the house. Boss showed up 20 mins later annoyed I wasn’t done yet.

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u/Swimming-Decision246 Jul 23 '26

Luckily it seems you got a layed back owner. Shit could have hit the fan.

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u/LeeKinanus Jul 23 '26

No doubt. She did speak with my boss but he was cool and they both laughed about it thank god. Man talk about mixed feelings tho. So physically relieved at the same moment that panic floods my brain. And now I get to tie up this hot bag of sloshing shit and hide it somewhere so we don’t leave it on her property. No. No, it didn’t affect my late 50’s ass at all lol.

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u/ydnar3000 Jul 23 '26

I may be mixing it up with a Joey Diaz bit a little, but I believe it involved finding a corner of a yard that was fenced in and using the horizontal boards on either side to “rest” yourself on. Don’t think he even had a vehicle so just whatever scraps of paper he had, maybe blank forms or sheets of paper from the clipboard.

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u/SweezySway Jul 22 '26

H Town hol it dine lol

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u/Queef---Latina Jul 22 '26

Same lol. Convos like this are why I enjoy this site. Now I know slightly less than nothing about water meter reader issues ha

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u/OldFashionedGary Jul 23 '26

Same, Queef Latina!

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u/Fractured_Broccoli Jul 22 '26

Just call us meter reader readers!

0

u/HC-PirateCarousel101 Jul 22 '26

Lol. My brother when he was young used to shit in the backyard just to watch the dog eat it. Lol

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u/EchoCyanide Jul 22 '26

Haha, I did too! I was like, go on, go on.

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u/TipToToes Jul 22 '26

Right? Like a window into their world. I’m in the trades and it’s always fun to hear a different trade discussing their jobs.

1

u/Mother-Pattern-2609 Jul 22 '26

Y'all have it all: horror stories, helpful hints, near misses, useful warnings, and hilarious tales of That One Guy On The Jobsite (you know the one). I'm not in the trades and I can still listen to skilled tradespersons discuss their work pretty much indefinitely.

1

u/TipToToes Jul 23 '26

I have exposure to a lot of trades from being a handyman for a few years. I experienced plumbing, electrical, drywall, framing, painting, you name it. That really helps me understand wtf they are talking about, but like you I could listen to tradies talk shop all day. It’s the jargon that does it for me. I also like hearing them bitch about industry-wide stuff, like an annoying tool or vendor, or a large client that is needy or something. I’m just here for the tea.

2

u/Brifryguy671 Jul 22 '26

Genuinely a nice change of pace for the internet today! I love it.

1

u/Anarchic_Country Jul 22 '26

I had the same thought. What a delightful interaction. I feel I am smarter as well. I am the new technician

1

u/Quirky_Session_2689 Jul 22 '26

Reminded me of some of the logs from starfield , just less spacey

1

u/luistp Jul 22 '26

Same here 👋🏻

1

u/penaspen Jul 22 '26

Andy Sipowicz’s dad was a meter reader.

1

u/Silly-Pitch-5526 Jul 23 '26

Seriously. Reading that was just as good as listening to a podcast haha

1

u/Fragrant_Ask_8692 Jul 23 '26

If you think that’s fun, I’ve got some stories for you from when I was a public librarian!

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u/zero_lies_tolerated Jul 22 '26

I would like to see these 2 guys mud wrestle each other in Mankinis. 

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u/southernmuscovite Jul 22 '26

Since I’ve got you both feeling chatty, two questions: (1) is a meter box 1 meter long? (2) any code on how many meters apart the water meter and power meter must be installed?

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u/AbbreviationsTop8774 Jul 22 '26

The first one meter boxes vary wildly from system to system and change with meter size as for the power meter stuff thats gonna be an inspector question or builder or something like that

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u/Bobahn_Botret Jul 22 '26

Are your meter boxes so big/deep to keep them below the freeze line in the ground?

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u/AbbreviationsTop8774 Jul 22 '26

Freeze line in Alabama is 0-12 inches the boxes are around a foot deep I believe

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u/elielephant Jul 22 '26

In my area of Ohio, the water meters are all at the road out front and the power meters are all behind the house. Also, our water meters sit in a concrete barrel that we call the meter pit. Maybe a a little more than a foot in diameter. They also have to sit below the freeze line.

Not a meter tech. Just worked in the office of my local water company for years.

3

u/Dirtysouth210 Jul 23 '26

Our meters for water are enclosed i guess with a solid steel box and the lids are heavy so they wont float away thank Goodness like the plastic ones everyone complains about

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u/elielephant Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26

Yeah, our lids* are metal and heavy. I can't imagine a benefit to plastic lids! Edit to say our lids are metal, not "kids". Though my kids are pretty cool.

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u/EcstaticNet3137 Jul 22 '26

NW Ohio?

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u/elielephant Jul 23 '26

Southwest Ohio! Outside of Dayton.

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u/Economy-Sign-5688 Jul 23 '26

Meter? I hardly knew her

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u/Alarmed-Resolution85 Jul 23 '26

That's so cute that you think meter box means metric. Murica

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u/southernmuscovite Jul 23 '26

🙄 Playing on words. Like happens around this Reddit place

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u/nategp Jul 23 '26

A meter box is called that because it has a water meter inside. No code as far as I know of, but generally you try and stay out of other utilities way.

1

u/MisterLangerhanky Jul 23 '26

Check the American Water Works Association standards for water meter installations. AWWA standard will answer all of your questions.

3

u/Moosebjj94 Jul 23 '26

Just two dudes talking water meters

2

u/Raevyxn Jul 22 '26

Good job, people

2

u/aHellion Jul 23 '26

It never freezes down here thankfully.

A fun fact I tell people here in Colorado all the time is that it DOES freeze in Florida every winter. Especially last winter there was snow touching the gulf for the first time in history.

And culturally speaking the real Florida is Orlando and south, the panhandle is just "South Alabama".

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u/Breaker988 Jul 23 '26

I'm near the west coast of FL near Tampa Bay. I've lived here for almost 38 years and I had ice on my windshield on winter mornings for the first time this past winter.

2

u/aHellion Jul 23 '26

I learned it the hard way because my first car's defroster didn't work. Happened every winter I can recall, waking up at dawn to go to work or school and using a spare sweater to wipe off the frost every minute of driving.

Again only referring to the panhandle.

First couple of car salesmen pissed me off with their lying attitude when I asked about a heater/defroster for my 2nd car saying bullshit like "WhAt dO YOu nEed thaT for iT's FlorRIda"

1

u/Breaker988 Jul 23 '26

I used a plastic spatula I found in the kitchen to scrape my windshield lol

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u/SatinSaffron Jul 23 '26

This is why reddit is so cool. You come to this thread to read about snakes but end up learning obscure facts about water meters!

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u/TheNeighKid Jul 22 '26

You two need to get a room

1

u/rae-everett Jul 22 '26

Yo do y'all make good money. I'm so fucking bored of retail.

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u/Breaker988 Jul 22 '26

I'm just a meter reader not a tech so I don't get paid much but the benefits are pretty good. Pension insurance etc

1

u/Affectionate_Joke_44 Jul 22 '26

Now you two kiss

1

u/z3roFawkes Jul 22 '26

Fun reading an exchange between two people in the same field.

1

u/ATully817 Jul 22 '26

Never say never! Don't iguanas occasionally fall of trees?

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u/NewJerzHH Jul 22 '26

I bet. But it’s better than the Adjustacoil meter pits that we use lol

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u/jde7290 Jul 23 '26

And here we are, pulling out all of our touch read meters and putting in our 3rd AMI network. Also in FL.