I opened up the Sunday comics section and found the one, true harbinger of fall – Lucy offering to hold the ball while Charlie Brown kicks it. The running gag has been a staple of Charles Shulz’ Peanuts comic strip forever. Lucy swears that this year, Charlie Brown can trust her. And he does. He takes a massive running start, certain he’s going to kick that football into the next county – and then:
AAAUUUGGGHHH!!!!
You’d think that after all these years, Charlie Brown would just turn down the offer, or get Linus or even Snoopy to hold the ball for him, but no. He keeps trusting Lucy.
Sadly, that’s how some contractors and excavators work. They just keep trusting they won’t hit anything when they dig into the earth. Maybe for a while they ride the odds and nothing happens – and then one day, that football gets yanked away from them in a very unpleasant fashion.
One simple call to 811 holds that football in place every time. A few minutes spent detailing a proposed dig, then just wait for the lines to be marked within the allotted 48 hour period.
Some people say that they can’t wait 48 hours – well, unless it’s an emergency, you can. “But it throws off my work schedule!” Plan a bit in advance. Got a Monday dig scheduled? Call the previous Thursday. Tuesday? Call the previous Friday. Wednesday? Call Monday. Thursday? Call Tuesday. Friday? Call Wednesday. Just backtrack your schedule 48 business hours. It’s easy.
Everyone at Texas811 wants your project to be a safe success – and we also want to protect Texas’ huge underground infrastructure.
So – don’t be Lucy van Pelt. (Yep, that’s her full name, did you know that?) And don’t be trusting Charlie Brown, either.
Call 811 two business days before your dig – and kick that football a mile!
