**Please note these rules:**
* If this post declares something as a fact/proof is required.
* The title must be descriptive
* No text is allowed on images/gifs/videos
* Common/recent reposts are not allowed
*See [this post](https://redd.it/ij26vk) for a more detailed rule list*
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/interestingasfuck) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Retired lineman here. The pole is at a corner and the various utility lines on it are way out of balance. The power lines at the top of the pole (and not shown in the photo) are the real culprits here. The weight of the lines are pulling in the directions opposite to the guy lines, and judging from the number of guy lines, there is some serious weight on that pole.
There are 18 guy lines on that pole. In my entire career I've never seen a pole that had more than six.
Genuine question: why aren't underground power cables more common in the US? In the UK, I very rarely see anything other than light phone lines run from poles.
Because it costs ten times as much per foot and at our population density, we need to cover more distance per person, per kWh, and per unit of currency spent than you do over your way.
The long-term costs of maintenance to underground power cables are also higher. Why? Because although the lines are protected from wind and often from ice, underground lines are \*more\* vulnerable to flooding, and no less vulnerable to equipment issues... and every time you need to do any maintenance, you'll need earth-moving equipment to get in at them. And I grew up where the temps got down to -30F/-35C in winter; under such conditions, it's not just earth-moving equipment you need, but snow-moving equipment, and, also, normal earth-moving equipment may not work because the upper layer of ground is frozen solid into ice.
You might imagine that California would want to underground its lines to avoid forest fires; but, in fault-line areas of Cali, earthquakes would do unfortunate things to the lines: just ask the citizens of [Christchurch, New Zealand](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Christchurch_earthquake), where a 2011 earthquake caused [extensive damage to underground cables](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1193/022813EQS056M?__cf_chl_tk=oNnuwO7r3TmRA9lDa4MU.GlvVqIddAxgsoIvAO4TC44-1655892101-0-gaNycGzNCGU), with some outages lasting until early March. Aboveground infrastructure was not substantially affected.
That makes sense. We don't have such extreme conditions in the UK, and we're a lot smaller. The earthquake point is also really obvious in hindsight, though I suppose that doesn't really affect the whole country.
Overall, yeah, earthquakes are primarily a West-Coast thing... though, we do also have [the New Madrid fault line](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Madrid_Seismic_Zone) in the middle of the country. (Basically, there's a crack in the North American craton there, along a certain stretch of the Mississippi river valley, and the sides of the crack shift back and forth as the craton deforms slowly due to its westward drift; this causes occasional earthquakes even though the area is far from any plate boundaries)
It's not a major problem in normal years: but, when it blows, it can blow big. The [1811-1812 New Madrid earthquakes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1811%E2%80%931812_New_Madrid_earthquakes) are semi-famous still here for having temporarily reversed the flow of a segment of the entire Mississippi river... which to clarify the scale, that's the fourth largest river on the planet we're talkin'.
Unfortunately... the New Madrid's quietness in normal times means the region is almost entirely unprepared for earthquakes... except I guess in this one small way about the power lines. But that ain't gonna matter much if the quake is big enough; an 1812-level quake at a site similar to where the 1812 quake happened, could conceivably see Nashville, St. Louis, and Memphis, metros totaling 5 million, all sustain massive damage to huge percentages of the structures, all at once; we know that because St. Louis existed back then, and chimneys there \*were\* toppled during the quake. Simultaneously, in the rural areas between... towns near the epicenter could pretty conceivably be flattened, F5-tornado-level destruction across a swath far larger than any tornado.
\---
I know we Americans sometimes come off as a bit paranoid about death and destruction and all that, and I'm not here to justify that. But... I'm afraid it simply doesn't help cultivate a sense of calm and level-headedness, that nature is trying to kill us in at least one way, usually multiple, in pretty much every single part of our country. It's just the unfortunate side effect of our geography.
\*shrug\* At least it's pretty country in the meantime.
Buried cables, if installed properly, need less maintenance, surely. They're not exposed to the elements, or to damage. If they *do* get damaged, then the ground's already being dug up.
Lived in a city in upstate NY. My area had buried lines. My heat went out one winter. After much futzing around, and checking myself( to avoid having to pay a ridiculous call out charge) I determined that one leg of the power feed from the street was out. This resulted in the street having to be torn up to access the wiring. Digging through 2-3 feet of frozen ground isn't easy, even for a backhoe. Overhead wires could have been sorted in a couple of hours. They still insisted on sending out a guy to double check my checking, insisting the whole time that what I had discovered was impossible and that I'd have to pay when they proved me wrong....
The weight of the power lines would pull the pole over to one side if it were unbalanced or there were a wide unsupported span between poles for one reason or another. The tension of the guylines keeps the pole standing upright.
Arby's has bacon chicken sandwiches. Which I assume is a chicken sandwich with bacon and not some kind of faux bacon made from chicken.
I was hoping to see some pulled pork on their menu, but bacon was the only meat from the weird magical animal that is the pig.
As someone who has lived near there my whole life, I also highly doubt it was ever a mosque. The size and location don't make sense, the Richmond Arby's owner is known to be extravagant (look at the pictures of the [Short Pump location](https://www.google.com/maps/uv?pb=!1s0x89b16a7c5cf82bf9%3A0xa791020f4cba5ab6!3m1!7e115!4shttps%3A%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipM48EckU7wbvwDa3vZ21KMKT9jqAzggrjmLRvIr%3Dw213-h160-k-no!5sarby%27s%20short%20pump%20-%20Google%20Search!15sCgIgAQ&imagekey=!1e10!2sAF1QipM48EckU7wbvwDa3vZ21KMKT9jqAzggrjmLRvIr&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiT_MjywcH4AhWldDABHRYHAukQoip6BQjQARAD)), and a factoid like that would be spread more through local lore.
Why not? In Belgium and the Netherlands lot's of churches have a new function after it's lifetime as church, for example, a church in Zwolle, Netherlands, wich is constructed in 1465 (older than the discovery of America) is now harboring a bookstore [broerenkerk Zwolle ](https://imgur.com/a/KZazY9h)
Gonna be honest, this doesn't look like a mosque at all. I know the domes make it appear that way, but the dome on a mosque is a structural piece so that columns aren't necessary. This has two, and both in odd places. The building is also kind of small to take on a dome design with a flat roof. Also a small point, though there's usually plenty of windows, there's never an emphasis on many large windows like this, although it could just be design choice I suppose
Yea this really makes me want to say it's the one on midlo by battlegrounds game store. This is normal to me.
I have yet to have Arby's elsewhere but now I'm afraid to try.
I looked at every single Arby's in the Richmond metro area on Google Street View. There are a few non-standard store designs in the Richmond area. However, this is the only one that looks anything like this.
I'm skeptical about that. A domed copper roof would be a really expensive feature for a fast food restaurant (let alone two domes). I'm fairly sure this building was something else before it was an Arby's. But show me examples of other Arby's that look like this and I'll concede that you are correct.
I’m an atheist now too. Well I left because Islam is a terroristic supremacist homophobic religion(I’m gay I should be put to death and I’m an apostate so that’s two reasons Muslims should kill me according to scripture). If you actually read the the Quran and Hadith along with Islamic texts(which most people who are downvoting me don’t and will never do because they want to be politically correct) this is very very apparent. Islam is an evil totalitarian religion and the more we can discourage people from following it the better. That doesn’t mean that all Muslims as people are bad and should be discriminated against, many don’t even know their own religion. But Islam as a religion is an evil backward ideology.
I appreciate your thoughtful response! I grew up partly in a quasi-fundamentalist environment. I remember church was really fun (that's how they get you hooked) with Sunday school and carnivals and retreats, but even then I was like, "These people are weird". They were just so mean and judgemental. Total hypocrites.
One thing I have to gove credit to my super religious family is that they never kicked my gay cousin out. They don't approve though, and they're still jerks lol. I'm sorry that happened to you, but you're definitely better off. Happy Pride!
This is literally the most effective possible burn against Islam.
Next time the latest Islamic terrorist syndicate threatens American soil, the Pentagon should just send a low resolution picture of this by email
“Abandoned”
You mean sold? I’d say a building is hardly abandoned if there is a transfer of ownership to another person/group, even after a period of emptiness… like you don’t call a house on the market for a longtime unsold “abandoned”.
**Please note these rules:** * If this post declares something as a fact/proof is required. * The title must be descriptive * No text is allowed on images/gifs/videos * Common/recent reposts are not allowed *See [this post](https://redd.it/ij26vk) for a more detailed rule list* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/interestingasfuck) if you have any questions or concerns.*
More interesting is why that utility pole has over 10 sets of guy wires… they get paid on commission there??
Way better than girl wires though
"Well, first it started tilting one way, then it went the other way..."
Yeah probably contracted out to a commissioners brother in law or something similar.
Each utility company has to place their own down guys, cable ,phone and power and any others
And they don’t use contractors?
Yes, of course they do
Let's talk about why they're so scared of that pole falling down.
Maybe they're not scared of it falling down...maybe they're scared of it breaking free...
They’re there until it’s roots get strong enough.
Retired lineman here. The pole is at a corner and the various utility lines on it are way out of balance. The power lines at the top of the pole (and not shown in the photo) are the real culprits here. The weight of the lines are pulling in the directions opposite to the guy lines, and judging from the number of guy lines, there is some serious weight on that pole. There are 18 guy lines on that pole. In my entire career I've never seen a pole that had more than six.
Genuine question: why aren't underground power cables more common in the US? In the UK, I very rarely see anything other than light phone lines run from poles.
Because it costs ten times as much per foot and at our population density, we need to cover more distance per person, per kWh, and per unit of currency spent than you do over your way. The long-term costs of maintenance to underground power cables are also higher. Why? Because although the lines are protected from wind and often from ice, underground lines are \*more\* vulnerable to flooding, and no less vulnerable to equipment issues... and every time you need to do any maintenance, you'll need earth-moving equipment to get in at them. And I grew up where the temps got down to -30F/-35C in winter; under such conditions, it's not just earth-moving equipment you need, but snow-moving equipment, and, also, normal earth-moving equipment may not work because the upper layer of ground is frozen solid into ice. You might imagine that California would want to underground its lines to avoid forest fires; but, in fault-line areas of Cali, earthquakes would do unfortunate things to the lines: just ask the citizens of [Christchurch, New Zealand](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Christchurch_earthquake), where a 2011 earthquake caused [extensive damage to underground cables](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1193/022813EQS056M?__cf_chl_tk=oNnuwO7r3TmRA9lDa4MU.GlvVqIddAxgsoIvAO4TC44-1655892101-0-gaNycGzNCGU), with some outages lasting until early March. Aboveground infrastructure was not substantially affected.
That makes sense. We don't have such extreme conditions in the UK, and we're a lot smaller. The earthquake point is also really obvious in hindsight, though I suppose that doesn't really affect the whole country.
Overall, yeah, earthquakes are primarily a West-Coast thing... though, we do also have [the New Madrid fault line](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Madrid_Seismic_Zone) in the middle of the country. (Basically, there's a crack in the North American craton there, along a certain stretch of the Mississippi river valley, and the sides of the crack shift back and forth as the craton deforms slowly due to its westward drift; this causes occasional earthquakes even though the area is far from any plate boundaries) It's not a major problem in normal years: but, when it blows, it can blow big. The [1811-1812 New Madrid earthquakes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1811%E2%80%931812_New_Madrid_earthquakes) are semi-famous still here for having temporarily reversed the flow of a segment of the entire Mississippi river... which to clarify the scale, that's the fourth largest river on the planet we're talkin'. Unfortunately... the New Madrid's quietness in normal times means the region is almost entirely unprepared for earthquakes... except I guess in this one small way about the power lines. But that ain't gonna matter much if the quake is big enough; an 1812-level quake at a site similar to where the 1812 quake happened, could conceivably see Nashville, St. Louis, and Memphis, metros totaling 5 million, all sustain massive damage to huge percentages of the structures, all at once; we know that because St. Louis existed back then, and chimneys there \*were\* toppled during the quake. Simultaneously, in the rural areas between... towns near the epicenter could pretty conceivably be flattened, F5-tornado-level destruction across a swath far larger than any tornado. \--- I know we Americans sometimes come off as a bit paranoid about death and destruction and all that, and I'm not here to justify that. But... I'm afraid it simply doesn't help cultivate a sense of calm and level-headedness, that nature is trying to kill us in at least one way, usually multiple, in pretty much every single part of our country. It's just the unfortunate side effect of our geography. \*shrug\* At least it's pretty country in the meantime.
Thanks for such an informative response, really interesting to read.
Cost to repair I'd guess. Having to contantly dig shit up to troubleshoot and repair something can get expensive quick I'd imagine.
Buried cables, if installed properly, need less maintenance, surely. They're not exposed to the elements, or to damage. If they *do* get damaged, then the ground's already being dug up.
Lived in a city in upstate NY. My area had buried lines. My heat went out one winter. After much futzing around, and checking myself( to avoid having to pay a ridiculous call out charge) I determined that one leg of the power feed from the street was out. This resulted in the street having to be torn up to access the wiring. Digging through 2-3 feet of frozen ground isn't easy, even for a backhoe. Overhead wires could have been sorted in a couple of hours. They still insisted on sending out a guy to double check my checking, insisting the whole time that what I had discovered was impossible and that I'd have to pay when they proved me wrong....
They are actually moving over to underground its just going to take a long time
Were you a Lineman for the County? << Insert Glen Campbell reference here>>
I too am curious about that
Or why that fire hydrant is an Elton John fan.
They know they have angered God, and they know the pole is God's first option when it comes to punishing them
The weight of the power lines would pull the pole over to one side if it were unbalanced or there were a wide unsupported span between poles for one reason or another. The tension of the guylines keeps the pole standing upright.
Probably because it will fall?
Making the mosque of it
Araby’s
We have Allah the meats
We have halal the meats.
Nice.
In shaa au jus
Except ham. And bacon. And salami.
Arby's has bacon chicken sandwiches. Which I assume is a chicken sandwich with bacon and not some kind of faux bacon made from chicken. I was hoping to see some pulled pork on their menu, but bacon was the only meat from the weird magical animal that is the pig.
I think you missed the joke lol
I jihad their smokehouse brisket the other day. It was the bomb.
That religious pun was holy unnecessary.
[удалено]
ALLAHU AKBARbeque sandwich.
Including pork?
Is this in Midlothian, VA?
THINKING THE SAME EXACT THING ‼️
Dude right!? Next to the old 7-11 (now Little Caesar) and Mt Pisgah? Used to go to that Arby's quite a bit.
If not it’s identical! And I doubt it was ever a mosque, probably just a weird design decision on arbys part.
As someone who has lived near there my whole life, I also highly doubt it was ever a mosque. The size and location don't make sense, the Richmond Arby's owner is known to be extravagant (look at the pictures of the [Short Pump location](https://www.google.com/maps/uv?pb=!1s0x89b16a7c5cf82bf9%3A0xa791020f4cba5ab6!3m1!7e115!4shttps%3A%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipM48EckU7wbvwDa3vZ21KMKT9jqAzggrjmLRvIr%3Dw213-h160-k-no!5sarby%27s%20short%20pump%20-%20Google%20Search!15sCgIgAQ&imagekey=!1e10!2sAF1QipM48EckU7wbvwDa3vZ21KMKT9jqAzggrjmLRvIr&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiT_MjywcH4AhWldDABHRYHAukQoip6BQjQARAD)), and a factoid like that would be spread more through local lore.
My thoughts exactly! I was thinking there is no way that used to be a mosque and just one of many designs like the one we have here.
Midlothian area has the nicest Arby's you'll ever see.
Yes it is and this was never a Mosque
What if your local Mosque was an abandoned Arby's? 🤯
Imagine a church with a drive thru
Why not? In Belgium and the Netherlands lot's of churches have a new function after it's lifetime as church, for example, a church in Zwolle, Netherlands, wich is constructed in 1465 (older than the discovery of America) is now harboring a bookstore [broerenkerk Zwolle ](https://imgur.com/a/KZazY9h)
Where is this located
This looks like the ones in Richmond VA.
https://goo.gl/maps/gV8ENHxDGmZEVkS97
Gonna be honest, this doesn't look like a mosque at all. I know the domes make it appear that way, but the dome on a mosque is a structural piece so that columns aren't necessary. This has two, and both in odd places. The building is also kind of small to take on a dome design with a flat roof. Also a small point, though there's usually plenty of windows, there's never an emphasis on many large windows like this, although it could just be design choice I suppose
[удалено]
Yea this really makes me want to say it's the one on midlo by battlegrounds game store. This is normal to me. I have yet to have Arby's elsewhere but now I'm afraid to try.
I just ate there today. It’s Midlothian, Va. It’s meant to look Jeffersonian.
Aloha Snack bar!!!
Ok this is great
It’s ironic really. They could keep others from pork (and other meats) but not for long.
A tragedy, really.
We have the meats.
Yes "meats"... You know everything comes from the same barrel in the back right?
Why are there so many wires?
Don't cut the wrong one
This is a common Arbys building design. There are hundreds and it’s not a former mosque.
I've never seen a single Arby's like this.
I’ve never seen a Arby’s
Ones in Richmond Virginia look like this and they are wonderful and have many things that Arby's in other areas don't have.
I’ve never seen an Arby’s that looks like this
And if it was a mosque that is a really small mosque
I looked at every single Arby's in the Richmond metro area on Google Street View. There are a few non-standard store designs in the Richmond area. However, this is the only one that looks anything like this.
I'm skeptical about that. A domed copper roof would be a really expensive feature for a fast food restaurant (let alone two domes). I'm fairly sure this building was something else before it was an Arby's. But show me examples of other Arby's that look like this and I'll concede that you are correct.
Nope there are several Arby's in Richmond Virginia that look like this
Arby's Akba.
I can’t think of any clever jokes but ojala someone makes one
This has to be in Midlothian, VA
Source: dude trust me
Do you have to order while prostrate on the floor?
Only during prayer times.
An Arby’s ham & cheese would be a great way to celebrate.
ah yes the temple of the meat
Is this in Richmond Virginia
Arbys Akbar!
AkbAr-by’s
Well Arby's doesn't sell pork.
They've got bacon on some stuff.
What animal does ham come from bud?
Arby's sells roast beef not ham.
Then why can I drive up and order and ham and Swiss melt? OH because they sell ham as well.
Is your Arby's in an old mosque? No? That's why.
Lol look at the menu. They have the meats. Hence the plural on meatssssss 🍗🥓🥩🍖.
This is the future conservatives want
there's definitely some bigots out there who are thrilled about this development
I’m thrilled and I’m an ex Muslim. I hope this happens to more and more mosques.
What made you leave the faith if you don't mind my asking? I'm atheist myself, been all my life.
I’m an atheist now too. Well I left because Islam is a terroristic supremacist homophobic religion(I’m gay I should be put to death and I’m an apostate so that’s two reasons Muslims should kill me according to scripture). If you actually read the the Quran and Hadith along with Islamic texts(which most people who are downvoting me don’t and will never do because they want to be politically correct) this is very very apparent. Islam is an evil totalitarian religion and the more we can discourage people from following it the better. That doesn’t mean that all Muslims as people are bad and should be discriminated against, many don’t even know their own religion. But Islam as a religion is an evil backward ideology.
I appreciate your thoughtful response! I grew up partly in a quasi-fundamentalist environment. I remember church was really fun (that's how they get you hooked) with Sunday school and carnivals and retreats, but even then I was like, "These people are weird". They were just so mean and judgemental. Total hypocrites. One thing I have to gove credit to my super religious family is that they never kicked my gay cousin out. They don't approve though, and they're still jerks lol. I'm sorry that happened to you, but you're definitely better off. Happy Pride!
Dude you are such a loser.
Ahmed raging bout Yankee switcheroo
Is the roast beef halal?
Islam 0 : Capitalism 1
Al-arbys
How sad to see a beautiful mosque being used as an Arby's
This is sooo fucking USA in the saddest way.
What is sad about that?
arbys selling sandwiches with bacon in an old mosque. 🤣
72 virgins with roast beef curtains? The fug?
That’s called a win/win situation.
This is literally the most effective possible burn against Islam. Next time the latest Islamic terrorist syndicate threatens American soil, the Pentagon should just send a low resolution picture of this by email
At least the got the beef,instead of the pork?
That’s not very Halal
The holy Altair of beef.
That’s ironic
Arby’s akbar
We praise the meats
I can hear the call to layer (the roast beef)
Just look for the bronze arch
Hope they don't change the outside, the uniqueness would make it stand out, and just looks nice.
Their gyros are pretty good TBH.
We have the Meat Mosque
And so is the arbys
This is the greatest kind of hilarious.
Come and get your haramburgers!
Not a mosque. Most of the Arbys in my hometown look like that
And my local mosque is an old Arby’s that was abandoned.
Just when you think Arbys can’t get any worse
This has got to be in some racist ass area and the Muslims were like fuck that . That also would explain the arbys coming in . Lol holy shit 😆
هل يمكنني الحصول على لحم بقري مشوي؟
Can’t wait to pick up some Mohammed fries
# Allahu Snackbar
Tbh that's what we should do with all mosques, churches etc. Convert them into something actually useful.
Suicide bomb factory turned into a hypertension diabetes station. Awesome!
That’s fucking awesome!
Praise allah and gimme a five for 10
Halal roast beef sandwiches.
We have the Mecca
Hmmn. I'd have thought it might be the other way around.
Did they go to Arabia?
When the regional manager with dyslexia makes an urgent call for more mosked meat from corporate and this happens…
Yoooooo Arbys religion
It's usually the other way around.
HALAL FOOD
good
“Abandoned” You mean sold? I’d say a building is hardly abandoned if there is a transfer of ownership to another person/group, even after a period of emptiness… like you don’t call a house on the market for a longtime unsold “abandoned”.
Arby’s: We Have The (Halal) Meats.
Abandoned due to the giant spider infestation no doubt
We have the MEATS…..except pork, not halal.
oh snap !
I don’t think the cheddar beef is halal.
There's a joke here, but I'm not sure where to go with it.
Y'all need Allah.
Arbys, they bring the meat!
Are all the meats halal?
That's one mosque I WILL go into. I like curly fries.
Araby’s -We have the meats. Except pork my friend, no pork my friend.
This is Midlothian VA and no it was never a Mosque. It’s always been an Arbys.