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"Baby Ben" had got himself into some bit of trouble back in the early 60’s. He hadn’t done much more than the rest of us are guilty of-- he just got caught. From what he could recall, he got into some sort of bar-room brawl, and found himself doing time in County. Because Ben was just a regular contributing member of society who simply had a bad day, he was sent to do his sentence and a minimum security facility where he was expected to work it off. He had made the mistake of announcing his trade when they checked...

Anyone who grew up with a brother can understand the term, "Brotherhood," on a far deeper level than those who didn't. It's safe to say, if you grew up with a brother you've had awful things done to you and have done awful things back. You can take a punch-- and certainly land one. Despite these terrible exchanges with each other, Brothers face the outside world knowing they’ll always have someone to stand beside them or behind them to handle what’s breeched their control. There really isn't a more accurate word to describe the dynamics of a crew. For all...

Early one morning, a crew was made up of whomever qualified to answer the phone. The make-up, a solid bunch who hadn't worked together before. People don't realize, that when a crew rolls out to repair an outage--- They too, are operating in pitch dark conditions & they have to bring the light with them to restore it. After loading himself with coffee- in effort to possibly sober up, wake up, or both-- One of the senior members of this patchwork crew needed to relieve himself. Finding a discreet spot of darkness, he found a place behind a truck to...

“Hiya, Case, Where’d you get that hat?” He yelled at me as I walked up his driveway. He was parked in a chair probably older than I was and drinking a styrofoam cup of coffee. His eyes were fixed upward into one of their proud oak trees, looking for their pet squirrel. I smirked at him, “I know a guy…”He laughed, still watching the activity above, just as he had done for a living many years before. “I never liked that one anyway, and neither did the guys… It was cheap, just like the bookkeeper who ordered it…”It was a...

Some job sites come with better scenery than others. Most notably, college campuses. One of a utility company's largest Troublemen leaned quietly on the hood of his truck, waiting for switching orders. Though he looked like he was busy, (a true master of this,) he really wasn't at all. Checking out some of the campus talent, he noticed a girl go into a blue portable toilet about 15 feet from the rear of his truck. He found that odd. He would have thought an attractive female college student would have better choices available to her. Even the crew who this...