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I Am Old For A Reason
Joining a crew for the day was one of the oldest working linemen in the company. He moved like he was worn from years of hard work, and the younger men who didn't know him were worried about his capabilities. There were several overhead stations on the work order map which required the crew to climb due to access issues. The young, ambitious men had quietly made an agreement without the "Clumbsome's" knowledge that they were going to quickly get their tools on to beat the 70 year old to to the work.They approached the 3rd pole of the job,...
Digging Holes
It was a hot summer morning and in the days leading up to this, the young Grunt had crossed his Foreman. The boss hadn't done much to show it, but as they rode to a job site alone together the awkward silence was quite telling.The Foreman's truck came to a stop in a desolate campground and they both got out to tailboard. The Groundman found it odd he was out there without the crew, but wanted to get back on his Boss' good graces so he followed instruction. The Foreman pulled a few pieces of paper out of a large...
Ink In The Stink
It was about eleven when the crew was finally seated in the busy restaurant. They watched the tall, skinny blonde waitress scramble by them several times and by the time she broke pace to take their order, they were a bit frustrated. They could see she was working her tiny little ass off, so they remained patient.As she took the final order and closed her book in a hurry, her pen caught-- launching it upward. The pen did about four full rotations and lodged perfectly into the exposed butt crack of the largest man of the group. He was unknowingly...
Boys Will Be Boys
A large wrench bounced hard at the feet of a young Groundman who was clearly frustrated with the Lineman above who threw it. The sun beat down on the job site as profanity echoed through the desert from both elevations. The rest of the crew tried hard to continue their tasks, full aware of the additional hazards of the job. It was very clear that on this day — and likely for several more, the two hated each other. “COME DOWN FROM THERE, I DARE YA!” Screamed the stocky Grunt who meant every word of it, now holding the weapon...
Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner
A Troubleman (1 man crew,) received a call from dispatch at 3:00 in the morning to address an outage caused by unknown circumstances. As he patrolled the lines in the dark, he had traced the source, and concluded that something had come in contact with the high voltage lines to cause the overhead equipment to behave that way. He concluded that a large bird had been the culprit. Avian policies and procedures can vary depending on the area, but in home state...