Remember this Swampfag?

[Linemansmom]

If it was up to you ignorant bastards, lineman would still be making shit wages, working hours without those shit wages, and getting killed left and right! Need I remind you, the I.B.E.W. was started by great men who were sick of shitty and hazardous work environments, 1 in 2 linemen who went to work in the morning, didnt make it home in the morning! So talk all the shit you want you rat bastards, me and my Union Brothers work safe, work hard, and get paid accordingly!!

Just a mom here, not here to argue any of this. I only know my son is putting in the hours and making the bucks and I do not want him to come home in a box . . . I hope NO one comes home that way!

I had run across this small article somewhere along the way.

"A computer will never replace the tough-as-nails, agile, quick-thinking, ever-observant lineman; rare breed of craftsman whose skills are welded to a mental core that defines their collective behavior and a work ethic and camaraderie that is legendary. In the late 1930s, when linemen were working for construction companies, they spread out across the nation to bring rural electrification to a country fighting its way out of the Great Depression. A rough-and-tumble assortment of young men was willing to work in a profession that was, at the turn of the last century, considered one of the most hazardous jobs in existence. The dangers of utility line work led to the formation of one of the oldest labor organizations in the United States, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). The Brotherhood is an expression that transcends symbolic meaning and speaks to the heart of a lineman's greatest skill: interpersonal relationships, affording them the desire and ability to get along with one another as they worked in difficult, often life-threatening circumstances."

Then this ran in a TX newpapaper this week, the Houston Cronical online version;

CenterPoint: Wrapping up for the night

Switch No. 11478. That's the one. That's the one that's keeping this team from giving light to the last of the 1,000 customers they had hoped to restore. We drive through the residential neighborhood full of dogs, kids and moms waiting out on lawnchairs wondering why their lights haven't flickered on yet. Our team was waiting to hear their celebratory cheers, but they didn't come.

So off we went in search of that troublesome switch. Lineman Kevin Cook spots a man carrying in bags and ice says, "He's not going to need that much longer." Not if Kevin has anything to do with it, at least.

We flip the switch and watch sparks fly. We take one more drive through our last neighborhood and hear a chorus of thank-yous from the folks realizing what the crew's work has done. It worked. Despite our team's frustration with the earlier delays for meetings and organization, just their work has restored power to 1,000 homes.

Linemen may be the modern-day cowboys. They provide a service people need and want. They don't have to wear a tie. They get to wear jeans and workboots. There's an element of danger; one false move and it could be your life -- or your brothers' -- that's lost. It takes strength and brawn and even a little horse-sense. It's also hot and tedious and sometimes frustrating. (There's always one more bad pole just around the corner.)

These guys don't get to ride off into the sunset, though. Instead, they end their long days driving off into a continually shrinking, darkened expanse that they know is theirs to conquer.

-- Claudia Feldman


I say be proud of what ya all do!

[compression]

Swamp, you showin up in Texas City? Sounded like you where, I am and was just wondering if ya needed a beer about 8 or 9 pm?

I'm union as hell but I gotta admit it is heavy with fat bastards, the union affords these lazy types an extra layer of protection not often found in the non-union outfits. Protection from arrogant foreman/supers and such is not a bad thing though - in fact it is quite nice sometimes, its side affect is some lazy people though - but you'll get that anywhere. There is alot of political favoring too but I'm sure there is in every outfit. 80% of the guys I work around are great hands, well,,,maybe just a shade less than that.

You wouldn't be one of the 'White Fire Shirt' wearing hands I saw the other night at the chow hall are you? I thought they may be a derivative of Red Simpson but am not sure.

Mom, that was a good article to read - made me feel warm and fuzzy! I'll have to read that again in a few days.

[rowdy2133]

Thanks for such a great post mom! Just so you know, all lineman take pride in what they do(rat or union), you have to have pride, sometimes bordering on arrogance, to do what we do! The difference between the two, is that union brothers learn and understand why we are where we are! We(union) understand that our wages, hours, and working conditions were written in the blood, sweat, and tears of the men that came before us! But the rats just think it has fallen out of the sky, and that big business pays us the wages they do out of the kindness of thier hearts!!! Wake up boys, if the union dies, our trade dies!!

[Pootnaigle]

Thanks for such a great post mom! Just so you know, all lineman take pride in what they do(rat or union), you have to have pride, sometimes bordering on arrogance, to do what we do! The difference between the two, is that union brothers learn and understand why we are where we are! We(union) understand that our wages, hours, and working conditions were written in the blood, sweat, and tears of the men that came before us! But the rats just think it has fallen out of the sky, and that big business pays us the wages they do out of the kindness of thier hearts!!! Wake up boys, if the union dies, our trade dies!!

I doubt that the trade dies but the wages and benefits would certainly nosedive. Theres always a Rat like Swamp that cares only for himself , Blames all his prollems with other linemen on UNION ( Not on the ignorant crap he has posted) I spoze he dosent unnerstand even if he was Union and posted stuff like that he would catch the same flak. They just dont seem to understand that reguardless of what they get its directly tied to Union wages and or benefits.They also dont understand that they make it hard for Union guys to get a better deal ( which they would also eventually benefit from).I spoze its true .........You Jus kaint fix Stoopid

[LINEHAND]

It's 7:00 here in Baytown, and we're puttin the last 3 miles of line on today before we go back to the hotel. I'm really impressed with the Union here in this Right to work state of Texas. Talked to a few of the Linemen here, and they were right friendly Probably 2-3 more weeks.

Well then jump ship! Head to the Hall in Pasadena and getcha some of that double time youve been hearing about!

Whats your old ass pulling a Brett Farve for anyway!

[CPOPE]

Hell, I don't know. Just wanted to help out, and do what I love, one more time.

So, 60's ancient huh?

SWAMPrat
60 aint ancient but I thought you retired and didn't keep your quailfications up yet you take work away from some working stiff who should be down there in your place. I took a lot of crap saying I'd be happy to pay a contractor double time if my crews refuse to answer the call. THat was another thread about being forced in on a call out. YOu refuse to answer the call for me when I need really you I'm going to cut yer balls off. So I guess from that standpoint I respect your working this storm. I wouldent voulentariely take mone or work away from someone to line my on pocket and boost my own ego.

Rember this swampfag.

It ain't got nothin to do with "Rat mentality".

But I get your drift. Same as "Once a Marine, Always a Marine." The "Mentality" of a Lineman, never goes away.

I was thinkin more on the lines of. I was a second degree black belt for many years. But once I quit practicing....I really ain't no more. But yeah, maby in "Mentality".

But no. When somebody askes me "What I do". I say I'm a Retired Power Lineman. Not a Lineman.

I'm wondering why more crews from the northeast wern't sent prior to bringback unqualified rat retirees like you. {read photoshop geek} I know at 42 I could't push myself 18&6 for a couple of months on storm like I used to.
I'd sure love to be down there mano-mano working on your truck. Only one of us would make it through the shit or we'd be seing eye to eye at the end of it all.

Take care of your crew swampfag,

[ZapCzar]

[QUOTE=Swamprat;48158]I I see alot of "token" crews down here. 2-3 turcks, 7 men. I've often wondered how a company like Centerpoint deals with small crews like that that come to help. Maby they put 8-10 of em together to work a section, I don't know.......That really don't seem like a good plan to me though.

We usually use them to fix one or two poles down on the less damaged areas. Maybe the more rural small towns on the fringe. Behind short feeders or reclosers, where servicemen have found just wire down or a single pole. Get 100 sometime 4 or 5 hundred meters on at a time. Ya'll take care