God Hates St. Louis

Here is proof that God hates St. Louis and loves LA.

Look at that, not a cloud in the sky.

Pisses me off.
But at least our labor laws are realistic.

Locate that Broke the Camel's Back

This thing has 11+ locates on it. You can hardly tell there's a tower under all that coax. You look at it and say "Well, that tower's full." Then they ask "Hey, can you send me a bid to build on this tower? It's going to get one line here, three here, four under there, and two more over here. You'll have to stack the Commscope like this and all these other lines like this..."
My response was "The amount we are willing to do it for is: SHOVE IT UP YOUR ASS."

But Ted's reply was more professional "One MILLION DOLLARS."

They opted to give it to someone less qualified.

Lock 'em up and do a sweet burnout

I didn't think this was funny...

but I do think Nick's funny-looking.

Stickin' it to the Cops

When a customer asks you to rip his lines and antennas off a tower,

it's probably a good idea to make damn sure you've got the right line and antenna

before you go ripping into it.

In this case, I asked my customer "The really long one sitting by itself at about 120'?

His reply was "Yep, that's the one," so we took it down...using a crane.

Then a cop ran out and asked "Hey, can you guys think of any reason why our

radio reception may have just gotten a LOT worse?"

My reaction was to deny that my customer could possibly make a mistake.

I sent the poor guy back inside, scratching his head in confusion, and told the crew to keep going.

Then the chief of police came out and TOLD me we took down the wrong line and antenna.

We set to putting it back up and splicing the line with hastily put together components.

He said the mayor was going to make us replace the whole system.

I told him his reception was probably going to be better than before when we got done.

Ollie hooked it up and the chief had it tested.

By the grace of God/Allah/Buddha/Thor/Arnold Palmer, it WAS better than before.

The TDOA Project Begins

To begin our foray into the TDOA PM/Line Repair Project, I hand-picked three stellar individuals with which to train for our eventual title of "Professional TDOA Un-Fuckers". Here, Robert works diligently to replace aging weatherproofing, Ollie adjusts the straps on the bra that's been "giving him fits" all day, and Justin considerately distances himself from them in order to pass wind into an air conditioning unit.

On the way to the site, the guys were stopped by an agitated, mini-chainsaw-wielding lady who was standing in this yard. She yelled "Are you the sons-a-bitches who been cuttin' down all these trees?!" Two things wrong with this: 1. There were no trees that had been cut down and 2. SHE was the one holding a chainsaw.

Here, Ollie demonstrates his nipple-twisting technique while waiting for Justin and Robert to finish the job. He must be talking about some really BIG nipples.

Justin turns his back to give Robert some "privacy". I think he just pulled his pants up before I took this photo...Robert, not Justin.

This is why you shouldn't visit sites like this during deer season. It's also a good argument not to paint work trucks to look like wild game.

There's nothing like celebrating the end of a productive day by tossing back a bottle of sparkling cider you found unopened and buried in the leaves at a site.

My Evolving Workspace

I put the desk back in the corner and put up walls to avoid constant interruption. But then I had to contend with the first indication of someone's approach being when their head and shoulders appear above the side wall, like Dan's intrusion above.

So I removed a small panel so I could see what was going on. Also, it gives me ample warning that someone is approaching so I can switch the view on my computer to make it look like I'm working on actual "work stuff". But now I have to deal with the feeling that someone is watching me. Using my peripheral vision, I caught Ollie doing this while seemingly filling out his time card.

The next step in the evolution will probably involve a shower curtain or sound-proof brick wall, complete with a camera and doggie door.

Hard Nights...Day?

This is my night crew.

I guess the fact that the sun is up hasn't escaped your notice.

That's because, as the night crew, these gentlemen have to deal with:

1) Other morons' mistakes with little or no backup

and

2) Moron managers who didn't get their act together before dragging them to Illinois.

Smooth ride back from Illinois

I can't believe Nick missed the chance at seeing this lovely bridge.

As the team member with the least amount of knowledge concerning

cabinets, he was given the "choicest" jobs that night.

I don't know why he was so tired.

Protect Your Face

When you've been up this long and someone makes you wear a

seatbelt, at least you have the freedom to protect what is

most important to you.

I guess he's spent enough on face piercings to allow him some leeway.

Also, that hat could potentially be lost in a rollover.

I hear it's a pretty sweet hat.