Norwegians vs. Irishmen for job.

[Marshal Halloway]

There was a Midwestern phone company that was going to hire one team of telephone pole installers, and the boss had to choose between a team of two Norwegian guys and a team of two Irish guys. So the boss met with both teams and said: "Here's what we'll do. Each team will be installing poles out on the new road for a day. The team that installs the most phone poles gets the job. "Both teams headed right out. At end of the shift, Pat and Mike, the Irish guys, came back and the boss asked them how many they had installed.

They said that it was tough going, but they'd put in twelve.

Forty-five minutes later, Ole and Sven, the Norwegian guys came back in and they were totally exhausted. The boss asked, "Well, how many poles did you guys install?"

Ole, the team leader wiped his brow and sighed, "Sven and me, we got three in."

The boss gasped, "Three? Those two Irish guys put in twelve!"" Yeah," said Ole, "but you should see how much they left stickin'out of the ground!"

[El Peludo]

   That gave me a good laugh.  As someone who has spent a few hours pokin' holes in the ground and plantin' them poles, -----

We built a job one time that was a new line about fifteen miles long, with only one corner in it, a pole set every 330 feet.  We broke the crew into several small groups, three framing poles (attaching crossarms and hardware), two digging holes with the digger truck,  two guys with a boom truck standing them in the holes, and four guys straightening them and tamping them in.  I can't remember just how many poles we got set in one day, but we could not see where we started from where we finished, each day.  It only took a few days to get the line set, and then about a week, or a bit more to get the wire strung, sagged and tied, and to get the line heated up.

[Brazos Bucky Smith]

   Ol' Sven and Ole may not be very bright, but by darn those boys can sure work you bettcha!  Is this a story of underground utilities?

BB