HOM: Crewed -- Big Jim 2

Jim worked for another company, probably Pack, as a dump truck driver before he came to GC. He got their truck stuck a time or two, and his boss told him that if it happened once more, he was fired. Right after that he was delivering fill dirt just off Willow Glen at the edge of town. A land owner had a deep gully he wanted filled and Jim's boss got the job. Jim got on scene with a big load of dirt and started backing up to the gully. Before he got close enough to dump the load, the edge of the gully caved in and the truck slid in backwards, all the way to the bottom. Jim worked his way out of the truck, walked up to the house & called his boss. it was a short conversation -- when his boss answered Jim said "I quit!" and hung up. So he went to work for Les Truman at Glacier Concrete. GC had two trucks, but when truck number two was needed, it was Jon that had to drive -- Jim couldn't get behind the wheel because the cab was so small. The wheel was too close to the seat for him to squeeze in. When GC closed, Jim went to work as manager for the Flathead Concrete plant on Lasalle. The last Jim story I have is second hand, from Mrs. Melick. Jim was sitting in the crane up at the FC plant and decided to get his lunch box from over by his truck. Being Jim, he decided to use the crane to reach it rather than walk over. He fired it up, swung the cab & extended the boom, trying to slip the hook under the handle on the lunch box. Hmm, a little short. Lowered and extended the boom. Still short. Lowered and extended the boom to the max. Well, crane booms are heavy even when there is no load on them, and when you forget to put the stabilizers down before you start pushing the limits, gravity takes over. He tipped the crane, luckily without damage to it or to himself, except for his pride. I would give a lot to have been there to see his face. Jim died a couple of years ago. I miss him. TBC (Me) (Blacktail Books)