Returning to his hometown for a bowling tournament after an absence of several decades, a teacher's son finds himself at the funeral of one of his father's best students.
These are memories of my 45 years working in the Electric Power Field. Mostly as an Electric Journeyman Lineman climbing and building power lines across America. Traveling Linemen were called "Tramps". Many of my expressions, terms, tool names and actions are used only in the Lineman Trade. I will try to explain them as I go and try not to interrupt the stories. (Which, by the way, are mostly true) If any are not understandable to you, please Email me with the Link at the bottom. Thanks!
Into every life a bit of truth may fall. The truths of life fell into mine. This is my homage to the creed called the 'Facts of Life' that Lazlo Zalezac invented for his novel, 'The Millionaire Next Door'. I recommend the story as one of Zalezac's best.
BTW, TeNderLoin points out that "The Millionaire Next Door" is posted right here on the Fine Stories website.
This tale is based on a personal trip in 1969, when I hitch-hiked from Sydney to Perth, some 3,000 miles. This, in the middle of a very hot Australian summer. The main road, a lot of it unsealed at that time, runs across the Nullarbor Plain, a desolate land inhabited mainly by kangaroos, with a few small settlements along the way. I must have been mad, but I did actually complete the journey, taking only 3-and-a-half days. The latter portion of the story is fiction, but the majority is true.