The walkie-talkie radios squak and break the monotonous silence on most nights. Voices expressing something unnecessary or an attempt at humor; usually by those who can’t stand the silence of their own thoughts…

Morley Ferguson is a large no-nonsense generator operator, and we rarely hear his voice on the transportation channel.

“Jack… we are out of power in stage 3. Bring the 5 ton generator over right away, please.”

Jack is the swamper and grunted something unintelligible. However, 5 minutes later, Morleys voice rang through loud and clear.

“Where is my generator, Jack!?”

Jack mumbled something not coherent, which indicated that the request had not been received with the urgency intended.

Morley answered the mumble.

“When I ask for a generator, it means you drop what the fuck you’re doing, and bring me a generator. Is this your first day on the job?”

The radio went silent again. A few minutes later, I drove by stage 3 and saw the generator and Morley berating Jack.

Hours later, after peace and harmony were restored, a voice came over the walkie-talkie…

“Has anyone seen Morley the genny-op?”

Jack’s voice answered loud and clear…

“He was last seen in the parking lot taking the air out of the blow-up doll…”

That is when the troubles began for Swamper Jack.