First off to come on here with a tribute to a fella and not give any back ground left everyone out at the beginning but just a select few.
The last time I talked to Lorin Primm (sp?), I believe, was when he smoked our last side of bacon we ever got from him.
Lorin to me as I seen him was a dying breed. He was what you might call "The Last Boyscout" of pipeline inspectors. He had worked hard to move his way up in the Equitable Gas Union and his knowledge to me was priceless.
I was pretty green to pipelining at the time and had a big 'ol dose of I'm a college grad going on. Hey, I had nailed the lifetime job. Regardless, I knew to Respect "Primmy" as I came to call him.
His honesty and the moral compass he left me with are priceless. Lorin taught me how to "CYA" Cover your a$$ for those not knowing.
We also connected with our military service, Lorin was a CB and I was a member of the 119th Engineers.
"If you think a fella is stupid, you know sometimes that fella wants you to think that way." stuff like this might come to mind as I learned his perspective and listened to stories of days gone by.
I don't think I had worked there a year and I was evicted from my office along with two other working colleagues. All of the job files were in our office. One of the Technical fieldmen who had only a few years there was on the take. Lorin told me he knew what was coming, this technical fieldman (the capacity I was hired at) was his boss. I guess nothing was found in the files to prove criminal activity because somehow, someway, the contractor continued doing jobs for Equitable. The technical fieldman, however, immediately lost his job.
I tell ya, I've heard crazy stories and been around the world a few times during my early life career as a glorified pipeline inspector. I can honestly say the jobs that were under my control will not fail as long as DOTPart192 keeps us in check. I heard Bub Smith "Carl Smith Pipeline" tell my boss they had hired a keeper in me. What a nice compliment from a real piece of work. lol All I can say is Lorin reminded me of what my dad had taught me all along.
A quote from the last real boss I had, "I don't care how big that pecker is, ...you go ahead and suck it, you will always be a Cock Sucker."