Dirty Birds

by TheFlyingHippogriff

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When you work in this kind of business, you cannot say that others work under you. In this business, you work together and share the same load as everybirdy else. If something like one of the machines breaks down, we all work together to try and fix it. I am happy that I am helping griffons get back on their talons and re-earn their wings.

I cannot and will not let any of these griffons go. One reason is that we are a small workforce, and we need all the help we can get with the ladies we work with. The other is that griffons like Gilda, Greta, and Gabby are all my friends and I will stand by them. With the fair pay I give them, Gilda has a new house for her and her housemate Greta.

I posted openings for drivers and excavator operators online. I am surprised how fast they got answered, "We all want to work for you," said a griffon coming to the Baltimare office in the morning, "Griffonstone has gone to pot, and we need work," I nodded in understanding, and shook their talons, "I'm Galena, this is Irma and that's Giselle,"

"Now, one thing I must make very clear, you do not work for me, you work with me," I said to them, "If you all have your resumes, I will take them and look over them, you will all hear back from me within three business days," I can see the looks of excitement in this lot, "Oh! While you are at it, please bring your hardhats, you will need them,"

"Are you really getting new griffons to work with us, I'm so EXCITED!" Gabby cheered, and doing a few midair loops,

"I still need to look over their resumes first, and get back to them," I said back to Gabby, it is rather difficult to contain a griffon that looks so happy. I am always fair to the griffons I work with. I am surprised they have never asked me for extended vacations, and they seem happy to get time off for the holidays so they can be with their families.

I went to the office, and looked over the resumes. Irma and Galena both have commercial drivers licenses, and with their willingness to work I think they might make capable drivers for the dump trucks. Giselle just finished school just like Gabby, and she needs to learn to get her talons wet. Gabby has her moments when she is on the job.

The Caterpillar 245s Kitten, Princess, and Scoop were getting the spa treatment as their rollers were oiled, and their swing drives were being tested. The boom and stick were also getting stretched to shake out the rust, and make sure the bucket mechanism is working. I like giving these machines a new life instead of seeing them getting scrapped.

"Alright Kaiser...Allons'y," I said getting into the cab of the Northwest 100DH, I prefer the Ma Deuce, his 'sister', but the big guy needs love. The squeak of the wide tracks is music to my ears. My shop and office is built on the site of the old Baltimare Gravel Pit for a reason. That way these machines can be worked with, and checked for problems.

"How's Kaiser running?" called out Greta amid the rumbling engine and the diesel smoke. Kaiser took a big scoop of gravel, and moved it to another pile.

"I think he feels thirty years younger," I said, turning off the engine and exiting the cab, "the tracks are running well, the stick and boom are running smoothly, they will need to for the housing project in the Griffon Kingdom," I said to Greta, tapping Kaiser on the tracks for a job well done. A few days later, I called in Galena, Irma, and Giselle.

Gilda and I were replacing a roller on Ma Deuce's tracks when the three griffons arrived at our shop. I was very happy to see them arrive on time, "Well, I have looked over your resumes, and I have some good news," I said wiping off my oily talons with a rag, "you are all hired," they gave each other a group hug in celebration of getting a job.

Gabby showed them to the machines, "We do a lot of digging around here," said Gabby leading them to the gravel pit and the storage lot, "these ladies here do the digging this is Ma Deuce, Kaiser, Kitten, Scoop and Princess...we named them," she explained to the chuckling griffons, "the thing is you all have to treat these machines like family,"

"Gabby's right, they have feelings too, you know?" said Gilda, and showed Irma and Galena to the dump trucks, two Peterbilt 379 extended hoods and a Kenworth W900L, "these are our trucks, they don't have names yet, but I'll leave that up to you ladies, creativity is always a great thing to have around here, you ladies know what I'm saying?"

They nodded, "Let's do this," said Galena, getting into the cab of the Kenworth for the first time

I climbed up into the cab of Ma Deuce, and took her to the gravel pit, "Now Galena, Irma, I need you both to listen here, this is a teamwork exercise, I am going to use Ma Deuce here to fill your trucks, and I need you to dump the loads on the other side of the quarry," I radioed to them from the cab while moving the lever for the swing drive

"Roger," said Irma via the CB radio in the cab in her truck. The exercise was a success as I filled the dump boxes full of gravel several times, and they dumped it to the assigned area. They have proven that they can follow instructions. I even let Giselle handle Princess, and the trio seem to work well as a team. The team concept is key here.

I approved not only of them, but their work ethic, "Good job, ladies, now we have a housing project coming up, be prepared ladies and I will see you tomorrow morning,"