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Noisy Transformer

I had a call to check out a noisy transformer. When I arrived at the home, the lady of the house told me that each morning just after sunup, the transformer outside her bedroom window started making a knocking sound.

I did a visual inspection and could not find an obvious problem. As I was walking around some bushes between the home and their neighbor’s house, a lady asked me what I was doing there. I explained that her neighbor had called about the noisy transformer. At this, she started laughing and almost fell over.

Finally, when she got her breath back, she said that each morning as the sun shined on the back side of the tub, the name plate acted as a mirror and a woodpecker would attack it, thinking that it was another bird.

I climbed the pole, took a black magic marker, and covered the shiny manufacturer’s plate. I returned to the woman who complained and told her that I fixed the problem.

I did not have the heart to tell her what the cause was.

Unknown Lineman


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