"The coal mine" drabbles by Richard Hunt

The job

The coal mine #1

It is 1963 and I work in Manchester for a large electrical manufacturer. My job is a sort of fixer of problems.

“We have a problem in a colliery in Staffordshire. One of the transformers cuts out rather regularly. Turn it on and about an hour later it just cuts out.” My boss says. “ Probably condensation, it is a new transformer in a mine.”

I think hard, I think of silica gell, I devise a possible solution. That is my job.

I tell my boss.

“Draw it up, get it made and then you can go and install it.”