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Last night during the-rain-that-wouldn't-stop, our lights started flickering. Typical behavior during a thunder storm, but not plain old rain. Even so, we disconnected our electronics, which is the regular drill when bad weather shows up.

But a funny thing started happening. Certain lights and wall plugs that weren't working suddenly went live. Rooms that were lit one minute were dark the next. The trouble seemed to rotate through the house in a strange, random pattern. Huh. Called our neighbors. No flickering there. Hmm.

It seemed like a mystery that might be normal in a haunted house. But this is a ranch house on Coke Rd. Come on!

So we called Eddie Pierce, owner of B&E Electric and explained the strange behavior of the lights and plugs. The microwave trying to pop corn while humming a new tone we'd never heard. The dead, then live, wall plugs. He gave us even more odd things to look for and, sure enough, those described our situation exactly. (Some lights getting insanely bright, for example.)

At 8 am this morning he was at our door and checked things out. Not the breaker box. Not the meter. Oh great. Please don't let the problem be underground. We called SWEPCO and, in the absence of other urgent calls, "Big Ed" Hawley rolled up in a matter of minutes, a big "it's a great morning" smile on his face. Eddie explained what he'd already determined from his insepction.

By then the coffee was brewing and we watched Big Ed dig a big hole around the green box where our connections to the outside world reside. Pretty soon, two more guys arrived and the trio worked to get us reconnected. Eddie and Lew talked vintage cars.

Finally, Eddie had to go to his next customer. Shortly after that, the lights came on as the guys wrapped up the repair. We cheered. They told us the technical term for what caused the problem, but I think a rascally squirrel was the real culprit.

So why am I telling you all this?

People, like Eddie, operating service businesses in a small town like Winnsboro, treat you more like neighbors than customers. And, surprise, so do the service guys from big companies like SWEPCO. They want to make sure you can get your life back to normal as soon as possible. They approach the job like you're friends down the block, not a customer number in a database.

And that says a lot about them and SWEPCO. Thanks guys! The squirrels could take a lesson.