Today is my kind of day. Friday! Heh!

Today is the day I have been looking for all week. Yes sir-ree bob! Stick a fork in this week it is done! One odd thing about working, every week ends on an up note. They end.

My Thursday was frazzled. The ball was dropped and kicked and late in the day recovered. We had helped a vendor out by agreeing to take a "rush" load to San Antonio. This particular load was scheduled for delivery May 11, but the consumer moved the date to May 4. We received word on May 3 and a compromise was made for delivery on the fifth. We brought a truck returning from Denver through Lubbock and picked up the load Wednesday for Thursday delivery. As soon as the driver called telling us he was on the road, we called the delivery warehouse to set up an appointment. The scheduling foreperson told us that delivery was scheduled for ........ May 11. She even told us she didn't have room and didn't want the load until the eleventh. We were negotiating a deal to store the load for a week at the company headquarters (we would just leave it on the trailer and pull the trailer from rotation.) Our lead dispatcher had already taken a return load from San Antonio so she called one of our regular vendors and scheduled another truck to deliver to San Antonio and pick up the return load. (Basically we added a base to cover all the other bases). Once we had the extra truck headed to San Antonio, a call came and the warehouse foreperson for the first load told us that she had not been informed but yes they needed that load! Arrrgh! In fact they wanted it there first thing Thursday morning. So we now had two trucks headed to San Antonio with only one return haul. I got on the DAT screen and began looking for loads with little luck and also needing to know what time the "rush" truck would off-load. Early Thursday I was beginning the same thing when I got an e-mail telling us that the "rush" load appointment time was 4:00 pm.. I guess they have a different definition of "rush". I backed away from the thrash to find a load because it is impossible to go cross town and be loaded in that one hour window. About two in the afternoon the "rush" driver called and told me he had bumped the dock and they were beginning to unload him. I went back to the DAT screen and as luck would have it, a load had been posted minutes before! Yes! I quickly agreed on a rate and we exchanged fax numbers in order to share carrier set-up info. I received the brokers set-up package and quickly filled it out to fax back, we had an hour and a half to make it to the loading appointment. It was at this point we encountered another problem. A technician from our ISP showed up and through some creative settings on computers, ties up all the phone lines in the system. It wasn't intentional but he sure didn't want to pull the plug and lose what he was doing, we finally were able to circumvent the system and get the out-going fax out but the important incoming load confirmation was another issue. With several reassuring calls to the broker we were able to hold the load and luckily the truck arrived to pick it up with just minutes to spare. I got a little testy through the telephone line ordeal and told the owner "if you expect us to do a job you had better give us the tools!" Luckily he had sat and witnessed how many were working on this one load trying to make it happen and he now realizes the need for additional phone lines and possibly incoming and out going fax machines.

Today the plan does not even include the office. We are supposed to go up the hill to the shop and work some more on the burr grinder. The owner and I went up there during lunch yesterday and he has done some work each night this week. It has been a slow process involving some machining to fit components together before zipping them up with a welder. It is coming together. We might even be close enough to start it today and see what the ratios look like. Now it would appear the problem may be Cat. The dealer came out earlier this week to pick it up to do some warranty work and they have yet to return it.

Rian called me yesterday. He, Erica, and Reid are coming to Abilene Saturday for Stacy's graduation at HSU. Stace is getting his Master's in accounting. I think Rian and Erica are having dinner this evening with one set of grandparents, spending the night with another set and coming to Abilene Saturday morning. They are wanting to meet us for early lunch Saturday but I am tempted to tell them no, just to slow their schedule down. Everytime they come, they are rush, rush trying to do too much in too short a time frame. Their plan is to be back in Lubbock Sunday morning for church. We would love to see Reidman but he might appreciate it more if he didn't have to be on the move so much. The best visit we have had with them was an incidental visit as they came through from spring break. I am still thinking but I think I know what my decision will be.

I am hoping to get out of a Saturday evening meeting. There is a board meeting involving an entity that I consult with. I have already done "my do" so this would just be a cosmetic appearance.

FATHER, thank YOU for getting me through to this point of the week. Please don't stop there. Let's finish it out! I pray for a quick day, productive and busy that flows smoothly. I continue to pray for Krl's health and ask YOUR healing for her. Take her pain and hurting away. I ask that YOU restore her. I pray for Memama, Hag, B., Lillie, Carol, Michelle, Aimee, Jen, Tori, Ashlyn Kate, Tj, Anna, Jess, those recovering from their injuries, Yaenga, Dr. Mackie, Jeanine and Pat L., I ask YOUR healing for them all. I ask for safe travel for Rian and his family. I pray for comfort for those hurting from loss. I pray for those of us who encounter obstacles in our walk with YOU. I pray for our spiritual family and for our leaders. May my day proclaim YOU!