Merry Merry!

Sorry for the absence from blogland lately, a lot has been going on.

The meeting in Lubbock went well. If a couple of things fall in place it will be wonderful. I think Krl and I both are relieved and optimistic that things have "rounded" the corner.

Upon our return to the compound Wednesday night I was approached by my most senior forklift operator telling me he was leaving Thursday night after midnight to go home for Christmas and to check on his wife. I don't think he knew how weak his story sounded until he verbalized it. I am sure the version he practiced in his brain was much better. The part that was supposed to win me over was extremely weak. Sixteen hours of driving after he crosses the border would put him home Friday night, I don't think he will have much luck finding a doctor wanting to schedule an MRI on Christmas Eve, especially since she is not and has not been hospitalized. He thinks he will not return until after New Years. Everyone out here would love that holiday vacation. Thanks to the willingness of my day crew, we worked right through Thursday. (I didn't let the operator who was leaving come in Thursday night. Then he belly ached about needing hours! Make up your mind!). By Friday night one of the day crew had transitioned back to the nightshift.

Another problem which arose during Krl's and my absence was a back log of cotton bales awaiting shipment. It seems there is a license and weight/DOT officer in Colorado City who has taken a strong dislike for "Peg leg". This dislike has made this officer want to stop not only "Peg Leg" but also the driver sharing "Peg leg's" truck and "any" truck that is hauling our products. The driver opposite "Peg leg" was stopped, inspected and put out of service while the remaining trucks and drivers were stopped and inspected. Regardless, a substantial amount of time was lost. It took two days just to catch up and that was shortened because the plant went down with breakdowns twice.

One seed truck went down and remains in the shop even at this late time. I brought two trucks in from Hawley (that I worked with through the summer) and they helped out with three loads. A truck which had been in the shop came out, (this is the one that was repaired and went two miles before it broke down again and returned to the shop). Thankfully it has now made three trips with no major problems.

We did the phase out for all the seed trucks. I sent all the trucks going to South Texas beginning mid afternoon Thursday. This was going to put a load on all my trucks from West central Texas but surely they would be up for the task one night. Wrong. I remained awake monitoring seed storage and Baldemar as he was on duty. Finally about four thirty in the morning I went to my trailer and to bed. One truck driver who asked me directly what I needed him to do dropped the ball. I now have new rules concerning him when he returns Tuesday. I am going to starve him out. The name of the new rule is "the lying white man's rule".

I only slept three hours before awakening with a start when the plant shut down. My first impulse was "what's wrong". Krl awoke and we began to get ready for our "mad dash" to town. We had a very short list, lunch and groceries were probably the most pressing items. We did a quick Wal-Mart visit and then went to Logan's (using a gift certificate Frank gave us, thanks Frank and Nancy). Target, Staples, the Mall, Western Beverage, Albertson's and HEB and we were through! I was running out of gas very quickly.

It sounds like we had a tame day but I did leave one item out. Shortly before we left the compound I received a call telling me one of my bale trucks had over turned. More information revealed it was a black Peterbilt. All my bale trucks are white (Thank you GOD!), and the only black Peterbilt I am using happened to be the truck in the shop. Slowly more information revealed it was a black truck hauling seed and that the accident occurred just east of Roscoe. Luckily my seed goes north to Lubbock from here and there would be no reason for one of my seed trucks to be loaded and at that location. The only part of the info that fit was that I was using a black Western Star truck and it was heading to Roscoe when it off loaded. As luck would have it this driver whose initials are P.B. (these stand either for Peanut Butter or Pea Brain) ran out of route, he still hasn't explained his reasons for being where he was at. He was traveling at a slow rate of speed on the service road, ran off the road, tried to correct it and over turned. Yep, that was my load. Dang it!

Hind sight is twenty-twenty. This is the driver I had sent home twice and Roscoe kept sending him back. They look pretty brilliant now don't they!

Friday night Krl and I drove to Sterling City to meet Kali and Addie and give them their Christmas gifts. We had told Kali we would help her with Addie's Christmas. Krl and I both felt it was very important for them to have a "good" Christmas since it is the first one after "Lump". We met at a little restaurant in downtown Sterling City and had a good visit. Krl and I both needed to be exposed to more of a child's amazement with the miracle of Christmas. Addie behaved very well (Kali did too) and it was a good evening!

Today Krl and I are doing the same thing as Santa and Mrs. Clause, We are kicked back doing nothing. Relaxing, making a few phone calls, getting ready for a scrumptious "west Texas Christmas dinner. Baked 'taters, baked beans, grilled rib-eyes, barbecued baby back ribs, german sausage and "biskits"! If they had had some good looking crab legs we woulda got out the turkey fryer and fixed them too. It will be a feast! Please note, there is not a pie or cake to be had in our house. We are eating smart!

When Krl and I made our stop at Western Beverage we picked up a couple of bottles of wine. We are like wine connoisseurs from the "kountry". We don't care what they say about them in their reviews, we go with our gut feeling. This year we got a bottle of "Smashed Grapes", which the best part of the label reads will make you a "grape success" with your friends when you serve it, and a bottle of Yellow Tail Chardonnay which goes great with kangaroo tail soup. Of course in case that we made poor judgements we have one bottle of "Thirsty Lizzard" in our emergency supplies. I can never look at a bottle of wine without visualizing Lucille Ball in her grape smashing role!

Off today and tomorrow. Yes! I told Krl that I am fighting getting depressed because these are the last scheduled days off until we finish out here and the general consensus is saying that will be well into April.

Hope all of you behaved well enough for the "Lil' Fat man" to treat you. Regardless, we know justice was served!

Be the real deal! Merry Christmas!

FATHER, thank YOU for the time off. Thank YOU for the season of giving and good will towards others. Thank you for Krl, my mate, my friend, my bud. I ask safety and care for Adam and his men in Iraq. I pray for safety for all those traveling. I lift up those near and dear who are in need of YOUR gifts of healing and care. Please bless them. I pray for those hurting from loss. I pray for those of us who stumble while attempting to walk YOUR way. I pray for our spiritual family and our leaders. I pray for the efforts being made to expand YOUR kingdom. I pray for Richard, Anastacia, James and Terah. That they would allow YOU the opportunity to work YOUR plan in and for them. I pray for our prayer partners Jenavene and Susan, that we would give it all up to YOU. Hark the herald angels sing!!!