Whew.

Short night. I had gone to bed early. This has become a habit, but out here it is a necessity. You never know when who will knock on your door. I had actually been to sleep and then got up. I was looking for a seed truck that had not returned Monday. I had a report that he loaded in Roscoe and was coming to me via Lubbock. Five plus two plus three and he should have been here shortly after ten last evening. But that is not where this story is going. I had done a visual inventory and picked up the television remote when there was a knock on the door. One of my bale haulers could not get his trailer unhooked so he could leave his empty and pick up a loaded trailer. I asked where Roy was and he told me Roy was no where to be found. I changed into my work clothes and made my way to my truck and across the compound to the bale dock. By the time I arrived there the driver had unhooked and was moving to his loaded trailer. Roy was on the forklift and said he had been for almost all evening so I asked where Julio (who is the lead forklift operator) was. That is the thing about lying. You have to remember what you said and make all the subsequent stories cross check. Roy, in his haste to stay out of trouble told me what would benefit him, but this same story implicated Julio. Roy then told me Julio had run home briefly and would be back shortly. I made one quick pass to confirm what I had assessed when I got in my truck, there were no lights on in Julio's trailer. I returned to the bale dock area and parked to wait it out. Roy came over and told me to go on that I was making him nervous. Heh, heh. Finally after an hour, I saw movement coming from Julio's. Driving with no headlights on, he immediately came to a stop when he saw me and my truck. He quickly reversed his direction and went around behind some structures before coming in "lights blazing". He was actually driving his in-laws truck. Roy came over and began talking again, wanting to know why I was up in the middle of the night. I told him about the driver's problem and then that I felt the need to see what the problem was that my entire crew was not on the job. I also told him I was trying to decide who I would terminate, Julio for leaving his post or Roy for enabling and trying to cover for him. Immediately Roy began his baloney about how his feelings were hurt that I didn't trust him and that I would even consider terminating him. I told him that trust is earned repeatedly. When Roy finally figured out that I was "dead" serious he told me that Julio had gone home to visit with his in-laws and that he was bringing the in-laws truck back because he had talked to Felipe and Felipe had agreed to sell him propane from the plant's bulk storage for the in-laws truck. I explained to him that if he did this he could jeopardize his job. I had to explain that any funds he might pay Felipe went in Felipe's pocket, not the plant's coffers. I further explained that I would not let him put me in the middle and I would report this to the plant superintendent and GM.

Bale drivers really sucked last night. 'Nuff said.

I woke early and went to the bale dock for several reasons. (1) I wanted to keep a high profile for my crew, (2) I needed to see how much ground my lazy bale driver lost (3 loads on trailers, 1 full load on the ground and a second in progress), and (3) I wanted to witness the 100,000th bale when it exited the press. I timed it almost perfectly, I had been "on patrol" from seed hoppers to bale dock when I figured the milestone bale was due out, I returned to the bale docks and had a short wait before I went in just as the press rotated and tied out the historic bale. Juan was ginning and immediately gave me a big thumbs up and hit the warning horns of the plant for celebration. There were lots of smiles as big Hugo came and pushed the bale off the conveyor and set it aside. It will be moved into the lobby area of the office later today where it will stay for a few day. 3083191 is the gin code number. This is somewhat misleading because we didn't begin at zero and then we had to drop back several hundred thousand tag numbers because we were over running another gin's assigned numbers. The bale was white and rectangular in shape and weighed 467 pounds. Just like 99,999 in front of it and probably like the 55,000 to 60,000 bales that will follow.

Tonight the plant is feeding all the crews in celebration.

Be the real deal.

Thank YOU LORD.

This is always a busy time of year. Year end reporting. Yuk!

In addition to this Krl and I both seem to be fighting depression. The depression stems from our prolonged stay out here, the lack of movement on the house project, and some parenting issues that have been very difficult.

I suppose if I were pressed I would tell you that while I love our kids to death, I don't really like any of them (more precisely the people they have become or chosen to be). All of them have put themselves in positions that as a parent I feel is very dubious at best. Some of this stems from spouse/in-law situations, some stems from professional situations. Regardless, I am not happy about any of them.

It seems some have a problem with speaking the plain and simple truth. They have the tendency to embellish (to their advantage). It has almost to the point where I don't know who to believe what from, when.

Our youngest, ( and I use "our" because she has two sets of parents) was by yesterday. It would appear she has gone full cycle. From a promising young manager in retail sales while taking a full load of college courses to "rookie of the year" in High Plains real estate to an unemployed college drop out moving home to Angelo to try to regroup.

Krl and I both got to the point where we felt any monetary contribution was only feeding lots of bad vices. The youngest's success saw her inundated with friends traveling in a very fast circle. As the market went flat and the money dwindled, the friends spun to others who were cycling up. Not very good friends as far as friends go. I doubt that any of them would come if called.

Knowing what Krl's and my situation has been the past five years, it bumfuzzles me to know what kind of money "the youngest" made and squandered. It baffles me more to even think about all that has gone on. What contributed to her sudden rise and all the hoopla that accompanies it. I am afraid to delve to deeply.

While "the youngest" is circling her wagons and coming home to regroup, I think it is a lot of smoke and mirrors. Until she does a lot of admitting to herself and to those of us she has lied to and betrayed, she will never put this behind her. Krl urged her to seek some professional help. "The youngest" and my relationship is strained to say the very least and I am thankful that Krl is willing to talk with her. Bit by bit she is getting small admissions from "the youngest" and the direction in which it is going sure points to allegations and questions that we asked almost two years ago.

Our on going dilemma is where to from here. There are issues of trust. What to do, what to do?

The other three children are three different matters, but then that's three other blogs.

Be the real deal.

FATHER, FATHER hear our cry. I pray for Krl and me, for direction, for guidance, for wisdom. I pray for "our youngest", that she would become grounded, that she would get things right in her life, that she would accept who she is. I pray for Adam and his men, that they would be protected from harm and that they would be cared for. I lift up Memama, Pepa, hag, Bets, Jess, Lillie, Aimee, Ashlyn Kate, Dr. Mackie, Jeanine, JBCjr, and Hope. I ask YOUR miracle of healing and care for each of them. I pray for those sad and heavy hearted with grief. I pray for those like me who struggle to follow YOU. 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 put off the old and put on the new, seeking to be pure and holy in YOUR sight. I pray for our prayer partners Jenavene and Susan. That we would seek to please YOU. Pure-er in heart, help us to be.

The best laid plans ....... have fallen by the wayside again. While I felt that I finally had enough seed trucks with Friday's arrival of reinforcements, I lost that warm fuzzy feeling Sunday evening late.

Adan, one of my South Texas truckers was returning to the gin from Lubbock. He was only six miles away from the plant at the intersection of 2401 and State Highway 137 executing a left hand turn when a mini-van tried began to pass him. A collision occurred, the steering arm on the truck was snapped, making the truck have a mind of its own, and the driver was just along for the ride from that point. The van hooked bumpers and turned over. Somehow, someway, both vehicles avoided all the poles and post that are present in that intersection. The driver of the van, a young woman, appeared to be O.K., but was transported to Midland via St. Lawrence EMS for evaluation. Adan was shaken but O.K..

Turns out that when the ambulance arrived at the ER the trauma staff told the ambulance personnel that the woman had been in their ER earlier in the day complaining of a migraine and was given a huge injection of medication to alleviate the pain. She had been instructed to go home and lie down, no driving and no operating equipment until the Monday.

The woman's husband was the third vehicle in this small caravan. Adan in the lead, the woman in the rocking chair and the husband bringing up the back door. The husband told Adan he saw him begin to slow down and the left turn signal began to blink and then he saw his wife pull out to pass. By the time the patrolman finished his investigation and told the man he was issuing his wife a citation for passing at an intersection, the man had a total change of heart claiming she was not at fault.

As it is it will take three weeks for Adan to work through the claim process and then another three to five weeks to get his truck fixed. He left last night going to San Antonio in hopes of finding another truck.

We will hope.

We are steadily working to 100,000 bales. This morning the GM and I were in the scale area and he told me he plans to shut the plant down for and hour or two next Tuesday and have a meal/party to celebrate this milestone. I think we could all use a pick me up. It has been since Thanksgiving that we had a joint group activity and that did a lot for morale.

We spent the last portion of Monday doing R & R of Shane's tarp. A couple of months ago the tarp company had measured the trailer and supposedly made an exact replica. Wrong. Almost four hours and several hundred dollars later, the new tarp was in place. It was close but not even in the same league as the old tarp. We had to do some southern engineering and I will admit I was pretty happy when he arrived back at the compound this morning with the tarp still in place.

Krl and I are getting cabin fever. Aren't these days gorgeous? We have a chance of rain tomorrow, which would be a blessing. While underground moisture is still good, the surface moisture is exiting "pronto". If we can get just a little along it be a big help. Hopefully some moisture would settle the dust and the static electricity. Static is so bad that every time you exit your vehicle you shoot a blue spark and it is also having an adverse effect on cell phones.

Be the real deal!

FATHER, reign in me. Allow me to surrender it all to YOU. I ask healing and renewal for Krl. I ask safety and YOUR care for Adam and his men. I pray for those near and dear who are in need of YOUR care and gifts of healing. I pray for those sad and hurting with grief, I ask YOUR comfort for them. I pray for those of us who stumble and fall while trying to follow YOU. 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 will have proper perspective on what is important in this life. I pray for our prayer partners Jenavene and Susan. Knowing that nothing is impossible with YOU.

O.K., I'm not going to say that I am irritable, I am just overly sensitive. O.K.!

Some of the smallest thing just fly all over me!

One example is Charmin. Now they have such large rolls that the packages come with "extender". Duh! I wonder if this was Mr. Wiffle's idea. He was weird anyhow. I never saw the thrill of squeezing the Charmin. It is enough of a chore to replace the roll without extender. Actually I have never used the extender. Being a macho male, I just muscle it around until enough squares are gone where it will roll. Currently I am wondering if the sheetrock will wear out from the skid marks from the "big" rolls. I was reading on the package that there are "x" amount more squares on a big roll than on a regular roll. One of these days I am going to buy one of each and roll 'em out!

This is really getting to be a pain in the butt. I am just glad I have a soft roll of Charmin.

I called in reinforcements for the seed haul. They arrived yesterday. Since then we have not run for didly squat! Broke a gin stand saw. The plant lost several hours replacing that. Rib fire the night before. Needless to say I have bunched all my trucks up. It looks like a truck stop out there. Which is bad for the drivers but good for me.

Bales have been better. We have an extra truck dropping in pretty regular but even more importantly we made one personnel change that has really helped things. Problem is the new guy is just temporary. Rats!

Pepa celebrated a birthday yesterday. That makes 77 of them for him. Happy birthday Dad!

We are over ninety-thousand bales now. Every bale that exits the plant is a record. We are trying to decide what would be an appropriate celebration when we eclipse one-hundred-thousand. And we have a ways to go yet!

Frank and I started some wager boards. We did this last year close to the end of the season and it gave us something to do. One board is for a completion date. You buy a date that no one else has that you think might be the final day of the plant operation this year. I selected April 4th. Frank selected April 5th. Ten dollars a day, the pot is over two hundred dollars. We also started a board for "when Kristy delivers her baby". Three day window for every date purchased. If there is not a person on the date the baby comes, the baby wins the pot! I am February 15, 16, 17. Frank is February 7,8,9. Turns out if Kristy carries the new baby the same length of time as she carried Claire I am a ringer!

We are getting cabin fever out here. Keep us in mind.

Be the real deal.

FATHER, bless us with patience and tolerance to see this to the end. I pray for Adam and his men in Iraq. I ask for safety for them. I lift up Addie, Memama, Pepa, Hag, Bets, Jess, Lillie, Aimee, Ashlyn Kate, Dr. Mackie, Jeanine, Hope, K..C., and Tyler for YOUR care and healing. I ask comfort for those hurting with grief. I pray for those of us who struggle to follow YOU. 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 realize that YOU are the first and the last. I pray for our prayer partners Jenavene and Susan. That we might cultivate ourselves for a harvest of righteousness and peace. Bring it on FATHER, I need a double dose!

I would suppose that all of us have done it at some point of our lives. This morning I did it again. I crossed that threshold.

For the first time in a long long time I found myself totally spent. Physically, emotionally, mentally. It's all on the table. I had felt tendencies earlier this month but seemed to have circumvented the problem and continued on. This morning I am in a time warp. Yuk!

The first time I awoke and looked at the clock, it was 12:16 am., I was able to go back to sleep and awoke at 6:20 am. Much better. I thought I would just lie there for a few minutes, next thing I knew it was 7:20 am. That was nearly blissful.

I decided to give myself the day off. At least the office part. I continue to coordinate the comings and goings of shipments but "working in the office " is out of bounds today.

I actually did some computer stuff but it wasn't really work. I ordered a replacement laptop today. I got the go ahead several months ago but I am very reluctant to spend that kind of money, even if it is someone else's money. Laptops or notebooks have really come down in price, much like all the other computers. This one began at just over a thousand dollars before I began to customized it. Lots of memory, a huge processor, plenty of USB ports, some high end software, cutting edge anti-virus and spyware, added capacity batteries and I am almost excited to see it come in. Actually the ship date given is January 30, 2006 but the order confirmation said five days. I may have to e-mail Michael to find out for sure.

My existing laptop is still capable. If our old computer man Chad was still in town, I probably would have just given him my laptop to clean up. It is a Dell, almost six years old. It was a top end computer when it was purchased, but that was back when they weren't putting much memory and processors were about an eighth of what they are now. I get an error message quite often saying I have exceeded the memory capacity. And that is saving very little to the hard drive and yet many, many, many discs of stored records. In fact I have them grouped by year.

The new computer is equipped with a lot of the new fad stuff, one of which is wireless networking. We'll see how it works. Hopefully things will progress where eventually we will have broadband at the jobsite, then we will have wireless for all our machines.

The last thing I put in my cart was a large flat screen monitor for Krl. She is using my old desktop out here, the tried and true AST Bravo. By any standard it is ancient (it was purchased new in 1997), but something about how it is configured it would work right alongside computers which exceeded its capacities. It had a bank of USB ports long before it was popular and could have been cashed in on in Canada for way more than what was paid for it.

I feel like I am fixing to have to learn some new tricks.

Before it was all said and done I had roamed around the Dell website for almost two hours. I bet they thought I had stolen that cart.

Today is Roy's birthday. He has let everyone know about it weeks in advance. He has celebrated it for the past week. This morning I didn't even mention it to him. I could tell it was really irritating him, but I just ignored the fact. Finally he told me he was upset that I wouldn't even wish him Happy Birthday. I told him "But it's next week" and he said "No". I continued to make him think he had told me wrong. Finally I told him to come to my trailer to help with a project and Krl gave him his gift. We got pictures and everything. Roy is a big University of Texas fan. A large part of his wardrobe is burnt orange. We selected a corduroy orange UT cap along with a National Champion Shirt and a pair of orange shades (which are also safety glasses). He was surprised to say the least. Then I took him back to the bale dock in the company SUV, raised the hatch and there was a huge sheet cake proclaiming "Happy Birthday Roy". He felt about an inch tall. I had set him up perfectly. At last check he was still serving his "buds" birthday cake!

Heh, heh! All in a days play!

Be the real deal!

FATHER, I need YOU every hour. I pray for those near and dear who are in need. I ask safety for Adam and his men. Let YOUR glory fill the earth!

That was definitely a Monday.

Murphy was without a doubt an optimist.

The day began with a truck that came into the compound Sunday night (two and a half hours late, I might add) with a burned up wheel bearing. The oiler cap was ruined and it was probably luck that kept the wheels from leaving the trailer and causing some possibly serious damage. Of course, thanks to our location, we had no parts. When I talked to Fred, he told me if I could identify the parts he would gather them up and send the service truck to make the repair. It took most of the morning to get everything torn down. One of the lock nuts was almost welded to the axle. Finally we had the dual wheel and tire assembly off and we took it to one of the shops in the compound that had air tools to complete the tear down. Turns out, the hub itself had been cracked, both bearings were history and the oil seal was a faint memory! Remarkably the threads were saved on the axle. Fred began gathering the parts and Roy and I went to the other end of the compound to work on the heater on the new forklift. About one o'clock a call came telling me that parts were on their way and "No, the service truck was not coming" to do the repairs. "Ya'll tore it down, I figured you can put it back together". That wasn't the problem. The problem was that we would not have chosen to work on it where we did if we were not going to have a mobile truck equipped with an air compressor and air impacts. Already, just to do the work I had bought a twenty ton bottle jack. Roy and I pulled the blower assembly from the forklift heater core. The squirrel cage had vibrated and broken in to. I took a torch and brazed it back together, hopefully with more metal than the factory had sent it out with. I also replaced the mounting nuts with lock nuts and tightened it as tight as I dared, hoping it would eliminate some of the vibration from the forklift. When repairs were completed I headed to the trailer for a late lunch. It was almost three in the afternoon. Before I could devour a sandwich there came a knock on the door and Roy told me one of the mounting bolts had just fallen out, broken. It seemed that as tight as I dared was just beyond what the bolt could take and the very brief run and the vibration from the forklift combined with traveling over the rough terrain did it in for the bolt. As my luck would have it the farm store didn't have a replacement. I took the old bolt along with a new, shorter bolt, sheared both of them to get the desired length, and brazed them together. Walla! Custom bolt. Once again we removed the blower assembly to install the new mounting bolt (of course it goes on a naked motor before anything else) and we re-assembled it one more time. Surprisingly it worked and did survive the remainder of the day shift plus the night shift! Just as the second forklift repairs were completed, the trailer parts arrived. We did a thrash and just as night was falling I sent the truck and trailer out of the compound. We actually had more parts than we required. Almost all of them were right. The ones that weren't, were not needed. We did it all by the book. Installed a new wear ring, new seal, new bearings and races, tightened the axle nuts until we couldn't rotate the hub, backed it off one notch until it could be turned relatively easily, put the new oiler cap on and filled it with oil. Then the work began. We had to install and tighten the wheels and tires by hand. By then it was time for the shift change. When I walked in the trailer, I was a filthy, tired man.

This morning I awakened with a body that is on strike. All of my joints are sore and creaking! Knees, hips, shoulders! Wow, I feel like it is Saturday morning after a Friday football game.

I made my morning rounds and when I got to the seed storage hoppers I saw the truck we had repaired had returned from its first post repair trip. I drove behind it and using my headlights surveyed it for any tell tell sign of something awry. I saw no leaking oil, the tires were tracking and I breathed out a sigh of relief. I looked at the oil level and found both of them were on the low side so I instructed Roy to give some oil to the driver to fill them. Later in the morning this driver came in and told me his new seal was leaking. I told him I saw no evidence of this and told him I figured the need for oil was just because it was a whole new assembly. He insisted that it was leaking so I told him fine, there was no more warranty. Find another mechanic. Maybe you get what you pay for! Beggars can't be choosers, don't look a gift horse in the mouth and all those other words of wisdom. Beyond the call of duty.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Hopefully today is going to be productive in the office. Already I have printed summaries for the W-2's. A little more data entry and they should be hot off the printer.

Thursday is Roy's birthday. I believe he will be twenty-three. His birthday celebration has been going on for a week already. His Aunts and Grandmother came in over the weekend, there has been a cookout at the old plant compound (where many workers are housed), he has been taken to lunch by several co-workers today and I know Julio and his wife and daughter have plans to feed him Thursday night. If the boy eats cake everywhere he goes he will be huge!

Be the real deal.

Oh FATHER, I need relief from this physical body. I pray for Krl's healing and renewal. I ask safety for Adam and his men. I lift up Addie, Memama, Pepa, Hag, Bets, Jess, Lillie, Aimee, Ashlyn Kate, Dr. Mackie, Jeanine, K.C., Hope, Tyler and Kat for YOUR gifts of healing and care. I ask comfort for those hurting from grief. I pray for those of us who stumble while following YOU. 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 set their sights on things eternal, not on things that are fleeting. I pray for our prayer partners Jenavene and Susan, knowing that nothing is impossible with YOU. How majestic is YOUR name!

Tough couple of days.

Personnel problems, equipment problems. Frustration is building as everyone is getting frayed around the edges.

Night before last Paco, our night seed loader, had some brain fade the same time one of my truckers did and the result was the truck running over a free standing ladder that the loaders feel is essential to them doing their jobs. Words were exchanged, Roy walked up just in time to be included in the volley and things were said that were really hurtful.

As soon as I made my morning rounds I assessed the damage to the ladder and then hit the road to Odessa to pick up new casters. By mid-day the damaged equipment had been repaired and returned to service. No big deal.

While I was assessing the damaged ladder, my rogue truck driver came up and began trying to visit like nothing had transpired. I told him I didn't want to talk because I did not feel I could do so without getting very, very mad. He kept going and guess what. I got very, very mad. Nothing productive came out of the exchange. Actually I hate to get that bent, especially that early in the day. Later in the day the rogue truck driver and I spoke again. I told him that what I said needed to be said but could have been done in a more toned down version. Things we much better by night.

I had a driver get me out about ten after one in the morning. Talk about ruining a night. It was after five before I laid down on the couch. Yep, it had to be a maintenance Sunday. I have been running on fumes all day. Krl and I did go to town. We decided to go to one of our favorite places to relax and enjoy a good meal. It didn't happen. That was the most horrible experience we have had in a long time. The manager made the mistake of coming by to visit. He asked, so we let him have it.

Krl and I are trying to decide what to do next maintenance Sunday. We are kind of talking about finding a motel that accepts pets and maybe we could get a suite WITH A BATH TUB! We just need to do something out of the ordinary.

Since we have been back from town we have been hard at settlements. The way things have gone I just didn't get it done in our normal time frame. (And I am a tired puppy).

Be the real deal.

FATHER, work YOUR plan!

I am constantly amazed how my scheduling and preferences are tipped on end out here. At the summer house (you'll understand my terminology after next paragraph), I like to awaken extremely early and soak in a hot bath tub with a good book. If it is an extremely good book I can read it in one sitting, otherwise I may read two or three books per week. Out here I usually read in the evenings sometimes only a paragraph or possibly a chapter. I am only on my second book out here in three and a half months. Of course in the travel trailer the bath tub is not an option. Hmmmmm, maybe that's the key.

Krl and I were talking the other day and she began, "When we get to go home......". I cut her short, "This is home", I stated matter of factly. "I mean when we get to go to the big house in Abilene", she replied. "Oh, you mean the summer house", I said. There was a very definite break in the conversation when she said "Do you realize we will only be there four months before we have to return here." Another silence and I said "And that is if we don't go to South Texas".

Yesterday was one of the most difficult days I have had out here. Not physically, but mentally and emotionally. I found I possess a really short fuse and there are a number of people who seem intent on trimming it even shorter. There are a number of drivers, dispatchers and repair people who are cruisin' for a bruisin'. They all possess tunnel vision. I struggled most of Thursday with some difficult decisions and late in the day I began to incorporate them in my long range plan. There will be people who are mad, people with hurt feelings, and people who experience a crunch in their pocketbooks but I have given them repeated chances only to be taken advantage of.

My Thursday began with a phone call and a fax from the insurance company regarding the November 14 accident. Everyday it seems there is another request for more paperwork and items that have been faxed numerous times. Yesterday it was a police report. I made the hour drive to town and made the request, spent a little time waiting before I received the report and then ran a couple more errands to maximize my trip. The day ended much the same way, a trip back to town. A bale truck burst a radiator hose about three miles from town and I made another hour long trek to town to take parts and help the driver make repairs and get on his way. Thankfully parts were readily available and the repairs went well.

After we had completed the repairs I returned a call to my friend Kevin. I had called him earlier in the day asking for some relief trucks. When we first spoke he told me it sounded like I had fizzed out. I told him he was pretty much right, that it was a tough day. He was able to send one truck to help create some slack.

I have one driver who is a hard runner but he is a rogue driver. He continually wants to dictate what he is going to do. Yesterday was one such day. He has crossed the line and now there is no going back. I have put plans in motion to replace him and his truck. Not only is he head strong, he is stupid and extremely hard on equipment. Every truck he has driven has had problems with him at the helm and he is expensive to have on board. He charges more "junk" by himself than all my other drivers combined. He continually talks about shopping for his own truck (which might be a good experience for him because he is guaranteed to go broke). I can be in bed in my trailer and listen to the rough and jerky manner a truck is being driven in the compound and I know that it is him.

One note. Last evening on my way from town to the compound I received a phone call informing me that the IGB had arrived. Later in the evening Ollie called to give me a report.

We cross halfway today. Is the glass half full or half empty? 82,000 bales and counting.

Be the real deal!

FATHER, lift me, pick me up. Give me the focus and resolve to see me through this endeavor. I ask the same for Krl and pray for her healing. I ask for safety and care for Adam and his men in Iraq. I lift up Addie, Memama, Pepa, Hag, Bets, Jess, Lillie, Aimee, Ashlyn Kate, Dr. Mackie, Jeanine, Hope, K.C., Tyler and the IGB for YOUR miracle of healing and care. I ask comfort for those hurting from grief. I pray for those of us who are struggling to follow YOU. 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 be humble and look outward rather than inward. I ask YOUR blessings on our prayer partners Jenavene and Susan, that we might cultivate the fruit of the spirit. Fill us with YOU!

Mad dash to town. Parts and more parts.

Krl and I left about two this afternoon. Not a long long list but enough to fill an afternoon, or so we thought. When it was all said and done we still had errands to do and no time to do them!

Weird. One more trip to Midland and no sightings of cousins. You'd think the odds were getting thin, Go figure!

On the way home Krl spent most of her time looking out the window looking at the gorgeous hue of sunset. She commented about how splendid and perfect GOD's plan was.

I thought about how perfect his plan and his world is, how imperfect and flawed my world is. How disappointed I get sometimes. How disappointed he must be at times. And then I think of how perfect his love for us is.

Thank YOU FATHER. I am sorry that I fall short. You know.

What a full weekend. Bookwork, bookwork, bookwork.

Sunday I left my trailer very early and made my early rounds at shift change, I returned and hit the books solid. By the time Krl was up and about I had finished driver settlements and was expanding my scope. I had even corrected some from the night before. All said, I left my trailer three times the remainder of the day. Black Dog and I went to the office to do some copies, then back to the trailer. Later, Maple Syrple made the trek with me as we went to the office and the bale dock. They sure feel special. They run in circles ninety miles an hour as I walk the short distances. Prissy didn't feel up to an outing or we would have found somewhere else to go. My last time out of the trailer was at the night shift change.

The plant did not have a good Sunday. We broke a saw shaft early in the day and the GM called the saw service from Lubbock. Before they could leave Lubbock we broke another saw shaft! This left us at fifty-percent of production until they arrived and completed repairs. Finally we were up and hitting on all cylinders until about two this morning and I awoke as the plant went down. They had a problem with their air system that moves the seed. Three hours later they were back up and running. When the morning tally was done they had done eight-hundred sixteen bales for the day. Most plants would kill for a day like that but not out here. Everyone wants and expects to knock on that eleven-hundred bales per day threshold.

We are sneaking up on eighty thousand bales. Sometime this week we will be half through. I sat down with a calendar last night and I have picked my guess for the date of completion. More on this later. The only hint I will give is that is in April.

Krl was talking yesterday about "when" we got to go home. I told her "here" was home. She expanded it to say "When we get to go to Abilene". I countered by saying "Oh, you mean when we get to go to the summer house". It became very somber when she asked if I realized that we would only be home about four months before we have to return. And that's if we don't go to South Texas!

We began Sunday night in very good shape. It didn't hold. By morning I had bales on the ground again. I did put a letter in the pay envelopes of all the bale truck drivers explaining that if this trend continues either pay will be shifted from drivers to loader operators because the drivers are causing double work for the loader operators, or the duties and expectations on the loader operators would be reduced giving the drivers more responsibilities.

We run teams on each truck. While the drivers are never on the truck at the same time, they share the truck on an alternating basis. In theory, the trucks are only sitting still at either the loading end or the unloading end of their trips. It is becoming more evident that some of these guys are not team players. My best truck driver (who continues to rehabilitate from surgery) consistently would haul eighteen to twenty-one loads each week, by himself. My teams this year are struggling to haul twenty-four to twenty-five loads each week combined. I think it is a lot about "want to".

I am hopeful that we will get started printing W-2's or 1099's today. Krl and I have been very diligent this year keeping the different spreadsheets and trying to make them multi-function where they will work in each application we need. We got ahead of the curve early in December and picked up a program update along with forms and envelopes. Last year taught us a lesson about waiting to the last minute. At the moment, I am optimistic that we will be finished much earlier than last year but I am not going to spaz until the last minute if they aren't done.

Krl and I have set some goals for the day. She plans on putting all the Christmas decorations away. I hope to get down all the outdoor lights. We had left everything in tact pending Kat's visit. I also learned that out here it is customary to burn your lights and leave your decorations up until the conclusion of the epiphany.

I have been talking skidsteer loaders last evening and this morning. They are a totally different animal which are foreign to me. I have operated one before but never really looked at what makes one brand better than another. I was approached about one so now I am on a steep learning curve. Thankfully in my network there is always someone who knows "who" to call.

I talked with Reidman over the weekend. He thanked me for his Christmas. "Thank you for my Christmas. I 'preciate it!" I figure that before long he will have to live outside in his tent with his sleeping bag and safety lantern if he is going to play his drum set! Give 'em a rimshot for me! Badda boom!

This morning there is extra bustle in the compound. For the last month the locals have been harvesting their pecan crop. The larger producers that have the large orchards have been shipping on a regular basis for quite some time. Today was the day for all the small producers to come to the plant and weigh in and make their deals.

I am somewhat in awe of the pecan buyer. He is looking at the pecans, making his evaluation followed by his offer of money. He has a trailer that is sealed to keep water out and the producers are urged to put them in waterproof bags. The real hoot is that when they arrive at the pecan company they will float them in water, soaking them before they shell them. Only thing is they sure don't want to be buying moisture.

Each to his own.

Be the real deal.

FATHER, I need one of YOUR pick me ups! I feel tired, depressed. Give me focus on the task at hand and not the completion of the job. I ask for Krl's renewal and healing. I pray for safety for Adam and his men. I lift up Addie, Memama, Pepa, Hag, Bets, Jess, B., Lillie, Aimee, Ashlyn Kate, Dr. Mackie, Jeanine, Hope, K.C., and Tyler for YOUR gifts of healing and care. I pray for those sad and hurting from loss. I pray for those of us struggling to follow YOU. I pray for our spiritual family and leaders and for the efforts being made to expand YOUR kingdom. I pray for Richard, Anastacia, James and Terah, that they would accept CHRIST and his sacrifice, that they would choose to live good and GODLY lives fully embodied in YOUR grace and love. I pray too for our prayer partners Jenavene and Susan, victory in JESUS.

Sorry 'bout that!

The New Year is off to a fast start. Busy, busy. Truckers, 'nuff said!

We have been limping along with reduced ranks. Delfino did not return from Mexico until yesterday. He feels optimistic about his wife's health. Baldemar told me he needed to go to Mexico for at least a week. Julio needs to go in a couple of weeks, so it appears the long season is going to require a floater man just to go where I need him. I hired just such a man Wednesday and began training him. Today we threw him in the fray. He is on his own with no more supervision. So far so good.

"Peg Leg" had an accident yesterday in Big Spring. He missed his turn and took the next exit, went all the way down the ramp and then failed to negotiate the turn and ran off into a culvert. DPS would not let him drive. They think he has suffered a stroke. Regardless, "Peg Leg" has no recollection of why he was where he was at and what had actually transpired. The truck suffered some damage but came on out with another pilot at the helm. Ultimately it was abandoned because the water pump went out on its way back in to Sweetwater.

The night drivers had a very poor night Thursday night and combined with Friday's accident there was a backlog of bales to be shipped. I brought in two locals for three loads and then Roscoe sent me three trucks and just before dark we had cleaned it up.

By this morning it was a mess again. It seems as though when you get the night guys caught up they relax and do an less. I am trying to come up with an appropriate penalty to take money away from the guys doing little and giving it as a reward to those who are trying to do their share. (Aka forklift operators). We are double handling so many bales that is may take a reduction in truck pay to get the truck owners to encourage their people to work.

Hurry up Charles! Get well soon. I need some relief!

Kat has been visiting since Tuesday. She and Daely have become buds. One is nine, the other almost seven. Kat has been to Daely's house, Daely has spent time at our trailer. Last night they went to sleep laying in the floor watching television. Today we will meet TRC and send Kat back to Abilene.

One of our last activities before she leaves will be a stop at the County Livestock Show and auction. Since we are official company representatives and since the company is a buyer, we hold tickets to the hospitality room for the noon meal. One festivitie I want to see is the pig scramble. Daely told Kat about it and Kat thinks she wants to participate. Yeah right! Whatever! Fer sure, fer sure!

While it has been a good visit, one extra person and all their stuff sure makes the trailer crowded. Add to this the fourth body visiting and it is even more cramped. I sure know what it feel like to be a minority because I have been the only male in contrast to three females and three female dogs in the trailer!

As per usual, the visit has caused some friction between Krl and I. She is so hungry to see the grandbabies that she is blind to what is going on. Kat is sure enough kin to her oldest sister because she wants to manipulate and dictate to everyone else where, when and what. The other day I asked Meme and Kat if they wanted to ride to town with me to get some forklift parts. Not only did it take forever for you know who to get ready but she took an extra change of clothes. Before we had gone fifteen miles she was telling me that she was going to WalMart and Target and the Mall. She was needing an orange spaghetti strap top! Now I don't know 'bout where you come from but most forklift dealership/service companies don't carry a wide assortment of spaghetti string apparel. Anyhow, as you can well imagine, I was in trouble before we got back to the house. (Even though they did go to Target while I did an errand. I needed some peace and quiet!).

Once we were back at the compound I finished my day out and returned to the trailer. Krl told me that she was putting the finishing touches on supper but I had time to bathe. Once I headed to the bathroom guess who had to beat me in there. What a seven year old does in the bathroom for that long is a mystery to me. Finally I was cleaned up and had my jogs on and was fixing to sit down at the table when Meme told Kat to slide into her chair before me because the dining area was cluttered with Kat's things. Kat kept trying to dictate the timing and I finally sat down and began to eat. Then she wanted in.

Yep, she is a brat! There Meme, I said it!

Lots of office work to do. Year end reporting, W-2's, 1099's, TWC, FUTA, insurance.

Git 'er done! Be the real deal!

FATHER, surround me with YOUR peace. I feel I am at the edge of a fierce storm. I ask safety for Adam and his men in Iraq. I ask for Krl's healing and renewal. I ask for safe travel returning Kat. I pray for Addie, Memama, Pepa, Hag, Bets, Jess, B., Lillie, Aimee, Ashlyn Kate, Dr. Mackie, Jeanine, Hope, K.C., and Tyler. I ask YOUR gifts of healing, YOUR gifts of comfort, YOUR intervention on their behalf. I pray for those hurting from loss. I pray for those of us who struggle to follow YOU. 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 remain true to YOUR path and YOUR way, shunning the ways of the world. I pray for our prayer partners Jenavene and Susan, that we might seek our refuge in YOU. Hide me oh Jehovah!

Mercifully, today is a maintenance Sunday. Thanks we needed that.

It seems as though we have not "meshed" perfectly since we returned from our Christmas break. Half step out of step seems to be our mode of operation.

We continue to be one machine operator short. Delfino was taking his wife in for tests sometime after Christmas. He was supposed to call and let me know what the prognosis was but I have yet to hear from him. He had given me an outside window of January 3rd for his return. This is crucial because Baldemar has to go to Mexico this coming Thursday. He needs to renew his visa and other related paperwork. Also he did not go home Christmas. He has asked for a minimum two days off, maximum seven days off depending on our staffing numbers. I have a tentative new employee staged in the wings should Tuesday pass with no Delfino.

I spent most of my Saturday morning servicing forklifts. The new machine had a mandatory change of fluids and filters at fifty hours. We stretched it some but got it done. Everything looked good but I understand this is a precaution the manufacturer requires for warranty coverage. It was kind of interesting, Roy (or Rogelio), one of my Hispanic machine operators, showed up for work dressed to the nines. Dockers, dress shoes and a nice dress shirt. He wasn't a whole lot of help servicing machines as he was afraid he was going to get something on him. I complimented him on his shirt and he told me he bought it with Christmas money. "Paid $70 for it", he replied. I explained to him that I don't work in $70 shirts. Maybe $7 shirts. I think there are days when my unawares are the most expensive part of my wardrobe!

When Roy and I began servicing the new machine I had the manuals out reading (or trying to read) the fluid requirements. The manuals are written in Tai or some other oriental language with English para-phrasing as an after thought. I told Roy I was going to trade him and Paco for one oriental machine operator! Surely I could get a two for one deal somewhere!

We have had a side bet going between machine operators on who would put the first scratches on the new machine. Whoever did the first damage had to pay the other machine operators $100. I was working on my computer yesterday afternoon when I saw Roy driving up on his machine to my trailer. He looked a little worried and dejected. He made some small talk before he finally 'fessed up and told me he backed into another machine with the new one. Later in the afternoon I went to the loading dock with our digital camera and had Roy stand beside the "marked" forklift so I could get his picture along with the damaged area of the forklift. He wanted to die off.

Krl and I spent part of Saturday thrashing on settlements trying to get them done and checks written in 2005. Add to this the fact that it was a phase out Saturday night and it goes without saying that we did not make Steph's wedding. We did think about everyone though and we wish the newly weds the best.

Krl and I submitted our wishlist to the company for end of year donations. This year it was headed up by St. Jude's Children's Hospital. Lots of worthy organizations sprinkled throughout. One new one this year is Rescue the Animals. This is a direct result of Maple Syrple moving into our home and our hearts.

Talk about nasty. Just think about being in Odessa, Texas on a day with a strong wind storm and you have some indication of what we are experiencing today. Lots of wind and real estate rushing across the countryside. Needless to say we are rocking and rolling in our travel trailer. It's days like this that make you appreciate the leveling stabilizers but it also makes one thing about tie downs as well.

We had a call from Ollie's hubbie Kenny. He was wanting to do part time work out here but needed to remain flexible enough to fly on a phone call. He is doing contract pilot work for charters and business is slow. Problem is, it is not feasible to put part time workers in place here because we are on twenty-four/seven and when someone is not here, it makes it a hardship on the workers remaining. I can sympathize with his situation but don't really know what I can do from out here. I did suggest that it might be more advantageous for him to be in Midland rather than Lubbock.

Krl and I did not stay up to see the new year in. We did open our bottle of "Smashed Grapes" and the vintner needs to smash that recipe. We were both disappointed. Gee, I should have bought a Grape Nehi!

Happy New Year!

Be the real deal!

FATHER, thank you for the new year and the promise it holds. I ask YOUR blessings, your gifts of healing and care for those near and dear and in need. I pray for continued safety for Adam and his men. I pray for a blessed year for Richard, Anastacia, James, and Terah as well as our prayer partners Jenavene and Susan. May their year be filled with YOU. Give us strength and resolve.