It is done. Shortly after two pm. this afternoon the bale number coded 3139080 exited the gin. It was the 155,889th bale of this season.

Whew!

Immediately I felt as though someone pricked me with a pin and let all my air out. Immediately I was tired. There is still much to do. In the morning four trucks will arrive here, bobtail. They will be picking up the remaining four trailers to transport them home. Hopefully we will "launch" mid- morning.

More on this later.

FATHER, thank YOU for getting us through.

I believe that I know how those cowboys felt when they were nearing completion of their cattle drives.

I feel as though we are poised on the outskirts of town, waiting 'til morning when we will make the final push and finish what we have started.

Today marks 183 days on the jobsite for me, 181 for Krl. That's a long time to not have been home.

Krl and I have been laughing. We have been talking about what we look forward to the most. We are in agreement. Bathtub! Krl made the comment that she wanted to pamper herself (and she deserves it). She wants a manicure, pedicure, facial and a massage. Of course all this is after a long soaking bath.

I told her I could relate to the cowboys after the trail drive. We've seen them in the movies, sitting in the deep metal bathtubs with people scurrying about with an almost endless supply of HOT water. These trail riders sit there puffing on a cigar as they soak. I can also relate to when they walk into the barber shop, and get a shave and a haircut. I wish I could find an old fashion barber with his scissors, straight razor and razor strap.

It has been steady. Thankfully the plant has hummed along. We should be below 100 modules by 7:00 this morning. In fact I think we should be about 72 or so, possibly less. We are like kids waiting for Christmas. The anticipation is about to kill us.

I have had one employee working pretty steady the last two days, cleaning and loading. You don't realize how much you accumulate until you have to gather it up to move. Of course, I haven't been too much help, while I have orchestrated a plan, Krl and I have been busy with our normal weekly duties. Driver and equipment settlements. One more time after this one.

We are fortunate because the job will end almost simultaneously with the end of the first quarter. Yes! This will make the quarterly reporting much easier.

Our plans are to exit the compound, Wednesday mid-morning. I continue to tweak final plans but I am planning on three or four trucks coming to take equipment home to Abilene, the shop at Midland, and to store in Roscoe. Add my company pickup with one RV and Krl in the company SUV and we will have a convoy!

The GM has been picking up supplies for a Tuesday afternoon celebration. I saw Frank and a couple of his helpers unloading the GM's pickup Saturday afternoon. It looks like barbecue with all the trimmings and a lot of "Bud Light". (Some of the employees out here can't speak much English but you can bet one of the first things they learn is this brand name. The dumpsters provide proof that this is a main staple of their diets as well).

It is looking as though we will fall just short of the 156,000 bale mark. I think we will probably end up in the 155,800+ range. This converts to 1558 loads of bales shipped, just over 2300 loads of cottonseed, and 49 loads of motes (the low grade short staple cotton that is sacrificed in the cleaners and is used to stuff mattresses and furniture, and to make paper). Drivers who have been here from the beginning (and there are only about three) have logged over 300 loads each. The forklift, which was "new" December 27, now has 1900 hours.

I would like to say that it has been fun, but at this point I can't. We are all too worn out, too exhausted and too frustrated, and we are going to have to have some time away from it before we can make a fair assessment. It has been hard, but rewarding. One thing that has kept many of us going has been the fact that we are making history, not just for this plant but for the industry as all eyes are watching to see what our final numbers are. It will be a record! That is part of the reward. The humbling thing is that old adage, "Records are made to be broken".

Our pups are so ready to go home. I can't wait to see their excitement as they re-discover their yard and home. I wonder if Krl and I will be as entertaining to the neighbors?

Be the real deal.

FATHER, if not for you we could never have made it to this point. I ask YOUR continued blessings these last hours. I am thankful for all our co-workers, thankful for YOUR watchful eye. I thank YOU for Krl and the support and companionship that she has been. I pray for safety for all of us as we complete this task and we disband and go our separate ways. Bless us with safe passage. I pray for safety for Adam and his men. I lift up Memama, Pepa, Hag, Bets, Jess, Douglas, Jack, B., Lillie, Ashlyn Kate, Dr. Mackie, and Jeanine for YOUR miracles of healing and care. I pray for those who are sad and heavy hearted with grief. I ask YOUR comfort for them. I pray for those of us who stumble as we try to follow YOU. Give us new resolve, keep us centered in 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 as well as our prayer partners Jenavene and Susan. FATHER, if not for You ..........

173 modules remained as of 7:00 am. this morning.

That's all I've got to say about that!

Just call me Earl.

For those of you close enough to know, and/or lived, the trials and tribulations which were spun from the now defunct family business, you will have an advantage in your insight and extra knowledge over someone who just stumbles upon this blog.

The last few years things have been tough financially for Krl and me. We went about as far as we could go. We sold off way more possessions than we ever thought we might. We have had accounts closed, others accounts were garnished. At times our only "assets" were those that followed us around! It has been an ordeal that to date has been going on about five years. I tell you, I could 've had more fun getting a root canal in every tooth in my head. Things have gone full cycle. Hopefully things are on the up swing for us. It seems that our attorney preferred a neat and orderly scripting of the time frames for all of the family members involved.

February 21, 2006 we moved into a new phase of reinventing ourselves. Lots of tears, lots of worry, and lots of prayers have gotten us to this point. We aren't healed but things are looking up. I only have one nemesis continuing to chase me while I believe Krl is nemesis free.

We had a couple of things that needed to be tended to, both of them friends who had not been pressuring us. Friends who at times were the only people that seemed to believe in us. They would just say, "When you can". They will never know how welcome those words were.

Monday I cashed some of my paychecks and purchased money orders. Tuesday I wrote brief notes and mailed the notes with money orders enclosed. Neither of these were large sums of money. I laughed and told Krl, "I know just how Earl feels". Now I am going to have to make me a list and mark off all the things I've made "right".

406 modules remained at 7:00 am. this morning. Four days. I can hardly stand it! Today we will cross over 152,000 bales. We will enter uncharted territory tonight as we surpass all the previous production records.

Yep, this is one for the record books.

Pepa is in Lubbock today. He is selecting a "pup trailer" for us. The company elected to buy one of these short (28 ft.) trailers to store and transport our supplies and inventory to and from the jobsite. We had a deal on two in Roscoe, but the dude was juked up on something and never got them cleaned out and ready to go, then he wanted to take stuff off the trailers we had selected. Nothing important but it might not have stopped there, it might have continued on to include tires, lights, wheels and such. Let's cut our losses and go down the road. I was pretty pleased with the deals we moved on to. Two years ago I selected some trailers for a friend and this deal was comparable to that deal while it is only a single unit deal.

Memama decided to ride with Pepa so their trip may take a different direction and time frame. I figure Memama will want to check on the "boys" while they are there.

Be the real deal.

FATHER, for YOUR love I am Thankful. YOU make us "right".

I don't even want to talk about it.

Sorry for not blogging the past few days. It has been so frustrating because we can see the end in the distance but we can't seem to make much progress toward it. Yuk!

Saturday night we had a thunderstorm pass through, some rain, some hail (in spots) and quite a bit of lightning. The electrical service supply lines were hit by lightning and "Bertha" coasted to a stop. When power was restored it was discovered that there were additional problems caused by the lightning strike. It was ten Sunday morning when the plant came back on line. A sleepless night in STL for Frank!

The other problems is that most of the cotton left to be processed is filled with sticks and stems. This is causing a major problem in the plant and essentially has made them slow down. The sticks and stems are so numerous that some are surviving the stick machines and pre-cleaners and making it all the way into the gin stands where they roll into a ball and much like a snowball just increases in size, rolling on top of the saws and gin stand ribs. We have had numerous fires ranging from the overhead cleaning system to rib fires in the gin stands. Another yuk!

It has been very difficult to "out guess" the plant and the cotton and coordinate trucks.

We topped 150,000 bales late yesterday. The record in the state of Texas is 152,000 by United Gin in Levelland, set last year. The big difference is they subcontracted about thirty thousand of those bales out to other gins but used United tags. We can say that every one of our bales has gone through our plant. Right now it is just a matter of time until we break that record for real. Bale estimates now are upper one-fifty-five to very low 156's. Now that's a lot of cotton.

Krl and I are so antsy it is unreal. We are so close to everything that we can't see the progress. I was kidding Krl the other day that we began moving home when we had that horrible west wind Monday. I would almost swear it moved our trailer a few inches to the east! Currently we are beginning to try to orchestrate our move home. I hope to move the two larger travel trailers along with all the forklifts and all of our totes, dollie plates, and assorted parts in one fell swoop. Hopefully Tuesday but possibly Wednesday. That would leave only one travel trailer remaining. Julio and his wife and daughter are living in it and he is in hopes of staying in the area until the end of the school year so his daughter can complete her school year. I have been brokering a deal with Frank and Julio for Julio to stay on for a couple of months working in the plant.

Krl and I made an unplanned trip to Midland yesterday. We had been in hopes that we would be finished by now and we had cut estimates on dog food and forklift filters a little to close. Oh well, it gave us another opportunity to go to On the Border. We are going to miss that restaurant when we go home, maybe Abilene will get one.

Pepa was telling me about several new eateries opening up in the six months Krl and I have been gone. We look forward to trying them all out!

Trc is estimating completion of the house to be Friday. I don't know if I have ever seen her so "giddy" about anything. She has busted her butt on this project but I would have to say she has enjoyed herself. Even the girls are excited about us coming home and seeing it. Trc has to watch herself because she would love to spill all the beans but so far has limited it to just small bits and pieces of information. The only thing I know for sure is appliances are to be delivered and installed Friday.

Its kind of been fun watching Krl. She is excited about returning to a new home. She has been very diligent sending her paychecks in for the renovation. I guess she will have more than money invested because it was necessary for her to sacrifice six months to be out here to do this job and make this money. Likewise, the house is going to be more than paint and sheetrock, nails and lumber, because it has been a labor of love as Trc has put some of herself into it as she has coordinated laborers and sub-contractors.

Probably the saddest part of us being gone the past six months has been Krl's friend and our housekeeper for the past sixteen years. This woman has always been "good as gold", until this year. Krl loaned her a vehicle and charged her with keeping an eye on the house, cleaning the house, coordinating lawn service as needed, and watering indoor and outdoor plants. This person was paid through the end of March. We realized we had a problem when we talked with a neighbor who reported that the lawn was in need of attention. We had sent the money to our housekeeper twice for a lawn service to do the yard, including shrubs and trees. We knew the remodeling crews were at our house working when we would get a call from this woman telling us everything was fine, nothing was disturbed and that Krls tulips were blooming. Finally a month into the renovations we got a call from Trc reporting that the housekeeper had finally come by and was very surprised that all the contents were gone and all the "dead" indoor plants were moved outside, all the floor covering had been stripped and that the house was taped and ready for painting. Finally Krl received a call from this woman and Krl lowered the boom. Krl told her how disappointed we were that she didn't do what was agreed on and yet she continued to lie about it. As it turns out, we believe that the housekeeper has been to the house once since Christmas. As Grover would say, "People are just no darn good"! Please prove him wrong.

I have one more dilemma to deal with but it will have to wait until I get home. More on this later.

Be the real deal!

FATHER, grant us patience. Temper us, calm us. I pray for Krl and me as well as the crews as our work here winds down. I pray for Adam and his men in Iraq. Keep them safe and out of harms way. I ask blessings on Lauren on this her birthday. I pray for Memama, Pepa, Hag, Bets, Jess, Douglas, Jack, Lillie, Ashlyn Kate, Dr. Mackie, and Jeanine. I lift them up for YOUR miracles of healing and care. I pray for those who are sad and heavy hearted with grief. I ask YOUR comfort for them. 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 of single mind and put their hope in YOU and YOUR promises. I pray for our prayer partners Jenavene and Susan, give us YOUR strength and YOUR peace. Peace, perfect peace.

Almost positive.

Yesterday we carried the company SUV to the shop in Big Spring. Last year we had discovered that the service manager there was from the St. Lawrence area. They were very quick and very thorough in the work they had done in the past (although pricey, you usually get what you pay for). Bert, the service manager was otherwise occupied when we arrived so I spoke with his assistant, Michelle. She was cordial enough, very business like and told me that "more than likely" we could pick up the vehicle later in the day. Last evening when I returned to our trailer I checked with Krl and checked messages only to discover no call from Michelle.

This morning, mid morning, the phone rang and it was Michelle. "I've got good news and I've got bad news", she proclaimed. The problem which it had been sent to the shop for (a freon leak) could not be found, however they did find the compressor clutch to be over heating and needed to be replaced. She told me that the repair to the compressor would be seven or eight hundred dollars. Call me crazy, but I ask questions. Thankfully my years of repairs have given me a pretty good understanding of what is necessary to do different repairs. I asked her how a total compressor replacement would compare with the clutch repair. I figured I was going to have to pay for the r & r of the compressor whether it was replaced or repaired and if the complete unit was cheaper (because of no additional labor and repair parts) that would be the way to go and would rule out the possibility of a seal leaking at the compressor.

Michelle told me that they didn't feel the compressor seal was where the leak was and they were "almost positive" that the problem was in either the front or rear evaporator. She didn't even give enough value to my inquiry to give me a price to compare. She was more than a little exasperated when I told her not to bother, we would be picking up the vehicle.

I plan on talking with Michelle when we pick up the SUV. Not to scold or chastise, but hopefully to give her some insight that will make her a better service manager when her time comes. I am "almost positive" that my criticism will be constructive. "Almost positive", "more than likely".

My mind has been filled with thoughts of the family and friends that are gathered in Abilene as they lay Cathy to rest. Memama and Pepa were planning to attend the memorial service. It bothers me that while Cathy and I had come close while in college, we both allowed us to lose touch afterward. For this I know I lost out and I regret it.

We are below the 1000 module threshold. Yippee! I'm still looking at the 26th for completion while Frank is looking at the 27th. Either one will be great!

We had rain showers here this morning. Our forecast call for a better chance tomorrow and then again on Sunday. While the farmers need a rain, it could extend our time here. The remaining 900 plus modules are sitting on a leased field. No caliche, no gravel. Just dirt. If it were to rain enough it could make it difficult (if not impossible) to get the modules from the module yard to the plant for processing.

Be the real deal.

FATHER I need a pick me up today.

This is about like watching paint dry!

1027 modules remain. That converts to just under 11,000 bales. We are on top of 145,000 bales this morning at shift change. My estimate for completion remains the 26th of March.

The month of March has claimed another cousin. This makes two years in a row. Last year Rene', this year Cathy. Rene' was forty-four, Cathy was 52. Both were too young to die.

I hadn't seen Cathy in a couple of years. Last time was at a family reunion in Abilene, even though we both called Abilene home. She had been battling cancer for several years. Thankfully she had several years where she enjoyed basically good health as the disease went into remission. I was not even aware that they disease had become active again. Apparently when it returned it was very enraged.

Cathy and I were born roughly six months and 60 miles apart. She was born in Merkel, I was born in Loraine. While we would see each other annually at family reunions we didn't have a whole lot of interaction until college. The two of us along with another cousin Kevin, all attended ACC at the same time. It was there that we became better acquainted as we would sometimes see each other on a daily basis.

It is sometimes weird, the parallels that occur in our lives. We all ended up going to the same college, we all married and we all divorced. Both Cathy and I had remarried, I don't know about Kevin.

When I think of Cathy, the one thing that immediately comes to mind was her laugh. She loved to laugh. And I think that is how I want to remember her.

I'm sad that she is gone. Sad for those that will miss her. Thankful that GOD ended her suffering and took her home to heal her.

FATHER forgive me when I get my priorities askew. FATHER thank YOU for Cathy, for the lives she touched, the influence she had. I ask for YOUR comfort for her family as they mourn her loss. I pray for healing for Krl and me. I pray for safety for Adam and his men in Iraq as they near completion of their deployment. I continue to lift up Memama, Pepa, Hag, Bets, Jess, Jack, Douglas, Lillie, B., Ashlyn Kate, Dr. Mackie, and Jeanine for YOUR gifts of healing and care. I pray for all those who are hurting from loss and ask YOUR comfort for them. I pray for those of us who stumble as we 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 obey and honor their parents, that they might enjoy long life. I pray for our prayer partners Jenavene and Susan. That we might be joyful in promoting peace. Bless-ed be YOUR name!

The battle rages with-in and as far as I am concerned, it can rage without me!

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

Krl and I both are so weary we didn't even go to Midland on maintenance Sunday. We did absolutely nothing. N-o-t-h-I-n-g!

Sunday I had awakened at seven in the morning to assess truck needs, and I needed plenty. We had two trucks that ran one load each and one that ran two loads. Problem was there were three loads, loaded, strapped and waiting. As of ten-thirty last evening there were still two of these. About 8pm. last evening, the plant began coming back on line. By ten it was down again. A broken auger. I was in the office with Frank, the plant superintendent while he tried to contact a machine shop for repairs. No-one answered the call. Finally Frank decided to go out and "frankenstein" it. Let it be known that Frank is sometimes a magician when it comes to "southern engineering". Last evening he worked his magic again and shortly after midnight the plant came on line again. For about two hours. Then a motor burned out on the mote fan (this was about number five this year for this fan), the wires shorted out just at floor level where the metal conduit gives way to the flex conduit, then the breaker exploded in the breaker box. Needless to say, we were down the rest of the night. In fact we didn't get up and running until
after ten this morning. I told Frank he needed to go home and eat some lunch/supper/ or breakfast and catch some z's.

I currently find myself trying to maintain sanity without losing my temper. We are shipping two loads of seed per day to a dairy (in additon to our regular schedule). I could care less about hauling this seed, in fact the burr contractor lobbied hard for the job. Luckily the GM never called me (which is part of the problem) from his hospital bed.. I thought the owner of the burr business and I had reached an understanding Thursday on what the dairy hauling would be over the weekend. Two loads per day. I stressed to him that whatever they did one day, they needed to do it every day. Then the owner left to go home for the weekend Friday morning. Immediately things began to get distorted. The son, who had been hauling the dairy seed called in one of their other drivers with another truck. It seems that four days had exhausted the son. We talked, I told him what his dad and I agreed on and he said he would like three loads for Sunday. I told him we would see and talk Sunday morning. When Sunday morning arrived, there was no movement in the dairy seed hauler's camp. By late Sunday, the two, hopefully three loads had been pushed and shoved down my throat to total five. I think the proverbial doo is fixing to hit the proverbial fan.

One of the things I have always noticed about the burr contractor and his son is that they think everyone else is placed here as a convenience for them. Give them an inch and they will try to take a mile.

After today I will not be a candidate for Miss Congeniality.

O.K., I am venting, but I need too.

The office manager was asking me about some charges, saying I had erred. She said she just wanted me to be forewarned that the GM had noticed them and was ready to accost me. Since I was in the mood I told her "Bring it on". Nothing like a good fight when you're in the mood!

And this is only Monday?

Be the real deal.

FATHER, deliver me. I need some help here. I pray for healing for Krl and me. I pray for safety for Adam and his men in Iraq. I lift up Memama, Pepa, Hag, Bets, Jess, Douglas, Jack, B., Lillie, Ashlyn Kate, Dr. Mackie, Jeanine and Hope for YOUR miracles of healing and care. I pray for those who are hurting from loss and ask YOUR comfort for them. I pray for those of us who are struggling to follow YOU. I pray for our spiritual family and our leaders. I pray for efforts being made to expand YOUR kingdom. I pray for Richard, Anastacia, James and Terah. That they would choose the narrow path to YOU and life. I pray for our prayer partners Jenavene and Susan, that we would be productive in partnership with YOU. Fill us with YOU!

My apologies. Blogger ate my homework!

For whatever reason, blogger refused to cooperate the past two days. Now I find myself trying to remember what I blogged about.

This past week marked the one year anniversary of Rene's death. Lacey, Nathan, Billie, and Otis, and Paul along with all of us continue to deal with this loss.

I look at the extended family and the occurrences and recurrences of cancer during the year.

My last info had Douglas back in the hospital. This is twice in two weeks. He had suffered a fall was complaining of a horrific headache.

Tomorrow is a maintenance Sunday. Yea! This should be the final one of the season. We have topped 141,000 bales with around 1500 modules still to be ginned. This should convert to 14 or fifteen days. Hallelujah! Krl and I are so stir crazy you can't even imagine!

Krl and I are both still hacking. About the time we think we are getting better we have an ill wind which engulfs the compound in dirt and dust.

This has been a trying week. Health issues, co-workers who have suffered losses, driver issues. It has been one for the books, just not the good books.

The GM was released from the hospital yesterday only to have to return for a sleep study last night. This morning they declined to dismiss him.

Springbreak is winding down out here. At home the grandgirls are just beginning theirs. LRN was sentenced to another year of cheerleading yesterday and should be on the sunny beaches of Florida this afternoon.

Be the real deal.

Oh FATHER, where do I begin, except to say I need YOU, to take control, to LORD over me, to reign supreme in my life. I pray for those who are in need of YOUR healing and care. I pray for safety for Adam and his men. I pray for those who hurt from loss. 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 to expand YOUR kingdom. I pray for Richard, Anastacia, James, and Terah, along with and for our prayer partners Jenavene and Susan. Victory in JESUS.

Happy Birthday Mom.

Wow, lots of breaking news this morning. "Twins" Puckett dead after stroke. Dana Reeve, widow of Christopher Reeve succumbs to lung cancer at 44.

Kirby Puckett, once an example of health, sports, and excellence, whose career was cut short by glaucoma dead at 45 after a massive stroke.

Dana Reeve, I want to be her when I grow up. What an example of dedication, of strength, of determination. The devotion she demonstrated as she cared for and nursed her paralyzed husband until his death in 2004 has no equal. The commitment she showed as she headed the Christopher Reeve Foundation and lobbied for stem cell research. She is survived by two grown step children and a fifteen year old son.

What is fair about life? The past two weeks have made me waiver, made me question the why's and why nots. If I could only see the big picture.

Krl and I continue to be ill. We are hacking and coughing, blowing and spitting up snot. Needless to say we are not on top of our game. Yesterday Krl was so weak she asked me to take her to town and to the bank. While she was getting ready I told her the SUV needed gas so I would return shortly. She told me to take Maple Syrple with me because she was already figuring out we were fixing to leave the trailer. Out the door Maple and I went, her hopping around, very excited. I opened the door and in one bound she was inside. We made the short drive to the fuel center and I rolled the window down halfway in order for her to watch and converse with me. Finally we were through and headed leisurely back to the trailer to pickup Krl. Maple was sitting in my lap looking out the window as I turned the a/c on and pressed the button to put the window up. In an instance the SUV was filled with yelps and cries and I was trying to figure out what was wrong. I had one arm around Maple's middle trying to put her in the other seat but with no results. It was about now I realized that she had become curious with the window going up and I had inadvertently rolled her nose up in the window! Yikes! That has to hurt. It was difficult to explain to Krl how Maple got the purple spot on her muzzle.

We decided to take Maple with us to Garden City and to Big Spring. We dropped Maple off at the vet's to get her shots for the new year while we ran several errands. Upon our return the vet's assistant asked us if we knew what was wrong with Maple's nose!

Thankfully we returned to the compound with no additional appendages maimed or incapacitated.

We continue to be disappointed and devastated by Ollie. Yesterday we learned that we were the high offer on her refrigerator ($800) but we were one of three people she sold it to. Let's see, $800 + $300+ $300. We also learned that she told her Mom we never paid her (we have the cancelled check with her signature and finger print in the bank statement). Daddio says he is kicking her out! Maybe it's time for Lou Ann to send Ollie to rehab!

Be the real deal.

FATHER I pray for healing for Krl and me. I ask safety for Adam and his men. I ask YOUR blessings for Memama on her birthday. I pray for those ill and in need of YOUR healing and care. I ask comfort for those who are sad and hurting from loss. 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 along with our prayer partners Jenavene and Susan. Oh for a stronger faith.

Physically I cannot do a whole lot of tasks very well, but one my body has perfected is "snot" production!

"Nuff" said.

Krl and I both are puny and as our luck would have it we are out of antibiotics. Wednesday I began to feel a little weird and by Wednesday night I had a low grade fever. Well, we are into full bloom!

We need some drugs! What I would give for some Amoxicillin or an industrial strength antihistimine! Lucky for us Becky, one of the girls in the office, was in town yesterday and got us some night time cold relief and its daytime counter part. We might not be healing but we won't know the difference.

The GM has been hospitalized for the past week with flu that became pneumonia. Fact is he spent most of the week in ICU. This is two stints in the hospital in a month.

This week has had the most absolute horrible winds we can possibly have. They have been gentle breezes from the east which takes all the dust and folds it back over the compound until it resembles a heavy fog. Even our Oreck industrial strength air purifier in our trailer went into lock down.

My new guess for completion is March 26. Frank's is March 28. We are at 135,000 bales with just over 2000 modules to go. We are beginning to see the end although there is much to do.

We are so juked up with cabin fever that we can hardly stand it. Yesterday I talked with Trace about the house project and she was buying accents. She had conferred with Krl about some colors for the bedroom and they ruled out scarlet and cranberry. I told Krl that I wanted burlap and denim. Turns out what Trace picked out was khaki and denim with a grass rope border. Now that sounds country to me. I should feel right at home.

Trace asked when we would be home and I told her I was waiting for her to tell me when I could come home to die (I felt really rotten at the time).

Krl and I are trying to figure out some changes we are thinking about when we get home. One of these is a possible church change. There are lots of churches close to where we live. This would also involve a change in Sunday school, which is more like a small group. I have really made an effort to participate in any and everything the class has done in the last year and a half. From numerous moving projects to the oasis meals, to pot lucks. Probably one of the most disappointing things is that we have received only one e-mail which consisted of less than a dozen words from our sponsoring elders wife (responding to our e-mail to the class) and Krl received one card that a classmate sent to the house (thinking she was there). There is also a couple in the class who at one point were friends who Krl had worked with in the past and tried to work with again. People change. Things didn't work out. I told them the work was not worth ruining a friendship, but not in their view I guess. Anyhow, they seem to have a real problem with attending if Krl or I are there. I would rather not be a stumbling block.

The Highland family is quite a group. Large and diversified. There are numerous benefits, however we may be at a juncture where another church is a better fit. We are trying to not be too quick in our decision making and who knows, if we return on our return, it might be just like an old glove.

Memama and Pepa are in Brownwood today. All of her surviving siblings are meeting at Rob's and Jess's. Jess's health prohibits him from traveling. They will celebrate Memama's upcoming birthday (March 7). She will be 75 years old and each day marks a milestone for her family's life length. I want to say Great Grandmother McLeod ("Mama McLeod") was in her nineties when she died but I know Jo (the older sister) died at 60, Memaw and Gan Gan died at 67 and 61 respectively so Memama has the full attention of her pep squad of sisters and brother cheering her on.

Be the real deal.

FATHER, we feel disconnected. We feel isolated. Surround us with YOUR angels. I ask for our healing, physically, emotionally, spiritually. I pray for safety for Adam and his men. Keep them from harm. I lift up those in need of YOUR gifts of healing and care. 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 fear YOU and keep YOUR commandments, knowing that all deeds good or evil will be known at their judgment. I pray for our prayer partners Jenavene and Susan that we would bask in YOUR light. LORD lift me up.

That was refreshing.

Four days late, Miss Ollie rolled into the compound late last evening. She looked horrible and was not acting normal (for her). Krl had grilled some chicken and we sat down and ate. We had tried to get anything we might need for Ollie to eat or drink since she is diabetic. She chose orange juice. but wanted it on ice. A little later in the evening when I went to shower, Krl confronted her and asked her what she was going to her car and mixing with that orange juice. "Vodka", she replied. I can't really see why we should make an effort if she is going to violate her health so blatantly.

I went to bed about a quarter to eleven, leaving the girls to talk. I can vaguely remember Krl coming to bed but shortly thereafter both of us were awake and discovered "No Miss Ollie". Krl tried to call her on her cell phone but Ollie's prepaid phone was out of minutes. She had been trying to put more time on it "on-line" but never got it to take. Closer scrutiny revealed Krl's company debit card was missing. Still Krl left a message on the cell phone.

About one-thirty in the morning the phone rang and Ollie was on the line telling us she ran to Big Spring to the store to get a phone card. Duh, that is forty-two miles one-way. What an idiot! Add to this dumb decision the fact that she was DUI. I was livid.

This morning she was bright-eyed and bushy tailed, as though nothing was wrong. I made my morning rounds and drank coffee and visited with some of the patrons in the office. I made my way back to the bale dock and then visited about some hauling with the burr contractor before I returned to my trailer to do some data entry. When I arrived there I found her getting things ready. She "needed" to go to town to get a phone card and to mail a package "next-day delivery". I don't think she understands, even after I have explained it to her. You can't "run" to town. Just the little convenience store is a 32 mile round trip. Add to this the fact that no delivery is guaranteed "next-day delivery" from out here unless it is local. Absolutely, nothing!

I suppose this was where the conversation began to go downhill. She revealed that she did not go to Big Spring last evening, she went to Midland via Garden City which added 62 miles to the 92 mile roundtrip. (She went west by traveling east). She didn't get the phone card because she didn't realize Krl's card was a debit card and she didn't have a pin number. Hello. I tried to talk with her but she would just roll her eyes and give a "half-ass" apology. Krl told her we were scheduled to go to Stanton to get drinking water later today but that was not soon enough to suit Miss Ollie.

I decided to put the full court press on and told her we had some things to discuss to which she replied that she was too upset to talk about anything and started out the door. I then told her if she left, she could forget ever straightening any of this mess out. To this she replied, "Oh well".
I then told her to plan on hand delivering her envelope later today and to get all her stuff and go. I told her I could not trust her, that she was a liar and a cheat, a freeloader looking for an easy path with an abundance of handouts.

I am sure that she will go back to 'Angelo and trash me. I don't care. It will probably be the same crap she tells us about her Mom and Daddio. Poor Ollie! The girl is rotten. The girl has a lot of growing up to do but until she does she will be treated like a child (or institutionalized). You can't help her because she doesn't want to be helped, she would rather wallow in her squalor.

Well, it was a nice visit. Short and short. Don't hurry back on my account! And don't let the door hit you in the backside! Do not pass "Go" and do not collect $200!