I think I'm in love!

As regular readers know, Krl and I are fortunate to share our humble abode with four houndgirls. Lady Rachel (Black Dog), Prissy, Brandy (Maple Syrple), and the addition of six months ago, Baby Phooey.

Black and Prissy have their own ergonomically correct (according to Petsmart) beds, although on occasion Black will give in to the lure and temptation of Mom and Dad's bed (and what a bed hog she is!). Brandy is a cuddler and when she thinks she has completed getting Mom to sleep, she hits the sheets and burrows to the foot of the bed. Phooey is our nocturnal problem dogchild. She sleeps in the crook of Krl's arm when she sleeps, thing is any time I wake up she is usually looking at me.

Night before last I woke up and much to my surprise there wasn't a hound between Krl and I. A rare treat! I thought I would take advantage of this and moved close to cuddle Krl when like a snake striking, Phooey planted the biggest, wettest lick, directly on my kisser! Talk about wake a guy up!

Now Phooey seems to think we are going steady. I just don't know how to break it to her I am already spoken for.

Ain't it nice when people are fussin' over you!

FATHER, may we "fuss" over YOU! Renew us daily!

Self realization of one's limitations is the first step in enlightenment.

Why is it:

If I put a shirt on in the dark, the pocket will be on my back?

If I am lucky it will be right side out.

If I put on a pair of pants in the dark, odds are both of my legs will be in the same pant leg.

If I put socks on in the dark, odds are one will be wrong side out. I don't even worry about the color.

When I go in to buy a lottery ticket, I tell the clerk I would like to make a donation.

The only lottery I ever won was the draft lottery.

FATHER, just as I am. YOU lucky GOD YOU (and I thought I had it bad)!

Peaks and valleys. That would describe the past week and this entire summer. To be honest, I am getting tired of it. Give me level, consistent and I would be pleased as punch. As it is, I may have to punch the peaks and valleys into a straight line!

And that's all I want to say about that so leave me alone!

The past week began with high expectations. Monday was supposed to see me go to Dallas and then back to Abilene, loaded both ways for my friends core customer. I made my preparations, had my cooler loaded and iced down, a bag of snacks as well as lunch, and I had made myself mentally ready. I arrived to pick up the load and learned it wasn't loaded. Not only was it not loaded, it hadn't even been produced. Ten-thirty in the morning and the dock worker was telling me that it would be late in the afternoon before production would roll the product off their line. Problem is Dallas quits receiving at eight in the evening. I finally got a call and was told to enjoy my day off. I hate getting dressed up and then getting stood up!

The other side of the coin was I had the exact same day scheduled for Tuesday.

Later Monday, Addie called me asking if she and her Mom could spend the night with us. They were in route to Cook's in Fort Worth for Addie's post surgery checkup. Krl and I waited up but finally gave up and went to bed. Tuesday morning I awoke early and was just toodling around knowing I had a ten-thirty pickup. I was happy because it gave me time to visit with Kali and Addie. I happened into the office to get a sheet of paper and found a new fax waiting for me. A driver had gotten crossways with the dock workers in Longview and they had swapped my Tuesday and his. All the sudden my load was ready at six in the morning, ten o'clock unload appointment in Fort Worth with a 2 pm. reload appointment in Longview. I was already running late. I hate surprises. I made a quick exit, retrieved the truck from the yard and hustled to pick up the loaded trailer. It was seven-thirty, depending on traffic, I could make the unload time. The traffic didn't cooperate and I was ten minutes late, Alex the dock foreman punished me by making me wait outside the gate for an hour even though I was just dropping my trailer and picking up an empty. Finally, I was back on the road and arrived in Longview three minutes early! Yea! It took me until two in the afternoon to catch up with my day. I was back in Abilene by seven, dropped the load off and returned the truck to the yard and made my way home.

Tuesday was the same schedule although I got off early only to be tied up by traffic accidents in contruction areas requiring extended detours. I was five minutes late but got in and out, dropping and hooking and picked up my Longview load at one o'clock.

Wednesday was the same schedule, but never fell into a groove. I left really early, was thirty minutes early to Fort Worth, put my trailer to the dock and went to get an empty which I discovered wasn't one of the regular drop and hook trailers so I called the office. I was told that trailer was out of service. I was furious, this meant there was no reason to unhook and basically I had been snookered into letting Alex put five other trucks ahead of me. I hurried back to the dock to tell Alex I had to have my trailer and he informed me it would be a long time. I called the office and asked KO how long he had known the trailer was out of service and he told me "Since yesterday, I just forgot." That was unacceptable. This screwed up the whole day. Having worked in KO's office and now working with them outside the office I get a pretty good overview of the operations. Thing is, this organization is very weak and lacking in the basic mechanics of a successful business. I am becoming doubtful that this business can go to the next level and be successful. Not only did this miscue affect me, it had a domino affect. Nearly every company truck that comes and goes in the day works off the trailer dropped off before. Time is money and obviously my time is worth more than KO's time.

Four hours later, I was finally unloaded and ready to go, to Longview. I had thirty minutes to make the appointment I had been given. Longview is two and a half hours from Fort Worth. I arrived an hour and a half late for the appointment time I had been given only to find that dispatch had screwed up, my appointment was for noon. Mechanics again.

When I left Longview it didn't get any better. The A/C on Blacksheep 222 began to falter. It was miserable, sticky sweaty the entire way back to Abilene. It was one of those things where I don't know which was worse, a malfunctioning A/C or none at all.

I decided to take Friday off, first to begin checking on the malfunctioning A/C, and to tend to some personal business. My beginning research yielded no quick fix for the A/C so I scheduled a trip to KO's shop Saturday morning. As my luck would have, the compressor (which is thirty-two days old) shelled in route to KO's. Of course this item isn't stocked in Abilene and will have to be shipped in. It should be warranteed but the company will still have to foot the bill for a new dryer/accumulator and off course the freon. You can throw another hundred dollar bill at BS 222 for this project and then begin figuring lost revenue. I may visit with the owner about starting matching fund as a savings account because at some point I may want to bury this truck and put it out of its misery.

I was already scheduled for Monday so I am taking KO's personal truck.

Week notes that are strong notes:

I was very proud of Kali making the trek to Fort Worth on her own. She seems to be gaining confidence and becoming a more complete Mom now that she doesn't have "Lump" to hold her back.

Addie is really turning the corner. While she had really become a brat she is now becoming a very well behaved, loving child.

Ollie is back working as a teacher-aide, doing her real estate, and kept her evening job as well.

Rian celebrated birthday number 29 on Wednesday. I think he was so busy with new students that he didn't hardly realize it. He said they have more students this year than they had at their maximum last year. In fact, he told me he had twenty-five new students accompanied by their parents sitting in the hall outside his office waiting for their turn to be processed. He told me he had been going into the office between six-thirty and seven in the morning to work on schedules and graduation plans for all these new students.

My personal highlite was getting a haircut. AC, my barber hates it when I go that long but I had tried to get in the last two Saturdays only to find he had left early. He made the comment when he was taking the apron off that he would bet I felt much better. I told him, "Actually, I feel light headed".

Be the real deal.

FATHER, thank YOU for the blessing of rain. I ask that YOU bless us with more. Thank YOU for the freshness, the cleansing, the pleasant smell it brings. FATHER, rain in my life. Make me new.

I only wish my weekdays passed as quickly as my weekends.

And that's all I have to say about that.

It seemed as though all I did Saturday was run errands. I had to drop off my trip envelope which meant a trip across town to the north side. I needed to get a payoff on a vehicle and then whipped into Kinko's and faxed it. Like a fool I went to Wal-Mart (on a Saturday) and bought some groceries, mainly canned goods and such. Stopped by the house to drop off and then I made United for a couple of items and finally the Butcher Block in Albertson's for meats. I will never understand how there can be such a spread in pricing between retailers and I wonder who is dumber, the retailers or their patrons.

And that's all I have to say about that!

Store brands. Some I like, some I don't, but don't try to force them on me. I want choice! But that is probably another blog for another day.

It seems like things have really been tight lately, so Krl and I have been trying to conserve. I could sure use a five pay period month (hurry up October!). One of my value buys this week was a small brisket which I put on the grill about noon. It came off just in time for supper. I might add that while I sliced it up Krl and I both sampled it and it was quite tasty. I sat down in my chair while the baked potatoes finished up and next thing I knew it was nine o'clock. Now that was a snoozer! Oh well, I'm sure it just stretched the brisket one more meal, besides, Krl made me a brisket sandwich to take on the truck today!

I need to get by KO's dad's fast food restaurant. A few weeks ago I was there and asked them to check on some condiment singles. I have found it is much more feasible to make up sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, or the likes, dry so they don't become soggy. The downside is that I don't want the hassle of keeping up with bottles of mustard, sauce, or salad dressings, so KO's dad was checking with his vendors about single serving ranch dressing and barbecue sauce in packages. The ketchup, mustard, mayo, picante, and taco sauce are readily available at the restaurant. Boxes of each line one of the tables. The catch may be the quantity one has to buy. I really don't think I need a thousand packages, or even five hundred for that matter. I have been told that shelf life is excellent however.

My Monday has an Abilene/Dallas, Dallas/Abilene on it. Hitch is I can't leave until eleven. It will be a real trick to get in and out before rush hour. The way I figure it I should be in and out of Dallas but rush hour will probably catch me before I get out of Fort Worth. Oh well, I do suppose that's the lesser of two evils.

I have been keeping up with a Miami Hurricane message board. It would seem that Kirby must be having a good pre-season. Last week there was a post linking a Miami Herald article saying that Kirby's time is now. Over the weekend the same newspaper reported that KW had lost his job and that Kirby would be the starter. Coker denied this, saying KW was still the starter. KW seemed a little testy when he told the reporter it was still his team and he was going to lead them because he is the starting Qb. Kirby and KW seem to have a good relationship but you have to believe at some point the constant competition will take its toll.

I had hoped to see Kat over the weekend. I wanted to see if she had learned any new songs or dances. It really frustrates her that I think that is what the gifted and talented program is all about. If I understand correctly, she goes to her school a half day and spends the other half day at other schools.

We also didn't hear from Kali and Addie. Last report we had was that Addie's surgery went really well but she did have some bruising and discomfort. I don't know if she will be able to start school today or not. I do know that she can only be in direct sunlight briefly.

Be the real deal.

Make your day a good one!

FATHER, thank YOU for the restful weekend. I pray for a safe and productive week. Father, Frances Peterson has been weighing heavily on my mind. I continue to lift her up for YOUR gifts of healing and care. Shine on.

The week was very, very busy, but was probably one of the better weeks this summer. I have been on the road every day but I have been trying to use this time to get my brain and body in synch.

The truck I am driving was acquired by the company in March of this year. It is a used truck and sports several "character flaws", many of which are reflective of the prior operators personal preferences. Some of these I have corrected, others haven't bothered me. Regardless, I don't plan to pilot this thing forever. (In fact probably about three or four more weeks, tops!). This truck has an almost endless number of storage compartments and gradually I have checked each and every one of them out. Many of these have been put to use by me, storing peanut butter crackers, rice crispy treats and whatever other snacks looked appealing at the last stop!

One particular day I was cleaning a compartment out when I brushed something, way in the back. I pursued it and found a cassette tape. No title, no markings. I slipped it into the cassette player and discovered it is a homemade (or churchmade) tape. The participants are not professional, the production is sometimes patchy, but the intent appears to be very sincere although definitely not ZOE. It is a spritual, faith based, praise recording. I am glad the prior operator left it for me to find as I usually use it getting into or coming out of my quiet time each day. Thanks, whoever you are.

Sometimes we do stupid stuff, and this story is on me. The other day I had a check which had been given to me and I wanted to cash it. As usual I was in a hurry and made a trek to the local bank branch located near my house. This is the branch I frequent so I am familiar with their requirements, signature and identification. As I stopped in the drive-thru I was hurrying, trying to accommodate any other customers who were behind me. I quickly endorsed the check, and reached into my shirt pocket where I carry a small slip with a few essential cards, my fuel card, drivers license, a chosen credit card, a membership card and two participation cards, to retrieve my drivers license. After a few minutes of eerie quiet, the window teller came over the speaker and asked me if I had my drivers license. I replied, "I thought I put it in there". Her response was, "I don't know what you sent me!". I pulled the slip out and sure enough my driver's license was there. Closer scrutiny revealed that the card I had sent in with the check was my Love's Reward Card. No telling what the lady thought, either she just hit the daily double or she was scared half to death! In the end we both had a good laugh.

I try to fuel at one of three fuel stops, as I have "reward" cards for two. My on the road preference is Love's Fuel Stops (it is a chain) which I have their reward card. Locally I use the Top 18 at Tye and they have a Frequent Fueler card. Everytime you fuel, you swipe your card and you get points you can redeem for fountain drinks and other merchandise. Hey, every little bit helps.

Yesterday I was in Lubbock to off load and from there I went to KO's uncle's place at Brownfield. I was picking up a load of pallets for delivery to Stamford, but I was picking them up at the uncle's produce facility. As it turned out they were gathering and shipping watermelons. There were field truck loads waiting to be unloaded and graded, there were road truck loads waiting to be shipped. Millions of pounds of melons! It was mind boggling! DO had made a call and after they had loaded the pallets the forklift operator set a crate of watermelons on the very back of the trailer. (1500 lbs.). When I unloaded in Stamford the forklift operators helped themselves to a couple of melons, then when I dropped the trailer at KO's house, DO gave me a couple for Krl, and we unloaded a couple more for DO's house and her mother. And there are a lot of melons left!

I am sooo looking forward to the weekend. This is the first weekend in about five weeks that I am getting to have a "two" day weekend. Yes!

Quick note: Today is Pat and Kyle's Birthday! Happy Birthday, hope your day is a good one! Love ya!

Be the real deal!

FATHER, thank YOU for the good week and for the weekend. I continue to petition YOU for Krl's health. YOU know our needs, and I am thankful for YOUR faithfulness to fill them.

Friday was one of those days I don't want to think about, even more, I don't want to talk about. BUT, two days later I am still fuming.

This had been a super sucky week, thanks to the dispatcher. Exactly half the miles I had run Tuesday through Thursday had been empty miles. The story I got every day was "We just don't have anything coming out of there!" Thing was every day either I watched as multiple other trucks, dispatched by the same dispatcher underwent load counts and inspections with loads they were taking back to Abilene, or through conversations something was slipped and I became informed. I am also beginning to pickup on another sure tell/tale sign, if I call in and the secretary answers the phone and the dispatcher is too busy to talk, there is a rat in the making. I have worked in the office with these people and I know how their backbone is a little flimsy and they just don't quite have the stomach for conflict and altercations. They would much rather defer to someone else.

I should have known something was up Thursday. The dispatcher new I was wanting to go to Lubbock, but she had set another truck up to go to Lubbock, and set me up to go to Odessa. (YUK!). I told her I wanted to go to Lubbock for the grandson's birthday and she replied "Let me see what I can do". Later I learned that she and the driver who was scheduled for Lubbock had gotten cross ways, but in addition to this, a few other drivers called in taking Friday off. Then my call came, "I got a problem", she said, "I can get you to Lubbock, but I need you to go to Odessa first". Oh, so now we need a favor. I have never turned a load down to this dispatcher (that may be part of the problem), and my only complaint has been shortage of work or return loads. So I agreed. Thing is both of them were scheduled with the customer for Friday morning departure.

I left Abilene about six-thirty in the morning, Odessa has two people that unload, but until Charlie come in at nine-thirty nothing gets done. I have been there when they have unlocked the gets at seven, and been unloaded at one in the afternoon. I arrived at nine-ten and there were two trucks ahead of me and of course no Charlie. One truck was a unload, reload, the next an unload, and I was supposed to be an unload, reload. I called in to tell the dispatcher that the Odessa-Lubbock double wasn't going to happen. She replied, " You make the call, you can drop your loaded trailer at production and pick up your Lubbock because is is already loaded and waiting, if you can't make the receiving times today they will take it Saturday morning". Wow, did she make it sound smooth! Finally, I bumped the dock and Charlie did a good job of unloading me and reloading me and I was leaving their plant at ....... one in the afternoon! Even though I drove the wheels off Blacksheep, there was no way I was going to arrive in Abilene, change trailers and be in Lubbock by five-thirty. When I had dropped the loaded trailer at production and went to warehouse to get my Lubbock load, I asked the dock office worker, "What number trailer the Lubbock load was on? What number trailer do you want it to be on?", the dock worker replied. I told him it was a pre-load and he said "Get a trailer and put it to the dock". I was furious. Screwed over again by the dispatcher. I headed out the gate while grabbing my cell phone to call the office. The secretary answered, I identified myself, and asked if the dispatcher was available. "No she isn't", the secretary replied, "she is running late and trying to get her boys and go to the pool, if there something I can help you with?" I blew a gasket and in no uncertain terms I told her yes, tell me what the problem was that almost twelve hours after it was supposed to be loaded the load still was not loaded and over five hours after the dispatcher assured me the load was ready, it was still on the dock! The secretary told me "Hang on a second I think I can catch her!" After a brief delay someone picked up the line, it wasn't the dispatcher, it was the owner (I told you this people have a backbone problem). "What's the problem', he asked. I told him "You know damn well what the problem is!" After several attempts to cool me down I got my point across and told him he was NOT going to win this argument, and he knew I meant it.

Another worker at warehouse assured me if I would go ahead and put a trailer to the dock he would have me gone in ten minutes. This worker has always been good, quick and polite. I bumped the dock and after twenty minutes he and I visited briefly after he sealed the trailer. I told him it was bad enough when their people didn't make a time, it was too much when our dispatcher lied about it. He understood. He thought it comical that I told him if his "fat boy" co-worker in the office had given me the slightest reason I would have slapped him so hard that his goatee would have ended up on his ass!

Sooo, Saturday delivery to Lubbock. Another weekend screwed. Thanks dispatcher.

I plan to get even, and I will. It just requires picking the very best moment when it will have the most impact on the dispatcher. We have talked about dispatch problems, about her being torn between her work and being a Mom. Thing is she is doing a half-ass job at both. If they want to turn the corner they are wanting to turn in this competitive business, she needs to go to the house and they need to hire a really good dispatcher. $$$$$$$$$$$.

Best part of Saturday delivery was Rian and the boys coming to the plant. Actually they were on their way home from the park where they had had a birthday party for Reid and invited his friends! Both Reid and Holt were very tired! Holt finally thought Dandy's shoulder was just too appealing and sacked out!

Have a day!

FATHER, I continue to struggle.

The shakedown run was successful. Thank goodness. In fact, Blacksheep 222 now has two metroplex runs on it and is functioning well. The only problem has been an intermittent park brake problem, but as long as the unit is towing a trailer it isn't a problem. KO and I had kitted the parking valve but it is slow to set. In fact I am beginning to think there may be a problem with the controller valve in the cab (which is $300). I don't worry too much with me as the pilot but later this fall when hired guns come on board the parking brakes will have to be functional. I can only imagine one of these yahoos sliding to a stop, popping the parking valve, and bailing out on a mad dash to the bathroom only to return and find their truck has left without them!

DO called and wanted me to do another metro run today, thing is this would be three this week and the previous two have been "one way", meaning the mileage back is not paid. I don't mind it too much the original shakedown trip, yesterday was a little taxing, but a third day with a two o'clock appointment is not too promising for a return load. I told her to give it to someone who had an early appointment so they could pull a double. She tells me to quit whining. Thing is I have never before turned her down, my complaints have always been about not enough work. At the current pace, the last week I drove KO's company truck, driving wages will surpass revenue for the net pay to the company that owns 222 and pays my salary. Doesn't make sense does it? I have picked up on little slips by DO about what other trucks have been doing, and all I can say is it wasn't offered to me or Blacksheep. I think I am seeing a different dispatcher than I saw the past two years. I suppose it is easy when you have a surplus of loads and you pick and choose what you want. Now that you have to hustle and hunt is when you prove your metal as a dispatcher. It takes focus, it takes organization, and it takes keeping your head in the game. When I took DO's call last evening she was taking her oldest to get school shoes. I am still fearful of what the situation will be with the new customer when they come on line because it appears they expect precision from their contractors, no excuses.

O.K., so much for the belly aching! Thing is, what seemed to be a good way to find what was wrong with equipment while generating a little money has turned into needing to generate more money because of greater expense on repairs and some occurrences with other people's actions which have adversely affected the cash flow situation that I have been given to work with.

Sounds like lotto time to me!

I am becoming increasingly concerned about Krl. The last three days she has not felt well enough to eat supper with me, in fact the last two has found her in bed by the time I eat. I don't have much faith in her taking the time and trouble to eat when I am gone all day either. I am also getting frustrated with her debating whether or not the book and the advice one of my aunts gave her is worth doing. She wants to argue that much of what the book says she needs to eliminate from her diet is what soothes her system. I tell her her remedy may be short term while the book is working for the long term result. She also is quick to say her teeth are affecting her system. What makes me furious is the tooth she has a problem with was never completed by the dentist although he has been pre-paid and Krl won't force the issue. I am almost to the point to tell her to box up her book and yogurt machine and send them back to my aunt, and then I will take some pliers and fix her teeth. Sometimes you got to take the initiative.

FATHER, I am struggling.

Now that was a Monday, and thankfully it is over.

The day began with a missed contact which was supposed to provide me with a ride to pick up the truck that has been in the shop. As it turned out, Krl gave me a ride, twenty-five miles each way, consuming most of her morning. I did a little touch up on the cleaning job in KO's shop and then started #222 to build air. I gave it a final walk around and headed for Abilene. While enroute I did stop to fuel, and gave it another hard look. The drive in was uneventful, thankfully! I don't want to make a mistake as simple as leaving a bolt loose that will come back and bite me (or the company) in the butt (becoming a major expense). I did ask the dispatcher to set up a shakedown run for tomorrow which probably explains why I am up right now. Three hours of sleep and I have awakened going over a mental checklist on the truck. The wait is driving me crazy! Hope for the best!

When I returned home just after lunch time, I resumed my sprinkler project. Actually I guess it was a root project. After another couple hours of chipping away, I could finally make the necessary repairs. By the time I had made two trips to the supply store and built the repair modules, installed them and removed the sprinkler heads and flushed the system it was after five o'clock. Where did my day go?

Krl spent her day bouncing from bookwork/bill paying, to cleaning to cooking. And oh did she cook! Most of the afternoon I could smell the aroma of a masterpiece waifing through the neighborhood! Eat your hearts out! Baked chicken, squash dressing, green bean casserole, yams, and biscuits! Thanksgiving in August. It was delicious. Sad part was, Krl's tummy began bothering her and she didn't even feel like eating. When I was going to bed, she was puttering around in the pool.

I finally responded to our classmate from our disbanded Sunday School class. I didn't want to be rude and not reply, but I wanted to say what I needed to say as tactfully as possible. I do hope it will be received as it was intended. Well, if not what are they going to do? Kick me out of what?

Today's shakedown run is an Ab-FW. I really didn't want to get to much farther away. About the only thing that might have fit better was an Ab-Lubb. I am very antsy about this and will be glad to get it behind me and the truck. The dispatcher asked me if I wanted to do a Ab-Dallas-Longview-Abilene and I declined. The truck revenue would be great but once you get past Dallas you are on the verge of driving off the edge of the earth!

KO had approached me about parking #222 and just driving his truck. With fuel so crazy I suppose I should be glad that is an option but as long as shippers are paying a fuel surcharge it will hopefully come out in the wash.

I think the oil industry is greedy. Maybe we should nationalize it! Exploration, production, pipelines, refineries. Yeah "W", you like big government, let's make it bigger. Have you ever wondered why they came out with cargo pants with all the pockets? It was 'cuz "W's" friends didn't have enough pockets to stuff all their money into!

While I was waiting on parts for #222, I made a few runs on KO's truck. I fueled it twice and shut off the pump at $500.00 each time (because I do remember what the card transaction limits are) and neither time were the tanks full! I think back to the old family business when daily fuel drafts were running $45,000.00 and it gets awful scary when you double that because of price increases. Man that is nutz. It also makes me leary about the company's fall fuel. Last year the high week was $23,000.00.

Several things going on. I am trying to put some numbers together for the company's fall business. It would appear that things are going to be somewhat different out there. As usual, money is an issue and trying to stretch it to and through start up is very tough. Hindsight is twenty-twenty but I am going to have to do better finding off season work for the company in the future or my massive salary could be in jeopardy! Yeah, right, if I thought this was the best they could do I should walk right now! Hopefully I am in it for the long haul and the payoff is somewhere in the future.

Be the real deal. I'm going to see if I can get me a nap before morning!

FATHER, I pray for a safe day, I pray for a good outing for Blacksheep 222 with no problems or complications. I pray for Krl and her health. Fill us with YOU.

Friday saw the repaired truck exit the shop for a test spin. It could have gone Thursday but a decision was made which required two parts to be over-nited in. I was somewhat disconcerted with the braking system, it just didn't seem right. When I returned to the shop after a shakedown run of seven miles, I found that the parking brakes were not working correctly either.

Hmmm.

Saturday morning I returned to the shop for more cleanup and to be honest most of my time was spent pondering the braking problem on the truck. When I finally got to a stopping point with the cleanup I grabbed a handfull of wrenches and went out to the truck. I took some lines loose and began to watch how air chambers reacted, re-adjusted the slack adjusters, did a small test with no improvement and finally decided that two lines had to be backward. Walla! Brakes!

It is no surprise when a vehicle has been dismantled to the extent this one was, some stupid mistakes are going to occur! I am just thankful I found the problem before I needed full braking. (P.S., I don't want you to think I am an idiot, I did have front brakes functioning properly.).

When I returned home I got to a project I had been pondering for a few weeks. One of Krl's flowerbeds had not been watering properly and I was fearful that the sprinkler system had been attacked (or attached) by the shrubs root system. This had happened in two other locations previously in the seventeen years we have lived here. I swear, if I ever build a house I will map out all the utilities and plant trees and shrubs accordingly! The first hour of my project was spent chasing the elusive leak. With minimal encouragement I had water bubbling through the ground, but locating the source was another matter. Although I could finally feel the leak, I could not visually assess the repair. The previous homeowners had planted three shrubs directly over the sprinkler line in this flowerbed and the shrubs are now ten to twelve feet tall. As my luck would have it, there is a huge root, probably five inches in diameter which crosses on top of the sprinkler line and immediately dives downward and under. All of this is under the shrub foliage which allows for a whopping two feet of swing room for a grubbing hoe or axe. I don't know how much time today and yesterday I have worked on chopping through but I still haven't laid eyes on the actual leak. Maybe today!

Krl tells me I should just cut down this shrub, but then I would still have to grub the roots up. Hmmm, I wonder if she is serious or just baiting me?

I suppose I have today off. KO and DO went to PK this weekend. Kind of an end of summer outing. They took the Rv and boat and were meeting several of KO's family. Late Friday, the girl in the office came by the shop to let me know she was leaving and she was surprised the truck was ready. She did tell me they had not gotten a load for it for Monday. Oh well, maybe a Tuesday shakedown run.

Actually I should qualify the day off. That just means I won't dedicate my day to messing with the actual truck. I have some monthly reporting to do along with some information SSI needs for a former employee. I have plenty to do, thing is none of it pays very well.

I am hopeful for some relief from the hot and dry conditions. There is supposed to be a chance. Yesterday I had some stuffed jalapenos on the grill and the tongs were so hot from the sunshine I could barely hold them.

I got in trouble Saturday because Maple Syrple got out. Krl scolded me that I am going to have to be more careful because the little hounds are quick as greased lightening! I may have to change Maple's name to Houdini because she got out again Sunday. Thankfully the next door neighbors of each side were alert enough to bring her home both times. Turned out the lawn guy broke a fence paling ....... . Seems like I have been through this before.

I was pretty pleased with the Brickyard 400. I would love to see Jeff Gordon be successful in his drive for five, but if he can't be as a driver I will settle for JJ win it for him as a car owner. Actually it might be more simple to list who I don't want to win, Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, Matt Kennseth, or Kevin Harvick.

I was alarmed by the invocation at Indy Sunday. The gentleman prayed for safety for our troops abroad as they protect our liberties. I respect and support our troops, I do not respect or support "W's" playing war games with them. It seems that more and more of the world is seeing the U.S. as a bully. I don't think it is our job and I don't know if it will ever be possible for some of the war-ing factions to live peacefully. To them it is a way of life. The other night I watched a television program and a young father was shown with his two young daughters and he said his hope was that they would become martyrs. What a morbid thought. One thing about it though, we have someone in "W" who is right on their level mentally!

Have a week!

FATHER, there is so much that needs YOUR intervention. Instill in us the reassurance that YOUR plan is unfolding as YOU intend. YOU know my needs and I am confident YOU will meet them as YOU see fit. I ask YOUR blessings upon James, Terah, Richard and Anastacia as they prepare for the school year. Help them to be ready to soak up the knowledge their teachers impart and help them to continue to make good choices. Bless-ed be

Ouch! The rigor mortis has set in.

Too much concrete, too flat feet. This has been another week that keeps on giving ....... pain.

The parts I was waiting on arrived Monday afternoon. We started our project in earnest on Tuesday morning. By Wednesday night (late) we had all the parts swapped and the pieces back under the truck. My Thursday was filled with hooking up sensors, securing wiring harnesses and checking and filling fluid levels, the final part of my day was filled with the most dreaded part. Clean up! When you are working with anything on a big truck it is usually dirty and greasy. When you are working on the power train it is even worse. I walked in last evening and Kat told me I smelled like grease. (That was not any grease, but 75/90 high $$$$ synthetic gear oil!).

Poor Krl, she has been presented an almost impossible task, getting my clothes clean! She told me yesterday she carried my previous day's work clothes to the washing machine and got her clothes greasy! That is pretty bad.

The concrete floors in KO's shop have almost done me in. My feet ache, my knees ache, and the ache goes right up my spine! I have been under and on top of that teal truck way more times than I want to count! I told Krl that if I had to get up one more time yesterday I would have had to crawl to my pickup to come home. KO and Jason, my friend and one of his employees have really enjoyed picking at me. KO is thirty-six or so and Jason is twenty-two. I have bantered back with warnings of the aging process. I am thankful for their youthful exuberance and help on this project.

I continued to do a little trouble shooting yesterday and found a few more things I wanted to fix, but today should be the completion of this job.

I have tried to get in contact with my fall employee who was on trial. I talked one evening and he was going to call me back but never did. I finally went on line to the hometown newspaper of the city where he was on trial and downloaded the story. He plead no contest to intoxicated manslaughter. For two years he had strongly denied any involvement or any wrong doing, in fact the version of the newspaper and what he chose to tell us varied significantly. I talked with the burr contractor in South Texas, (he had secured a job for the employee who was on trial, we kind of share this man from job to job), and the employee had called to tell them he would be there, just a little late, and he got off of the worst charge but they got him on another one. ???? I read the newspaper article to the burr contractor and he couldn't believe the official version. By the way, the employee received nine years probation, $900 fine, and $100 fine each year of probation.

This man is lucky. He could not have survived prison. However, someone lost their life, someone lost a child, someone lost a mother .... nine years probated. I really feel like the courts did him a small favor. There are civil proceedings swirling about and a guilty plea might have tainted those proceedings where a no contest plea contains no admission of guilt. Wrongful death suits. This man's trouble isn't over, he just started a new chapter.

I suppose my biggest disappointment is that he lied to me and the burr contractor because we asked him point blank, eyeball to eyeball if there was any merit to the charges and he said,"No". Lucy, you got some 'splainin' to do!

It has been sooooo hot! West Texas in August, and golly do we need rain!

When I arrived home last evening, Krl had all of the prep work completed for doing homemade beef tips with peppers and onions on rice pilaf. Anytime Kat is over and Krl and I are cooking she wants to help. I think this is good because obviously they don't cook at home very much at her house. Trace will call sometimes asking why she can't reproduce meals that we roll out assembly line style that her girls love and ask her to fix (apparently the two oldest girls don't want to pay the price of having their Meme and Dandy get on our soap boxes and tell them how the cow ate the cabbage, they would rather chance their Mom's cooking than come over). Last evening Kat supervised the cooking, telling me how weird everything looked, I let her do the measuring for the rice and then told her the old adage about "a watched pot never boils". Sure enough, as soon as she left the room the pot boiled! When it came time to sit down to our meal, it must have passed muster because Kat went back, twice! When Dandy went to bed last night Kat and her Meme were laying on a pallet waiting for Trace to come pick Kat up.

My brain is tired, my body is weary. I am not looking forward to the next week. With this major repair on the company truck it won't affect me personally, I am salaried, but the company will feel the affect of no income for week with major outgo for parts. The way the truck pay cycles the truck is held one week back so it takes two weeks before the truck receives its first revenue, but once the cycle starts it is O.K., unless you have to do it all over again. Oh well.

I don't think I have a thing on my horizon for this weekend. Well, the Brickyard 400. Other than that I hope to just relax and try to heal and replace body fluids from having melted down every day in the shop.

Be the real deal!

FATHER, I pray for healing. Physically, mentally, spiritually. I ask YOUR blessing on the project we have just completed, that we would have been diligent in our efforts and that the repairs would be complete and long lasting. I ask for relief from the hot temperatures and the dry conditions. I ask for YOUR blessing of rain. Renew us!