This is going to be a frustrating week. And it has already started.

I find myself having trouble getting motivated, and that isn't like me. Usually I am quick to get it in gear and prefer to do the most difficult task first. This past week I have been guilty of procrastinating. Big time. My analyst (Krl) tells me I am depressed about leaving for the seasonal work. She is probably right. We haven't been at home as long as we were on site last year (which stretched into this year).

All sorts of variables come into play, just getting ready to leave. From making plans to get all Krl's plants in (or given away) to winterizing the pool, to finding a new person to do the yard. Even the grocery shopping is affected because you sure don't want to buy for past Thursday or Friday if it is perishable.

Today the home office will have to be boxed up and loaded. We are trying to limit paper because it usually consumes us in the travel trailer. I am going to have to make myself transfer files from the old company laptop to the new one but I'm having a difficult time liking the new one. The old one is big, heavy, and bulky, but it is a lot like an old friend. If we can get the wireless router set up it will make this change necessary and probably easier for me because my antique laptop isn't set up for a wireless network while the new one is. Krl and I haven't discussed it but I am figuring she is going to want to take her scanalizer computer.

The scanalizer is another subject. In March of this year Krl saw a Martha Stewart show and Martha was pushing a new product, a scanalizer with proprietary software. While the concept is admirable, our experience hasn't been as good as Martha's. Krl is trying to save everything to a memory key, but several times this summer (as she has put old records in the computer) the software has hidden or lost some files. Needless to say, Krl has become a regular at backing up her computer. Week before last, the scanalizer developed a problem with the image. Parts of it were readable, the majority was not. We worked all week with tech support, cleaning, and changing settings until we finally became frustrated with the "techie" and asked for a supervisor. Just yesterday he authorized a RMA number to replace the scanner. I figure when it is all said and done we will have "messed" with this malfunction for two weeks.

My mental notes are filling up. When I woke this morning I was thinking about ordering more gloves. We have enough to begin the year but probably not enough to get through it. Dust masks, safety glasses, rain parkas. My list is growing. And these are just the little things.

Pleasant surprise at the fuel pumps on site. Friday, unleaded gas was 2.08, road diesel was 2.39. Usually it is the other way, what ever it is in town you can add forty cents. When your fuel runs twenty-three thousand dollars a week every little bit helps.

The first employees have been summoned to the jobsite October 2. The others have been summoned for October 9. Krl and I are planning to be on-site by this Friday night. The next travel trailer I take out will be a piece of cake, the last one (the big trailer) will be more involved. It isn't too difficult to set up but all the frills add up to work. I will have to under pin it with the fencing panels, drive t-posts and build a small yard, unload and put the porch (with "dog" ramp) in place. The satellite was scheduled in March to be turned back on October 1, but it still has to be set up. Telephone and broadband ISP should only require a telephone call to activate but still will require my time to connect them. As you can tell, Krl and I will have lots to do after the trailer is in place. I may end up staying in the trailer one night during the week and try to get some of this done before Krl and the houndgirls arrive.

Of course I figure while we are doing all the above, the hounds will be sulking and going into culture shock. After all they are city hounds, not country hounds.

I talked with the repair shop yesterday about BS 222. They completed one of the computer related repairs but the last one, the cruise control, is going to be an all day sucker. Maybe a couple of days, which means $$$$. The service writer tells me someone has gone under the dash and modified a lot of the wiring. He said it is fixable but it is going to be time intense and he didn't know if I had the time or if I would authorize the expenditure at this point. Good choice. At seventy-five dollars an hour it adds up quickly. What I need to do is catch the mechanic and make a deal for him to take the vehicle home with him some weekend (because he only draws about twenty-two dollars of that seventy-five an hour). The hardest part for me making this call is that at some point the fuel savings of having the cruise working would pay for the repair.

It will all happen.

In due time.

FATHER, help me to be motivated. Help me to plan well. Help me to practice patience. Let YOUR glory fill the earth.