Once upon a time ..........

There was a small family owned business. The business was in transportation. There was a Papa bear, a Momma bear, an oldest son bear, a middle son bear, a son-in-law bear, and a youngest son bear. It was "bearly" a general partnership.

This partnership stemmed from Papa Bear's long time involvement in the trucking business and some exceptional seasonal hauling. At one point the partnership consisted of only a couple of trucks, but saw growth as the customer base was expanded. The son-in-law bear and the youngest son bear didn't want anything to do with the trucking. Son-in-law bear only wanted to farm while youngest son bear had moved away to coach. Momma bear wouldn't hear of excluding anyone from the partnership. Each year if the partnership caused tax liability, money was sent to cover youngest son bear's increased tax liability. In years where a loss was incurred, youngest son bear enjoyed the expense and lessened tax liability.

In the early nineties, due to a depressed farm economy, the decision was made to "grow" the business. Additional units were leased on, hauling primarily ag commodities. In 1994 an additional gin contract was put in place and in 1995 a long term contract was reached with what was probably one of the premier gin plants in in the state. Additional company units were purchased along with other accessories. After the harvest season it became apparent that the partnership could not let the equipment just "sit", and additional hauling was sought. With the deregulation of the trucking industry, numerous opportunities were present.

The oldest son bear had a knack for coordinating and developing business and dispatch, and "Oh could he grow business". For a long time it seemed as though he could do no wrong.

The middle son bear, out of necessity, joined Momma bear handling the paper side (billing, payables, settlements, and compliance).

In about 1992 a corporation was formed to limit liability exposure, although it wasn't utilized until much later.

In 1997 additional office personnel and additional lease operators were enlisted. The company had grown from three power units to about 35. "Bidness" was good, and people flocked to join a company on the rise. A strong steady growth gradually spun out of control.

You have probably heard that too much growth is as bad as no growth. In this instance it was very very true. As the company size increased so did everything associated with the business. With the exception of the company bank accounts. A business growing out of control is cash starved. This business was anorexic and was in dire need of an IV. With no banker, the company decided to fund its growth by factoring it's receivables. This was affective to a point, but it was very expensive.

In order to curb expenses with company power units a decision was made to trade up to new trucks and to deal with fixed costs (payments) and letting warranty take care of incidental costs (surprises). This proved to be an excellent move. In addition to the new power units a group of new trailer units were also put in place. This would generate lease revenue from the lease operators which would pull these trailers.

The company continued to experience excessive growth.

In 1999 middle son bear went to oldest son bear and expressed his concern about the company growth and the cash flow. Oldest son bear summoned the company comptroller who sided with him and said they did not see the alarm.

Meetings were held to discuss other possibilities, an outside salesman, vehicle for said salesman, and additional trucks and trailers. The majority expressed a desire to curb growth and expenditures until the differential in revenues and growth closed.

Contrary to majority rule, many decisions that were voted against were acted on by oldest son bear with blatant disregard for what the others wanted. In fact, in oldest son bear's desk he had pens named for the different other bears when he signed their names to contracts and purchase orders. These were specialized pens and used specifically for this forgery. If you can't convince them to see your point of view, sign for them anyway.

In 2000, the devil rang the doorbell. Actually, the devil and an accomplice. The devil was a large international company that wanted to make a deal with this small West Texas company. The accomplice was a slick outside salesman who needed a job because his company had failed. If the small family company would agree to buy more power units from the large international company, the large company would give them a contract to haul their class 7 power units and distribute them across the continental U.S. and Canada. Slick basically promised that if they could tie the load down, the small company could haul the world. Long story short, sixty days after signing the contracts and taking delivery on the additional power units, the large international company ceased production of what the small company was supposed to haul. The small company now had all this equipment and not enough freight to justify it and service the debt. Oldest son bear and middle son bear were summoned by the large international company to Kewlona, British Columbia to discuss the developments. There they were assured that the large international company would do "whatever was necessary" to make the small trucking company whole. The large international company executives lied.

Older son bear and middle son bear returned home feeling that the large international company was sincere, because they had been raised to expect the very best from other people. They were wrong to expect this. All of the actions of the large international company indicated they had no intention of "making the small transportation company whole". Ultimately the small company had to take legal action in hopes of rectifying the situation and the hardships caused by the large international company.

With an excess of equipment, calls were made to leasing companies and finance companies to try to return equipment. Most were receptive. The small company agreed to deliver the equipment to the leasing companies anywhere in the continental U.S. at the small company's expense. And everyone was happy or so they thought. About a month after returning the first round of equipment the small company received a letter from a leasing company lawyer. "Thank you for the return of the equipment you were leasing from us. We appreciate the condition it arrived at our location. While you are no longer in possession of said equipment this in no way releases you from your lease payment obligations. We expect your monthly payments in full on the first of each month for the duration of the lease period. And the small company was sad because they knew if they couldn't make the payments while they had the equipment and it could produce limited revenue, there was no way it could make the payments without the equipment.

Shortly thereafter, son-in-law bear was beginning to refinance his farming operation. It was then that he learned that the leasing company had filed a credit card chargeback of $750K for the defaulted lease. When contacted to inquire why they had done it as a credit card chargeback the leasing company responded saying "we are a large leasing company and we can do whatever we want". With a large chargeback like this on his credit report there was no way son-in-law bear could cash flow for conventional farm financing. The scramble was on to figure a way out of this mess. Further investigation showed that the leasing company had charged back to each of the partners, the full amount of the lease. (Ultimately the 750K lease default escalated to a tax credit for the leasing company in excess of 8M).

Ultimately the son-in-law bear and his wife were able to secure a small operating loan for the crop year. They filed chapter 7 bankruptcy for protection. The bankruptcy filing was done against the wishes of oldest son bear because he felt if one domino fell, the rest would soon have to follow.

Through the course of filing, it became evident to son-in-law bear that he had been scammed, many documents had been signed but not by him, and bad blood boiled. For the son-in-law bear at his brother-in-law (oldest son bear) for his deceit and the other way for son-in-law not following oldest son bear's wishes. Son-in-law bear's attorney advised son-in-law that the only way to avoid bankruptcy was to file forgery charges against oldest son bear.

In the mean time, middle son bear saw he could not get financing to continue his farming so he met with his landlord and explained the situation and the need to return the land to the landlord. The landlord thanked the middle son bear and asked for a reference on who he should rent the land to. Middle son bear recommended the son-in-law bear and the landlord did it. This insured the landlord had a tenant and it also would help the son-in-law bears situation. At that time the landlord expressed his desire to place all of his farmland in the hands of a single tenant.
This would be a touchy situation because oldest bear son farmed one of the landlord's farms.

Soon after, oldest son bear discovered that he too could not attain farm financing and his son (grandson bear) took over his dad's farming. The first year this worked out all right but after that, grand son bear could not get financing and the farming operation suffered. Crops were not planted timely, farming practices were modified to save money. In short, everyone knew the landlords would not stand for this indefinitely.

Everyone had high hopes for the legal action filed against the large international company. A law firm from Amarillo had been enlisted to handle the litigation. One problem the small companies lawyers encountered was the stalling of the larger company as money was no object. Finally in November of 2003 the case cam to trial. What was expected to take a few days was stretched into December. Everyone, including the jurors became worn down and frayed. Finally, the night before the jury charge was to be presented, the large company's lawyers came to the smaller company wanting to settle. A meeting was set up. The lawyers for the large company told the American headquarters what was in the works and finally the big wigs there decided it was time to let the parent company in Germany know what was going on. It had been in the works for over three years but the American officials of the large international company had never told their bosses about the litigation. The officials in Germany were furious and told their American counterparts to with draw their offer to settle, that they would take their chances and appeal. The power of money.

To bring the two sides together the large international company had put five million dollars on the table, but at the direction of their bosses in Germany the offer was withdrawn. The case went to the jury.

After a day of deliberations the jury came back with a verdict for the defendants, saying the numbers were so big they just couldn't comprehend them.

And all hopes of rescuing the small family business were dimmed.

Three years later, oldest son bear continues to struggle with the remains of the failed business. The others over the years have cut their ties and tried to salvage what remained of their private lives.

It is sad that the small company failed, but that isn't the saddest part of this tale.

The saddest part of this tale is the bad blood that continues to exist between the members of the family. It seems that every time you think the family can put this behind them something happens that will re-open the wounds.

In April of this year the landlord contacted son-in-law bear asking him to take the farm land that grandson bear was farming. The landlord told son-in-law bear that he was not happy with the farming practices and the crop production of grandson bear. Son-in-law bear declined at that time. In August the landlord returned and repeated his request for the 2007 crop year. Son-in-law bear was in a difficult position. The landlord told him that he was consolidating all of his farm land with a single producer and he had chosen son-in-law bear, if he wasn't interested he would find someone else to take all the land. To me it wasn't much of a choice, either take additional land or lose what you already had. Son-in-law agreed to take the additional land.

Middle son bear was aware of this development, and shortly thereafter, Momma Bear and Papa Bear were made aware. Everyone knew oldest son bear and grandson bear were going to have another bad spell when they received notice from the landlord.

Recently the sister bear asked oldest son bear to sit down with son-in-law bear and just try to clear the air. The poison is affecting both of them. Sister bear told them both that until they got it all out they could not heal. Oldest son bear's response was "that for a month and a half he had spent every waking moment trying to figure out how to "ruin" son-in-law bear" but finally decided he wasn't worth it. Sister bear asked him if he ever thought that if oldest son bear ruined son-in-law bear it would also ruin her. Oldest son bear replied that collateral damage "happens".

The last exchange occurred in front of both Momma bear and Papa bear.

It is difficult to put everything behind you when some people don't want to.

It is sad that some people can't let go of the past, forgive and forget and try to get on down the road. It is not for us to judge. It is for us to do the best we can and to be the best we possible can.

And for the mean time, the family did not live happily after.

And the end hasn't happened yet.

Do you ever think about what kind of genes you have been passed down, and passed down.

Talk about hand me downs.

I don't have any grandparents left. I think about the love of the land and freshly opened dirt that my maternal grandfather passed on to me. I also think about his pre-mature death at 61, the result of a massive heart attack. I muse over the advances in medicine. If he were alive today he might have been a by-pass candidate and lived a long and full life. In retrospect I think too about his Dad, my great grandfather who died of a heart attack on the day I was born. Up side is that "Mama" McLeod, my great grandmother lived to about ninety.

My maternal grandmother died of a heart attack at 67. I cannot recall ever knowing her parents. (I'll have to ask my mom about them).

So in the gene pool, mark down 2 for heart disease.

On the other side, Grandpa Freeman was a carpenter. He was a really big man, and he was far ahead of his time. He was building "Lazy Susan's" before Susan got lazy. Some of his innovations for corner cabinets still amaze me. Although I never "swung" a hammer to suit him, I still have "jack of all trades" abilities to fix and build. To him I give the credit for this. Grandpa lived into his mid to late eighties and hung on a while after a debilitating stroke.

"Gonnie", as we called her, lived to 66. She had been sick a long, long, while before anyone knew it and she fought a valiant battle before cancer just wore her out.

My paternal great grandmother lived to her late eighties. She was an ornery old woman. Loved her rocking chair and her snuff! We had an endless supply of juice glasses, once she finished her snuff!

I look at cousins, other grandchildren, and their health issues. I have a cousin a few months younger than I who has been undergoing treatment for prostate cancer. His prognosis is very good. I have another cousin who died from breast cancer and its spread at the untimely age of 44. On the other side I lost a cousin, who attended ACU with me and is my age, to cancer.

I think of the traits I have, and that I have passed on. Probably one of my most visible maladies are fibroid cysts. The doctors tell me they don't hurt anything unless they are painful to me. Thing is my son has already undergone surgery for these in his early twenties. I have wondered if my grandchildren will also have this problem.

I also think of traits that have not been passed on and I wonder why. One of the most baffling is that both of my children's parents have a love of reading, yet none of the siblings enjoy it.

I suppose the recent tests Pepa has had and the preliminary results have triggered my gene assessment. Tuesday he had a bone scan and Friday meets with the doctors to assess all the tests results and possible remedy or treatment.

My parents are 78 (soon to be), and 76 (also soon to be), and they have enjoyed remarkably good health. They have remained active. Their main health glitches have been a heart valve repair for Mom and mis-diagnosed colon surgery for Dad. I don't expect the current blip on the radar to amount to anything more. We will deal with and go on because we are that kind of people.

Besides, Mom would never allow any of us to be sick!

My final thought for the gene pool is this:

I prefer relaxed fit, straight leg jeans.

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

FATHER, thank YOU for all our little intrinsic pieces and YOUR miracle of nature that make us, us. Thank YOU for YOUR miracle and gift of healing and care.

Whew! I needed the break. At precisely seven this morning, Barco shut the plant down. It is eerily quiet. But then again, silence is golden.

We have achieved that point in the season when I become antsy. I am so ready to return to civilization. Today will be a welcome visit to Midland. Initially Krl told me that she didn't want to go anywhere, but last evening she told me she wanted to go to Midland and to be specific, Chili's. We have eaten nothing but left overs since Thanksgiving. Last night I threw some left over ham in a skillet and flash fried it and did scrambled eggs and biscuits. I guess after eating leftovers it is no wonder that Krl has her taste buds set on the honey barbecue sirloin with fries and sauteed onions with mushrooms and peppers, complimented by garlic toast. As for me, I am reserving ordering until I get there. In fact I think I will mull over the menu while sipping on a Presidente Margarita on the rocks.

One difference today will be we are traveling alone. I plan to leave Kyle with the vacuum cleaner and anything else he needs to clean his trailer. It is a disciplinary action due to his fibbing. I discussed this with his mother last evening and she told me to handle the situation, but to be sure that Kyle was aware why he was being disciplined. Not only had Kyle fibbed to me about my company truck and the scrape down the side (or to be more precise fibbing by failing to tell me), but his Aunt Krl had been asking him if he had cleaned his refrigerator. She is so concerned that he is going to get food poisoning or botulism from eating something that is spoiled. We had actually been trying to back off the monitoring of his trailer but during the Thanksgiving crunch for refrigerator space Krl discovered he had a plate from the community Thanksgiving meal in his 'frige' that was over a week old. Add to this lunch meat that is out of date. He had assured her he had disposed of all of that, but hadn't. Actually, Aunt Krl is more bent than I am.

It has been interesting because several truck drivers have told me how upset Kyle is about my company truck. My question is, is he upset because he got caught or because he damaged it or is he upset because he damaged it and failed to tell me?

I just looked at a calendar and was surprised to discover that the date I put my money on in the office pool for a completion date is only twelve days away. The plant Super's guess is twenty days away and the GM's guess is twenty-one. Of course all this is contingent upon the producers getting their crop to us.

Thanksgiving had really thrown me behind on book work so I had a real thrash to get the information together for Krl to do equipment lease and driver settlements. After a late Friday night and and early and productive Saturday, This morning I find myself just having to make a few corrections. Usually this is a problem combining loads for trucks that haul different products. Today was no different. I did find that one correction Krl gave me is not my mistake but a driver's inability to write down numbers correctly. In this instance I refuse to change the sign out sheets that he initialed and will give him a reprimand and warning that if a pay discrepancy comes up it is his problem, not mine or Krl's.

I went into the office late yesterday and washed one more pot I had over looked. While I was there I bagged left over turkey and ham and placed it in the freezer. I cannot believe how the groceries have been walking off. I would venture to say that there were between fifty and seventy-five dollars of unused can goods, crock spread, and other supplies. I think now it would probably stretch it to have twenty dollars worth remaining. I know who the main culprit is and I have a good idea where other groceries have gone. I told the GM, just to keep my tail out of trouble.

Have a day.

FATHER, rest us quickly and rest us well. I pray for safety, I pray for healing, for all those near and dear.

Were you wondering if we survived? We were!

The meal went well. Numbers were down, we only fed eighty three. I know of two you could add to that but Krl and I were sick of seeing turkey before we began serving. The crew was grateful and excited to have a home cooked meal and lots of it.

Wednesday night we left the meeting room where we had seven broaster roasters cooking the turkey at eleven pm. I had finished the hams earlier in the day, all the pieces for Krl's famous dressing were ready, a table sat with all the side dishes ingredients.

Krl returned to the meeting room, checking turkey progress at one in the morning and again
about three to turn off the roasters. At five I went in and set all the turkeys out of the roasters into metal trays to cool and be boned. Immediately I began washing broaster roasters for other items to be warmed and cooked. At twenty 'til seven I woke Krl and we began to mix the dressing. We had wondered what we were going to mix fifty pounds of dressing in, but I had a brainstorm and bought a plastic storage tote that was about thirty inches long eighteen inches wide and eighteen inches deep. It was actually big enough for us both to crumble cornbread without encumbering the other! Finally we placed the dressing in two broaster roasters and turned them on. Ricky H. and Frank came in and began boneing turkey, I summoned Kyle Patrick Henry to help and when Krl and I got to it we both boned a bird apiece! Marie came in and began fixing the tray of cranberry sauce. Frank and I drained and poured three gallons of fruit cocktail into a large bowl Frank had borrowed from the hall. Marie added Kool Whip and marshmallows and later on added Pearl's banana's. We'd opened five gallons of corn and poured it into a broaster roaster to warm with just a touch of butter and some pepper. Krl had three gallons of giblet gravy "cooking" and we set up a crock pot to warm and dispense at meal time. One broaster roaster was filled with boned ham, another with boned turkey, and yet another with browned dinner rolls. All the broaster roasters were set to warm. Marie had sliced pies and placed them on dessert plates with Kool Whip readily available for accent. With twenty-one minutes until meal time Krl and I began making the Idahoan potatoes. In my turkey fryer! We did 102 servings in one sitting (with more waiting if we needed it). Amazingly, they were done and in serving trays by noon. The final accent was a half gallon of jalapenos (which were a late addition) and the meal was in place. Not a minute too soon as the crew began walking in. In the beginning the line was sparse but proved to be steady throughout the two hours set aside for the plant to be down and we had a few stragglers coming in until five o'clock. At five the cleanup began and left overs bagged and covered. We did send one tray of turkey, one tray of ham, a tray of dressing, some corn, several dozen dinner rolls, a tray of potatoes, and an assortment of pies into the plant to make sure everyone had opportunity to indulge. Special thanks, to Kristy, Becky, Marie, Frank, Nancee, Ricky, Ed, Pearl, Roy, and Kyle for their help. Of course this wouldn't have been possible without Krl's direction and expertise. I can follow directions and I am a first class dish washer!

Much to the dismay of many nay sayers, the meal was a success! I really think they wanted us to fail because they chose not to be a part of it!

The final detail was talking with the GM. The deal he had made with me was he couldn't help but he wanted me to bring him the tickets for all the ingredients. When it was all said and done, the meal cost $461.00, an average cost of $5.55 per person, and there are a few left over groceries which are rapidly disappearing. The GM didn't flinch as he approved it for reimbursement!

Best part of the meal is that it is over and a year away if we do it again. We did keep up with how much of what was prepared and made copies for everyone to keep for future use.

Krl has been exhausted. She is so frail she has no stamina.

Nancee made Krl and I a double layer pumpkin pie. It has graham cracker crust with cream cheese filling topped with pumpkin pie filling. Top it with a dose of Kool Whip and it is a slice of heaven. Of course this complimented the San Saba pecan pies Ed and Pearl had shipped in and were nice enough to give us one for our trailer.

Let the record show that we ate left over pizza Thanksgiving night.

I thought Krl was going to strangle Kyle when she told him to come over and watch Kirby's game Thursday night, He asked her if we were going to have "Thanksgiving dinner in our trailer!"

We have been struggling to keep up with the plant. They have been on a good run, averaging about twelve percent above their normal production.

I had placed my pickup under the office carport Wednesday and had the rotisierre set up. I didn't move my pickup from Wednesday until Friday. In fact the only time it was moved was when I would send Kyle to dispose of grease or broth left from cooking.

Friday afternoon I went to the fuel pumps to fill up with gas and while it was filling I was walking around the company truck when I noticed something new. There was a scrape that began just in front of the right rear tire and went intermittently all the way to the mirror of the door. In fact the door is where it is most heavily scraped. A closer walk around revealed blue paint on the left hand side. I was furious because I knew I had not put these on the truck. When I returned to the bale dock I immediately asked Kyle if he had anything he needed to tell me. He kept glancing at the pickup and stuttered and stammered before saying "No, I don't think so." I asked, "Are you sure?". He replied "Yes sir, I think so." I told him to come with me and let's take a look at my pickup. He just wanted to die. He would never admit guilt verbally but his actions gave him away.

I told him I know accidents happen but I will not tolerate a sneak or a fibber.

I am so disillusioned with him. Since he has been back he is in his own little world. Either to my credit or detriment I still have not yelled at him and made him "shut down".

But it is getting harder.

Tomorrow is a maintenance Sunday. Yes!

A week or so ago Pepa had some biopsies done and at that time the doctor said everything "looks good". Wednesday evening the doctors office called and the lab didn't support his "looks good" assessment. Next week he will be going in for a bone scan and then will have a discussion with his doctor to determine a course of treatment. Add him to your prayer list.

Also Wednesday evening our IRS negotiators called saying they had hit a snag in reconciling the tax liability left by the no defunct family business. Krl and I have never owned any portion of this business because we knew we couldn't because of me being in the sights of the IRS. Initially this corporation was set up for Krl and the grandbabies to do something but no stock was ever issued and when Trc needed to limit the liability exposure she used the corporation which was set up several years ago. The catch for the IRS is that Krl was the incorporating agent. She called the attorney to begin the process. If anything, this should make all of us think about things we do in the normal course of doing our jobs. Often times we do things and make calls which could be used against us in the future. If there is anything that helps this situation it is that Trc is not blood related. For some reason the IRS sees this as a distance factor, yet they are so afraid that assets are being shielded that they are anal. In regard to this please place Krl and I both on your prayer list, that this problem would be reconciled.

Well, I had better get busy and earn my pay. Driver and truck settlements.

Have a day!

FATHER, help us to relax and know that YOU are with us and we will be presented with nothing that YOU can't fix. For YOUR love and care I am thankful!

Harrumph!

I am already tired, and Thanksgiving is still a day away.

Preparation began yesterday for the "crew" meal. In reality, they began the day before. Shopping for the meal. Yuk!

One-hundred thirty two pounds of turkey. Seventy-two pounds of ham. Thirty mixes of cornbread. Four chickens to be boiled for giblet gravy and dressing. Five dozen eggs. (And I am sending for more this morning). Eight gallons of corn. Five gallons of Kool Whip. Enough Idahoan potatoes for six gallons worth. Thirty-two dozen diner rolls. Twenty assorted pies already on site and more fresh "San Saba" pecan pies scheduled to arrive today.

We are utilizing four ovens, three stoves, one turkey fryer (but we are not frying any turkey. Boiled chicken and boiled eggs, and preparing the idahoan potatoes). Eight broaster roasters and one rotisierre.

Krl and I had a long discussion last evening, and both of us are eagerly anticipating when the meal is done and clean up is complete. We are both somewhat disillusioned about the limited participation of some of the residents here. We will really have to think this thing through before next season.

I summoned Kyle Patrick Henry back to the jobsite. In fact he brought seven gallons of corn. I am so bent. It is almost like we have time traveled backwards in time. I find us covering things that we covered weeks ago. To a certain degree he has withdrawn back into his cocoon. I am going to have to discuss this with his mother.

I'd better get my day started. Hope all of you have a good Holiday.

Think of us. We are still accepting help!

FATHER, bless our efforts to bring a small piece of home and holiday to our co-workers. May our meal come together with no complications. I pray that YOUR kingdom will continue to grow. Peace and tranquility.

It has been two of the most frenzied, upside down days I have ever had here at the jobsite. Most of Thursday morning was spent either waiting to be summoned to the board room or meeting with the board. Thursday afternoon was spent in the GM's office trying to put together the program we were charged with. Late Thursday I did make one run on Blacksheep, just to catch the trucks up a little. Friday found me back in the GM's office meeting with him and the president of the board. Of course all this was peppered with my regular duties.

It seems the board sold more seed to outside users than they can deliver in the course of the season. It is not a question of availability, it is a question of the brokers getting their trucks in here for the loads. Due to limited storage capacity we have to keep moving seed wherever we can take it, enter the seed trucks running to the oil mill. These guys keep the plant going day or night, rain or shine, holiday or no holiday. They are dedicated and serious about the job they are doing and I appreciate them each and everyone.

Thursday afternoon, the GM and I talked and he made a phone call about one option that we thought was worth pursuing. In less than two minutes he was off the phone and told me the idea was rejected. I try not to second guess him, but I felt his "sales pitch" was really weak. Later I returned to my trailer, picked up the phone and called the same place, talked to a different contact who thought the idea was worthy of forwarding to his supervisor (which just happened to be the same man the GM had talked with). Due to the GM's insecurity and ego, anything we discussed was subject to the GM's final approval and that any and all pertinent info would best be received if the GM thought it was his idea. Long story short, in a matter of minutes I was back in the GM's office with a potential deal.

Friday morning when I was summoned to the GM's office to meet with him and the Board President, the deal was closed.

It's all in the packaging.

And my trucks get to continue to haul.

Kyle Patrick dropped a bombshell on me yesterday saying he was going home for a few days. I asked him if he was quitting. I probably should fire him, I would if it were any of my other charges. I did tell him not to bother coming back until after the holiday because I didn't want to hear any whining in two or three days. Of course then he would whine because he will have such a small check. Oh well, if you make your bed, lie in it. I just may shortsheet this one.

Krl and I have the Thanksgiving meal project all to ourselves it would appear. Actually, we have a few volunteers but the GM's wife wanted no part of it. In fact she said this was going to be a short season and it wouldn't be that hard on all the crew. Hello? These are people too, displaced from their families. I can't remember for sure but last year we fed either a hundred and eight or a hundred and twelve. We are expecting the same this year. I am thinking seven turkeys, five hams, twenty-five pounds of creamed potatoes, thirty five pounds of cornbread dressing, eight gallons of whole kernel corn (we had three feeds last year and progressed from three gallons to six and still ran out of corn), several gallons of fruit cocktail and Kool-whip, a table full of pies, dozens and dozens of rolls, and many gallons of ice tea!

If you aren't doing anything come on out. You can work for your dinner. It is work but it is very fulfilling. We will have more of the usual domestic fares but history supports the basic staples and lots of it!

My weekend project is to call Jeanetta, my older sister who lives in Indiana. She celebrated her birthday Wednesday and I had every intention of calling her but fell asleep on the couch. Thursday night it was eleven when I got in and last evening Krl and I were both fighting a stomach bug.

Jeanetta, if your are reading this, "Happy Birthday!" I promise I will call.

We have a local gentleman in this area who recently was diagnosed with cancer. Several of his children continue to live in the community and the entire family is very respected. Currently this gentleman in undergoing chemo and has been in the office just a few times this season, sometimes in his pajamas and house shoes. Thursday afternoon he and his wife stopped in as they were returning from another stay in the hospital. The treatments are really kicking his butt and he looked really bad.

Monday the other farmers in the community are having a harvest day to get this gentleman's crop out. In fact it will be brought to the plant and immediately processed rather than wait in line for two or three weeks.

I love small communities.

FATHER, I ask YOUR blessings on Jeanetta as she celebrates her birthday and pray that YOU will bless her with many more. I pray for YOUR miracle of healing for Andy and ask that YOU comfort him as he goes through this difficult treatment. I ask YOUR blessings for all those who participate in the harvest day.

FATHER, perfect YOUR packaging of me. Mold me and make me.



,

Yuk!

Talk about nasty, it has been horrible out here. Wind and dust, followed by more wind and dust. Yesterday was out of the west, today we have a new direction but more of the same. I was kidding the burr contractor that by the time his trucks arrived at their unloading destination they were empty.

Little did I know when I was kidding him that a car tried to pass one of his trucks and was pelted with cotton burrs!

I am not a very popular man out here. All the in and out freight goes through me and this year, while the GM was in the hospital, the board sold half of their cottonseed to outside users. When they visited with me they asked my opinion and I told them they would never be able to deliver half because the truckers who haul for these users do not want to work weekends or nights. In fact they want preferential treatment. If they come in and there is a line they want to go to the front! These truckers think they are above waiting.

The plant dilemma is seed storage capacity. We have very little. Every night I put two truck loads of seed up in the overhead storage, and this is almost half of our precious capacity. The remaining capacity is the overhead storage we run out off with oil mill trucks. It is a very small buffer zone for one of the largest plants in the state. Should one of the trucks encounter a problem, this buffer zone would be quickly threatened.

The GM and I have talked and devised the program we are currently using. It is not a fix it all, but we have to keep seed moving to the mill in order to keep the plant up and running. He has asked me to address the board of directors tomorrow. I know that he has me in my position as a "buffer' between the board and the buyers. In fact he told me once this morning to plan on attending in order to defend my program. Kind of feels like I am on an island!

Oh well, it isn't like they haven't heard this before.

I had a call from one of the brokers for the entity that sold the seed on behalf of the plant. He is very obnoxious and has a very domineering personality. He kept trying to tell me what I was going to do and why what we were trying to do was not going to work. Funny thing is he has no solution. In fact I reminded him that they were aware of the storage capacity problem before they ever sold the seed. I think he is more concerned about protecting his job. They have sold 6,250 tons of seed with a margin of $15/tn. The seed is supposed to be picked up while the plant is operational, there are no penalties if the contracts are not filled. The only penalty will be less revenue for the stockholders. Outside of that, these brokers have their own personal reasons to want to move as many tons as possible.

On the subject of "while the plant is in operation", my estimate for completion is for December 7, provided we do get a killing freeze/frost tonight. We haven't got a wager board going but that should be a happening very soon.

Many times I get to sample different ethnic foods out here. Many I am familiar with, others I am not. It is a very politically sensitive issue. Last week, I was given some "tripeta". (I'm not sure of the spelling). It was served up on a homemade corn tortilla, complete with pico de gayo and cilantro and looked quite yummy. The center of the tortilla appeared to be filled with a meat and sauce mixture. When I took it and ate it, it was crunchy like cheerios with a gristly texture. I muddled my way through, thankful there was just one. My buddy Frank has always talked about this like it is a delicacy and his preference is to enjoy it with salt, beer and guacamole. My personal opinion is that any combination of the preceding would have helped. Much to the delight of the crew, I finished my treat and gingerly deflected the offering of more. Later in the day I had a horrendous case of heart burn and was bloated with gas.

One of the first things I learned is don't ask what is in something, but I do draw the line at menudo.

All I'm going to tell you is someone's goat got out and is missing.

Have a day!

FATHER, temper me. Help me to be wise and kind in dealing with others.

I vocalized to Krl my feelings that I was finally getting a good handle on everything here on the jobsite. It's taken long enough! It has just seemed like there was always another project. Usually some sort of report or having to climb in a truck and help catch up. While Monday was extremely busy, it was a productive day.

Sunday was tremendous. As I had guessed, we went to the Cattle Baron. Krl ordered crab legs (an entire pound of them, and she ate them all!), Kyle Patrick Henry went with the Texas sized chicken fried steak, and I had the New York Strip Peppercorn steak. It was wonderful, we were stuffed. We had several stops to make while in town so it was probably a good thing that one involved the mall and some walking. The final stop of the day was the grocery store and it was packed. As Krl put it, "Kyle wore us out" while in the store. Actually he did more shopping than he ever has. They had a big sale going on Banquet frozen dinners but Kyle wasn't interested. "Ya'll got me hooked on those Stouffers", he exclaimed. As an added bonus he now owns three different varieties of chicken nuggets. Although he bought lunch meat he bought no bread. Krl and I wonder, but we have decided not to interfere.

One of my first jobs Monday was to go to Midland to have the forklift cylinder repaired. They encouraged me to run other errands instead of waiting. While I was out and about I decided to stop in at Denny's and have breakfast. I love breakfast.

The waitress was cordial enough. Bright and cheery, very personable. As a waitress she left much to be desired. She has to be ADD. She would fill a drink and leave it sitting, she was constantly retracing her footsteps to complete delivering an order. She would leave a menu and fail to go back for the order.

After I had ordered I had a long extended wait. I enjoyed a crisp diet Coke and was watching people. It seems that that particular area is a hot spot for homeless people. Lots of people with card board signs with different proclamations. (One simply said, "Hungry", with no illusion or relation to work). There seemed to be a constant stream of these people coming into the restaurant to use their restroom. My waitress was kind and soft spoken to them while other wait staff asked when they were going to be paying customers! Finally, a young man came in, only to find the men's room occupied. He sat down at the counter and ordered a large water. My waitress complied and kept it topped with fresh water. Finally, when the restroom was available this gentleman got up and told my waitress in his rush to get out of bed, he had forgotten his wallet. He continued, telling her he had overslept and would never have ordered if he had known he didn't have his wallet. The waitress smiled and told him "Don't worry about it, I'll just carry it on an IOU."

When I left, I tipped my waitress for her heart, not for her service.

When I returned to the trailer last evening I told Krl about my experience at Denny's and she scolded me for not offering to buy this man breakfast. To be honest I didn't even think about it, but in retrospect it would have been an on going project (we would have had to open a buffet).

That's why I married Krl. She has a good heart.

FATHER, thank YOU for Krl and her kind heart. Thank YOU for waitresses that have heart and compassion. Forgive me for not seeing the whole picture. Expand my boundaries.

Today was a Monday which represented why we have a day off once in a while.

It was a very trying day.

Blown forklift hydraulic cylinder oil seal.

Quick trip to Midland.

An opportunity to cover some missed bases from Sunday while repairs were made.

E.t., a driver, calling saying he had thrown the belts on his truck.

Taking Blacksheep to him with another load, trying not to fall behind.

Bringing his truck back to the compound to put a battery charger on it.

Giving Kyle an extension cord to stretch out, so I would know where to park the truck.

Kyle stretching the cord in the middle of the yard, a great distance from the nearest electrical outlet.

Relaying plans to the night crew for their shift.

Coming to my trailer and locking the door.

Priceless.

Today is a welcome day. It is a Sunday, but more importantly for the crews it is a maintenance Sunday. This results in our first day off since October 8. While one crew has been off since last evening, the other went off at seven this morning only to return at one this afternoon to do scheduled maintenance. Tonight at seven the crew that had been working days will come in for the night shift. This schedule will stay in place for the next fourteen days and then we will flip them again.

We have been to town a number of times (in fact a week ago today I was in Wal-Mart at four in the morning), but anytime we are in town it is for parts or supplies that are needed. The required trips sometimes entail stops in Midland and Odessa consisting of seven or eight stops and probably close to two hundred miles. You always feel rushed and never get everything done! Our one goal for a maintenance Sunday is to keep it relaxed and easy going.

Krl has exercised her rights as a female and selected the restaurant for today. The Cattle Baron. And she got no argument from me. I know for a fact though that she is going to be an expensive date for the day because I can already hear her order rolling from her lips, "King Crab legs, please". I am always leary of items listed on the menu that simply are priced, "market price". But she is worth it and she is due a treat!

I'll just eat the salad bar crackers and drink water. (If you believe that "Have I got a deal for you"!).

I decided not to move Kyle Patrick Henry to the night shift. I thought it would be more work for me policing him and keeping him awake than it would be a benefit. I really think it would be a good experience for him. After that decision was made I decided that he would be able to go home Saturday afternoon, spend Sunday and Sunday night and then come back Monday morning early. In fact I made a concession and told him he could leave at five Saturday afternoon, but that I wanted his trailer cleaned before he left. Immediately after I told him this, the cogs began to spin. Kyle's biggest problem is that he is afraid he is going to miss something. He wanted to know what Aunt Krl and I were going to do in town and then began mulling over data. I told him I wanted to know his decision by five.

At almost five-thirty Kyle knocked on my door. "I've decided not to go!", he said. I told him it was a good thing because it was no longer an option, it was after five.

Krl invited him over for supper last evening. I retired early because truck driver had kept me up the previous night, but when Krl came to bed she said Kyle was in hog heaven, he was watching TV and talking on our phone. Why I oughta ......!

Kirby did a decent job in his first start for the 'canes. I hated to see the INT on his last pass attempt, but for the most part all the message board comments seem positive. They seem to think Coach Coker has been polishing the wrong apple for the previous twenty-one games. Way to go Kirb.

Can't believe those Aggies. They are so close.

Hated to see Colt get injured. I didn't really care that the 'horns lost without him.

Today at the jobsite we topped twenty-five thousand bales. This should mark the halfway point of our season. Hopefully we will be done in twenty-five more days and home for the holidays.

Locally, the Bearkats showed everyone why they are the number one six man football team by making the long trek to Fort Davis and beating them Friday night. This gave the Bearkats the district crown and a bye in the first round. Three top teams to watch appear to be Garden City, Meadow, and Richland Springs. Garden City and Meadow are on the same side of the bracket, but if either of them meet Richland Springs it would be in the semi's or finals.

Good job Bearkats, and good luck! You do us proud!

Have a day. We intend to.

FATHER, thank YOU for all the blessings we enjoy. Bless-ed be YOUR name.

Almost a month on the jobsite without internet, and I survived. It seemed like I just couldn't find the time to get it set up. Finally I had that as my goal for yesterday.

Last February the jobsite had been approved for DSL service. By the time they got the modem programmed and to us, there were only a couple of weeks left until we packed up and moved home for the off season. We had already paid for dial up so I never installed the DSL. When we left, Krl placed the telephone service and internet service on vacation. When I unpacked the DSL modem (it was still in the box) and hooked it up it didn't work. Thankfully the ISP had good people in their tech support and after a short while we discovered a splitter problem. Once it was replaced we were up and running. Hopefully the e-mail account will follow suit. For those of you insiders, our user name has remained the same as in past years, the remainder of the address has changed to @crcom.net.

While I had called for the recommended, experienced technician, I ended up working with a new, relatively green techie who was very kind, very courteous and extremely knowledgeable. She was excellent. We are very excited to be back on-line with the world. The techie was very surprised that I had everything that came in the package, all the instructions, all the gateways, submasks, and primary and secondary server addresses.

This post comes as we are nearing the halfway mark in the season. We have already processed over twenty-two thousand bales and expectations are in the fifty-thousand range. A far cry from last year but a welcome number considering the dismal crops many of our friends and associates are experiencing. As with each year here were are presented with a new set of challenges. This year has been one of great difficulty in finding qualified drivers. Thankfully my mainstay is back along with another driver I used twelve years ago. These are mature older men who have a tremendous work ethic and take pride in getting the job done. The remainder of my trucking crew finds only one new addition and the on-site crew has been trimmed by one machine operator (I gave him to the plant, they needed him more than I did) and then bolstered by adding Kyle Patrick Henry.

If anyone had told me that Kyle would last past week one, I would have laughed. I think to everyone's amazement he has done well. It has not been without problems, he would much rather do something fun than do what needs to be done, and many of his life lessons are not worked related but personal issues. This is his first opportunity to "live on his own". Krl and I try not to have home over on successive nights, but it is always of interest to him "what Krl fixed for supper". In the beginning he bought bread and baloney by the gross, and finally Krl and I selected some frozen dinners and his personal favorites microwaveable chicken nuggets! Now if we are going to town he will ask us to pick up frozen dinners yet he still refuses to shop for them himself. I think part of it is that he hates to see money come out of his wallet. He would much rather have the ticket deducted from his pay. Parting with cash is almost more than he can bear! We have housing inspections to hopefully make Kyle want to keep a neat and orderly trailer house. Luckily he has not ever been in his trailer when the housing inspector is there, either a note is left or I relay the findings of the inspection. Kyle had a warning last week and since there is a housing crunch, the inspector had me tell him if he didn't shape up there would be a young woman (named Consuella) and her four kids moving in to help with the housekeeping. The are in need of housing and Kyle needs to get some housekeeping done. Kyle is not too keen on the idea. I told him I was going to make an appointment to have his picture made with Consuella and the kids for their Christmas cards. He just wanted to die off. Krl is still doing the math trying to figure out why the number of jeans exceed the number of socks and underwear Kyle leaves for her to launder. Last night I held his feet to the fire, quizzing him and he finally fessed up that he had not been truthful about showering every night. Upon this revelation I sent him to his trailer. This may have been an extremely harsh punishment as he was still trying to watch our television as I closed our front door.

Krl and I did have one good laugh. It seems last time she did Kyle's laundry a pair of her pajamas got mixed in. Kyle wore the top as a work shirt. It was a Victoria Secret jersey t-shirt. He was probably really wondering about the long underwear! Oh well, we didn't have the heart to tell him!

Kyle has voiced to Krl and to some of the truck drivers his desire to go home for a few days. I am trying to figure out how to deal with this. Sunday is a maintenance and he could go home Saturday night and then come back early Monday morning. We'll have to see. I may have to speak with his Mom before making this call.

Load coordination has been a nightmare here this year. The GM was out with hip replacement and the board of directors sold a lot of loads of cottonseed, more than they can ever deliver and now it has fallen in to me to try to make everyone happy. It is near impossible. I had multiple trucks come in this morning and one asked me how long he would have to wait. Ten hours was my reply. Another trucker tried to go around everyone, only to be caught by me and sent to the end of the line. Shame on him. It isn't much fun for me either and it sure doesn't make me very popular. It is a simple concept. We ask that they call twenty-four hours before they want to come for their loads. There are only so many loads we can produce in a day and we have on-site trucks that keep us going at night. Out of seven outside trucks in today, only two were courteous enough to make arrangements. None of these outsiders want to run at night or on the weekends.

I have spent more time this year on a truck than I have in the previous eleven years. Actually that is the easiest simplest thing I do.

Thanks to all who have kept in contact. Maybe we can post on a regular basis now. Keep us in your thoughts.

FATHER, if not for YOU we would have given up long ago. Thank YOU for being so much to so many.