Shhh! Go back to sleep. I'm awake, I'll watch things. I can't believe my night is already over.

When is too much information bad?

With the coming of March and tornado season it seems that there are always more "tornado alley" television shows. Some fictional, some documentary.

I understand the need for information for prediction purposes. But I also am realistic that a triangular area beginning with a point and showing a widening area in a particular direction of travel is really a wild ass guess.

When doppler radar was introduced, it was touted to be the end all of radars. Now we have doppler 2. I have never been a fan of doppler because it seems the grid does not fit the map. Either the storms or the towns and communities are not where they say they are! I think they should refer to it as doppler for dopes!

I have no idea how many times I have heard the local stations urge listeners and viewers to take cover or get out of the path of a particular storm. Often times when I hear this I have picked up the phone to check on friends or family and their response is "No, the sun is shining. It looks like that storm went around us". At some point the warnings lose their impact.

I don't think I have ever been scared of weather. I think growing up I was more scared of going into that old dark, musty, storm cellar. I do think I was raised with a respect for weather and its possibilities. I'm not going to say I have never sat in a hallway as a precaution because I have, but parents usually err to the side of caution when it comes to their small children.

On the other hand, I have never understood storm chasers. It just doesn't make sense to me to blatantly disrespect something as powerful and unpredictable as nature. That's like waving the red handkerchief in front of the raging bull.

We laugh when we tell the story about Rian getting home from school one day when weather was very unsettled. He usually had about an hour lapse between when he got home and when one of us would get home. He would normally go to the house, drop off his things, grab a snack and go across the street to a neighbors. This neighbor was teaching him to play chess. On this particular day it was stormy. When Rian was in the house he heard the television weatherman telling residents to head to cover. "Go to an interior room or hallway or get in a bath tub and cover yourself with pillows or a mattress". Rian called the neighbor because now the winds were blowing and weather was happening. She told him to stay in the house and to get in the bath tub. When the brief storm had passed, the neighbor went across the street to check on Rian and take him to her house. What she found was that Rian had followed instructions and taken cover in the tub. She also found that Rian's mother had failed to drain the water. Rian had bought into the warning enough that he had jumped into a tub of water, fully clothed!

I can't wait to tell Reid and Holt about it!

Also during Rian's very young years he saw our home flood twice. I suppose it was because of these experiences he has always been edgy about the weather.

After Rian moved to Lubbock he developed a good friendship with a young man who was an aspiring meteorologist. This friend invited Rian to accompany him on a few storm tracker excursions. I think this probably did a lot for helping Rian understand the volatile weather. For a short while Rian had his own personal weatherman, but this friend has since moved to Tennessee.

I use to love to listen to my grandad as he talked of smelling the weather. Sometimes he would look at the hazy horizon and talk of how unsettled the weather was and issue a warning. "It's going to weather". Of course he used all sorts of tools in his predictions. Sight, smell, and animals, especially snakes. Of course he did live in a time when a person was more self-reliant and observant.

Thing is, he was usually right.

Well, as Monday's go yesterday was one. And that makes for a pretty bad Tuesday.

I know I have complained about being ADD lately, but it just seems like I CANNOT stay on task. I am a diversion waiting to happen. Yesterday I was at my computer early on and I had direction. Not far into my morning my cell phone began to ring. K.O. was back and he was shopping for some equipment. He was needing some dimension information and comparisons. I think he really wanted me to drive to his location but was reluctant to ask because of my patient I was carrying for, plus the fact that he didn't want this to be "on the clock".

My day never got back on track. From that point on it was simply "dog pile on me"! I did have a couple of errands to run mid afternoon. One was to the Federal Building in downtown. This building covers a city block and houses the downtown Post Office, the Federal Courts, and other Federal agencies. It is always a crap shoot when I go there and it doesn't matter where I park, the elevator on that end is going to be "closed for preventative maintenance". I think they have a lookout watching to see where I park. As luck would have it, the only working elevator was outside the Federal Court which means going through the metal detectors and security. These people are really fearful because I carry a pocket knife. They always remember me though because I ask for a receipt for it. I tell them they do not look trustworthy and that it is a lot like the fox standing guard over the chicken coop. They have gotten where they just laugh! When I did arrive in the destination office, I had a person wait on me who was different from the one that waited on me my last trip in. I had picked up all the paperwork, already filled out, at the office yet this new clerk told me it was on the wrong forms. My pulse immediately elevated. This was the same thing that had happened last trip and the other clerk had told me what forms to have the office use. This would mean a drive back across town and then trying to chase people down for signatures. Yuk! We began a discussion and thankfully I was right! She even apologized for getting me excited. She finally processed and stamped the items I had brought in and sent me on my way.

I stopped by the Post Office in South Abilene to pick up office mail for our employer. Vehicle registrations were there. $$$$$. Unless you have registered one, I don't think you would know how expensive it is for one of these large trucks. Add to this all the other taxes they pay and these big rigs should own the road! Registration costs seventeen times more than registering my S-10 pickup, annual inspections cost five times more. Heavy highway use tax is $550 per vehicle per year. Of course none of this makes a truck invisible or immune to roadside checks where the simplest equipment violation will cost you a hundred forty-one dollars. Usually this is a brake adjustment or a burned out light. This is one of those coffer fillers! I think the state uses it as a revenue generator! But that is another blog for another day!

Continuing on my way home I felt lucky and decided to try to put together the millions I need to right everyone's ship, so I whipped in and bought Mega Million and Lotto tickets. As an acquaintance once told me, "Keep swinging for the fences!" Thing is, I am the "whiff king", but if you don't take the chance you'll never know.

Final stop was to pay a utility bill and get Krl some ice cream. I had mentioned earlier how that dreaded high pressure pie sales lady had made me buy a dutch apple pie. Krl has taken a liking to it and during the night she will warm a slice of it and scoop a little ice cream on top. Me, I've had one slice, but I can just look at it and gain weight. Lord knows Krl could stand to gain some.

When I drove into the drive way I began to gather stuff to go into the house. I'm not lazy, but I like to be efficient, so I decided to leave my paperwork and ice cream in the pickup seat and walk to the mailbox. This is where my day really went into the toilet. When I exited my truck my cell phone dropped from my belt. I suppose the seat belt had dislodged it. My only reaction was to try to kick it before it hit the ground, making it a glancing blow instead of a blunt direct hit. I made contact and the phone skittered under the truck. I am so thankful our phone rep saw fit to put my phone in a protective cover and also to suggest the replacement insurance. (I guess when he looked at my old phone he decided I was hard on one. I think it was chipped on every corner and had a cracked display). So I get down on my hands and knees and crawl under the truck to retrieve my phone. Once I have it, I crawl back out and stand up and begin to clip it to my belt when I feel something brush my cheek. I'm not sure what it is and begin to try to grasp it. To be safe I do the deflective kick again. Turns out I didn't have my phone clipped good and it is on the way to the ground again. Now I'm standing there trying to figure out what is going on and why my vision is distorted when I realized one of the lens had popped out of my eye glasses. So one more trip under the pickup to get my phone and my lens. Luckily neither broke. Turns out my glasses frame hold the lens in with what looks like fishing line and it broke. The most expensive pair of glasses I have ever owned, this just shows you don't get what you pay for. Worst part is the optometrist who did these glasses for me is a hundred miles away.

I grabbed the mail and my things from the pickup and hurried to the house before I could self-destruct any more. Once inside I bolted the lock and leaned against the door, thankful that I was safe and secure, confident that if any more parts fell off me, at least they would be confined to the house.

I made a direct line to my old glasses case and put them on. I hate not being able to see. Krl has been quite entertained, looking and laughing at my large lens glasses. Hey, those are the glasses I wore when I "wooed" her! Heh, heh! Who's laughing now?

I think we turned a big corner yesterday in Krl's recovery. We'll know today. When I was back in the house I began preparation for supper. I had promised Krl the MOTHER of all suppers. She felt up to helping with the meal preparation and did some dishes. We'll know if she tried to do too much come morning!

I did oven baked barbecue chicken, Idahoan potatoes, Bush baked beans, corn on the cob and biscuits. It was probably a good thing Krl happened to be in the kitchen. I was getting the beans from the pantry and had retrieved some whole kernel corn as well when Krl asked me how many kinds of corn I was going to fix. Hey, I told you the meal menu gives me fits!

"Leftovers" note, I did fix Krl a ham and cheese omelet with toast and peach preserves. We thought they were the best yet!

Next time I'm at Larry's Better Burger I may borrow one of his restaurant order books, just to yank Krl's chain! What do you think I should charge for a three egg omelet? I had better make it up front because I doubt she'll tip me!

Some people just don't know service when they see it!

Have a day!

FATHER, surround us with YOUR angels.

It is becoming more and more evident that when exposed to repetition, I can learn. Yesterday proved that once again.

Krl 's doctors appointment was at eleven. I had been up and about for quite some time but she seemed to be sleeping pretty well. About forty-five minutes before we needed to leave the house I went to check on her. She was awake, but still on the couch. I got her moving as I returned to finish getting ready.

I guess we are getting goofy. While we were in the examination room waiting for x-rays to be developed I did my impersonation of the doctor.

"Can you move your toes?"

"Your feet are cold but you have a strong pulse, are your feet normally cold?"

"We got some really good pictures today, let's look at them."

"I think everything is looking pretty good. I'll see you back in three weeks. If you need anything call the office. Take this to the front desk."

I was right on except he said two weeks instead of three. I do realize that he is way to professional to say leave your co-pay with my receptionist. That is what he pays her for!

I guess Krl and I could do this exchange at home and avoid having to get out and about and best part is we could keep the insurance co-pay in the family!

The real doctor did say that Krl should see some definite improvement over the next week or so. I sure hope so. He stuck to his guns though and reinforced his three months in a cast theory.

I guess since I have been reminiscing about other childhood experiences I couldn't help but think about my childhood doctor. I was born in a very small rural hospital in Loraine, Texas. (If memory serves me correctly it had eight beds before they "added on"). Facts are, my two brothers and two of my sisters were born there as well. Odd thing is Krl was born there too, four years apart from me. Same hospital, same doctor. Four of the five of us siblings were delivered by the same doctor (Dr. "Bruce"), same nurse, and my Dad used to say, "same insurance man". TJ the youngest was delivered by the other doctor on staff (Dr. Terry).

I can remember as a child, dreading trips to the doctor because Dr. "Bruce" believed in shots. These weren't injections, these were shots. Looking back it seemed as though the examination room was very similar to a torture chamber. The small metal examination chair with the dreaded sterile storage container located above and behind the chair (it might have been an old version of an autoclave for sterilization) that when opened would release an evil smell and vapor as the doctor prepared his healing concoction for administration. Dr. "Bruce" believed in preventative medicine. Needless to say, I didn't. If one of us was sick, he would line up the whole crew and give us all a shot. It use to really make me mad when one of the other siblings got sick. I think the shots may have been to separate the really ill people from the fakers. As for me, I always faked being not sick! Dr. "Bruce" was pretty smart though, on his staff he had one nurse quick enough to catch us and another large enough to hold us down. If I could get out of that exam room, the game was on.

I will never know why someone didn't call the authorities! Where was CPS?

Seriously, those people in the waiting room should have been paying for that show. Now that was entertainment!

I wish I could find a doctor like Dr. "Bruce". He was quite the doctor. I understand specialists, I see the need for them. I just think that often times today's practitioners run you around the circle to spread the wealth, especially if you have insurance, medicare or medicaid! Dr. "Bruce" should have had a "S" on the front of his shirt and worn a cape because he could do it all.

I can forgive Dr. Bruce for the shots, I had a pretty healthy childhood. What I can't forgive is when he would mop our throats. Now that was terrible. The doctor wasn't a glutton for punishment though, he would send us home, instructing Mom to repeat this the next three days. I think he couldn't stand to have another bout that quickly. Usually he would send us home with orders to mop our throats, Mom would enlist the help of Grandpa. That was some bad stuff. You had to figure that if they had an eight inch long "Q-tip", a bottle of orange looking medicine that reeked of metal, and they postioned you in front of the toilet before they began, nothing that happened was going to be good. It was experiences like this that developed my superior gag reflex.

I may have been healthy because I was too scared to be sick.

I wonder what an office visit cost back then?

I did spend a portion of my afternoon in the office. End of month means reports to be completed. Late in the afternoon I had to get out of the house to go to the post office and to pick up some meds for Krl.

I listened to a conversation between a postal worker and a customer. The postal worker was telling the customer the U. S. Postal Service had put in for another rate increase. That's about right.

I have discovered that when it comes to city utilities (water, sewer, trash pick up) there is no difference when we are home or when we are gone. I don't think they are reading the meter. It reminds me of a time when I had a huge flower pot sitting on the meter lid, they didn't read it forever until a new meter maid asked me where our meter was located.

I think back to a conversation I had with my brother. It was during a very bleak and trying time with the struggles of the family business. He was trying to give me a pep talk and said "Five years from now, we'll probably look back on this and laugh." My response to him was, "Maybe. But what if these are the good old days?"

Now that is scary!

A quick "left over" follow up. For lunch yesterday, Krl and I had ham sandwiches from the left over ham. For supper (we may live in the city where they have dinner, but I'm from the country) we ate our own version of cobb salads, with diced ham. Heh, heh. I'm getting the hang of this left over thing. If I fix Krl an omelet tomorrow it may be ham and cheese. If I get a chance I may look for a ham salad recipe. HHhhmmm.

I've "hammed" it up enough.

Have a day!

FATHER, oh happy day!

I've had my three hours sleep. Up and at 'em!

Any weather change would be positive after Saturday. Sunday was very welcome.

I talked with Rian and he was preparing for his catering event (which was Sunday, I had thought it was Saturday and sure felt bad for him). While running his errands Saturday he observed visibility in Lubbock was the distance from one telephone pole to the next one. He said it was horrible.

Saturday night I had sorted and washed some butter beans and left them to soak over night. This was a new experience for me. Although Krl cooks them a few times a year, I have always been a red bean man. Yeah, bring on the "primo pintos"! With Krl coaching from the couch, I pressed forward. When I did grocery inventory I had come across a small boneless ham and I penciled in ham, butter beans and cornbread for a meal.

Hey, I told you I struggle with the menu.

I can remember a time growing up that you could tell what day of the week it was by what my Mom cooked. Pepa could give you the run down. Monday, left over Sunday roast, Tuesday hotdogs, and so on. My Mom has always been a wizzard at stretching food and utilizing leftovers. She would as soon cook for forty as to cook for her and Pepa.

I have a big problem cooking for just two, there are always leftovers. The problem is usually what to do with my leftovers. But I am learning. Krl and I laughed the other day because we ate colossal cheeseburger until it was all gone! I think it took three meals, but then it has always sold well. It did this cook's heart good! Krl is always looking for new ideas as she thinks we often get into a rut. We'll alternate weeks, one with lasagna the next with spaghetti. On rare occasions I will do shrimp and pasta with burgundy spaghetti sauce. I love hamburger helper, Krl doesn't. I love hot dogs, Krl doesn't. Krl loves grill cheese sandwiches, I don't, even though I cook a good one. We can't even agree on tacos, she likes soft. I like crisp! We are in agreement on fried food, we eat very little of it. Our preference would be grilled, but our regular fare would probably be baked.

During the years at the jobsite prior to Krl going there with me, I found I could use left overs to stuff baked potatoes. Left over meat and spaghetti sauce, bake a potato and stuff it with a portion of the left overs. Taco meat, same thing. Krl used to laugh because I would sometimes do a baked potato and some broccoli cheese and rice mix and stuff the potato with the rice mixture. She would tell me that's two from the same food group.

Hey, my four food groups are meat, potatoes, gravy and bread! What else is there?

Not really. We do try to eat healthier fares. Krl and both like vegetables. Shoot, we even eat broccoli. As we age it seems our diet includes more and more produce. I don't do desserts very often. I'm not into ice cream. I can take a pint and stretch it a month. If I have a weakness, it would be banana nut bread. I have never learned to cook it and that is on purpose. Krl's vice is cherry popsicles, one bite at a time. She can make one last for days. (Where's the fun in that!)

Enough from the kitchen. Tomorrow we'll cover the laundry room. I think the General is getting ready for another cleaning offensive. She sure gets mean after a doctor visit. Upside is we may get to use her parking permit! (For the record, I did start her day Sunday by making her an omelet and toast).

We go back to the orthopedic surgeon today. I'm sure more x-rays will be taken. I hope we can see some improvement. These regular office visits and co-pays are getting old. We had been trying to get things in order for Krl's dental work that had been scheduled in January for February 13. She broke her leg on the ninth. The dental work has been postponed because she can't dangle her leg down for a three hour root canal procedure. Maybe we can regain some dental funds by the time she can sit for the procedure.

I have eliminated two more things from the possibilities of what I'm going to be when I grow up. I'm not going to be a crook or a professional sports franchise owner. I'm not smart enough to be a crook. I just don't think like that. I'm too fair to be a franchise owner. I was raised with a good heart.

I have a hard time reading the sports reports of the Chicago Bears contract negotiations with Lovie Smith. Last year the club declined to offer him a contract extension. Their stance was, "O.K., you got us out of the basement of the league, now prove it was no fluke!" A year later he took the team to the Super Bowl, even though the lost. Lovie's record as a Head Coach is outstanding. He is scheduled to earn $1.45 million in 2007. Coordinators are making more than that. In fact Dom Capers, a coordinator of the Dolphins is making $2.7 million. Bobby Petrino, a new NFL coach signed a five year $24 million dollar contract. One of the arguments floating about is that the McCaskey family who own the Bears think they should be able to discount what other coaches make in the league because they gave Lovie the opportunity to become a head coach. Speculation is that when Forbes releases their NFL franchise information, for the past year the Bears will show a profit of $51.5 million dollars. I can't help but believe that will go up after the Bear's successful run to the Super Bowl.

My usual line is, "I'd do it for half!"

In this case, "I wouldn't do it for double!"

Make 'em pay Lovie!

Come on Chicago, do the right thing!

My buddy K.O., his wife D.O., and another couple left Friday morning and drove to Breckenridge, Colorado for the weekend. I told him they were nutz, with weather the way it has been up there they would probably get snowed in. He just laughed. Just for grins I decided to look at the weather there. They had a blizzard Saturday, dropping 12 to 18 inches of snow with gale force winds building snow drifts up to seven feet deep. Large segments of the Interstate Highway system are closed. This was K.O.'s first excursion to a winter playland. When we had talked I told him I remembered when the Jaycees from my hometown went snow skiing, the local apparel stores thrived. We had the best snowsuits available. When we arrived on the slopes we were stylin'! It didn't take long until everyone was about to melt down. All of the locals were wearing jeans and sweatshirts with long johns underneath. They sprayed their clothes with scotchguard to stay dry. It is a different kind of cold. However, yesterday the temperature in Breckenridge was 18 degrees.

Actually, if I can keep my feet and hands warm I can probably deal with almost anything.

Have a day!

FATHER, keep us centered, keep us focused. Keep us from extremes!

It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

Yesterday's preview was courtesy of Mother Nature! Stay tuned for the feature presentation! March is coming!

That was a nasty day. The only good thing I can say about yesterday is it is over.

I believe Abilene may have finally gotten a weatherman. I am very impressed with Dan Edwards of KTAB. His resume includes a degree from Texas A & M and his previous employer was the Weather Channel. So far Dan has been pretty accurate. I know right after he arrived he made a long term forecast calling for snow and ice and no one else was predicting it. Turn out he was right on. He had warned us about wind yesterday, gusts to sixty miles per hour. Yesterday's wind topped out at fifty-nine. My hope is that he doesn't begin pre-empting programming. I am very happy with a warning or alert in the corner of my television screen and the occasional runner across the bottom. I sure wouldn't mind it if he could get the Doppler grid more accurate either. (I have always thought it was about ten or twelve miles off from actual locations.)

Krl and I both believe that when it is your time it is your time, regardless of what you do, and we just go to bed. Ignorance is bliss and I'm pretty blissful!

My Saturday began with moving Krl's plants back inside. We were already experiencing a delightful breeze (if there is any such thing) and I could see the red hue building in the West. By the time I left the house on errands, "West Texas" was here. Visibility one mile. I cannot believe the accumulation of "red" dirt in protected areas. Our back porch is covered in a layer of it!

Krl and I didn't need a whole lot from the grocery store, I was really thankful. I'm not too comfortable with this new once a month pay. Since we didn't need too much, it allowed me to do a little "smart" purchasing in advance as some items were on special. When I walked in the grocery store I was greeted by a bubbly woman who was selling "coke floats" with all the proceeds going to Muscular Dystrophy. $1. I told her thanks but no thanks and just gave her a dollar donation. A short distance away was my favorite pie and pastry sales person. She is delightful and very personable. I always tease her about her high pressure sales tactics. She wasn't playing fair, she had commandeered the fresh bread warming oven and had her pies warm. "Imagine this with a scoop of vanilla ice cream", she said as she handed me a small cup with a bite of Dutch Apple pie in it. I'm going to accuse her of being on salary plus commission! I ended up stopping back by and placing a pie in my shopping cart. I was headed to get my last item when I ran into the store director (used to they just called them managers). I've frequented this store for eighteen years and we have developed a casual friendship. After we had greeted each other I continued a short distance to retrieve my last item. This store had only began carrying this brand again a few weeks ago. I had voiced my protests to the store director when they replaced the brand name with a store brand. Since I believe in equal opportunity, I decided to back track and tell the store director how pleased I was with the re-stocking of said item. I think he was surprised, but I felt it was only fair as I had taken the time to find him and complain when they removed the brand name last year. Recently Rian and I had a conversation about some condiments he was needing for his catering business. I made an inquiry to the store director and we ended up walking all the way across the store to view their inventory. We visited as we made our way across the building and he told me he had grown up in Lubbock and was sure glad he wasn't there for the sandstorm. I concur.

I was watching a television movie yesterday and there was a scene that had a group of men playing poker, drinking beer and smoking cigars. The cigars triggered another trip down memory lane.

W. W. Shields Red and White Grocery. Located on Cypress Street in beautiful scenic downtown Roscoe, Texas. I have many memories of "Bill" Shields, Mr. Allen, and "Butch" Graham. (Of course "Butch" was the butcher in the store). You could run in and pick up whatever you needed and sign the ticket then on Saturday when Mom was buying her weekly groceries, Mr. Shields would produce the charge tickets and add them to the tab. He always had a cigar in the side of his mouth. I don't know if I can ever remember it being lit, but it was always lodged in the corner. I wonder if he slept with it there. One of the most coveted items a young man could have was an empty cigar box. Each visit to the store, I would survey the boxes on the shelf, seeing how near to empty the boxes were and also noticing who might be in the store that might make a purchase. A boy could store all of his treasures in one of these cigar boxes. It wasn't if, but when the paper hinge on the lid finally gave it up, canvas tape could extend the life of the box and preserve it's integrity. For a precious possession like this every effort would be made to preserve and prolong. A really neat touch was to add a small nail in the lid to keep it shut. Yep, marbles, baseball cards, money. Anything near and dear could be found there. If you were fortunate enough to have a cigar box at school for your supplies you were really "cool". Years later ,when shopping for school supplies for my children, I found that some innovative marketing manager had begun selling small cardboard boxes with ABC's and visual references to pencils and crayolas stensiled on the lid. I'm sure by now these have been replaced with a new and improved plastic model. For some reason it just isn't the same. These new fangle boxes will never be special like a "King Edward" cigar box. Other possibilities were "White Owl", "Muriel", "Roi-tan", and "Dutch Masters" just to name a few.

Oh, for the good old days.

Well, if you were fortunate enough to see your real estate holdings "increase" yesterday congratulations. If you saw them "decrease", hold fast. There will be another wind on another day!

Have a day!

FATHER, I am so blessed. Thank YOU!

Whatever advances we had made the previous two days seemed to be negated yesterday. During the night I had checked on Krl and she appeared to be sleeping soundly, laying on her side. For whatever reasons, her leg has really given her fits today. It sure makes me think we need to think seriously about a cast that goes above her knee!

When she got her first cast she wanted a black one. Her reason was it would go with more things! (They didn't have brown!) If they cut off her "hot pink" cast and put on a toe to mid thigh cast and she asks for a black one, I'm going to Victoria's Secret to get her a black garter belt! Woo hoo!

I woke up, went into the home office and waited until I heard Krl moving about. When I knew she and the houndgirls were awake I began my routine. Dog food, check. Water, check. Krl's b/p med, check. Then I decided to practice my omelet making skills again. You know, practice makes perfect.

As in any project, preparation is key! Having my mixture of breakfast sausage, peppers, onions and tomatoes cooked and waiting in a sealed container makes my omelet breakfast quick and easy. I would bet start to finish, I did our breakfast in five minutes or less. I am so domesticated. I'm like a carefully choreographed ballet. Neat and orderly. I did throw Krl a curve and made today's sampling with colby jack cheese (and plenty of it). Heh, I may be a short order cook in the making!

I will never forget one time when Rian and his girlfriend at that time, went to early church with us and returned to the house for brunch. On the way home Krl and I were talking about making "egg rolls". This was the name we gave to a goofy kind of breakfast that I invented that consisted of a thin, almost crepe like egg sprinkled with ground sausage that had been browned, then sprinkled with cheese. This conglomeration was then rolled tightly giving it a neat appearance of layers. Top it with picante and it was pretty good. It was a train wreck in the kitchen though because I would use three skillets. One for sausage and two for the thin crepe like eggs. (I would put the eggs in one skillet, cover it with another and invert it when the bottom was done.) O.K., I got off task, there. The funny story was that Rian's girlfriend talked with him and told him she didn't like egg rolls, she just wanted sausage and eggs. It's no wonder she didn't work out!

Memama and Pepa were in Abilene for lab work yesterday. They had a full schedule of stops, but they did come by to see Krl. Memama brought Krl some bath jell or lotion. I'm sure that it was a treat for Krl to visit with someone other than me. I sent Pat's dishes back to her via Memama and Pepa and they were probably just out of sight when I recalled Pat had asked me to send any books I was through with for Aunt Anna Joyce. Maybe next trip. I'm sure Krl wouldn't mind me sending some of the books out of the house.

My challenge of the day was technology. Trc had given us a VCR/DVD player a year ago and we had never used it. Fact is, it was hooked up, but we had never used it. I know, Hollywood hates us. Actually, the VCR/DVD player in the spare bedroom gets used occasionally, but we aren't really big into movies. Usually we just wait until it comes out on television. I had picked up "Man of the Year" earlier in the week for when Krl was feeling like something different. We usually like anything Robin Williams is in with the exception of his stand up acts. His stand up acts can be pretty raunchy. It seems that when he has a script, he can follow a direction. I am sure that he is both a blessing and a nightmare to direct as he is a master of improvisation. I once read that when Robin came on the scene in Mork and Mindy the writers wrote an outline or theme and it was winged from there! Back to my story, sorry I'm ADD. When I inserted the movie into the DVD player, it didn't work. I checked out the hookups and everything appeared in order. Still nothing. Finally I decided to try something different. Same result. Being from the farm I can usually make something happen, even if my tactics are unorthodox. This was the case and I did get the movie going. Three times in fact. Krl dozed off once, and got distracted another time. Right now, the movie is playing for a fourth time. I'm betting she dozes off again!

I had no idea what to expect from the movie. But I did enjoy it. I would vote for Tom Dobbs as I am fed up with politics. I am also fed up with big business that will sacrifice honesty and integrity for the bottom line, regardless of how it affects others. I'm not sure, I think the evil actor is Jeff Goldblum, I have never cared for him and this movie didn't change that. A company employee had discovered a glitch in the voting machines being used in the national elections and when she reported it to her superiors she was told thanks but no thanks. She was told that the only bad that could come out of this was for the company, that it made no difference that the election winner wasn't the person that Americans elected. The employee was fired and discredited, accused of being on drugs and such. Eventually she went to President elect Tom Dobbs, the comedian turned politician, and told him he didn't win the election. A game of strategy and damage control began with the computer company trying to blame the problem on a disgruntled druggie former employee rigging the election. Dobbs ended up on Saturday Night Live and exposed it all, living up to being a great American and what is expected from elected officials. Honesty and integrity.

It makes me wonder how often things like this happen. How often is the public shorted for personal gain. It is really scary and sad. I'm afraid this happens more often than not. How often do big businesses bully small businesses and individuals simply because they have more resources.

I feel like I am being bullied right now by Cingular and AT & T. In September of last year they had called offering a tremendous program for cell phones. I didn't talk with them, I referred this to the office manager as my cell phone is used primarily for my job. They were told that any service change would be contingent upon retaining telephone numbers. A call was received, a message left on the answering machine by their marketing department, "Your new cell phones have shipped". The office manager responded to their call telling them no-one had authorized this. The new phones arrived with new numbers and a barrage of follow up phone calls began urging us to charge the phones and turn them on to activate them. We didn't. In fact the office manager continued talking to them for two more months telling them the deal hinged on keeping the old numbers. Finally our office manager went far enough up the chain to talk with a Cingular manager who was honest and ethical. She told us that what we had laid out as a requirement was not possible for their company to do because they weren't licensed to do business in the area our numbers were from. She also said that their employees knew this fact and should have told us. She told us to return the phones and gave us a RMA number. The office manager did (with the phones still in the original shipping box) and the following month MY personal phone bill (land line) had a $598 Cingular charge on it. The bill I received yesterday showed a partial credit, but a remaining balance of $235 for early termination. I don't think so. I never even discussed this with them and now they are threatening to report this on MY social security number and telling me it will appear on my credit report. I really think it is a case of sour grapes because a month ago Krl changed our home telephone over to cable phone (kept our old number too). I feel like David taking on Goliath so I'm going to practice up on my slingshot!

Give me a physical address. I've got an Azz whoopin' to dole out!

On a positive note, the company ended up changing to Alltel and it has been a very good experience. By the way, they ported the old numbers over!

One of my sidelines this week has been plant doctor. I moved all of Krl's plants from the entry way atrium to the front sidewalk. I've been giving them a big dose of fresh air and sunlight. Even watered 'em. It appears I will have to move them back in today. We're going to be awfully close to freezing and frost tonight. Some of these plants have known Krl longer than I have.

Late yesterday the phone rang and it was Krl's ex, Trc's Dad. We had seen him at Christmas over at Trc's house. He is pretty much a weasel. Always has been, always will be. He hadn't expected me to answer, I think he meant to call Krl's cell phone. His latest product he is pushing is an all natural Aloevera/vitamin supplement. He had decided after seeing Krl at Christmas she needed to be on this supplement regiment. Of course this is a pyramid program and it's cost is way more than we've got. Krl had been very courteous. I guess when I answered the phone he lost his concentration and began to wing it. He began making his sales spiel and I just listened. I didn't interact and you could tell it made him even more uncomfortable. Before it was all over he was assuring me this would fix just about everything wrong with Krl. In fact he even told me that if the doctor told us three months in a cast, with this supplement it could cut that time by a third. I told him I was not that familiar with his product but that I would tell Krl he had called. When Krl woke up I told her about the phone call and his sales pitch to me. I didn't take what he said seriously but she did and was very offended.

Before she would turn loose of it she had to call and give him an earful!

I'll bet we don't have to ask to be put on the "do not call" list at that telemarketer.

Well, that's my blog fix. Have a day!

FATHER, closer to thee.

After yesterday I felt better about things in general. I didn't achieve anything monumental, but things seem to be coming together.

One of my first things to do was a little plumbing. Faucet washers. Often after we are gone for extended periods this is the case. I had picked up a package of washers and located some of my tools. I alerted Krl that I was going to turn off the water for a brief time. Just after I extracted the first valve from the housing I could hear my cell phone. I made a mad dash through the house trying to get to it before the caller hung up. I picked up just in time to hear the caller hang up. Using caller ID I called them back. Long story short I talked on the phone longer than my repair project should have taken. I finished up the repair and turned the water back on. I tightened the stem packings and may have over done Krl's tub because she had a problem with it later. I will have to see.

Krl found the elusive prescription for the handicapped parking permit and I took it with me when I left the house. I was a little surprised when I got to the tax assessor collectors. I went ahead and took proof of insurance with me because it seems like they can't do anything without it. I handed over the Rx from the doctor and the lady began asking questions.

Is this for you? You don't look handicapped.

No. This is for my wife.

What is her problem?

She is going to be in a cast for three more months.

So it is a mobility issue?

Yes, I would say so.

What is her driver's license number?

Huh?

I don't know Krl's license number. It is all I can do to remember my pertinent numbers! Finally the lady skipped to the bottom of the form, made an X and told me to sign there and asked if I wanted one or two placards.

Give me two!

That'll be ten dollars!

I guess they charge extra for disabilities. That just doesn't seem right.

On the way home I went to Circuit City. I have been mulling over the Black Sheep stereo saga once again. I had been told that Circuit City had more inventory and better educated personnel that could help me out. Can't prove it by me! A young man was quick to meet me, I told him what I was doing and he told me to bring the truck in and they would tell me what I need. Now that would be a train wreck. How can they tell me what I need if I don't know what I want? When I told him I wanted to look at speaker boxes he told me they were in the warehouse. He said if I would tell him what speakers I wanted he could tell me what box I needed. Call me crazy, but the way I look at it if I know what size speaker box I can use then I can find a speaker that fits it. He even went so far as to tell me they could put some really large speakers under the back seat. I told him they would have to be really good because this truck didn't have a backseat. In our initial exchange I had told him what I was working on and space was an issue. I think listening is a lost art.

I think I'm going back to Wal Mart. At least they just show you what they got and aren't pressuring you into something you don't want.

It sure makes a Walkman look good.

I think my patient may have turned the corner yesterday. I'm not sure, but I do know one of us did. Actually when I walked by the couch earlier this morning she was sleeping on her side, and that is a good sign. I've been trying to be helpful but not make her feel like she is helpless. I also think it has to be refreshing for her to have the parking permit, even though she probably doesn't want to go anywhere. She can. I think I may look around on the internet and see if I can find a simulator for driving those electric carts around in the store. Training is essential!

I am going to issue a cast(er) call. I need to re-cast my office chair. As some of you are aware this chair is about forty or fifty years old. It had to be a Cadillac when it was new because the mechanisms are phenomenal. In fact, I thing they would rival some of the top of the line SteelCase chairs on the market, and they've got some good products. This chair was at one time the chair of the president of the local bank in the town I grew up in. He was a real banker, not like the modern day bankers who look at numbers and don't ever see the people. Oh, he could analyze numbers too, but he knew people and believed in ideas and innovation. He was conservative, but having grown up in the bank, advancing from teller to majority owner and President, he never lost sight of the fact that the bank was the result of it's patrons. These modern day bankers seem to forget that fact. Anyhow, this gentleman was a family friend, and when he died his son sold some of his office equipment to my Mom. One of the items was this chair. I pestered and pestered her for it and after they encountered some caster problems, she finally relented. It seems that the casters this chair needs are not available anymore so Dennis at AP&S improvised and adapted some new style casters. Problem is they won't stay tight. So later today I am going to remove all the casters and then re-install them using larger screws coated with gorilla glue. Ahrrr! I caught an old show of Tim the tool man!

My friend K.O., his wife, and another couple are leaving this morning driving to Colorado. They'll be back Monday. I must be getting old because I can't justify the miles for the return. Of course my knees don't like snow skiing either. Anyway, better them than me.

Have a day!

FATHER, thank YOU for sticking with me and for turning things around.

Whew!

Wednesday was an educational day. I learned that there is a lot of tile floor surface in this house! I got busy cleaning and it took most of my day. And I didn't even get totally through. I can kind of tell when Krl feels the house needs some attention. So, I got the main portion of the house swifted and mopped. I just lack my bedroom and bath. I had to stop because I realized there was some chemistry going on between my mop and I, and I just couldn't trust myself.

Use to be when we had carpet, the linoleum areas were my cleaning job. Krl has always told me that I wield a really wicked mop. Of course Krl is a master motivator, she could have been a cheerleader! Now that our home is tiled it is a lot like color by number. I have reference lines and everything. Krl has watched and tells me I mop forward and back, side to side. I don't know what's different about that. It's the only way I have ever mopped. I do know I press really hard. But that little clean squeak is rewarding when I walk across the floor.

Ouch, my back is stiff!

Late in the day I got out. I had to make the pharmacy for some meds the doctor called in for Krl and I needed to go to the post office. I had planned on also going to the county tax assessor collector's office to pick up a temporary handicapped parking permit. The doctor had given us a prescription for one. I wasn't interested until he told us Krl was looking at three more months in a cast! However, the best laid plans sometimes don't work out. It seems we have a gremlin in our house. The prescription is missing. In addition, Tuesday when I was getting ready to go to DPS for my license renewal I had asked Krl for my social security card. My card has become very faded and brittle from years of being carried in my wallet so I removed it and entrusted it to Krl for safe keeping. She has a small black card holder which she carries in her purse. It is perfect for keeping and protecting credit cards, licenses and any other items similar in size. I had retrieved Krl's purse for her to find my social security card because I don't do purses and besides she can usually find whatever she is looking for very quickly. This task became a little more drawn out as she gradually emptied her purse. No little black card holder. I returned to where I had retrieved her purse to search but with no luck. We began to think about the last time we remembered having it out and recalled it was during the day we spent at the doctor's office and emergency room. In fact that night when I went to the pharmacy from H-E-L-L located across the street from H-E-B we had a problem finding it as her insurance card is kept in the card holder, so I ended up using her key chain ID. While I was out and about yesterday, I decided to look through my pickup. I looked between the seats, under them and behind, but with no luck. I was locking the truck and closing the door when I happened to glance down into the storage area located in the door and saw something. A small black card holder. Somehow during our day the card holder had escaped from Krl's purse and landed in the door. Lucky us! However, no prescription has surfaced.

I sure hope some young teenager doesn't get the prescription and abuse it! If I go to the store and there is some sporty car in the handicapped parking with a stereo that is really thumping, I will know!

February has really flown by. I could hardly believe it when I picked up the office mail and found monthly bills and reporting forms already waiting.

My patient had a decent day. She is having some problem getting comfortable. She did help in the kitchen and I think it was good therapy. I was cooking up a colossal cheeseburger and she cut up some of the veggies and opened some of the "add ons". This is the scrumptiously delicious delicacy that my old college roommate's dad taught me to make. It has always been popular with the kids and grandkids and although it is a hassle to make, it is fun. Krl and I finished putting the meat filling in and began attaching and folding the crescent rolls to the center and sealing the seams. It is really enjoyable working with Krl in the kitchen. One of the major differences with Krl and I is that I clean at the end, she cleans as we go. By the time I had placed our masterpiece in the oven, she had emptied the sink and loaded the dishwasher. What a team!

With only six days left in the month I have begun to put together a list of "things to do". I suppose that if there were any problems with my employer's W-2's or 1099's the employees/contractors would have contacted the office by now. I only fielded one inquiry, and it was quickly dealt with. Today I just might complete that project and print the W-3 and 1096 transmittals so I can get it in the mail! I think out of all my duties, W-2's and 1099's are my least favorite. I would much prefer a federal sales tax, although I am sure business owners would like to cut my tongue out!

Earlier in the week I had a call from K.O.. He told me that they had dispatched Pepa's truck on its first load the previous day but so far their experience with Star, the truck driver, had not been a good one. She is the driver I have blogged about who likes to play both sides against the middle, using her being female when it is convenient. As it turned out she said she overslept, got lost, got stuck turning around, had to call a tow truck ($300), was 200 miles out of route, and four hours away when it was her delivery time making it impossible for her to make it for her next load pick up, so the broker took the load back. Then she wanted to be upset when they were having to look for another load for her. Nope, I don't think that's a very good start either. Fact is, I tried to call her in the middle of all of this and she didn't take or return my call.

You got a lot of "splaining" to do!

Have a day!

LORD lift me up!

Well, well. The Abilene smokers exceeded the needed number of signatures on their recall petition and they met the deadline for turning it in. Now the election office will verify that the names are valid and residents of Abilene.

I don't really expect the petition to do much of anything. They may get a new election but I don't think the results will be any different.

I signed the petition. In fact I signed it the very first day, number six on the list. I'm not a smoker, its been six years now. I signed because I think the process is flawed. I think smokers have just as many rights as non-smokers.

My solution would be this. The city council has taken us back to square one. Moving from there, businesses should be allowed to make their own determination of smoking or non-smoking. If they choose to be a smoking establishment they must have designated areas for smoking and non-smoking. All businesses must prominently display a declaration outside the business and also in the entry, proclaiming their status.

Patrons would determine if they choose to enter the business or not. If a smoker chose to enter a non-smoking establishment they did so voluntarily and accepted the terms. If a non smoker chose to enter a smoking establishment they did so willingly and accepted the terms.

Business owners would be able to make the determination for their own business's welfare. With the current city ordinance some business owners claim they will go out of business. If non smokers are correct these businesses will survive or they were already on the verge of going out prior to the ordinance.

If non smokers boycott establishments that choose to allow smoking it should affect those business's bottom line.

Basically my solution is to make the ordinance one of posting a business status, allowing businesses to choose and then allowing patrons to choose.

May the right choice thrive!

I am often alarmed at how politicians think we must be protected from ourselves. That seems to be opposite of what led people to come to this country.

This mornings newspaper had an article of proposed ordinances, many of which were petty in my opinion. One wanted ten percent of each property to be dedicated to landscaping. Another called for requirements for a ten foot landscaped border between the business and the street.

Another article concerned the Development Corporation of Abilene and their effort to bring businesses and industry to Abilene.

I understand planning and zoning. I understand neighborhood guidelines and requirements. I also know that when I drive to a manufacturer, warehouse or "heavy" commercial business, I do not expect to see or walk through a rose garden.

I sometimes ask myself if I were a large business would I want to locate in Abilene. Maybe ..... maybe not!

I sometimes wonder why certain businesses have chosen not to enter the Abilene area. I guess one benefit of living at the jobsite a large portion of the year allows us to experience other cities of similar size to Abilene. There are definite differences.

I spoke with Pat yesterday, she and Hag had gone to Midland to meet with an attorney. I told them if I had known they were going out there I would have ridden along just to eat at the Cattle Baron! She laughed and said they didn't go there this time, but last time they did. She also informed me that the Cattle Baron has opened a restaurant in Lubbock.

My driver's license expired on my birthday. I had gone by the DPS office twice to renew them and felt I could come back later when I wouldn't have to wait. Yesterday I returned and waited. Over an hour. The line went out their door and curled around the entry way. I decided not to renew the hazmat on my license. I can always add it on. Sixty-eight dollars to renew. For that price I should be entitled to a bigger portion of the highways and bi-ways! I may drive in the middle!

While I was out I did do a few errands. Krl had mentioned that she wanted to see Robin William's Man of the Year. It was released yesterday. I went to three stores before I found it. Of course I was trying to combine my trip and get everything at one stop. I'm not that lucky!

My patient had a bad day! She was very irritable and nothing suited her. She told me she couldn't do this three months. I told her we would do whatever we have to do. I didn't have a good day either. I probably wasn't as understanding and supportive as I should have been. Well, we reset to zero to begin a new day.

I told you that even the eggs were holding their breath in our house, well I sacrificed three of them yesterday. I tried out the new omelet pan. I had cooked some sausage, peppers, onions, and tomatoes and used this mixture along with some cheese for filling! It was the best looking omelet I have ever made. Taste has never been in question. I think my biggest problem in the past had been making them too large with too much filling. Even with scaling it down Krl and I split it.

Well, have a day!

FATHER, help!

I was very disappointed to see the MSN headlines today. It read Colts running back arrested for DUI. I wouldn't wish that on anyone, but I was crossing my fingers that it was Joseph Adai. It wasn't. That's one thing about reaching the pinnacle, the only way to go is down. Funny thing is people choose different paths and rates of descent. Much to my dismay, it was Dominic Rhodes in trouble in Indianapolis. I guess after he went to Disney World he stopped at a bar. 81 mph in a 55 mph zone. You have to believe that a poor decision by Dominic could affect the remainder of his career. He just came through with a stellar performance in the Super Bowl and is an unrestricted free agent. Ka-ching! $$$$$$$$. You can probably take off about half those dollar signs now. That was dumb Dom, I expected more from you. I'm not going to be judgemental about drinking because I like to imbibe as much as the next guy, but you have to be responsible.

Other headlines I read this morning said that Janaweed militias were gathering in Western Darfur and their intentions were not known. Baloney. Four years of killing, raping and pilaging. I don't think they have had a sudden change of heart. It does make me wonder what "W" uses as a benchmark to make decisions. We all know he is trigger happy and eager to get into a conflict as long as he is far removed from it. You would think he could spare one air strike to thin the Janaweed numbers and hopefully give them consequences to consider.

I ran a few errands yesterday afternoon late. The last one was delivering Birthday gifts to Kat. She was very excited! Eight years old!

Krl and I went to the doctor yesterday. For the time being she is on weekly appointments to monitor her bone placement in her leg. Yesterday the doctor didn't deliver any good news, although it could have been worse. No surgery, so that is good. However he told us that the larger bone in Krl's leg is one of the most painful bones that you can break. I think we have figured this out. The next statement was even more dis-heartening. It IS the slowest bone in the body to heal. He told us that he thought we were looking at three months from yesterday. That really depressed Krl and I was giving her a pep talk as we waited to schedule our appointment next week. I told her that was probably the end of the doctor's care because I figured we would go from cast to restrictive boot. However, the radiologist, which happens to be the doctor's wife overheard our conversation and she interjected that it would be three months with a cast and then restrictive devices. Yuk!

I visited with TJ last night. She had called and left voice mail on my birthday. We hadn't talked in a while so I had been trying to return her call from the time I figured she had gotten out of school. Later in the evening she returned my call. We visited for a while. It is interesting listening to a lot of stuff that is going on with their family. It sure sounds like Shelb has a lot of growing up to do. Right now he is at that stage where everyone else is to blame for all that is wrong in his life. It would probably be best if they'd just show him the door and slam it behind him!

I'm becoming more and more an advocate for tough love. It isn't much fun, but sometimes it is all that spoiled children understand. I can tell you now that it isn't any fun to be on the sidelines and see where things are going. I'm afraid Trc is in for a tough row to hoe, not to far in the future.

We were awakened this morning by my cell phone. A 623 area code number. I could hear back ground noise but no one would respond. It was 5:58 am. Texas time. I was quick but not quick enough. By the time I retrieved my phone, Krl was awake. Just enough to be aggravated and inquisitive. I decided to go into the office and do a reverse look up on my computer. When I booted it up, it knew not where it was at. Error messages! I began looking at the modem and router and even now I knew something was amiss. I turned the television to be sure it was working, then I picked up the telephone to be sure we had phone service. TV-O.K., telephone-no! I brought up another computer and it gave an error message saying the ISP wasn't getting it done. I called technical support. The cable company has centralized after hours tech support and I ended up talking with Eugene in Georgia. We re-set the modem and got phone service and finally found that there was a communication glitch between the modem and the router. After rebooting them we finally came on line. The techie wanted me to believe the problem was totally between the modem and the router but if that was the case why was the telephone out. Hhhmm.

I talked with our friends at the seasonal jobsite yesterday. We have been supposed to meet them in Midland for our end of season extravaganza but now it would appear that is on hold pending Krl's recovery. Krl and I always go through withdrawal after we leave the jobsite. We really miss those guys. They are good friends as well as co-workers. It seems things have been pretty sedate since we left. They have enjoyed the winter moisture that much of Texas has experienced. This moisture is what often times makes a crop. Frank told me that they are preparing the plant for a 100,000 bale year. Of course anymore this would be a pretty routine crop. Kristy was telling me that there is a good chance of finally getting a large seed warehouse. This would really make my life easier, although it could end up meaning less revenue for the company. It's one of those catch twenty-two's. Frank told me Redy Kilowatt had done absolutely nothing at the supposed electric generation site. I don't think that surprises anyone. I didn't get a full report on some of our friends who are undergoing chemo and radiation therapy.

I have lots to do and I'm having a difficult time getting started. I'm talking office work. Of course I have lots of domestic chores to do also. Yesterday I moved all of Krl's plants out. We are supposed to have a few days of really good weather and I thought they could use some sun! Now the atrium entry needs a good cleaning. Lots of leaves and such where the plants were.

Well, have a day.

FATHER I ask for focus.

After a dismal beginning, my day rallied but couldn't over come the deficit. For the most part it was a miserable day followed by a short yet miserable night!

Memama called. Heard from Reidman. He played me a song on his drums. He's got rhythm. Talked with Rian briefly. Pepa called. Trc, Ln and Kat came over and brought me a gift. They stayed about an hour so that was fun. I ended up grilling out. A couple of small steaks to celebrate the day, and since I'm the cook, I did some burgers for later in the week. Pat called. I had voice mail from Addy and from TJ when I got up.

The Daytona 500 was more a case of cheering against instead of cheering for. I don't know, there are just some drivers I don't like. It has to be a hard pill for Mark Martin to swallow after trying for twenty-three years to be leading coming out out of the final corner to lose by two thousandths of a second. That is awfully close after racing for five hundred miles. Kevin Harvick was the winner. He also won Saturday's Busch race, so he pulled the double. Next week the series races in California.

I have been up a while, reading the news papers and surfing the net. I have the television on and watch it with one eye. There has been a show on and I haven't caught the name, but it is about four girls growing up in a small town in the late fifties. It brings back lots of memories. Tree houses, glass coke bottles, and even pixy straws!

My first tree house excursion was Uncle Wade's in front of the house on the farm. It was built from scraps from around the farm and I thought it was wonderful. I was in another world twelve feet above the ground. Later, when we moved to the house my parents live in, I got to build one of my own. It went through modifications throughout the years and as the next generation came along. My tree house was located in a huge pecan tree that sported tire swings and at one time one of those disc swings. It was an early day entertainment center/play station. A year or two ago, they put the big tree out of it's misery. The had a tree doctor look at it and he said it had lived its cycle. It was going to be dangerous for it to continue to stand and each storm would take a piece of it until the big storm took it down. It was a good tree.

I wish I knew why Coca-Cola in glass bottles tastes better than in cans or plastic bottles. Something about the cool crispness. I can remember Mom splurging and buying a six pack which had to last the week. (With Dad usually gone the six pack was perfect). We had all these little plastic caps that had a ring that slipped over the neck of the bottle and a flap that snapped over the opening to keep the fizz and freshness. Wow, could we stretch a coke. We'd make them last for days! An added plus was when we would gather our coke bottles and take them to Shield's Grocery Store to sell them.

Coke, Dr. Pepper, RC Cola, Delaware Punch, Fresca. Ah, those were the days. Notice I didn't include Diet Rite Cola, now that was some nasty stuff!

I probably drink more Diet Coke in a day than my family drank Coke in a week. When Krl and I see them, we usually try to buy the old glass bottle Cokes. We used to have a pretty good collection of the Christmas collectibles. Last time I looked we had a six pack of the bottled Coke in the bottom of the pantry. The grandbabies may have drank them because they think they are a treat too! Nothing like opening a cold bottle of Coke and dumping a pack of salted peanuts in it!

I was never that big into the sweet and sour candies, but seeing the pixy straws took me back. Of course my kids were big into Sweetarts. I guess my weakness was Hydrox cookies, which in my opinion were better than Oreos. Hugo Zetzman used to call them Hydrotex cookies at the deer lease. "'owyall".

I find myself wondering if we are really progressing.

MC wrote in his blog that Sunday after Sunday he does the same thing. Preaching, and he is finding himself growing tired and weary of it and wonders if he can or will do it another ten years. I don't think he is feeling anything the rest of us don't feel. I think we cycle. Highs and lows. It is the nature of the beast. I don't think any vocation is exempt.

Tomorrow we go in for Krl's follow up. I don't think we are going to get a good report. She is still in pain, lots of it. Sunday morning when the power was out I was shocked. It was a little weird because the battery backup alarms were sounding until I turned them off. I lit candles, and I retrieved a flash light. Of course I was responsible for the power outage! Anyhow, our houndgirls are such sissies! They were all shaking like leafs and you would think they had never been in the back yard in the dark. If I had offered it, they would have taken turns holding the flashlight! I went back in the living room to find all four of them on the couch with Krl. One of them bumped her cast twisting it and her leg popped loudly. I don't think that's a good omen. I think the doctor will recast her leg and much to Krl's dismay, I am going to lobby for the cast that goes above her knee. I think she needs the additional stability.

If you're going to burgle our house do it at night and the hounds won't be a problem. During the day you might get licked to death!

It was good to see Kat and Ln. Kat is a little round chublet. Krl says that she is beginning to get made fun of at school. She seems to be happy with herself though. Either that or her comfort comes from eating. It didn't take her long to be in Meme and Dandy's pantry looking for Dandy's stash. Dandy likes the good stuff! By the way Happy Birthday Kat, and Addy asked me to pass along a Happy Birthday from her!

We hadn't seen Ln since Christmas. Her hair has gotten so long! She was in the jeans, had the long straight hair. I had to ask her, "Are you a hippie?" We all laughed as I held up the peace sign! Ln has been having some back and hip problems. They have been bad enough that she quit playing basketball, of course three concussions helped make this decision. She had been going to a chiropractor but didn't see any improvement, then she went to sports rehab. Finally an orthopedist who has watched Ln play basketball through the years asked why she wasn't playing. He offered to look into her problem and they are making some progress. Turns out the adjustments she was having were keeping things out of place. The wrong adjustments are worse than no adjustments at all. One rib had been dislocated for several weeks!

I don't know about you but allergies have been giving me fits!

Well, that's a wrap. Oh man, that makes me hungry!

Have a day!

FATHER rescue me!

Five hours after the fact, I restart my blog.

Thanks AEP. I don't know about you but since electricity was deregulated I sure think it sucks. All of it, service and price. If I'm calling a power outage in I sure don't want to hear a "cheery" voice welcoming me to the automated response system. If it was automated they should have already responded. This morning I went through all the prompts, and ended up waiting for a service representative. Her name was Gayla and she sure wasn't reassuring. I hope they aren't paying her more than minimum wage and she would certainly be a strong argument for not increasing minimum wage.

I was almost through proofing my blog when power began flickering. Lights became dim, battery backups began sounding their alarm. Then a final flicker followed by darkness. I have never seen a battery backup lose power so quickly. I realize it has a load but it should have done better than that. Luckily I had purchased a new little maglite recently and knew exactly where it was at. Initially I began assessing our own house, everything appeared in order at the breaker box. Then I began looking around the neighborhood. Everything to our east to Wynland Place was dark. Three blocks. Nothing. I called the AEP outage number and the adventure began.

So with that, and since blogger can't or won't recover my post, I will attempt to resurrect it from my feeble mind.

Let the games begin!

Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me!

Krl and I don't really celebrate our birthdays anymore. We may allow the birthday boy or girl to select the menu, but no parties or outlandish celebrations. We may or may not have a cake. It all depends. However we do acknowledge the grandbabies birthdays. On that note, tomorrow is Kat's birthday. Happy Birthday Kat.

It doesn't seem that long ago on my birthday that I was exiting a plane after a business trip to Newark, New Jersey and saw Krl waiting at the gate, balloon bouquet in one hand, cell phone in the other. I thought we were going out to eat, she told me there was a change in plans. We were going to the hospital to get a grandbaby! Kat missed being born on my birthday by scant minutes. When she did arrive she had a fist planted in her mouth which was reason for the delay due to faulty exit strategy.

This year I feel sorry for Kat. Since her Meme is disabled I will be entrusted with selecting her gift. Krl and I have always had an unspoken agreement. She does for the granddaughters, I do for the grandsons. It has always worked well, after all she was once a girl and I was once a boy!

As regular readers are aware, I made a trip to Sweetwater Friday to pick up my annual birthday meal from Ma Allen's. I went ahead and made a stop at my folks house in Roscoe where my Mom wanted me to eat with them. She had gone to Snyder and gotten her hair cut and while she was there she had picked up Chicken Express. I declined, telling her the reason for my trip over was to pick up Ma Allen's chicken and trimmings. She asked me when my party was and I told her

"It's my party it'll start when I want it to, start when I want it to, start when I want it to!"

When I had returned home Friday with the meal, I had purposely picked up more than Krl and I needed for a meal. In fact we had enough for several meals. When I walked in the door she was ready to eat.

Funny thing Saturday morning was for the first time since Krl's accident she was able to sleep in. It was middle of the morning when she opened her eyes. She is beginning to get me trained because I went immediately into the kitchen and fed and watered the dogs and got her blood pressure medicine. I then asked her if I could get her anything else and she said "food". I asked her what and she said "Ma Allen's". I fixed her a plate of chicken, squash, potato salad and a slice of bread.

I am becoming very domestic. Cooking is not a problem, I am very adept in a kitchen. That doesn't mean I like the clean up though. I can do laundry, however I can argue about what qualifies as a light or a dark. I think if an item is striped, the lighter color might qualify it for a light while the darker color might qualify it as a dark. In that case I feel there isn't a wrong answer. I like stripes.

Krl is quickly whipping me into shape as a house cleaner. The last couple of days I have come to know the tubs and toilets in our house up close and personal.

If there is any area I do not excel in, it is menu planning. I can put a meal together but subsequent meals sometimes find the main course repeated or simply a variation in preparation. Friday we ate chicken. Saturday for breakfast I fed Krl chicken. I asked her what she wanted for supper Saturday and she asked what I had thawed. I told her I had ground beef and I had a pack ...a.ge...o.f... ch..ick..en that I had set out to thaw before Merrit had called earlier in the week when she was thinking about coming for a visit. Krl told me I had better use the chicken before it ruined. So for the third meal in a row, we had chicken. However, I did it with a twist. I cooked frosted flakes oven baked chicken with Idahoan potatoes, corn on the cob, and biscuits. It was good.

In our house we've eaten so much chicken lately even the eggs are holding their breath. And well they should! I got a new omelet/poached egg pan for my birthday!

I had told Krl since I get to choose the menu for my birthday (never mind the fact that I will be the one to cook it), it would be filled with my favorites. I had planned to begin the day with chili cheese dogs! Yum!
Thanks to AEP that didn't happen. During one of my excursions to see if repair crew had responded, I made a dash for the Golden Arches Dinner Club to pick up breakfast.

Now I am so flabbergasted I don't know whether to just slide the chili cheese dogs to lunch or what!

Of course we still have chicken in the fridge.

It is just a couple or three hours now until the Daytona 500. I can hardly wait. If it is loud or goes fast, I'm interested. I have my favorites, but this year I would almost pay to see Michael Waltrip win in his #55 NAPA Toyota Camry. If I were him and did win, it would be tempting for me to stand on top of the car (even though that is a rules violation) in victory lane and "moon" the NASCAR officials (I don't think that one is in the rule book although they would probably group it under actions detrimental to stock car racing).

As Maple Syrple and Phooey scuffles go, "give 'em the leg" Mikey!

And with that, have a day on me!

FATHER, thank YOU!

Woo hoo! Paarrtee!

I decided that since Krl is indisposed this year I would throw myself a birthday party. That's why I needed a couple of hours for myself yesterday.

For several years when we were commuting to work, I would be asked what I wanted to do for my birthday lunch and I always responded the same. Ma Allen's fried chicken, squash, potato salad and cobbler! We would pick it up and take it back to the conference room at the office and everyone would get serious. It was always good and we always had a good time.

Yesterday I drove a hour over and a hour back to pick up my party meal. By the time I got home I probably smelled like I worked in a chicken joint. It was almost more than I could stand but I abstained. When I walked in the house Krl was ready to eat. Delicious! Of course due to the time investment I couldn't just pick up a little, so I picked up extra. By the time we finish it we may be growing feathers.

I'll have my fix for the year.

If you haven't eaten there, it is an experience. A small family business of 50+ years, located in an old house on East Broadway in Sweetwater, the noon meals are served family style. Long tables await and you may or may not know your tablemates, depending on your groups size. When the table is full they start serving. Platters of fried chicken, roast beef, german sausage (which the waitresses sometimes tell northerners is rattlesnake), heaping bowls of nearly any vegetable imaginable, hot fresh rolls, bottomless glasses of ice tea, and the meal topped off with cobbler. Yum! And they just keep bringing it. They will refill serving bowls as long as you are eating. The family's third generation now runs the business. I have always admired the personable way they deal with their clientele. The last year or so they have begun a Tuesday through Saturday evening buffet in their party building adjacent to their noon meal location. Years ago Ma Allen's was the only four star restaurant in Texas. (That was when four stars was the top rating.)

O.K. Billy, that was free, just remember next time I'm in! If I had a nickel for every chicken leg they've cooked up I'd have a dime for every chicken!

Reminds me of a later favorite of mine in Amarillo. Sutphen's. They left a long time location and moved to the 'burbs but their business didn't follow them. I guess high overhead did 'em in. I had heard they had another location in a rural location but I'm not sure where. Somewhere in the panhandle. Family style barbecue meals.

There was a time I could come out ahead in an "all you can eat" restaurant. But not any more. I just can't do it.

I think back to all the 98 cent buffets when I was in college. Lavenders Cafeteria, Underwood's (Tuesday evening fried chicken at 2 Abilene locations), and of course Pizza Inn's noon buffet on East Highway 80. It could be that the reason the price went up and businesses went out were the guys from Mabee West! I can remember one roomate who would always invite a young lady to go to Pizza Inn with us, he would always empty their purse while we were enroute and line it with napkins, paper towels, foil. Whatever, and fill that receptacle while we were there. I'm surprised he didn't take a suit case or a trunk!

One of our favorite late night haunts was "The Barn" located on East 80. A Texo with fries and ice tea would cost you a buck plus tax. The Texo was the predecessor of the Big Mac except it was single meat and larger in diameter. "The Barn" now is home to some sort of XXX bookstore.

I wonder if they have banquet facilities available for class reunions? That might be a hoot!

Don't ask me why I'm reminiscing today, I don't know.

My patient is not doing well. She is depressed and she is hurting. I am very concerned that the pain has not subsided. It seems as though it has gotten worse. My biggest worry is the bone splinters that the ER doctors thought should be addressed surgically. The specialist didn't concur. It wouldn't be wise for him to change his mind now. That picture of him running down the football field might have company with another picture showing him running down the street chased by an irate woman.

Krl began calling the doctor's office about nine to get them to call in a refill for her medications. No sense in going into the weekend knowing you are going to run out. Finally about three, they made the call. Of course they closed their office at noon so it was persistence with the answering service that paid off. FYI I went to our regular pharmacy, got a third more medications than last Saturday at the big chain from H-E-L-L located across the street from H-E-B, and it cost a third of what the big chain charged. More meds, less money, less hassle.

I will be surprised if the doctor doesn't recast Krl's leg Monday. It still isn't totally immobile in the cast and she says it still pops. She got pretty upset yesterday when we were talking about being one week into her recovery. Either five or seven weeks more ahead, then probably "the boot".

Krl doesn't speak "patience". She wants to be well now. I don't blame her. It just doesn't work like that.

I'm not looking forward to doing laundry today. Too many variables. Color. Fabric. I know I'm going to mess up.

I don't want to wear faded blue or pink socks and unawares.

Have a weekend! Just remember the reason you're getting tomorrow off is that it's my birthday!

Oh FATHER, so much to say. YOU know.

Uh oh. Turn out the lights, the party's over.

I was informed by the General that today will be cleaning day. Actually she insulted me by saying she was going to call Merry Maids. I realize that Krl has a routine, I do too. I understand clean, I like clean. I told Krl that she could formulate the plan and direct the project as long as it was not on Sunday.

My only stipulation is that I need two hours today for myself. I have a personal errand to run.

Pepa called asking if I could pick up truck signs today so I am hopeful I can pick them up during my personal time I have requested. His truck and driver were supposed to start today with K.O.'s company but it would appear that has been postponed to Monday.

I had a call from Ollie yesterday. She got new wheels and was looking to do a road trip to try them out. She went through a stretch where her car was totalled out and then a car she borrowed from her Mother was also totalled out. Both of these happened in a stretch of just a few days. Luckily, neither was her fault. Her car was parked when a pickup veered and hit it, the borrowed car was T-boned by a drunk driver that ran a red light. She did decide to get full coverage on her replacement car. That's probably a good thing since it seems she has a target on her back!

She gets irritated when she tells me she might drive to Abilene to see us and I tell her to let us know what is going on. I don't like surprises. One thing for sure, she is her Mother's daughter and flies by the seat of her britches. I like to know what is going on so I can plan. I had layed out a single whole chicken breast to thaw for supper, prior to her calling. It was enough for Krl and I, but not enough for a third person. I ended up changing my meal menu three times before I got comfortable that it was something that could be stretched, just in case. It is also important that I know if she is going to eat with us or not because I cook differently because she is diabetic. Hey someone needs to look out for her health. She doesn't. I think back to a visit last summer when she called and was coming to visit and we prepared a meal and when she got here she wanted to borrow some money to go out and eat with a friend. We were a side benefit, a home base.

Besides, if she just shows up what am I going to do, make her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?

Yesterday I got the recall product code and went to our pantry to look. Guess what? We had two jars of peanut butter, one Peter Pan and one Great Buy and both are in the recall. Thankfully we are not big peanut butter eaters.

Krl has moved back to the couch. She says it is easier and she sleeps better. O.K.. I'm sure it has nothing to do with Maple Syrple's and my snoring. For some reason Krl's leg really gave her fits yesterday. She could never get comfortable. I'm beginning to wonder if the Doctor jumped the gun when he put her cast on and that now it is too loose after all the swelling is gone.

I was derelict in my duties as household head. We had two birthdays Wednesday. Maple Syrple turned the big 2 while Phooey turned 1. I am amazed by the difference one year makes. My hope for Phooey is that during the coming year she will grow a brain! Of course it is a couple of months until Black Dog and Prissy turn fourteen!

I woke during the night to find Phooey had come to the bedroom to check on Maple and I. Phooey loves to sleep touching Maple. Maple is particular who she cuddles with. As soon as Phooey was satisfied we were O.K., she went back to the couch and Krl. Closer to my getting up, Maple moved up beside me. I gave her an affectionate rub on her belly and I rolled over. This is a dog that knows what she likes and she moved with me, actually pressuring me to roll further away. She likes to snuggle in the very middle of your back and then for you to roll back toward her or at least drape an arm over her. Then it is Katy bar the door, that little hound is going to snore! Toward morning I become real fitful, tossing and turning. When Maple has had enough she will get me up, usually by laying in the crook of my arm with my whisker stubble just within reach. I don't know why she does it, I guess she thinks she can lick them off or it may just tickle her tongue. Either way it usually gets me out of bed.

Silly me, I thought I was running this house.

Happy Birthday little houndgirls!

Well, make today a good one and we'll take the next two off!

Have a day.

FATHER, thank YOU for all the blessings we enjoy!

Our late night visitor from Tuesday returned Wednesday with her four year old. The four year old was the pretense of the visit. Once they arrived she set him up in Kat and Addy's room with the television on. I'm trying to decide what planet this person is from. With seating readily available for ten or eleven people in the room after Krl has taken the couch out of play, this person wants to sit on the end of the couch where Krl's foot is elevated on a pillow. Every time the four year old called his Mom, she would get up, moving Krl's leg and Krl would go through the roof. Then she wanted to know if Krl wanted to go do something. Hello. My patient is five days into recovery from breaking her leg, two days after receiving her hard cast. No, I don't think she wants to do anything!

I'm surprised our company didn't bring her skateboard. It does make me glad that Krl just has a broken leg. Some people have broken brains.

I was eagerly watching and waiting for NASCAR to announce their findings on Michael Waltrip Racing's #55 NAPA Toyota Camry. For those of you not into NASCAR, this car, and it's initial engine intake manifold were impounded Sunday at Daytona 500 qualifying. Throughout the whole ordeal I have been fearful that with all the competition opposed to Toyota's entry into America's premier racing series NASCAR would go extreme. They did.

When the car was going through pre-qualifying inspection an oil like substance residue was found inside the intake manifold. The manifold was confiscated and sent to the lab, another manifold was installed and the 55 made it's qualifying run. Afterward, NASCAR confiscated the entire car.

From the outset NASCAR has said an illegal un-identified substance residue was found in the manifold. That kind of sounds like they had their mind made up that whatever they found was illegal, even if it was not performance enhancing. I watched a small portion of a program from the Speed Channel and they showed the inspection garage where the 55 car is being dissected. It is unreal. They had removed fuel lines and were flexing and checking, trying to determine if something is inside them. Of course the engine has been extracted and dis-assembled. Four days after the fact, NASCAR had to make a ruling and decision as to whether or not the 55 would race in Thursday's Gatorade twin qualifier races.

Late yesterday NASCAR threw the crew chief and the team director out of Daytona Raceway. They fined the crew chief $100,000. They took away 100 driver points and 100 car owner points. The car is still confiscated, a backup will have to be run, and the crew chief and team director have been suspended indefinitely.

The storyline now is that it is an undisclosed substance, but it is a component found in jet fuel. It's been several years since I was working on getting my pilot's license but at that point in time, I was surprised to learn that Jet A (jet fuel) was commonly known as Kerosene, with anti-jelling additives. The puzzling point is that Jet A would not be as combustible as gasoline, so where is the advantage.

I understand that a sport has to police itself, but I think any sport must also be willing to disclose it's full findings and if they make a mistake, admit it. Until NASCAR divulges everything I am going to believe that Mikey, Toyota, and the NAPA team are victims of a witch hunt.

I did make the grocery store yesterday. It had been over two weeks since we had bought "big" groceries, it seemed like we had been "order buying". Somehow, somewhere, I lost my list between the house and the store. With a little telephone coaching from Krl I winged it. I was a little shocked when I checked out, in fact when I got home I began going down the register receipt. I didn't realize when I was putting items into the basket, but the list had a substantial number of cleaning and pharmaceutical items. Usually I try to spread them out a little each trip to the store but they snuck up on me! Ouch!

While I was at the store I had finished our Valentine shopping, not that it mattered because we didn't see any of our Valentines that live in town. Krl and I discovered that Kali hasn't ever given us her new address, so we were relegated to sending Addison's card to her Nonie's address. Reidman had called me Tuesday evening to tell me he and Holt had received their Valentines.

I am very curious about how long it might be before Krl doesn't have so much discomfort. She is beginning to be more mobile. Yesterday when I returned from my errand she was in the kitchen emptying the dish washer. She even helped put up the groceries. I have a couple of work options that I am weighing, unfortunately neither appears to be full time, but if things work right they might be combined to make a full time job. I just don't want to be away from the house and Krl until I am confident she can get around and do for herself. Of course if it comes to it, the South Texas option is still there. It wouldn't be until July but a guy needs to be putting the pieces together now.

Once again I find myself anxious to grow up.

It looks like we have a light white winter coat outside this morning. Be safe.

Have a day!

FATHER, mold me and make me.

Well, the San Diego Chargers tried to be smart, but dumb finally won out. I've always heard about "family money" progressions. The first generation develops the business and makes the money. Subsequent generations run the business in the ground and break the company.

An article I read yesterday said that Marty Schottenheimer's contract gave him control of hiring and firing assistant coaches. It seems the straw that broke the camels back was his rebuff of the team GM's recommendation to hire an old friend and co-worker as defensive coordinator. Team President Dean Spanos fired Marty because the team's inner mechanism had become dysfunctional. Spanos continued to say the recent loss of assistant coaches eroded his vote of confidence last month. Further reading revealed that both Spanos and the GM were upset with Marty's rejection of a one year contract extension offer in January. I am beginning to wonder who used their head. Obviously this had become a cow pattie throwing contest. The contract extension was only for one year and had a one million dollar buyout provision. Marty rejected the offer. Charger brass got mad. A month later they fire Marty, after all other NFL head coach vacancies had been filled. Basically they put Marty on the sideline for the year. Interesting development is that by Marty's extension rejection and subsequent firing, the Chargers still must pay him the three million dollars owed on his contract for 2007. The problems with the Charger organization appear to begin far above the playing field.

I wish someone would fire me. $$$$$.

I had been cooking meal parts for a large part of the day. I was on target to do the beef enchiladas. I was doing a few other things, but I also needed to get out and do some errands. Thing was, I needed to make it a quick trip. Krl had a call from a friend who said she would be over about three. Krl and I decided that I had better get busy because most importantly I needed to get one Valentine purchased and into the mail.

I usually struggle with my own duties. Now that I am doing both Meme and Dandy jobs I am drowning. There are a lot of things she does much better and much easier than I do. Nothing I do comes easy. I decided to go to United, pay some utilities, get a money order for the house payment, and purchase the required Valentine. I left the doors unlocked for Krl's friend and hit the road. Of course as my luck goes, I couldn't pay all the utilities there so I ended up making two more stops, one of them downtown. The benefit was that I could drop the house payment and the Valentine in the mail downtown and they do have multiple mail pickups. When I returned home I found Krl's friend was a no show. This friend does this repeatedly, which for me would make it very strained. I got back in the kitchen to finish building my masterpiece and Krl even rolled in there and helped out. She was in charge of dispensing grated cheese. We got the enchiladas in the oven and I began making some Spanish rice and refried beans while Krl cut up lettuce and tomatoes. The meal was good and best part was, this time I kept up with what I put in it! I have a recipe!

Krl fell victim to what a lot of people recovering from injuries do. She tried to do too much. Late in the afternoon or early in the evening she asked me to help her to bed. She was hurting pretty badly and it proved to be difficult for her to get comfortable where her leg would ease up. Finally she was good and I went into the office to watch television where it wouldn't disturb her. I don't know what time it was, but it was after dark when the doorbell rang. I went to the door and it was Krl's friend that was suppose to visit in the afternoon. She had a bouquet of flowers and a card and said she was there to see Krl. "Let me check to see if she is awake", I said. I slipped into the bedroom and quietly told Krl she had company. Then the move was on to get her back into the living room. I returned to the office to let them visit after I had put the flowers in a vase. I placed the flowers on the mantel to avoid a spill mishap by the pups if I put them on the coffee table and also the mantel location would not impede Krl's view of the television if she stayed up for a while after her company left. When I walked back through the living room, the friend had moved the vase onto the coffee table. Did I say this is Krl's friend and not mine.

When Krl's company left we had to go through the whole ritual again, moving her and trying to get her comfortable again. I haven't quite figured it out but I was in trouble. And I didn't even invite the company over. Next time I will chase Krl's friend down the street with a stick.

Hey, I couldn't be in any worse trouble.

Pepa had called about two yesterday afternoon. He was wanting me to coordinate a trip to Abilene to lease his truck on with K.O.. I made a call and in a few minutes things were set up for Pepa's driver to take a pre-employment drug test and then go into K.O.'s office to complete paperwork and a quick orientation session. I could tell Pepa would have preferred that I meet them and take them through the steps. Thing is I was already stretched a little thin and didn't think I could leave Krl alone for an extended period. It was probably a good decision on my part. Pepa called me at seven twenty-one and he had just gotten back home. They did jump through all the hoops so now they are waiting for test results. They should probably be ready to go to work Monday.

Recently I had made an offer on behalf of my employer. I felt like it was a pretty decent offer for all parties. However, it has become evident that it is not something the other party was interested in. I had discussed it with the office manager and we had decided it was a one time only offer. Actually for short term if would have been cheaper than owning. Anyhow, it now appears the other party wants to use the offer as a safety measure, which was not how it was intended.

Oh well, if you live by the sword you die by the sword.

Well, today is Valentine's Day. Hope it is special for you and your someone special!

Have a day!

FATHER, for YOUR love ...