My day is up in the air. I had offered to help Hag on the farm if he needed it. (His one farm hand went AWOL last Friday just after he got his paycheck). K.O.'s brother D.O. is in and wanted to run some test passes on the piece of equipment K.O. and I have been working on. K.O. can run it, he just said he would be more comfortable if I was there at the controls. Anyhow, I'm sitting here waiting for the phone to ring to see which way to jump.

Pat, Chris and I have been talking about what makes a business attract employees. I have asked them some questions. Of course the first is compensation, followed by benefits, then followed by the possibility of advancement or promotion.

The parts store is very competitive, for the area, wage wise. We are doing some planning for group medical insurance probably with some death benefits, retirement and possibly some type of profit sharing. One thing that surprised me was that the store has no paid holiday policy. Most work places have a set policy and declared paid holidays. Any additional time off is at the discretion of the employee and his supervisor and is without pay. Probably one of the most difficult projects I did at my former job was an employee handbook. The upside is you get it all down in black and white! We had six paid holidays, Memorial Day, July fourth, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. We also had a policy that you must work the day before and the day after a holiday for the holiday to be paid. The only exception was a Thanksgiving, Christmas trade off. If you took off the day after Thanksgiving you were to work Christmas Eve.

Pat and I haven't talked but Chris told me today is a paid holiday!

Of course all this is simple compared to preventative politics policy!

If the phone does not ring, Krl and I will cook out, like many other Americans today! We bought a few items to grill today. If we do them all we won't have to cook the rest of the week! And that includes my lunches.

The Sunday before Memorial Day is always "my" day. I always enjoy watching the eleven hundred miles of racing between the Indy 500 and the Coke 600. Krl usually humors me and handles the cooking. Saturday when we were in the store she discovered they had King Crab legs on sale. Use to I could argue about the excessive price but of late the butcher blocks steaks have escalated in price. $12.99/lb. regular price and maybe $8.99 or $9.99 on special. With my argument moot, I agreed to purchase some crab legs! (They were actually much cheaper).

I don't know how or where Krl learned to cook her seafood but she does a good job! I think I would much rather eat this meal at home than in most restaurants (the Cattle Baron being the lone exception). My biggest complaint is that they are so much work! It is a lot like Fondue, I don't know if you get full or just give up! (At the Cattle Baron they crack and open all the crab legs before they bring them to the table).

Krl and I live in our own little world. It is really funny sometimes. She went to bed early, I lay on the couch and watched NASCAR. Just about the time the race was concluding Krl got up. I finished the race and migrated to the bedroom to read a little before turning out the lights. Of course I couldn't go to bed alone, Miss Maple Syrple loves to go to bed with me and read! It is usually just a few moments before she is snoring! I don't know if she moved all night long! Lately I have given her another nickname. In honor of her pumpkin color and due to the fact that she needs clipped and she appears to be a little hefty, I call her "Plumpkin". She is a cutie. Between "Plumkin" and Phooey they are bed hogs! If you have to get up to go to the bathroom, odds are Phoo will stake claim to your territory! I think she lives for someone to roll over and allow her a warm spot in the bed!

We are cautiously optimistic that Krl will get her cast off tomorrow. I am afraid she will be so disappointed if the Doctor doesn't do it. Lately she has been walking on it some. She says the first thing she is going to do when she gets her cast off and back home is soak in the tub! I don't blame her!

And last but not least, let's remember that today is Memorial Day. A day of remembrance for all those who have given so much for so many. I personally hope that with some of the political shenanigans going on, some of the politicians will do a reality check and realize how self serving they have become.

Have a day!

FATHER, help us all to be selfless. It's all about YOU!