Tough day yesterday.

I left the house a few minutes after six in the morning with the third travel trailer. (I had taken the second one as far as Memama and Pepa's Thursday night, which made for another late night). Shortly after seven in the morningI sat at the kitchen table with Memama and Pepa and visited while I made a trailer light pigtail adapter from parts I had either in tool boxes or had picked up from the parts store the night before. Then I made my way out to hook the Pepa's big truck up. At this point I didn't care if he took it or if I sent my man back to get it.

Memama and Pepa had taken a seed trailer to their farm shop late Thursday to leave it for a man to re-floor. Prior to unhooking it they were supposed to slide the fifth wheel all the way back. But they didn't. Which caused me great frustration and loss of time. After about two hour we had finally moved the fifth wheel but it wouldn't lock in place. Finally I disconnected the travel trailer and parked the truck. I could have moved the fifth wheel on Blacksheep 22 in a shorter period of time. Try as I might I couldn't help but be short. I told Pepa if I had a sliding fifth wheel it sure as hell would work, and I gathered my things and told him I had to get gone. I had hands waiting on me. So I hit the road, two hours late (or about the time I had told the hands I would arrive).

An hour later my cell phone toned, it was Pepa. He had hooked the truck back up and was on his way with the big trailer. For that I was thankful.

When I arrived, the other truck driver (who had left early with a fuel tank and gone by Midland to pick up one forklift) was there, but no "on the ground" hands. It seems they had become tired of waiting and left. Bad move on their part, since they were not there I had no assurance that they ever had been, which means I will be darned if I am going to pay them. My first act was to position the travel trailer I was pulling in the small trailer park. Then I unhooked and the truck driver and I went to the produce shed to unload the equipment. Just as we were finishing up my phone toned and Pepa wanted to know where we were. We returned to the gin and helped him unhook in the general vicinity of where I wanted the big trailer.

Turns out he never got the fifth wheel to lock back in place (which is kind of scary). His theory was if it moved at all it would lock. We probably had him on his way back home thirty minutes after he arrived on sight.

It sure did help my day that Pepa brought the trailer. Thanks!

My truck driver and I returned to the produce shed and I got on the forklift to drive it the two miles to the plant, but only after I had given him his instructions for the remainder of the day. By the time I arrived back at the plant, he was gone. Which left me with a long list of things to do by myself.

I took the forklift and maneuvered the big travel trailer in place, hooked up the electricity to get things cooling down and began the four hour job of unloading everything I needed to start setting up camp! When I finally had everything scattered around, it looked like a disaster area. I took a brief break to drink a bottle of water and a diet coke while cooling down, then began the arduous task of leveling the big trailer. I get so tired of going from one end to the other, side to side, as every adjustment has an affect on all the other jacking points. Finally I deemed it good enough and moved the slide-outs out. Then it was necessary to move a few items from their designated transport positions inside the trailer and then it was back outside. I began positioning and assembling our porch, steps and dog ramp, unloaded the small refrigerator and microwave and took them inside, retrieved a pallet to place under the gooseneck to place our small chest freezer on, and during a brief macho siege I grabbed the freezer in a bear hug and unloaded it! Aaaarrrggg! I laid our our perimeter fence and posts before turning my attention to the other trailers and getting electricity to them and turning refrigerators on. Finally I was spent and began putting things away, locking up and preparing for the trek back to Abilene.

I had gone in just before the office closed and got another bottle of water and a Sprite and Kristy had told me to get some extra water from the fridge in the back room. By the time I got to the closest store around, the football fans were stopping in for game supplies. I got myself a large ice tea and a bottle of Gatorade before continuing my journey.

I guess I had become to hot and too dehydrated during the day because about the time I got past Big Spring, that large ice tea was coming back up. Luckily I still had the cup! For the first time in a long time I thought I was just going to have to stop until I could quit retching. But just as quickly as it came on, it subsided and I continued on. I had a horrible time maintaining the speed limit. I would look down and be running ninety miles an hour! On a football Friday in West Texas! What kind of idiot am I. I actually thought I was going to have to stop, get out, drive over my accelerator foot, and then continue on at a sane rate of speed!

I knew what I was wanting to quench my thirst and my body's need for liquids. I wanted a Jolly Rancher Frozen Treat from Chillers. I figured cherry flavored, drink it down to half and then pour in a Diet Coke. By then muscle cramps had set in full force. I made it to Chillers in Merkel before I stopped for my frozen treat. Dang the luck, they didn't have the cherry so I settled for the next red flavor, strawberry. By the time I hit Abilene city limits I had scarfed it down, but I was so chilled I was shivering.

Krl had called and told me to pick up supper because she was going to bed (I didn't even see her while she was awake yesterday). So, I ran through Taco Bell. Once I arrived at home I got out of my work clothes and prepared to shower, but cramps were still bothering me, so I decided to eat supper, then drink a little pickle juice, then do the shower deal. When I was showering, one side of me got a lot cleaner because the muscle cramps were helping me scrub. As soon as I was out and dried off I grabbed my prescription bottle of potassium before heading back for more pickle juice. It was crazy. As soon as I would lay down in bed the cramps would chase me back up and I would be stretching, trying to get some relief. Finally I got up, made the trek to the kitchen and finished off one jar of pickle nectar and then laid down on the couch. I was somewhat relieved, but just about the time I dozed off the muscle cramps came back. I went back to the kitchen, found a fresh jar of pickles and downed the entire thing!

I woke on the couch at six fourteen this morning with my cell phone ringing. Try as I might I never could go back to sleep.

Today we go back to the jobsite for the weekend and at least part of next week. Festival today and tomorrow.

O.K., I'm going to back up to our Thursday. We spent half our day in the doctor's office. It was not our regular doctor. This was a new doctor we have never seen before. He is an asshole, but let me qualify that. He is paralyzed from the waist or chest down and confined to a motorized wheel chair (I guess for his convenience because I didn't see anything that would prohibit him from having a conventional chair). He had wanted to talk with Krl face to face about her stroke. When he did, he told her, "Don't worry about it. If you are suffering no loss of motor skills, no slurred speech or any other symptoms, don't worry about it". He went on to say it was not a new clot, the brain appeared to have circumvented the problem area, and there are no assurances it will ever happen again. My thoughts were O.K., does she need to be on blood thinners or what, but he said no. I guess he just wanted to make an extra office call fee.

Krl asked him about my sleep study and he got my file and said there was no reason for my sleep problems. He told me I was morbidly obese and that I would sleep better if I would lose some weight. Personally I know I am over weight, but would stop short of saying I was even obese, much less morbidly. I told him if he thought that, he should have met my brother and my sister. (Fred would have just grinned at him but TJ probably would have tossed him from his chair and then run over him with it!). That would have been enough but he continued to harp on it. Then some how he began telling us of how his education was plastic surgery before he was paralyzed in a car accident which has relegated him to doing what he is now doing. What that had to do with us, I don't know. I do know this man is an idiot who wants to sit in his high dollar motorized chair, with his long greasy hair and insult patients while trying to get sympathy from them. Even when we were leaving he told me when we get to the jobsite I need to see a dietician. I told him O.K., I would, she is there every morning and sells burritos and other Mexican delicacies. He has no idea how remote a location we are going to. Listening is an acquired art.

I may stop by today on my way out of town and tell him he is morbidly paralyzed, or that next time I was in town we would get together and play a round of golf and maybe go dancing. Of course that would be after we went through the car wash with the top down to get rid of his greasy hair.

I told Krl that he is a very angry man trapped in a wheel chair. My question is, was he this big an ass before the accident. I am trying to figure out proper usage of the term morbidly and asshole to describe him. Crazy thing is he is "over weight" too.

Well, I have things to do and miles to go. Next communique will be from the bad lands!

Have a day! Pray for us.

FATHER, help us all!