If it wasn't for the book I am reading, I might have bolted yesterday.

If I didn't bolt, I surely would have throttled somebody and I have a candidate in mind.

I had instructed drivers to bring clothes and items they needed during the move to Lovington. Most of them realized that it would be two weeks for most between runs home.

What I failed to do was tell them to bring their brains. Most remembered this on their own, but one has to be told every minute detail of each day.

Last weekend I had borrowed/leased a trailer from a friend. This was because one of Krl's trailers was in the shop and we weren't sure when it might be out. Turns out it wasn't an extended stay. I had been trying to catch this borrowed/leased trailer to get it out of the drop and hook mix.

I finally found it, but it was a little too late.

Yesterday a driver who will remain nameless (but whose rancid smell always preceeds his physical presence) was on the phone telling me he couldn't believe his poor luck, he blew two tires out side by side on his trailer.

This driver and I have had an ongoing battle about bumping tires to be sure you don't have a flat before starting a trip. I asked if he had checked his tires and he told me "Yeah, last night when I left the bale dock. "

"How 'bout this morning when you left the motel?", I asked.

"No", he replied.

I told him that I was quite sure that what transpired was he had a flat and drove a great enough distance that the other tire left carrying the load heated up to a point and finally blew out.

The driver told me one of the wheels was damaged and he needed two tires. It took an act of congress to finally get him to make and identification of whether the wheels were pilot mount or bud wheels. This man is so dense that I had him walking back and forth between the truck and trailer comparing lugs bolts and nuts.

I called my tire man in Stanton and in just moments he called back telling me help was on the way.

I called the driver and surprisingly he had been on the phone trying to find help. He told me he couldn't believe how much that repair was going to cost!

I am sure he was regretting telling me "Just take it out of my check!"

Long story short, he decided he wanted to go home. That is O.K., this driver was not disciplined enough to get started on his own and by being this way he only made it harder on the others, and it made it impossible to try to coordinate loads where they flowed smoothly.

Best part was it happened on the last day of the month and I can still make additions and corrections to the monthly employee roster and insurances!

I did have one new driver who began a few days ago. He is a different kind of egg. He is running Texas combination tags and intended on paying his way in at the port. So far he has not had to pay a single time. They have just waved him on a couple of times and other times the port of entry into New Mexico has been closed.

Yesterday was the first time we have been held up by DOT. They had set up between Andrews and Eunice. I was surprised they worked in the wind and cold!

So after a week of searching for and finally finding our groove, now I am modifying it.

Best news of the week is that we are nearing being one third complete at the Lovington storage facility.

I had told the GM yesterday that I was already tired of going to New Mexico.

This weekend is a maintenance Sunday, not that it will mean much to us. We have been losing ground to the seed in the big warehouse due to the majority of the trucks running from here to Richmond. Normally these five trucks would move a combined eleven to twelve loads a day to Lubbock. Now they are only moving five per day to Richmond. On average, we will produce about sixteen and a half loads of seed every twenty-four hours. We were in a controlled situation when I had three Lubbock trucks running. When I pulled one off to catch us up on bales and ultimately one more, that left us with only one truck moving three loads. Simple math, 16.5 minus 8 equals not a good situation. Sooo, we are trying to work our excess inventory down.

For those that know me, I am a carrot kind of a guy. I constantly hang a carrot out there in front of me so I can chase it and not be distracted by all the periphrial happenings. My carrot right now is Tuesday. One of my lease operators bought a new truck and the dealer is delivering it from Utah Tuesday.

I guess I have lost some of my adventurous tendencies because this lease operator told me some of the details of his deal and interest alone is almost a thousand dollars a month. This man kept asking me if he could put an extra truck in the mix here and I told him yes but I can only guarantee him the next thirty days. He told me that was O.K. because after thirty days he would send one of his old trucks home to do local work.

I figure when the Richmond seed contract is filled and the Lovington bale warehouse is filled I am going to have trucks running out my ears!

We have begun to lose significant numbers of modules. As other gins in our area are beginning to near the end of their season, some producers are looking to see where they might have their modules processed quicker. To date we have lost 209 modules or about 2593 bales or two and a half days ginning.

Now my adjusted number of bales is 182,589. This means we lack just under eighty thousand bales (which converts to eighty days ginning). That means my date on the betting board is junk, unless the plant has some sort of major problem. Oh well.

Krl has been shopping for a trip. She has looked at all sorts of possible destinations and keeps returning to Cozumel. She has been looking at the third week of July. I finally told her I didn't want to go in July. June isn't much better. Maybe the end of May.......

In all honesty, I just want to go home at this point in time.

I want to be able to drive two minutes and buy almost anything I need. I want to pick up the phone and call a number and minutes later, someone ring the doorbell delivering food!

I want a bath tub!

I want civilization!

Well I am going to close. I have a blogger error message that is flashing so this entry may have been an exercise in futility.

Have a day!

FATHER, I find myself struggling!