Sorry for the time lapse. It has been pretty crazy out here.

If my numbers are in the ball park, we are within a thousand bales of being half way done.

Forgive me for not turning back flips, but I think I need to save my strength for the stretch run.

That should be about the third week of April.

My figures still indicate we should barely eclipse 185,000 bales. This morning my number would be 185,070.

I'll give you a quick recap of my week so you will know what I've been working on or with.

The first of the week was pretty uneventful, Steady work by everyone and no problems with equipment makes my life wonderful.

I had a couple of calls from the compress and it became evident that the move to Lovington was inevitable and would happen sooner rather than later. I decided at my first opportunity I would take a road trip to scout out the possible routes and the plant location.

Wednesday morning everything was in good shape, the only problem I had was a truck that had returned to Sweetwater to change drivers, had a flat. I talked with D.H. at seven-thirty and he told me he would take care of it that their tire man would be there in fifteen or twenty minutes. I visited with Pepa and he asked me if when the truck with the flat was ready, could it take his trailer to a repair shop in Abilene, so I was pretty confident that the flat problem would be covered.

I returned to my trailer and asked Krl if she wanted to go with me. She declined. I hopped in her SUV, went to the fuel pumps, topped the tank, and hit the road. I took one route up, planning on taking another route back to compare mileage and ease.

When I arrived at the State line I pulled in and spent an hour with the officers at the New Mexico Port of Entry. I had several questions about the temporary registrations, temporary fuel permits, the pre-pay mileage and such. While I was there they looked in their computer and found that everything was in order for Cottonwood, whose authority we will be running under.

I continued on, making sure to keep good notes on my trip, made the big right hand turn from Hobbs and headed North North West to Lovington. When I began entering Lovington I slowed to look at a truck route exit and discovered it was the road I was looking for. A half mile down it, I was sitting in the storage facility. I made a deliberate tour around and through the plant. It is an old plant with low buildings and even lower door openings. They placed lots of drainage ditches and culverts throughout it to prevent water from running inside the warehouses. It may work for drainage but it could be a big problem if my drivers don't stay on their toes and pay attention.

I began my trek back and had a pretty good feeling about my fact gathering mission. I talked in with Trick and passed some information on to him. He told me a couple of news items and then told me that Cottonwood 77 (which is a bale truck out here) had a problem in Big Spring and wouldn't untrack. I asked what time my truck with the flat had left and Rick told me it was still there.

Huh?

He told me, "I thought you weren't in a rush for it".

No I wasn't, but that doesn't mean I didn't need it. Then when you take a truck (like 77) out of the mix with a problem, I need everything I can throw at the haul. Almost seven hours after my conversation with D.H., the truck with the flat left the TA truck stop, not the Cottonwood shop.

As it turns out Pepa had a brain fart and asked Jason to have his driver take the trailer to the shop so he no longer had any incentive to see that the flat was fixed.

One stubbed toe on this haul is about like skipping one step in a calculation. It doesn't get the job done.

We didn't receive a replacement truck Wednesday night. In fact, it didn't arrive until late late Thursday. Worst thing was, he didn't bring a trailer.

Out here trailers are at a premium.

Thursday morning I had over six hundred bales sitting at the dock.

The Wednesday glitch was a thorn until Saturday, when we were totally recovered from it.

As it turns out, these guys who are still running are smiling while they are stuffing $$$$$ in their pockets.

Bad thing is, Cottonwood has no (meaning zero) company trucks on this job right now.

D.H. says he can bring two or three trucks over from another job to help out, and that may be the solution, or a part of it. I have been shopping for additional power units, and have three that I am scrutinizing presently. Thing is I only have financing available for one, at least right now. Then that gets us back to trailers. My formula right now calls for two trailers per truck, three for a truck that is slip seating. Currently I have six trailers with another trailer that Krl is buying from Cottonwood (although I am beginning to wonder if this is going to happen, it has been in the works since November and there is a problem with the title). Cottonwood has only has two trailers in the mix, down from a high of four. We did the Sweetwater move beginning with eight trailers and dwindling to six. Krl bought two more when we made the move to Lubbock, and it may mean needing one or two more when we go to Lovington.

And the GM and the Compress wonder why the rates keep going up.

Going to the other end of the plant, my seed trucks are staying right on the plant. When a seed comes out, usually a truck is sitting right there to take it!

Then my cell phone chimed. The GM asked me to come to his office. When I arrived he told me that he had sold 3000 tons, one-hundred-twenty loads to ADM in Richmond, Texas. I told the GM I would try to sell the haul to my guys but that I didn't want to put any of "my" trucks on it. My reasoning was that with the new bale destination, I could be stretched.

I have a great bunch of lease trucks and out of six of them, five signed up for the new haul. Best part for them is that they will get within a hundred miles of their home on a daily basis.
Throw Miller's truck in the mix and another from just down the road, we lack one truck filling the eight slots they want.

As my luck would have it, both the bale and seed change overs will take place Wednesday.

I swear, sometimes I think they are just wanting to see how much I can coordinate.

To further complicate things, the GM still wants a couple of trucks to run to Lubbock to bring parts back.

We did a lot of tire swapping yesterday. Part of the pre-New Mexico preventative maintenance. We have been trying to rewire or replace broken or non-working lights. We had one trailer with a brake problem. We did some adjusting on them but it appears that on one of those cold mornings this trailer may have had moisture in the air lines that froze. Just for good measure I poured a couple of ounces of rubbing alcohol into them, hopefully to prevent this from happening again.

As part of our maintenance program, I began training Herberto to adjust trailer brakes. One of my biggest problems out here is catching a particular trailer while it is still attached to the truck to adjust the brakes. You have to have air to the trailer to release the spring brakes to allow you to adjust your brakes. Anyhow, since he is always on the dock during his shift, this would be a great opportunity to keep all the brakes adjusted, at least once weekly.

Krl and I spent Friday morning doing our regular things. Hourly payroll, sorting truck driver's paperwork and preparing tax deposits. Shortly after lunch we went to the court house and did some title transfers that had needed to be done. We had some owner financed vehicles that we were able to pay off. Crazy thing was, lots of the pay was repair work done by me!!

I have to be honest and chastise myself a little. In direct contrast to the past few weeks, I did not get much done on truck and driver settlements Friday. Saturday morning came and I was way behind. I kept my butt in my chair though and by late yesterday we had recovered and Krl was doing the proof, giving me corrections and writing checks.

Whew!

In the middle of our Saturday thrash I caught a glimpse of something outside the window. I told Krl to go to the door (she was closer). She went and stood there asking me if there was a reason for this exercise when there was a small knock. She opened the door and there stood Kyle Patrick Henry. He had come to visit.

Of course I had to accuse him of coming out to check on Consuela and the kids. I actually think in some ways he would love to be back out here, but (and it is a big but) he likes being close to civilization. Anyhow, it was good to see him. He is the only one who has thought enough of us to come see us.

It really worked out good because by the time he was ready to leave, we had two mail packs that needed to go to the other end to the Sweetwater office. Since it was a maintenance Sunday and the bales no longer deliver to Sweetwater, it takes a stroke of luck to get this there. Add to the mix the fact that Monday is a holiday and Kyle did the right thing coming to see us!

Yep, that's what we've been doing. sitting on our behinds drinking lemonade and eating homemade ice cream.

And if you believe that, do I have a business opportunity for you!

Keep us in mind as we have major changes later this week!

Have a day and a week!

Oh FATHER, sometimes I wonder if YOU are loading me up too heavy. Forgive me. Give me the reassurance that YOU will not give me anything I can't handle with YOU and through YOU. I lift up Hag to YOU for YOUR continued gifts of healing. I lift up the twins and the smurf to YOU as they grow and develop. I lift up Pepa to YOU as he celebrates his 79th birthday tomorrow. I ask that YOU bless him with good health and many more happy birthdays!