Things have calmed down some. Yet demand continues to be high.

My drivers had been gone from home a month, so they were due some R & R. One had taken ten days off, the other took only a few days before his wife booted him out the door.

I know that these guys get tired, but I also know they need to make some money. And, money is directly tied to work.

I learned yesterday that we won't be summoned back to South Texas any earlier than Monday. Monday in itself is doubtful since it is Labor day, yet we could and would go. Just knowing we were "off the hook" until Monday made yesterday ease up although late in the day we had to jump through hoops to get one truck gone to the grain harvest.

I had been intending to replace the front brake pads on Krl's SUV. I decided to do it in the driveway instead of taking it to K.O.'s shop. I had run errands earlier in the day and picked up parts from AutoZone (ironically Chris called me asking what I was doing as I walked into his competitors).

I can't believe how they build things now days. Of course they say products of days gone by are over engineered and subsequently, over built. Meaning that they last forever. What I found yesterday was a much lighter brake caliper configuration in more parts than before. Parts of it were cast steel, part of it cast iron and part of it aluminum. The worst thing they do is put hardened bolts (grade 8) into aluminum that is threaded.

When I removed the bolts, I noticed one of them had aluminum thread remnants in the steel threads. It had galled and pulled some of the threads. I took a hack saw and cleaned up the bolt, but when I re-installed the bolts I decided to swap places with them, putting the best bolt in the worst bolt hole. Still I had a problem with it starting and when it did, it just didn't feel right. So, I decided to go to a parts store and purchase a tap and die set to chase the threads.

It went back together much better after I had refreshed the threads. But, the job that should have taken an hour had stretched to three.

I put up tools and got in the house in time to watch the Baylor football season opener. Kirb got the start against a strong Wake Forest team. I didn't expect a Bear victory. In fact I had a pre-game revelation of the final score being 41 to 6. I was close. 41-13. Kirb didn't have the game we hoped. I felt Coach Briles pulled him a little to quickly. I thought at UM Kirb's receivers dropped way to many passes, but even last night it occurred again. Kirb had 2 int's, one was a tipped pass but the other was his. Kirb's replacement was a true freshman from Copperas Cove, and he reminded me a lot of Vince Young.

Remember, you heard it first here.

Today I am going to try to buy a truck. Actually I have tried to for three days. My driver with the most seniority called and tipped me to a buy. So far I have been unable to make the connection. Maybe today is the day.

When I was running errands yesterday, one stop was at Bruckner's Mack Volvo in Tye. When I was there I noticed that overnight gas had jumped eleven cents a gallon at the Wes-t-go fuel stops in the area. I don't know if it is Gustav unsettling things in the Gulf or if it is greed unsettling things for the Labor Day weekend, but another stopped showed the Valero fuel stop at Albertson's was still at the reduced price. Knowing I have to drive to Stephenville Saturday, I filled Krl's SUV and my pickup.

Crazy thing is, Valero is a major player in South Texas. In fact I fuel there frequently. The biggest difference is the additional eighteen cents a gallon they charge here in Abilene. And it isn't where the fuel comes from because I watched a Coastal truck drop it's load in the underground tanks. It amazes me, I watch all these different trucks pick up fuel from local distribution points from the same spickets, yet when they off load, the pumps proclaim cleaner fuel yielding better mileage, longer engine life with better performance.

And I have some swamp land for sale.

The best news I heard was that Allsups on North Pine Street was under four dollars a gallon for diesel!

My today is a blank page. I guess I will color it as I go.

Have a day!

FATHER, thank YOU for getting things calmed down. Help me to make good decisions. I pray for safe travel for all those on the road this weekend.

I wish I could vote for Bill.

I had forgotten how polished, how eloquent, his public addresses were. Even with his affliction for blue dresses, I would prefer eight years of him to one year with George Dumbya.

But that is water under the bridge.

Hillary delivered an excellent speech night before last. She too, has the ability to connect. It is a shame she is not on the ticket. Actually she was my first choice to head the ticket.

Chelsea has grown into a much prettier, much more eloquent young lady than I expected. I bet we will see more of her somewhere down the line.

Which brings me to the question of whatever happened to Amy Carter?

It appeared that the aging process is catching up with former President Carter.

At the last Democratic party convention, I was impressed with Barack's speech. At that point in time, he was a relative unknown. He is going to have to pull out all the stops and deliver if he is going to continue to build on the speeches of earlier in the week.

I made a trek westward yesterday. I didn't make it as far West as I had intended. As I arrived in Sweetwater, I made a call to Memama. She did not sound well. Pepa was in route to Abilene to tend to some things, so I stopped by to check on her.

I had called Pat and she was VERY concerned.

Memama was complaining of dizziness and nausea. I took her blood pressure, and it looked good, as did her pulse. Before I left, her stomach became upset. I finally convinced her to go back to bed. When I completed my business in town, I stopped back by, slipped in to check on her and she was asleep.

She never knew I was there.

Lindsey was going to check on her when she left school and Jake was going to stop by when he got off work. Pepa should have been home a little after five.

When I called last evening to check on her, Pepa reported that she continued to be nauseous. I told him to go get her some gingerale or seven-up to prevent her from becoming de-hydrated. Krl did a follow up a bit later and he had made the trip to the store.

This morning I called to check on her and she answered the phone telling me she was much better today. Thank goodness!

What does today hold for me? I have no idea, but I need to get a move on to find out.

Before Krl and I headed to our respective chairs last night, we worked together building shish kabobs. I think some of our best meals are "joint efforts". Our kabobs had sirloin cubes, bell pepper, onion, cherry tomatoes, baby portabello mushrooms, corn on the cob slices, yellow squash and zucchini. I did them on the grill and Krl cooked some rice and egg rolls. Uhmmm!

Krl and I watched America's got Talent the last two nights. Some acts are good, but don't represent talent to me. I suppose they are more like demonstrations. But, there have been a few acts that were amazing. It is unbelievable what some contestants have hiding inside them.

And that makes me wonder what un-tapped resources we have inside us.

Have a day!

FATHER, help us to be all that we should be. Thank YOU for healing Memama.

I have been busy the last two days (and since very early this morning) working on some bids and settlements. I have needed the busy work...............

.........because my mind is boggled. I am having a really hard time right now. I seem to be struggling on every front. My brain is betraying me.

I know I have a lot on my plate right now. South Texas, St. Lawrence, Stephenville, Wichita Falls, and points in between. Yesterday K.O. delivered one bid for a job while I am delivering another today. In between we had a verbal inquiry and I gave a quote and they want a truck today!

Hey, business is good! But if it is so good why am I struggling?

I have been working on Pepa's South Texas settlements. So far it is not pretty. I knew he had a lot of maintenance, but I had no idea. Throw in $1170 for DPS tickets (mainly weight distribution related) and $1171 for annual additional weight permits (which would have made it un-necessary to pay the first $1170), and it really tilts it!

I think he knows, I hope he knows. I have tried to keep him informed.

Krl's doctor appointment was un-eventful. It was almost five-thirty when we saw Doctor Brown. We could tell he was fatigued. I told him we were the patient he had looked for all day. The last one. He began examining Krl's foot. The wrong foot. Then he got confused and had to go back to his records to get his bearings. I can not for the life of me understand why he left his small practice to join a huge practice. Long story short, two more weeks in the boot and post-op shoe, then we will probably go to the post op shoe and no shoe. He talked of sending Krl to a pain management doctor to help her deal with what apparently is going to be with her for the remainder of her life. This went over like a lead balloon. Shades of her back injury re-surfaced.

So, I am off. Roscoe, Texas then St. Lawrence, Texas. Three hundred twenty-five miles should get back home. We'll hope!

Have a day!

FATHER, peace, perfect peace.

Hello campers.

Sunday afternoon, Krl and I made the trek to the grocery store. She had not been since I left for South Texas the thirtieth of July. If she needed anything, either she would have to call Trace or wait for Ollie to come in to run errands for her.

I had been to the store, almost everyday since my return. We were out of almost everything. I made preparations for our joint trek, I went out and moved my truck, then loaded Krl's wheelchair in the back of her SUV (I didn't think it was a good idea for her to try to walk through the store with her air boot and post op shoe, although she sure does look stylish).

When we arrived at the store, we walked (O.K., I walked, she rolled) toward the entrance, noticing they were having their annual Hatch Chile Pepper promo. They had case after case stacked about and had two big roasters. The aroma was spectacular! The girl doing the promo and Krl are friends so Krl told her to roast us a case of the peppers and we would pick them up on our way out. We did our shopping and on the way out picked up our green chiles along with some recipes they were handing out.

We arrive home and dealt with groceries, then I began reading about freezing the peppers. It said you could remove the skin or stem prior to freezing or after they have been frozen and thawed. I decided it would be easier to do them prior to. Krl and I began to peel the skins off and pull the stems. Almost four hours later we finished. We have green chilis running out of the kaz-zoo! I had no idea how much a case was, but when I took the box out, I learned that a case is a bushel. I still don't know how much weight that would be.

Yesterday, Krl asked what I wanted for supper and I told her home-made enchiladas! So we put our new supply of chiles to good use. Instead of making the flat enchiladas, we rolled them and put them in a pyrex dish, but we still topped them when we served them with lettuce, tomatoes, and two fried eggs. It was delicious. I even played a little and stuffed three of the larger green chiles with a concoction that appealed to me.

We may get a wild hair and fix chili rellenos.

I had planned on going West to St. Lawrence today, but I had forgotten that Krl has a doctor's appointment. All I know is that the appointment is after lunch.

Maybe tomorrow I can make the westward trek.

I talked with E.T. yesterday and for the first day since we left South Texas, it wasn't raining. He told me he had picked up a thousand bales to be hauled from Laredo, but he was thinking the harvest crews can't return to the field until the first of next week.

That would work for me. I could do the Stephenville show this Saturday, then hopefully go South and complete our work there before we return to do the Wichita Falls show.

This morning when I woke. I walked through the house, poured me a glass of Diet Coke, and retrieved my phone from the charger. It showed new voice mail. Over a year after the call from Pat early in the morning to tell me about TJ, I can recall that message word for word.

Needless to say, my stomach was in my throat. Thankfully, it was a day old message that came while my phone malfunctioned yesterday.

Hope things are going well for you. Some are back at work teaching, others at school learning. The cycle begins anew!

Have a day.

FATHER, thank YOU for home, thank YOU for memories. I pray that we will receive a good report from Krl's doctor today, and I ask that YOU continue to bless her with YOUR miracles of healing.

I am starting to respond to being home. I have really enjoyed it.

I probably enjoy the cooking and meals almost as much as I enjoy my recliner and bed! I have gone to the grocery store almost everyday since I have been home. Yesterday it was to pick up supplies for supper. Rib-eyes with all the trimming (and throw in a link of Earl Campbell sausage). UUhmmm MMmmm! It was great. I cooked out on the grill.

Which brings me to another subject. The grill. We spend so much time away that the grill is dormant for extended periods. Problem is, the time sitting seems much worse than if we used the grill every day. Yesterday when I burned the cooking grates off and began cleaning them, I discovered the grates are becoming snaggle tooth. They have become extremely thin and delicate. So, Krl and I are now actively searching for a new grill. Not bad timing, considering that it is nearing the end of summer.

I have begun to find myself dreading the return to South Texas. Not because of the work, I am thankful for that, but just being away from home. Add to this the fact that I have a show to work next weekend in Stephenville, and two weeks later, a two day show in Wichita Falls. Throw into the mix the move to the seasonal work in West Texas and I am finding a lot on my plate.

The break in the work was welcomed to do some maintenance on equipment. It was also welcomed to rest the drivers up.

I do not, however, look forward to the return of sending equipment through the DPS license and weight/ DOT weight station. Hopefully, we will be more than ready for their petty inspections.

One funny note. One of my drivers is not a U.S. citizen. He has lived over here for almost 53 three years, raised a family (his wife and children are citizens or have dual citizenship), but he never took advantage of the amnesty program to become a citizen. On the way back to the job site from Harlingen, there is an Immigration check point. You have to exit and drive through it, an officer will ask you questions, and then determine if a check of your vehicle is necessary.

When this particular driver pulls in, the first question they ask is "Are you a U.S. citizen?" The driver replies "NO." and they ask him to pull to the side. They give him a more thorough interrogation and ask if anyone is riding with him. He tells them no and then they tell him they are going to put their dog in his truck, then they put the dog in the trailer. The dog is looking for "warm bodies" and for contraband.

I told this driver we would go to the dog pound and get him a dog bigger than theirs!

You would think that after going through the same check point every day for a month they would begin to recognize him!

K.O. received a phone call a couple of nights ago, and it seems that another opportunity has fallen into our laps. We are so gun shy, because we want to take advantage of every opportunity but we do not want to overload our boat. In this latest offering, K.O. had mentioned ten years ago that if the work ever became available he was interested. Thursday night, the contractor turned back the job he has held for eighteen years.

Wow!

I have heard some rumors of changes in my St. Lawrence work. It seems that the warehouse facility we usually deliver to is building a facility in Big Spring. That would make my situation much less equipment intense, but it would also pose some problems concerning long time employees that live on the Sweetwater end.

I need to make a jaunt West.

I need to make a quick run to a parts store for some brake pads for Krl's SUV. If I get to feeling real industrious I might put them on this afternoon.

I have no confirmation, but I was told Dakota Rain might have gone home Friday.

Have a day!

FATHER, thank YOU for the R & R.

I am still jet lagging.

I really don't want to do anything.

Wednesday my day got shot all to h-e-double l. I had some DPS citations truckers had turned in to me to take care of. On our route that the truckers run, there is a DOT weigh/inspection station. There is no way to avoid it. If the lights are flashing, the drivers are required to pull in. Some drivers will stop in the small town of Riviera and wait for the DOT officers to fill their yard with over weight or out of service vehicles which requires them to turn out the lights. Then those drivers hoping to circumvent the system will try to get by while the lights are out. I am not opposed to random inspections and random weighing. If I were to be driving one of these big rigs, I would sure want it to be "safe". What those officers down there have is a witch hunt. I have been told they have put vehicles out of service and written citations for such things as a dirty license plate. Often times these officers will write a ticket saying "I think you have a loose bolt". The remarkable thing is, often there is a mechanic on site who is more than willing to check the torque on said bolt, for a fee, and sign off on the citation (which when showed to DPS will release the vehicle to leave the out of service area). One ticket one of my drivers got was that he needed to tighten up the license plate bracket. Turns out the bracket is riveted on from the factory. Go figure.

Anyhow, the time frame for pleading and paying the citations was today, so Wednesday I was compelled to go get cashier's checks for the tickets. While I was in South Texas, I had opened a bank account at a bank that is merging with Compass Bank. In fact, on the door there is a sign proclaiming that this location is a division of Compass Bank. I had enough money in this small petty cash account to pay the tickets, and an added benefit was that there are Compass Bank locations in Abilene. Or so I thought. I went to the nearest Compass location to our house in Abilene and told them what I wanted to do. I had my account numbers and everything, but they couldn't bring up my account. I even gave them my Compass Check card and that account showed to not be active.

That meant I had to drive an hour each way to a small rural bank I do some business with to get the needed checks. By the time I drove over and back, I was really miffed. At Compass Bank, DPS, DOT, and the drivers. $1170.00 for the four citations (and I had already paid one).

Why I oughta ........... .

When I finally got to the house Wednesday night, I picked KRl up and we went out to eat. That was fun.

Thursday was a lot more laid back. I left the house after lunch, got a haircut, headed to pick up a truck that needed some attention, looked at some trucks that might be possible acquisitions, (and some that are like wet dreams, I would love to have them but they are much too new and to pricey). My final stop was at the grocery store where I purchased the ingredients to fix chicken schezuen.

It is always fun when Krl and I cook together. And the meal was very good.

I did speak with Pat late yesterday. She is going to go back to Palestine Tuesday to take Chloe and Steph for their six week check ups, then she is bringing them back to Roscoe for Chloe to meet "kinfolks". Crazy thing is, she just got back from Palestine Thursday night. She was telling me she had letters and calls to return and was very upset that their accountant is retiring October 1. A couple of the letters involved the accountant and his field of expertise.

I have received no update on Dakota Rain so I will take that as good news!

One last note, I talked to Edwin (the manager in south Texas) and he told me he thought I could stay home until sometime next week. Possibly midweek! Yes! Worst part is, I have to be in Stephenville to work a show a week from tomorrow.

I sure get tired of driving!

And tomorrow is Rian's birthday. The big 31. Huh? How can that be. Happy Birthday Rian!

FATHER, thank YOU for the R & R, rest me well. Bless Rian on his Birthday. Help K.O. and I as we ponder more opportunities.

Hello from beautiful Abilene, Texas!

Yippee!

I am home. Albeit for a brief period, but after being gone one day short of three weeks, it is a real treat! It rained on the Gulf Coastal Plain, which enabled the plant to clear the yard of all modules about two in the morning Monday. I sent all the trucks home Monday and began making preparations for my own trip. I had core parts to return to dealers in Corpus as well as special order parts to check on their arrival (hopefully).

K.O. and his family came down Friday to give me a break. It was nice to have someone around to share the work and worry with. I told D.O. that I didn't care what she and the boys did, but while they were there K.O. was mine. He fell in like a trooper, cleaning and helping with whatever he could.

On Saturday, D.O. took the boys to the Texas Aquarium, the USS Lexington, and the bay beach. It was so funny because when they returned to the travel trailers, the boys were complaining about sand in their crack! It was hilarious!

D.O. and the boys made a quick jaunt to Robstown Sunday before we made our way to Chili's Sunday night. Monday afternoon after we left to take our cores back and in route we detoured down to Mustang Island. We drove about eight miles down the beach and D.O. and the boys got to swim again. Biggest problem was it was cool. Rain and drizzle.

Tuesday, the first part of the day was spent storing and securing supplies we would need later when we returned. Then we loaded chains and straps that can stay in West Texas. About Ten o'clock, we left, headed North, but not before I made one last stop to check on the special order parts. They still had not come in. Oh well, the dealer may get to eat them. Ten days, they should have been in.

By five-thirty in the afternoon, I was unloaded and in the house. Hallelujah!

Talk about a home coming! While Krl was glad to see me, Phoo Do and Miss Maple Syrple were ecstatic! Even Prissy had to come over and get Daddy loving! I have been sat on, sat with, and licked and sugared. Right now, Maple is sitting under my desk on my feet! She woke me this morning licking on my whiskers!

Ah, this is the life.

Rian called me Monday and told me that the reports on Dakota Rain are good. She will stay in the hospital for a week though. Thank you GOD.

While I have been on the Coastal Plain I found a radio station that played classical music, some soft rock as well as Christian music. It seems that most of my drive time was either early in the day or late in the day. During the drive home, I got to listen to some talk radio.

It seems that the station I was listening too was "Catholic radio". Now don't get me wrong. I am not making or poking fun because I really enjoyed their musical programming.

Their talk radio was pretty interesting. These two Dj's were talking about the significance of the numbers 40 and 9 in the bible. 40 days for reformation. 40 days of rain. You get the idea. The number 9 came up in a discussion about death and praying for the departed's soul for nine days to purify it before being presented to GOD. These two Dj's were fired up. I will say that. They made the statement that Catholics have received "Divine Revelation" that other denominations do not and will not ever receive, that gives them guidance and insights.

And I thought only the COC did that.

It is a whole different feeling when another denomination is making the noise. Kind of humbles a fellow.

It's not about a denomination, it's not about who is right or more right. It's about him. The one who came and died, rose again and sits on the right hand of GOD.

JESUS.

I hope you have a JESUS day.

FATHER, thank YOU for the good reports on Dakota. We continue to lift her for your miracles of healing. FATHER forgive us. It's all about YOU.

Oh what a day!

I am exhausted. To much has been going on and the heat and humidity is just too much! I am having a melt down!

I talked with Reid last night. It was his birthday. His dad called this morning to tell me that when they got home from church the UPS man had left Reid's gift from Meme and Dandy on the porch.

About a week or ten days before we sent the first trucks down here, we applied for an overweight permit. This allows you a margin, over your registered weight. It is really handy if you are loading from overhead bins, because you sometimes get more than you bargain for. This morning K.O. called telling me he was faxing these precious pieces of paper. After they arrived I began to distribute them to the different drivers. After about the third one, he came to me and told me, I see a problem. This isn't unusual, this is the same driver whop tole me he had found an error on his pay sheet. Turns out he was right once again. One county in the five counties we span, had been omitted. Of course as my luck would have it, it is the county with the weigh station "trap" that has dealt us so much misery. At days end, K.O.'s office was scrambling to get an on-line application for the one county. I told him to go ahead and renew all the counties that are coming due in the next sixty days. We would have to eat the sixty days but they would be ready to go and would be cheaper than $255 for one county!

Last night I received a call about 2:30 in the morning. A driver was having a light problem. He decided to go to sleep and I could look at it later. I did, and it makes a strong case for the laying on of hands. I didn't find anything wrong, but after I began checking and pulling on wires, the lights never blinked. As far as my night, it was trashed.

I had a call from Pat today. Her entire family was headed for Steph's. Tomorrow is her birthday (Steph's) and the family is going to keep Chloe and do yard work so J.R. and Steph can go out. I would hate to see that list of directions for keeping Chloe!

A bit of distressing news. Dakota had a lung collapse today. They have moved her to ICU. The last new I had received was that they were trying to decide whether to keep her in Abilene or send her to Cooks in Fort Worth. I ask that you include her and her parents and brothers in your prayers.

K.O. and his entire family were supposed so arrive late tonight. However I had a call a while ago and was told they had delayed departure until tomorrow. I don't know how much help they will be but I could stand to see a friendly face and have some moral support.

Hope your day was a good one!

FATHER, I still need some help here. I pray for Dakota Rain, that you would bless her with YOUR gifts of healing. YOU are good!

I've come to my trailer to get a bite to eat. I am starving. Luckily I am closer to a normal lunch hour today than days past.

Yesterday was a nightmare. I woke up, did all my clean up and getting things in order, then the overhead bin filled and I had to do it all over again. When trucks finally began loading, they made the most huge mess I have ever seen. Just to compound the problem, the front end loader went down.

I did go to Corpus and pick up the tarp for the fifth trucks trailer. It took about two hours, but we installed it and put a load on it form the first timed since Friday. I was so glad the gentleman at the tarp repair place got my order done so quickly.

The plant has run good. In fact, they had back to back record breaking shifts. E says that never in hi9s wildest dreams did he expect the plant to stand up and sing like she has.

I am hoping two more weeks.

When I woke this morning, I had four trucks waiting to load. The nightshift lost their rabbit's foot and the plant went down. That is O.K., my drivers needed some sleep.

I got a text message this morning saying that Dakota Rain Freeman had arrived. Congrats to her Mom and Dad and brothers. I'm betting she is going to be spoiled rotten !

I like the name Rain. If Ollie had been a boy, his name would have been Rain McLeod.

I had to make a trip to the weigh station in Riviera this morning. I had two trucks with problems. One had a cracked wheel and the other was over axle group. We got it handled, after the trooper wrote citations of course.

What a racket!

Hope your day is going well!

FATHER, thank YOU for the rest and reprieve! Bless Dakota with a happy and good life.

I've miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.

The way I have been driving, I could sleep all the time.

I am weighing the pros and the cons of this contract. Probably the cons are winning out at the moment, but I know I am tired and frustrated.

We got our fifth truck back today along with a drop in sixth truck, which is supposed to give my regulars an opportunity to get some concentrated rest. The big problem with the fifth truck is it has no trailer. I took it's tarp in to a repair shop tomorrow. I asked (very nicely) for the man to expedite it) he told me maybe, maybe Tuesday after lunch. I am not holding my breath!

I went to Corpus twice today, once for Kyle's trailer and once for Kevin's truck. I went to Kingsville twice, once for personal and once for Kyle's trailer.

I have driven over a thousand miles since Friday. I am finding myself meeting myself coming and going.

I have got to figure out a fair way to make money off all the trucks operating out of here. Currently I am only making money off Pepa's two trucks. Nothing for all the running parts for all the others. I know I spent over twenty-five hundred dollars Friday and Saturday, and none of the trucks were mine of Krl's. $225 in gas alone in that same time span!

I will figure it out.

I did get a reprieve yesterday. I went to find alternator belts for Mario in F23 and afterwards I went to Chili's. I ate a steak and had three glasses of tea and four magarita's. I would love to have stayed there longer, but I didn't.

Today's personal trip to Kingsville was to ship Reid's birthday presents. I wasn't totally thrilled with his gifts (especially his bigger one) but I think it will challenge him. Crazy thing was I had bought him a card and when I got there to ship, I could not find it.

After I shipped Reid's gift I went to Chili's and ate lunch. Hey I could be a regular! Pass the margarita salt! It was good! I could get used to this.

According to the figures posted today, we could be halfway through if you believe the low estimates, or maybe tomorrow morning if you like the higher estimate. I don't care, we are just working and I am thankful for that.

I spent part of my afternoon working on settlements for driver. It seem that one of them just to make thing difficult wanted his entire check where he could cash it. Thant meant I wrote him a company check, he endorsed it, gave it back to me, and I gave him a personal check he could cash locally. By the time the other driver got half of his where he could cash it, I had a nineteen dollar margin for available funds.

Why I oughta!

I so have the feeling that things are not going to be well tonight since it is payday, even though we have extra help. Maybe I am just a pessimist!

E told me that the funeral home finally got TJ's picture mounted in her headstone. I am going to have to take a trip over to see it. After all, it has been almost two weeks since I visited her.

I called Pat the other day, but so far have not made contact. I haven't talked with her since Fairfield going on three weeks ago.

If you see me speeding by, honk at me!

FATHER, rescue me!

Here is a combined two day report.

I drove more miles yesterday picking up parts than one of my truck drivers drove, and he is getting paid for it. Combined totals look like this. Four trips to Kingsville, two trips to Alice, and three trips to Corpus Christi.

Yesterday I hired a guy to work on Pepa's Kenworth's air conditioner. It had quit the night before. BR, the driver suffered through one trip with no a/c, but I can sympathize with a West Texas boy. This heat and humidity is wicked. Be the time we finished last night it was nine o'clock.

This morning, shortly before 7, Cleo in truck 15 called telling me his a/c had gone out. This truck has had a/c repairs done four times in six weeks. Luckily it was still in warranty. But........ we had to take it to Corpus to the Freightliner dealer.

Things kind of smoothed out in the middle of my Saturday. I even began to think about Chili's, eating some supper and consuming some margaritas.

Bad move. Jerry on truck 3 called me with a problem. He had just completed loading and discovered he had a broken spring. Worst part was his tire was rubbing on the cross members of the trailer. I had to call my mechanic Valentin out. He arrived, gave me a number, and a short while later I was on my way to Alice. The last two days I have spent $2300, $150 of which was after hours opening charges! Yikes! On a positive note, part of it was Pepa's and the rest was K.O.'s.

I may go to Chili's in the morning and just wait for them to open.

Looks like a rerun of hamburger helper for super tonight.

I am hopeful that tomorrow will be a better day!

Hope your world is spinning the right direction!

An interesting personal note is this. Today is eleven days without television. I am almost through with my book and bought a new one that is begging to be read!

FATHER, I need a lot of help here!

I am tired and ache all over. Yesterday was a Monday in disguise. About the worst day I have had since I have been here. I am into the second week on site already. I had two new drivers cycle in. One replaced a very good Leroy while the other is an additional truck. This morning I was In the best shape I have been in since we started down here.

It seems as though all I have done is run to and from town. Yesterday I went to Kingsville to pick up some things, thinking I was done for a few days. This morning the "new" truck that arrived late last night called me telling me he had some issues that needed my attention. His trailer came out of the shop yesterday had a light problem. It seems the shop had left too much wire and it had gotten on the tire and rubbed all the insulation off. That meant another trip to pick up supplies to fix it. While I was there I dropped off my laundry. I wasn't out of clothes but I was just trying to combine trips.

With the new driver coming in so late last night, it threw my schedule totally off. I got to my trailer about midnight, (they had awakened me before six yesterday morning) showered and crawled between the covers and read briefly before turning out the light. I didn't even eat supper.

This morning my butt is still dragging!

According to the posted numbers we are about 25% done!

Hope your day is good!

FATHER, give me the patience and the wisdom I need to deal with this job and my cop-workers.

We went twenty-four Sunday night. Yuk! I hate it when we begin running around the clock. So far, the night crew has taken it to the day crew. Not even close. 99 bales difference yesterday. My truckers are chasing their tails. I know they are tired. It takes some conditioning to do what they do at unreal hours of the day or night.

Tonight when I came to my trailer, I looked at the production board and figured we are one/sixth through. That means we could be done around the twenty-fourth of this month. That would be nice. That would mean instead of driving in for the Stephenville show (I am supposed to announce), I could move home and then travel east. Sounds like a plan.

We have had wind and thunder showers all around us today. Remnants I am sure of Eduardo. I sure hope he send some rain to central and West Texas! Right now I can imagine I am in Abilene with a full fledged thunder storm going on!

Tomorrow we are supposed to begin cycling drivers out. Some of them have been here a week. Some came for the duration. The ones who came for the week are running out of clothes and supplies.

Each morning I make my rounds, cleaning and arranging as I need to. This morning I finished sweeping and sealing some surplus seed when I looked back at the compound and saw everyone standing in the middle. The overhead storage was full. Dang it! While we were changing the valve to another overhead bin, a truck drove onto the yard. That helped, but it didn't help cleaning up the twelve or fifteen hundred pounds of see that spewed on the ground.

Hopefully tomorrow I will get the truck in that will give everyone a little breathing room. Problem is, it may be tomorrow night by the time it gets here. Dang it!

I know things will work out. It is like my mornings are so stressed, trying to get caught up, but by night our days work has paid off. I just don't like waking up behind the eight ball.

I got to see Wee this afternoon. He is headed back to Edna for his shift tomorrow. He stopped in to see his Dad before he left.

I see so much of those kids mother in them!

Hope your world is spinning the right direction!

FATHER, give me the faith, and the strength to hold fast.

Day three at the new jobsite.

I have a personal goal today of not going anywhere! I will modify that to say I mean anywhere other than close by to get ice for coolers! For the last two days I have gone to Corpus Christ. One day twice.

Last evening by eight o'clock I was in m y trailer, freshly bathed, with supper on the stove. I cooked chili dogs. One of my favorites, but one that I can seldom talk Krl into. By nine, I was laying on the couch reading a book (I need batteries for remotes so I can program some television channels), when I nodded off. Following the cue, I put my book up and turned out the light.

An hour later I was awakened by knocking on my door. I opened the door to find one of my truck drivers. He tole me he had backed over a water pipe and water was spewing. I got some shoes on and called E to find out where the valve was. After wading into the water, my driver found the valve and shut the water off. I returned to my trailer, left my soaked shoes outside, and went inside. It took about two hours for the adrenalin to leave and let me settle down.

I don't know what time the next episode began, but it was pitch dark and involved a garbage truck and a dumpster a short distance from my travel trailer. I'm not sure but I think the driver dumped it twice then ran over it for good measure.

Needless to say, it was a fitful night.

Today I have worked on truck and driver settlements. I am testing how well I can e-mail them to both offices back home. If we can use this method, it should streamline the process.

I have been informed that tomorrow night we will begin going 'round the clock.

As of today, we have ginned 1391 bales. I figure we are seven and a half percent through. If weather holds and the producers get with it, we should be four weeks from completion, provided their estimates are accurate. Rain is predicted for this coming Thursday.

Ollie went to Abilene to take care of Krl. I think they got some things done that Krl had been avoiding doing.

I went and looked at some equipment yesterday. It wasn't something I am in the market for nor was it a real bargain. It turns out the want to be seller is someone who bid on this job, but wasn't awarded the bid. He had worked at the other plant for fourteen years. While he was nice enough to me he sure doesn't like the surviving business entity or any of it's managers.

In the it's a small world section the module hauling contractor here used to haul at the plant at Roscoe when I was working there. He has grown from one truck then to eight back to five now.

Reid is in Roscoe. Rian and Erica are at Lake PK on the Senior trip from their church. I guess Holt and Drew are in Lubbock. Don't get me wrong, these aren't the senior citizens from their church, they are the incoming class of seniors in their youth group.

Be blessed this weekend!

FATHER thank YOU for opportunities. Help us to make wise choices, to do good work. To YOU is the glory!