The seasonal move became much more real yesterday. I am sad to report that our days at the summer house are numbered. And the numerical sequence is very brief. If it was a countdown, it would begin 1,............... 0. Elvis has left the building.

I spent some time yesterday on the USPS website, doing a temporary change of address, for Krl and I and the business. It was a little strange. This year when I tried to do what we have always done for fourteen previous years, the postal service site would not let me change Krl and my address to the seasonal address. It told me that the address I listed was a business according to their data base and an individual cannot receive mail at a business address. ?? Huh? This is probably big news for the many seasonal residents. I would estimate that the one address will serve sixty plus individuals plus three businesses during this year's run. I did an end run on the website though, I listed our address as a 1/2. The USPS site took the modified address. No machine can outsmart me. I guess I should refrain from that attitude until we get mail.

When I went to do the business change, I had no problem until it told me this transaction could not be done online. It did allow me to fill out and print the change order form for Krl to sign. I then drove to the post office and handed it to a clerk.

The business mail changes today. Our personal mail changes tomorrow.

That's getting pretty real.

My day yesterday was one of preparation. I winterized "the project", and we closed and covered the pool. All the pumps and filters have been drained. I would like for the record to indicate that yesterday's cool temperatures had nothing to do with the closure. I took some mis-shipped drug testing kits to our safety and compliance consultants. They had ordered eighteen kits for our company use to be shipped to their address and for five to be shipped to ours. All of them came here. (Oh well, it was close. Just fifteen miles off.)

The plant ran for the second straight day. Not all day, but they did produce two and three-quarter loads of bales, and double that in seed loads. We shipped two loads of seed and those trucks will be at the jobsite this morning to re-load.

As of last night, the plant had no modules on the yard for today. This crop has been so difficult to plan for. One day you need a bunch of trucks, the next day you hardly need any!

That is fixing to change though. Much to the chagrin of my friends who farm out there, they had a killing freeze Wednesday night. Thirty-one degrees. This won't affect the cotton too adversely, but where it will make the difference is with the milo crop that was still developing. It may have cost them as much as thirty percent of their anticipated yield. They had really hoped for a mid November frost or freeze.

Of course the milo crop is a gift. These farmers had zeroed their dryland cotton due to lack of rainfall. They then planted milo, figuring it would follow suit. But it rained on the milo seed, and it sprouted and grew. And then it rained again and again, very timely rains nurturing as gorgeous a crop of milo as I have ever seen.

The grain markets began the year very strong. Record pricing across the board. Many contracts were offered paying huge prices. But, that bubble seem to burst two or three weeks ago with the restructuring and bail out of Wall Street. On Monday I looked at the posted price on the Co-op milo board and it was $4.24/bu.. Just over a third of what some contracts were let at in other locales.

Yesterday I had admonished my seed haulers to watch the time as they were taking loads to Lubbock. I had received a message that the oil mill was closing the scales at four o'clock in hopes everyone would be gone by five. One truck driver called telling me he was running just a little late, and asked me to verify the mill hours. I called the switchboard and they transferred me to the scales. I asked the question, and the scale clerk asked someone else. I could hear some discussion until the clerk came back on line and told me, "Send your trucks on, tell them to pull on the scales and sit there and a maintenance supervisor will come and weigh them and dump their load". I called my driver and relayed the message. He was happy and headed to Lubbock so he could be back early Friday morning to reload.

The driver lost a little time with a tire problem, just as he entered Lubbock, but he arrived and did as we were instructed. In a bit, a security patrolman came by and told him they were closed until morning. The driver told him what we were told and he called his supervisor. Phones were ringing up and down the chain of command. I asked security to call Gail Kring, the GM of the oil mill (the security guy didn't even know who he was). Finally I called the supervisor and told him of our plight. He was not a happy camper, but finally agreed to go weigh and unload the truck. He called me when he was done, telling me the truck was emptied and on the road. Of course this allowed the truck to meet with a tire service that I had already called and had been expecting the truck for some time.

Worst part of this whole saga is the scale clerk didn't give me her name. I know it was not the Chief clerk. The supervisor had told he had sent out an e-mail just yesterday, so everyone would know the hours of receiving. This clerk had failed to read the message.

I thanked the Supervisor for helping us out. The truck driver is a new hire and had no bedding in his truck at all, and was planning on stopping by his house and putting his stuff in the truck. (His home is enroute.) I continued, telling the Supervisor I could play by anyone's rules as long as they were accurate and consistent. He asked me to call him personally in the future for information.

Of course it does help that we are the largest plant shipping to them.

Krl voiced her concern about this early season fiasco saying she hoped this was not an omen of things to come.

I concur.

So, fellow campers, here is my day. Load office supplies, cooking utensils, and various other items into my pickup and depart for the jobsite. Spend the day there, catching a ride in to Sweetwater on the last bale truck. Then I will catch a ride from Sweetwater to Abilene (the ride is yet to be determined) where I will spend the night at home before getting up Saturday morning and driving Krl to the jobsite in her SUV.

I guess we will see which wheel falls off that plan!

Have a day!

FATHER, thank YOU for a good day. I am amazed at the different seasons and with the seasonal changes. I pray for safe travel, for productive work. I pray that the new workers scheduled in will arrive as planned. Use me in this day.