Krl and I had a great Valentines Day.

Not too much to do. It was a short week for settlements and thanks to a problem with the Phoenix fuel program at St. Lawrence, we could not finish owner settlements. They are finished with the exception of the fuel deductions. Driver checks are finished, and late yesterday I took the co-op checks, the last two oil mill tickets, and the original copy of their bill (which was faxed), along with the January employee roster and February premium for the accident policy, and a letter to Leotard Kitten to the main Post Office downtown. That is the latest mail pickup in town. I don't know if I was in time or not. I was just a few minutes late and the box sounded empty, but I figure as close as I was and as many boxes as they have to empty they would still have been retrieving mail.

Oh well, I tried.

They have slowly moved the pickup times. I can remember when I was in college, the last pickup was downtown at midnight. Then it moved to ten to nine to eight to six, and yesterday the boxes all showed the last Saturday pickup to be at 5pm. During that same time span, postage has gone up twenty-nine cents.

After I finished the post office run, I went to the grocery store. Krl had prepared a brief list of things we needed. As per usual, I took the liberty of expanding the list.

Krl and I had talked about going out to eat for Valentine's but we dismissed that possibility. While I was at the store, I bought some king crab legs and steak. I filled the turkey fryer pot with water, and put it over the burner I had moved onto the back porch. Krl had already put baked potatoes in the oven while I was gone, even though she didn't know I was going to "splurge". Krl prepared the steaks and cooked them on the stove top. We used some of the Popo's Voodoo seasoning I had recently acquired. Everything came together as if all watches had been synchronized. As per previous occasions we have done this, we cleared the big coffee table and sat on the floor to eat!

During one of my trips in and out of the house setting up the burner and fryer pot, I had stopped just long enough to start a fire in the fire place.

It was a wonderful, relaxing evening! Good company, good food, and a warm crackling fire!

I am working in earnest on this Thursday's contract proposal. I have to admit that Greg competing against us is a lot more bothersome than I would care to admit. I like Greg's parents and don't want to do them any harm. While I consider Greg a friend, I do not consider him a good friend but I don't care to intentionally hurt or harm him. It's simply a case where I can't allow him liberties at my expense.

Daytona 500! Excellent. I am ready to go fast. My two picks for this race are mark Martin and Jeff Gordon. In that order. If you are tempted to, don't bother me until the race is over!

My week looks like this. Today NASCAR, Monday Krl to medical imaging for her scan, Tuesday parts store, Wednesday parts store (personal note, Wednesday is my birthday), Thursday parts store (personal note, Thursday is Kathryn's birthday) Thursday night meet with the Board of Directors at Glasscock, Friday is currently open.

I am hopeful that we can get some hauling for the drivers that will be in the shop otherwise.

Have a good day and great week!

FATHER, thank you for a wonderful Valentines day, and for my wonderful Valentine Sweetheart. Bless her and keep her. Help me to not let other things weigh on our relationship. I pray for good results from her procedure Monday. FATHER, I ask that you would bless my efforts as I prepare our contract proposal. Help me to be fair and just in my numbers, and do good work at a fair price. May my work, and my interaction with others bring glory to YOU. Bless be the tie.