My planned "uneventful Saturday" wasn't too far off the mark. I had a couple of things to do, but not a whole lot. I read about a hundred pages in the new Grisham release. I would have read the whole thing but I made myself stop. In the past I have been known to get a new Grisham book and sit down and read it cover to cover, non-stop. Then turn around and read it again at a more leisurely pace.

Writers are truly gifted, I don't know what makes a book "grab you", or what "draws you", or "rivets" a person. But it is a gift. I can remember the book I read way back in elementary school that launched my joy of reading. The book was titled Five Yard Fuller. I always wanted Rian to read the book, but he hasn't. What is truly amazing to me is that I love reading, Krl loves reading, the kid's mother loves to read, but none of the kids like to read anymore than to read directions. (And I think they only scan them).

Go figure.

After my long soaking, reading bath, I shaved, dressed, and began to develop a strategy. I had talked with Rian, and I had talked with one of my truck drivers. I needed to pick up some oil and antifreeze for the trucks running out West, and I needed to pick up some tubing Rian had bought and taken to K.O.'s shop. The tubing turned out to be too thick for the tubing bending machine to bend it, so he called his supplier in Lubbock and they agreed to trade him back for thinner wall material. Since Rian and I are meeting in St. Lawrence Monday, that would be a good time to relay the tubing back to Lubbock.

I decided I would go to Lowe's and pick up duct tape and rope, then go to Sam's to buy oil and antifreeze and then make the drive to Hawley. As I was putting on my socks and boots, I asked Krl if she wanted to go. No, was her response. That was O.K., because I know she hasn't been feeling well. So I left the house.

It didn't take long for my plans to be tested. I was in Lowe's when a driver called me to report a blown out tire on his truck. He was about nine miles away from one of my usual vendors, so I told him to turn around and "limp" back while I made the calls. I probably have five or six numbers for this business and their key personnel, but none of them, absolutely zero, answered their home phones or cell phones. I had the driver check their door at the business to see if they had updated contact information posted. All there was was a sign reading, "We will be closed, January 31, 2009.

I had enlisted Krl's help in calling these numbers, so I returned to the house. hoping she had gotten better results. She hadn't. After about an hour, I told the driver to ease toward Lamesa, and maybe we would have better luck there. The business we were trying to contact has a satellite in Lamesa, and it would give us an hour or more to call.

Not only did Krl try the satellite store and shop, she called every tire company listed in the phone book in Lamesa, and no-one answered. We left messages, but so far not a single one has returned a call. I am beginning to wonder what this is, National Tire Company Day Off or something. Maybe they are having a convention, or maybe they have all gone to the Super Bowl! I have no idea. I am concerned though, because in addition to this family owned business being a key supplier to me, I consider them my friends.

I left the house, and went to Sam's, bought the needed items plus a few impulse buys, and made my way to Hawley. While I was driving I called my little madman truck driver who lives in Lamesa to tell him of the plight of my straggler truck driver and see if he had any suggestions. He was already in Lubbock, getting ready to unload when I reached him. He said he didn't know what to do, so I asked him if he met the straggler to look at the one remaining tire on that dual and see if he thought it would make it the rest of the way to Lubbock, if not, to find a place and help the straggler dollie the loaded trailer off and use the madman's truck to deliver, then return to get his truck and go home. He said he would do his best.

I arrived in Hawley and loaded and strapped two twenty foot joints of tubing on my company truck. It hangs over the headache rack about six or seven feet, and hangs over the back end of my pickup five or six feet. Surprisingly, it rode into town very well.

As I made the drive back to Abilene, I checked on my straggler. He was taking his time, stopping occasionally to let the "single" tire cool down. Miraculously, he made it to Lamesa, just about the time the little Madman did. It is not that I don't trust the straggler, he just doesn't have the years or miles the little Madman does. The Madman surveyed the situation and asked me what do you want to do. I told him I couldn't see what he was seeing, to make the best call he could and we would go from there. Ultimately, he decided to find a place to unhook from the trailer, retrieved some dollie plates from his house, and dollied the loaded trailer off and swapped trucks. In the process of all this, the Madman removed what was left of the blown out tire, so that when the straggler returned with Madman's truck, the straggle can get in his and "single" on home.

So another happy ending to a trucking saga. Not. What that means is that today I am going to have to go over to the farm shop and meet this driver to do some tire work. I have decided if (and that is a big IF) things will interchange, I am going to swap tires and wheels with a wrecked truck I have at the shop. Tires are probably fifty percent or better, mounted on aluminum wheels, and therein lies the mystery. The aluminum wheels are much thicker so the truck needing the tire must have long enough lug bolts for the thicker wheels. If not, my plan goes out the window. I have two new tires in the supply trailer, but I don't want to run two new tires on one side and two old ones on the other side. I may be paranoid, but I don't want to make the rearend spider gears to spazz. (Meaning I don't want to ask for more trouble). You can get away with it for the short term but longer term could lead to problems). These trucks are running about six hundred miles a day, six days a week. I would rather do the swap and hopefully have a solution in place for the remainder of this hauling.

So now you know what is on my Sunday horizon. But let's finish Saturday.

Returning home, Krl asked me what we were going to cook, I threw out two suggestions figuring one for Saturday night, one for Super Bowl Sunday night. Fajitas or Chicken Szechuan. She told me we needed some items from the store for either. I told her to put a list together and I would go. She did, and I did. I developed a new menu while I was gone. I saw some brisket halves and selected one just right for Krl and I and a little left over, maybe for sandwiches later in the week. It is from the thinner end soI figure I can cook it in a couple of hours. I finished my shopping and returned home again.

We unloaded groceries, and Krl put them away. I explained the change in menu for Sunday evening and asked krl what she wanted for Saturday night. "Do you really want to cook this late?", she asked. I told her it was only six. She tried to deter me by telling me how much prep time was required for cutting peppers and onions for either, and even more for the broccoli for the chicken szechuan. I told her I could do it.

A little later, we both went into the kitchen. I began cutting chicken tenders into cubes, she began slicing and cutting onions and peppers. I put the chicken in the wok and began making the picante based sauce while she made quick work of the broccoli. By then I had taken the chicken out and had the peppers and onions well on their way to perfection, I added the broccoli, tossing a few times before adding the chicken back in and pouring the sauce over it. I brought to to a rapid boil before turning it down to simmer and let the sauce thicken. Krl got the rice out of the pantry and prepared a pot of boiling water, and i took the meal to the end. Almost. It was about now we discovered we had no egg rolls. Oh well, we had Chicken Szechuan on rice pilaf, with club crackers!

In a real treat, Krl had some red, yellow and green bell pepper, so this mix was more colorful than usual. It was yummmy!

Krl and I are afflicted with an affection for cookbooks. Our cabinet is full of them, but two of my favorites are the 40th Anniversary Pace Picante Recipe Collection and a Marlboro Rewards, Foods of the Southwest (meaning barbecue) Cookbook.

By the way did anyone see the pork recipe on the Internet. There is a woven mat of uncooked bacon, and on top of that you spread evenly, four pounds of sausage, seasoning and cheese, and then roll it up and tie it. Throw it on the pit and slather it with barbecue sauce. Nutritionists had a fit! The say it has like five gazillion calories and will elevate your cholesterol to the moon! But it has been quite the Internet hit!

I have never tried bacon with barbecue sauce!

Well, I should get. When the phone rings my day will change drastically. I just hope it is early enough to salvage Super Bowl Evening! If I am luck I might even get in another hundred pages of my new book. I also need to see where Krl and Bobbi put my books Rian and Erica gave me for Christmas.

Go birds!

Have a day!

FATHER, please bless this day. Help me to make good choices, and the work that needs to be done quick. All hail YOUR power!