I've had jet lag all week. And of all weeks to have the blahs, this wasn't it.

I don't travel as well as I used to. I know the weekend in Wichita Falls was not typical, but the long days and late nights seem to fatigue me more than they use to.

Monday it was here at the home office, Tuesday it was at the parts store, Wednesday was the Customer Appreciation Annual Tool Sale, Thursday at the parts store and Friday back in the home office.

The tool sale is a day from you know where. It is fast and furious all day long. I picked up donuts from AM donuts. I was there at 6:20 in the morning. Sylvia made a mix of breakfast burritos, and Hag was on the schedule to cook hot dogs and hamburgers for noon. Pat made fifteen dozen chocolate chip cookies. Customer flow was slow in the beginning, but with the pulling equipment Chris had agreements with sitting out front, there were a lot of slow drive bys and picture opportunities. Chris had five vehicles on display, two of Rian's (which he took a personal day to come) and three of Kevin and Danny's.

As noon approached, foot traffic hit a fevered pitch. By the time burger and 'dogs were on the tables, it was a packed house. Gradually, traffic thinned until mid afternoon when the road crew began breaking down and re-loading the big trucks with the rolling sideshow.

While it was substantially better than last year, the totals lagged far behind the year before last and the year before that.

I sent the little wild man truck driver with Rian's tractors to Lubbock so he would have all his equipment where it needed to be. Shortly after the truck left, Rian loaded up to catch him and show him where they were going. I was right on Rian's heels, ready to make the trek to Abilene and decompress. As I was leaving I remembered I had a call from the truck driver asking me to buy him one of the clearance "creepers" the tool sale had on clearance for $7.50. I called Rian and told him to wait and I would bring it to him. He did and I did.

As Rian continued west, I turned around and went east toward Abilene. I didn't realize it, but I had been on my feet from eight in the morning until I got in my truck to go home. As I approached Merkel, my low fuel light came on in my truck, I decided to stop in Tye where fuel had been $2.219 that morning. I made it to my normal fuel stop and pulled up to a pump and killed my engine. I opened the door and began to get out when I realized rigor mortis had set in. My back, my hips, my knees, and my feet all seemed to refuse to acknowledge the instructions my brain was sending. It was kind of like my body was asking my brain "how do we walk!" No telling what the cashier in the fuel stop thought!

I could not believe how stove up I was.

This week was not one for sleep. I guess too many things are going on in my pea brain. I woke Tuesday morning at 2:11, Wednesday at 1:11, Thursday about 3, and this morning about 4. Today I made myself stay in bed until morning was near.

I can't wait until the seasonal hauling begins. I don't have homes for all the equipment, but I do have spots for some of them. I am supposed to have another meeting to discuss other possibilities.

Krl has had a difficult week keeping her trucks loaded. I had warned her that cotton would slow as the new crop neared harvest. Apparently we have entered that time of year. I had one driver work in the shop Wednesday building items we needed for the seasonal work, and building coil racks. Pepa's driver needed off Wednesday to go to the doctor, then he went home instead of going back to his truck. I keep telling myself these guys aren't rocket scientist, but it sure seems like they shoot themselves in the foot every time they can.

Then last evening Pepa's driver had a brainfart and went and got his truck and took it back to his home near Brownwood. Don't ask me, what an idiot. So that allowed me opportunity to look for loads from that area. Luckily we took two loads off the board and Krl's regular vendors provided Tuesday loads. Hopefully we are off of high center!

I have had a Blockbuster Scratch off ticket laying on the desk all week long. As many are aware this card has been perpetuated by a game card I bought in May or June, shortly after this game began. The original card has played enough to keep it winning while pocketing some of the money and buying additional game cards. I was down to the last card the winnings had produced, and to be honest I did not have a good feeling.

I am kind of odd, when I scratch a ticket, it may take days. I will work all the borders, divide all the prize and "your number" territory, and isolate the wining numbers into individual areas before ever revealing a single number.

This morning, I got serious about scratching this card.

The streak lives!

Not a life changer, but another $100!

Every little bit helps!

I am at a cross roads with my friend who is incarcerated. Krl has told me she has seen a pattern with his last few letters. I had noticed the last three letters he had began a tirade leaning toward racism and becoming a practicing homophob.

The last letter he seemed to be trying to absolve himself of any wrong. He talked of differing degrees of sin and how all he had done was "steal some cows".

Yesterday a mutual friend came into the parts store. I knew from the last correspondence, that this mutual friend had visited the prison last Sunday. We began talking, comparing stories, quizzing each other about what we had been told and comparing histories. According to what I have been told this is the second time this friend has been incarcerated. The first time was when he was a teenager for stealing irrigation motors. According to the mutual friend, this is the third lock up for this man and he told me all three have been for cattle theft.

Weird.

This man told me that if the rancher had not found his cattle when he did, they would have been on a truck and headed for Georgia in a matter of hours, that the cattle rustler had all the preparations made and his truck was ready and waiting. The rustler said if he had had one hour, he would not have been caught.

To me that is alarming. It appears he is sad he got caught, not that he did the crime. To me that indicates he may not be reformed.

For me, the difficulty is this man has asked me to write a letter on his behalf to the parole board. For me, I need to be convinced before I can be convincing.

And I don't want to be conned.

I did have one pleasant surprise this week. Wednesday when I arrived home after the tool sale, the yard was freshly mowed. It turned out that Ln's boyfriend Christian came and told Krl at the time he suffered his knee injury this past summer, we had prepaid him for one mowing and he wanted to settle up! Neat!

Have a day!

FATHER, thank YOU for YOUR blessings, both large and small. We continue to ask for relief. We pray for wisdom and guidance. Thank YOU for YOUR love!