Now that was a crazy week. Four days were spent scrapping salvage equipment. Three at Hawley, one at Roscoe. We pulled off the Roscoe end because we are almost to aluminum and it is down right now. Good golly, I sound like a metals trader! I am planning on driving to Hawley later today and picking up the cutting torch and bottles, to take them to Roscoe. Right now I am planning on working in and around the farm shop, possibly pulling the transmission from truck 242. We need a clutch and throw out bearing in it. Also plan on pulling the air to air from the wrecked Volvo and putting it on this truck along with a new bumper. Also need to locate a hood to trade for. I have been trying to generate the $$$$$$ to do all this but it has been a slow process. In addition to this project we need repairs to trucks 424 and 516. Power divider for 424. On 516 it is more labor related. We are going to swap the chunks in the rearends, replace the engine wiring harness, and do a little cosmetic work. On the fringe is a repair that needs to be done to truck BB3. If we can get that done I can convert that truck to cash and have more money to use for my fixer uppers. Of course one other ace in the hole is the Explorer sitting in the big pulling trailer. Ka-hing! Show me the money! Honey! Earlier in the week I was very pleased with my helper Bill and my efforts. We had been pretty productive, and suffered no injuries or burns. Or so we thought! When I got home and began to shampoo my hair, I could hardly stand to touch my head. All day I had worn my favorite straw hat, and apparently all day long small pieces of slag and spark had gone through it. My head was covered with blisters! Yuk! The largest was the size of my thumb, and it is still sore! I had joked that with the damage I found, all that should have been left of my hat should have been the hat band! Then Thursday, just about quitting time, Bill tossed a large piece of metal and it caught his hand. Friday he was crying like a sissy wearing heels! LOL! I will admit his hand was swollen. We made plans to do a half day at the farm Saturday. Problem was, it just didn't work that way. Bill was going to try to finish up and clean where we had been scrapping and I was going to spray 189 acres of wheat fallow. Turned out the large strainer on the spray rig had frozen and busted. I am not sure if it had happened in a prior year, but I know it had happened again. There was evidence that it had been southern engineered, but this break is between two cavities. When we began filling the tank, the strainer was leaking like a sieve. Let the record reflect, I am not the one who winterized the spray coupe! I have been totally amazed at the amount of oxygen we have been going through with our scrap operation. A bottle + per day. Lord have mercy! Thursday night I had told Bill to get a reading and let me know if we needed additional bottles. He told me he thought we were good. Wrong! Just bout lunch, I heard the torch popping off and was watching as he could no longer keep the flame steady on the tip. We threw the bottles in the truck and headed to Abilene. Darn the luck. 40 mile round trip. The only thing that saved us was a phone call I got from the little wildman truck driver. He told us that there was a truck at the motel where I put him up and the trailer was loaded with pizza. The load had shifted and the receiver would not accept the load. So the truck driver was giving away frozen pizzas. I called Trc and told her to go by. I think she got 48 or so pizzas. Then Bill and I went by. We got 56 pizzas. Freezer space became a prime commodity. I told Bill for his girlfriend to come by and pick up forty of the pizzas from my house to take home to his. I called all sorts of people. Rian was ripped about it! He told me to send some with DMS who was going to Lubbock for the George, Reba, LeeAnn concert. Rian was very distraught when I told him DMS left Friday. However, I went by the truck and picked up 40 more pizzas. After an hour we found space to store them in Roscoe! I gave the guy $25 for 144 pizzas. The ones he gave us are Cafe pizzas by Papa Johns, thin crust cheese and deep dish pepperoni! Erica texted me and told me she knew three little boys who would get down for some cheese pizza! Rian and Erica along with one of the Shallowater Ag teachers and his wife went to George Strait last night in Lubbock. Dms and Rockey also went. Reports on FB say it was good. I almost think Rian liked Reba best! Memama, Pat, Jeri K and Linda went to Abilene Civic Center last evening to see the Texas Tenors. I know Pat and Memama and JK went to Chili's prior to. This was Memama's birthday from Fred's family! I have no reports from their concert but did see pix of Linda with the Tenors. Well, I am staying with my pick of Connecticut to win the NCAA tournament. I took great joy in seeing Kentucky beat Ohio State! Well, have a day. FATHER, thank YOU for all YOUR blessings! YOU are good.

In retrospect, yesterday was the best on in a while!

Productive day working at Hawley and on Pepa's Kenworth. Shipped a big load of scrap iron. And had a very good evening at home and great night's rest!

Excellent!

Here is hoping your and my day today is as good or better!

FATHER, bless this day and our efforts! Glory and honor and dominion, unto the KING unto the KING.

I continue to pour the antibiotics down. It seems I take two steps forward. Once back. Slow, slow progress.

My farm help Bill and I have been scrappin'. Old trucks, sled parts, old cotton strippers. It has been a productive week, but lots of wind and dust.

And that hasn't helped my sinuses, cold etc.......!

We moved to Hawley today to work on some projects we have had up there. I am hopeful we can get done there tomorrow. We have miles to go before we are finished.

It has been a crazy scrap iron market. Abilene is 180/tn for short iron. Sweetwater is 240/tn
Aluminum is weak, while copper is strong. Dirty aluminum, old cars and such are really volatile.

We made a deal for three old cotton strippers for long iron Sweetwater price. $200/tn.

Right now we are hoarding aluminum and trying like the mischief to get the strippers to the scrap yard.

I'm not going out with the group tonight. I still just don't feel up to it. I am hopeful another week or two off will help me get well.

Memama continues to do well. On Monday I called to tell her I had two friends at the farm shop looking at some stuff and I would feed them at the Lumber Yard of somewhere else. She adamantly told me, "You will not!" When we arrived for lunch we had chicken fried steak, mashed taters, corn, green beans, gravy and hot rolls. There ended up eight of us for lunch! Memama told me that cooking is what she enjoys and is good at!

Amen!

Pat and Hag are in Lubbock tonight. He has a checkup tomorrow with Dr. Mark.

I guess we are getting a pretty good support package in place. I had called Memama earlier to tell her I was working in Hawley and pat went to check on her before leaving. Pat also called and asked Lindsay and Jake and their babies to check on her. I would also suspect Christy and Dakota might stop in before dark!

If scuttlebutt is correct, Bub began his trek home today from Florida.

The greater metropolitan Roscoe area received between 5 and 7 tenths of an inch of rain last Friday. While we are thankful for the rain blessing we continue to ask for more!

I am going to take me a long soaker of a bath. Get a little something to eat, and point my toes up early tonight!

Hope you had a day because we have another one tomorrow!

Bless us OH LORD and expand our boundaries!

My cold/flu/sinus/whatever moved from my head to my chest Thursday night.

From my bout with walking pneumonia in December I knew I needed to get into the Doctor. It cost me a Coke Classic, but Christy got me in!

I saw the PA and got two shots and three scripts, so I am feeling pretty "cheeky" and a $100 lighter for the meds.

Antibodies, steroids, and cough syrup. Add the cost of the office call and I want a money back guarantee!

From the steroids in December I had gained 11 pounds. Yesterday I had lost 14. Then they gave me more steroids. So what you see won't be the real me! Ha! I am chemically altered!

My medical advice today was meds along with citrus. I may go and have a couple of magarita's. That would qualify for citrus wouldn't it?

My man Bill and I didn't get much scrapping done yesterday. The little wild man truck driver had an issue, I sent him to the shop and they diagnosed it. Could have been a quick fix for about 1200 to 1600 dollars there, but I am trying to be smart and use pieces from the wrecked truck. We removed the air compressor from it and drove to Abilene to swap them out By the time I carried Bill back to Roscoe and then returned to Abilene, I barely made it to the pharmacy in time to pick up my meds. Got home after nine-thirty.

Drove through some rain, which was enjoyable. I have had reports that it poured in Roscoe later in the night, but I have heard no amounts today. I am hopeful, but not holding my breath! Three to four inches would get us up in pretty good shape. From what my man told me I figure an inch at best.

When I went to bed we had no power at our house. I had plugged my phone in and I guess with no power it may have back fed, because my phone turned off.

My little wild man driver had an issue about 4:00 this morning, but got it handled. It was nothing Bill and I had done. Thankfully! The driver did a double Abilene to Lubbock last night.

This has been the toughest week since we lost Pepa. Not a lot of people around and that seems to amplify his absence. It is easy to bluff yourself that he is just in the bathroom.

Bub is in Florida, but forgot his speedo. I sure hope he isn't skinny dipping or they may have to drain the ocean!

My scrapping operation has gone pretty well. Not very productive yesterday, but we have a couple of loads almost ready to go. Next week should be good.

I need to spend a day on the spray coupe. The wheat fallow is really green with volunteer wheat. I am so disappointed with the job Pepa's custom harvesters did last year. They rode a lot of grain over. They were pretty new to the business and I think they did not know how to set their machines and they tried to run too fast. They won't be on top of my list for this year, even though we have just a few acres of wheat.

Not much on my plate today. A long hot soaking bath, and a little NCAA Basketball. Primarily trying to feel better!

BTW, I had a perfect West bracket, a single game wrong in the East, and a single game wrong in the Southeast. But the Southwest bracket ate my sack lunch. Five wrong! There goes my Million dollars! I will do my second chance bracket in four or five days!

Have a day! Put two together and we'll call it a weekend!

FATHER, thank YOU for YOUR blessing of rain. We don't want to be greedy but we would take more. Let's stop short of that Noah flood though. We continue to ask that YOU heal our hearts. Help us to make good decisions. Thank YOU for providing for us. We will glorify and praise YOUR name!

I need a thirty second timeout to talk with Pepa and or Freddy!

A couple of blue days. Pretty tough!

Sorry I can't talk about it!

I have industrial strength snots! Yesterday I was spewing chunks and manufacturing 'nana pudding (all I needed was 'nilla wafers).

On Friday I took Krl to the doctor in Albany. She had gone from low pulse, low blood pressure to a pulse of 100 and blood pressure through the roof. On Friday her pulse was 102 and BP was 199/110. Doctor Mackie nearly did his drawers.

They did an EKG, blood work, and scheduled her for a wellness check up. (Go figure). The EKG showed no heart issues and good intervals so the doctor put her back on a beta blocker!

It will probably be mid week before we get blood test results back.

On our way home we ran by Firehouse Bar and Grill for a quick lunch. Krl was famished as she had been fasting for her tests. She did some major damage to a really good cheese burger and onion rings! Excellent food FYI.

Attended services at Southern Hills this morning. Very enjoyable, uplifting. (I couldn't help but giggle as the praise team had the congregation stand for the singing of every single song. Pepa would have hated it!). Lunch afterwards, trip to Pep Boys, then Verizon.

I am shopping for a smart phone. The one thing I know is I don't want an Iphone. I want to be an Ndividual, not a cookie cutter model.

I know what I want but have questions why the supposed same phone is $50 cheaper at Sam's or Walmart, than at the Verizon store. My big question is if the phones at Sam's and Walmart are fourth generation phones or are they third. I want to be leading edge technology, at least on the day I buy it!

The way I update, I need to hedge my bet. My biggest concern is if I am too rough for a smart phone. The last time I had an insurance claim I could still talk on my phone but it took both hands. One for the talking speaker, the other hand for the hearing speaker. I looked like I had one of those old phones that you cranked up.

I was joking with a friend the other day that I was going to buy a rotary dial phone in honor of Pepa!

I woke early (which is par for the time change). I lay in bed for about an hour, cuddling houndgirls and just thinking about things. It was kind of a blue morning. Thought about losing Pepa. Wondering how much time we have left with Memama. Fred. TJ. How blessed I was to have my Dad until I was 58, and how terribly unfair it was for Fred and TJ's kids to lose a parent as young as they were. I often think about Wade being only 25 when Gon Gon died at 61.

Life isn't fair.

I'm not arguing, but GOD, you've got some 'splainin' to do!

The two oldest granddaughters are in the Big Apple! NYC! Ln on the senior choir trip. Lrn as a 21 year old chaperon (???). Go figure.

I'm sure it will be an experience. Rian and Erica love NYC.

Rian and crew are in Salido for spring break. They are spending time with friends, got a dozen trot lines out and have their boat with them. So far I think Rian has worked on the boat more than he has done anything else.

Drew has reverted to his Moses persona but I have been trying to convince him if he wants to be captain of the boat, he needs to become Noah!

I am wondering what kind of day is in store for tomorrow. Pepa's lawyer said we were scheduled for 2pm at the County Judges for Pepa's will probate. The notices say 10am.

Memama's sister, Robbie spent the last week with her. I think it was good medicine. I really get tickled listening and watching them. Pat took them to Fort Worth to see Betsy yesterday, then drove back through Brownwood to take Robbie home before returning to Roscoe.

AND, the field is set for the NCAA Roundball Tourney! Pick 'em guys! I never watch basketball until playoffs, then I get into it! Oh, and never pro ball!

Well, let's get to it! Have a day and a week!

FATHER, thank YOU for all YOUR blessings. Heal our hearts. Help us to make good choices. May our day and week glorify YOU!

I must admit, my mind hasn't been in a good place blog wise.

First of all, Happy Birthday to Memama and to Idget. March 7 & 8 respectively.

We finished putting up all the cotton fallow ground. It is very sobering to realize how dry it is. This old dirt sure needs a drink.

We spent some time cleaning up the tractor and minor maintenance. Removed all the gauge wheels from the plow to put them inside the shop. It seems that the two plows we have used have seven transport or gauge wheels. It had been several years since we had used these, and the tires they had were sun baked and weather rotted. All of them had to be replaced. We'll put them up and they should be good when we need them again.

We began a scrap operation at the farm. Twenty one years ago we did the major rebuild on the sled and all the discarded steel beams and sheet metal were piled behind the shop. We've begun loading and hauling this away as the scrap market is really good right now. We plan in the coming week to scrap some other equipment that we have removed engines and parts from for other projects.

Several years ago Pepa did a scrap operation. Then last year Jason did another one as he cleaned and straightened the shop. So I guess it is my turn now!

One bonus has been that I had replaced all the chain and sprockets, so I have several hundred feet of roller chain which is h-e-a-v-y.

My goal is to generate enough money to do repairs on truck 242 and 424. 242 needs a clutch, bumper and hood repair. 424 needs a power divider.

My farm helper is assisting me in this project. This will yield two positives. He knows and is familiar with the scrap business and him working for me gets him off Memama's farm payroll.

The little wild man truck driver was quiet most of the week, but he made up for it yesterday. I sure hate it when he gets tired and begins to think! When that happens nothing suits him. He always makes himself out to be a martyr. I do this for you, and I do this for them and all I want is a piece of the cookie. Blah, blah blah. I have tried to tell him that the hauling he does now is probably going to be more like a roller coaster and he will have good weeks and short weeks, that he is going to have to be disciplined enough to average his money expenditures. Probably the absolute biggest problem with most truck drivers is whatever they have in hand they will spend.

I have put this driver up in motels since the last week of January since the truck he is driving is a day cab. The driver tells me he spends more money on food staying in motels than he would staying in his truck. I figure this is his way of asking for a per diem (which he will not ever get). It is almost as if he thinks he would have no personal road expense if he stayed in his truck and fails to see the extra bonus of having a bed, bath and amenities.

I finally told him when he decided it doesn't work for him to bring the truck home.

Whew!

I took Krl to the Doctor yesterday. Her blood pressure has been running rampant, complete with chest pain. They did an EKG, are doing blood work, scheduled a wellness exam, and gave her a shot and script for anti-biotics. The Doctor also put her on a beta blocker. This is nothing new. She had been on a beta blocker last summer but the cardiologist took her off when she was having low pulse issues. The Doctor took a pretty big swing, we will have to see where it lands.

I sure feel like I need a road trip. Lots of stuff closing in.

Have a day!

FATHER, take control.

Monday we are scheduled in court for Pepa's will probate. I believe it will be short and sweet, no surprises. It will enable us to move forward with a few things that need to be done with the crop insurance, farm programs and such.

This has been a pretty busy week. Lots going on. Thanks to Hag and Jason for their help.

We have met or talked with bankers, lawyers, crooks and thieves. Wait a minute, scratch those last two! Ha!

What I mean to say is, we have done a lot of research and fact finding.

So far, everything we are learning is falling into place. Pepa's will is to be probated March 14 at 2pm. That should be a non event. Lance set everything up and we began receiving notices yesterday.

Memama is doing well. She has been by herself at night since Tuesday. Lots of people in and out checking on her. I think she looks forward to Brody and Jalin coming by each afternoon.

A little time will do much good.

Moving on.

My friend DMS dropped off CD's of the still photos she shot at the funeral, graveside, and lunch.
By the time she did her culling, she delivered copies of 194 pictures.

Priceless.

Thank you DMS.

FATHER, heal our hearts.

A lifetime of preparation. Not of his own, but preparing us.

Thank you Dad.