Work, farm updates, Chase driving

My meeting with my boss went fairly well yesterday. He is the kind of person that is always looking for more detail, more numbers. As long as he is willing to instruct me on how to do the calculations he needs I am willing to do the math. He seems pleased overall and I am happy with that.


We talked for a little more than an hour before both of us drove to Guymon to attend a farewell lunch for one of my peers – his direct report. It was a pleasant lunch with about fifty people. A local barbeque place catered the event and it was very good. Several people gave a brief story about something that Eric had done and everyone seemed to enjoy the time together. It gave me time to talk with the people that work for me in that area and access some needs that I will address today.

One of the persons I spoke with was the employee that had been causing some difficulties in the staff there. She and I had spoken early in the a.m. and had cleared the air about what needed to be done in the future to avoid a repeat of the situation, so the face time was good. She responded well and I hope things will be better even though I had to knock her down a peg or two.

Wise Electric will be coming to the farm today to talk with Grandpa about a pole I have asked them to set so we can have power for the well we are drilling. Rain in the area has held everything up which is okay with me. I need the extra time to get the finances together. If the cost of them doing the work is higher than the cost of running the electric over from the house, then we will know what to do. In the short run I will have to take the cheaper of the two options. It is not like we will not use the wire we would run for the well for something else when we make the permanent power drop for the new house.

Chase drove for most of the time we were out on visitation last night. It was his first time driving at night and he did well. He told me he liked it better than driving during the day because it was easier to see where other drivers were – especially during lane changes. He, Mama and Victoria stayed up late watching Captain America. I was in bed not too long after we got home. These 4 a.m. mornings take their toll.

So far Chase has kept up with his room and the plans are for him to repeat his driving test on Tuesday next week. I think even Mama is ready. She told me that they just talked on the way home from getting Chase at the mall yesterday afternoon. According to Chase, he was driving in some pretty heavy traffic and Mama did not panic or even suck in her breath one time. For those of you who have driven with Mama, you can understand the miraculous nature of that comment.

The guesstimate for rain today is 60%; a little less tomorrow, mixed with snow and ice. No one here is going to complain since we are about thirty inches behind on our seventeen inch annual rainfall.

No one but Mama – she hates ice on the roads.