Balancing the books, travel plans, construction plans

Even with the money I have tied up waiting on the title to Victoria’s car I think we will still have enough to buy the metal required to put a roof on the shop and apartment; when the account settles today I will know for certain. It is a balancing act to which many of us are well accustomed. I get paid tomorrow so we should be fine. I am planning on taking the next two days off to get a four day weekend in order to have the time to complete the roof. Getting the metal to cover the exterior will have to wait until the car title is cleared and the loan is written.


We are praying to have the paperwork in hand by the weekend since Mama and I are planning on going to Amarillo on Monday so I can work out of the Borger office for a couple days. It would be good timing to get all the banking done, but the timing could be problematic. It is in the Lord’s hands and I will not stress over a delay in what we see as effective timing when I know God is working in the background.

I need to get to Borger because the people in that office need face time and I have the opportunity to give it to them although my boss is not happy with the idea of my traveling there solely for the purpose of spending time there. To me it adds value so he has deferred to my judgment. He will not regret it.

I think there is an unspoken understanding that I will not be in this job for much longer and the more I can get done to settle frayed nerves and calm people down the better it will be for him as he works with the seven other managers responsible for the people who share the Borger office with our group. If I can lay the groundwork for a smooth transition to a smaller office there, it will be much easier to make the difficult decisions of who gets to move from their nice big office to a cubicle and why, when the move is required later this year.

I got to talk with the helper at the lumber yard in Nocona on Saturday and he let me know that the insulation and doors I have ordered are set aside waiting on me to pick them up. That is good news since I will need them very soon. I already have the windows at the farm and have been dragging my feet on getting them cut into the apartment since I worried about damaging them while the roof was being put on.

Next week I should be able to get that done also and the structure will take on the look of a dwelling rather than a shop building. Mama and I still have to make the trip to get the kitchen cabinets in Rogers, TX. I have looked at the stack of boxes that my unassembled cabinets are packaged in and it will be a full pickup load. It would have been nice to get them while I was coming back from Houston, but that was not the case. God had other plans.

In any case, they are available and paid for… and only two hundred miles away.

Yep, we bought a car!

Mama and Grandpa came home with the car and title yesterday morning. Mama got here to the office about lunch time, driving Victoria’s car, so I took her out to eat before we went to the title agency. Even though Mama had the signed title in hand I expected there to be some hurdles to getting a clear title. In the case of title transfer after the death of someone – even if that person is your mother or father – there are extra document requirements in every state to clear the title.

Most of the paperwork was set up to ensure that the state gets its taxes at each end of the inheritance; the transfer to the heirs and the sale of those inherited assets to any buyer from the heirs. Not only was that the case with the car we just bought, but the daughter, who had the power of attorney for her mother, signed the title in the wrong place. Not only was she not supposed to sign the title, she signed as the seller and the buyer. It may take some days to get the right papers to clear it to us for purchase. We will pay tax on the purchase and they will pay tax on the sale.

Everyone is breathing a sigh of relief except me. Grandma and Mama were really worried about leaving a check with the seller and coming home without the car. Grandpa was a little frustrated by having to make the extra trip to get the car and Victoria was worried about losing the car through a botched sale. So the car is sitting in our driveway at the farm. I am the only one waiting in an anxious state at this point. I have a lot of money tied up until the title is cleared and the loan to Victoria reimburses my account.

I am hoping for that to come very soon so I can buy the metal for the roof of the shop. Most everything will be on hold until that settles so the timing is a little problematic. I was planning on taking off this Thursday and Friday to put on the roof. It turns out that I financed a car instead of getting the roofing material. It will all work out ---eventually.

Chase and his fellow occupants of Amarillo got pounded with a true blizzard yesterday; seventeen inches of snow delivered with winds gusting to 75 mph. I do not imagine the roads will be clear by this morning. The focus will be on opening up Interstates 40 and 27 and removing the wrecked and abandoned vehicles from those throughways so traffic flow can resume through the panhandle. It will be much later today that the parking at his apartment is cleared.

This morning’s temperature there is nineteen degrees. The melting will come this weekend when temperatures will get into the sixties. It will work out to be a good thing for the area which has been in severe drought for months, but it will be messy as the melting snow runs off into the playa lakes.

Last night we had some blowing snow for several hours. It was bad enough in the early evening that Mama and I opted out of going to church. (We are having revival services through Wednesday.) The temperatures were warm enough that the snow was gone by this morning. I wish it had taken the winds with it but they were sustained at over thirty mph through the night.

We did get to keep some of the moisture from the precipitation, but not much.

I think we bought a car, apartment news, Dodger

Saturday was an interesting day. It was calm, atmospherically speaking, which is very unusual for our area but it was busy in every other way. Victoria has been combing the internet for a car the last week or so. In her quest, Grandpa suggested she look for a Ford 500. On Friday evening she found several in our area. Mama scheduled an appointment to look at one that Grandpa seemed particularly excited about. I think it is an ’07 with fairly low mileage.


My only focus on Saturday was working on the apartment so I started getting set up for that while the farm chores were being done that morning and since the appointment was not until after lunch we were able to get quite a bit done.

Grandpa and I went to Nocona Lumber and get the lumber I was going to need for what I had planned for Saturday along with the pieces required to set up for the shop walls. It cost about 30% more than I anticipated but it was still within the budget I had set. We got that to the farm and parked the loaded trailer on the slab so we would not have to handle it twice. I got right to work. Meanwhile Mama and Victoria went to Bowie and bought the feed we are going to need for this week. Victoria was pretty bouncy through the morning.

They left about 12:45 to see the car – about an hours drive away. I suppose it all ended up okay. We did not have cash to leave with the seller – who is the son of a woman who had recently passed away. We did leave him a check for the total negotiated amount, and the car with the title. Grandma was more than a little worried. What should happen this morning is that he will go to the bank to verify the funds we have promised on the check, meanwhile Mama and Grandpa will drive over to get the car and title while Victoria will be at work.

Mama already has specific instructions on how to get the title signed and how to have it registered for the bank to process the loan for Victoria. Lord, willing we will have all of the paperwork done before noon today. The premise is that we are dealing with an honest individual and both he and I are taking a risk in trusting the other; me, probably more so. Our banker told Mama there is nothing unusual about the transaction so we are hoping it all goes well from here.

While they were buying a car I got a lot of work done on the apartment. I did not put up the tools until it was nearly dark. Mama was very pleased with the progress. I even took the time to cover everything needed with tarps since there is a chance of rail today and tomorrow. With revival at church this week I will not get back to the work until Thursday; that is, providing I get to take the day off as planned. Our plan is to go and get the roofing metal on Thursday and have the apartment and shop roofed by Saturday. It is a bold plan.

Revival meetings at our church kicked off yesterday. The preacher, Dan Miner, preached some fantastic sermons thus far. Mama and I were in Children’s church Sunday morning but we got to hear him during the Sunday School hour and in the evening service. The revival will go through Wednesday night. It is always a rough time for me with the early mornings complicated by late nights, but I will survive.

When we got home last night, Mama was greeting the big dogs when we heard Dodger barking off in the distance. It was one of those “rescue me” barks we thought we were hearing. Victoria confirmed that he was not in the house so we all went out to look. There are only a couple places that he could have been accidently locked up – the shop and the chicken coop. It turned out to be the latter.

We had a bit of trouble getting him free because he was jumping at the door and moving the inside latch on the door into the closed position which kept us from being able to open it from the outside. I finally got the latch moved between jumps and he darted out of his captivity in a cloud of dust. Mama and I checked to see if the chickens had been hurt at all, but they seemed fine. They were huddled together on the corner of the roost; terrified but unharmed.

We probably will not get any eggs today.

Choices, livestock sales, money equals materials, Victoria

It almost always seems that when a decision is eminent the waters get muddied by complications that, although neither unpleasant nor unexpected, are poorly timed. Case in point, after interviewing for the Licensing job and talking myself into fully considering a relocation to Australia, the Training Coordinator job is about to be posted. Included in that are all the incidentals I requested be appropriated for that position.


There are pros and cons to each one and pray as I might, there is no clear direction either way. One is God’s perfect will. The other is His permissive will. The choice I make will have profound effects on the next five years of our lives. Looking down the road “as though through a glass darkly” I cannot see that any of those effects are bad. They are, however, very different pathways. Please pray I will choose wisely. For a Christian, the most difficult decisions are between better and best.

Mama must have been in the hay too much lately because her allergies are really flaring up. At her current rate of use she will go through a box of tissues in a couple of days. Grandma and I have been going behind her and collecting the spent, wadded up tissues from every flat surface where she has tried to make herself comfortable. Today she and Grandpa are supposed to go to a hog sale in Munster, TX. I hope she is feeling better for the festivities – and that she carried a trash bag with her. I will be a little bit surprised if we have hogs at the farm this evening, but not shocked.

Wednesday they (Grandpa and Mama) went to a cattle sale in Gainesville, TX to see how the sale was conducted and to get a better idea of how much we can expect to get for the calves we will take to that sale next month. Grandpa was pleased with what he saw. They talked with the marketers, the buyers, the owners and the state health inspectors.

Grandpa was given a box of one hundred ear tags that we must use to identify the calves we take to market. The inspector also gave him the tool required to put those tags in the ears of our calves. When asked if he owed the man anything for the tags and the tool, the man said, “Nah, don’t worry about it. Obama’s got plenty of money.” That’s a little scary, but at the moment it was helpful. What we have will probably last us for several years.

Next week we start spending the money I received in a bonus from my company. It will allow us to purchase the metal for the roof – long overdue – and the siding for the apartment and shop. I plan to pay off all our credit card debt and hope to have enough money left over to buy Mama some cloths. If not with this money, it will relieve enough of the constraints that have kept our money so tight for the last several months that I should be able to meet some of our more basic needs in the very near future; one of those being clothes for Mama.

Victoria has completed all the requisite paperwork to begin her Pharmacy Technician training with Wal-Mart. It looks like a very good opportunity for her. She is well liked by the group there in the Bowie Wal-Mart pharmacy and it is a transferable skill set.

I get all the indications that this is a good career choice.

Travel and interviews, visiting, the debrief

Early Monday morning I left the farm for Houston. It was not an unpleasant drive and I hope to be making it many more times in the future. From the farm it is about six hours to Houston center. I got checked into the hotel at about 4 p.m. and because of the hard rain Houston was receiving I stayed in my room through the evening. I even ordered room service. I wanted the extra time to prepare for the interviews the following day.


I am glad I put in the hours of preparation. The interviews covered a broad gambit of information and background with a total of five persons conducting them one-on-one. It started with breakfast at 6:30 a.m. with my main contact. I found out through early conversation that he was staying in the same hotel and had been since early January. He is a well traveled man and is in charge of one of the projects in Angola, but he is familiar with all the ongoing LNG projects.

When we got to the office I was turned over to the Director of Licensing and we chatted for over an hour. His main concern was that I would commit to a relocate to Australia and I hesitated to commit without talking to Mama and the farm occupants. I should not have hesitated. When I called Mama later that afternoon she began giving out facts about Australia and their beef expert numbers. She had even been looking for a small farm in the area where we would be stationed.

I interviewed with four other persons through the remainder of the morning, through lunch and into the afternoon. Many people over the course of the day asked for names of individuals who were in leadership positions while I was at the Bayway Refinery. Who was the Plant Manager? Do you remember who the HSE Director was? I had not researched any of that information so I came up short several times with those questions. I tend to be bad with names and when asked off the cuff I usually go blank. I did send emails today to give those names to the individuals that asked.

By the time I was in the last interview I was talked out. Fortunately, the last person to spend time with me was one of the “specialists” (equal to the position I am seeking) who was not much of a formal conversationalist. We talked shop for about forty five minutes and wrapped things up. I left the office at about 2 p.m.

I dawdled a bit getting out of town because Mama wanted me to go to Costco because the coupons were about to expire, so I did not arrive in Chappell Hill until after 4 p.m. Grandma and Grandpa Kline were waiting on me to go out to dinner with them. We went to a nearby bar-b-que place and talked over dinner.

I suppose the hour and a half drive to them was enough to get me queued up for more conversation. We spent over an hour at the restaurant and then talked into the late evening. Mama was a little jealous because I got to watch NCIS and NCIS Los Angeles with them – first airing, complete with commercials. We do not have that luxury at the farm. I did not have any trouble getting to sleep that night.

My Dad is in better shape than I expected. He has had some problems to deal with from the radiation treatment as well as the chemotherapy he is undergoing for prostate cancer, but he is fairing pretty well all told. He has eight more treatments of radiation to complete the regimen of 42. He told me he feels older now than at any time in his life. He is hoping the recovery process when the treatments are complete will allow some of his strength and energy to return. It is too early to tell how long that recovery will take.

The drive back home must have rejuvenated me further because Mama wanted a complete accounting and Grandma had a thousand questions – interjected among almost as many stories relevant to her experience. By the time she had finished her interjection into the answer I was giving, I had forgotten the question. It was a relief when it was time to go to church.

I do not expect to hear from the Licensing group for some time – perhaps May – but I am glad I got the chance to interview.

Now I have to catch up to the three days of work I missed.

Good news, email problems, junk removal

We all got notification on our bonuses yesterday and it was pretty good news. All of my direct reports got raises that ranged from 5% on the low end to one person who got 8.5%. The payout for the bonuses was equally impressive. Everyone was thrilled to see the numbers…me and Mama included. The sad part is that it is not enough to complete any one thing but it will push a lot of projects forward at a much faster pace than if I had not gotten the extra pay. Praise the Lord!


A little troubling yesterday was the fact that my email went out about the time I was trying to prepare emails for each of the ladies who work for me. I thought I was doing something wrong so I restarted my computer twice to see if it would correct the problem. It did not. Then I called our IT group and found that a server had crashed. Just after I got that news I began to hear chatter in the office about other people having the same problem. The odd part is that it did not affect all of us. I went with another person and communicated the old fashioned way – with actual words; face to face. It was a new experience for many. Service was restored in about three hours. I got over twenty emails in a few seconds.

It would take a more creative mind than my own to imagine what life would be like if all such electronic communication was lost. Not just from the social standpoint. I am sure there are volumes of print dealing with that very issue. How closely the authors have penned their thoughts to what will actually happen is a matter that will be answered in due time. For the moment, just a few hours of lost communication was uncomfortable since a large portion of my work is directed by the requests I get via email. Days without it would require a completely different approach to getting any “work” done.

Speaking of work, when I got home yesterday, Mama and Grandpa were loading metal junk onto the smaller trailer. There is a new business opening today in Bowie that will pay for metal scrap as well as various other recyclable metals. Grandpa is anxious to try it out. Mama was glad to see me pull up. She is not used to much manual labor, especially the lifting and carrying sort, and was pooping out on Grandpa. I was her relief.

I did not get to do much but some of the heavier items had been left for me to help with. I was impressed by how much they had picked up. The trailer was loaded from front to back, stacked about three feet tall. It was full of items left by the last owner who actually tried to do something with the land. Most of it was useless – truly junk. All of it should be marketable metal. We will know today when Grandpa makes the trip to sell it.

Every place from which it had been gathered and removed looks so much better. Grandpa even ran the weed eater around the various areas to trim up the accumulated overgrowth. It is slowly looking like the kind of farm we can really enjoy sharing with our children and grand children as well as friends and other extended family.

One of the things in the back or Grandpa’s mind – and mine as well – is to eliminate places near the house and buildings where snakes can find a convenient hiding place. We have seen rattlesnakes, copperheads and water moccasins on the property. Keeping them away from the dwellings is going to be a challenge.

Eliminating the junk piles is the beginning.

More travel, final items, newborns

With the date for the interview now set my mind can go on to planning for that event. Yesterday in our weekly staff meeting, I had the opportunity to let the ladies in my group know that I will be in Houston for a job interview next week. I did ask that they keep the information somewhat private until we see how it plays out, but I did not want to sneak around trying to accomplish this on the sly but rather have them aware of what was going on.


I also let the people at church that have been praying for me in this decision know that I have been asked to interview. Most of them do not understand what that actually means but they are at least aware that it is a big deal for Mama and I in how it will affect us over the next several years. I will find out how we are going to work out the location to office while stateside as we talk on Tuesday but I am not planning on relocating. I have been assured that that is not a deal breaker but we will see as I get more information.

On the practical side, I will be able to use a company truck for the required travel. Since the interview is from 6:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. I will not come back to the farm on Tuesday. I am planning on staying with Grandma and Grandpa Kline in Chappell hill Tuesday night and swing by Rogers, TX to retrieve some cabinets I bought for the apartment on my way home. Sarah and Fabian also have some windows I would like to get for the apartment also.

They have a pretty big stash of windows Fabian bought for use on a green house he has built. The problem he had in collecting the windows was finding those of uniform size to use in the construction. What he has built looks very nice. The windows he has left are odd sizes which I would feel very comfortable using in a less pristine looking project on our farm. For the moment I would like to get one particular window to use in the bathroom of the apartment. From a casual glance I gave it months ago, I think it would work.

I have not talked to either my Mom and Dad or Fabian and Sarah about my plans so I really should get that arranged. Hopefully I will have opportunity today but I am in meetings from about 7 a.m. until almost 4 p.m. Tomorrow looks a little less occupied during work hours but I can always call after work – if I remember.

I asked Mama is she had been to look at the garden this week. I have not. With nights in the thirties and days in the sixties I am curious if anything is sprouting yet. It has been a very tiring week so I have not done much once I am home. I have finished up the reviews for my group and have even completed all the requisite paperwork for those to be closed out for 2012. I paid particular attention to what I wrote with the thought in mind that a new boss may be reading it soon.

I wanted to make sure that any opinion formed from my review put everyone in the best possible light. What I have left to accomplish for my ladies is to get approval for promotions for two of them. I do not think it will be a difficult task but it does require the approval of my boss. If I accomplish that I will have secured promotions for everyone in my group over the past two years in this job.

Last night after church Mama got a chance to see one of the newest babies in the church. The associate pastor and his wife live in a house next to the church so Mama was invited to see the baby girl when the service was over. I sat on the front pew waiting and got to talk to several people as I did so. The baby’s father came to me after about a half hour and said, “All the women are back from looking at the baby. Your wife must have settled in for a while.”

Yeah, that would be Mama.

Interview, distractions, Cori, Jake and Maggie

Yesterday was an extremely difficult day at the office. It was one of those days that was full of nothing but distractions; people talking right outside of my office door, overhearing three or more phone conversations at once, everyone seemed to be up walking the halls. Our offices here are not built for privacy, you can hear everything that is being said all the way to the end of the hall, but the tone of the office is not usually that discomfiting.


I knew I was not the only one feeling befuddled when I got an email from one of the ladies who works for me asking if I would think it rude if she put in both of the ear buds so she could use her phone to mute the office cacophony. I told her that would be fine as long as she was not offended if I shut my door. The background noise continued through the day and was still going strong when I left a little before 4 p.m. Our bonus will be announced this week; maybe that’s the reason.

On the bright side, a little after 11 a.m. yesterday I sent an email to the person doing the interviews for the Licensing job seeking an update. Less than ten minutes later I got a reply in which he apologized for the delay and explained that someone would be calling me to schedule an interview in Houston – probably within the day. About twenty minutes after that I did get the call to schedule me to meet with the Licensing group in Houston. The original date requested was February 26th but I asked to have it moved up to the 18th. Within the hour I got my confirmation for hotel reservations. Praise the Lord!

Cori called me the day before yesterday with a health related question. I answered her the best I knew how. The outcome of that conversation was to schedule an appointment with a local doctor or a local herbalist – someone versed in iridology. The doctor did not work out for a number of reasons so she scheduled to see the herbalist. That appointment was yesterday. It was both a rewarding and disappointing visit. It was rewarding in the sense that she got some explanation of the symptoms she was dealing with. It was disappointing in that she was not offered any solution –only a laundry list of competing factors.

In a situation like hers, the best thing that can be done is to offer a person a place to start. The herbalist may not be able to hit on the exact root cause but he/she should be able to see past the clutter to the beginning of a solution. That was not the case. Rather, Cori was given a list of things to buy at a cost of about $300; not much help. So she and I will work together and get to the root of the imbalance. Pray for her that we’ll get to the bottom of this.

Maggie called last night to tell Mama she had finally gotten hold of Melissa Samenza to tell her about her and Aaron expecting. Of course, Melissa was very excited and promised to stay in touch throughout the pregnancy, especially with the long move Maggie and Aaron will be making to Alaska. Then Jake got in on the blessed tidings, and as always, had his own take on the matter. He told Maggie that if she had a boy she should name it Jake. Maggie hesitated; citing concerns Aaron might not be too keen on that name, even though they loved it.

With typical Jake style he scolded her saying, “Well at least consider it.”

Ledfords to Alaska, In-house smores, rain

Maggie called yesterday with the news that Aaron had received his assignment – in Juneau, Alaska. She was very excited about it; more I think for her husband’s sake, but excited none the less. Aaron called yesterday evening and we talked for about a half hour about the news. It will be a four year land assignment. The expectation is that he will have a Monday through Friday workweek with his weekends off. I suppose there are interesting things to do in Alaska on the weekends. 


Mama and I looked it up on the map last night and if any of you are curious it is worth the research. Juneau is barely in Alaska the same way the Baja Peninsula is barely in Mexico. Just kidding. It sits on a rather narrow strip of land separated from Canada by a dotted line – a border. Maggie and Aaron will have to get their passports updated so they can visit their western neighbor during their stay in the far north. Congrats to the younger Ledfords.

While Mama and I were at the Sam’s in Wichita Falls – our neighbor to the west – we stumbled across a sale item that she thought we could get some fun use out of. It is a smores making kit. It is a cute little ceramic pot in the shape of a campfire. A sterno is used under the little metal rack that sits on top and produces a guided flame so you can toast marshmallows using special little toaster forks included. It also has trays for you to put your graham crackers on so you can smush the marshmallows and chocolate together. We should probably get one for Maggie and Aaron in case it is still too cold to do smores outside in Alaska.

We put it to use within a day of having it. Mama and Victoria and I made the trip to Wal-Mart to get the sterno cans, the graham crackers and the chocolate specifically for a test run. Like her grilled hamburgers, Mama has a very specific way she likes her toasted marshmallows; lightly browned all the way around. Only I can do this because it takes time. When she does her own they always catch on fire and get too dark for her to eat. I only made one – fortunately I had not lost my touch.

I learned something recently that Maggie can use to keep safe when driving in the snow. Mama read me the story of a young blond lady who had been told by her father that whenever she felt like she was lost while driving in the snow to wait until a snow plow came to clear the road and follow the plow to safety. Well, that very thing happened to her one night so she followed the first plow truck to happen by.

After about forty five minutes following the truck, the driver stopped and came back to the young woman and asked if he could help. She explained what her father had told her about road safety in the snow and following a snow plow to help her find her way. The kind driver just nodded respectfully and said, “Well, I’m through here at the Wal-Mart parking lot if you want follow me over to K-Mart.”

Last night I work up several times to the sound of hard rain on the roof. When I was awake enough to get my senses tuned in I could hear the thunder in the distance. It was only when I got out of the mobile home to go to work that I could see the lightening the storm was producing.

Everything will be green later today from all that atmospheric activity.

Home, travel, clearing the mess, Victoria

It was good to get home Friday night. Mama and I enjoy the time away but our hearts are really attached to the farm so it was very good to get back. I traveled over 1400 miles during the week in order to see everyone I need to visit with. The circuit was from Borger to Perryton, TX then to Guymon, OK and on to Dumas, TX and back to Amarillo. The next day was an easy one; I only went to Elk City, OK and then back to Mama in Amarillo. I got done in plenty of time for church. Thursday I stayed in Borger in order to visit with the folks there and Friday Mama and I traveled back to the farm.


This week will be focused on completing what I started last week with the performance reviews for my staff. I got four done during the time in Borger and I have four to go for this week; all of whom are in the Decatur office with me. After I complete the one on one review of each person I have a mound of paperwork to complete by Friday to finalize the exercise.

I have heard nothing from the Licensing group but I did call Mitch Scarbrough, my old boss, to get some insight into the issue. He has worked extensively out of the country so I had hoped he could allay my concerns about the time they were taking to contact anyone. I was informed that it was very difficult to break into the ex-pat group; meaning a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing.

With the amount of paperwork required by some countries for entry, visas, medical exams, immunization shots, etc, they do not just jump at each and every interested candidate. I will have to bide my time and let the Lord work out all the details. If I can accept that answer, it will be very liberating. I have a lot of things I can get done as I wait.

I was not able to get anything done on the farm this weekend because of the rain and wind, but it was a good time to relax. The “rain” was more of a heavy mist that accumulated to less than one tenth of an inch. I did work on some boxes in the farm house and cleared away some of the accumulated empty boxes and wrapping paper. I made room for some of the clothing that will soon not be needed to be stored in the large garment boxes we have sitting nearly empty in the farm house.

I have to admit that it is difficult for me to work on the pile of boxes. Such a mountain of boxes, less than purposefully placed, makes me a little nervous. It is like the refrigerator Grandma shoves items into. It is such a clutter that I usually shut the door and walk away. It reminds me too much of Mildred, a person Mama and I knew from way back.

She had paper wrapped blocks of cheese she had bought from the local deli that had been in the back of the refrigerator so long that they had shriveled to the size of a pill box. Grandma is not that bad, but things could be much better organized. It works for her and it is hers to superintend, so I will let it be. As always, it is the small things that wear on us the most; and that is a really small thing.

Mama and Victoria are headed to the doctor in Denton this morning. Victoria is going for an exam that she has been dreading for a month now (a pap smear). I know everything will be okay but I am praying that the doctor will be easy on her so she does not have this lingering anxiety to deal with. Being the private person she is it is almost overwhelming for her to be examined in any way but this one is especially upsetting to her.

My boss has been on vacation for the last week so I am expecting to be hit with multiple assignments as soon as he gets his first cup of coffee this morning: goody, goody.

Visiting, no news, taxes and trucks

Instead of traveling back to Decatur today I elected to work out of the Borger office today and head home tomorrow. It will give Mama more time to visit – something she has not gotten to do too much of in the past three days in Amarillo since Mrs. Patrick has had multiple doctor’s appointments. Plus, it will allow me some time in the office here to let people visit with me as needed.


Mama has enjoyed the respite from the farm and the tight quarters of the mobile home. The good news is that I will get a bonus this month that will allow us to get the roof and siding for the apartment and most of the shop. With that in place I will be able to move a little more quickly on the interior of the apartment. I am still more than two months away from completion, but we will at least be under roof and sealed in against the weather.

Since our plan is to be in the apartment for two or more years, I would like to make it pretty nice – without going overboard. I have almost all the materials, windows, cabinets, and fixtures, etc at the farm, but they are a little out of order at the moment. All I have to do at this point is get everything into its assigned place and I will be done. It is a simple plan. Like Michelangelo, when asked how he carved the statue of David, responded simply, I cut away everything that was not David.

I still have not heard anything from the Licensing group, but I have only been waiting about two months. My colleague has been waiting off and on for over seven months. I count myself fortunate to be able to enjoy my current job. He does not necessarily feel the same about his and is probably more anxious for news than I am. I know his family certainly is.

I have learned one very valuable lesson in dealing with the certain quirks of the hiring manager for the licensing job. He has put me off twice and put my boss off once with the same catch phrase; “Should hear something next week.” Each of us has a “put off” phrase, this is his. I might say, maybe, we’ll see, or isn’t that something when I do not want to go any further in conversation. His is “next week.” So, whenever I see that in an email I will know that I have been told to “get lost” for the moment.

I will turn over all the accumulated tax information for 2012 to our accountant this evening. I am not completely sure I have gotten all of the documents I need to file but he will be able to get started and may be able to tell me how much of the bonus I am getting that will have to be spent on paying taxes. It will be nice to have that accounting finalized.

I also got a call form a friend at church yesterday. He has an inside track on used trucks a friend of his releases every quarter from his company’s fleet. They are very used, but well maintained, in service to the oil field. He bought a 2001 diesel two years ago for $2000, complete with a utility bed. It had high miles but it was a good price. We are hoping to do the same – if possible.

Mama and I will know “sometime next week”.

Gardening, travel expenses

Since there was very little I could do on the apartment I chose to spend the day Saturday working in the garden. Mama, Victoria and I got three rows of vegetables planted as well as finishing out two of the first rows Grandpa and Mama planted. Mama finished one of the unfinished rows with onions (Texas Super Sweet) and I finished another row with beets.

An older lady we know in Bowie wanted us to plant beets so she can can them. She has very limited space in her yard and we have an abundance of it at the farm. She has also asked for okra – which I will be happy to provide. We also planted a second row of peas as well as a row of Swill chard and spinach. We have made plans to plant a full row of bulbs to delineate the orchard from the garden; since they are within the same fenced area and will plant a row of flowers in the center f the garden.

This garden is not for the faint of heart. It is sixty feet by one hundred feet; actually sixty foru feet by one hundred and seven feet. The smaller dimensions represent the plant-able space. Which, by my math, equals thirty rows spaced three feet apart (so we can use the tiller for weed control) and sixty feet in length. That will yield a lot of vegetables and fruit. So far we have five rows, sixty feet in length or roughly three hundred feet of vegetables. That is if everything grows as it should.

I also built two cold frames. That is the proper name for what I have been calling hot boxes. We are planning on using them to start pepper and tomato plants. That effort should begin in the middle of the month. Based on information we have gleaned from listening to Neal Sperry – a local gardening expert – we are trying to do the starter plants again. We have failed miserably in the past. Maybe we will do better informed this year.

We also learned in the few minutes we listened on Sunday as we drove to church, that I will never be able to grow cherry trees in this area. The oscillation between hot and cold here starts the cherry tree pushing sap into the braches weeks before it should causing it to freeze and die when the weather turns cold enough. There were ways offered to keep this from happening, but one missed warm day and the next freeze will kill the tree. Oh, well.

We also learned that the peaches we are looking for to plant in this area are those requiring 750 to 800 chilling hours. Each variety of tree produces an enzyme that inhibits the plant from blooming too early. This chemical is spent out slowly and degenerated by each hour below the chilling temperature – normally calculated to be 40-45 degrees. If you try to grow a fruit tree that needs 1000 hours it would not bloom until several months later than required to set and ripen fruit. One that needs only 200 chilling hours would bloom too early and be killed off by the frost. Isn’t God clever?

Mama and I drove over to Borger this morning. I always enjoy having her with me but it always costs me far more to have her with me. I have made two trips over to Borger/Amarillo without her so it was far past time for her to come. She has a lot of visiting to do as well as some shopping to catch up on. People used to say, two can live a cheaply as one.

I have found that does not apply when I am with Mama.

Visiting, accumulating, traveling

Last night, just after I got home, Grandpa, Mama and I drove to a farm Grandpa had been to before. Over a year ago Grandpa had seen an add for laying hens for sale. He went and bought them before we lived on the farm. These were the first chickens we put on the farm and most of them are still laying for us. We are still using the paraphernalia he got with those chickens. It was a good purchase. Well, the same person had some equipment Grandpa was interested in looking at. The farmer is a delightful ninety year old gentleman.


If he were in West Virginia, Grandpa would refer to him as a pen hooker; one of those people who stay outside of the stock sale and look over every new arrival to see if they can buy the animals being brought for sale straight out of the truck or trailer. The quick sale gives the farmer cash to drive away with at a lower price than the buyers calculate they can collect by running the animals through the sale. It is a gamble but they are pretty good at what they do.

This gentleman must travel the countryside looking for deals to haul to his place and see if he can make a few bucks selling his finds to someone else. Most of what he had was too big for our use but I think we are going to go back to get a hay ring (for round bales of hay) off of him. It is an older solid ring (as opposed to the new ones that bolt together) made out of heavy rolled tubing. It will last the rest of our lives and them some. We passed on everything else but we had a good time talking to him and his wife. We even packed up a dozen fresh eggs to take to them. The wife was thrilled with the gift. The farmer did not think much about it last night but I bet he enjoys it this morning.

It took us almost as much time to get away as it did to look at the items we were interested in. I did take the time to help the farmer unload a very heavy solid wood entry door from a trailer he was weaving through the morass of items he had staged for sale. I have no idea where he got it from, but it was a good one. He wanted it under cover in a large shed he has full of odds and ends that do not necessarily belong on a farm but have accumulated over the years. It would be fun to comb through the building just to see what he has there – much of it forgotten.

If the Lord tarries and Mama and I are many years on this farm I can imagine the same process of accumulation overtaking us. Both of us are packrats, Mama more than me, but both of us like to hold onto things we see as potentially useful. I can already see the signs. Grandpa and I have things in our possession that we each carried with us from our respective farms in West Virginia…cerca 1989 for me and Mama. Some of those items I carried from Kansas City (1986-1989) to the farm…and now here. Grandpa’s collection of tools and various other items goes back a little further, by about a decade.

All of the items we have kept through the years and the moves are finding a home – maybe a permanent one – on the farm in Bowie. We still have yet to recover all of the tools and sundry items. Many are still packed away in boxes or stored in sheds – both here and in West Virginia. Once the shop is completed enough to set them in place we may finally be able to find them easily. Time will tell. I am interested in finding how many duplicates we end up with because we have bought replacement tools for those we knew we had but could not find.

Mama and I will be heading to Amarillo/Borger on Monday morning. I found out last night that she is really looking forward to the trip. As much as she loves the farm and does not venture far from it during the week – mostly because I have the nice car with me – she needs her time away too. There are people there that will be very glad to see her.

I will be happy to have her with me.