Last week, drain work, piglets

Last week was spent in our company conference. It was a great experience. Even though we had about 150 attendees, the company allowed each of us to participate in the conference activities Tuesday afternoon and all day Wednesday. On Thursday, I taught a class to twenty-eight attendees while there were two other classes being taught. Those that were not attending classes participated in round table discussions about topics relevant to the industry. Friday, I taught a class to one individual. We held the one-on-one at the office and though it was a little awkward at first, we had a great time getting through the material.

Tuesday evening Mama met me at the Texas Motor Speedway, where we were having the conference and we visited with folks from the company as well as folks in attendance that I knew from offsite training classes that were there attending the conference. My company sponsored a dinner of heavy hors d'oeuvre which was more than enough for me and Mama. The only problem was that it was hot. The temperature was almost 100° in the shade and there was little to no breeze until late in the evening. Mama forgot her phone so she had to track me down at the track where some conference participants were being taken for rides round the track. The ride was only four laps but I suppose it was enough to get the feel of racing speeds of 160 mph. I did not participate in that portion because the cost was $125 per person for a three-minute ride. I told my peers that after getting to ride with Mama going speeds in excess of 100 mph not a thrill any more. Besides, once the participants got into the coveralls and helmets required for the ride, some of them were very close to being overheated.

Saturday, I spent the day running a line from the A/C drain to the back of the house to eliminate the hose we have had temporarily connected to the drain. That worked for us but I had it strung through the kitchen, the dining room and the laundry room to go out the laundry room door through the garage into the yard. With the hose in the way we have not been able to close the laundry room door at the dining room, nor the laundry room door into the garage; nor have we been able to fully close the garage door. Now all doors are fully closed and secure, but there is a line running down the living room wall to the sunroom where it takes a hard turn and goes through the sunroom walls to the flowerbed just outside of that wall. It is not pretty, but it will work. Other than running it to the shower in the hall bath or digging it under the slab to connect to the septic line, this was the best solution. (I asked Lee to check out the line that served as the original drain but he found that it was collapsed and unusable.)

Mama and Victoria rescued one of the piglet born to Mollie during the week. Fortunately, she only had four live births. One was not fully formed and one was an obvious runt. The one that Victoria bottle fed was the last one born and there seemed to be something wrong with it but after a weekend of bottle feeding it appears to be fine. Mama and Victoria put it back with its litter last night. I am waiting word to see if it was effectively reunited. The fact that Mollie decided to have the little in the dirtiest place in the hog pen really bothered Mama. Then the rain came and she and Victoria had to scramble to get some old sheets of metal roofing to cover her and the little ones. There was a good shelter only a few steps away but we could not get Mollie to use it.

The other litter of piglets is into everything. I am not ready to piglet-proof the enclosure so they are finding ways out of the enclosure and rooting around in the area we have the boy goats and the chickens in. It is not a big problem. The only real concern is that the dogs will kill one of the little ones when they do get into the yard. Although I do not want the dogs to start killing animals – any more than they already have – that would not be an unworkable solution for me. I am looking forward to getting rid of these pigs – all of them. I just loathe the marketing that goes along with that effort.

All-in-all, it is a small price to pay to keep Mama happy.