Mama, busy day, Grandma and Grandpa

Mama made it back home safe and sound – and it is good to have her back. She and Victoria spent Saturday morning at Trade Days while I stayed at the house. Most of their time was spent talking to the Skill family about relevant farming topics, not the least of which concerned caring for sheep. Victoria is anxious to get a little flock started. Her property is actually closer to being ready for sheep than ours because of the fencing she has there. I have cautioned her to wait a bit and see how things work out.

Saturday was as busy as I had expected at the house but we are still waiting on the septic company. The crew did show up to cut down the three trees that were too close to the back of the house. There were seven guys altogether. Six were Spanish speaking and one was an old cowboy; a head taller than anyone else in the group.

They went right to work and got the trees out in about two hours. When they left they had stacked all the wood, raked the grass to gather the small twigs and debris and they had blown the patio and the roof of the house clean of the sawdust. A second crew will be back tomorrow to grind down the stumps. The patio looks very different without the trees but it turned out to be a good call to take all of them out.

Of the three, only one was healthy and it was the one that was beginning to damage the foundation so it was coming out regardless of its health. Of the other two, one was hollow from the base to the uppermost portion of the trunk and one was completely dead. When they laid it over the limbs on top splintered into small pieces. Only the lowest part of the trunk was solid. I am relieved that they are gone before the warm weather storms come to the area.

When they left I took my chainsaw and cut up the tree that Grandpa and Victoria had laid over by the garden. It had been struck by lightning some years ago and needed to be taken down. Between the four trees we have quite a bit of firewood. Now I need the fireplace insert.

Since we did not get the septic work started I borrowed a little pump from Lee Davis and lowered the level in the second tank to allow us to shower Sunday morning. I thought about doing a quick repair to the line coming out of the second tank to the leach bed but I did not take the time to do that. I was too tired to deal with it right then - as suggested by the picture Victoria took. Instead I covered back over the holes Grandpa and I had made with the tractor bucket when we were looking for the leach field several days ago.

There is still a massive hole where the second tank sits but we are leaving that open until the new septic system is installed and working. Then, I will empty both the old tanks once more and backfill them with dirt and stone so I do not have to worry about they caving in sometime in the future.

Grandpa and Grandma left yesterday morning long before daylight. Grandpa has not been feeling well for several days now but he was very anxious to get to work with Norman and Seth so he and Grandma can get back to Texas around the middle of April – cash in hand for fixing Victoria’s house.

We see how all that works out.

Mama, anxious for repairs, less than pleasant news

Mama comes home this evening. I do not know if she is ready but I sure am.

I got home late last night after attending a makeup class for FBI and heard the toilet in the hall bath being flushed. The toilet in the master bath gurgled in response. That is not a good sign. I told Victoria to be on the lookout for the septic tanks to back up today. We only need a few more days of limping by. I hope to have the new system in service very soon but so far we only have a wet mess in the back yard left over from our attempts to discover the problem.

Things at work are moving slowly along although we are all waiting to hear if we are among the ones who will be laid off in the first round which commenced this month. If we survive the first set of reductions we still have to look over our shoulder for the second round coming in the fall. I know it will all work out in God’s timing and according to His plan.

Over the past year Mama and I have been careful to limit the debt we have and ensure that what we do have is the kind of debt that will pay us back – like the farm/home mortgage. I think that will put us ahead of the curve when things get difficult but time will tell. Not having car payments and greatly limiting our credit card purchases will only help in the long run.

As our asset leader gave us the less than pleasant news yesterday he attempted levity at the conclusion of the meeting by telling the following story. He woke one morning last week to find the pet rabbit of the neighbors across the back fence in the jaws of his dog; dirty and obviously dead.

Rather than go to the neighbors and apologize for the crime committed by his dog he took the dead rabbit and washed it thoroughly in the kitchen sink, dried it with a hair drier and carefully climbed over the fence and placed the now freshly cleaned animal into the cage that had housed in the other family’s back yard.

Later that morning, he saw the police at the neighbor’s house. They were also in the back yard looking at the rabbit in the cage. Fearful of the outcome of such an investigation he went into his yard and began to pick up sticks and such so he could eavesdrop on the conversation. The neighbor lady was very upset, almost inconsolable. She was worried some satanic cult was behind the horrible prank.

As it turned out, the rabbit had died several days ago and the family had given the poor creature a sad farewell as they buried it in the back yard. For it to turn up in its cage cleaned and washed was almost more than the woman could bear. The moral of the story, tell the truth and take the consequences. It is better than any other possible outcome.

The morbid humor did carry on through the day.

Mama comes home, bad weather, Grandma and Grandpa

Mama comes home tomorrow. I sure am ready. They went to the beach yesterday and all five of them got sunburns; Mama, Cori and the kids. Meanwhile, back in Chico the weather turned nasty and covered the roads with ice by the time Victoria got off work at 5 pm.

She had taken the truck at Grandpa’s insistence because he thought the tires on her car would not be trustworthy in the snow. By past experience, I know the truck does not do well at all in bad weather condition, especially ice, so I drove to Bowie during my lunch break and swapped the van for the truck. Even with front wheel drive she still had trouble getting out of the slick parking lot.

We went to church even though the weather conditions were bad. In case we did have services I wanted to be there. Victoria got home in time to change and go with me. Surprisingly, there were about forty people there. It was the last night of our revival – and it was worth the trip. It always is. We abbreviated the service and were back home by 8:30. Roads were terrible.

Saturday it will be nice to have Mama back at home because we have several irons in the fire and I really need her to help me coordinate the crews we have coming out that day. The crew doing the trees is slated to be done by 11 a.m. I am not sure it the septic company will be there or not on Friday or Saturday or perhaps Monday but they are going to start working soon.

Grandma and Grandpa are talking about leaving for West Virginia on Sunday. There was a time when he would not have considered traveling on Sunday but those days are long gone. They will be with Norman and Seth until mid-April. At least, that is the word for now. Grandpa hopes to earn a wad of cash to spend on renovating Victoria’s house while he is there. I hope that works out for him. Pray for them as they travel.

I believe his long range plan is to get the house in shape so Norman and Seth can live there when they move to Texas later in the year.  I have not been told but that is what I read between the lines. Victoria is okay with that for now…as long as the renovations meet her expectations. After all, it is her house.

Grandma went to church with us Sunday evening and just before service the pastor asked her to hold her peace. She did, but it bothered her. (Her amen-ing and co-preaching can be quite distracting because it is never quietly done.)  The preaching -which she totally misinterpreted - bothered her. She did not say anything to me but Victoria caught the brunt of her criticism the following day – all day. It may be a while before she comes back.

Her and Grandpa’s argument has always been “where’s the love?” This only fed their disdain for churches in general. But for the rest of the attendees that night it made the service more enjoyable. The next night Dan Martin, the evangelist, preached on why people quit on God. The root cause is that they are offended; offended by preaching, offended by something said, offended by the Word of God, offended by the Lord and His requisite standards. Too true.

I came to the office late this morning and at almost 10a.m. I am still the only one here. It is rather nice.

Help, hauling scrap, revival

Yesterday was eventful. There were two companies at the house looking at the septic lines. A couple of workers showed up before anyone was up in the house and they dug around until they uncovered the line from the septic tank going to the leach bed. The only problem is that the line and apparently the entire leach field is running uphill. As they uncovered it to reveal the break in the line the water was draining out of the leach field towards the tank. No wonder we were having problems. The fact that it was working at all was almost unbelievable.

The man that Lee recommended to me is the one I gave the replacement job to. Both companies were about the same price but this individual seemed to really know what needed to be done and where to put the new leach field. It will still cost me about $4000 but it will be done right and Mama and I will not have to worry about it again.

When I asked Mr. Cobb how soon he could get started he quickly replied, “Right after this storm passes.” Referring to the forecast. When I asked the other company how soon they could get started it was a far different answer; 48 hours to wait on a line find company to clear them to dig, one day for the permit and at least a day or a couple more days to lay out the system, the current tanks would have to be cleaned and collapsed, etc., etc., etc.

I also called the tree company and had them put us on the schedule to have the three trees in the back removed; and I think Mama spends money fast.

As quickly as I got home I went with Grandpa to pick up our gooseneck trailer at the Krum yard. The office there was made up of modular pieces which are being removed and they tore off the front and back porch/decks for removal. There was a lot of good wood in the structures so they loaded the scrap onto the trailer and we hauled it to the farm.

It was a heavier load than I had expected but we got the trailer set in the center lot and disconnected from the truck pretty easily. When I was jacking up the trailer I got a little worried that the hitch was not coming free of the trailer but was rather lifting the truck so I set it down and tried again.

What Grandpa and I figured out was that the load was setting heavy enough on the truck that it looked like we were pulling up the truck when in reality we were not yet to the point that the truck normally sets when it is empty. Once we got that in view and the block the trailer jack was sitting on stopped sinking into the ground the trailer came free of the hitch.

I had to hurry to get ready for church but Victoria and I got there in good time. Quite a few of pastor’s preacher friends came last night.

It was a great crowd, especially for a Tuesday night.

Mama, no repairs yet, tree work, future plans

Mama is having a great time in Florida. It always comes at a cost but I have planned the finances for that. Even though it is not the most financially prudent expenditure it keeps peace in the home and joy in Mama’s heart as she sit with her grandchildren and helps out Cori and Nate – not to mention a quick run to the beach. I am still wondering just what the real purpose of this trip was. It certainly did not meet the objectives as outlined in the beginning. If Cori can slow Mama down for the next couple days I will have less to make up for when she gets back home but we will manage either way.

The person I contacted on Friday to come and look at the septic system came yesterday. He did not like what he saw to the point that he hustled away and has not called me to discuss it. I am still waiting on another man I called to come out. He had jury duty yesterday but is supposed to get with me today to look over the system and tell me what he recommends.

I was impressed with him in our initial conversation because he treated the whole mess as a problem that could be solved without it seeming too distasteful to him. Everyone else I talked to likes to put in new systems – clean, unused, unsoiled systems. This individual seemed to realize that this is a part of life and seemed willing to really look into the issue with the intent of fixing the problem with as little disruption - or drama - as possible. Hopefully, we will meet him today.

With the change in weather we are expecting that the repair, unless it is a very minor one, may not happen this week. Rain starts this evening. The temperature is supposed to fall from a high in the fifties to the mid-twenties through the day Wednesday. We are expecting an accumulation of ice and snow by morning on Thursday. We already have plans in place to close the office early tomorrow and start late on Thursday.

I also had an individual come out yesterday to look at the three trees near the back of the house that we need taken down, partly to save future damage to the house and sunroom and partly to save our next leach field. He gave me a fair price for the work. Interestingly enough, the price is lower if I keep the firewood from the felled trees; which he will cut to length for us. That sounded like a good deal to me so I will call him back today and set the time.

Grandpa is trying hard to get Norman to relocate to Texas. Part of the draw is fixing up Victoria’s house so the four of them can live in it while Norman restarts his business here. Additionally, Victoria is looking into getting started in a lawn and landscape business; although she is not enamored with the idea of going into business with Norman (a wise decision) as Grandma is pushing hard for her to do.

They are looking at houses in the area as though Norman could buy one when he moves here and Victoria is wondering if Grandpa will lose his drive to get her little house repaired/restored to her liking as he gets distracted by more interesting - and less time consuming and less costly - projects related to Norman and Seth. We will see how it all works out in the long run.

Past practice has been long on dreams and short on delivery, but this could be different.

Posted late; Yesterday, tomorrow, septic plans

Mama and Grandma had a very busy day yesterday. With the septic system out of commission they had to go to Decatur to do the laundry. They had decided to only wash at the Laundromat and do the drying at home. That all started about 10:30 a.m. While they were out the title company called to say that we could close on Victoria’s house at 1 pm. Then all the hustling started.

We finally got the details worked out on how Victoria would get there from Bowie and how I would get there from work since I had driven the company truck back to the office that morning. As it turned out, Victoria picked me up at the office and we went down the street a short distance to the title company to meet Mama and Grandma.

The closing was uneventful other than the fact that we showed up at the former office of the title company – not knowing they had moved since we closed on the Chico house. We were standing in front of the old office for a few minutes before I looked in the window and saw that the rooms were completely empty. So Mama called their office. It turned out that they had relocated just two doors down so we were not far off.

Victoria is not the deed holder of record on the little house off of County Road 1560 – also in Chico. In total we area about five miles apart. She is excited. Grandpa and Grandma are ecstatic. They have very ambitious plans for the little property and I think many of those plans will work out very well. The first thing we have to do is secure the house to keep out the young people who have been sneaking over there to smoke.

On the home front, the truck came to pump out the septic tanks – at a cost of $275. The best he could tell, the leach bed is overgrown with tree roots and probably collapsed when we had the tanks pumped out the first time. Someone is supposed to come over today to give us an estimate on putting in a new leach bed. Mama is making a second call to have the man that installed ours at the farm come also to give us an additional estimate. I do not expect the job to be cheap but I do know that God’s timing is always perfect, even though in this case it would not appear so from my point of view.

I am planning to take the day off tomorrow. I am not entirely sure at this point that it will be possible. There are a few things happening at work that require immediate attention. For now I and my group of direct reports are not part of those discussions but that could change at any time. I have been asked to keep my phone charged and on my person at all times for now; nothing unexpected, yet nothing welcome either.

Mama flies out tomorrow. Please pray the flight is not delayed. Weather is temperamental at the moment. Her arrival creates a “just in time” arrangement for Cori and Nate.

Also pray that nothing hinders us from getting Mama to the airport in plenty of time.

Weather, Airport delays, still no septic

The weather became a major issue for Mama on Friday. It was supposed to turn bad but the worst weather was not supposed to get to our area until the afternoon – or at least the late morning. That was not the way it happened. The temperature was in the high twenties as we left the house in Chico at about 8:30. Mama’s flight was scheduled for 11:40.

The freezing rain came in from the northeast as we neared the airport and quickly covered the roads with ice. Mama and I got to Terminal E at DFW in plenty of time for her to get checked in but with the construction being done at the terminal and with the difficulty in finding a place to park we ended up having to walk a good distance to get her to the proper gate. Once she was headed to security I headed back home. That it when the fun really started.

By the time I got to the highway I needed to be on for the drive home the roads were miserably wet and slick. I slipped and slid around at least twenty accidents within the next forty miles and drove at a leisurely top speed of about 15 mph.  It took me three plus hours to get home. Meanwhile Mama’s flight had been cancelled and she had been rerouted to another terminal for a stand-by status on another flight – which also did not work out. Six cancellations later she was still at the airport.

I let her know that there was no possible way I could come back to the airport to get her, especially after dark, because all the major roads to the airport were shut down by wrecks and tangled traffic from the afternoon when everybody headed home from work and school. The last report I heard on the traffic said that the accident total for all DFW was well above 2500. The police were overwhelmed, wrecker services were overwhelmed and still people involved in fender bender accidents refused to move their vehicles off the roads; making traffic scoot around them on the icy roads. The total precipitation was between three and four inches of snow and about a half inch of ice.

Mama did finally get to Pensacola at 6 pm Saturday evening. The whole weather thing interfered with the original excuse for her trip but that was a moot point by then. She will be coming home on Friday. Hopefully the weather will be better this time although we are expecting another blast of snow and ice on Wednesday. The temperature on Wednesday is supposed to fall from fifty degrees into the twenties by midafternoon with a wintery mix to accompany the frigid temperatures; lovely.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch we still have no functioning septic system. The two tanks are slowly filling up and no one has been able to look at the issue and give us an estimate on the repairs. I hope we will get that number and commitment today but with the weather we are expecting it could be another week to ten days before we get the repair done and in service. I am tempted to set up an outhouse  but that would be really miserable.

It’s life on the farm.