Roadtrip to Dallas

As much as I don't like to go to Dallas for company business, I went today and I will be there four days next week. Next week is recurrent Taxi & Engine Runup training. Today I attended the Women in Maintenance luncheon honoring Southwest Airlines (SWA) President, Colleen Barrett. While working for SWA for over 15 years, I have never met Colleen. I guess that is another negative of working the graveyard shift. Anyway, Colleen started as secretary for SWA back in 1967. Today's luncheon was to honor Colleen and all she has done for SWA and women in aviation. It was a hoot. We heard a lot of humorous stories of past male co workers and bosses. We were laughing the whole time. Colleen is really a compassionate, caring lady that loves to award teamwork and hard work. I got to sit with coworkers from Houston. A mechanic coworker from Houston also attended the luncheon. I haven't seen her in over a year. A year ago she had fallen at work and cracked her cheek bone. When she was ready to come back to work, she was told she had to lift 90 pounds (as a mechanic) in a "return to work" fitness test. Like me, she was livid over the ordeal. I really don't understand why we are told we need to lift 90 or 100 pounds when the requirements we were hired under still states up to 50 pounds. It really baffles me. Anyway, I had a good time today and glad I went.
Since my last post, I have been working on my neighbor's back fence line clearing it for a new fence. There is an old barbed wire fence there, so I have to remove all the barbed wire. I am rolling it up in 2 foot diameter circles to make Christmas wreaths. It is heavily wooded along this fence row. I have been using the Big Red Beast's backhoe and thumb to clear a lot of the brush. It is slower than dozing the brush with the loader bucket, but it leaves more fertile soil and ground cover in place.

I have also been working on their driveway. It is a long easement and has a lot of pot holes. For fuel money only, I have been hauling loamy clay and spreading it on their driveway. Imagine my surprise when they brought over a handful of 20 dollar bills and gave them to me. I think I need to get busy finishing their driveway. I have been waiting for some dryer weather, as I don't want to give them a bigger mud mess to drive through.
I installed a tool box finally. I decided I needed one when I drove the Mahindra over to work on my neighbor's driveway. I am glad I added a tool box on the 6520, as it really is handy to have odds and ends along with you. Tools are good to have also! Along with the tool box, I added an inexpensive temperature gauge to the canopy. This is my way of reminding myself to stop having fun when it is too hot and go inside and take a break. I can work for hours and need the reminder of that gauge staring at me. While I was wiring in my forward canopy work lights, Luke came out and snapped a few photos. I took some of him also.

You can view them here. I had a few large logs laying in the way of cutting the grass, so I took almost a whole afternoon doing nothing but cutting up large logs. I cut so many logs with the chainsaw my hands tingled all evening. Needless to say I didn't finish cutting up the logs. These logs are larger in diameter than the length of my 20 inch chain saw! The afternoon I was cutting firewood, I brought my ferrets, Sneaky & Phoebe, along with Luke's cat, Milo, outside in their carry cages while I opened up 4 roach bombs in the house. I took the critters out to the barn and put them on the tailgate of my truck. Sneaky and Phoebe thought it just another reason for more raisins, while Milo continued to Meow until she fell asleep.

Dad's lawn mower is broken and since my zero turn mower is faster, I have been hauling it over on my 20 foot gooseneck trailer. It takes a lot of fuel to pull the gooseneck. I had an old pop-up tent trailer laying out by the barn just begging me to fix it up. So I took a few days and had it narrowed and the railroad iron counterweight welded on the tongue, removed. It was added to balance out the compact air conditioner added in the back wall of the pop-up. Then I installed a 2x6 treated deck to it, along with complex, detailed, hinged ramps and an up latch assembly. As I had the trailer hitched to my truck, I employed the 6520's loader bucket as a floor jack and lifted the rear of the trailer up to install jack stand seated on 8 inch thick blocks of oak. It is finished now except installing the light's wiring harness. I need to get a license plate for it also. But for now, I have "borrowed" the plate off of the gooseneck. I do need to repack the wheel bearings. No telling how many miles my friend, Josephine, put on it before giving it to me.

It looks like I will not be getting any concrete poured this month. My truck's air conditioner has a slow leak in it and after next week's trip to Dallas for recurrent taxi training, I have to put it in the shop for further troubleshooting. I had the coil replaced two years and ago, so I hope it isn't that again. When I took it in last Tuesday morning, the technician said the leak is low in the system. So it could be some road debris that caused a leak in a line. I hope it is something that simple, as components are $$$$ to replace. So stop back later to see if I gave all my $$$$ to the air conditioning repair shop!

Oh yeah, I have been invited to Kentucky to work in a chicken house. Well, to see a chicken house and go horseback riding. I don't know when I will get to go. My question is, can you guess who did the inviting?

hugs, Brandi

Stock Options and the IRS

I hope you never get one in the mail. I am talking about a letter from the Internal Revenue Service. I received it Friday, two weeks ago. It stated I owed Uncle Sam over 7,000 dollars because I didn't do my 2006 tax refund right. I started shaking and had to sit down. I kept trying to read the letter to see why, but all I could see was black words on white paper. Something about owing taxes on the proceeds from the sale of $19,000 worth of stock options. As this soaked in, it started to make more sense. I did sell that amount of options. But what the IRS didn't get was that those options cost me over $16,000 to purchase in cost, fees, and taxes. Yes, taxes were taken out by my employer. But the IRS didn't know that. I remember now, calling Deutsche Bank while doing my 2006 taxes and asking about the paperwork that the IRS was missing. I was told that SWA added it all into my W2. Which they did. I knew I had paperwork on all of it, but I couldn't find it. I must have shredded it with a lot of other papers. I tried online to open my account with Deutsche Bank, but couldn't remember my user name much less my password. I had to wait all weekend to contact them. I woke up early Monday to call and get online access again. Just a few key strokes and I had the figures the IRS and my Tax Refund was lacking. But my printer was broken and I was waiting on warranty parts from Kodak. Can you send me hard copies, I asked? Four days later I had what I needed. So I sat down again and read the letter. It also wanted a Schedule D filled out. To my surprise, I think I might get around $300 back for this amended return. We'll see in a few weeks if my figures match the figures the IRS comes up with. In the mean time, Kodak sent me a new print head for my printer and all is well now. I could print a photo, but it wouldn't print documents.

The first weekend of April found me in Austin with Rebecca. We were going canoeing, but never made it. After getting up late and deciding on a short drive to look at property southwest of Austin. Rebecca got Hwy 620 and Loop 360 confused and we didn't get back to the canoe rental place on Town Lake (what the locals call the Colorado River near downtown Austin) in time to rent a canoe! So we went over to the nature trail to find they had closed 20 minutes before. We then cruised South Congress Ave. watching all the hot rods and all the people they attract. It was a state wide hot rod rally and we were in the middle of it! There were some wild rides there and Rebecca took tons of photos. She took a lot of photos out my truck side window, so most of those have my nose in the photos also. Don't worry, I didn't post the nose photos!

Then we made our way to the Congress Ave. Bridge to watch up to a million and a half Mexican Free-tailed bats leave their perches under the bridge. We watched from the north shore under the bridge, then realized most of the bats were closer to the south shore. So we hiked over the bridge and stayed watching bats until it was too dark to see them unless you used your flash on the camera. We took a few good photos and you can see them here.
With a day as action packed as that, I was ready to take a bath and relax. But Rebecca wanted to go sing Karaoke. She also wante ME to sing. I have sung Karaoke with Luke in Thailand before, but we walked home then. I was driving and told Rebecca I really need about two Margaritas before I hit the floor! But I got to hear her sing. Her friend, Camille, sang also. We had a fun time and took a lot of photos with Rebecca's camera. Maybe by the time I post again, she will have emailed them to me.
I made it home in time on Sunday to mow Mom and Dad's yard and the majority of my yard and pasture. I didn't even get the Big Red Beast out. We had a gully washer of a rain last Tuesday and between me being tired and it still muddy, I just let my Mahindra sleep in the barn. Besides, after getting out of the mud last weekend by herself (with our help) she deserved a rest! Stop back for my next post when I tell of my birthday wish! It's a big one!
hugs, Brandi

Reacquainted Relatives

Imagine my surprise upon getting a letter from my cousin. Well, second cousin. A cousin I haven't seen in about 24 years. That would have made him about 13 years old then. Now I was meeting a grown man! I was going to clean house before they arrive and make myself presentable , but have been resting and relaxing (spell that tractor seat time) for the weekend. My cousin, Clay and his partner, was suppose to come out Easter Sunday. I thought they would show up in the afternoon. So on Saturday I emailed him. I never got a response. Easter morning I got up at 10 and checked email. No reply from Clay. So I went back to bed. About 10:58 I heard a knock on the door and Luke stating, "Your cousin is here"! Talk about having egg on my face. First time I meet my cousin in 24 years and I am wearing a bath robe! Gosh, can it get any worse? It didn't. We talked for hours and went out to eat. We decided on Chili's. We both had baby back ribs. It was a good first (again) meeting. I learned some neat stuff about his Mom, Jackie. She used to stay with us for weeks at a time when we were little. Talking about her brought back fond memories.

I had all this typed and saved, I thought. I just rewrote it as we had a power failure and when I started typing tonight..........I found nothing I had wrote a week ago. Oh well, onward and upward!

I got over Mom and Dad's house on Good Friday to mow. When I got there, I saw I had my brother's mess to clean up. He seems to think the house is his to do as he pleases, so he trashes the yard up. I never have figured that one out. Anyway, between this trash and picking up the limbs that fell this winter, I made a nice fire on the stump I dug up last August with the Big Red Beast. You can check out photos of this huge stump on my photo page here. Check out 8-5-07 on page 6. Look at the photo titled Profile Stump vs. Big Red Beast and you can get an idea of what I have been burning. Anyway, it took several hours to clean up the yard and mow the grass. When I got home I had enough daylight left to mow the yard. Saturday morning I finished mowing the "pasture". It wasn't quite dry in the low areas, so I had the Big Red Beast stand by for towing duty while I mowed. I got stuck three times and needed a tow from the Mahindra.

I thought it was suppose to rain all weekend the last of March. Imagine my amusement when I lite the burn pile thinking it would rain later in the day and not a drop fell all weekend. I almost got the pile burned all up. I went out at 2 this morning and condensed it with the 6520's loader bucket. Then I went to bed. Around noon I went back out and used the 511 backhoe and thumb to stack partially burnt logs and stumps up into a pile. It is kind of like stacking building blocks, but really big burning blocks. After that all is a blur because, well, I am embarrassed to say this, but I got the Big Red Beast stuck up to her axles. Between the backhoe and loader and my two good neighbors, Lori and Von, we got the 6520 out of the mud after two hours of hard labor. We ran out of boards, so we cut up small trees into 2 foot lengths and use them under the tires. After we got the Mahindra out of the mud, I realized I had the camera hanging from the ROPS under the canopy and didn't even think to get a photo of the stuck Beast. I only got a photo of the "sink hole" after the fact! After they helped me get the 6520 out of the mud, Von and Lori went back to their fence building. While I was washing the Big Red Beast off, they turned their horses out on their entirely wooded acreage. The horses went straight to grazing on the the hi-line by my driveway. Talk about a beautiful sight!

After I ate a late lunch, I planned on greasing the Mahindra. But my brother came over to introduce his new wife to us. Mom came along. Then I found out they want to get my blessing so they can move into Mom and Dad's house to "take care" of them. As I have power of attorney for Mom and Dad, they are asking me also. Knowing my brother, I don't like it. But it would answer a short term prayer about Mom's care while I get Mom on Medicaid and into a nursing home. I will have to sleep on it and pray about it. I told them I need to talk to Dad about it. Mom seemed to like the idea. I talked with my friend, Josephine, and we talked about lawyer's and I mentioned something like a rental agreement. Josephine mentioned I should talk to an attorney about a legal agreement. I did recall my brother's new wife commenting about wanting to move in on the first of April, which is two days away. Now I am thinking.........why so fast? I will take my time and talk to my attorney before I answer them.

Booger isn't singing yet, but he has been up to mischief. Two weeks ago he caught a full grown cotton tail rabbit. Last weekend he got into the neighbor's yard behind me and caught a chicken. We took the chicken away from him before he could taste blood. Yesterday while on the Big Red Beast, I saw what looked like a mole in his mouth. I was curious, so I approached him and saw little ears sticking up. Booger had caught a baby rabbit. He hadn't hurt it yet, and let me take it from him. I bought the little furry rabbit into the house. It seen to be okay and hopped a little. I got the ferrets carrying cage out and added water and some fresh grass. When I was little I raised rabbits. The little guy seemed about the size of my litters when they just start eating. But I drove to town and bought some goat's milk for him (her?) and some KFC chicken for Luke and I. While waiting in the drive thru line, Luke called and said it was too late. I came home to a stiff little friend. I cried as I drove the Mahindra out into the pasture to dig a hole in the dark. Imagine, it was the first time to dig after dark with the new canopy work lights I installed last month. I will always remember this first time using them. They work well and I can actually see where I am digging. The little guy will always be remembered when I use those lights. Stop back later to hear more about Booger and I, along with the Big Red Beast.

hugs, Brandi

Is Spring here?

Daytime temperatures in the 70s. Night time temperatures in the 40s and 50s. Clear sunny skies. It sure seems like spring is here. I almost put on shorts last weekend while out working on the barn. Booger has been laying in the sun soaking up the rays, while I labor away on the barn. I finally installed all the roof trim on the back side and just today finished the front roof trim. This makes me feel good as I can now take the platform off the Big Red Beast's bucket and get busy grading the driveway. With all the rains we have been having, the driveway has added some washboard ridges to it. It was raining hard when I came home from work the other morning and I saw the culprit. Since I am at the end of the street and at the bottom of the hill, water was washing right down the street into my driveway and washing all the dirt and even the gravel! I usually have a hump built up at the start of the drive to direct that water into the ditch. But with working every weekend on the barn, the driveway was neglected, along with house cleaning. My three Dogwood trees are blooming. Yesterday, I noticed two more across the gully where I had cleared last December. Now I can see them. So I grabbed my construction pink ribbon and flagged them so I would see them while playing on the Mahindra. This morning I saw three small Dogwood's on the other side of the neighbor's fence line. I flagged those also and told my neighbor, Lori, that I flagged them with pink ribbon. She was glad I did and was wondering what the blooming trees were. So now I have three and she has three blooming Dogwood trees. Lori and Von have been busy putting up their new fences! They had their youngest dog, Kodiak, with them today while building fence. Kodiak is one of Booger's offspring. But Booger just doesn't know how to act around his son. It is so funny to watch them together.

I received a letter the other day from my cousin's son. I haven't talked to him in years. Now he wants to come visit. So where will I get time to clean the house before he comes? Should I just not worry about it and explain to him I either can clean house or work outside, but not both? I guess I could explain I take care of the outside stuff and Luke takes care of the inside stuff. Maybe I could get away with that excuse! With getting the barn finished for horses and trying to get Mom in a nursing home, I just don't have the time to clean house, much less clean Luke's bathroom. That is a major.....don't go there.

I was suppose to go to Austin today so Rebecca and I could go to the Livestock show. Rebecca called Thursday night and mentioned since I was tired from the work week and would come over Saturday, maybe I wanted to stay home and rest. Then she mentioned Drake asked her to go to Six Flags in San Antonio with him. I gave in to her wish of having fun with Drake, while in reality I looked forward to a weekend at home and lots of rest. Which I am totally enjoying after the week at work. It wasn't a bad week, just very hectic with not much down time. Southwest grounded a lot of planes for inspections this week. Since I do sheet metal, I was busy repairing the planes. Us employees were asked not to talk about what was happening, but I can at least write about how I felt working those repairs. For years folks would tell me how great a company Southwest is. I would agree as they said positive things about Southwest. But to see your company on the news (and hearing about it on the radio) all day and night, it gets to you. Especially if your company is under investigation by the U.S. Congress. The last two weeks had me feeling like I had a target on my back. I felt exposed and vulnerable from all the news exposure. It is very sobering to see the airplanes you work on being shown on TV and absolutely nothing positive is being said, unlike the pass praises for Southwest. It is like a bad dream that is out of control. But we took care of what we are paid to do. Make the airplanes safe.

After a week of hectic work, I looked forward to the weekend to relax. I got my 6520 out and loaded up the platform with tools to finish installing the barn's roof trim. This was a real easy job made difficult by the fact the roof is not quite square. This all goes back to saving some money on not buying 6x6 treated timbers, but instead using 6 inch diameter treated poles. The poles are not true all the way up. I plumbed the portion near the ground and adjusted the barn building as I went, as the tops bow or taper different directions! On the roof, that meant cutting the metal near the edge and splicing in another piece so the ridges would mate with the edge trim.

This entailed dragging the skil saw with it's metal cutting blade up on the roof and making a bunch of noise and sparks! I had to do this on three of the four corner edges. My extra roofing metal was stacked under my gooseneck trailer. So I had to get the truck backed up and hitched up to move the trailer. Normally the 6520 would do it, but the receiver hitch was holding the work platform in place. This process was further slowed down by Booger wanting attention every time I came inside the barn to cut some trim or cut a roof metal sheet down to splicing size. Now, the roof trim is finally all installed.

Which gives me time to change the fuel filters on the 6520, along with greasing it and the loader and backhoe and replace the blades on the lawn mower. Then clean up and go visit Mom and Dad. I have talked to an attorney of a nursing home in Conroe and he told me some things I need to take care of while getting Mom on Medicaid. Some of the items could cost thousands of dollars if Dad or I screwed up and did the paperwork or even some basic estate planning wrong. So it looks like we will pay the $2500 to $3500 to retain the attorney to help us do that.

Now to relax and get ready for next week. Stop back again to see if Booger sings!

hugs, Brandi

15 Years

Since I had problems last fall with Southwest about getting back to work after my on the job injury, I have been leery of management. Our base manager that was in on keeping me from returning to duty has been transferred to Dallas. The night manager was promoted to assume his duties as Maintenance base manager. The other day I was standing in line to punch out and the new manager asked if I could stop by his office after I punched out. I am the type that doesn't like to wait around, so I said I could come now. So I followed him to his office, the whole time walking with him I kept thinking, what have I done now. Imagine my surprise when he didn't close his office door behind us, but instead reached behind his desk for a small box and handed it to me while extending his right hand and stating.........."Congratulations on 15 years of service"! Wow, what a relief. I knew I was doing well, but I always worry too much. Inside the box was a ladies silver wrist watch with SWA's wing logo and the words...Southwest Airlines 15 years. Also in the box was a gold plated wing shaped pin with two very small rubies. I guess we get two rubies to balance out the wings on the pin!



I started working on the back side of the barn. I hung the door track and flashing for the 10 wide door. That is when I realized the 20 from the fence to the barn wasn't enough for the Big Red Beast to fit in perpendicular to the barn and work out of the bucket. This called for some careful thought as I didn't want install the whole back side metal from a ladder. So I researched some other work platforms built on front end loader buckets while online and came up with a stable, proof tested 4x8 foot wooden work platform.

I wish I would have built the platform before I installed the siding on front, as it sure made it easier than working out of my Mahindra's 7 foot wide bucket. I can now just tilt the 6520's bucket up at full loader height to reach the top ridge of the barn, with all my tools at hand's reach. Before building the platform, I removed the 6520's exhaust stack and took it to work to install a new notch to fit the muffler. This will allow the stack to blow the exhaust away from the loader arm while at full height. Now I just need to clean the soot off of the loader arm. I hope it isn't stained into the paint!

I really enjoy being out working on my barn. Booger is always near and when he wants some attention, he makes his presence known to me. While on the wooden work platform, one of the two Red Shouldered Hawks that stay near my place came flying over just a screeching. Then he (she?) landed in a tree to look down on me and watch me, only to fly off and soar in a circle and screech some more. It truly is breath taking watching this bird of prey. I am very lucky to have them around. If only I could get a good photo of them. The camera was down in the barn on a makeshift work table. From now on I will have my camera with me while outside working.


I didn't get to work on the barn this last weekend. I was in Mesquite, Texas for the Texas State Rifle Association's annual meeting and awards banquet. I was informed the first week in January that I was to receive a Presidential Citation award for testifying last spring in front of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee. I testified about why I own a handgun and have a concealed handgun licenses (CHL), along with the written individual agreement Southwest Airlines has with their employees that have CHL. The bill I was testifying for is to prevent employers from firing employees, that have a legal Texas CHL, for having a firearm in the employee's car while on company property. My friend Ken, was there to support me and cheer me on! We also attended the gun show on Saturday. I don't think Ken bought anything, but I ordered a new purse as my old leather bag is on it's last legs. Anyway, drop in later to see what interesting things have "popped" into my life. I have uploaded more photos, so you can check them out here.

hugs, Brandi

Barn Building, Again

With February's warm weather and sunny days, I am on a roll with finishing the barn. I had the week off and really took advantage of it. I ordered door track flashing on Monday from Mueller Metals. This is the place I bought the roof metal from. I had bought the door rails from Tractor Supply Co. and had hopes of buying the track flashing from them. I had a brochure on the door track installation from the manufacturer, National Mfg., when I approched Tractor Supply's employee. He called National and said I could order ten pieces. It is then I told him I only needed 5 pieces of flashing. He stated I could talk to the area manager. That is when I left to go back to Mueller Metals. Mueller has a plant just north of Willis, so I didn't have to go far. I ordered the flashing and some more corner trim. It only takes them 4 days to make it. So I went ahead and installed the siding over the trailer shed and over the door track.

I had previously installed some roof rake trim on the corner with the front of the barn that now I had to fight to measure and install the siding. This exericise was made simple with the Big RED Beast's bucket doing double duty as a work platform. While installing the center siding up to the ridge, the 6520's bucket was at full height. To drill and install the screws near the ridge, I had to stand on the upper lip of the bucket. While doing this, I thought of work where we have to wear safety harnesses and lanyards attached to inertial reels. Nothing like that here, but a huge oak tree to hang a rope from! When I got to the far end, I ran my first full length pieces and then went back the other direction with the 10 foot lengths to fill in under the door track. While putting up the door tracks and siding, I continually snapped photos and uploaded some of them so y'all can see what is going on. The next day I picked up the track flashing and trim. I had the flashing under the door track and header made in red. As I think back now, I should have had it in white. The red won't be seen much and the white is a whole lot cheaper. Oh well. I will get the back side right. I should have installed the back first so all my mistakes wouldn't be seem much.

Another mistake I made was not shimming the door track further from the header. The door hangar hits the top of the siding crowns or ridges. I experimented with a scrap piece screwed in place and I smashed the ridges down with a ball peen hammer and a short 2x4. It worked great and looks, well....., presentable! I left all the siding above the door track loose with just a couple of screws holding them in place. This was so I could slide the track flashing across over the track with the siding loosely in place. This worked better than expected. But the back of the barn will have the flashing installed over the track before the siding. So I will not have this double work again.

In between all of this "fun", I had to meet the home health care nurse at Mom & Dad's. Home Health Care will be coming back out to help Mom with her baths and school Dad in all the meds Mom takes and when to give them to her. Yeah right. I can only pray Dad gives Mom medicine at the right times. Dad wants a maid to come in and clean the house good just once. Now I need to find a trust worthy maid. Any ideas?

With all the rain we are having, I spent Saturday cleaning out my old workshop. I say old as I built it 25 years ago and moved it to my 5 acres 12 years ago. It is only 10x10 feet. I stopped rebuilding the rotten 2x6 foundation I put it on when I started building my barn. So when the barn is finished, I will tear it down and reuse a lot of the materials. Before tearing down the workshop I will move my helicopter tail rotor ceiling fan to the barn. I built it back in the early 1980s from pieces of wrecked Bell 206 parts. When I move it, I will add a new motor as the old washing machine motor I had driving it died and gave up the ghost.

I went ahead and worked on the back door header and tracks Sunday. I did this because it takes two folks to join two rails with the track rail splice and Luke is off work on Sundays. One person to hammer the track into the other track and the other person line up the track and splice and squeeze the other rail end. Luke gave me a hand and it popped right on like a glove. I removed the 2x6s at 8 and 10 feet. I had the door header at 8 feet high, but the 6520's canopy hit it and knocked it loose! I then added doubled up 2x8s at the 10 foot level.

I only have 20 feet from the barn to the back fence,so it is hard to get the Big RED Beast back there and the bucket square to the barn as a work platform. So I will need to rig up a platform in the bucket and support it with chains from the bucket hooks. Then I will be able to park the tractor beside the barn and work from one side of the bucket platform. Check back later to hear about more progress on my barn and everything else that is happening.

hugs, Brandi

Aging Parents

Well, I did it. I got my parents back in the Medicare provider that Mom and Dad's old Doctor uses. Two years ago a Medicare provider's salesman sold them a lie. He told them they could continue to use their doctor on his company's policy. Mom and Dad ran up $2000 in bills at their doctor's office before the clinic realized the insurance had changed and they didn''t take Mom and Dad's policy. Dad also messed up getting their medicare provider changed that fall. Then another medicare provider sold them another policy that they couldn't use with their old doctor. Last November I made sure to attend a provider meeting to get Mom and Dad registered back with Texas Health Springs. They got their new ID cards and I made an appointment with their old doctor, only to find out their old doctor isn't taking any medicare patients he hasn't seen in over a year. So now they just go to my doctor. At least they know him.

Dad and I are trying to get Mom into a nursing home, as Mom's memory is just too far gone to have Mom do anything but eat and dress herself. We have to tell Mom everything else to do including sit down and relax. It is sad, but that is what Alzheimer's does. While I am trying to get Mom and Dad into Medicaid, our doctor is getting home health care for Mom. I had thought Medicare pays for long term nursing home care, but it is Medicaid that pays for long term nursing care. If I would have known that, I could have applied last year.

Last week I had the chance to take the Big REDBeast's loader bucket in for some straightening and reinforcement. The upper lip had been abused and bent by either a stump or large logs while making a burn pile. I thought when the welder finished straightening the lip it would be nice and straight. When I picked up the bucket, I was shocked to see the bend in the lip was still there and the 3/8 inch 2x2 angle was welded on. Talk about a sow's ear out of a silk purse. Well, I took the bucket back home and reattached it to the loader. I cringe every time I look at that bucket. But it will do what I want and being clean and pretty looking isn't for a tractor that works to earn it's keep.

After almost a year I finally got back in the barn building mode. Numerous things including 2 on the job injuries kept me from working on it. Last weekend I started adding the siding, only to realize I needed to install the sliding door rails first. This weekend I bought the rails and door wheel hangars. I then realized the 2x6 door header wasn't wide enough to mount the rail and have no gap with the door. So I removed all but 4 feet of door header and installed 20 feet of doubled 2x8s. The barn poles are round and slightly tapered, as in not machined straight, causing parts of the barn frame to be off. I went with round poles to save a few dollars over treated 6x6 timbers. I will never cheap charlie barn poles again. The round poles are not quite true. So this makes some interesting shims in the structure. The door header needed a 2x6 shim added under the header on the center barn pole, which includes longer bolts and some major tugging and prying 10 foot up off the ground. What should have taken a day to install the door rails took a day and a half. Never again.....will I build anything with round poles. Never. Today I installed 24 feet of the door rail. The last 3 feet really needed about 3/4 inch of shim. Instead of shimming, I just sucked it down with the bolts. I think the door will handle the slight deviation. If not, I can add shim after I hang the door.

While working on the barn last Saturday, my neighbors, Von and Lori rode up with a spare horse and wanted me to ride with them. I tried to explain I just got in the groove and was on a roll with the barn siding. I didn't convince them. They forced me to ride with them. We took a quick ride around the subdivision. Wow, that sure brought back memories. The horse I was riding had a hackamore on him. I never have rode a horse using a hackamore. Only bridles with bits. The whole time it felt like I had to hold back rein on him. All seemed fine until we turned for home. I tried to stop, but he kept going faster. I then turned him and stopped and waited. Telling him all along that he would have to think about standing still instead of getting home. That always did the trick in the past and it worked with him. So I think hackamores have a place, but give me a bit to rein in a horse.

I had planned on going to Tulare, California this week for the World Ag Expo, but instead I will be paying Rebecca's apartment rent. Ouch! She is still looking for a job, but hasn't had any luck. I am still taking the week off, so I should get finished with the barn siding on front and back. I don't have the siding for the sides yet. But the sides have a 12 foot shed added on one side where I park my gooseneck trailer and 12 foot shed on the other side for two future stalls. So the sides do not get rain with the shed roofs keeping that area dry. It suppose to rain this week, so I will just build the sliding doors. That's my plan at least.

As of February 1st, I got my weekends off,...back. I won a permanent bid to leave my Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights off and now have Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights off on the same crew. Now I won't have to remove and replace landing gears! Starting February 16th, I won a temporary bid position on my old crew of 14 years. I have this bid as long as the mechanic I replaced is off work with his injuries. That might be 2 months or the rest of the year. Please check back sooner than that to see what else has happened or will happen. Check out the pics I uploaded also.

hugs, Brandi

Working Weekends

What's that smell, my co-worker asks. I answered with a smirk on my face, it's a combination of jet fuel and Calvin Klein's Obsession mixed with grease. Working heavy maintenace now since I forgot to bid my days off and crew assignment, we have to get close to each other working. One night I helped a coworker change a nose landing gear. The nose wheel well is, at the most, 28 inches wide. So we work elbow to elbow getting the gear in and out. The next night the whole crew worked to install both main landing gears in another plane. 4 mechanics per side. It isn't hard work, but it wears you and your body out. The gear is on a dolly that can jack the gear into place, but everyone pitches in to man handle the dolly in place. The gear, if positoned correctly, goes on smooth as silk. But that "sweet" spot is hard to find and requires major finesse. The front mount of the gear, called the trunion mount, is like your shoulder. It is a ball in a socket with a 4 inch diameter pin sticking out of it. The gear has to slide onto this pin. Once it is started on this pin, it has to travel uphill, as the back mount of the gear is lower to clear the back side of the opening in the wing. We have a 15 pound dead blow hammer on a 4 foot long handle that we use to tap the gear up than inclined pin. I did this tapping last Saturday night. Did I mention you have to strike it overhead about 7 feet off of the floor? It usually takes at least two different mechanics tag teaming the hammer. During this tapping exercise, the rest of crew wiggles the gear. Once the front trunion mount is in, we man handle the gear and dolly so the aft trunion mount is lined up and then we slide a 4 inch diameter pin out of the gear casting and into the aft trunion mount bearing. This bearing moves all around like a ball, so it takes a precise eye to get it lined up. Then a 4 foot long slide hammer is supported over the flap to pull the aft pin into the aft trunion bearing mount. Sometimes a bur is all that keeps this from going smoothly. That is when one mechanic stands on a ladder behind the flap supporting the aft end of the slide hammer and a mechanic on a ladder in front of the flap really bangs the slide hammer with all their strength. Once the pin is in postion, a one inch diameter bolt goes through it to lock it in place. Most all the pins that hold the actuator that retracts the gear have nuts that are big enough to use a smaller bolt and nut to lock in place. After all this labor, I am ready for a hot bath. Make that two hot baths. I take one after work and before I go back in the evening.
Rebecca and I had a wonderful time at the George Strait concert in Austin. I went over the evening before and we hit Doc's Sports Bar for some Mexican food and drinks. Rebecca had some problems with a continuing education course she was taking on campus, so the afternoon before the concert found me sitting in my truck watching all the campus activiety while Rebecca visited with her counselor. As usual, we got to the concert late and missed the female soloist opening. We did find out seats in time to catch all of Little Big Town. They played for 1 hour. Then King George came out and entertained us for over 2 hours. We had nose bleed seats as we were sitting in the next to the top row in the Frank Erwin Center. I didn't forget the fact that a month earlier, Rebecca recieved her dipolma there. I took a few videos of the concert at Rebecca's request. I haven't watched them, but I made a copy for Rebecca. She told me she is going to start calling me Shaky, as I didn't hold the camera still enough! After the awesome concert, Rebecca bought her a George Strait shirt and cap. Anyway, I did get a good photo of George taking his hat off to the crowd. Well, I was a little early and caught him just as he started taking his hat off. Oh well, maybe next time. On the way home we drove by the Texas Capital, as Rebecca's apartment is dircetly south of it. The pink granite Capital is taller than the U.S. Capital in Washington D.C.!
The granite came from right up the road in Burnet and Marble Falls. The next day Rebecca invited her best friend to join us for lunch at Joe's Crab Shack on Town Lake. Austinites call it Town Lake, but in reality it is the Colorado River, and it looks like a river to me. Anyway, it was too cold to sit on the patio at Joe's, so we went inside where I stuffed myself on King Crab. The crab was delicious and as usual, everyone was waiting for me to finish.
The following week I did get a chance to finish trimming the expanded steel for the Big Red Beast's bumper and grill. I did such a neat job on it, the welder asked me if the factory sent it in two pieces! That made me feel good. Anyway, he tacked it on for just $10. What a bargain. With the grill finished to my liking, I decided to make it easier to work the 6520's backhoe after dark this spring and summer. I installed two lights on the canopy and wired them into the Mahindra's plow light. I removed the plow light as it would shine on my left elbow while running the backhoe lights. That took almost all day as I didn't have the right size drill bit at home and had to go to town not once, but twice. My drill wasn't big enough for the bit, so it was back to town to buy a bit that fit my drill chuck.

Today I decided to get the Big Red Beast's loader bucket straightened and reinforced. I have bent the upper lip up from tackling large stumps. I will be getting a 2 x 2 x 3/8 inch angle welded on the entire length of the upper lip on the bucket and have 3/8 plate welded on each end. That is, after they straighten the bucket. Hopefully the weather will be nice enough tomorrow to work on the barn siding. Check back later to see if I got "red" on the sides of the barn and please check out the photos I have uploaded.

hugs, Brandi

Happy New Year

I didn't go out New Year's Eve, but made it to a social New Year's day. A friend of mine used to have a New Year's day open house. But she died two years ago, so we decided to carry on her tradition. I went into Houston and socialized with old friends. I did meet a new guy that I have been emailing, but no sparks flew, so onward and upward. I got all my Christmas decorations put up on the 2nd. Usually it is almost February before that happens.

I made a New Year's resolution to get all my small projects completed. One of those projects was a new corn feeder for the squirrels. The old one had a wooden bottom and it was rotten. The new one I made has a old window screen for a bottom. This should make it last a while longer. The squirrels seem to like it, as all the corn disappeared the first day. The little critters need all the nourishment they can get, as Booger loves to chase them when he sees them on the ground. Another little project popped up over the holidays. The Big Red Beast spent so much time in the barn, she drug her starter while starting on the bitterly cold 2nd day of January. So I purchased a trickle battery charger and mounted the quick attach wiring harness. Since the battery is totally covered and bolted in, this is necessary to make unplugging it easy. So now I have the 6520 and my zero turn mower on chargers. One other project is ongoing. Dad uses a lot of kindling in his wood stove. I have a red oak log I cut in 8 inch sections and split them down to half inch or smaller sticks. I bought them a new bellows, as the old one wore a hole in the leather and was blowing out the side more then the nozzle.

My nights off are Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday now. This wasn't intentional. I was off work and missed the annual crew bid. So I lost my weekends off. Now my head thinks it is Friday when it is actually Monday. It really is messed up. But I heard at work the other night that a temporary vacancy may open up on my old crew because a co-worker is off with an On The Job injury. With my seniority, I should be able to win the bid for it. Anyway, it is Tuesday and it feels like Saturday to me. I was going to work on the barn today, but it looked like rain and I didn't want to get sheet metal and tools out when a storm in near. So I took the Mahindra down to my gully and deployed the backhoe's thumb. I spent the day cleaning out the gully of wood and debris. Four years ago the loggers I let haul off pine and oak logs left a mess and the gully has been backing up ever since. I specifically bought a backhoe with my Mahindra for this mess in the gully. Needless to say, time flew and I had fun. The Bradco/Mahindra 511 backhoe exceeded my expectations. I am totally satisfied with it. Booger kept coming up and wanted attention and to play. I was lucky enough to take a photo of him with his ball in his mouth. I have uploaded a few photos of all this activity. Take a look at them when you get a chance.

Tomorrow I will be headed to Austin. Rebecca and I have tickets to the George Strait concert on the UT campus. We have a tradition of attending his concert every year. Last year was in Las Vegas. The year before was in Indianapolis. George has a one night concert every year in Austin, but this was the first year we snagged "cheap" tickets there. So we won't have to take the company plane to hear George sing this year! Check back later to see if we got to shake his hand and to hear more about Brandi, Booger, and the Big Red Beast.

hugs, Brandi

Christmas

Christmas day! Merry Christmas! I have been going non stop for the last 8 days. Seven nights working to get off 10 days straight. Sunday night, my last night to work started with warming up the truck. I came in the house to finish getting ready. Booger was barking at the deer, so I went back out to hush him. When I did, I heard my truck going tick, tick, tick, tick, in a fast ticking cadence. I grabbed my flashlight and popped the hood open to see my fan laying at the bottom of the shroud and the truck still running. Horror.........my last night of the year to work and my truck is dead with a water leak and an AWOL fan. I know the guys at work would think I was fibbing to stay home. I called work and told them I had no transportation. I stood in my bedroom trying to collect my thoughts. I knew Luke was on his way home, but had no clue when he would be home as he wasn't answering his cell phone. A few minutes later he drove up. He could hear my antifreeze draining and I told him the bad news. He said I could take his Mustang. I really wanted to go to work to be a trooper, as I also knew we would get off early. An easy night with full pay........or no pay and the guys thinking I was gold bricking. I took Luke's Mustang. It is a tight car with a 5 speed. Fun around town, but not in rush hour. As I would be coming home Christmas Eve morning, there would be no rush hour. Hardly any traffic at all. I was planning on being at work an hour early with a lot of the crew to finish early, but the truck breaking down changed that plan. I was assigned the vertical fin for the night. Easy job. About an hour opening panels, a little grease on the rudder hinge fittings, let the inspection poke around and close it up. She was a good plane and we finished around 1 A.M. and I was on my way home at 1:15. I brought my head light home so I could remove the radiator when I got home to take it to the repair shop when I took Luke to work. It was 20 degrees outside. I thought about driving it to the barn, but the barn still doesn't have sides, so with a clear sky, I had it all apart, a bath and I was in bed by 5. I couldn't sleep, so I read some more of the book, For A Few Demons More by Kim Harrison. If you like to read about Witches, Vampires, Werewolves, Elves, and Pixies, get her books. You won't be disappointed.

Christmas Eve day I found the radiator shop closed. I bought what I could from O'Reilly's Auto Supply. All they had was one radiator hose. I ordered one and priced a radiator. They want $200 less then the Dodge dealer. Any place I went, the radiator had to be ordered. So I went back home after finding all this out and let Luke off at work. I then turned my attention at taking the fan clutch's broken mounting nut off of the idler. I took the whole idler off to lock it in my bench vise to remove the broken nut. This is when I realized the bearing was worn and the idler had enough movement to get the fan a vibrating. I rushed back to the Dodge dealer planning on buying the whole idler assembly. It had to be ordered and was over $500 dollars. They did, however, have the bearing for $194. But the old bearing needs pressed out and the new bearing pressed it. I rushed to the machine shops. All were closed. So the total when all is fixed will be over $700. I would imagine me wanting the hydraulic thumb kit for the Big Red Beast's backhoe will have to wait. Santa didn't leave one either, so I guess I am on his naughty but nice list.

So I gave up on getting the truck running on Christmas Eve. I then picked up the fried turkey then went home to clean up and start cooking. I did manage to squeeze in a two hour nap. I only had the energy to bake a pumpkin pie and my favorite burnt sugar and butter candy, which is like peanut brittle. I gave up on trying a new buttermilk pie recipe, as I wanted to make the crust according to that recipe and I couldn't find my rolling pin. I had a nice time in the kitchen cooking Green Bean Casserole, Candied Yams, Yum Yum Salad, Dressing, and of course buttering up and warming the fried Turkey. I realized this morning I forgot to get gravy fixins'. Luke is a gravy man and I asked him if he could whip something up. He gave up, so we used yam juice for gravy! It really is good on turkey.

Luke, Rebecca, and I finished the day watching movies. I sit here typing this thinking what is around the corner tomorrow, next week, next year. But first things first, I need to get my truck running so I can go play on the Big Red Beast, before I go back to work next year. Check back later to see what is happening for the New Year. Be sure to see the new photos I uploaded.

Merry Christmas hugs, Brandi

P.S.

The day after Christmas, I bought a new radiator for the truck and had the new fan idler bearing pressed in. Total out of pocket cost.....$812. So no hydraulic thumb kit for a while. I got it all back together and running. But my windshield washer is not working. I would have troubleshot it, but I needed an extra hand to push the washer button while checking voltage with my mutlimeter. I now can collaspe on the couch and nap! BW

Christmas Weather

I find it hard to get into the Christmas Spirit without having cold weather. Warm, humid weather belongs in the summer. The weather has been excellent for Christmas shopping lately. Nice cool days, low humidity and almost cloudless skys. But the nice cool days did not stay around for Rebecca's Commencement ceremony from the University of Texas back on the 8th. It was warm and humid. Luke and I had a nice drive to Austin. We picked on each other the whole trip. He had his headset hooked up to his MP3. I tried to keep the volume of my truck's radio low, but when a good song would come on, I would turn it up. This caused Luke to give me a funny look and turn his volume up. I had a hotel room reserved months ago just in case Luke would come. If not, I would sleep on Rebecca's couch. Imagine my surprise, after we had checked into the room, when Luke stated he needed to get back to do his homework. I asked why he didn't bring it with him. He stated it is all on the computer. So it would seem he needs a laptop.

My friend Sara and Josephine met us there, but they were late. Thank God for cell phones as there was around 700 graduates and their families. Finding someone in that crowd without a cell phone would be impossible. The whole ceremony only lasted two hours. They moved those kids across that stage like cattle at an auction. Afterwards, I took photos of Rebecca in her gown. A couple of photos with the state capital in the background, but those didn't turn out good. Check out the photos I have uploaded here. Rebecca had dinner reservations for 9 o'clock. She made the reservations for 8, but we had 10 in our party. Oops. The only way we got to eat was splitting up into two groups. Which suited me fine as I could eat at a different table from my ex and with my friends and Luke. We stayed until the restaurant closed. Luke and I returned to the hotel, only to get our clothes and check out. Three hours later I was home soaking in my tub.

The next night I met my friend, Angel, at her church to see the Christmas musical her granddaughters were in. It was really nice, with church members of all ages in it. I had two vacation days (nights) left to use before January, so I took Monday and Tuesday nights off. Monday night I met Angel again, this time at Conroe High School for the winter concert of the string orchestra. Her son, Tony, plays cello and was a soloist. The orchestra only played 4 songs, so it was over in 30 minutes. I hurried home to get comfortable. I finished my Christmas cards and gift wrapping on Tuesday night. I also did some cleaning for Mom on Tuesday and talked Dad into buying a new toilet. While I vacuumed the floors, he drove into Conroe and made it back with the toilet in good time. But he forgot the wax "donut" seal. Friday morning, after work, I installed the toilet for Dad and also a new wood seat.

Dad's baby sister and her husband drove in Saturday evening. They live in Oregon, but flew to Texas and rented a car to go to their granddaughters college graduation in Longview. Then they came here. Mom and Dad and I had lunch with them on Sunday and supper with them on Monday. I worked Monday night, but saw them again for breakfast Tuesday morning. Then I went home to bed. They spent the day with Mom and Dad and flew out Tuesday evening. Guess I will have to go visit them next summer, as I have never been to see them. So this brings us to the week before Christmas when I have to work 7 days straight of 10 hour shifts with an hour drive to work and an hour home. This puts me in work, sleep, and eat only mode and gives me no time for playing on the Mahindra. Christmas is Tuesday, but I am looking forward to Wednesday when I can go dig in the dirt with my 6520. I will have 10 days to play on the Mahindra, so that makes the 7 straight work days worth it. Stop back by here in a few days to read about what I dug up, tore up, or moved with the Big Red Beast.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

hugs, Brandi

Holiday Vacation

I made it through Thanksgiving. Mom, Dad, and I had a quiet dinner. As usual, they left not long after eating. Luke came home a little later after spending the day with my ex's family. Rebecca came home the next day. All we did that evening was watch DVD movies. Rebecca did bring a surprise. She brought a Calico Tabby cat back from her MawMaw's lake house. Her cat's name is Sammy and she is a sweetie. Sammy stayed back in Rebecca's old room all weekend. She ventured out into the living room a time or two, but only when Milo (Luke's cat) was back in my room. They hissed at each other when close together. Sammy had mixed responses with my two ferrets. The first chaperoned encounter was okay. But the second encounter she started hissing and growling. Rebecca and Sammy left after dark on Sunday. A few minutes later Rebecca called to tell me she found an injured cat on the side of the road. The cat seemed to be fine to Rebecca, but was just lying there. I told her to bring the cat home. When I tried to stand the cat up, she just walked in a circle dragging a rear leg. I called to make sure the emergency vet clinic was open. I went back out to the deck and saw that the cat had it's tongue hanging out and was bleeding out it's nose. I talked gently and told Rebecca we could spent a lot of money on this stray, but I though it had internal bleeding. I offered to put the cat out of it's misery and bury it. Now it had been raining non stop that Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving, but the rain had stopped when Rebecca left for Austin. It was cold, but the rain was gone. I took care of the poor cat and got the Mahindra out while thinking how many times in my life I had dug a hole to bury a pet. This was the first time I didn't use a shovel. I normally have fun playing in the dirt with my backhoe, but this time I was sad while digging the hole as Rebecca watched from the deck. I had to keep shoeing Booger away, as he was sniffing all around the burial spot while I finished grading the grave. Normally I bury family pets under one of my two large cedar trees, but in the dark with the Big Red Beast and holding a flashlight in my mouth, I didn't want to get the Big Red Beast near my beloved cedar trees. I do need to buy some more lights and mount them on the ROPS or canopy for backhoe use. The one light on the 6520's fender brace just wasn't designed for a backhoe. So my two week vacation started with a new cat for Rebecca and a stray cat that ran out of lives.

Monday, I took Mom to have her leg get an ultrasound. At the last moment, Mom didn't want the ultrasound even if I held her hand. So we came home with me kind of miffed at Mom. It was a small room and she is claustrophobic. I tried to talk her into doing through with the procedure, but she insisted her legs were fine and wanted to go home. Tuesday, I went into Houston see my friend the dermatologist. The rest of the week involved putting up Christmas lights down both sides of the driveway, shopping for gifts, and trying to get 6 strings of icicle lights to work. A big time consumer was getting invited to www.nettractortalk.com. I have been on www.tractorbynet.com for a while. Anyway, the new forum took up more time then I had planned. Luke and I didn't go for a tree until Saturday evening. We were going to get one on Thursday, but I couldn't fine the Boy Scout tree lot as they had moved it. Friday evening was out as Luke had class. Luke and I got the tree up and I put lights on Saturday night. I just had just finished putting ornaments on when the ferrets found the water pan under the tree skirt. Then Milo found the cheap lower hanging ornaments. That is always fun watch the cat bat the balls.

Sunday morning found me up early and sitting on the deck steps with Booger. After 30 minutes of solitude, Booger and I went for a walk. I found myself across the gully thinking it would be nice to have a clear view from the house up this side of the gully. So I thought just a few minutes on the Mahindra and I could see up the hill side. So for the first time, I ran the 6520 on a Sunday morning. 4 hours later I parked the Big Red Beast back in the barn! I had been clearing brush for 4 hours and had a ball, never stopping for a break. This gave me a second breath to take on the stress holidays seem to bring. Don't get me wrong, it is my favorite time of the year. Now with two weeks vacation, I can decorate and shop at my leisure. Last Monday is a blur now. I continued decorating and made it to town for some more lights and decorations. Tuesday was a big day for me, as I was invited to MahindraUSA headquarters in Tomball, Texas. I live about an hour away from them. Brenda Bradshaw, whom I first met on TractorByNet, invited me down for lunch. Brenda is MahindraUSA's online Customer Relations Representative. It turned into a two and one half hour visit. I learned a few new things about MahindraUSA and the new 82 hp cab model, but most importantly, I forged some new friendships. I had a blast talking shop with their Production Support & Service Representative. He is Brenda's go-to person for technical problems. I would mention his name, but he is shy. I also met the President and the Head of Sales and Marketing. They are wonderful people and I hope to have more talks with them. Wednesday found me visiting with Mom and Dad and getting around to the Christmas decorating project I was thinking about since last year. I built a large cross and added new LED lights on it and mounted it on the roof of my barn. It was made real easy installing the cross with the loader bucket on my 6520 serving double duty as a work platform. I have uploaded pictures of it and a few other photos. Check them out when you get the time. Thursday I helped Mom with some house cleaning and I wrapped more Christmas gifts. This morning I had a surprise message from the Administrator of Net Tractor Talk. He wants to post a link on his forum to my blog. Wow! Talk about making someones day!

As I type this I am thinking I need to wrap it up, as tomorrow will be a long day. Luke and I are traveling to Austin to see Rebecca graduate from the University of Texas. Hook'em Horns! It seems just yesterday she graduated from high school. Where did those four years go? I didn't even get to see a UT football game with her. Oh well, there will always be grad school. How long with that take? I have no clue. Stop back later to read more.

hugs, Brandi

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is upon us. Mom and Dad will be coming over here for turkey day dinner. Luke and Rebecca will join my ex's family at my ex Mother-in-Law's lake house up in East Texas. We will be having fried Turkey. I confess, I won't be frying it, but Popeye's Fried Chicken will be doing the greasy deed. I have all the utensils and burner to fry my own, but with working nights and just having a half of day to get some sleep and also prepare a meal, the frying job is farmed out. To me, fried turkey's white meat is not as dry as oven baked turkeys. The dark meat seems to taste a little different also. Given my choice, I will take a fried turkey over oven baked turkey any day. Dad used to smoke our turkeys in an electric smoker when I was younger, so Mom did not get to bake any oven turkeys that I can remember. One thing that bugs me is my Mom never wrote down my Grandma's corn bread stuffing recipe. I get frustrated each year trying to duplicate it, but I have not got it right yet. One year I bought blue berry corn bread mix by mistake. Now that was a different taste!

The weather was nice enough and I was rested enough to dig up a large oak stump with the Mahindra before sundown. I had thought about working the stump when I got home from night shift, but realized being sleepy and running a tractor is not wise. This stump was right in the way of the culvert I put in this summer. Up til now, I have been driving around it. Anyway, this stump had three folds that tapered down to the ground and into large feeder roots. I ripped one out and repositioned the 6520 to attack the next one. This one was stronger and larger. I got the backhoe's bucket curled under it as I noticed the whole stump lifting up. Since this tree was cut down over three years ago, I figured the tap root was rotted away. So back to the task at hand, the backhoe couldn't move after I curled the bucket under the root. It lifted the stump up just enough to have too much weight on it to uncurled the bucket. So here I was with my backhoe bucket stuck under a large root. I was already running full rpm, so I had all the power I was going to get. The only thing I could think of was to raise the stabilizers and move the tractor, while jerking the stump. I put the Big Red Beast in low 1st and gave the stump a tug. I didn't move it much, but the backhoe started to straighten out from the position I left it. So I went back to the hoe and I got the bucket uncurled and away from that backhoe eating stump. When I attacked the last large feeder root, the whole stump moved again. This time I got the best of it and the whole stump came up and over when I retracted the backhoe's dipperstick. A little loader bucket work to fill in the hole and replace the top soil and I was ready for supper. As it was almost dark, I parked the Mahindra in the barn, meaning to wash it Saturday. But I slept late on Saturday and woke up to a lazy day. I didn't leave the TV all day.

I did get a call from Rebecca Saturday afternoon. She was sobbing and saying she was at the emergency animal hospital with Puddles. Puddles is the name of her new kitty. Two days ago she had the vet give him a shot. Now he was in bad shape. Rebecca was asking between sobs what should she do. Oh my, I thought. I explained that little animals getting shots can be too weak for the shot and not recover. She was telling me the animal hospital wanted $300-500 to work on the cat. She called back and said the hospital staff wanted to put Puddles to sleep. So Rebecca has no kitty and is not wanting one anytime soon.

Work has been good. The humidity is lower and it feels better. We worked Sunday night to have off Wednesday night. So we have a 5 day weekend. But I bid two weeks vacation after Thanksgiving, so I am off for 19 days. It is Thanksgiving day now and I am taking a short break while the turkey warms up. A blue norther' came through last night and dropped the temperature about 40 degrees. Now the sky is cloudless and the temperature is climbing past 40 degrees now. Today is beautiful, but the rest of the weekend is suppose to be wet and cold. Oh well, sounds like good mall shopping weather! Rebecca came through last night on her way to her Mawmaw's lake house. It was good to see her, as it has been almost 3 months since I saw her. Luke left this morning for the lake house, wearing his Cowboy hat and boots. He will be back tonight, as he works tomorrow. He works for a family themed country clothing store, so he gets his boots and hats at a big discount. I love shopping there also, but it seems my size cloths go fast. Anyway, have a Happy Thanksgiving and check back later to hear what is going on with Booger, the Big Red Beast and I.
hugs, Brandi

Back on Schedule

What a relief. Wednesday afternoon I was told I could go back to work. As my Union's Airline Representative stated............there were too many inconsistencies for the company to keep you from working. I went back to work last night and got a warm welcome back. It was an easy night, but I was exhausted when I got home. As it was the last night of the work week, I managed to sleep for 3 hours today and then got up to work outside. I have been wanting to get outside and do more. But I haven't wanted to burn more diesel in the 6520 when I wasn't sure when I would get back to work. But I did get on the Mahindra today and condensed the burn pile for the final burn. Between it being dry and dusty and the ash of the burnt wood, the Big Red Beast needed a bath at the end of the day. After getting myself rinsed off and the Mahindra washed off, I saw that my neighbor had fires on two sides of their fence. I wasn't sure if they were there, so I drove over and saw that Von had two fires of dead wood and leaves burning. He came up to the fence and mentioned he would finish the fence on our property line when I was done with the dirt work and tree removal of that fence line. I then told him I was done, unless he wanted more trees cleared off of his side. So I guess in a week or two that fence will go in.

Sunday is here and almost gone. Where did this weekend go? Yesterday two of my friends and I went to the Texas Renaissance Festival. We usually dress up in period gowns or pirate outfits, but it was too hot and humid. I was also running short on sleep as Luke kept me up too late watching movies. So it was jeans and moccasins for the day. I had a few hard ciders and started feeling better. I found the hammered pewter mug I have been looking for and bought it. So when we go back in two weeks, I can drink hard cider out of it, then hang it on my belt. Depending on the weather, I will either be a Spanish Contessa (yes, with blond hair) or a pirate. I also bought a pirate cutlass, as the sword I have is too long to fit the authentic pirate look. Today I ordered, online, a red female pirate blouse that should be here this week. I have over the knee black leather boots to go with all this, so I should make a nice looking pirate. I will wear my Spanish Court gown only if it is really cold, as it is made out of wool and a burlap (yes, like old feed sacks) material. It is really heavy, but comfortable. Most of my friends like to see the shows and acts while at the Festival. But the friend I am going with in two weeks likes to hang out at the Sea Devil Tavern with me. It is a rowdy, rough looking place and I have a lot of fun there drinking hard cider or mead and acting the part with everyone else.

Rebecca's fish died this last week. Bless her heart, she put it in the toilet bowl to have a short funeral service for it and she poured all the water from the fish bowl in with the fish. Yes, the extra water caused the toilet to flush before she could gather her thoughts. It is really hard to cheer someone up over the phone that just lost a pet. Now she wants to get a kitty. She had me hook. line, and sinker. I think a kitty would be nice for her, but she needed a $200 pet deposit. So I transferred the cash to her account, only to find out the next day she needs $100 more to get the kitty from the animal shelter and buy supplies. I asked what happened to the free kitty? Wow, how do kids know you have some cash saved and want to tap into it?
Mom and Dad came over today. They stayed longer than usual as they were watching Luke and I play Worms on his PlayStation. It is a silly video game where worm like soldiers hurl all kinds of weapons at each other. There is even a flying hippo. The hippo is fun to fly, but I usually get upside down and crash it before hitting Luke's worms. This always provokes him to say something funny about my skills of playing the game. Phoebe and Sneaky were out also and Phoebe kept coming over to sniff Dad's lap as I had laid a raisin on his leg for her to eat. Dad calls her a cat. Mom loves to watch them play, so I put some raisins on the arm of her chair for Sneaky to eat. This goes on and on as my fuzzies never get tired of raisins and it puts smiles on Mom and Dad's faces. Well, I had better get to bed now. Check out the new pics I uploaded and come back soon to read more.
hugs, Brandi

A Little Progress

Last week was really interesting. I found out my Fit for Duty report had a typographical error in my favor. Sounds like the making of a lawsuit doesn't it. My Union's Airline Rep received an amended report and sent a copy to SWA. I heard Friday afternoon it will be Tuesday before we get a reply. I got an offer from the corporate jet company 10 minutes from my house. Just two days after I dropped off a resume, the Director of Maintenance called to set up an interview. He gave me until last Friday to decide if I wanted a position as a Lead Mechanic. I decided to decline the offer and told him all about SWA when I talked to him on Friday. He told me Lead Mechanics don't grown on trees and to call him if my situation with SWA changes. So I have an "out" if SWA continues to treat me wrong. He was inquiring about how much money I spent driving to and from work. I told him I around $400 a month and made a comment about diesel fuel prices. He then said if I came to work there, I could become a dog. I asked.....DOG? He told me it stands for Diesel Owners Group. The company has unlimited fuel that is sumped out of the jets and can not be reused. The employees with diesel vehicles use it. So he takes what he needs and adds additives. He hasn't bought diesel in four years. Just another fringe benefit!

Yesterday afternoon I decided to burn the large pile of stumps I had accumulated. While the fire was getting going, I gave the 6520 her needed grease job. While greasing the hydraulic pump pulley, I noticed the fan belt was a little loose. I drug out my metric tools and in a few minutes had it adjusted. Booger came up and wanted some attention, so I tried to get him to pose for a few photos. Luke came out to snap a few pictures and then he was gone. Luke gives me a hand when I need him, but usually he is inside doing his gaming thing. He is going to be a computer game programmer, so I don't hassle him about not helping me more. The fire had burned down enough to work it a little, so I deployed the backhoe's thumb to carefully position and drop the stumps and logs in the flame. This is dirty stinky work, as the backhoe bucket and thumb still picks up ash and dirt, which envelopes me and the Mahindra with a change of wind. But I still have to pick up the small roots and unburnt wood by hand to feed the fire in between pushing the pile smaller with the loader bucket. I worked the burn pile until dusk. I did manage to get a few photos of the of the burn pile, Booger, and the Big Red Beast. Check out the photos I uploaded. Anyway, the fire was glowing well by dusk and gave off an eerie Halloween glow.



Right after the photo session at dusk, I gave the Big Red Beast her needed rinse off. After the rinse off I swapped out the 6520's valve stem caps. My Mahindra salesman and friend at Top Flight Equipment, gave them to me. They were pink, so guess he could not sale them. I painted them Mahindra Red. Just another way to accessorize the Big Red Beast.

Tuesday evening Dad called and told me he was taking Mom to the Emergency Room because she was dizzy. Bless her heart, I knew it was nothing. I told Dad to call from the ER. He forgot to do that. Around 11:00 I called to see if they were still there. They were. I drove down to find Mom getting a EKG and Dad just sitting and waiting. Mom was ready to leave and go to Jack in the Box! The doctor didn't find anything wrong. My Grandma would do the same thing. She could worry herself sick. I waited around to make sure Dad drove home okay. Imagine my surprise when he drove better at 1:30 in the morning then during the day!

Rebecca sent me 4 different Graduation photo poses and asked which I thought best. We went through this two weeks ago, but none turned out to her liking. She called the other night asking how to clean the windshield on her truck above the windshield wipers. She stated the car wash doesn't do that area well. I laughed and told her to find a drive through car wash that has a courtesy brush and bucket of soapy water and explained what all to scrub. She then commented she is too short. I then said to take the truck to a full service wash. I hung up upon hearing her favorite saying...........I'm gonna charge it. Stop back later to hear more about Me, Booger, and the Big Red Beast.

hugs, Brandi