Another week that we got rained out of work. It really is getting kind of old. I know they need the moisture around here but they have had over 10" of rain since the first of the year and we really need at least one week of work! We did get to work Monday thru Wednesday this week. The job site got over an inch of rain on Thursday and since it wasn't even completely dry from the week before they called off work for the rest of the week. We are hoping that we can go to work tomorrow.
The week before when we were rained out, Chris' dispatcher put him on a local run hauling some general freight to a construction sight. When he was getting loaded they told him that they also had some long beams to move but our company told them that we didn't have the expandable trailers to haul them with. Chris called the dispatcher and told him that we should be able to use the blade trailers to haul the beams. The dispatcher did some checking and found out that we could. (Still waiting to find out what kind of a finders fee Chris gets for getting that work.) Because of Chris' brilliant idea we, along with 3 other drivers, got to take beams for them Saturday.
Wednesday night while we were in Grand Prairie the truck started shaking. I thought that we were in for a bad storm. I checked to radar on my phone and there was nothing in the area. The shaking didn't last long so I just blew it off. When we were watching the news later I heard about the explosion down in West. They said that it was felt in south Dallas. I think that was what we felt and we were 85 miles away!
Thursday night Chris and I were enjoying a nice quiet evening in the drivers break room watching TV. We were sitting there trying to get caught up on the news and another driver came in and had to give us his view of everything that came on. It was getting so frustrating. I don't even know who he was. I just call him Mr. Rude. Then Mr. Rude II came in talking on his cell phone the entire time he was in there. Chris sent me a text telling me he wanted to leave. We ended up going to redbox and renting a movie. Chris popped us some popcorn and we snuggled up and watched Red Dawn together. It was better than watching TV in the break room anyway.
The only other big news is that today is our one year anniversary. We didn't do anything big to celebrate just spent a nice quiet day together. We had wanted to go to a dude ranch not far from here but since Chris had to work Saturday and the weather was still a little cool we didn't get to. It has been a wonderful year and I am looking forward to many more to come.
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
The Pipe Project
Since the first of the year we have been on a pipe project hauling pipe in the Dallas area. Technically from Grand Prairie to around Howe, Tx. It is about 70 miles each way and we shoot for doing 3 loads every day but mostly we only get two. Chris originally volunteered for the project because
1. We wouldn't be traveling into the north where it is still cold and snowing.
2. It is steady work and the first of the year business is usually slow for us.
3. We would get weekends off.
All of that is great for Chris. For me it is incredibly boring. Thank goodness for my kindle. I have no idea how many books I have read since January. I am very grateful for my amazon gift cards that I received for Christmas and have bought a few other books on my own but decided to download the free books after spending too much money on them. Amazon has a lot of the classics and thought I would try reading them even though in high school I had to read some of them and didn't like them then. I have read all of Jane Austen, I think, and once I get into the old english have really enjoyed them. Still didn't like The Scarlet Letter and am now attempting War and Peace. I will be glad when blade projects kick off again and I can go back to work. Although I am extremely grateful that Chris provides for us and that I can stay on the truck with him and not have to go get another job.
The thing about this pipe project is that if it rains we are off work for at least 2 or 3 days after because where we deliver to gets too muddy to drive down. I keep hearing that we are in a drought here but there has only been one week since we have been on this job that it hasn't rained at least one day during the week.
Chris' pipe
On the weekends Chris has been working on getting his pilot license. Which has been a dream of his for a long time and I am glad he is getting the chance to do it. It sounds like we are going to be hauling pipe until June so hopefully he will get his license before we get through with this project.
1. We wouldn't be traveling into the north where it is still cold and snowing.
2. It is steady work and the first of the year business is usually slow for us.
3. We would get weekends off.
All of that is great for Chris. For me it is incredibly boring. Thank goodness for my kindle. I have no idea how many books I have read since January. I am very grateful for my amazon gift cards that I received for Christmas and have bought a few other books on my own but decided to download the free books after spending too much money on them. Amazon has a lot of the classics and thought I would try reading them even though in high school I had to read some of them and didn't like them then. I have read all of Jane Austen, I think, and once I get into the old english have really enjoyed them. Still didn't like The Scarlet Letter and am now attempting War and Peace. I will be glad when blade projects kick off again and I can go back to work. Although I am extremely grateful that Chris provides for us and that I can stay on the truck with him and not have to go get another job.
The thing about this pipe project is that if it rains we are off work for at least 2 or 3 days after because where we deliver to gets too muddy to drive down. I keep hearing that we are in a drought here but there has only been one week since we have been on this job that it hasn't rained at least one day during the week.
On the weekends Chris has been working on getting his pilot license. Which has been a dream of his for a long time and I am glad he is getting the chance to do it. It sounds like we are going to be hauling pipe until June so hopefully he will get his license before we get through with this project.
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Gainesville Parade
We had a surprise when we were watching the news on Friday night. There was a news item about Gainesville, Texas being the most patriotic city in the United States. They were having a banquet that night to give out medals of honor. Saturday morning we went to our usual breakfast place and found out that they were having a parade that morning. Ok, honestly I am not into parades at all. Dalhart has an annual one that I used to love but people just don't put effort into the floats anymore so it doesn't impress me anymore, sorry. It just seems to me like anymore the parades I go to are just a bunch of people riding down the street and throwing candy out.
We didn't have anything going on so we thought we would go check out the parade. Number one surprise, no one was throwing out candy. Yet the kids around us still seemed to like the parade. It did have the usual bunch of antique cars and alot of motorcycles, but also alot of military vehicles. However, I think mine and Chris' favorite part was that it also had planes flying over. I took over 200 pictures but here are a few of my favorites.
And this one just because Chris asked me to take it.
We didn't have anything going on so we thought we would go check out the parade. Number one surprise, no one was throwing out candy. Yet the kids around us still seemed to like the parade. It did have the usual bunch of antique cars and alot of motorcycles, but also alot of military vehicles. However, I think mine and Chris' favorite part was that it also had planes flying over. I took over 200 pictures but here are a few of my favorites.
And this one just because Chris asked me to take it.
Friday, April 12, 2013
Catching up! The Mojave Project
Ok, I am a lousy blogger! I wish I could stay on top of it like my niece Jessica does. I think she posts a couple time a week.
Since my last blog we spent a couple of months in San Diego, which is why I didn't blog. We never had time. When the project started we were working 4 days a week and having 3 day weekends. We took total advantage of that and it basically became a working vacation. In all there were about 13 of us that went down there. The rest of the escorts were local people that didn't hang out with us. We went to the San Diego Zoo, of course. Can't go to San Diego with out doing that! However, I have to say I was kind of disappointed with it. I think I prefer Oklahoma City Zoo over it, except for getting to see the pandas.
We were delivering the blades to Mojave. We saw this very unusual plant that I wasn't sure if it was a cactus or a tree. Sure don't have them around southwest Kansas or the Texas panhandle. Found out it is a Joshua tree and they actually have a whole forest of them.
We befriended a coyote on the job site. You could tell he was getting used to us being there. Chris and the other drivers kept feeding it. (I wonder if he misses us.)
Since my last blog we spent a couple of months in San Diego, which is why I didn't blog. We never had time. When the project started we were working 4 days a week and having 3 day weekends. We took total advantage of that and it basically became a working vacation. In all there were about 13 of us that went down there. The rest of the escorts were local people that didn't hang out with us. We went to the San Diego Zoo, of course. Can't go to San Diego with out doing that! However, I have to say I was kind of disappointed with it. I think I prefer Oklahoma City Zoo over it, except for getting to see the pandas.
We were delivering the blades to Mojave. We saw this very unusual plant that I wasn't sure if it was a cactus or a tree. Sure don't have them around southwest Kansas or the Texas panhandle. Found out it is a Joshua tree and they actually have a whole forest of them.
We befriended a coyote on the job site. You could tell he was getting used to us being there. Chris and the other drivers kept feeding it. (I wonder if he misses us.)
6 out of the 9 trucks on the project
The highlight of the trip was getting to go to Sea World. I had been to the one in San Antonio a couple of times and was pretty sure Chris would enjoy it. To start off we went to see Shamu and of course I wanted Chris to get the full effect of the show so we sat in the splash zone. Now, I have sat in the splash zone before but never as close as we got this time. We were in the third row right beside the landing that shamu gets up on. So technically I wouldn't call it a splash zone, more of a SOAK zone! We were thoroughly soaked! It was a good thing that it was a warm day and we dried out fairly quickly. Chris did love it. Everyone else from our group were chickens and sat up much higher. Chris wanted to swim with the dolphins and even though it was a little pricey I decided to spring for it and we both got to do it. We both loved it! I was a little nervous at first, not knowing exactly what to expect but it was definitely worth the money! Ok, maybe not the part where the instructor didn't tell the men to be careful about their positioning and Chris got racked by the dolphin!
I really hated to see that project come to an end! I was a real shock when we headed back to Texas in mid November to find out that it wasn't summer any more. The weather was so beautiful while we were there.
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