All In A Day's Work

I've talked a little bit, here and there, about our business. We drill water wells and do service work related to water wells. My husband does all of the hard physical work. And, believe me, the work is so physical that every single time that I work with Jim I gain a new appreciation for the work that he does. Jim works alone almost all of the time. I don't know how he does it. He's exhausted most nights. He used to hire someone (with muscles) to help during the summer, but since the economy tanked the business really can't afford to anymore. It sure would be nice for Jim to have at least a part-time helper to take some of the load off. I just don't cut it in the muscles department, but occasionally he will ask me to help so that he has another set of hands. 

The bulk of what I do is desk work - billing, logging, bookwork - you get the picture, but I also have to, at the drop of a hat, run a part to Jim, or pick him up from a job site, or move the well drilling rig to a drilling site:

We generally try to move the rig in low traffic times. We usually only go about 5 miles below speed limit, but some drivers lack the patience to deal with a tad bit of a slow down. Jim likes me to stay a ways behind him to give drivers enough room to get in between us while they're passing us. They usually just pass us in one swoop pass anyhow. And quite often come from behind a couple more cars behind me.

Often when we get to where we're going, Jim has to back in. That always makes me nervous because of the traffic. Besides lacking patience, some drivers just aren't paying attention and they can seemingly come from nowhere. Thankfully, even though this is a paved road, it was not busy at this time.

This is simple backing up for Jim. I've seen this man maneuver that thing between trees, shrubs, and buildings with just enough room for the rig to get through. Don't know how he does it.

Sometimes he's drilling to replace an existing well so there's a house already there (this one was vacant at the time). Other times he's drilling on a vacant property for customers who will be building a house...that doesn't happen all that much in the last couple of years.

The rig weighs 22 tons so he will more than likely leave tire ruts, depending on the time of year and how wet and muddy the ground is. This is why, during the spring and autumn weather, we can virtually be at a standstill. When the ground is wet, the rig will sink and become hopelessly stuck. We just can't drill. People will tell us that their piece of land is dry since they can drive their car on it without getting stuck. There's a big difference between their car and this rig! It was somewhat dry on this day and he didn't have far to go off the driveway.

And now we set up the rig. Errr...by we I mean Jim. I do help...if I'm not wearing good clothes or taking pictures. :)

Lowering the mud tank.

See that block Jim is carrying? I can barely drag it to where it needs to be. He's a strong hunka man!

The blocks go under the outriggers. The outriggers level the whole rig so that Jim drills a straight hole.

Setting up the mud tank and I remember specifically that we were distracted by  a strange sounding bird and trying to figure out what it was.

Raising the derrick.

Levers and gauges to me mean mass confusion. I know which ones I need to know about. The others...not so much.

Jim knows what they all mean though.

The derrick holds the drill pipe. Each length of drill pipe is 20 feet long and that is what he uses (with a drill bit attached to the bottom) to drill the hole.

The derrick is about 35 feet high.

Attaching hoses. I would actually be doing this if I wasn't taking pictures.

Jim would probably have preferred me helping the process along a little faster, but I've never photographed the setting-up process before.

See how those outriggers work? The rig has to sit level meaning that sometimes the tires have to sit that far off the ground, which, quite frankly, has always made me nervous.

This is the very first vehicle that the business has had that we hired someone to paint our business name on the doors. We found a very good artist, who is one of the few who still hand paints trucks. She has a large shop to paint trucks in but it wasn't big enough for our rig, so she came to our place to do the painting. She insisted to Jim that my name should appear somewhere on the truck. My middle name is above the other headlight. I wasn't thrilled at first, but I like it now.

All set! I take Jim back home and he'll drive back out with his water truck and get to work.

Sometime this summer I will have to take pictures of the actual drilling process...except that I'm usually too muddy to take pictures. Even when I go to help with something simple and clean, for some reason I always end up with mud on me. Someday I'll learn...maybe.

I swear...

or don't I?

I rarely swear and there's a good reason for it.

Respect.

My parents did not approve. And I respected that. Even as a grown woman, I respected that. Even though they're both gone now, I still respect it. Now, that's not to say that I didn't go through a phase where I had quite a potty mouth. That was during "that time" in my life during my teens when I did a lot that I regret. To be honest, something seemingly as harmless as swearing is one of those regrets. I remember my dad finding a note that a friend and I had been passing back and forth (the trash was not off limits to my dad sometimes ☺). In it I said a "bad word". I did not get into trouble very often with my dad, but that was one time that he was very disappointed in me. He told me, plain and simple, ladies should not swear. That was not how I was being raised. That sounded pretty chauvinistic back in the '70's, but I never forgot it. I swore for a few more years after that, but not in front of my parents.

Fast forward to my life for the past 25 years. Jim certainly can't tell me what to do and doesn't try to, but I know that he doesn't like to hear me swear. I respect that. He rarely does hear me utter more than the d-word. Sometimes when I bang my finger or toe it's hard not to. I know that Jim has a different language when he's working. He does not use that language in front of me. Respect. I have never heard my husband say the F-word. Never.

If you swear, I don't judge you. Honest I don't. But remember - Respect.

The Sun Also Rises

A couple of months ago, our book club decided to read The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway. I was looking forward to it as I'd never gotten a chance and had always wanted to read Hemingway. I have to say that it was not my favorite read...
Maybe more of a man's read?

From Goodreads:
The Sun Also Rises was Ernest Hemingway's first big novel, and immediately established Hemingway as one of the great prose stylists, and one of the preeminent writers of his time. It is also the book that encapsulates the angst of the post-World War I generation, known as the Lost Generation. This poignantly beautiful story of a group of American and English expatriates in Paris on an excursion to Pamplona represents a dramatic step forward for Hemingway's evolving style. Featuring Left Bank Paris in the 1920s and brutally realistic descriptions of bullfighting in Spain, the story is about the flamboyant Lady Brett Ashley and the hapless Jake Barnes. In an age of moral bankrupcy, spiritual dissolution, unrealized love, and vanishing illustions, this is the Lost Generation.

I'm not in the minority here as my daughter and sister-in-law had the same opinion. I'm not writing off Hemingway completely. I own The Nick Adams Stories which I do plan to read (hopefully this summer).

So...who is up for Hemingway? I bought my copy new and it has only been read by my daughter and I.

If you'd like a chance to win this very book:

Be a public follower of my blog and leave a comment telling me what your favorite summer activity is. You have till June 13. I will announce the winner on June 14th!

Remember -- you must be a public follower of my blog to enter! Good luck!

Simple Sunday

One of last summer's sunflowers. Every time they started sprouting up the rabbits would eat them! Only ended up with two.

It's been a busy last few days. When I get one day behind reading blog posts, then it's so hard to catch up! I may have to jump in where I'm at. I just hate to miss some really good posts, especially when you all take the time to read and comment on mine! ♥ I'll just have to devote a block of time to some really good blog reading...and commenting. ☺

Happy Birthday, Ma!

Today is my mother-in-law's birthday. Her name is Susan, but most everyone calls her Ma. When Jim and I were married, there was never that awkward wondering, "Should I call her Mom or Susan?" She was Ma. There was never questioning whether Jamie should call her Grandma or not. She was Ma to the other grandkids and so was Ma to Jamie and later to Jon.

I love Ma. I've always felt that I never measured up to what she wanted in a wife for her son, but maybe nobody else ever would have either. Part of me doesn't blame her - Jim is a pretty great guy! Family means everything to Ma. She has done a wonderful job raising two daughters and two sons who at the very least have been married 25 years (Jim and I). Of her four children, we live the furthest away (about two miles). The rest live on the same road as she does. We live in the house she and my father-in-law built over 50 years ago. At this time, all of her grandchildren except for two (out of eight) live within a 15 minute drive to her house. Her seven grandsons are Eagle Scouts. Her one granddaughter is a Gold Award Girl Scout. She has six great grandchildren that are pretty great! She is blessed.

She's a homebody, but keeps busy baking cookies for...everyone in the family. At 82, she still mows her lawn (with a riding mower) and she does most of her yard work. She doesn't sit still long, never has. I swear the health department could come in at any time of the day or night and do a home inspection and there would be not a single germ in any part of her house!

I admire her for many reasons. One thing really stands out though. Jim and I bought our house from my in-laws almost 20 years ago. They had lived here for over 30 years. The business that my in-laws built is also here. She walked away from the house (to a beautiful brand new one) and the business work. That must have been one of the most difficult things for her to do. She spent a few hours showing me exactly what she did for the business and handed it all over to me, except for the billing which she did for another few years. She has never once questioned any changes that I made to "her system". What's more - she never once complained about the changes that we made to the house that had been hers for so many years. She always complimented  any change, especially any woodwork that Jim made and installed (he's a very talented woodworker). I don't know if it ever bothered her, but she never once said a word.

Ma, I know you won't read this - but Happy Birthday and I love you!

Who wants to go next?

My husband finally got to take his turn at the colonoscopy game on Wednesday.

His mother has been after him to get one as her father and a sister both died of colon cancer.

And he won. Two thumbs up from the doctor who told him that he doesn't need to see him for five years.

I didn't have to end up having the police come take him to get it done! :-)

And I was very relieved.

There are too many precious memories to make.

Family time at our son's house

My young man of a son (22 years old) lives not far from us. He has always enjoyed family gatherings, so it was just a given that he would establish a tradition of his own once he bought his own home. He had his second annual Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend Cookout this past weekend. The food was delicious, the storms held off, and everyone was able to relax and have a good time. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...