Winding down... and Making Ready for the Road

Coming up on a month here now, and the job is winding down. Rain almost every night slowing things down.

We're down to two Pilers operating now from the five that started out. Dan and I keep working the Bobcats to deal with the mud so everybody else can continue to function. The rain though it's been coming almost every night for the past few, has slacked off light enough so though it keeps things impeded, we're catching up.

Rumor is we'll shut another Piler down in the next day or so... There seems to be a bit of hopeful rumoring on the part of the crew that is contended with by drivers that say they've got another whole week of hauling. ;)

I think for most, the long days are tallyin' up and their endurance is running low, at least mentally. It's a tough go if you've never really experienced this sort of routine before... and can be enlightening if you go in with the right attitude.

Most have never worked this sort of a job where you're in a constant sea of mud, noise, wind, rain, dust and fatigue. The folks are PGA Golfers, retired cops, contractors, chefs... you name it. They've come from lives that run across the board.

But me... I'm the only pussgut, ditch digging, blizzard bashing, cow chasing, leather carving, ignorant mountain cowboy in the bunch! so... this isn't much of a change for me. :)

I'm getting tired... but then... I've gotten re-tired nearly every day of my life. 

It's looking pretty strong that Monday or Tuesday I'll be turning my windshield south for the annual migration to our Arizona Desert Retreats...

Got our first payday deposited into the account the other day... and of course a call that day from the accountant... announcing the Feds... were requiring nearly HALF of that check to pay the extortion for 2012... yup... I'd just as soon have kept those worthless mudsuckers shut down... I'm betting I can do for myself... a whole lot cheaper, what they CLAIM to do... and SELDOM perform on.

Those that believe those D.C. parasites are doing ANY of us any good, I believe, are living in a wonderland of denial. Buuuut then, that is your right to believe how you choose.

The past several days, we've been dealing with a "new" burp in the truck... this time starting. The batteries have been going waaaay low... rode a couple circuits with Dale and Jo in their jeep when the Dodge couldn't get going... not sure totally where the "issue" lays.

It's an intermittent "Voltage" issue... and of course... the batteries are from costco... with the nearest one being Billings I believe... well... a careful use of a small borrowed battery charger got 'em fully juiced... and the alternator is cranking out the voltage... but it don't seem to last overnight... bad batteries? Which are less than 25% into their 100 month lifetime... or something else that made the batteries go bad?

No time here really to fiddle and diagnose the thing... and of course, it's in my mind that, we make some dollars and Physics says the costs have to swell up to consume those... right? :)

So... When we had a late start yesterday... I took the borrowed battery charger off and ran the truck to a local hardware store and secured a small charger to add to our load... On our roll south, I'll be able to fire up the generator to run the charger to get the truck going needs be... or the compressor to air up that iffy tire ;)

Making it to Denver, we'll be back into the country of America's Tire, Costcos and time to diagnose things I don't "Get" well... and where I can get the warranties with the companies that have done me good in the past! From there on south, with fresh rubber and the "Batteries?" warrantied... we'll be able to make a relaxed run to the races in Phoenix...

It all Depends on the Weather
Brian