Sunday, November 23, 2008

Tom has been tagged too !!!!!!!!

1. I like using !!!!!!!!! points! (I think it is because of the yelling in my head!!!)

2. People are afraid of me. (Do you think its the hat? People really hate this hat!)

3. I love teaching. Church, work, family. I love sharing my knowledge.

4. I love history. Some World, mainly American, Arizona, and Az/Mormon.

5. I am always the S.O.B. I don't mind being one, that's part of my job description, and if I deserve it but more often that not I am accused of being one when I stand for whats right or put someone in there place. If you don't believe me ask my kids.

6. I am picky about my food and can be very critical about how it is done. But I think I am more critical about my cooking than others.

7. I love to feed people and cook for people.

8. I have never met a AZ dirt road I did not want to drive down. I guess that is why I love maps and off roading.

ginnys been tagged

1. they say it is weird cuz i cowboy

2. i strongly desire to be at church 30 to 15 minutes early

3. i love to talk about gross stuff during meals

4. i have no desire to say i love you. but i love to love.

5. i cry during movies if it is a scene about child birth.

6. new born babies make me cry the first time i hold them.

7. i love to go bear foot. anytime, anywhere.

8. i enjoy being all by myself

CHANGE!!!!!

"Change". That word has really been popular lately as most of you know if you followed the elections. Well, I am not really happy with the election out come but I felt we need to give the guy a chance. My wife is so POed about the results that I can hardly discuss it with her. Lately I have been trying to be more open minded and trying to look at things through the other persons eyes so I thought change might be a good thing!
So one morning when I was getting ready for work I had put on my britches and was slipping my belt through the loops when I thought "why do I have to put the belt through the first loop on the left? " So i did it! I made a change! I put my belt through the right loop first! I was so proud of my self! I had made the first move to get out of my rut! I had made a change! As I made my way over to the shop I could tell, I had a strut in my step. I was on a higher plane! I was going to have a great Day! Things were going great! My mind was sharp, my decision process was quick and precise. My 44 0z Pepsi seemed to really hit the spot that morning! I was invincible! Then it happened. When you get older, and you got to go, YOU GOT TO GO! No problem! I was invincible! After all I had made a "change"! As I stood over the toilet and went to unbuckle my belt I could feel my face turn flush with a cold sweat! My mind went blank! I had to think about how to get my buckle undone! I don't have time! I need to GO! After convincing myself to calm down I was able to get the job done with out making a mess. But that made me think, "Why did I make the change?" Was I just making the change to make the change? Was I trying to improve the process with the change? I really Learned something!
Dear: Obama, Think of the consequences before you make the change!!!

Friday, November 14, 2008

Well Hell !!!!

Most of us have a sentence we either love or hate. Ginny had one when we were raising the kids. It was "Mom I'm DONE!!!" That meant it was time to wipe someones butt on the toilet. I don't think it was one of Ginny's favorites at that time but as always "time heals all wounds" so we tease the kids about it now. I think Blaine was the loudest.



I have a sentence that just sends shivers up my spine every time I hear it. "The water's out!!!" Those of you that live on a well knows exactly what I am talking about. The thing that baffles my mind is why it always goes out at night when no one uses the water! And it seems like it's always on Saturday nights, so Sunday morning "the water is out" is what I wake up to.


Well (no pun intended), enough intro, let's get to the story. A few weeks ago we started having problems. First thing one morning, "the water's out" was the cry and so out of bed I went. I slipped on pants from the day before, put on my slippers, a shirt and a hat. Why the hat, you ask? Well, I know I don't have much hair now, but for some reason when I wake up in the morning the hair I do have forms a sharp mohawk-like ridge right down the middle of my head!



So i jump on the quad or in the truck and over to the well I go. I found the well pump starter switch had tripped, so I reset it and headed to the house. Little did i know this was just the beginning. That dang switch just kept popping more and more so I called out the electrician to check it out, but by the time we figured it out and the starter switch replaced it had cost us $500.



About a week went by and life was bliss! Then that %&#*@ sentence woke me up again! So on with the hat and off I went. This time the well pump was running but not putting water in the tank. The pump is 600 feet in the ground. The pipe that runs the water from the pump to the tank was leaking so badly that the water just fell back in to the well. That meant pulling out the well pipes!



I had them replace the pump since it was ten years old and use Schedule 80 PVC pipe so it would not rust out. That cost $5,500.00. We didn't have water for three days.



Now remember, our house isn't the only thing that relies on this well. There is also our business, another house and seven other businesses. (When we first moved out here the houses were seven and businesses were two.) So I had people upset! Lucky for us, we have a 300 gallon water trailer with a gas pump that we can hook up to the house and shop, but we have to go and get the water twice a day. One of our customers on Warner road was kind enough to "lend" us the water.



So we got the piping done and again life was bliss...... or so I thought. "The water is out" I heard a few days later! CRAP! So on with the hat! This time the starter switch for the booster pump had popped! I reset the switch and wondered what that would lead to. I found out soon. A few days later the booster pump burned up. Thinking, "No problem. All I have to do is turn a few valves and run the system off of the well pump"! When I went to do that we discovered one of the valves was in the wrong spot. It must have been put there during a previous repair so Jesse, Blaine and I had to tear all the plumbing apart and re plump it so we could run off the well pump.

While we did the plumbing, Blaine went to Chandler to get a new pump and motor.($1000.00) We could not pick it up until later in the afternoon. when we did get it Jeff Long installed it and everything was good to go until the next morning......"The water is out!!" On with the hat, into the truck, over to the well , low and behold the booster pump motor was out again!!! Switched back to the well pump and Jeff pulled the pump and took it over to Chandler. They blamed it on us but after having Bill Tilton (electrician) look at it we strongly disagreed But that is another story.

We bought and ordered another motor for the new pump ($500.00) One morning before the motor came in I woke up at 2 am because I had a feeling. I laid there until 4 am when I got up to go to the bathroom. As I walked by the sink I turned it on and yes "The water is out!" That was the first time I was able to say that but i new this was really bad since we were running off the well pump that we had just spent $5500.00 on. I was sick! On with the hat and dragging Blaine out of bed (I thought it would ease the pain if I shared it) we went and hooked up the water trailer and filled it. I called the well people and picked up the booster pump with a new motor. Jeff Long installed the booster pump and the well people pulled the well pump. They found a shorted wire and would take care of it under warranty. I think this is the only thing that went right. After a couple of days they got it put back in and at 8:30 am we started the well and all was well!!!! Have you heard that before? You will hear it again!

That same day at 2:30 pm someone dug up a power line and shorted it out so our power went off! At 3:00 it came back on. At 3:30 Billy came in the office and said "The water is out!" After investigating i found that the power was off along Warner road from Power Rd to Recker Rd. I saw a SRP guy and asked when the power would be back on. He Said "in the morning" So back to the house, grab Blaine and the water trailer to get water but realized our customer neighbor might be out of power so there well would not be working. Yep! no water! We had about a foot of water in the tank. Enough for toilets only! So back to the house.

The next morning, putting on my hat, Blaine and I went out in the dark and found a fire hydrant to fill up the tank so we would have water for the day. Ya Hoo the power came on at about 10:00 am and believe it or not the well is still working good! Knock on wood!!!!!!!!



Moral of the story? When someone yells "I'm done!!!!" make sure you have baby wipes because someone might have all ready yelled "The water is out!!"

"YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING" TOM
this is photo #4. not much of one. we had this part shipped to us and it was junk so i took photos to email them to get our money back.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Happy Birthday Ginny!!!!!!!!

Ginny's Birthday was last Friday so i want to take this time to say how much I love her. In fact this is why i am starting this blog. My kids have been bugging us to start something so here it is. I hope I do this right. It dose not matter if this turns out the lord will know what i have tried to do. Ginny has always stood with me in all my ideas weather they worked or not. She has never demeaned or discouraged me. Yes she has told me what she felt but never has tried to convince me to do or pushed her ideas on me. Even when things have not worked out she has never said "I told you so". Ginny has had to suffer because of the decisions I have made but never has she said a peep. As I thank the lord for my wife tears come to my eyes because of the love I have for her and that she has for me. As most of you know Ginny does not say "I love you" or show it but I know for a fact that she loves me! I love you Ginny, my Wife, Mom and Grammies. I am trying to be a better husband.