Just Riding Around

When people call me as I travel from call to call they usually start the conversation by saying "Hi, what're you doin?". My reply is almost always "Riding Around." I figure a lot of people think that my job consist of just riding around the upstate. They don't take into account the time that I spend at a job site doing some incredibly frustrating or insanely boring task. All in all, though, I really enjoy what I do and consider myself one of the luckiest people in the world. I get to meet all sorts and impress them with my technical skills. Little do they know that with a little training and a lot of patience almost anyone could do this stuff. Fortunately for me most people don't have the intelligence to get the training and almost no one nowadays has any patience.
When I first began this career I was really worried that I couldn't do it. I have since come to realize that even people who have done this for years and years run up against things that they don't understand and by sheer persistence are abel to overcome. I found this photo of my youngest son (see The Wedding) and thought you might like it.

Coast Guard

I almost joined the Coast Guard once. I was in my Freshman year at college and was making poor grades when I began to think of alternatives to getting a job. the VietNam thing was still being decided so I reasoned that Coast Guard would be the only safe bet. The recruiter assured me that the only CG ships in Viet Nam were coastal patrols. I found out later that the "coast" went all the way up both sides of the MeKong river. When I went to take my physical the sergeant came into the room and invited us to follow him. On the other side of the room were the draftees as was made apparent when the sergeant began to scream at them and browbeat them. The thought ran through my head that once I signed the papers there would be no difference between them and me. I told the recruiter that I wanted to think it over, it took me all of 15 seconds. I sometimes wonder what my life would have been like had I signed those papers.
Two of my freinds had #1 draft numbers. One kept up his grades in college and the other joined the Navy and went to Nuke school. I remember staying up and watching the Draft Lottery on TV. The phone started ringing as soon as numbers began to be called. All my freinds were calling to compare their numbers. I was one of the lucky ones with a high draft number. This meant that I could literally thumb my nose at the draft. There would have to be a full fledged war before they would ever call me. I could continue being a hippie and keep my long hair. Our all volunteer armed forces are better by far than the way it was then. When someone joins now it's because they want to serve not because someone is holding a gun to their heads. I hope it can continue this way.
I passed this old junk store yesterday. I'll have to stop and look around sometime.

Grandparents

My Fathers' family were farmers in the area just west of the Mississippi. I have a photo of his dad and mom on their wedding day in 1917. Grandfather was a rough individual, you could see hard work and hard living in his young face. Grandmother was a doll. She wears a huge hat, probably bought or borrowed for the occasion. Her face is angelic, she would live into her 80s' or 90s', no one seems to know her age exactly. He would only live a few short years. The story I'm told is that he died from a medical condition that today would be easily handled in any emergency room. The doctor they took him to refused to see him because the family couldn't afford his fee. Rough times. Grandmother sat on her front porch in the early 60's with my brother. As they talked a car drove up to the small church across the road. Grandmother told my brother "They won't be there long.". Soon the cars' occupants came running out of the church and left in a hurry. My brother said "What got into them?" Grandmother replied " It wasn't the Holy Spirit, the folks over there musta got out the snakes." She knew the people in the car weren't regulars and figured when the snake worshippers got the snakes out they would beat a hasty retreat.
Her house was the crookedest I have ever been in. Each floor tilted a different way and doors were hung slightly crooked to fit the cockeyed frames. There was always a pot of hot coffee and breakfast could be found just about anytime. My aunt was an Elvis fan and Elvis pictures and memorabilia abounded. I believe it was the only place I've ever been where Velvet Elvis pictures were considered a normal decorative item.

Old Times

I was thinking about some of the events of my childhood. I remember going to my Grandparents home in Bowman, Ga.. The house was a weathered old building, immaculate in form but in need of paint. Paint must have seemed a luxury to people who had just lived through a depression and a World War. Nails and TLC had to do instead. There was no indoor plumbing, an outdoor privy and a hand drawn well serving the purpose. There were chickens running in the yard and a cotton field surrounding the house and barn. The barn was a favorite of hide and go seekers, the loft being the best hiding spot. Never mind that the seeker always came directly there to look for you. Grandpa would butcher a chicken while we watched. When he chopped off the head we would always scream and then beg him to "Let it run, Grandpa, Let it run!". Sometimes he would release the headless chicken to scamper aimlessly while we screamed and ran from it. Usually he would take it into the barn and hang it by its' feet for the blood to drain. I can still picture the wires hanging from the ceiling where the chickens were hung. Today chickens are a multi billion dollar business in that area. The smell of chicken houses is carried on the wind for miles. One thing I hold in my memory closely is the well. I remember that the bucket was raised and lowered by a rope wound around a large wooden axle. This axle had at its' end a crank used to lift the full buckets of cold, sweet water. When Grandpa lowered the bucket he would let his hand lay against the wood to control its' descent. The wood was worn smooth where his hand would lay. Sometimes he would lift us children up and let us lay our hands there and "help" him. I can still remember vividly over 40 years later how that felt as the bucket descended into the well and my Grandpa held me with my hand against the wood. He would lean close and say "Be careful, honey, and don't let it burn your hand.". He called all the children "honey", boys and girls. It's funny what you remember. These trips were always made on Sunday after church. The Interstates were under construction ( some things never change) and it took a couple of hours to get there on two lane roads through numerous small towns. Today the trip can be made in a couple of hours on the Interstate if the traffic isn't too bad. We travelled in style in a 1959 Nash Rambler station wagon. A vehicle that, thankfully, Dad traded in for a 1960 Falcon. The Falcon served us well and was retired to O'Shields auto graveyard. There were alway Petunias growing at Grandpas'. It is a sweet smell I will forever associate with a happy childhood. I drove through that area recently and had a hard time spotting the old house, it having been renovated several times over the years. The cotton fields are gone and development has taken thier place. The privy and the well are gone and the barn. The house seems to have shrunk over the years but it still is large in my memory. Thanks for reading.

Tapestry

This is probably not an original idea, I may have even read about it somewhere. I believe our lives are like a tapestry or a painting. Each life we come in contact with contributes a thread or a pattern to it, depending on that persons involvement with us. Those we love and cherish provide the rich borders and colorful illustrations. Some leave discordant splashes of dark tones or maybe even tears in the fabric. Our loved ones mend these places with thier prayers and thier love for us. the events of our lives are seen there in pleasing blends of color or in harsh hues that are difficult to focus on dependent on how these events affected us. The knots that we exprience as we live our lives when seen in reality may be wonderful pictures that are quite pleasing to the eye. Only our Maker and Master knows what our lives look like right now, perhaps it will be revealed to us when we leave these "frail vessels". My wish for you is that you have a rich, colorful, tapestry with no dark places.

Things I saw whilst on the Highway.

I saw this heavy eqpt. being transported on I85 today. I was kinda upset because they didn't have any "Wide Load" banners on the truck. Oh well, some people can get away with anything. I doubt they made much on this shipment.
When I arrived at one of my calls today I found the Sheriff Deputy talking to someone in a car parked on our Fuel Fill Buckets. This couple had come in the store 2 hours before falling down, high stepping, stinking drunk. Then they returned to their car and passed out. The store manager was expecting a fuel shipment so she called the Sheriff to get them moved. There's no problem towing a car but you don't tow with two drunks passed out inside. The Deputy cut them some slack and called someone to come get them and move the car. He could have arrested them for public drunk and disorderly. If I ever get in any trouble I hope I get a nice guy like that. They probably called him names after they left. Typical day at the convenience store. Every day I see people come in the stores and treat the sales staff in rude, inconsiderate ways. I wish they could see their own sons and daughters being treated like that. It would put a different light on it for some but not all.
Here's a shot I caught in downtown Greenville a couple of days ago. I should have remembered that old adage "Red sky at morning, sailors take warning." We had two days of Rain, thunder, and lightning after I got this shot.
Be sure to check out my links, there's some funny and some interesting stuff there.Thanks for reading and tell your friends or someone you don't like.

Well, yesterday was a long one, 13 hours, 6 calls. Today started out with thunder, lightning and rain. Promises to be another long day. I LOVE IT! I like doing what I do.
Thought you might like seeing what it was like in the Spring around here. When your allergies kick in you sneeze, shoot, sneeze, shoot. If you sneeze and shoot at the same time you get a blurry picture.
I gotta go, duty calls. Thanks for looking.

Stormy Day

We've had some really bad storms in the past 24 hrs. The lightning has really been rough on our electronics. Three 12 hr days in a row. I was traveling between stores today and took this shot on hwy 11 in northern Greenville county. The storm had just passed maybe 2 hrs before. This is on the southern edge of the Great Smoky Mountains. You can easily see in the picture why they are called the Smokies. We have a great bunch of guys on our maintenance crew. You seldom hear anyone griping, usually it's more like "what can I do to help?" Very unusual these days. I think it's cause we all really enjoy what we do.
I was thinking about where my dad came from today. He was born and raised in Prairie county, Arkansas, a very different environment than this around here. You can count telephone poles there all the way to the horizon. They grow rice there and I can remember as a child being taken to the levie and hearing ducks eat rice. When it's quiet you can hear the snapping of thousands of duck beaks eating rice. This was in a protected game preserve and I wonder if it's still like that out there? Dad saw no future there and left to join the CCCs' (Civilian Conservation Corps) as soon as he could. Then, when war broke out he joined the army and ended up in upstate South Carolina. From there to Alaska to push the Japs out of Attu and Kiska. When it came time to fight the Japs had already left. Dad liked the upstate and returned here to live after the war. He told me once that the closest he ever came to shooting at the enemy was when he took aim at an incoming plane that had failed to identify itself. At the last minute the spotter recognized the friendly and stopped him from firing. Good for the friendly, dad was a crack shot.

Iraqi Bloggers Central

Iraqi Bloggers Central is a good place to find out what is happening in Iraq. You might even get a different perspective than the Media would lead you to.

Willie Nelson and Dennis Weaver

Thought you might like to see this picture of Willie Nelson at one of our stores promoting Bio-Diesel fuel. Willies' photo was on all the pumps that had this blend of soybean oil and diesel. His pitch was that this was good for the American farmer. In the lower left corner you can see Dennis Weaver. He was an American actor, one of his best known parts was Chester on the GunSmoke series. He was passionate about conservation and environmental issues. he died recently, the thing I remember about this day was the love and concern his wife showed for Mr. Weaver during the autograph session. Willie was a very down to earth person and offered to speak to my wife on the cell phone but she was too bashful to speak to him.

Random Thoughts

I got to thinking about this area and the way it used to be. Less than a hundred years ago this area was largely treeless. The trees had all been clear cut to make room for agriculture. the main cash crop, of course, was cotton. Many acres would belong to one family, what they could not farm themselves they would share crop. Another family would live on the land and farm it, sharing the proceeds with the owners. The history books make the owners look like some kind of evil landlords but in reality they were almost as dirt poor as the sharecroppers. This was sustenance living and I wouldn't want to go back to it. The land looked very different then and erosion was a real problem. The farmers didn't have the luxury of expensive fertilizers and couldn't afford to let the land lie fallow. You could see for miles and all you saw was farm land punctuated by deep gullies caused by unregulated runoff. When Kudzu was introduced to control erosion it was considered a blessing. Now it's largely regarded as a foreign pest. We don't have the severe winters needed to control its' growth. We also don't have the farm animals to eat it and limit its' spread. Back then the farmers would usually let trees grow along the edges of their fields, they would call these "wind breaks". When a tree got to a certain size, however, it was usually cut for firewood. Thus, no large trees ,except perhaps, in the cities. The large two story houses the landowners would build were usually not plumbed and were heated by fireplaces that required constant attention and large volumes of fuel. The "Good Old Days" were filled with a lot of work. When the farm children abandoned the farm and went to work in the mills they attained a luxury they couldn't believe. They had indoor plumbing and regular work hours with more leisure time than they had ever known. The picture is our Koi pond.

Well, it's Sunday here in the Deep South. This is traditionally a day when southerners really kick back and relax. There are still many traditionalist who will go to thier house of worship, go out to eat, and then go home or to a relatives house and talk and visit. Then they will take an afternoon nap, get up, and return to worship this evening. This provides a way to unwind from the work week. Worship and a sharing time with friends and family. Not a bad idea. The flag can be seen from Cherrydale in Greenville. It's on top of the mountain across from the shopping center. This house is next to me and is vacant while being renovated. It is around 100 years old and needed a lot of work. I would have loved to have had it but I don't think I would have ever finished the project. Many years ago the county would pave your drive for free if you would give them a deed to it. Nowadays they want you to have the drive in perfect condition ( graded, paved, curbs, drainage, etc.) before they will accept it. The man who owned this house gave the county a deed to his drive and they paved it back around the mid 60s'. They then attached it to a road behind his property and voila!, he had a heavily travelled county road right through his yard. My dad always used this example to explain why we had a dirt and gravel drive for years after the neighbors had pavement. We finally got it concreted about 15 years ago. Moral of this story, Always look at all angles before accepting a gift from the government. Wife ran over my Japanese Maple with the lawn mower yesterday. She was really upset but I am so glad she is helping me with the lawn (3.5 acres) that I just shrugged it off. It's not worth wasting grief over it. There are too many other worse things that could happen. By the way, we don't care for the whole lawn. My 79 year old mother cuts about 1 acre with a walk behind mower and also trims and blows off the debris. She says it keeps her ticking. I say Thanks. Our Grandson in K5 had a rough week, he got points against him for talking out of turn. Then, friday, he got two rewards for being on good behaviour! It's really rough on him, he always attended a child development where Nana worked so he kinda ruled the roost. Now he is in a school where no one knows him and he has to OBEY the RULES (never his strong point). He's not a bad kid, just slightly spoiled. I take partial credit. One of the benefits of being Gramps. I can spoil them and then send them home. Well, that's all for now. Thanks for reading.

Another day.

Well, it was another day in the life. A manager in one of the stores today was showing me her engagement ring. She had it made to order. Very pretty and very expensive. I wouldn't wear something like that to work in one of our stores. Some of the clientele would chop off your finger to get it and then pawn it for a fraction of its' worth to buy crack. Even in the "better" parts of town you have your bad characters. I usually take my ring off to work on the pumps. I don't need to connect with a live wire with a gold ring. It's an antique ring my dad left me and I don't want some crackhead to take it from me and pawn it for $10 worth of crack. the weather has cooled off some and people are starting to talk about tailgating. Fall is just around the corner and I kinda look forward to it this year. I always get nostalgic in the fall. I read an article today that said that our pets become a valued member of the family. I guess that's true. I know Tiki, our Jack Russell, Chihuahua mix is definitely a part of our family. She follows me around like a two year old. I don't know why, I have never been overly affectionate towards her. I believe she senses that I will always care for her, even if it means bathing her when she doesn't really think she needs it. It's time to wrap this up, Deborah has the main computer and this one starts to make an ungodly whine after it runs a while. I think the mother board is about to give up the ghost.

I thought this was a great street sign. A lot of people go there to visit and some go to live. When I go there it's to think about those friends and family who have departed this life. One of those was a guy we called Cleech. He was a talented individual. Today, had he lived, he would probably be a computer geek. he once broke into the local middle school and stole band instruments. He returned them after he learned to play them all. He didn't know a single note of music. He preferred to buy his stereo components in kit form. That way he doubled his enjoyment. First he enjoyed building it and then he enjoyed listening to it. He joined the Navy and was gone two weeks. They discovered cataracts on his eyes and paid him $600 to take a medical discharge. Afterwards he realized that most companies will pass on hiring an individual with a medical discharge. Broke and jobless he took his own life in despair after his girlfriend broke up with him.

I wish we had some wind the day I took this shot. the flag would have been more impressive and it would have made a better shot.














This whitetail comes to our yard several times a week to eat apples. She knows we're watching but she can't spot us.

Rainy Day

Well, we're finally getting rain. We are way behind in rainfall this year. It's like bibical drought. Now it's raining a kind of slow drenching rain, the kind that is good for things. This is better than the heavy downpours we usually get this time of year. Then it comes down so fast it causes flash floods and it all runs off before it can soak in. Makes me think of all those rain songs. "It must be raindrops (falling from my eyes)" "I wish it would rain" "Raindrops keep falling on my head"etc. At least I don't feel guilty spending the time on the blog. I usually have a million things to do and it's hard to take the time for this. This also makes me think of my Dad. On a day like this he would sit in the carport and look out over his garden and watch it get rained on. I imagine he could almost see it growing. He was a hunter, fisherman, gardener, and handyman. He, like so many of his generation grew up close to the land. He could listen to the night sounds and tell you about the creatures he heard. He passed this love of nature on to me and I'm trying to share it with my Grandchildren. We can, I beleive, love the things of nature without worshipping them. By this I mean that we can reap the benefits of the earth and care for her at the same time. So many tree huggers think that we should all live in grass huts and eats leaves. Well, this good old boy is gonna eat steak and drive his pickemup truck. But I better not see you tossing trash out your car window. Well, enough for now.

I had to travel to Columbia yesterday. We have one store there and usually wait till we have a list of repairs. It's about 140 miles from where I live. My wife thinks it's a big deal but I travel so much that I just look at it as another day. I actually caught three local calls yesterday also. I'm having fresh local peaches on my cereal this morning. South Carolina is large producer of this sweet fruit, greater even than Georgia and they call themselves the Peach State. This time of year it seems like there is a fruit stand on every corner in the Greer area. This Peachoid water tower is in the Greer, Gaffney area. Before they added the leaf the truck drivers were very sarcastic about its' appearance.

I was right

I got called yesterday at 9:ooam, two stores with programming issues. Probably related to lightning, the periphreals, car wash, atm, etc. feed overages to the main system and cause lots of weird glitches. Fortunately no major issues. I was just reading an article about a French Jew who is trying to recover his fathers' suitcase from a holocaust museum. It seems that the museum believes that the fact that the suitcase can be identified as belonging to a specific victim it is rightfully a museum piece. Ignore the fact that there are living close relatives with a claim to the item. Monty Python logic. Someone said that the Europeans love the holocaust museums, it's the living Jews they don't care for.

The Wedding

Thought you'd enjoy some pictures of my youngest sons' wedding in March. I handed the groom the ring with this hand. You'll notice the pink shirt. Not my choice. The Grooms' cake reflects his love of Clemson football. The happy couple. Today we're having a baby shower for this lovely bride. I, of course, will conveniently disappear for several hours. We worked feverishly into the late hours last night cleaning the Ranch in preparation. Will post more later.

betrayed

I know there are many who would disagree with me but I believe this ceasefire in Israel is a mistake. I have read the blogs from both Israelis and Lebanese and I have studied the issue. The thing that strikes me is that the UN, a toothless, spineless, old woman, is supposed to guard the border. All this will do is give the terrorist time to resupply. The next time they attack we will have American troops there. That, I think, was the plan all along. Get the UN and it's lacky the US involved. Another killing ground for our troops. Olmert and the Israeli government should have let their soldiers go in and finish the job. The Lebanese are in bed with terrorist, you make your bed, lie in it. I truly miss the Israel of the Six Day War of 1967. The people of Israel, both Jew and Arab, are a good people, they deserve better than this. Eventually we will face this in the US. Our soil is not sacred to terrorism. We should have learned this by now. I pray G-d will forgive us for betraying His chosen people.

Strange Picture

Here's a Pic I took at Hollywild, thought it was kinda strange, almost surrealistic.

Home Again

Left work a little early today, only worked 81/2 hrs. Figure with thunderstorms likely I'll get called out this wknd. I saw one of my Scouts today. I was a Scoutmaster for 8 or 9 years and I occasionally run into one of the boys all grown up. Most of them turned out OK. Hope I helped that to happen. When they realize who I am they always seem to light up, makes you feel really proud to have that effect on someone. Totally undeserved, most of the time I didn't have a clue. One of the things I remember about being in Scouting is that the boys ALWAYS put pinholes in the styrofoam coffee cups. They also would ask you about EVERYTHING, even the stuff they already knew. It's like they were looking for someone older to confirm what they suspected. I'm getting misty thinking about it. I was always so inconcievably busy back then but it was a great experience. Both my sons made Eagle, two of the proudest moments of my life. Thought you might like this pic, everything you need for a big weekend.

Buena Vista

Thought you might like to see one of the percs of my job. I took these pics on my way to a call. Feel free to use any of the pics I post. I realized recently that I'm enjoying this empty nest thing. She goes to her end of the ranch and I go to mine and we get along just fine, thank you. If we need to talk we just pick up the cell and call. Well, gotta go. Boss is having a press thingie and I need to check out the location for problems before he gets there. Thanks for looking.

It's just another day .....................

Well, just thought I had the problem solved. Called at 4:30 am. Had to go and meet other techies and take parts to them. Finally got home at 6:00 pm. Funny how the days kind of glide by. After you do the same thing for a while you have days when you don't really remember what you did all day. Kind of like stoned college kids. I travel the interstates a lot, It's funny that people who will tell you they hate their jobs will take all kinds of chances to get there. I see drivers every morning who go 10 to 30 mph over the speed limit, switch lanes recklessly and drive like it's stolen. Presumably they are heading to work. The only thing crazier is the way they drive when they're on vacation. Qoute of the day. "Copy one persons work and it's plagiarism, copy two and it's research." Mizner. Found this picture, kinda reminds me of myself when I was younger.

Here I Am

Well, here it is 2am eastern and I'm handling a business problem. Fortunately this one can be handled over the phone so I get to go back to sleep instead of hitting the road..........OK, handled. So, kids, get a technical education and enjoy a life of being awakened in the middle of the night.
I guess I should be thankful I'm needed. I hope I'm appreciated.Here's a couple of pictures of me. One is at my sons' wedding and the other is at Hollywild. enjoy.

Some things

Some things happened recently that disturbed me. One day recently I had finished a repair at a store and was returning to my truck. I held the door for a young, attractive, lady of color.(black) As I sat in my truck doing paperwork I noticed that the car next to me had the keys in the ignition, the windows down and no driver in sight. Then I saw the child in the car seat in the back. This made me sit up and take notice. This was not in a "nice" area of town. The police are called there regularly to break up gang gatherings. There were about 7 or 8 other customers there, all black. In other words mine was the only lily white face in the crowd. Guess who the mother was? She came back to the car with a new pack of cigarettes and pumped $5.00 of gas. I sat there fuming, more at myself than at her. You see, I was afraid to confront a young black woman in front of a crowd of other black people. If I see in the news an account of a young black child being abducted in that manner any time soon I will hate myself. I keep telling myself that she probably had asked someone to keep an eye on the car. Maybe.
Today I went to the cell phone store to get some problems straightened out with a new phone. While I was standing in line another customer came in. A "Matronly" lady. She immediately began a tirade against the staff in the store. She "had to wait like this every time" she came in. I was thinking "these poor people" when she suddenly noticed the oil co. logo on my shirt. She started in on my company, all oil companies, George Bush, and the Arabs. I decided to go to another location for service.
I guess I'm just a confrontational coward. The picture shows the kind of thing that keeps me busy.

I don't really know where to start. I'm a technician with an oil company. That's right, I'm a member of the evil oil empire. Actually, gas prices hit me just as hard as anyone else. My wife usually buys gas at a competitor.
I repair gas pumps so I travel over a wide area each day. I see a lot of crazy things out there. People never cease to amaze me. I'll try to share some of my expriences and insights. thanks for looking.