Making it through another year, '23-'24

[Ljohnsaw]

I'm not saying it will help you, you misunderstand the Design Committee bylaws... :D

Either way but I think parallel to the back window.  The 2x6 attached to the bottom side of the rack side rails.  Yes, it encroaches on the bed space but would give you full width of what remains while lowering the wind drag.

[Old Greenhorn]

Oh OK, your right, I forgot the rules. And you're right again, it doesn't help me at all. :D Eventually I will try to get that box down on the side rail of the bed, that would be the best for my normal working days, but it's more work than I have time for now. 
 I put the box up high because I needed to get the entire bed area cleared. I don't really like it up there, but for now, it will have to do. At interstate speeds, it will be a real drag. ;D

[doc henderson]

sometimes a chunk-o-wood tells you what to make.  If you plan to chase the fleas markets it would be good to have inventory.  if you make more generic benches for the masses, you could even make shorter children's benches (like in the time out range)  with 8 inch legs, and others with 16 inch legs.  or 17.275 inches like Howard.  And he does them on the sawmill.  ;)  then they could at least be placed one over the other on the bed of the truck.  the wind wing could extend up to the box to help "break wind".  

[Old Greenhorn]

Well Doc, I've got a bunch of inventory which includes some of those small and taller stools. I make those from slab cutoffs mostly. That little 'thing' I did a few weeks back showed me a 10x10' booth is too small for me if I have to stay inside that area, but I did fit everything in the truck without a trailer or the rack, just a lot of careful packing, nesting, and plenty of moving blankets. :D


 

 If I make more room with the rack, I hope to make some lower priced stuff, maybe unfinished that would sell easier. Right now I have two applications on my desk for shows in the fall that are more toward my target demographic I think with a good potential of a lot of second homeowners coming through.  I am staying away from the flea market type things for now. Any show cost me basically 3 days: 1 day to prep and load, the day of the show, and a day to put it all away, plus the fees and any damage repair I have to do. One show starts at 9am, so I have to go out on Friday to find my spot and do a basic setup, then very early Saturday for the setup and show. Cars have to be off the field by 8am and the show goes until 6 at least, so a very long day by the time I get home. It's a lot to do alone.

[Old Greenhorn]

Early post today, our monthly dinner at Bill's is tonight, besides, I didn't get much done. Rainy morning, clearing by noon. I finished off the spoiler in the rain, only took a few minutes. Don't look too bad and a test run showed it working fine.


 

 I ran some errands, then split a bunch of big rounds of 20"+ RO, but it didn't take long before my back was complaining again. Heavy stuff. I had lunch and was taking my early afternoon break when I heard something 'largish' winding up and coming down the road. Judging by the engine speed and the time it took to come into sight I thought something was odd. So I stepped outside and saw it was Bill with his new to him Terex off road bucket truck, he was backing in my shop driveway.

 

 

 He is parking it here until we take down the giant RO that is dead in my back yard and leaning toward the house. It is the best machine for the job because of the low ground pressure and he has to drive across my leech field. He said I could play with it if I wanted. :D ;D I don't even know how to start it. BTW, he drove it to my place from the other side of town, meaning he had to use and cross the state highway, at noon on a tourist Saturday. ;D The trooper he went by had a quizzacle look of bemusement and just shook his head. The Jersey tourists had no idea what it was. :D
 After he left, I started taking apart the fence to get it in the yard and I pretty much have that done to the point that I can finish it off in about 3 minutes. I want to keep the fence up to keep the critters out.

[Hilltop366]

Cool rig!

Listening to these guys in the background, thought you might like it.

Live at Ginger’s Barn!! Guitar Wizard BRIAN DOYLE!!!! - YouTube

[Old Greenhorn]

Nice Hilltop, yes I am listening to it right now. This is the first time I have heard of John Doyle but have known J.P. for over a decade. He's a great writer and player and you can't beat the Cape Breton vibe. Must be something in the water up that way.
 I haven't seen and talked to J.P. since well before the pandemic and he doesn't get down this way very often, but friends of our hired him for a back yard concert with full stage and sound/lighting and about 75 people. I spent some time chatting with him about his influences after the show and found him to be a shy, nice, and very intelligent guy. Some of his lyrics really get to me. I'll have to dig out his music that I have and give it another listen. This one in particular always stuck with me:

Hometown Battlefield - YouTube

 Thanks for sharing that, I am indeed enjoying it.

[GRANITEstateMP]

Bill's way of moving equipment and mine are pretty much the same! ;D Had to move the ole Timberjack across town years ago. We were cutting the edges of a hay field. No chains, they were clapped out, so off I went down the state road. Our now retired police chief was on patrol, got a smile and a head shake when he passed by going the other way. Sometimes its good to live in a small town. I'm sure most of the commuters passing me had no idea what I was in, oh I did have a nice tractor triangle on it too

[Old Greenhorn]

Well, usually you can get away with it for short runs with it, but we don't have town police, we have county Sheriffs and State Police. The deputies are pretty cool and most use common sense with stuff like that since they are all local boys and girls. But the State folks get transferred in and out from all over the state, especially the newer troopers and they don't know the lay of the land. They can also be a little 'over enthusiastic' at times. So it's still a crap shoot. When we were both very active in the FD we would usually know who was on what shift. Sometimes we would see them at a job we were both working and could give them a heads up in advance of a machine move. These days, you never know who you're gonna get.
 Funny about the warning triangle, I was looking at the machine today and saw that he has one...... Laying upside down in a toolbox. :D ;D

 The only time I have known somebody to have problems is when they do damage or cause a legitimate hazard. There was the fella moving a D6 dozer on a trailer and he flipped it after it bottomed out on a turn. It was quite a mess and took a pretty big wrecker to get the thing upright. State highway was closed for quite a bit of time. Another guy unloaded a big tracked excavator on the black top and tore it all up when he pivoted without thought. >:( Stupid costs. :D

[Old Greenhorn]

Happy Birthday GraniteState! Hope you're having a fine one.

Well, I thought today's project was going to be this:


 

 That RO has been shedding branches for over 30 years and this year it finally didn't come back. The gypsy moths added enough stress last year to finish it off. Bill said we might do it today, depending on what his guys were up to, given the holiday. So in anticipation, I trimmed the brush around the base and did a bit more getting ready to open the fence.  That tree is 38" DBH and is tilted at the house on a 15 degree angle. the height would put the top about in the middle of my house roof and would likely wipe the enclosed porch right off the back of the house. I noticed that tree is in worse shape than I thought as I could easily peel bark in some areas. I found this no so little gal under a chunk of bark which woke me up pretty well.



 

 She was a little bigger than a silver dollar and I think she had some eggs there, sorry.

 So after that I did some more work removing a bad section of chain link that got clobbered in the last ice storm because it was so twisted up. What a pain, but I got a new section added in. I'll finish it after I pull it back one more time to take another tree down. Then I was over in the other driveway and a large dump was driving by, hit his brakes, backed up and yelled something at me. I walked down to hear him better and he asked if I wanted what was left of his crushed stone. he didn't want money, just a place to dump...now. SURE! Back right on it and drop it here. They were putting in a new driveway down the road and he needed to dump his stone so he could oil the bed and go get his blacktop. I was happy to help.



 

 Looks to be between 2 and 3 yards. My neighbor (AKA "The Idiot") tried to jump in on it after he saw what was happening. Too late. ;D But he did talk to the guy and about an hour or so later the guy came and dumped his leftover blacktop in his driveway, then a skidsteer came down and spread it pretty nicely in about 5 minutes. It was just dumped on tope of the mud, so we know how that is gonna last, but oh well. About an hour after that the neighbor comes home and drives right through it so I am not sure what it looks like now.

 Anyway, we had 2 grandsons here today so I lost a lot of time keeping up with them and didn't get much else done. I tried to get them interested moving the crushed stone out to the swamp, but that only last 2 1/2 boy sized loads. The they saw the little girl next door and that was it for the day for their work. :D 
 I just piddled with little odds and ends for the rest of the day. Bill never made it over, so I guess it's another day for that too.

[aigheadish]

Man, Tom, you are making out like a bandit! Big equipment to play on and to help safely pull a big(!) tree! Free rock! Good stuff!

Also, as an uninitiated junior member of the design committee I feel we are missing an opportunity. Tom's truck is pretty nice but I feel it'd be even nicer it he took a cutoff wheel to the back of the fuel filler, just above the wheel well, back toward the tailgate, and build that tool box in to the side of the bed. Get it good and out of the way. He has the wood to trim it out nicely (a la machinebuilder for his camper!). Then it's at a nice loading height, still has all the bench hanging and long lumber space needed and I'm sure it'll look classy! He may need another "WFP" air deflector for the front side, but he's got some practice making those already...

(@machinebuilder- Your camper looks great, I don't want you taking this joke the wrong way!)

[Old Greenhorn]

 It's been 11 days since my last post. For the first part of that I was just real busy, doing some milling and chores, and for the second part of it my little world got rocked and I have been dealing with that in my head full time since Sunday evening. You can read about that in this thread. Sunday I kept a promise to help a young fella who wants to build two guitars, an electric and an acoustic from the tree that grew on the front lawn of his house since his childhood. They had to take it out in several months ago and I had him seal all the cuts up. Just one log. It's a mess of a trunk with lots of leaders coming off. It's swamp (silver) maple. I explained all the issues he can expect. So Saturday morning I went down to his house and we dragged it on the trailer which went pretty easy and he followed me back up and helped unload which was really easy with the forks. He will come back when I mill it to make decisions and learn. It's not a paying job BUT he will need to cover expenses at least. I figure I will barter with him and he can work it off by helping me for the same amount of time and expense I have put in to help him. I already have 5 hours and 1/4 tank of gas in the game. ;D When I get my current mill orders done I will have him up for a day to do his log. He has a Luthier mentoring him through these builds and she told him to quarter saw the wood. That's gonna be rough on this one. :D Only thing for sure is that this young fella is gonna learn a lot.

 It's been raining most days up until today and building up in the ground, but Bill called on Tuesday around mid-day and suggested we do that big oak and wondered about how the ground would hold up. I really want that thing down and lawns can be fixed, lord knows I have done that back lawn at least 3 times over the years, so I said, lets do it. 20 minutes later he showed up, I had the fence opened up and we got at it. 20 minutes after that the whole top was on the ground. We left a 25' stalk to drop when the ground firms up and we drag in some mats to land it on. It's a biggun'. I spent the last two days, after a rain day off, to slowly buck all the stuff we dropped and load it in the mule and move it over to the splitter. The lawn looks like moon craters all over from the impacts, some 18" deep and now full of water. I finished that up today except for the largest leader which is about 25" diameter. That will be another day, then I have holes to fill, lots of them. There is also a fair pile of brush to chip up.

 As I am now filling in for my crew Chief while he deals with his family emergency, I will drive out to his house tomorrow and pick up a truck load of stuff, then bring it up to the festival site. The route will take me right through downtown Conesville, so I have to check and see if Barge is in town. That will probably kill most of the day doing the long loop around the mountains. I have been working the phones, emails and other stuff trying to pick up the slack for the festival stuff, still waiting for responses on some stuff. Also checking in with other close friends in our circle to see if they have any direct contact or info, but not much joy there either. 

 Tomorrow is another day and these days, I am taking one day at a time.

[Wlmedley]

Tom,I hope your labor trade goes well.Seems like when I help someone out they forget about it pretty quickly or their time is a lot more valuable than mine   :laugh:.

[Old Greenhorn]

Nah, it will be fine. I have know this young man since he was about 14 and he id around 20 now. He actually asked me if he could come and help me at the mill so he could learn. I have no discussed the barter arrangement with him yet. He just likes to learn things and I have yet to see him take on a project, no matter how far fetched, that he hasn't completed. I have no concerns. He certainly pulled his weight on Sunday without any prompting, follows instructions to the letter. It's all good.
 The thing with me is, when somebody truly wants to learn, I don't think about money so much, if at all. Just having company for a day would be nice. I would however, not have it cost me too much. ;D

[aigheadish]

I think I remember the tree you took down Tom and yeah, that's a biggun indeed! Well done!

[Old Greenhorn]

Well as far as that tree goes. Here's what we started with:


 

And here is where it stands now:



 

 We are gonna leave it like that until the ground gets good and firm, and it looks like that will be a while. Even if it did fall right over now, it couldn't reach the house. It did take me three days in shifts I could handle to clean up all the leader cuts and get them to the splitter area. I still have the one big one in the photo on the ground to do that is about 24" diameter. But that one hit so hard it is 10-12" below grade now. ;D I have other stuff to do now and have had to shift from plunking along to going full bore.
--------------------------------------------------
Speaking of that. I am fully involved in taking over the crew chief's job for my buddy along with another fella. We have so far navigated the management approval process and I have been working on communicating with our crew members on what's up and trying to get coverage for our 9 hour overnight shifts which is a lot like working in an E/D. Either it's total boredom, or you are slammed all night long. Every time I have done it in the past I have gotten a maximum of 20 minutes sleep before the stuffing hits the fan and we are running all night. Once It turned into 72 hours with 3 hours sleep for me. But  others mostly have boring nights, or one or two simple jobs., but for me, well I am a crap magnet, always have been. :D Anyway it is always hard to get folks to step up. I have more spots filled than I have vacancies, but still have some slots. The other shifts will fill in easy, but everybody wants the morning shifts so they can get to the better music later in the day and evening. Busy times for us are NOT the morning shift, it's afternoons and evenings.
 Anyway, that's my problem and between communicating daily with my co-chief, answering emails, working on schedules and doing some arm twisting, it has kept me very busy. Then of course I also have my packing to do and collecting everything on my list. Everything from eggs to beer, ice, tarps, tents, stoves, etc. I still have to set up a full camp for my friends I am hosting from KY, but I will be living in the EMS trailer so they have access to me 24 hours. Kind of like the worst of both worlds. ;D Anyway, it seems to be coming together, it's just stressful. I am wondering what the ambo count will be this year, that will tell you what the tone is. Usually it averages about 6 runs, but some years as high as 21 runs.
 I have to go over my list again, but I pretty much have it all collected now I think. I will do partial packing tomorrow of the trailer, loading up the Mule and getting it snugged down, then load the mules and bind all that down. Then I'll park the trailer, ready to go. Then I have to pack for VT.
 Friday morning we leave for VT to spend a night at my cousins. We will be keeping company with my cousin's Dad (My oldest 1st cousin at 93) after Grey Fox, and this visit is just for us to get all the details figured out, like his meds and times, foods he eats, phone numbers for Doc's and other local family, which hospital is treating and how to get there, etc. The we return on Saturday and Saturday night (weather dependent) I will load up for Grey Fox. I MAY go over on Sunday afternoon, but we will see. I sure would like to get my friends campsite setup ASAP and be able to concentrate on all the work I have to get done. Monday it really gets rolling and by the time the gates open at 7am Wednesday, I expect to be pooped. :D It will be what it will be, but we will all be thinking about our friend and his family who we all know well and praying for them and hoping for closure for them. They will be surely missed here this year.
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One day last week when it was raining, I was in the shop and thought I heard the bucket truck/skidder in my driveway fire up. So I walked out and saw Bill climbing out of the cab, then I noticed another truck, then I saw the State Trooper's car out in the road. (See the photo) Color me confused, right? Turns out, Bill was playing a little joke on another neighbor to park the machine in his (well groomed) driveway for a few days. He knew the guy's wife would NOT think it was funny. The Trooper is a local friend who just happened by, so he gave Bill an "escort" down the road. Stupid, funny, and fun all at the same time.  The truck was back in my driveway two days later. The wife was NOT amused. ;D


 
---------------------------
Today I did about my 3rd and final errand run for packing and picked up beer, fuel and some other stuff, and grabbed the odd incidentals still missing from my list. Then it got hot and pretty humid so I took lunch and chilled for a bit thinking I would run to the mill and do that last log I needed to finish Bill's fence order and have it off my mind. Well around 2 I heard him drive by headed home. A bit later I went down to at least find a log to mill and I ran into him. He was just loaded up and headed out. @thecfarm you may want to pay attention here: Bill has worked out a model for these big rocks. He got paid to remove them from a lot clearing job in town. He could have hammered them out to gravel, but instead, he trucked them home, held them for a bit, and is now selling them off to a new site prep job for some sort of aesthetic landscaping.



 

 Bill has a big pile of 'inventory' he is collecting and reselling. I always had thought it was a big rock pile near the corner of his driveway, turns out, it's his showroom. :D

I went to the mill dropped off blade lube water and hunted up a log and with clear blue skies and one cloud, it started raining, big drops. That sure kicked the humidity up a notch or 3. SO I headed home an within 1/4 mile I had the wipers going full tilt. Got home and it was barely sprinkling, then it started in here.  The weather station a mile away recorded no rain at all. Weird.

-----------------------------------

 Anyway I have been working through my funk and concern for my friend and trying to get things done. When I have nothing else to do, I sit at my computer and scan some of the drone footage looking for a needle in a haystack like a hundred or more other folks. The search continues, they are not letting up. None of us are. The big fear is, there have been several before lost in this same area that were never found. Nobody wants that this time. We have to find him, one way or the other. Nobody wants to let this family down. This is tough.

 Well, tomorrow is another day and it's already laid out for me, weather be damned. ;D

[thecfarm]

I could retire right now if I could sell my rocks!!!!
I just want to get rid of them. free!!!!
I've been working around some of them for 50 years.!!! Some I was able to move and get them out of my way. 
I have big ones, 3-4-5-6 feet across.  

[Nebraska]

I had an industrious client friend who went up into Eastern South Dakota/ Western Minnesota to pick up rock from farms up there. Then hauled it to landscapers down this way to the city. ( Omaha area)  We really don't have any rocks.. It was profitable his former hired man has  kept the business going after he passed away.

[Old Greenhorn]

Well I got that order finished off on Thursday for Bill. (An hours work and I was soaked to the bone. A two shirt day.) Came home and did some more prepacking, didn't pack for the VT trip until 20 minutes before we got on the road Friday. :D Went to VT and spent the afternoon and evening Friday learning about caring for my cousin (93) and his specific needs and habits. Also spent some quality visiting time. Headed back home this morning after a few hours of he most pleasant porch sitting and chatting on a gorgeous, clean clear morning in the lower mountains of Vermont. 
 We left around 9:30, stopped at my favorite flea market, nothing special this time for me. Got home, unpacked and had lunch, then started loading up for GreyFox. That went quick. Answered festival emails and phone calls handling more details. I forgot all the festival calls for emergency medical help get forwarded to the crew Chief's cell phone as well as the medical tent. So I dealt with that and more newbie inquiries from first time staffers.
 I confess I am beginning to stress about getting everything done and working right, a lot of people depend on it. I have done this for 11 years and never thought about it, but taking the lead puts a different spin on it, as most folks can guess. So having gotten my packing done today and only needing to hitch the trailer before I can go, I moved my schedule up a day and will go up tomorrow and try to give myself time to deal with the stuff I don't even know about yet. Worst case, I have enough time to get it all done, best case, I wind up with spare time, which I could really really use right now. ;D A good dal of the staff already know me, but as a crew chief it's different and I have to build some relationships with folks I may need help from at a critical time. We are basically running the largest town in the county for that weekend as we outstrip every other town's population by a far piece. :D  The goal is to not strip their EMS resources. ;D
 I'm am sure this is going to work out just fine, but many great artists have told me that you should be nervous before you go on stage so you give it your best. It's a weak simile, but the best I can do.

I'll be back a week from Sunday and have 12 hours to unload, re-pack, sleep, and head to Vermont to keep my cousin company for 5 day while his daughter and hubby get some personal time to relax. See you guys whenever I have time.
 Tomorrow is another day, right?

[Hilltop366]

Your a good man Tom for stepping up for your friend and your family, safe travels.

[Old Greenhorn]

No, not me, just another guy. But it has always rubbed me wrong the number of people who come around when a friend is in a bad pinch and say "whatever you need, just call me". But when you call them there is always some little excuse as to why they can't do just what you need when you need it. (It's happened to me a lot.)  That's has always rubbed me 'poorly'. I try not to do that. I make a promise to somebody, I keep it, that's just the way I am. All the way, because I promised. Otherwise my friendship is not worth anything, in my eyes.
 My crew Chief and I live a distance apart, we don't interact during the regular year except through common friends are there is a lot of overlap (Ski Patrol mostly, I know a lot of his crew on the mountain, several were on my EMS team a the Fire Department and it's how we hooked up a dozen years ago) and some random text messages out of the blue. But we have the fire service, EMS, leadership in our communities doing tough and thankless jobs we laughed about in common. I have been to his home/farm to celebrate life events, birthdays, retirement, etc. I know his family, watched his kids grow up into useful and successful, productive adults, and shared in their joys (sometimes with a bit of jealousy, I will confess).
 What kind of friend would I be if I didn't do every last thing I could possibly do for his family in their worst possible period of tragedy? What is the point of sharing the joy if you do not also share the tragedy? Walking away or turning your head and saying you are 'busy' is what cowards do. I can't do that. At my age, I am not the man I wish I was, or I would have been on a plane out there 10 days ago with my gear and had my boots on that mountain along with all those young folks doing the job right now, or cooking for them, cleaning up, helping with logistics, or whatever they need. This thing is truly tearing my heart out. To loose your son? I can't imagine.
 This is what I can do, and I feel I am coming up short, but I knew doing this would lift a small piece of his burden. I hope I can fill his shoes well enough to keep people safe or our crew safe. We've never had a death at the festival, but we have come close a few times (and had some babies born too) and pulled off a winner (one was on my watch and that was stressful for a full year after with a long recovery that took years, but we saved her). I don't want to break that winning streak.
 I'm just doing this for my Brother in the service, that's all. I'm keeping a promise. There is nothing special or noble in that. It's just a promise is all. No big deal.

[Nebraska]

Your honor shines through your actions. It is respected..
 Good on you, this world would be much better if more would treat things as you are.

[Old Greenhorn]

Well just a little update because I am posting on the phone. Loaded all the last minute stuff this morning like ice and some food (forgot to grab my lunch, it's still at home). I got to the farm around 10:30 and got right to setting up the tipi. Forecast was for rain in the afternoon and getting heavier through the night for 1-2" overnight. So I just set up the tipi and assembled a cot inside then stacked all the gear on top of the cot to keep it off the ground. That got it out of the truck and out of the rain. The plan is to go back on Tuesday morning and do the rest of the setup withe the canopy stove tables, etc. After the severe weather. So with that all secured and Safeco head to the medical tent where all the supplies had already been delivered by our prefest  crew. Great folks. Tables were there too making it much easier to go through everything and figure out if we were missing anything. It took 3 sessions to wrap my head around it. I should count, I think we have 30 large plastic tubs withe everything from OB kits to head blocks. It's confusing for sure and was packed to make it all fit, not to be sorted well. Glad I had the time to work it out in my head.

It was hot most of the day especially during the tent setup in an open filed. Started raining around 1:30 but by then I was in the med tent which is not quite as leak proof as it should be. Rained pretty good all afternoon and we are now restricting driving anywhere it the hardened main road. This keeps it from getting sloppy. This place will drain nicely if it has 8-12 hours without stress after rain. Any damages that are inflicted have to be repaired.

I got a good handle on things and coming up a day early was the right thing to do. I am settled into the EMS trailer. I'd prefer a good tent, but this is part of the job, I have to be here and available 24/7. It's after 11pm now and I am pretty much alone at this end of the field, everybody is camped about 1/4 mile away and I don't have power yet. Running the trailer off battery and gas for now. I am waiting for the 2 security crew chiefs to arrive, but they are driving up from GA and may not arrive until 2 am, so I'll  see them in the morning. Their trailer is next to mine so they may make me up when they arrive because they will start the generator up.


I expected a lot of folks to come up and ask me today if I new how my friend and his family were doing and I did have a few small updates for them but no good news. What I was not prepared for was how many folks came by to thank me for stepping up. As mentioned previously it was what I thought anybody should do. But some folks make big deal about it. 


So tomorrow more folks start coming in and the pace increases. I will start working on lists of things that need to be done, bought, or tasks better handled by others who are still learning the job here. Delegating takes work too.  ;D

 Tomorrow is another day, right?

[SawyerTed]

Heroes never think they are and good men just do good things.

You are a good man, Tom!

[Old Greenhorn]

Well just a little post before I hit the rack. I have been learning to make the adjustment from front line provider to crew chief but I admit it is taking some effort. I always felt the need to be part of the immediate solution and it takes a lot to step back and let others doo the work and just standby with support that may be needed. This crew we have is beyond top notch and I am learning to shut up and get out of their way. They do a better job than I ever could. I just intervene when they need support from other groups like security or site crew. The excessive thunder storms have made things challenging with slick gumbo mud and we are all covered daily. Bit we only y had one heat emergency so far when we usually have a bunch. I lost count (and the pool) on the number of ambulance runs for the day today, either 6 or 7, very high. I had guessed 5 for the whole weekend. Last 2 years was 6. The county EMS system is not happy with us. Oh well. 
 This crew continues to amaze me but still I am up at about 6am and hit the rack around 2:30am. Today it caught up with me and I crashed and took an involuntary 2 hour nap Around mid afternoon. I need it and my crew sent me for a time out.  :D

 Time to get some sleep. Today will be another day in a few hours.