The Boy is back in towne......

I extend my thanks to everyone who has checked by to see if I still live.


The answer is "I think so".

I commented that I was living in Mordor earlier, the last stop was Rohan. Pretty place, but nothing there. Things were available, but only with a long drive. Whiny, I know, but with a diesel truck it becomes significant. The only Internet access was miles away and they closed before my work day ended. I admit I took Internet access for granted, believe me it's not as common as I thought.

This retirement thing is way more work than I thought. I've been gone four months, and when I get home, I get all the honey do's and my own little projects all at one time. Whew! I have a list that is long enough that I have quit adding things and just go do them.

I've been invited to four outages so far, that means a lot, considering that some of my coworkers haven't been back and won't be.

Life is good. Summer at the beach. It's like being in high school again, and I got the summer off!
As soon as the 4X4s are ready its cruising time!

Home at last.....for a litle while.

After about twenty hours of traveling, on one hour of sleep, I made touchdown on my own dirt.

At which time I was tackled by the Love of My Life. My ribs will be OK soon, I don't really care if they're bruised, it was a great home coming.

Even the Dawg was happy to see me.

The cats,,,,,,,,,not so much.

Yesterday I drove from winter to spring, all in a day. When I left Hew Hampshire, it was about freezing temperature, by Maryland the windows were down. The grim and cold in the north had given way to blooming flowers and budding trees. It was as sudden a contrast as I have seen.

I can't imagine how soldiers or sailors, who have been away for years, feel when they get home. It could be that age has a bearing on the feeling, I never felt it so keenly when I was young. It probably has something to do with the Love of My Life not being with me.

I have to leave again in a week, for a month, then I will be off for the summer. I will be gone, not so far, nor gone so long, this time.

This summer I'm going on vacation,,,,, white sand, palm trees, blue water, and cheap rum. That's my plan.

A new thing for me...

I did something today that my dad advised against.

I got my first tattoo.

The industrial safety nabobs require that I remove my wedding rings each time I do hands on work. That in itself is not a bad thing because an accident that would merely mash a finger with out a ring will often amputate the digit wearing a ring.

The rings are important to me, the symbol of my commitment to the Love of My Life is more important than a finger, after all I have nine more.

My father’s wedding ring could not be replaced for all the money in the world.

So, I have to remove the rings, and I feel the need to bear the mark of my commitment, always.

What to do?

A wedding band, in ink, to replace the gold I have to remove.

Not too bad an experience, if you don’t mind putting your hand in a running blender and leaving it there until the "artist" says you can remove it.

I only had to ask for a break once.

Now I am marked for life as a married man.

Back to the modern world.......

I am out of Mordor.

I can actually post from my room! (I have to log into an unprotected network.) But now there is no long drive to get a signal. The last two times I checked e-mail I used the network at a phone company. I can't fathom why they were unprotected.

I spent the last day on the last job inside a pipe, inspecting valves. I actually walked into a pump from the discharge side. A little scary, really, when they close the valve with me inside to do a light check, the light is on the other side of the disc, and I am in the dark! I mean really dark, cant see your finger in your eye dark. If the valve fails it would take a lot of people working very hard to keep you from a lot of expensive overtime.

I am back on the ocean, the sun is shining, but there will be frost tonight. The mobile survival facility is sitting across from the local Police dept, and I am down the block in the oldest motel I have ever seen. The neighbors upstairs are playing Rugby in the drawing room, I think. Still, I have Cable and there are actually people on the street!

I will be settling in for a month. I think some stories should be forth comming.

Living in Mordor

I swear I half expect to see some hairy footed kids being pursued by a troll slurring something about "Precious"


This is a very grim and dreary place, and it seems the sun never shines. Rain and snow mixed again Friday.


In the morning I can look up to the hills and see the glow of lights and steam (Isengard, perhaps) from the plant.


As for primitive, at least very inconvenient, I have to drive 15 or so miles to a coffee shop to get Internet access, and this is the only game in town. The library has wifi, or so I've been told, but this is the only place I can sit down and post.

The nice girls here just brought me a glass of home made Orange Aide, very tasty and refreshing.
If you are ever in Berwick Pa. , stop in and at the Perfect Blend and sample the menu. Be sure to try the Orange Aide.

Have to scamper now, I have domestic chores to attend to, live fast and leave a smoking crater!

Sunrise on Mars

The wonderful Miss Phlem, reminded me I should post more often. Now that I don't have to work nights for a while, and I have found this great coffee shop with wifi, I have no excuse, therefore the following.

Being a road whore isn’t always bad.

I saw sunrise on Mars, not really, it was New Mexico, but it must look that way. The most amazing red gold sunrise with the clouds painted pink on the underside, and the peaks and spires of an alien land scape on the horizon.

The East Texas sunrise, the walking beam pumps like huge, hungry, birds bowing to the sunrise, as they bowed to the sunset.

Jack rabbits staring at the interstate contemplating suicide, they know they will never make the crossing.

The carcases of inattentive Coyote, cleaning up after the Jack rabbits.

Armadillos, providing “’Possum on the half shell” to any with the apatite.

Giants doing cartwheels, the wind farms with the giants expectantly facing west, The horizon bristling with the coordinated dancing of three armed giants, cavorting in the wind.

I must have been dreaming of space travel, for the clouds looked like oval shaped ships hovering over the mountains.

A new job, a new crack in the earth,

I seems like every job I go to the facilities get worse. (whine)

The current directions to the mobile survival facility go something like.... Go to the end of the earth, and turn left onto the dirt road, go way to the back, in the corner, in the dark, under the rock with the icicles. There when you look in you will see two beady, bloodshot eyes. squinting back at you, mine.

The first four days didn't break the high side of freezing. Several times the outside temps were in the low single digits.

Day four brought snow.

This place is as grim as Gotham, I expect to see the Bat mobile run under a waterfall on the way to work any morning.

The Love of My Life came to visit for a couple of days, and broke my heart by having to go home.

The ride from Southern California was long but I saw some cool things on the way.