Daily Affirmation

START EACH DAY WITH A POSITIVE OUTLOOK

1. Open a new file in your computer.
2. Name it "Hillary Rodham Clinton"
3. Send it to the trash.
4. Empty the trash.
5. Your PC will ask you, "Do you really want to get rid of "Hillary Rodham Clinton?"
6. Firmly Click "Yes."
7. Feel better.

Next week Nancy Pelosi

Bodie & Jett

Just got back from Kanab where I got to see my grandsons. As you can see they are the cutest kids on earth. We had a great time seeing everybody.

Spring In Coeur d'Alene

Spring has come to the area and damn it is beautiful. Green grass, leaves starting to bud and flowers blooming. Of course it is already green with all of the pine trees covering most of the land. The lakes and rivers are a shocking blue color that matches the sky sprinkled with bright white billowy clouds. Once again Im amazed at the beauty of this area, especially after being in Nevada for almost all of April. Tasha and I took a bike ride today along the trail that runs along Lake Coeur d'Alene, it has to be one the most beautiful bike rides in the world. The sun was out and the air is still a little chilly but after trying to keep up with Tash I was plenty warm. We had a great time and a good workout. Me and Boo mowed the lawn for the first time yesterday and it felt good to get out and work in the yard. We have been taking the dogs for walks at the trails everyday. Damnnation its good to be home.

Oh Dear Me

So this time at the Tonkin Springs camp was my last. I have been given a different job moving the drilling equipment around the country. Much better for me, more money, not stuck in one place, etc. The 22 days I did this last time were hell, there were 14 people there this time and when I was working someone was sleeping in my bed, this is called hot bunking and I'm pretty sure it is illegal.
I went into Elko on after my 15th day because I was out of food and also wanted to get the hell out the place for awhile. Six of us went in and stayed the night. They started out drinking and gambling at the Red Lion and ended up hitting pretty much every casino and bar in Elko. A mexican driller from Arizona named Edwardo got us kicked out the Stockmans for being too funny at the 21 table for the pit boss. We ended up in front of an establishment that had a neon sign that said "diddling and dancing" I kid you not. This is where I parted ways with the group. I got back to my room at 5:00 am and Im pretty sure I was the first one to sleep. I woke five hours later and looked out the window and saw one of the guys sleeping in the back of a truck in the parking lot. He was a crazy guy named Wild Bill who is 50 years old and really shouldn't be allowed to drink. I bought some food and headed back for 7 more days in paradise. The rest of the group staggered in just in time for work stinking of liquor and whores and wearing the badge of shame which lasted for about a day. One guy had spent 1900 bucks and was rubbing his head in pain. He is 25 years old and makes about 12 grand a month and spends pretty much about 12 grand a month. The only reason he felt bad was that he was too drunk to consumate the deal at the house of ill repute. I could say Im going to miss those guys but it would be a lie.

What the

After a few days of sleep and recovery I am now back in the real world. My previous post was a tad misleading I don't smoke and I'm not drinking whiskey at 6:00 a.m. and only horny as a regular billy goat. Tonkin Springs was a experience that no one needs to have. Have a nice day.

Drilled

I'm back. 23 straight 12 hour night shifts on a drill rig. Actually after 15 days I was able to get into town to buy some food and hang out with a drilling crew as they descended on Elko one crzy night I might write about later. The last night I was there I just about went head first off the back of a water truck that was parked on a 90 degree slope, I slipped on ice and mud and pitched off head first, I grabbed a pipe that was sticking up at the last second and was hanging upside down looking at the 15 foot face plant I just about did into the mud on top of a trash pump. Not sure if it would have killed me but it definetely would have messed up my pretty face. As for the rest of it it sucked, the trailers were crowded, dirty and boring. I watched the dvd of Turistas 5 times and it wasn't that good. I now drink whiskey at six a.m. smoke a pack a day and swear like a sailor. I did loose 25 pounds like mom predicted. I am mean, lean and horny as a two peckered billy goat. Other than that I still the same nice guy I've always been. My what a fine time.

Back to the Salt Mines

Or Gold mines as it were. I am heading back to the seventh circle of hell. In lieu of a serious industrial accident I will be gone for 20 days from the face of civilization as you know it. No newspaper, no internet, no phones, for a news junkie like me you have no idea how hard this is. If I do get injured (god forbid, maybe) sue, sue sue, I have been ill equipped, ill advised and non trained. Make em show you the money. So when you get down on your knees tonight and thank the Lord for his guiding light pray I'll turn out right thank god for kids.

Lisa

What is the hardest thing about going away for 20 days? Leaving my wife. Pretty, nice, sweet and very nice to sleep with. I missed her very much on my last hitch and will even more this time. When things are at there very worst in the shithole of mine camp Nevada thoughts of her brought me through. I love ya baby.

Inconvenient?

I finally watched the famous documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" (HBO) Not bad, some very disputable science involved but it had some great points. Al Gore himself is a bit of a vindictive host, a major portion is related to his gut wrenching loss to George Bush. Gore is a bit of a enigma, I remember liking him as a presidential candidate back in the late 80s . I think he genuinely cares about the environment but he also loves his pseudo celebrity status as well. Is the planet doomed with CO emissions? maybe, probably, might be a minor footnote to a nuclear winter. I do believe this, no matter what the USA does it will be negated by the human swarms in India and China. Nobody cares about CO2 emissions when they are hungry.
I don't like to be cynical about the enviortment but that is hard to do. Even this shit job I currently have is evidence of a civilization gone bad. Gold prices have sent the economies in Nevada into a tizzy. 600, 700 maybe 800 an ounce? Boom time. Little shit towns like Elko, Winnemuca and Battle Mountain are flush with money and specultation. Of course the gold isn't in found in nuggets in pituresque streams, it is in the ground, small veins or maybe not even noticeable to the naked eye. So they process millions of tons of ore, using cyanide to leach the gold from the earth.
Think your immune from the orgy? Do you have any gold yourself? chains, rings, coins, investments. The pretty little ring on your gal's finger. Yea, all guilty.
I have been watching the core samples being drilled from 1200' in Tonkin Springs Nevada, yea there is gold. The price is going up. Get ya some. The Earth weeps.

Internet Boosheet

See my post on Lincoln? apparently he never said that. Don't believe anything you read. There is a lot of information out there, some good, some bad.

10 Days

My 10 days off is going by much faster than the days in Tonkin Springs Hellvada. I will be heading back for at least one more hitch there. Hopefully it will be the last, I told them I wasn't a fan of the camp there. When I was packing to leave for the first time mom was up here, she came for a visit and to see Bryant in the play 'The Importance of Being Earnest' Bry was awesome as a snooty Englishman. The play was good and I saw the first two nights but had to miss the third night to pack. I wasn't sure what I needed for 20 days of work and didn't know if I could do laundry or where I was going for that matter. So I packed more clothes than I needed and left stuff that I should have taken, learning curve the first time. After the play was over I had everything laid out on my bed and was starting to pack it up. Mom came in and sat down and started making pithy comments that were not helpful. I was going away for a long time and was stressed out a bit. She came up with one liners like 'Don't you wish you had got your college degree?' or "I bet you wish you hadn't quit your propane job" Another gem was "Well maybe you can loose some weight" She offered this advice " Look at this as a grand adventure" Oh it was an adventure all right just not a grand one.
When I was working the 12 hour night shift there I would sometimes drive a water truck up on top of a mountain there where I would dump loads of water into some tailing ponds. It took about an hour for it to drain out and I would shut off the truck and lay on my back on top of the tank and look at the stars. The night sky was incredible, no moon, clear as a bell. I haven't seen the stars like that for a long time. Orion was prominent in the night sky and I was able to pick out many constellations, it was very peaceful and the cool nights of the high Nevada deserts were quite beautiful. On that shift I saw the sunset and the sunrise. It was tough at times and by the 7th night I got kinda tired, hit the wall so to speak. But I survived it, me and Orion.

Abe Speaks

Take Note: Name Change

Hell has been renamed it will now be known as Tonkin Springs Nevada. I just spent 14 days there in a mine camp isolated from society and working my bag ass off. The work was long and hard (12 hours shifts everyday, the last 10 at night) but that was the easy part of it. We lived in trailers with no running water except for the 'main' single wide that everyone used for the kitchen and bathroom. It was the most disgusting abode I have ever seen. Take a crew of ten drillers and helpers and turn them loose on one bathroom and you will see the depths of humane depravity. The other trailers were new 28 foot camp trailers which would be nice if you had the family out for a nice camping trip, instead take 3 grown men with all of their gear and food for 20 days and it is way too small for anything. Despite reports that there was satellite tv, internet and phone it turned out that none of these were available. Cell phones didn't work unless you had a booster antenna and drove to the top of the mountain and then maybe you could get a signal. The boosters were 300 bucks and of course not available unless you could get to town which was not possible unless you had a vehicle. The closest town was Carlin about an hour and a half away. The crew was an assortment of losers, assholes and meth addicts just a delightful bunch to work, sleep, eat and live with 24 hours a day. Luckily I have mellowed out since I got home and I am totally sugar coating this whole thing. More later.

Winnemucca and Me

The real estate career is now on hiatus. Due to fiscal constraints, karma and bad attitudes I have been forced to accept employment with a drilling company. This company drills core samples in solid rock for customers all over the west. Their customer list includes mining companies, contractors and goverment agencies. Because I have a commercial drivers license I will be driving a Kenworth with a drill rig on it to the cultural epicenter of Winnemucca Nevada. My what a dream come true this will be. I have checked out the official town website for current events and found this . After I am there I will be assisting the drilling crews and engaging in some of the worst manual labor that still exists in the world today and working 12 hour shifts for 20 straight days with half of them being night shift. A quick check of the weather there revealed that despite being a godforsaken colorless, treeless desert it is just as cold there as it is here in North Idaho. Super. I don't believe my room at the Valu In has internet service so any report from me may well be never. Ohhhh shit.

Physically Fits

So the scenario was bleak already, I took a job and needed a drug screen and physical. More on the job later but the trip to the doc was a rough start. First off they send me to one of the drive through health care shops for the drug screen, I decide to kill two birds and get my DOT physical at the same time and have them pay for it too. There were only a few people in the waiting area but I still waited for over half an hour. Finally I got to wizz in a cup and went through the whole process of verifying the sample and taping it shut and initialing everything in sight. This is the world of drug testing and I've done it many times so no big deal. Get it all done and the RN who was a little scatter brained realizes I didn't sign something that was already sealed up. So out it all comes and do it over. Then she realizes she didn't do some test that had to be done before it goes to the lab. So more urine was needed, I stepped up to the plate and delivered for the home team. All this probably contributed to me failing the blood pressure test. They tried 4 different times but it was 138 over 96, out the range for a DOT physical. They gave me a temporary card good for a year. I don't really believe in the junk science of blood pressure and cholesterol levels so I'm good.
The suspense of course was all about the hernia check, most docs in my experience don't do it or check on your lower stomach. Not Dr. Squeezer, made me drop 'em and then handled both of the boys. I'm still pretty upset about it. The entire visit was full of bad news, hassle and humiliation. Now I get to go to work. Yippee.

An Inconvenient Asshat

What's the difference between a real environmentalist and a poseur?

Conserve energy - you that is.

What a blowhard.

Birthdays Blow

Another one come and gone. What is the sense of even keeping track? Birthdays are for kids, after 21 no one really gives a frog's fat ass. But for all you out there -

Have one on me, cheers

El Presidente

The 2008 presidential elections are a long way off, but the campaign is already in full swing. I don't know what it is about our national candidates maybe we know too much about them, but holy crap is this the best we can do? Hillary Clinton, Rudi Guiliani, front runners, that is sad. I cannot even grasp the thought of a Hillary presidency but Guilani is too weird for me too. I just watched some old video clip of him in drag in some stunt with Trump hitting on him. Please, can we have some dignity in the Oval Office. McCain, don't like him -can't put my finger on it but it just isn't there, and he would be 72 when he takes office, and 76 at the end of his first term. No discrimination but that is too old for this high pressure, intense job. Barak Obama? light weight. Audacity of Hope? how about the reality of the world.
My pick at this early stage is Romney. He has some tangible success in business and in politics. A leader with the demeanor and communication abilities to take the office. Conservative but not one dimensionable. After watching George Bush muddle through his second term unable to communicate with and inspire his country it would be nice to see someone who can.
But can he win? Probably not, and for what. Religion. Just read an interesting article about polygamy in the Romney family tree, yikes. They aren't quitters they kept at it after the Mormon church banned it. His father was born in Mexico where his father and family were hiding from the feds. And his great great grandfather is Parley P. Pratt hisself.
Well all I can say is if the Evangelical Christians would rather back someone like Guiliani over Romney then they are so worried about theology that they are unable to think clearly. Moral high ground taken. All in all I just can't stop the horrible thought of Hillary taking the most powerful position in the world. The four horseman just might be saddling up.

Did You Know?

Click Here To See

SHIFT HAPPENS

Turn up your speakers - the song is awesome, from Last of the Mohicans
The info is scary and depressing.

A Ray of Hope

The sun came out the other day. It was shocking, I thought for a minute the house next door was on fire or something. But no, when I walked outside the glorious rays were beating down on everything in site. I could hardly see, I didn't know where my sunglasses were because I haven't used them since October 2006. Oh how good it felt though, and the rays delivered a warming sensation - I had forgot about that. I broke into song.

'Oh the sunshine blessed sunshine, where the peaceful happy moments roll'

Yes it was quite a time.

Oh course it is long gone. Today is cold, drizzly, gray and I know that the sun will probably never come out again. But I was glad I was there for that special day and partook of the life giving rays the day that the sun came out.