Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Still sick!! But getting better.

So, I finally went to the doctor last week.  I hadn't been in a year, so it was assuring to get seen.  The doctor put me on an anti-biotic, two coughing medicines, advair, and a rescue inhaler.  I feel much better but I still can't kick this cough.  It's better but it's still there.  I'm soooooooooooooo tired of coughing!!
The best way to cover your mouth for a cough.
Pittsburgh Steelers' Brett Keisel.  He has a red beard.  Like mine.  Folks were saying mine was on it's way to looking like this.  What do you think?  Google Images:  Brett Keisel.  Interesting guy.
Also, Mr. Walker has a beard.  I started growing it this year.  My last shave was December 31. I told my wife I would shave it when our house in Oklahoma sells.  I think I might have to shave it anyways.  It has gotten out of control.  I didn't think it would get this big this fast, but it has!  I have never done anything like this before.  It sure gets some stares sometimes.  I think it might have to go. 

Mr. Walker's beard.
Okay, so back to work.  I've been going to the steel mill this whole time.  It has been busy there, but not as bad as its worst.  Overall, it's been good lately there.  No tire troubles to speak of.  I am developing an oil leak that is getting worse.  I believe it's my rear seal.  It is starting to spread oil all over my frame & anything behind it.  My boss got me some parts to make my truck better.  Some broken moulding from years ago.  New power mirror button (SOOOO NICE to have that working), new power window buttons.  The window on the right works now.  The one on the left, only sometimes.  I have to pull the fuse because it gets stuck and burns the fuse.  The guys loading me every day forget about that & the button sticks.  It will ruin a fuse and it doesn't work.  So, I have to pull the fuse every trip & put it back in before I leave. 
What a burned fuse looks lke.
So, I am getting an animal at the farm.  Want to take a guess at what it is?  Give your guess to Mrs. Hnizdo, make a graph or chart and let's see what the class thinks it is.  After this weekend, this animal will be here, and I will post what it is and introduce this new critter to you guys! 

Cat?  Ostrich?  Fish?  Cow?  Dog?  Horse?  Bunny?  Bird?  Moose?  Hippo?  Sheep?  Goat?  Jackalope?

I hope everything is going well for you.  Leap year day is today!  I feel sorry for anybody born on Febrary 29 since it only comes every 4 years.  What do you think they should do about thier birthday?  Celebrate it March 1 or February 28?  What a dilema.  Have a great day!


Have a great day & be safe!
--Mr. Walker

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

I'm sick

Well, I feel really bad for getting your hopes up on me visiting.  I've been sick for about a week and a half.  I tried last week to get in to the doctor.  I finally got in on Tuesday.  They put me on a cough medicine, antibiotic, and advair.  I hate the feeling of being on a lot of medicine but I am feeling a whole lot better.  Still coughing much more than I like, but breathing much better.  I have had some form of pneumonia three times in the last 4 years.  So, I thought I had better get on top of this!

The steel mill has been pretty well this week.  There is a major surplus of trucks with crushed cars coming into the mill.  They are coming from as far as Nebraska, Illinois, Missouri. That's an awful long ways to haul to a shredder.  There must be a reason for it, but it sure makes it slow getting scaled into the mill. 

Looks like this on busy nights trying to get into the steel mill.
So, Spring Break is coming up!  Do you guys have any plans?  I never really did much on my Spring Breaks.  My parents owned a ranch & a business so we worked during the break.  I hope to try to get to your school & visit soon.  I will be in touch with Mrs. Hnizdo on the visit!  I hope you're having a great week.  --Mr. Walker

Monday, February 20, 2012

Farm Update

This has been an awful boring and bad year for the farm.  One of the things I wanted to do is teach you a bit about farming.  With a record drought (I have to fight the urge to type 'drouth' - that's how many of us say it!), it has brought farming to a crawl lately.  This past summer when school started for you in August, we had cotton seed in the ground.  NOTHING came up.  That's because nothing (rain) came out of the sky. It was plowed up and that's about it.  Since then, in January - the terraces have been chisel plowed.  That's a deep, deep plowing that breaks up the dirt about 2 1/2 - 3 feet down.  Then, after a few weeks, the rest of the field was plowed like normal. 
Disc type plow.  Very common type of plow.  Very effective, just not as deep.  Maybe 2 - 6 inches.


Chisel plow.  Those curved teeth sink into the ground VERY deep.
So, really - the fields are empty and freshly plowed.  Pretty boring year this school year for farming!  If these rains keep up, things will change.  A LOT.  Cotton seed will go in sometime just after Easter.  We usually get one really good hard freeze/frost around Easter, so most old timers around here advise planting a week after Easter.  If I was farming where you guys lived, we could probably plant about 3 weeks sooner just because the threat of a bad freeze isn't like it is here.  Where Mrs. Hnizdo grew up near Hereford, TX - the threat of a hard freeze goes into the end of May!! 


Last Frost map.  Big differences all throughout the state!  We are in the light green.  Hereford, TX is in the greenish-white.
 Farmers have to be in touch with the weather.  A lot of people that went to college for Agriculture even take a few classes in Meteorology (the study of weather).  I was fascinated in those classes.  VERY interesting to me, but not easy at all.  There's a lot of data that goes into the weather.  At the farm, I have a device that tells me the indoor/outdoor temperature, humidity for both, and the high & low for the past 24 hours. 


Mine is much like this, but not as much stuff!
Soooooo..... I may come visit.  VERY SOON!!!  Possibly - THIS WEEK!!!!!  Mrs. Walker & little Lindsey are staying with her family in Midlothian this week and they might even be able to come.  No promises.  There are still things that might happen with the truck or loads that might keep me from coming.  But I'm working to make it happen!!  I'll be in touch with Mrs. Hnizdo and hopefully it will happen soon!  Oh yeah - & I have a beard now.  Hee hee.  Until next time....  --Mr. Walker

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Back to the steel mill & how close I was to my trucker buddies!

So, I got word today that I'm headed back to my normal runs to the steel mill in Midlothian tonight.  I will be in a different truck tonight.  I will be in one of the daycab trucks.  I have to get loaded back in Sweetwater.  Since this truck doesn't have a sleeper, I will leave much later.  Hopefully, I will get back to Sweetwater around the time they open up so I don't have to wait much.  Then, I will be back in Snyder! 

The route from Snyder to the Steel mill:
http://g.co/maps/jzjht

Today, I hung out at the farm.  I cleaned up a bit from the barn fire.  I didn't find much that survived.  One is an old Texas & Southwest Cattle Raisers sign.  The top of one of my branding irons was also located.  That is about it.  Most of it fell over this morning in the strong winds.  It sure is an ugly sight. 

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Lindsey says:  back off.  MY CAKE!
I played with Lindsey a bunch today.  She likes to chase me around the house.  Today, she was making a fake burping noise with her bunny and dollies.  She sure has enjoyed some leftover birthday cake!  She makes one heck of a mess. But, I think it's totally cute. 

So, I was actually pretty close to you guys!  Check this out:  http://g.co/maps/3q3c5 You can play with the map and see just how close Mr. Walker was to the school!  Try not to cheat!  But, if you can't mess with the map to see how close, here it is:  http://g.co/maps/dskvz  I have a hint:  it was less than 10 miles away from your school!!  
Don't want this happening to the principal's car, right?

I visited with Mrs. Hnizdo about visiting the class.  We're getting the paperwork taken care of so I am cleared to visit.  Bringing a big truck to a school might cause quite a scene, so I want to make sure everybody is okay with me visiting!! 
Poor Patrick.  Yaaay Friday!
I hope your week is wrapping up well.  I hope to see you guys soon!!  --Mr. Walker

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Hauling Pipe - Nightmare!

Well, I hauled pipe today.  1 load.  1 stinkin' load about 4 miles.  Let's begin with what went down.  I got to the Snyder yard at 7:30am.  It was about 18 degress, so I put on my insulated overalls.  With a good jacket, I was good to go.  I let my truck warm up for about 20 minutes and then went to a fenced lot where we keep our trailers.  I was in truck #31, an old 1993 Freightliner.  I backed under one of our flatbeds we use for hauling pipe and it has no brakes.  How do I know that?  When I got latched under it, it wouldn't stop moving with my truck.  So, after some fun trying to get out from under that trailer, I get the other pipe hauling trailer we have.  It's brakes were locked up!!  Well, I figure I could do some work & get them going again, that would be safer than running around without trailer brakes, right? 


Our trailers for hauling pipe look just like this, only they're red.  The stakes are permanent & much taller and heavier duty than these. 
I used a 9/16" wrench and finally got the brakes backed off.  (Side note - 9/16" is like a universal size for most EVERYTHING in trucking.  Mud flap bolts, brake adjustment bolts, you name it!  I guess someone was using their head on the design team.  HIGH FIVE for that guy!!) 

High Five for that!
I noticed that mud was caked all over everything under there.  I knocked a bunch of it off & saw that all my grease zerts were dry.  So I put about an entire tube of grease just on my 8 grease zerts just to get my slack adjusters moving freely.  They should move using your hand with the brakes set.  It as 9:00AM and I hadn't gotten anywhere.  The boss was nowhere to be found and not answering his cell phone.  I backed the brakes off & went to the pipe yard without any trailer brakes.  Trust me, it was slow going!!

Looks complicated, but it's very simple.  Adjusting bolt is where you tighten or loosen your brakes.  The grease zerts are just above the T on the word Adjusting and to the left of the A on the same word. 
I got to the pipe yard around 9:30AM.  It must have been burrito break time because everyone was sitting around with their feet up on the desk at the Kinder Morgan pipe yard munching on breakfast burritos and drinking soda or coffee.  I signed in, got told where to stage my truck and waited.  I waited.  I waited.  45 minutes later, the loaders finally came out from burrito break and loaded a truck that came in behind me.  I was a tad upset, but what can you do.  They came over and overloaded me with a mixed load.  I took 250 joints of pipe and probably weighed around 90,000 lbs gross.  That's 10,000 more than what is legal, 6,000 more even if I had an overweight permit on that truck.  I strapped it down and eased back to the office to sign out. 

Breakfast Burrito time at Kinder Morgan. 

Pulling my hair out today!!
When I got to the yard 4 miles away about 15 minutes later,  (I drove SLOW!!!  Remember, no trailer brakes!) I unstrapped my load.  There was mass confusion as to where the load was to be unloaded at.  The pipe racks, the scrap yard?  The fenced lot?  It was 11:00AM and the boss was still not around and still not answering his cell phone.  So, I parked it and called him from the office.  He picked up and gave me my directions.  After unloading, he showed up & told me to park the truck and the other drivers were going to pick up the rest of the pipe he had bought out there.  THANK GOODNESS!!!  I was tired of dealing with problem trailers and nobody know what was going on. 

Better fix those problems or this is what could happen! 
After telling him about the trailers with massive brake problems, he bacame unglued.  Please don't ever make Mrs. Hnizdo so mad she come unglued.  He started slamming truck doors, cursing, kicking dirt, yelling.  That's usually why I don't ever tell him about truck repairs/problems.  If I can fix it myself, I fix it and don't bother telling him.  He just gets upset.  I worked with his other drivers trying to get the brakes fixed and they wouldn't fix.  I had to explain the problem about 4 times.  Finally, at 1:00PM, we all gave up.  They hauled the pipe this afternoon on trailers that had no brakes & vowed they would be at the repair shop this evening getting fixed.  I think it just needs new air chambers.  No big deal, but it's been neglected for a very long time. 

So, the moral?  If something needs fixed, fix it right away.  Don't let it go for a long time.  It just becomes a bigger problem down the road and could even become unsafe if let go for a long time.  That goes for a variety of problems.  

On a happier note:  February 8 is Mrs. Walker's Birthday!!  Lindsey & I went to get her a cake.  Vanilla with buttercream frosting.  Not her absolute favorite, but she was good with it!  I turned Lindsey loose in Wal-Mart to pick out some things for her mommy's birthday.  Keep in mind, she's 19 months old (a little more than a year and a half).  She got mommy a salsa bowl, beef jerkey stick, a box of oatmeal, and a bag of cough drops.  I wrapped them and she opened them with Lindsey.  Lindsey got all excited and we all had fun with it.  I got Mrs. Walker some earrings and a CD she had wanted. 

Funny random cake picture.
I hope you guys had a better day than I did!!  --Mr. Walker

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Tire Trouble & Barn Fire

Well, right after my blog about Ranger, TX - I have a flat tire in:  Ranger, TX.  I went to the Love's tire shop and luckily they were open all night.  I had to buy 1 used tire and had it installed that evening.  I visited with the driver in front of me.  He was hauling a load of lettuce from Yuma, AZ to New York City, NY!!!  That is a long ol' way!!!  It was going to take him 4 1/2 days.  A lot of drivers coming from the produce areas go through Texas this time of year so they stay out of the snow & ice up North of here. 


Love's tire barn & service truck
If you have an atlas, you can see Yuma, AZ would take Interstate 8 to Casa Grande, AZ, then I-10 through Tucson, AZ, New Mexico & El Paso, TX.  I-20 near Van Horn, TX, I-30 in Fort Worth to I-40 in Little Rock, Arkansas.  I-40 through Memphis, TN, Nashville, TN, Knoxville, TN.  I-81 near Dandridge, TN through Virginia, West Virginia, to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.  I-78 towards New York City.  There are several different ways to get into New York City. 
George Washington Bridge at night
Holland Tunnel is VERY busy and not truck friendly.  But, it puts you right into Manhattan from New Jersey.

Lincoln Tunnel.  Not at all truck friendly.  Mostly commuters into NYC from New Jersey. 

George Washington Bridge is the most popular.  See Central Park in the bottom right?
I've been to New York City once.  I was probably your age.  I flew to Providence, Rhode Island to visit my Uncle that lived in Gale's Ferry, Connecticut.  Funny name, huh?  We took a bus into New York City and visited lower Manhattan, the Statue of Liberty, and went down Wall Street.  It was VERY different from where I grew up in Arizona!!  But, it was very cool to see.  I would like to go again, but I would want to see so much.  I would definately want a good friend to help me with some of the better places to see!  I have two friends that live in the city.  I would definately want their help! 

Barn Fire.  Yup, I had a barn fire.  We have this big barn.  Well, we HAD this big barn.  It was probably 200 feet long by 50 feet wide.  It was about 25 feet tall.  I had all of my spare parts, tires, tools, lawn equipment, chains, man things inside of it.  Well, on Saturday - it was just Lindsey & I.  Mrs. Walker was at a ladies' retreat.  I was about to go to bed a little after 10pm and suddenly my power went out.  I went to go put on my boots to see what was going on & I see my barn on fire!!! 

The fire department and power company came out and put the fire out.  The barn is totally destroyed.  Nearly all of it is on the ground.  Only a few poles are left standing.  The power company got power restored and things got back to normal.  They think it was started by high winds and a bad electrical box or power line connection to the barn. 
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A close up of the damage.

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What's left of the barn.
So, what to learn about this?  If you have power going to something that hasn't been used in a long time, disconnect it.  Also, have an electrician check your elecrical boxes every now & then to make sure everything looks good.  Loose lugs make your box very hot and can cause a fire.  A simple check with an infared camera can sure help.  Also, if a qualified electrician says something needs replaced soon, make sure it is done!  It could save your property and even a life! 


Don't be like this guy!  Be safe around electricity!
Things can be replaced.  But lives cannot.  So make sure you guys are safe!  I hope you are having a great week.  The mill is down right now, so I am hauling pipe locally.  It sure is easy but can be a pain when having to wait to get loaded for a few hours.  Take care of yourselves! 

--Mr. Walker


Some of our old oilfield pipe we haul & sell.