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

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. 


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

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

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. 

A close up of the damage.



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.



Ranger, Texas

So, I thought I would update the map with some facts about a town I go through!  Ready to hear about Ranger, Texas?



Ranger started out as a camp for..... The Texas Rangers (law enforcement guys) that would train there.  Just like almost every town in Texas, it was formed when the railroad came through in 1880.  Ranger is also home to Texas' 3rd oldest airport.  Amelia Earhart landed at it at one time!  The discovery of oil in the area is was really put Ranger on the map.  Ranger got up to nearly 30,000 people in town at it's peak.  They also had massive flooding at that same time & really made a big mess there in Ranger. 



Old picture of Ranger during the oil boom

When the boom settled down, farming took over.  Peanuts, wheat, goats, cattle & hay are the major Ag products that helped Ranger out.  Ranger college was established in the 1970s and today is known as a good junior college sports college.  Around 2,000 people call Ranger home today. 



Ranger College football

Ranger is just off of I-20 to the North.  You can't really see it well from the interstate, but at night - you can see the lights of it.  There's a Love's truckstop in Ranger but I don't stop there much at all.  I use the tire shop there from time to time, but probably only twice in the past 8 months. 



Love's truckstop in Ranger, TX.  I have only bought a tire there twice.  Fuel & tires are expensive and service is slow.

There's also Ranger hill.  Ranger hill is one of the bigger hills you will go up on Interstate 20 in Texas.  When there's snow or ice, it is famous for shutting down.  There is a lot of criticism over how they don't spread salt on it in a proactive manner and it stays shut down a lot.  There's also a lot of accients on that hill as well.  Even without snow or ice.  I usually get slowed down to about 60 going up Ranger hill.  I slow way down and go down a gear when going down it so I don't go too fast.  Coming from the mountain West, Ranger hill is pretty small and silly to me and I have to agree it could be taken care of better by the highway department, but I can't worry about it too much. 



Exit before Ranger hill with traffic shut down during a little bit of snow.

Ranger is at exits 349, 351 and 354.  It's about an hour's drive from where your school is!  I hope you guys are having a good week!

--Mr. Walker



Gotta go!!



Good Rain

FOUR INCHES of rain!  That's how much rain the DFW area got in places in this recent storm.  That is a lot of rain!  Did you guys enjoy it?  I sure did.  It made driving tricky, but I was super careful. 


You have to be super careful when it's raining!

The rain poses one heck of a problem at the steel mill in Midlothain.  With that much rain, the holes we back into to dump our scrap in fill up with lots of water.  So much water, it covers up the WHOLE tire on my trailer.  I had 3 flat tires on Wednesday morning when I dumped my load.  I had to wait for the tire guy to come and get me fixed up so I could go back out to West Texas.  Luckily, I have a sleeper and I laid down on my bed and caught a nap! 


What a new truck's sleeper looks like.



This is what my truck look like inside. 

 Last night, the workers at the steel mill used a giant magnet to pick up metal in the water so I could back up without getting a flat.  It sure makes it tricky trying to have a good safe, normal dump at the steel mill! 

I did get a couple of large pieces rejected and got held up at the mill while they loaded it back.  This week has been tough since I've been held up every night so far.  But, hopefully this week gets a bit more smooth as it goes on. 

Until next time, have a great weekend!

--Mr. Walker

My Schedule lately

So, someone thought it would be a good idea to show you guys my routine & schedule since it's about normal so far this month.  So, here goes...

Wake up 12:30pm - 3:00pm
Breakfast/Lunch - my wife is a very good cook.  But my first meal after waking up is usually leftovers from lunch.


Is this what you look like when you wake up?

Chores - wake up - 6:00pm
Chores are usually working on the house, cleaning and organizing.  It seems to be never ending since we moved here in May.  We went from a 3 bedroom 2 bath house with a garage to a 2 bedroom 1 bath house.  So, there's a lot of organizing to do!  This is when I take my shower, too.

Supper - 6:00pm - 7:00pm
Again, Mrs. Walker is an incredible cook.  She keeps me very well fed. 

Family time - 7:00pm - 8:00pm
I usually play with Lindsey.  Maybe watch the start of a football or basketball game.  Sometimes, Lindsey goes to bed around now & I get to help her go 'night-night' as she says. 

Leave for work - 8:00pm to 9:00pm.
Since it's cold, I will let my truck warm up for about 10 minutes.  Then go from Snyder to Sweetwater.  Takes me about 35-40 minutes. 

Pre-trip Inspection - 9:00pm. 
I will start the truck first.  Check the oil, coolant levels, the tires, the lights, and air lines.  I will start my log book for this trip and pull out of the yard.  Lock the gate behind me and head down the road. 

1st stop - 9:30pm
Wes-T-Go Truckstop in Tye, Texas.  I will use the restroom and get my coffee.  If I need to add air into any tires, I'll do it here.  They also have a tire shop in case I need a tire. 

Arrive at Steel Mill - 12:30am - 1:00am
I will scale in, go to the inspection shack, wait to get my instructions on which place to dump my load after inspected and paperwork filled out.  Dump my load, get in line to scale out, scale out, and I'm on my way!

Coffee Stop #2 - 1:00am - 2:00am
There is a Love's truckstop in Midlothian, TX.  I will catch my logbook up and use the restroom if I need to.  I will get my coffee again and head back West. 


Interesting Coffee design.  I drink mine black.  No cream, no sugar.

Fuel Stop - 4:00am - 5:00am
Wes-T-Go truckstop in Tye, TX again.  I will get anywhere from 95 to 130 gallons of diesel depending on the truck.  It takes me about 20 minutes or so depending on how busy they are.  And YES - sometimes I have to wait in line at 4:00AM to get fuel.  They can be busy all the time.  I will get a cup of ice water and head West again!

Sweetwater yard - 4:30am - 5:30am
I will do my post-trip inspection, catch all my paperwork up and put my truck in position to have it loaded and start my pickup and let it warm up.  I will lock the gate behind me and head home. 

Snyder yard - 5:00am - 6:00am
I will drop my paperwork off in the drop box.  Sometimes I have to drop off keys or other items. 

I'm home - 5:30am - 6:30am
I will quietly come in the door.  Drop off my lunch cooler, hang up my coat, and get ready for bed!!

Schedules and routine are important for everyone.  Does your family have a routine that you guys do daily or on the weekends? 

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while.  I'm having trouble finding my past few blogs, I don't know if there was an error getting them posted or not, but I'm going to keep doing my weekly blogs at a minimum.  Hope you guys are having a great January!

--Mr. Walker

This past snow storm earlier this week dropped a few inches of very wet snow!  We have had more snow than many parts of Minnesota!!