10-4 Good Buddy

My latest attempt to make a living. I don't drive it I just own it

WOW

Take Me Back To Tulsa ( Welch )

My okie gear

Ready for work

Cowboy Dave checking out his calves

My view from the drivers seat

Seth working the alley

Kayla and Cole working the tub

Sick calves

Seth marks a calf with chalk to show it's been medicated

Resident barn owl

Frosty morning at the ranch

Haulin hay

Yo Where You Bin?

We look like a couple of wise guys.

Lynn had some kind of sausage with a German name I can't remember.

I had pastrami on rye with a Dr. Browns Celrey. The classic combo.

The lady in the tank top to the left is siting where Meg Ryan faked it.

Katz's Deli Lower East side. The real deal since 1888.

Look at the dates on this head stone.

Graveyard at Trinity Church. peace and quite in the middle of the city.

Memorial at firehouse next to WTC.

WTC site. Nothing but new construction. Life goes on.

At least I can say I was in the stadium before they demolished it.

Yankee Stadium in the rain. Not good.

Times Square in the rain. Makes it look even more impressive.

Times Square. You have to see it to believe it.

Our Hotel was about fifty yards of of this street ( Broadway) in the heart

of Times Square.

I think she's one of us

I hate class warfare. It all ways puts me off a little
when I hear someone make a negative comment
about a rich boy or trust fund kid. I'm only
interested in who a person is, not what kind
of background they come from. I don't resent
wealthy people. They are an important part of
our society and our economy. I wish we had more
of them. I wish I was one of them. I can't stand
the envy and spite that is constantly aimed
toward the rich. It's the devils tool and a big
part of whats wrong with the world.

Having said that.

I like someone who hunts moose with a $600.00
Winchester more than I like someone who hunts
quail with a $10,000.00 over and under.

I like someone who went to a small state university
better than I like someone who went to an Ivy
League school.

I like someone who has five kids, The oldest in
the Army and the youngest in diapers more
than I like someone with two kids in private
prep school.

I like someone who gives their kids goofy
names like Track and Bristol more than
I like people who give their kid four names
with a roman numeral at the end.

I damn sure prefer someone who has worked in
blue caller industry and small business over
a lawyer/politician or a dilettante with a
trust fund to bail him out every time he fails.

I like someone who knows a retard baby
is better than no baby.

Earlier this year Barack Obama said if
one of his girls got pregnant he wouldn't
want her mistake to be punished with a baby.
Any man who thinks this way is nothing but
a dirty son of bitch and it would be a cursed
people who would make him president.

Apache Banner V 4.0

Just a few shots of the new Apache Banner

location. This is the forth location in 25 years

and is by far the best. We've been here

for almost a year and it's still a work in

progress but it's looking better all the time.

Thanks But No Thanks?

A roofing contractor was busy working on replacing the shingles
at the peak of a steeply pitched roof one day when he suddenly
lost his footing and began to slide toward the edge of the roof
where he would certainly fall off the building sustaining serious
injury or even death. He immediately uttered a prayer as he was
falling. " Lord if you save me I promise to all ways keep the
commandments and be forever grateful." As soon as the
prayer left his mouth his overalls caught on a protruding nail
immediately arresting his fall. "Never mind that last prayer
Lord. "The man said. "This nail saved me so I don't need your
help after all."
It's an old story. Anyone who's been to enough church meetings
or has a mother with a Readers Digest subscription has heard
it more than once. It still illustrates one of the weaker attributes
of humane nature. Nearly the entire history of the
Book of Mormon people can be summed up by the above story.
I am no exception and this frustrates me. The proper amount
of pressure will always cause me to turn to the Lord for
help. As soon as the the pressure relents to even the
slightest degree though I begin to think I had things
well in hand all along. It's shocking how quickly I begin
to slide back in to old bad habits of thought and action
( or inaction.)
The past two years have been particularly challenging
in every aspect of my life. Some of the greatest
challenges have been financial. Times have been
difficult for most of us and being self employed has
taught me to weather the ups and down of the economy
fairly well but for the last two years the drop in business
has been very disproportionate in relation to the
economic down turn. To complicate matters, literally
every piece of equipment in the shop has failed completely
and has had to be replaced or has required extensive
and very costly repairs. All within the last six months.
The unexpected costs alone have nearly wiped me out.
At the end of May I was faced with the distressing
decision of either keeping the doors open maxing out
debt in the not wholly unreasonable hope that a 25 yr.
old business would eventually recover or calling it quits
and getting a real job leaving the business debts unpaid.
Any decent accountant would say call it quits after seeing
the books.
For many years I have learned to put great faith in the
law of tithing and that faith has all ways been rewarded.
I have continued to pay a full tithe as well as a generous
fast offering throughout my financial struggles.
I decided to exercise a little more faith and determined
to fast one day a week for the month of June for the
welfare of the business. the second week of June we
received a large order. We had bid on the job nearly
two months earlier and were sure we had lost the job.
The rest of the month was still very slow but that one job
was just enough to keep the doors open for another month.
When I delivered the order the the second week of July
the customer placed a second order twice as large as
the first. The money from this job allowed me to get
caught up on all the unpaid bills and at least get even.
August has all ways been one of the slowest months
of the year for us. We're not exactly raking in the
profits this month but I can confidently say the
past two weeks have been one of the best starts
in the month of August that I can remember in a long time.
Now that the pressure has been relived I feel tremendous
gratitude but I also know I'm all ready sliding back into
my old habits. I don't know what to do other than to
just keep trying to be better. I just felt I should publicly
acknowledge the blessings of providence some where to
remind me when I forget.