Leap Day

We are having some rare February showers today.  Just enough moisture to make it muddy outside.

Yesterday I finally got around to installing the wireless weather center that Bob got for me on Valentine's Day.  I put it out on the chicken run fence where it shouldn't be affected by the house or other structures nearby.  Then we set up the wireless receiver inside the house.  Today I am going to install a wall anchor and screw to hang it where the calendar hangs in the kitchen.

Last week two of our people were away at fire fighting training.  It was Tim, Sandra and me.  We had to make cocaine hydrochloride for a process validation.  On the first day Tim was at an evening supervisor meeting, so I was running the show for the first two hours.

We started by getting ready for line clearance.  We span checked the scales and made sure we had all of our equipment.  I cut the plastic wrap off of the two reactors and noticed that they were full of water.  "Well, this is going to affect my ability to get line clearance."  We had to major clean the reactors.

This was a good training session for Sandra, but it set us back for time.

After the reactors were cleaned, Tim came in and checked them out.  He found broken glass in the bottom of one of the reactors and we had to rinse it out and major clean it again!  No line clearance until it was all dry.

When we came back that evening the process was started and we worked slowly and carefully on the validation lot.  Tim watched and worked as our go-for, bringing raw materials and supplies to the room for us.

I brought a 200-gallon load of water home from work on Saturday morning and all of it fit.  In fact there was room for more water.  We went to Cody and ate breakfast on Sunday morning, bought a bag of chicken feed at Tractor Supply, gassed the truck, and brought 200 more gallons.

This week I am working days.  Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday will be 8 AM til 6 PM at fire fighting training.  I will be paid for 12 hours on Tues, Weds, and Thurs, and 10 hours on Friday.  Next Monday we begin day shift again.

It is 37F and 85% humidity with winds calm outside right now.  This really has been a mild winter for us.

Clark, Wyoming

Spring-like temperatures continue here.  It has gotten very windy today and the forecast is for high winds (up to 60 MPH) tonight.  I will have to be careful on my drive to Cody.

My three days (nights, actually) off were okay.  We went to Cody and had breakfast, requested my 2016 Veteran's Deduction on Property Taxes, then took the truck to Fremont Ford for an oil change and tire rotation.  We brought a tank of water home from Cody.

Yesterday we went to Powell, had breakfast at Pepe's, and did our laundry.

Last night we watched Melissa McCarthy in Identity Thief. 

Tonight I am working again.  I work Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night, and come home on Sunday morning.

Winter ? ? ?

Unseasonably warm temperatures this week.

It was very warm yesterday when we went to Billings to get a haircut for Bobby, and then we went to buy groceries.  We got a few items at Natural Grocery, then we headed over to Sam's Club to stock up.  Finally we got down to the Wal*Mart in Laurel, MT for the rest of our grocery.

We brought all of our loot home and took it into the house.  Bob put some of it away and just set the meats in the fridge because we had to go back out and ride down to Cody - I had an All-API Meeting at 7 PM.

After the meeting we went to Wendy's for a late dinner and then back home.

Today we went to Powell in the morning and at breakfast at McDonald's.  Then I went over to H&R Block on Bent Street to have my 2015 Income Tax prepared.   It looks like I am getting a large refund this year.  That's nice for a change - my refund last year just covered the cost of preparing the taxes, but that is because I took money out of an IRA early so I would have a down payment for the new truck.

Next we headed over to the Powell Water Dock and filled our tank up and took the 200 gallons of water home to our cistern.

Temps were in the 60's and the bees were flying today!  They were pooping and carrying out their dead - just cleaning out the hive.  Bob is going to open up the top of the hive boxes and put some protein patties inside for them to munch on.

I got a phone call from H&R Block - they forgot to have me sign a form they need to electronically file my return, so we had to go back to Powell.  We re-filled the gas tank while we were there.

Tonight I am staying up late and tomorrow I will be napping for most of the day because I start work again tomorrow night.  The forecast is calling for much lower temperatures this weekend.  Mother Nature isn't done with winter yet!

February

So far, so good.  This winter has been fairly mild and gentle so far.  We had one big snow storm back in December and that snow is about melted away.  Temperatures have been mild enough for the bees to get out flying a couple of days.  I think the pile of firewood is going to last until spring just like I said it would.

I recently finished an interesting biography.  It is called Empty Mansions, The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark.  This is about the heiress to the Clark copper fortune who was worth about $300 Million and had empty houses across the country, but she chose to live her last 20 years in a New York hospital room. 

Now I am reading a history of building the railroads across the west.


Bob broke the door handle off of the microwave.  Last night I found a replacement on the Internet and ordered it.  It cost about $21.  It will be here in about a week, then we can figure out how to attach it.  It is just a plastic handle with a screw at the top and a screw at the bottom.  If the second one breaks, I think I might just cast one out of solid aluminum and be done with it.

I think I have all of the paperwork I need to have my taxes filed.  We just need to find a time to do it.  I am working tomorrow night through Tuesday morning.  Bob wants to go to Billings on Wednesday and buy groceries and then I have an All-API Meeting at 7 PM on Tuesday.  It looks like next Thursday might be the earliest we can do it.