JAN 3 2018

somehow i think the  cp world should know-- i have sat in outhouses that were warmer than my bathroom..-- we ar battling frozen pipes.. ornery  wood stoves..icy walks... and  an impending blizzard...  but we are blessed with a healthy strong kid sent here by teh district attorney's office desperate for 30 hours community service  in about a week... yesterday he hauled wood...tom is back on...so handing out shovels for tomorrow will be done.  i sign only what is on his punch card....  i had my fill of "i reeeeeeeally stayed til 5pm and forgot to sign out"   winter is when you see how ineffective your summer plans were..-- why fix the leaky roof if it is not raining?  we did alot of that all summer.. the only thing  i think we are ahead on is the fact that cp's sent us so many yellow diesel fuel containers.. which i filled-- so at the moment we have plenty of tractor fuel.  and that heater does work.. i  may try it today... *** there is a gap in my management-- actually alot of gaps.... however... the one at the moment is  that i pay so many repair /maintanende people in cash so i have no way of remembering who they are..  by some stroke of luck someone came to "stew" wh said her friend was enjoying cutting trees here-- truely a goldie moment... we needed him...  there was a tree overhanging the neighbor's house like impending doom..   we should get him here for dogfest entertaining...... he is super at climbing.. starting with his rope toss over a limb 80 feet in the air... his "rope management" is spectacular as he figures out how and what to cut and have pieces of tree swing exactly to the spot he wants them... like not on the neighbor's roof.  ---$800/day for 2 guys-- a big bargain in my book.  they get so much more done than the "tree company" who wants to come and give an estimate-- that may work for one house and one tree... but   here  it is more  "come from 8 to 5 and we will figure out what to do." giving an estimate is (USUALLY)  an unnecessary expense-- tell me how much you are for a day.... THEN KEEP WORKING !! ***** pam left early-- she has her own frozen pipe/broken furnace disasters to deal with... thank heavens we ahve alot of people who realize in disasters we are going to need all the help we can get.-  we just keep the soup on.... *** i did call and leave a message for th e woman  who insullted our vet with thor...  i will call again today...if i have the rest of the story right... he drives a tractor trailer an d thye gave him one of those front parts with a sleeper bunk.. so thor climbs in climbs-- on the seat --and then right up onto the bunk... perfectly !!  that is why we have that "A frame" in the arean.. to practice that kind of stuff.. we do have an awful lot of perfect dogs.. **** an interesting clip and paste..... one wonders about people who follow-- i know when i was younger i wojld follow any seeing eye dog and watch them work.. however this could be a heads up... **** PIXIE AND I WANT TO GIVE YOU ALL A VERY IMPORTANT REMINDER. WHILE AT THE MALL THE OTHER DAY I SHOULD HAVE READ PIXIE BETTER, BAD ON MY PART. PIXIE IS ALWAYS LOOKING OUT FOR ME AND MY WELL BEING ALWAYS KEEPING ME SAFE AND ON HER A GAME. I SAID TO JIMMY WHY IS NOT SO FOCUSED IN FRONT LIKE NORMAL SHE KEEPS LOOKING BACK AND I WAS SO DISTRAUGHT THINKING SOMETHING WAS WRONG WITH HER. I WAS LIKE IS MY GIRL NOT IN THE MOOD TO WORK? THOUGH SHE WAS TIGHT TO ME AS SHE WALKED AND SHE JUST WOULD JUST AND KEEP LOOKING BACK AND STOPPING ME. I KEPT TELLING PIXIE COME ON GIRL LET'S GO.  WELL MY SWEET GIRL WAS DOING HER JOB SHE WAS TRYING TO GET MY ATTENTION TO LET ME KNOW THAT WE HAD SOMEONE FOLLOWING US THROUGH THE WHOLE MALL AND TO THE ELEVATORS TO OUR CAR AND TO OUR CAR THEN THEY PROCEEDED TO LEAVE BACK TO THE MALL AS THEY REALIZED PIXIE AND I WEREN'T ALONE. PIXIES EYES NEVER DID LEAVE ME BUT SHE WAS TRYING TO TELL ME THROUGH THIS SITUATION THAT SOMETHING WAS OFF AND I DIDN'T REALIZE IT AND I SHOULD HAVE. I LEARNED A VERY VALUABLE LESSON. I FIND THIS IMPORTANT TO TELL YOU ALL L. WHY, BECAUSE PIXIE IS ALWAYS LOOKING OUT FOR ME AND I ALWAYS CAN READ HER AND THIS ONE TIME WITH HER LOOKING BACK I DIDN'T REALIZE IT SO WHEN YOUR DOG IS DOING SOMETHING DIFFERENT PAY ATTENTION IT'S NOT THAT THEIR OFF OF THEIR GAME IT'S THAT THEY KNOW SOMETHING IS WRONG THAT YOUR NOT SENSING. I FIND IT VERY IMPORTANT TO ALL OF TO KNOW. MY SWEET GIRL WAS WORKING SO HARD TO LET US KNOW AND YET WE MISSED IT. ON THE POSITIVE TO OUR MALL ADVENTURE WE DID HAVE A GOOD DAY BESIDES LEARNING A VALUABLE LESSON.  MY SHINING STAR #TEAMPIXIE#