Living in rural Nevada

Now that school has started, so has my travel to rural areas of Nevada. Football (of course) Cross Country, Soccer, Volleyball, Forensics and I'm sure more that I haven't been asked to transport yet. This week I went to Winnemucca twice and took Jackpot to Twin Falls, Id. Next week I get to go to Reno and Las Vegas. Sound like fun? I've driven about 900 miles this week on trips. OK now that we got that over with............... Rick rode the motorcycle to Winnemucca to meet me. I took Spring Creek High School volleyball there for a 2 day tournament and since Rick has friday off and Zac was spending the night with a friend.............. it was fun. Volleyball didn't need much transporting since it was a tournament I took them there in the morning and picked them up later that night and took them to the Motel. And by the way don't stay at the
Motel 6. They have small rooms, terrible beds and the AC in our room was terrible! But we did go to a nice small town restaurant for breakfast. We had just met the Elko driver ..... Pam when the coach called me to tell me they had forgotten their practice balls on the bus. So Rick had to take me back to the motel (we had ridden the motorcycle) so I could take the bus and take the team their balls (no jokes! They're girls!) and I went back to The Griddle where we all had a fantastic breakfast. If you're ever in Winnemucca order the eggs florentine. It was wonderful. Rick had to leave after breakfast to go home and get Zac and Chance who had spent the night at the kennel. The owner of the kennel is the trainer we've been taking doggy classes from. Sharon is very knowledgeable trainer and we've been learning a lot. Sharon also breeds Aussie's and is helping us look for a puppy. I've talked to a number of breeder's this last week. We may have found one. A breeder in Riverton has a 12 week old red merle boy that ended up not going to Oregon to be a service dog so he may end up coming to Spring Creek to be our new family member. Keep your fingers crossed for us. We should know in the next few weeks if it's going to happen. I also found a blue merle girl in Richfield that needs a home. She is quite a beauty. I wish I could talk Rick into 2 new dogs but I know that's not going to happen. -long sigh- I'll be posting puppy search updates so stay tuned!

Summer

I haven't had much to say lately. Couldn't think of anything cute or intersting so..........
Zac started school last monday and is tickled to be back. He likes his teacher.... they have a program here where the teacher moves up with the class. Good if you like the teacher, bad if you don't. You can however get your child moved if you put up enough of a stink. I know a couple of parents who did, glad I didn't have to. So life goes on and summer is pretty much over. We do get a 4 day weekend here for labor day, something about being Nevada day. I never quite followed it, just another day off. I actually get to work fri-sat. Volleyball to Winnemucca for 2 days. Not sure why they're staying over night since it's only 125 miles away but hey I'll take the work! So keep posted and maybe I'll find something to write about..............................................................

Six year old's view........

This was sent to me in an email but I thought the advice after the story is so appropriate! So enjoy...........................
and yes the story made me cry and think of the companions we have lost and what an impact they were in our lives.

A Dog's Purpose (from a 6-year-old).

Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish Wolfhound named Belker. The dog's owners, Ron, his wife Lisa, and their little boy Shane, were all very attached to Belker, and they were hoping for a miracle.I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the family we couldn't do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home.As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for six-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience.The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker 's family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away.The little boy seemed to accept Belker's transition without any difficulty or confusion. We sat together for a while after Belker's Death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives. Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, 'I know why.'Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I'd never heard a more comforting explanation.He said, 'People are born so that they can learn how to live a good Life -- like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?' The Six-year-old continued, 'Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay as long.'

Live simply.

Love generously.

Care deeply.Speak kindly.

Remember, if a dog was the teacher you would learn things like:

When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.

Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure Ecstasy.

Take naps.

Stretch before rising.

Run, romp, and play daily.

Thrive on attention and let people touch you.

Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.

On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass.

On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.

When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body.

Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.

Be loyal.

Never pretend to be something you're not.

If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.

When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by, and nuzzle them gently.

ENJOY EVERY MOMENT OF EVERY DAY!

Got the call.....

I've still been running Queenstakes the last few days waiting for the final run. I took the 10 hr. truckshop guys in this AM and was planning on going to pick them up tonight. I only had 10 passengers from a high count of 30. Just a few minutes ago I got a call from dispatch telling me they had got the call that we are done at Queenstakes. Don't know how the 10 guys I took in this morning are getting home..... it's about 75 miles one way.... I'm guessing most of them have tools & stuff they need to get off property and I'm sure none of it will fit in the bus. I know how many tools these guys have........ lots....... a whole lots........! So life does go on... tommorrow is inservice training for the school district. I can't believe that school starts monday! Zac is so excited! He will also be happy that Mommy is sleeping at night and can do stuff with him during the day instead of sleeping all the time! So will Rick. We hated the KT schedule but hey what ya gonna do?

Surprise, surprise, surprise!

So for my 100th post I wanted to come up with soemthing neat or unique or I don't know special. So here it is......
The other day I told about getting the Queenstakes contract and driving to this neat mine. Today I had the 12 hr. underground miners. We got to the portal about 6:00 AM and the guys got off the bus. Then this big wig guy came out and asked me if I could wait as he needed to have a meeting with all of the miners. Sure I said, that's my job.... transporting the miners. So half an hour or so later the guys start coming out. Queenstakes is shutting down. Apparently investors totaling around $110 million.... yes million backed out. Which means no $ to run the mine. Most of the miners didn't seem to be surprised and all of them were on their cell phones making calls. And about half of them went home instead of working they were taking vacation or personal days that would be lost otherwise. KT only loses 3 runs so it's not a big issue for them. It's shaping up to be an interesting week!

Oh yea...........

And I forgot to add that my last post made # 98 so I guess this is #99. Ok I cheated a bit (do I use the term 'a bit' too much? picked it up from Eric whom I believe picked it up in Australia). See you for #100 next time.

Queenstakes

This is the Murray portal to the Jerritt Canyon Mine owned by Queenstakes. KT Services picked up the transportation contract 2 weeks ago and we started running up there last week. I say 'up' because it is about 60 or 70 or 80 miles North of Elko. Last week I ran the 10 hr. bus which meant getting up @ 1:30 Am to get ready and be to work at 3:00AM. The nice thing about that run was

A- the miners were pleasant.
B- I was done for the morning by 6:45 AM
C- I was done for the night by about 6:45 PM

This week I started the 12 hr. underground. This also meant getting up around 1:30 AM but I didn't get back to the KT lot till around 8:30 Am and I had to be back to work at 3:30 PM to do it all over again. Now figure in commuting back and forth to work and meals and...... you do the math. I've been sleeping at around 4 hr. shifts.... are the numbers starting to hurt your head too? After last nights shift and getting back a bit late I told the dispatcher that I would be happy to run it in the AM but it was too much for me to run it twice a day. That doesn't even count not getting to see my son or husband almost at all. Rick let Zac stay up just to say goodnight. So this morning after getting back just a bit later than later I had the rest of the day off! Yippee! And I was even a bit constructive too. Zac mopped his bathroom floor like his grandma taught his mom to do it (which means hands & knees and a rag). All in all it turned out to be not so bad a day.

Missing her

Barking Frogs Budha Belly

aka

Katie

1999-2008

Since I was missing Katie I thought I'd share some of her with everyone. It's been a week since she passed. It's still hard to believe she's gone. Katie waas an amazing sog. Her job was to round up all the dirty socks in the house. She wouldn't touch the clean ones and she never chewed them up. It was kind of funny when Chance thought they were toys. He wanted to play tug of war with Katie and Katie would proceed to let him know that they were not tug of war toys they were her job. You see Aussies need a job. They were bred to be herding dogs so they are very smart and are also active dogs. Their good with kids although they have a tendency to want to herd the little ones. So if you want a great all around dog get yourself an Aussie! And yes I am using this venue to help get through the feelings I have so I hope you will be patient with me.