22nd November

There are a number of things I need to tell you about in today's posting. First of all I have obviously upset an awful lot of people by my fishing and hunting exploits. I have received abusive comments, threats and just plain insulting comments. So to those nameless, anonymous cowards who won't even sign their name I would like to say;

GET OVER IT AND HERE IS A PICTURE OF MY RIFLE

This blog was first of all set up for family and friends to keep a track of what we are up to and as a diary. If you don't like what you read or what we are doing then the choice is easy, don't read it. Anyone is free to leave comments and it is good to receive these but from now on only signed comments will be posted. All that said I would like to thank the genuine readers and hope you continue to follow this blog.

Gary found out this week that he has lost his job and as from yesterday is unemployed. That really is typical of the construction industry at this time of year. As temperatures reached -16c (-21c with wind chill) this week there isn't a lot of outdoor work. So job hunting starts all over again for him.

Sue really is doing well in her job, what started as part time has turned into more than full time. The last two weeks she has done 96 hours. As she has now proved she is capable they are trusting her more and more, she has even been training new staff this week.

Craig is still working at Safeway, and also getting quite a few hours. He is still dating Jacey, been a few months now.

You may have noticed that I haven't really posted a lot about my job recently. I have also had a number of comments criticising me for changing jobs!!!! Things haven't been going all that well in this one either. The trucks and trailers have proved not to be the most reliable. In the few short weeks I have been there I have had 3 major breakdowns costing me time and causing me to lose money. I have been trying to get him to fit new tires on the trailer for 2 weeks. There is not any preventative maintenance carried out on the vehicles, the trucks get an oil change every 15000 miles and that's it. Last week I lost 2 wheel studs, the rest were loose and he wanted me to drive to the nearest tire shop to get it repaired. I refused and it turned out I needed 2 new wheels and a new hub, they took 3 working days to repair it. This week I have some kind of electrical problem on the truck, the ECU I think. I will be driving down the interstate and the engine will just die, I lose everything, lights, power steering the lot. Then it won't start, leave it a while, keep trying then eventually I get ignition lights and it starts again. I was on my way to Elrosa Mn this week and in a 30 mile stretch it done this 4 times. Had a shop look at it, clean all battery leads and terminals but couldn't find anything. Next morning it done it twice in a 10 mile drive to my delivery so called in again and was told to head to Fergus Falls and see how it goes. It actually went ok till I got to my load point in Fergus Falls, it cut out once while loading and once while scaling out. Was told to start heading home and see how it goes. To cut a long story short I got it back but don't know what happens next week now, I can't risk taking it anywhere, if it cuts out or dies during the night I still have no night heater, that hasn't worked since the second night in the truck so the truck idles 24 hours a day to keep it warm. We will see how this all turns out, winter really isn't a good time to try and find other work.