Running a race

6/22/12 Friday

          Always a lot to do and some days more than others. One of the ladies we serve has let us use her car until we can get the trucks up and running. On the way to her house, where I needed to investigate why her water pressure had dropped to just a trickle, we ran out of gas. We were in Cherie’s truck that does not have a working fuel gauge and in all the commotion had forgot to check the mileage and put gas in it. I got the other truck towed to where Cherie works so it can be worked on safely. Meantime I am pushing to get that model AA truck running. The electronic ignition came back from the manufacturer after being tested. It was working just fine so the problem is somewhere else in that old truck. Hopefully it was the generator that I replaced with a custom built alternator made just for the six volt positive ground systems in the old Fords.

          We will need to replace the pressure tank at Mary’s place as that was why the water was not running well. Hopefully the constant on and off that her well pump was subjected to because the pressure tank bladder has a hole in it hasn’t caused permanent damage. It had shut itself off several times now. When she has funds I will put a new tank in for her, but those cost over $260.00 and she has to scrape to find that much. I am working on building an irrigation system for the 26 pecan trees that have barely survived and show just a touch of green. It will consist of circles I will make from some of the irrigation tubing someone donated to us for the farm, each with an appropriate number of drip emitters to supply to the root systems.

          Meantime there are ears of corn forming in our corn patch and I need to make the time to administer mineral oil and BT, a bacteria that attacks the corn worms that destroy so much of the crop. That is a painstaking process that involves squirting the oil mix directly on the tassels at the top of each ear of corn. The watermelons are growing well but most of the cantaloupe has been destroyed by rabbits. I never quite found the time to create more wire cages to protect them from attack.

          We are looking to find investors and help to create an RV park on this farm. That would provide the badly needed income that would allow me to purchase essentials for farming and to hire some help. There is just more work to do here than one man can handle, especially when I am working other jobs elsewhere to help pay the bills.

          It looks like we will lose that job we made a company for to secure and maintain properties for banks. They called yesterday and asked if I had obtained the required liability insurance yet. That had been waived when I started because I wasn’t sure if there would be enough income to justify the expense. Well there isn’t and because we do not have that insurance they will no longer give us work. We didn’t make a lot and it was a constant battle to get paid for what we did but it was work I can do on my schedule. No worries, God will provide.

          If we can build an RV park that would solve so many problems. 20 spaces would provide $120,000.00 a year and 40 would gross nearly a quarter of a million dollars each year. It would cost about $8,000 a space to build and I am confident that it can be done for much less. This would be an investment that could be paid off in two years, with interest.

          I have to hit the road folks, so that is all for now. Here is a thought. It is not starting a race that matters, or even how you run midway through it, though both are important. It is how you finish that matters. There are many who have started well, and were impressive as they went, but faltered as the cares of the world and personal flaws they decided to keep, led them off the course. There are many who are now striving for the wrong finish line and the end is not going to be good. So keep your eye on the prize before you and examine your hearts to insure you are not running in vain.