Jerry hasn’t done a “Deep Thoughts” post in a while. I’m kind of embarrassed to even publish this one because he gets kind of gushy about me! But he’s insistent, so here he is…

It’s been a while. Usually I get on here and answer some questions that I find on various websites, but it’s been an eventful time for me, so I’ll write about that.

In late July I was asked to go work at a plant down in Texas for two weeks. They had been experiencing turnover and by losing some of their key operators a lot of knowledge was lost. So, they asked me and three others to go down to cover for the guys who were going to be training the new hires. 

The guys I was helping cover for were a select group that performed hot work on the assets and also traveled the world to other plants within my company to help. I have zero problem working in the extreme heat, and I actually enjoy it to a certain extent. I took the opportunity to learn as much as I could, working without complaint or hesitation. I learned quite a bit and had gotten some praise for my efforts. Hopefully this will afford me some other opportunities in the future. 

Texas. Texas was hot AF. 

I would get up around 4:45 am for work and it was already 85 degrees. When I would go to bed at 10:00 pm or so it was 100! Never seen anything like it. I had a case of water in my room and plowed through the water at work but it never seemed like enough.

We had the weekend off and the managers at the plant bought us tickets to the Texas Rangers game in Arlington. It did not disappoint! The seats were great and the game was a nail-biter. And the stadium, gorgeous. And it should be, seeing as how they spent $1.6 billion on it.

The next day, we went to a flea market called First Monday Canton. Apparently it’s the world’s largest flea market. In October they have somewhere close to 7,000 vendors across 450 acres. However, the weekend we went they “only” had about 1,000, and that’s just because of the heat. Overall, Texas was a good time. 

After being gone for two weeks in Texas, I was ready to be home. And I had a whole week off work, which was nice. I’d already had a trip planned with some old high school friends for the 3rd week in August. I hadn’t seen these friends in quite some time, but we had all somewhat stayed connected in the 24 years out of high school.

The plan was to go out to my friend’s cabin on the west side of the state for five days. That almost fell through with the torrential downpour and flooding we had with some storms during the night before we left.

On my way home from work that morning, I decided to take another route home because my normal route had become somewhat flooded and I didn’t want to drive through that. Everything was cool until I came upon a section of road that was getting completely covered with water. I had slowed down because I didn’t want to start hydroplaning. Another vehicle had other plans.

This person was driving super fast and started hydroplaning when they hit that section of road, which caused them to come into my lane. With the fear of getting hit I started to get over a little and that’s when the car started floating, completely out of my control, right into a ditch.

After dealing with the tow truck taking the car, the drive home (Eli picked me up), a call to the insurance company, no power at home, and a panic attack I was just ready to call the weekend. Be done with it. Katie was super insistent that I go out with my friends and enjoy the time. So that’s what I did. It was great to connect with good friends and just pick up right where we left off. I’m hoping that this will become an annual thing with us. 

*Gush alert*

After all my time away Katie had her hands full. She knows the opportunity that being in Texas was for me professionally and was beyond supportive of it. In many ways us being apart for two weeks helped bring us closer together. And then with the trip I had planned with my friends… what can I say? She was so insistent that I go, even though the timing was the worst ever.

To say I have the best wife ever would be an understatement. I truly lucked out with having a wife that I can talk to, someone who looks out for me and has my best interest at heart. We’ve been together for 24 years, married for 20 of them. We’ve grown a lot and essentially became adults together. I’m so crazy lucky that I found my soulmate so young. 

*End gush*  [Katie here–I *swear* I did not write that myself! And he neglected to mention that I was in a very grumpy mood and I didn’t even want to hear how much fun he was having while I was at home with no power.]

As for the future? There are some things on the horizon for me, hopefully they come true. Talks at work of me getting back on day shift again are still on-going. I’m still trying to create as much value as I can for the company, making me less expendable, and hopefully I’ll be compensated well for my efforts and knowledge.

Personally, at home, things are starting to look up. Noah started a full-time job as well as continuing his college classes. Eli started back to school today and everything seems to be tracking in the right direction for him. Katie and I, we are good. As I type this I’m watching her read her Kindle on this floor pillow she has and she’s so f**king adorable. She’s way out of my league.

PS: Thank you all for the support you’ve shown our family over the years. It means a lot to me to know that Katie has had so much support from total strangers when she needs it the most.