My poor blog is starving, so I better feed it.  Sorry for the delay.  I had such a great time at home last week with all our family, I just didn't want to come back.  It was so great reconnecting with all of you as well.  Regardless, I'm back in the cold, wet, white, confusing north.

Stone cold 4-wheelin'
Let's talk about the weather, just to get things started (or to break the ice - that's a North Dakota joke.)  Today is May 30th - how can it be snowing on May 30th?  Maybe because it's 30 degrees?  No, I'm not kidding.  Didn't stick on the ground, but big white flakes were falling as I was driving from Minot to Max ND.  Could it have something to do with the numbers 48.2325° N, 101.2958° W?   Put those coordinates into your GPS and snow will start falling wherever you are.  I should have got a picture of it but it wouldn't turn out in the dark.  So once again, I'm wearing my wool socks.

So last night I was out driving in a van looking for a engineer from Canadian Pacific (in the May snow) who had somehow got off his train and they left him...  Some of these railroad people are really not all that bright.  Anyway, I was 4-wheeling around (that part was fun) in the pitch dark through farmland and muddy roads (amazing that I didn't get stuck out there) looking for this guy.  What's worse is that he was trying to direct me out to his location and I could hardly understand his speech over the radio.  I got a CP dispatcher on my cell and he was helping me, and the engineer I was trying to find kept trying to talk to me over the radio at the same time.  He just wouldn't be quiet.  It was almost hopeless.

I finally see in the distance a small light swinging back and forth - it was him and his lantern.  So I had to figure out how to get to him across acres of farmland.  Finally made it over to him and picked him up.  I also learned why I was having such a hard time understanding him over the radio.  He was breathing/speaking through a stoma (sp?) in his neck.  I felt so sorry for the guy, but he moved pretty well for an older dude and he seemed like one of those types that cheats death at every turn.  However, you know what he had to do before we left to take him back to his depot?  You guessed it - he had a smoke.  I'm not sure how he did it and I didn't want to know.

Jeepers creepers
I fancy myself a somewhat hearty and bold critter tolerator.  I can put up with most non-human creatures (and even think some are cool.)  Rodents, snakes, spiders, scorpions, insects (mosquitos and cockroaches being exceptions for obvious reasons) do not make me squeamish in the least.  Well, today I met my match.  Dermacentor variabilis, or in layman's terms, the American Dog Tick.  Oh_my_gosh.  I don't know where it came from.  I was sitting in my car talking to my wife on the phone and I noticed this, what I thought was a strange looking beetle, crawling up my sweatshirt sleeve.  On closer evaluation, I discovered what it was - this arachnid really made my flesh crawl, with its little flailing legs...  I couldn't even take a picture of it for fear that its image would somehow invade my ear whist talking on the phone.  Did you know that ticks' eyes are on their backs?  Moreover they can spread some bad diseases.  I managed to squish it with my car keys.  That's the last time I'll scratch my ears with those keys...  I got home and showered for at least an hour, even though it never touched my skin.  And yes, I checked everywhere else.  In fact, for the last few hours I still have phantom sensations of something crawling on my legs, arms, torso, and neck.  I may never sleep soundly again.

From the "Strange News" files
Well, add another point to and a cheer for workplace diversity.  We just hired a cross-dresser.  Really.  Not the girl eating soup from a cup.  The *other* one.  North Dakota is a confusing place.

Hooray for me
I was just informed today that out of 53 drivers working at PTI, I have the #1 rating for customer satisfaction with the railroaders.  Criteria is based on demonstrated safe driving, knowledge of the region, and on-time percentage.  In fact, they want me to go to Minnesota to work with a PTI branch there that is having some problems.  It's nice to know that I stand out among felons, derelicts, and reformed ax murderers.