Due to my missing the last Commissioners Court meeting, I got nothing on the meeting. Spent a week in Pensacola, Florida where the sand was white as sugar, the water was clear and temperatures reached the mid 90’s all week.
Last Thursday, the man who runs the reclaiming machine (affectionately known as Elvis) got a little overheated and succumbed to heat exhaustion. Thanks to Jim Lawler and his wife, Kathy, Elvis was transported to Urgent Care in Castroville. After an infusion of fluids and a short hospital stay in San Antonio, he was back on Monday to resume work. That means we did not get to work on Friday. That set us back a full day.
On Monday, Elvis was ready to get with the program and get the reclaiming process finished. We began at 7 AM and things were going well until…..we located a manhole cover that neither we nor the City knew was there. Before Elvis could shift the machine in neutral, he had broken 25 teeth off of the reclaimer. That shut us down for the rest of the day at 9 AM. The rest of the day involved repairs and a trip to San Antonio for parts. Set us back another day.
Repairs will be completed Tuesday morning and work will resume. The window is slowly closing on our efforts to complete the project before school starts. Looks like we will get through just before the window slams shut on us….barring more complications.
My right hand man, Jim Lawler, retired last Friday and went to South Padre for a week to celebrate his retirement. I know he was smiling when he heard the news. Not smiling because we were experiencing problems but, smiling because he don’t have to deal with it. Enjoy your retirement, Jim !!