skip to main |
skip to sidebar
I have posted similar stories in the past, but with Hurricane Harvey pounding the Texas coastline I thought it presented a good occasion to relive my past.
I drove for Wal-Mart Transportation from 1997 until 2010 when I was forced to retire with back problems. It was a job I really enjoyed since everyday was different and challenging....especially during emergencies.
I was part of the fleet to assist when Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Ike played havoc with the Gulf Coast...
During times of extreme emergencies FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) knows they can depend on Wal-Mart to provide relief to stricken areas. This photo was taken just days ago as supplies were transported to South Texas in anticipation of Hurricane Harvey's arrival.
They all seem to merge after the years, but after Ike or Rita FEMA had the Wal-Mart Fleet trucks assemble at Reliant Stadium in Houston to be dispatched to areas of concern. Each truck had a state trooper or sheriff's car assigned to it, and we were escorted with red lights flashing all the way to our destination.
There were other trucks also called in to deal with the huge problem of supplying communities that had survived the ordeal and now were without essential services of electricity and water. Johnson and Johnson, Ozarka, Campbells Soups, and many other companies came through with sizable donations to the effort. The Department of Transportation told us drivers to forget about log books and we were exempt from the limited number of hours we could drive. This was a life and death situation and one many of us would never forget.
My first load was a trailer filled with water (Ozarka) and I took it to the small town of Splendora, Texas just north of Houston. The community didn't even have a Wal-Mart Store and a crowd of a few hundred people were at the city hall looking for assistance. They broke out in cheers when they saw the Wal-Mart truck coming. I honked my air-horn to get even more attention. While police cruisers went up and down local streets to inform people that fresh water was available at city hall, a group of individuals tried to unload the water right from the trailer. Luckily for us, one local businessman had a bobcat to help with the unloading process.
Members of the local football team and FFA chapter put a case of water in the trunk of each car that passed by the city hall. Other trailers had Huggies diapers (J&J) for those with infants in the family.
My second load went to Morgan City, Louisiana and as I made my way to that store I passed small boats and yachts stuck in treetops some 30-35 feet up in the air. New Orleans and Morgan City are both some 10-15 feet below sea level and really took it tough when the levees were unable to hold back Lake Pontchartrain on one side and the Gulf of Mexico on the other. The Wal-Mart store was flooded but store employees were outside and ready to lend a hand in unloading the trailer and giving out supplies...
The transportation fleet was not the only group of heroes in action after the storm. I passed this scene many times as I made my way to various stores with supplies. The power/electrical guys were trying their best to restore power to the area. Some families were without electricity for weeks after all three hurricanes that I worked. It was not unusual to spot trucks from as far away as Missouri, Tennessee, and Iowa that came down to assist with the gigantic problem. The Red Cross was also everywhere making sure all of the workers and drivers had food to keep them going.
Sack lunches included a sandwich, apple or orange, candy bar, and a bag of chips. Doesn't sound like much now, but at the time it sure hit the spot with a cup of hot coffee.
I was also dispatched to a Wal-Mart store in Chalmette, Louisiana, but when I arrived the store was completely gone... Nothing but a concrete slab was left as the giant wall of water took the store away. Store employees showed up to assist with handing out blankets and water to survivors of the storm.
I was privileged to be among the helpers of three hurricanes, so I know the current members of the Wal-Mart Fleet are already doing what is necessary to assist South Texas as Hurricane Harvey slowly makes his way out of the state. Drive safe drivers.. others are depending on your arrival with the essentials of life. God Bless you all...
2017 Denison Football Season
Sept 1- Trinity Christian of Addison 24 Denison 28 (1-0)
Sept 7- Denison 21 Frisco 10 (2-0)
Sept 15- # 8 Abilene Wylie 23 Denison 24 (3-0)
Sept 21- Denison 57 Frisco Heritage 65 (3-1)
Sept 29- Wichita Falls 21 Denison 55 (4-1) (1-0) *
Oct 6- O P E N D A T E (no game)
Oct 13- Denison 41 Wichita Falls Rider 38 O.T. (5-1) (2-0) *
Oct 20- Denton 14 Denison 35 (6-1) (3-0) *
Oct 27- Denison 56 Little Elm Braswell 0 (7-1) (4-0) *
Nov 3- #3 Denton Ryan 56 Denison 16 (7-2) (4-1) *
Nov 10- Denison 49 Sherman 24 (8-2) (5-1) * (Battle of the Axe)
*= District 5 AAAAA Games
Nov 17- Bi-District Playoff Game
Denison 35 Saginaw Boswell 39 (Season Final)
Pre-Season Games
August 3rd Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio
Arizona Cardinals 18 Dallas Cowboys 20
August 12th
Dallas Cowboys 10 Los Angeles Rams 13
August 19th
Indianapolis Colts 19 Dallas Cowboys 24
August 26th
Oakland Raiders 20 Dallas Cowboys 24
August 31st
Dallas Cowboys/Houston Texans CANCELLED
Due to Hurricane Harvey & Flooding
Regular Season Games
Sept 10th
New York Giants 3 Dallas Cowboys 19 (1-0)
Sept 17th
Dallas Cowboys 17 Denver Broncos 42 (1-1)
Sept 25th
Dallas Cowboys 28 Arizona Cardinals 17 (2-1)
October 1st
Los Angeles Rams 35 Dallas Cowboys 30 (2-2)
October 8th
Green Bay Packers 35 Dallas Cowboys 31 (2-3)
October 15th
Bye Week// No Game this week
October 22nd
Dallas Cowboys 40 San Francisco 49'ers 10 (3-3)
October 29th
Dallas Cowboys 33 Washington Redskins 19 (4-3)
November 5th
Kansas City Chiefs 17 Dallas Cowboys 28 (5-3)
November 12th
Dallas Cowboys 7 Atlanta Falcons 27 (5-4)
November 19th
Philadelphia Eagles 37 Dallas Cowboys 9 (5-5)
November 23rd
San Diego Chargers 28 Dallas Cowboys 6 (5-6)
November 30th
Washington Redskins 14 Dallas Cowboys 38 (6-6)
December 10th
Dallas Cowboys 30 New York Giants 10 (7-6)
December 17th
Dallas Cowboys 20 Oakland Raiders 17 (8-6)
December 24th
Seattle Seahawks 21 Dallas Cowboys 12 (8-7)
December 31st
Dallas Cowboys 6 Philadelphia Eagles 0 (9-7)
Previous posts will attest how my wife and I are big into restoring old furniture and appliances back to life. For years our next door neighbor was an elderly woman in her 90's. My wife took her shopping and ran errands for her when she was forced to give up her driving abilities. She had gone through three husbands and all of them worked for the railroad. Near the end, she gave my wife a lot of items of interest. They included a pot belly stove that was used to heat the caboose of a train, some old locomotive wheels, kerosene lanterns, and other train related stuff.. One of the items was a rusty hulk of what used to be a sewing machine base. The actual machine was gone, but the undercarriage was there. It sat outside in the elements for almost twenty years before we decided to do something with it..
I used a steel brush to knock off the biggest part of the rust, and then I went to a steel bristled brush on the end of a drill gun. That did a great job and, in some cases, took it right down to the metal. The foot treadle was frozen in place, but that was okay since it was not going to be used for sewing. We decided to convert it to a desk. While I was working on the metal base Momma was building a desk top to replace the sewing machine cabinet..
She used some pine planks as a base and, to make it smooth enough to be used as a desk, she filled in the cracks with small dowel rods. An electric sander smoothed off the dowels and made it really slick. We could have painted or dark stained the top, but thought that might overpower the base,..which we decided to paint a crimson maroon..
Yes, we did Google 'Farm & Ranch' and could find no background on anything sewing machine related. The maroon paint claimed to be a satin finish, but it came out a bit more glossy than this photo shows. I used two cans of Rust-oleum paint and the spray made easy work to the tight and hard-to-reach spots on the machine. I believe it to be made from cast iron due to the weight of the undercarriage, which is about 40-45 pounds..
Momma really did a super job on the desktop, alternating light and dark stain on the pine planks. She used a jigsaw to cut out the sides and backstop of the desk.. and just in case someone wants to check out the underside of the desk..
She made sure to stain it also. That way it doesn't look like some shade-tree operation. Speaking of the stain, Momma didn't like any of the stains we have accumulated over the years, so she mixed some of them together to come up with the final shade. Not too dark and not too light. The whole project was her idea so I just made some suggestions,..and did the heavy lifting.
As a last minute touch...She highlighted the brand name by touching it with some gold paint. Since it is such an unknown brand, we thought might as well play it up to attract attention.
Momma tries it out for size and proper height. It seems like a natural fit but we will not be keeping it for ourselves. It has already been promised.
The desk will be donated to the Think Pink auction coming up this Fall. Think Pink does a lot of good work in the fight against breast cancer in the area of North Texas and Southern Oklahoma. It will go to the highest bidder and we are hoping someone will appreciate it as much as we do. We both think it came out super and will make a valued addition to someone's home office or den.
