My buddy MK came over this evening bearing gifts for my daughter's wedding. Morgan, my daughter, considers Mike (MK) to be her "other dad." She has known him for almost as long as she had been alive. MK is a doctor and he recently found out that he will be on call for her wedding night. Because of that fact, he will not be able to enjoy any strong drink at the reception, so he came over with a fifth of Scotch (Dalwhinnie--15 year old) and he and I consumed much (though not all) of it. We could celebrate a little before hand, since he will not be able to imbibe on Friday night.

Mike is a great friend. Morgan my daughter came home and visited with us for a while. We looked a pictures and some You Tube videos of Cats, the best wedding dance and Poo Poo Broussard. It was a good night.

More when I am able to get the time to do so.

Kenith

One of my good friends at work decided to have a little fun at my expense. I just checked my Email and found a letter from Craig C, who is working to day, in the in box. (BTW- He did not misspell Huguenot. It is spelled the way he intended) Here is what he wrote:

SWLA Public Avoidance #1

Though he is little known to everyone, The Cajun Huganut Monk named public avoidance #1 by Church leaders and acquaintances around South West Louisiana has been making waves in the Community. Along with fellow Huganut’s, mostly dysfunctional converts, his writings appears frequently by E-Mail, Forums, Blogs. There, he addresses ridiculously unimportant topics of little or no significance, free from the censorship imposed by PCA, SBC, FBI, OCW or COP authorities as seen in the infamous cartoons of Huganut portraying a Top Operator. Huganut’s informs on little-known and unimportant not to mention boring information have become a thorn in the side of any who are in ears distance of Huganut.

Incapable of concentrating; the only strategy left for Huganut is printing tons of useless unimportant, uninteresting information (which has sparked a $50 bounty on his head by the United Paper Workers due to increasing amounts of Overtime & a $500 by several environmental groups “Tree Huggers”). When his name is mentioned, the public cringes. Knowing him as a boring trouble-making, who is backed by Pappy Van Winkle. They could easily refute his points, they insist, “but who cares”.

Huganut is an unusual figure: Robed in Red Velvet, with a huge flask around his neck, he sits with both the Gun and the Internet in easy reach. Huganut’s followers are one of the newest most unusual bunches (plum weird, outcast) among the communities in SWLA. In many respects come to personify the term “different”. But the fiery Huganut does not submit, and minces no words; He confuses everyone. He has singly made his Blogism which he uses to highlight his own boring info on anyone that will receive it.

The result? Mass confusion. The very public conversion of high-profile Tribal Missionary. Who only stopped for directions, is only the tip of the iceberg. Indeed, someone stated a while back that there are about “a” convert to the Huganut’s annually, many of them persuaded by Intoxication.

I immediately called Craig at work. I told him that the only part that bothered me was the fact that it was all true. We had a good laugh together.

Kenith

Yesterday, My Father-in-law and I went fishing. We caught a few pass. Most of them were small and we only had one "keeper" so we released all of them. On the way back to town we stopped in Gillis and ate cheese burgers at Boskies (spelling?).

Lisa went with Donna to see a doctor in Houston. I picked up the boys at school and fixed supper.

It was a pretty normal day.

This morning I completed a biography (published in 1908) of Erasmus, by John Alfred Faulkner. It was a good and informative read. This is the first full biography of Erasmus that I've read. I've read a good bit about him in the past, but it was good to get this bigger picture of this important man.

Later
Kenith

In my blog the other day I did not mention what we did Friday before last. Woody and the boys and I (later to be joined by MK) went to Longville. We went to fish at my sister's pond and Woody brought is new kayak. The fishing sucked, but we had a good time with the kayak.

----

Today the boys, my Paw-in-law and I went to Longville again. I did catch one small bass, but other than that they were not biting. After that we went to my parents house for coffee. My brother Terry had caught a bunch of bass at the pond earlier in the day. He fried them at and they were great.

Tonight I made a several posts on Christian forums' Semper Reformanda defending my post titled Luther and Erasmus. Lisa and I also went on an evening walk around the neighbourhood.

Later,
Kenith

Ps. Yes, thats me all wet in the kayak. I was the first person to flip the kayak/ I was trying to catch a small turtle.

Saturday, we boiled and dyed eggs for Easter. Sunday we worshipped at Bethel and then returned home. We returned home and at dinner, Lisa had prepared Spaghetti and it was very good. After dinner I hid eggs for the boys and they hunted eggs. They were competing to see who was the best egg hunter. It was very unusual, because they tied three times.

After the egg hunts we went to the porch were we were joined by Elizabeth and Woody. We paqued eggs. (Pâques is the French word for Easter) Paquing eggs is old Cajun tradition. Two people battle to see who has the toughest egg. We do this by tapping the pointy end of two eggs together until one of the eggs cracks. The strongest egg wins.

The above pictures are the boys paquing with Elizabeth and Woody. (BTW: Their baby -- we call her/him Pudin Tater -- is due in May). If you look closely at Woody's egg you will see that he lost that battle.

On Monday the boys and I went to Florida to visit Christian. While in Pensicola we visited and old fort, the Naval Aviation. One extra treat is that the Blue Angels train every morning at 8:30 and you can watch them for free. It was a great treat.

We came back home Wednesday. We stopped in Mobile and toured the USS Alabama, etc...

It was good to see Christian and the boys had a great time.

Later,

Kenith

I finished my graveyard shift this morning. We had a busy set of nights at work. Usually nights are rather slow. You get to work, make relief with the person who work the same job that day, get a cup off coffee, log onto a computer, read the notes from the previous shift, read your orders for the night, check your email, and then make a round through your units (i.e. if you are an "outside operator" you go to your units and check out your equipment or if your on the "board person" and running things from the control room , you look over the units on several computer screens. You observe the flows, temperatures pressures, etc... on on your equipment).

We had lots of pumps, compressors, units and other items to prepare or put back in service this series of nights, so that kept us busy, The units that were running were struggling so the folks running the board (the control computers) were also busy. I'm the "top operator" on our shift. The top operator is not a foreman, the "top" is more like a lead man. The "top" works with both the inside and outside operators. He also is the one who communicates with the shift foreman.

Well, I finished this morning and I've started vacation and won't go back to work for a couple of weeks. Hallelujah!!!!

I hope to take the boys fishing Friday. They start their Easter holiday on Good Friday.

One more thing. Today is the 25th anniversary of Lisa and my first date. I had flowers sent to her at work today. I can remember the day of our first date because it was three days before my 23 birthday.

Our first date was a near blind date. I had seen her once before, from a distance, in the dark. My brother Terry decided to set us up. He bugged me for days to go out with Lisa, I was not sure what she looked like, and finally gave in and agreed to a double date, just to get him off my back.

Lisa and I met on March 19, 1983 and five and a half months later we got married. We've had our bumps, but it has been a good match. We have had a good relationship. I've got as good or better marriage than anyone else I know. God has blessed me with a beautiful wife, who is my best friend and the mother of our four children.

Later,
Kenith

Today was a typical day in my life. I got up with Lisa and the kids. Lisa took the boys to school and then she left for work. I took it easy this morning. I Wrote on my blog, posted on some blogs I visit and on Christian Forums. I read some and did a little cleaning.

After that I ran some errands returned home, did a few exorcises and some more cleaning, mostly in the garage and kitchen. When the time came I picked up the boys at school. They climbed into the truck bed and we came home.

My youngest son and I played sword fighting in the backyard for a while. He won the sword fight. For supper the boys and I made omelets. The broke the eggs, mixed them, poured them in the pan and added the condiments and I did the folding and serving. Lisa called when she left work for home and I made her an omelet so that it was ready when she got home.

As the sun was going down we built a fire in the fire pot on the porch and talked for a while. As the fire was burning down and it was time for the boys to take their baths, we came inside. Now I will go say their prayers with them and get ready for bed. Then Lisa and I will visit some more.

That's a fairly typical day in my fairly mundane life. I enjoy my life (most of the time).

Coram Deo,
Kenith

Yesterday, I got up with the family. I brought the boys to school, came home and spoke with Morgan about a paper she’s writing for school. Then I went to St. Michael’s Episcopal Church for their Wednesday morning Eucharist service.

After that I picked up lunch for Morgan and then for Lisa. Mona Kay was there to visit Lisa and so I hung out for a while and visited with them. I then went to Lake Street Liquor Store to discuss what I needed for Morgan and Danny’s wedding reception. While there I picked up a fifth of Scotch and a bottle of Ouzo.

I came back to home in time to pick the boy’s up from school. The boys jumped in the back of the truck and we headed to the house. When I got home I played fetch with Oakly for a good while.

Gary J. came over. I offered him a Guinness or we could try the new Scotch I had picked up. He opted for the Scotch. I got the bottle, jiggers, ice, and we sat of the porch and poured a couple of jiggers of Aberlour 12 year old single malt Scotch. It is a good Scotch.

Woody saw us on the porch as he was driving by, and so he pulled in and joined us on the porch. We had a very good visit while enjoying our Scotch. MK also showed up later that evening as did Elisabeth.

It was a good day full of family and friends.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

Marc, one of my best friends while in the Navy, has emailed some old pictures to me. These pictures were taken while he and I were on "Detachment" to Atzugi, Japan and on board the USS Lockwhood (1981). Here they are:

Hanger surfing after a hard rain at NAS Atzugi

Chief Bynoe and me (in my flight suit)

Me on the flight line at Atzugi.

That's me and Chief Bynoe behind me on the flight line.

Getting ready to take off. (Cool eye glasses)

Me on board the USS Lockwood.

Marc going for a flight.

The H-2 Sea Sprite a fearful war machine of the Cold War.

Our view out of the "console" widow when coming in for a landing on the Lockwood.

A little R&R on board the Lockwood

Don Ferguson, (unknown), Ric Rew, and that me in the yellow
Ric having a little fun.

Marc and me on a train somewhere in Japan

Chief Gino Fuller, Jeff Faucher and me eating in Japan

That is me at a train station.

Jeff, me and Marc at Ground Zero (Hiroshima, Japan)

The Atomic Dome - one of the few buildings to survive the atomic blast in Hiroshima. Today it's a memorial of that day when the power of the atom was released on man.
Marc, thanks for the pictures. Sorry I took so long getting them on the blog. I've been working too much.

Later,

Kenith

Our latest shutdown is over. When I walked out the gate this morning, my part in the unit start up was over. We are ready to finish starting up but we were prevented from doing so because of problems in other areas of the refinery. Once again our area leader pulled everyone of the shutdown before it was completed, but I am glad that I will be able to stay home and sleep in my own bed tonight. I will also get a full day off work tomorrow before I start days on my regular shift on Thursday.

This morning after leaving work I went to Izzy's and fed his dog. He has been out of town and I take care of his dog when ever he is gone. After feeding his dog I came home and played fetch with Oakly for a little while. It is 37 degrees outside, that is cold for this time of the year. The sun was coming up as I tossed Oakly's toy and there were bird's singing. It was so nice.

After that I went inside and woke the boys for school. I am now getting ready t go to bed and Lisa will finish getting the boys feed and off to school.

Kenith

I was yanked from my regular shift earlier this week and placed on another shutdown. We had trouble in one area which dominoed through the refinery. The original troubles did not affect us, but when one of the units was starting back up, they sent bad product to our charge tank and that bad product took us out.

This shut down was not bad. We have done what was needed and tonight we should start coming back up and should be up and running by tomorrow sometime, if all goes as it should. I am hoping this is true, so I can have a couple of days off before I have to start back on days Thursday.

On Friday Lisa drove to Pensacola to visit Christian and she came home again today. Morgan and Kim (a niece) watched the boys while Lisa was out of town.

I have been doing a lot of searches and downloading from Google Books. It is a treasure trove. Books in the public domain can be downloaded for free. I am now going to do a new searh there as soon as I post this blog entry.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

I made a quick run to Pensacola on Friday. It started raining about the time I crossed over into Mississippi and rained the rest of the way to Pensacola. I got there about 4 PM and spent the evening with Christian and a few of his friends. First we went to an Irish Pub for Supper. They had their own micro brewed beer and so we tried some of that. They were OK. Later we stopped and had another beer at a bar near the base and then we called it a night (around 9:30).

On Saturday Christian and I went to the Naval Aviation Museum at NAS Pensacola and visited an old fort that once guarded the harbor. That afternoon we grilled some steaks on base. A number of his friends joined us and brought their own items to throw on the grill. We, cooked, ate and threw a football around for a while, then as it was getting dark I got into the Jeep Liberty and headed back for home. It was a short, but good visit with my eldest son.

Sunday, I had to go in and work some overtime.

Kenith

Today was my first day off in over two weeks and I spent it taking care of things that should have been done a week ago. I helped a Lisa ...

To be continued Sunday.

I finished my long stretch of working with no days of. I worked off yesterday evening. Yesterday I woke up at 4:40 AM and left the house by 5:15. I got the the refinery fifteen minutes later. When I arrived I went to our central control room to make relief with the Patrick, who worked the night shift.

After Patrick had informed me of the night's events he headed out and I with two "board people." They are the folks who actually run the units in our area. They both sit in front of 7 or 8 computer screens, monitoring, and running things. Ours is one of only one of a number of such boards in the central control room.

After visiting with the guys (one is a gal) on the board, I headed down to the satellite. Two separate progressions work out of our satellite. and both progressions have top operator, two board operators (in the central control room) and three outside operators.

On getting to the satellite, I poured myself a cup of coffee, logged on to the computer, and started getting read for the arrival of maintenance and construction workers who have to come to the top operator to get written permission to go to work. After three cups of coffee I was satisfied that all was ready at my desk. Then I picked up an air monitor, which monitors Carbon Dioxide, Hydrogen Sulfide, the "lower explosive limit" of hydrocarbons (e.g. gasoline, propane, etc...) and oxygen and clipped it on to my shirt. I strapped on my tool-belt, which contains a two way radio, pipe wrench, and pliers, and left the satellite and made a walk through all the areas that we are responsible for. While I made my walk about the area, the outside operators began their much more detailed rounds through their own sections (units) of our area.

My walk about took between 15 to 20 minutes. I came back inside, got some more coffee and returned to my desk and started a very busy day. At the end of the work day I came home to my wife and children.

Later,
Kenith

I still have not had a day off since Mardi Gras evening. I have one more 12 hour day to go. When I work off tomorrow evening, I will not have to go back to work until next Monday night. I've been having sinus trouble for about three weeks and it has developed into an infection. My good friend, MK, is a doctor and he gave me an antibiotic perscription. Picked it up at Walgreens last night and I'm hoping to be over this trouble soon.

Well, It's time for me to help the boys with their homework.

Later,
Kenith

I'm again working too much. I've not had a day off since the evening of Feb. 5 and I dont get time off until the 21st of theis month. I did flip flop from nights to days, working off on the 15th and starting days on the 16th.

Not mch to write about other than that.

Kenith

I started working the graveyard shift last Wednesday at 5:30 PM. For those of us on our regular shift the night was uneventful, but we do have another shutdown in our area. A part of one of our units is down for maintenance. Craig C. and Mike O. are off their regular shift working the shutdown.

The second night I brought stuff to cook for everyone. I made pain perdu (i.e. French toast) and bacon for everyone. Cajun pain perdu does not need syrup. It is plenty sweet on its on. I made sure it was ready for everyone before midnight, because of lent. I wanted everyone to eat the bacon too. The pain perdu was well received by everyone and enjoyed cooking it.

On the third night (Friday evening) Craig C. and Steve L. brought fish (speckled trout, sac-a-lait [also known as white perch or crappie] and bass) for a fish fry. Steve fried the fish and it was sooo good. They brought and cooked so much fish that we ate it two nights in a row.

At this moment I'm watching tv with my beautiful wife and I will soon have to get ready for work.

Later,
Kenith

Watching the SuperBowel. I am pulling for NY Giants because I'm a Manning fan. I used to go and watch the N.O. Saints practice when Archie Manning was the QB. As a teenager, I was a big fan of the father and so I pull for the younger Mannings when they play.

The second half is about to begin so this is all I'm gonna post for now.

Later,
Kenith

Here is South Louisiana we are quickly coming up on Mardi Gras. I happen to enjoy Mardi Gras season. As a kid, I lived in Destrehan, then a small town up river from New Orleans and as I kid I loved the parades, the beads and doubloons. On Mardi Gras day my parents would take us kids down town New Orleans every Mardi Gras Day. We all loved it and my sister still travels to New Orleans for Mardi Gras just abut every year.

My Dad grew up in French speaking family in and round New Orleans. They were partly Cajun and partly French Creole. and so he grew up with New Orleans Mardi Gras. My mom was raised a Praire Cajun on a farm outside small town of Basile in Evangeline Parish and so I always had that link to rural of Cajun Mardi Gras a well.

Last night MK and I took his son and my younger children to see the Lost Bayou Ramblers at NuNu's in Arnaudville. On our way we stopped in Grand Coteau and picked up Daved (Dah veed). Louie Michot and the rest of the Lost Bayou Ramblers were great and we (as the old Cajuns used to say) "passed a good time."

This morning MK and his son met the boys and me at the Lake Charles Civic Center for a Gumbo Cook off. There was lots of gumbo and Kevin Naquin and the Ossun Playboys were playing some very good traditional Cajun Music. We passed good time once more and eat lots of good gumbo and cracklins.

I need to get ready for bed so I can get up for church tomorrow.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

This week we have received some good news and some bad news regarding Morgan's and Christian's injuries. On the good side, Morgan will not have to have surgery and is starting to get around better. The bad new is Christian will have to have surgery on his knee. When is the surgery? That is something we do not yet know.

After the surgery he will have several months before he will be able to get a new set of orders to a permanent duty station. This mean that he will still be in Pensacola in April and there should be no problem getting home for his sisters wedding.

We are moving into full blown Mardi Gras season here in South Louisiana. I am hoping that I can bring the boys to the Mardi Gras parade in either Lafayette or Lake Charles, but we are having serious problems at work (again) and I may be forced to work my days off. I should be off Saturday for sure, and perhaps we can make some events then. Mardi Gras can be good family fun and it can be very raunchy. I would like to do some of the family stuff with the kids.

I have to get up at 4:40 tomorrow morning so that I can get to work by 5:30, so I think I will finish sipping on my Ouzo and go to sleep.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

We got up and went to worship services at Bethel PCA. I am always impressed by the Pastor Steve's sermons. He is working his way through Ephesians and every sermon that I've heard has been very good.

After worship service we came home. Lisa made 'Sloppy Joe' for lunch and then she and Morgan went to Elisabeth's for a baby shower for Lisha, who's baby is due in late February. MK came over and picked up the boys and took them to Sam Houston Jone's State Park. Mark also came over to visit for a little while.

When everyone was gone I cleaned the floor in Christian's old room and started laying ceramic tile. I tiled more than half the room when folks started arriving. I finished the mud (thin set) that I had and called it quits and cleaned my tools. MK and the boys returned while I was still working and he left at about the time when I began cleaning up.

After cleaning up and feeding the boys, Gary came over. I started a fire in the fire pot and Gary and I sat on the porch by the fire, drank a Guinness and talked. After that Gary headed home. My youngest son joined me on the porch by the fire for a few minutes, then we came in said prayers with the boys and put them to bed.

Now I am going to bed also.

Kenith

Mark came over and he and I installed some French doors going from the kitchen to what was Christian's room. I was here by myself at the time so it should have been able to get a lot done. Lisa and Morgan were out doing stuff for her upcoming wedding and MK had come earlier and picked up the boys.

But before I could get started my cousin Chris and Mindy, his wife stopped by for a visit. We visited for a little while when MK came back with the boys. We opened a bottle of wine (a Syrah from California)and visited more. Mindy doesn't drink wine so Chris, Mike and I all had a good sized glass of wine (which killed the bottle). It was very good and if I were not feeling lazy at the moment, I would get up and find the bottle so I could say what winery it came from. I will try to but that information on the blog tomorrow.

Morgan is getting along fairly well on here crutches. I did carry her up the stairs this evening because it was getting late and I felt sorry for her.

I am pretty sure that we will worship at Bethel PCA tomorrow. Rev. Steve has preached a very good sermon every time I've heard him preach.

Well, I took an Ambian a few minutes ago and I am beginning to feel the affects. I need to get to sleep at a descent hour, so I am closing this post.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

Christian and Jessica returned to Pensacola Monday evening. I called him on his cell from work just as they were getting to Pensacola that night. He went to the doctor the next day and we found out that his ACL is also torn but we don't yet know whether he will have to have surgery or not.

I only worked two of my five graveyards, because I had taken the others off to visit with Christian. Today and yesterday I spent much of the day installing fiberglass insulation. I hate messing with that stuff. The folks that built our current house did a crappy job of insulating it. It was because of the damage from Hurricane Rita that I learned how poorly the this place is insulated and I've been working to fix the problem as I have been able.
Tomorrow Mark and I will but in a new door from the kitchen to the new computer/TV room (Christian's old bed room) and also sheet rock. After that is done I will do install ceramic tile.

Later,
Kenith

The temperature is supposed to drop into the upper twenties (Fahrenheit), which is very cold for South Louisiana. Today was a cold day with a moderate north wind. I love this type of weather, it is rare for us and I enjoy it when we get it. We get month after month of HOT, muggy weather (which I don’t like) in the summer and even in the winter we can wear shorts and tee shirts a good part of the time.

More important than the weather, Christian is home for the weekend. He is getting around pretty good on his bum knee. He has a brace on it and it doesn’t seem to bother him to much as long as he is careful. He did bring a friend home with him, a pretty, red headed young lady form NW Pennsylvania. She is also in the Navy.

We had concerns about where to put them, but it has been worked out. The young lady is using Morgan’s room and Christian had the choice between the sleeping on the 3rd (half storey) floor or the couch. He chose the couch.

Today was a quiet day. Christian, Jessica, and Morgan went to meet Recie and Paul at Buffalo Wild Wings. The boys and I hung out at the house and Lisa worked.

Lisa and I went shopping when she got home. Then I assisted her in preparing supper. She cooked a beef and potato stew that was wonderful. All our family was here along with Danny, Jessica, Recie and Paul. There was more than enough and everyone ate well. After supper we had King Cake for dessert.

You can tell by the pictures that the young people sat at the table. Lisa, the boys and I ate a the bar.

Morgan did get to see an orthopedic yesterday. He says that her she has a chipped bone in her foot. She may have to have surgery. She starts her last semester of college next week and will be unable to drive. This makes getting her to school, logistcally speeking, very complicated. Oh well, we will make it work somehow.

I need to go to sleep so I can wake in time for worship services tomorrow.

Coram Deo,
Kenith
Ps. Lisa plans to make a Chicken and Sausage Gumbo tomorrow!!!!!

Well we had a very interesting weekend around here. We found out that Morgan did, in fact, break her right ankle in her wreck on the 2-10 bridge. When I got home Saturday evening, she was in my bed (on my side of the bed) and two of my nieces (her cousins) were there too, as was Lisa and they were all watching a DVD of some television series that the cousins brought over.

Morgan's room is upstairs, so she could not get to her bed, and she therefore confiscated my bed and bedroom. With four women in our king size bed watching multiple episodes of some chick series, that I had never heard, I decided to move the alarm clock, and some bedding to the couch in the living room. I could have moved to Morgan's room, but I preferred to crash out on the couch.

I went to bed (couch) about 9:30 and the alarm went off a 4:40 AM Sunday morning and headed off to work. We had a very quiet Sunday at work and Mac (the top operator of or sister progression unit with which we share a single control room) volunteered to cook. We had another feast. Mac cooked deer sausage and red gravy, mustered greens with pork sausage and dinner rolls. We also had chocolate cake, King cake, and Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream for dessert. We do eat a lot of wild game on the job.

Earl Sunday afternoon, Lisa called to tell me that Christian had called. He was on the way to the Navy hospital after hurting his knee playing football with his buddies on base. I spoke with him today; his MCL is messed up and he will not be able to continue in Air Crew School and has, for now, lost his orders and is in limbo until his knee is healed. Then he will likely get knew orders to God alone knows where.

I worked today. It was a typical busy Monday. My shift worked off this afternoon and we are off until Friday evening.

Morgan is still in my bed. Lisa's sister is having day surgery, so she has to get up early to be with he r sister and I will have to get the boys up and off to school in the morning.

Coram deo,

Kenith

Ps. This is what is left of Morgan's car:

Today started in a frightening way. A phone call from Morgan woke me. She had been in an accident on the 2-10 bridge. A car ahead of her had some how flipped she saw debris and then the overturned car which was taking up part of both lanes. She had slowed down after seeing the debris but she was not quick enough and hit the other vehicle.

When she called me she was calm and the police were on the scene. She was taken to Cal-Cam Hospital for x-rays. She has a broken foot, a serious bruise where her seatbelt comes across her shoulder and some other lesser bruises. We are very thankful that it was not worse than it was and she should be all healed up long before her wedding day.

I was late for work because I was at the emergency at shift change. Patrick worked over until I got to work, but I was not more than 30 minutes late. I had volunteered to cook for the crew today, and I had all the food, so it was important that I make it in today. I cooked Navy beans and black-eyed peas with sausage and tasso and for a special treat I also cooked a ponce (a pig stomach stuffed with pork and Cajun spices then smoked) that was purchased a Le Jeune's Sausage Kitchen in Eunice.

Most of the guys at work had never eaten ponce, and they did not sound very enthused when I told them about it earlier in the week. Randy (who is from Ville Platte) and Steve (who's family used to have a popular butcher shop) had both cooked it before so with their guidance we got it done. We added some tasso and sausage to the ponce pot and made a good gravy.
Both the beans and the ponce went over big. Everyone tried the ponce and loved it. I expected to have leftover ponce for lunch tomorrow but it did not survive the day and I promised to make ponce again in the future.

We had a very quiet Saturday here at the refinery and now I am getting ready to go home, where I will post this on the blog.

Later,
Kenith

I have just put the boys to bed and I'm sitting here drinking a Samuel Adams Boston Lager. I started day shift today and it was an OK day at work. Nothing crazy or disastrous took place. We had no fires and no major piece of equipment decided to crash today.

This last week Mark and I gutted the LAST room in our house that we have to work on post Hurricane Rita. I know it has been more than two years since the hurricane, but after the first year Lisa and I were exhausted and we let several things slide for about six months before beginning again.

Except for new Cabinets, Lisa and I did almost all the work the first year. For this last bit we have hired Mark (the guy who built the cabinets) to do a lot of the work and we are mostly helping him.

Here is a picture of our gutted room. We did not have to gut the room, but we (actually Lisa) decided to make some to some big design changes and so we gutted it. The floor was ruined by the storm and had already been removed, as was a some of the ceiling and wall, so instead of simple repair we opted to take advantage and make it into something more to our liking.

Here are a few more of my HSL 33 Det 3D photos:

This is me. I had to check the tie downs chains on the helo because of the weather.

Jeff Faucher playing frisbee on the helo deck. Notice the string? It was tied to the deck.

The guys looking out from the helo hanger. We were on the USS Lockwood.

The guys taking a break while the helicopter is off on a flight. I was flying when this was taken.

Mandy Budomo, Marc Harting, Jeff Lovelass, Bret Hodges, Bill Ogan, Jeff Faucher, Ric Rew.

This is me. I think were pulling into port near Hiroshima, Japan in 1981.

Don Ferguson, Jeff Loveless, and Jeff Faucher as we pull into port.

GEAUX TIGERS

It is official. The LSU Tigers have beaten Ohio State for the National Championship. Way to go LSU.

Before the game, I was not feeling very good, but I did have the energy to start scanning pictures from way back when, when I was in the Navy. Many of our photos, including a good deal of my Navy pictures were destroyed by Hurricane Rita. It has taken me a while but I have finally decided to digitise what we still have, and I started today.


Here are some of my pictures from 1981. I was a member of HSL 33 and we were deployed to Atsugi, Japan. We were part of Detachment (Det) 3D. From there we went to sea several times with the frigate USS Lockwood, which was based out of Yokosaka, Japan.

Here are pictures from that cruise:

Above is Jeff Faucher removing the chains so the helicopter can take off.

This is a picture of our photographer's mate Ric Rew.

This is Brett Hodges handing me the pins to the landing gear before takeoff.

Marc Harting in the "console seat"

Marc and I were to two air crewman on this detachment. We had to full flight crews - Four officers pilots and copilots and two air crewmen.

The guy in yellow is Don Ferguson. He was the plane captain on this take off.

I will post more pictures from HSL 33 Det 3D in future posts.

Coram Deo,

Kenith

It's getting late and everyone is in bed but me. I am sitting on the couch, sipping on a little Ouzo and taking a few minutes to write on my blog. Fox News is on the TV.

This morning we worshipped at Bethel Presbyterian (PCA). There was a baptism this morning and the sermon was about infant baptism in light of God's covenant promises. I am a firm believer in paedo-baptism (i.e. infant baptism) and I blogged on that subject a number of times. Some of them can be found here. Pastor Wright's sermon on the subject (the first of two) was very good. He is a fine preacher and I think he will be good for Bethel.

After worship we came home. Lisa had cooked red beans with ham for dinner and they were soooooo good. Mark came offer and helped Lisa and me move some of Morgan's and Christian's. furniture. In don't like to do work like this on Sunday's but it was an "ox in the ditch" situation.

I also washed, Oakly, Christian's lab (which we have inherited). Her bath was over due.

It was an ok day. Christian made it to Florida yesterday and this afternoon Morgan made it home from Corpus.

It was an OK day.

Kenith

Our son, Christian, just drove off in his Dodge truck. He is headed back to Florida, and the Navy. I had to work for most of the time that he was home, but last night I was able to spend some time with him. We went out to eat at the Outback Steakhouse where Christian used to work before he went into the Navy. Lisa, Christian, and Troy (Lisa's brother) and I had a nice visit.

Today, Morgan and Danny are driving to Corpus Christi, TX for a wedding, Troy is on the road going to Eastern Kentucky for work and Christian is headed east to Florida, where he will be going to Air Crew School. I attended the same school way back in 1979.

Lisa has been out and about this morning, but she is now home and we have lots of work that needs to be done and its time to start. I have to get started, so this is the end of this post.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

Our Kids

Regrettably, I spent almost all the Christmas holiday season at work. I was forced to work a shutdown because we had to shutdown our UFH and open its catalyst regenerator for repairs. I was the shutdown top operator on nights and Mitch T was my helper.

On Monday I had to work top on both the shutdown and the live units. By Wednesday night the UFH, after much travail, was running prety good and we had a very cold but fairly quiet night at work.

Morgan told me I needed to read more modern fiction, and for Christmas she gave me Term Limits, by Vince Flynn. I laid down the other books I was reading to read this one. It was a fun read and I finished it today, despite all the overtime I've been working.

Today, I woke up about 1:00 PM and just hung around the house. Christian was here when I woke and so I was able to visit with him for a little while, before he and his sister, Morgan, left to go the Dequincy.

After they left, I made a run to Misse's Grocery Store to by a King Cake. After Misse's I went by B&O's and picked up some cracklins, hoghead cheese, and tasso.

For supper Lisa cooked shrimp and we had Shrimp pistlolettes for supper. It was wonderful.

At this moment, Lisa is asleep, I have just said the boys prayers and they have gone to bed and I am watching weaponology on the Military Channel and sipping on some hot sake. Tomorrow I have rescue team training, so I will finish this blog, my Saki and weaponology and go to sleep.


Coram Deo,

Kenith

Well, after my fifteen days/nights of work in a row I was off for a full forty-seven hours. Lisa, the boys and I were eating a Toney's Pizza when Pete called me from the refinery. He and the guys on his shift were in the process of shutting down the UFH (clean fuels unit from hell) and they needed someone to work as Top Operator on nights.

We have a shutdown rotation. There are several people who are ahead of me in the rotation, but they were all out on vacation, so that put the button on me. I was very upset, but I was stuck and there was nothing I could do to get out of it. The worst thing is the I will work for almost the whole time that the boys had off from school for their Christmas break. I have arranged for Morgan and Danny to pop fireworks with the boys, since I will be working on New Year's Eve.

This morning Gary invited Bird and me to come by his place for a sip of Booker's Bourbon. Gary and Bird were already sitting at the table when I arrived. Gary poured me a drink and we spent about and hour talking. Then the party broke up and I headed home for bed. I slept until around 2:30 PM.

It's now time to start getting ready for work.

Yesterday evening I finished my fifteen day of working through the Christmas holidays. The area of the refinery in which I work had to shutdown one of our "Reformer" units to fix some problems it was having. This caused a good number of us operators to work overtime through the holidays.

I did manage to be off work for 24 hours last Friday when I finished working graveyard shift at 6 AM and switched to day shift. I started my day shift at 6 AM Saturday morning. The boys and I took advantage of that widow of time off to go see a movie. We picked up MK's son and went to see Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Saturday evening we had Lisa's family over for a Christmas party. Lisa got it all together without any help from me, because I was at the refinery. All went well and everyone seemed to have a good time. Lisa made a crawfish bisque, and everyone else brought food and/or dessert.

Sunday, Lisa fixed a meal for her brother Troy and his sons, Eric and Shawn. Shawn flew in from Okinawa, where he is serving in the Air Force.

Our family opened Christmas gifts early. I had to work Christmas day, when this has happened in the past, we as a family, would open gifts on Christmas Eve. We could not do this our daughter Morgan had plans to be with her fiancee and is family for their family Christmas that evening. Therefore, we opened gifts on Monday, December 23.

The hardest thing for me during all this was getting enough sleep. I was never able to get my body clock properly adjusted back to sleeping at night. I did take an Ambien one night, but we had something going on just about every evening which kept me up late. I would sleep a couple of hours and then wake up and not be able to sleep. One night I got to sleep about 11:30, woke up at 2:30 AM and was unable to fall back to sleep. After 3 hours sleep I was up until I left the house for the refinery at 5:15 AM.

Our clean fuels unit (Unit from Hell or UFH) acted up everyday so we never achieved the quite laid back time at work that we like when working holidays. I'm glad it is over.

This morning I caught up with with sleep. I took an Ambien last night. I did wake once during the night. I was able to fall back to sleep, and did not wake again until 10:00 AM. Nice!

Later,
Kenith

Thia will be a short post. I am in my bed watching Future Weapons on the military channel. I got home from work a little after 6PM and will be getting up about 4:30 AM. My sleep pattern is still messed up from my long set of nights and I've not slept since flip flopping to days. So tonight I took an ambien and am waiting to fall asleep.

I plan to write more tomorrow (Christmas Day)
Kenith

I’m writing this entry while at work and I'll email it home and post it on the blog after I get back there in the morning.

This is my eighth night on graveyard shift (6pm to 6am) and I will have to come back again tomorrow night to work my last one. I'll work off Friday morning. I will likely sleep until somewhere between noon and 2 pm and then I'll walk around in a near vegetative state for a while. I hope to get my head together in time to do something with the boys. They're out of school, but I've been working with no time off and I don’t function well around the house when I am working the nightshift this much.

After a full 24 hours off work, I will start again, but this time I'll be on the daylight shift. My body is now used to sleeping during the day and being awake at night and that is not good for a quick turnaround to days. In order for me to get some sleep, so I can function at work on Saturday, I'll be looking to my doctor and a little pill known as Ambian (sp ?).

There is very little for me to write about. I've been getting up, vegging around the house for a few hours and coming to work. When I get home, I let the dog out, feed the cats and get ready for bed and watch the news for a few minutes. I’m not getting much reading, or anything else productive done around the house when I am on graveyards.

Starting Saturday, I'll work my regular daylight shift. My last full day off was Dec. 11 and my next real day off will be Dec. 27. On my days off I'll have to get some fireworks. The boys and I will go to the country and blast away with the fireworks early, because I start nightshift again on New Years Eve.

That's life as a shift worker at an oil refinery.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

I worked last night. I just got home and I'm waiting for Lisa to wake up so I can go to bed without disturbing the last few minutes of her sleep. Her alarm should be going of in a couple of minutes.

On the way home this morning I was listening to KRVS (Radio Acadie) and Pete Bergeron's morning program (Bonjour Louisiane) which is in French. I was excited to here Jo-el Sonnier's version of Jolie Blonde. I have always liked Jo-el version.

Well, Lisa is now up and I am off to bed.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

Sunday was a normal day. We attended worship services at Bethel (PCA), after church Lisa and Morgan attended a baby shower and boys and I stayed at home.

Monday I was on jury duty. I took plenty to read, and it was a good thing I did. We sat in the jury pool room until noon. At that time they called 36 names to return after lunch, everyone else was dismissed for the day.

I ate gumbo at MaryAnn's for lunch and then returned to jury duty. The 36 of us were escorted into court. Twenty-one of us were placed in "the box" to be questioned by the lawyers. We were questioned until almost 6 PM. At that time they dismissed 10 people, and the rest of us were told to return on Tuesday morning.

On Tuesday we were back in the box at 9 AM. the 10 people dismissed on Monday evening were replaced and we were again questioned by the lawyers. They picked the jury while we were at lunch. I did not get picked and had to return to the jury pool and remained there until 3PM when we were dismissed from jury duty.

Wednesday and Thursday I worked days. As is normal, we were very busy for much of the day. My job, top operator, is very busy from 7AM until about 10:30. It then usually slows down until around 1PM. Then the top is busy until about 4PM. When things are going well the top operator stays very busy dealing with supervisors, contractors, maintainance personel, engineers, and other operators. If things in the unit are not going well, then it is really wild.

Today, I was at Rescue Team training. I've been a member of the refinery rescue team for about 13 years. We are trained in "high angle (rope)" and "confined space" rescue.

Later,
Kenith

Our Saturday and Sunday were WET. It rained for most of the time on both days. Christians had to drive back to Florida Sunday and he had rain for most of the trip, some of it was very heavy. Despite the rain and two detours he made it back to base safely.

On Saturday, Lisa made a great sea food gumbo. We all feasted.

We continue to work on the house.

I should return to work tonight, but I have a dental appointment and I don't think I will be able to make it to work on time and I will have a call in sick. The dentist told me that I will have a numb face for a good while after the work is done. I don't like to call in sick unless I have a legitimate reason. I think this such an event.

Later,
Kenith

LSU just loss to Arkansas 50 t0 48 in triple overtime. Whoooooee. I'm disappointed but my fingernails are down to the nubs, so I'm glad it is decided.

The LSU game (win or loose) is not the big news for this holiday weekend. The big news is our son Christian made it home last night. Hel be will be here until Sunday, when he heads back to Florida and the United States Navy.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

Yesterday, the boys and I went to Longville and visited with my parents. My parent's neighbour was smoking a couple of turkeys, one for my parents and the other for he and his family. He was using a makeshift smoker that he had made with cinder blocks and a couple of thin sheets of metal. It was a neat setup that I plan to imitate soon.

On of my parents hens had nine one day old biddies following her around. they were so cute. They had another hen with four young chicks, but they were a few days older.

We had a good visit. My youngest son wanted to do some shooting, so I let him shoot my .22 revolver. I shoot a few rounds from my SKS as well. Then we loaded into the pickup truck and headed for home.

Once at home I went to work on supper. I wrapped a number of potatoes on foil, with butter, and put them in the oven. I then took some steaks out seasoned them, got a pan with olive oil hat and ready, but set the steaks in it. I feed the boys and then Lisa arrived home and we ate. Morgan and Danny (her fiancee) finished off what was left.

Today, I slept in. Lisa fixed a roast and around noon we went just down the road to Woody and Elisabeth's house for Thanksgiving Dinner. Most of Lisa's family was there and it was a good time.

Bonjour,
Kenith

I'm on vacation this week. The big event today was I washed my truck and also threw the football with the boys.

Yesterday Lisa and I bought a flat screen plasma television and hung it on the bedroom wall. Tomorrow, I may take the boys to Longville. If we go I plan to bring some of my guns and waste a lot of ammunition. I would also like to make at least on hunt while I'm off.

Life is good.
Kenith

Here is a blog on the web that I think is worth reading. Read this article. It's worth your time.

Kenith

From Burke to Kirk and Beyond...: "Be shrewd as wolves and innocent as doves."

This morning my alarm went of a 4:40. I got ready for work and arrived at the refinery at 5:30. I "made relief" with Butch in the centralised control room. He filled me in on what had taken place on the night shift. With that done, I poured myself a of coffee (Community of course) and visited with our two board guys. I then filled in the payroll book, got my radio, my hard hat and then headed for our satellite.

The the satellite, I poured myself a second cup of coffee and visited with the outside operators for a while. After that I went to my desk, logged onto the computer, checked email and our unit log. I then wrote many of the work permits that that I knew would be needed. By then it was about 10 to seven, I got a air monitor and did my "morning walkabout" through the units while the other guys were doing there rounds.

My walkabout takes about 20 minutes. When I cot back to my desk, spoke with my supervisor, by then maintenance and construction hands were arriving and things took on their usual hectic pace.

This was a typical day for me when I'm working the day shift. I drink LOTS of coffee and stay very busy. Nights and weekends are usually slower, that's why I like them better.

Later,

Kenith

Lisa and I slept in our almost completely remodeled bedroom last night. At midnight a friend sent Lisa a text to say that she was at the hospital with her daughter who was having a baby, so at 6 AM this morning Lisa went to the hospital to see the new baby and the babies mom and family.

I slept until eight. I got up, made coffee and toast. Lisa returned home shortly after that. The rest of the morning was normal Sunday stuff. We worshipped at Bethel this morning. Pastor Steve gave a very good, practical sermon from St. Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians.

Kenith

It seems that waterboarding is once again in the news. Some folks want t make it out as a form of torture. I disagree and I can say that as someone who has experianced waterboarding first hand.

I underwent my own waterboarding experiance at S.E.R.E school when I was training to be a Navy helicopter crewman. This was way back in 1979. Thousands upon thousands of American servicemen have experianced waterboarding as part of their training. The United States military DOES NOT torture its on members, but it has waterboarded many members of the Armed forces as part of routine S.E.R.E. training.

I wrote a good bit more about what the experiance is like last year. You can read about it here: Waterboarded Cajun

Just to keep this straight. I did not support the U.S. invasion of Iraq. I thought we were wrong to do so.

Later,
Kenith

I'm on the refinery Rescue Team. The rescue team is responsible for confined space and high angle rope rescue. Today was our monthly day of rescue training. We were not as productive today as we usually are, because a large portion of the team was absent. The refinery just finished a month of extensive turnarounds and a sizable portion of the crew was on vacation, needing a rest after the exhaustive shutdown period.

I was on graveyards until Thursday morning. So I worked until 6 o'clock Thursday morning, went home slept until about 12:30. I then stayed awake until 8 PM. I took an Ambian and went to sleep, and then got up at 3:30 AM so I could get to the refinery at by 4 AM. I hung out with my on shift, because it was still my shift on duty. At 7:30 We started rescue training. At four it was over and I wen home because I had got in my necessary 12 hours (having come in so early).

More later because I am tired and ready to crash.
Kenith