Lost and Found

Some time ago I mislaid the screwdriver bit to my drill at our mine site in the Gas Hills. Tom needed to go out to the mine and asked if I needed to have anything done, so half in jest I asked him to look for the bit. Les questioned the prudence of using company time and money to search for a 75-cent item. Tom said it would not be a pressing thing on his mind. So this morning Tom comes in my office and pitches the long lost bit to me. He had dutifully cleared the tumble weeds where I told him I had lost it and found it in the dirt. I was so happy to see the bit, admiring its quality (betting you could not get one for 75 cents), and profusely thanking Tom for his thoughtfulness. We staff work well together.

I drove to our other mine to deliver Christmas gifts to our landowners - smoked salmon for the main guy. He lives out there like a hermit but is appreciative of company. Half an hour into the conversation I said I would bring out a battery next time for his smoke detector that had been sending out an irritating chirp every minute. He said he has batteries but he's been listening to it for so long he doesn't even hear it anymore. This is the guy I have been trying for two years to get him to sign an amendment that he has already verbally agreed to. He says any deal signed in less than a year is made in haste. He gave me some beef jerky he made.
Drove out to the other end to give imported French sparking cider to the right-of-way owner. He was not home but I had a nice visit with his elderly mother. The elderly can be so at peace. They never lock doors out there on the ranches. Then I closed the loop driving to my favorite rancher who took time to visit even though he was in the middle of delivering hay to his sheep. Twenty wild turkeys browsed though his yard, feathers ruffling from the cold front that was blowing in.