Thomasville, Georgia. I just got put on a FEMA water load. 54,000 pounds. I don't know if this truck will pull 54,000 pounds. Right now I'm on stand-by. I just repowered with a nice couple. I was a little irritated at first that they wriggled off of the load and I got stuck with it, but they're so nice that I don't mind now. And if this load of water can go to somewhere where it's really needed, I surely don't mind being the one to take it there.

Of course, USX threw around the notion that FEMA pays $175 a day, so I'll be covered even if I have to sit on it for a few days. But no one can tell me who will pay me or when. So now I have my doubts about getting paid for this at all. I'll keep my fingers crossed. If somehow I don't get paid for this, it'll probably be the end for my career with USX. I know I've said that before, but this time it's not out of anger, but out of simple logistics. For the past three weeks I have brought home about $250 each week. Our bills are piling up, and it's becoming critical that I make more money than I've been making with USX. I'll have a great paycheck this week because they ran me hard last week, but then I stumbled right into this stuff and next week's paycheck is beginning to look uncertain.

Well, there's no use worrying about all this right now. I'm tired and could use a nap, so I'm going to crash for a bit. At this point I believe I am literally waiting to see what happens with the hurricane that's knocking around out in the Gulf. Wherever it hits is probably where this water is going to go.

I know I sound like a ghoul worrying about how and when I'm going to get paid when people may seen be suffering and be in need of this water, but disaster or no, our bills still have to be paid. We're facing a very real possibility of losing our house if we can't get caught up. We simply cannot afford for things to get interesting right now.