End of week thoughts

It was the end of the day on a recent Thursday and i was ready to go home but wanted to make one more stop to meet one more source before I called it a day.

I walked into a supply store that contracts out equipment to coal mines and met a woman that has worked in the Powder River Basin before it was known as the "Saudi Arabia of Coal" — a moniker industry officials like to remind visitors of with a wink, poke and nod.

We talked. She knew a lot about the mines. Been to most of them, no doubt. Her daughter worked at Jacobs Ranch. The woman had lived in Gillette for more than three decades.

"You must know a lot about coal mines," I said.

She chuckled.

"You never know what's going on in the mines. If you think you do you won't."

True enough. It had been a long week.

I've been working this job for 14 — almost 15 — months now and I gotta say, the one thing you learn is that no matter how fast they're moving dirt, everything else is moving faster. If you're a step behind you're doing pretty good.