I started with an idea on Viewing Humanity as the Sims in an old computer game and then I go off subject

Why do groups of people do what they do and believe what they believe?

When I was in college I did a paper on the 100th Monkey. The study is now discredited but the idea was based on a study of monkeys on uninhabited islands. Supposedly when a certain number of monkeys on one island (one hundred) all started doing one behavior, then other monkeys on other isolated islands also started doing the behavior.

It was an idea of collective consciousness. Modern research does not support this concept but I wonder if it has merit. Especially after watching the progression of Trump Derangement Syndrome.

The Monkey Theory presumed there was no communication or observation, so the only way for the behavior to have been transferred was through shared consciousness.

I remember many years ago when I first played Sim City on my Machintosh SE. I stayed up half the night watching my city grow and trying to manipulate the Sims to move into my neighborhoods. The sound of Godzilla emerging from the ocean to wipe out my City still haunts my sleep. If you were to say, "Skywatch 1 Reporting Heavy Traffic," I would immediately recognize a kindred spirit.

Why did the Sims move in and why did the Sims move out? Obviously an algorithm in the game which I could never see.

I just read a post online talking about Oregon politics. Us conservatives go off on crazy liberals and vote by mail. Every lost election is a result of Vote By Mail fraud. I have been saying this as a joke for years but didn't realize Republicans actually believe this.

We as people believe things to be true based on something other than facts. In fact the very term, "The Cold Hard Facts of Life," (Check out Travis Chandlers version of this song) is biased to the perception of the person describing what they believe to be the cold hard facts of life.

The truth as I see it. (See what I did there)

We curate our intake of information to support what we need to rationalize our lives. We adopt deeply held beliefs for instinctive reasons that we don't understand.

What I find amazing is the manipulation of public perception. A major part of the public is convinced that ICE is arresting and deporting every brown skinned person they see. 

Many people in my peer group believe ICE is only targeting criminals.

I have gotten in trouble for calling BS on this. Cops are cops and Feds are just cops with no accountability so they go after the low hanging fruit. They don't want to get shot going after gangsters, plus the gangsters probably have bought off someone higher up or the gang is a CIA front so gangsters are pretty safe. (Most Hispanics I know tend to agree with me)

So, being lazy, I asked CoPilot. "What are the statistics for number of innocents detained by ICE vs actual criminals."  Note: I understand the phrasing of my question affects the answer of an AI source.

CoPilot gave me this statistic, "Current most authoritative data shows roughly three quarters of people detained by ICE have no criminal convections at all."

So I asked, "How often does ICE detain U.S. Citizens. CoPilot responded with a lot of incomplete statistics but I did manage to get this quote, "ICE's own systems have repeatedly misidentified citizens as, "removable aliens," leading to wrongful arrests and detentions."

The opposition says that only criminals are deported. Lars Larson gets to 100 percent illegal as he says every illegal is a criminal because they violated the law to get here. His usual lazy logic...

Well, that didn't go as expected...

I wanted to believe ICE was not as incompetent as I feared. I suppose now is the point where I question my sources and fall back on ideology. Plus, I have to go to work.

In conclusion...

1. Trump and Co. is screwing up the next election the same way he manage to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory six years ago. I was a little worried when I saw the Crazy MTG lady depart. The administration was tasked with deporting illegals. They failed to keep discipline and the usual Jackbooted Feds are doing what they always do. Going after the easy pickings.

2. I really dislike the Democrat establishment more than ever. Their cynical maneuver of open borders flooded us with illegals and switched our illegal immigration problem from individuals sneaking in at night, to cartels and major money in human smuggling and all the graft, corruption, drugs, and violence that comes with it.

3. Probably the only plan that the government is capable of carrying out with any success would be a lockdown of the border and general amnesty of people already here. However, it didn't work before due to an utter refusal by both parties to come up with a coherent immigration policy.

4. We are screwed...

On another topic

Why do the Cat and Dog always take my chair????

Animals do NOT belong in the house.

How to remove the gearbox on a New Holland 358 Mixer-Grinder

My New Holland 358 Mixer-Grinder failed.

This is an embarrassing post. It is entirely my fault.

I didn't change the oil!!!

I bought this mixer-grinder ten years ago. I had been making feed for a couple people and the deal was that I was to borrow a New Holland 357 in exchange for making the people feed. When I took my groundskeeping life detour my neighbor reclaimed the mixer-grinder and bought his own no-till drill and the other neighbor hired someone else to chop his silage.

This could have been a clue... I was out of the club...

But, I digress...

Mixer-Grinders are impossible to find. I found this one on Craigslist and it was like three hours away. It had a hay feeder and the fellow swore it was ready to run. In fact, he agreed to deliver it for the moderately high price he was asking.

I had forgotten about this detail, but one of the selling points was that he had filled the main gearbox with corn header grease and it would never need to be serviced again. (corn header grease is solid at room temp but quickly melts when used in a gear box)

Now here is where I went wrong. 

It is really hard to crawl under the New Holland 358 mixer-grinder. But, I have a forklift. I needed to get the gearbox warm and drain the grease. In fact, I really thought I did. I can remember working on it when it was 100 degrees and draining crap out of the gear box and refilling it with 90 weight. I don't know.

BUT....

What I never knew is that the seal between the gearbox and the mixing auger was out. This allows fines to work into the gearbox and mix with the grease. The grease will never completely drain through the small drain hole and so it forms a goup.

I did succeed in getting 90 wt into the gearbox because when it failed there was a puddle of 90 wt underneath.

What I did to make it fail.

The hydraulic conveyer I use to meter material into my mixer grinder quit. The belt broke. So I used the unloading auger on the Mixer-Grinder to fill the mill. I just idled the tractor down and let it run slow. I NEVER do this.. I always make a batch and then dump it into bags or the loader hopper and then shut of mixer. If you run the mixer too much at too high a speed all the fines settle to the bottom. You also wear hard to change bearings.

Yesterday I dropped the gearbox out.

It was surprisingly easy. (With a forklift)

First I blocked up the mixing auger. Then I removed the unloading auger drive chain from the main shaft and pounded the main drive to gearbox coupler back on the splined drive shaft. I used lots of penetrating oil and steel wedges to get the shaft moving.

Next I blocked up the gearbox and removed the four nuts holding it on. I rotated the gear box clockwise (I think) 1/4 turn and got out of the way.

When I pulled the cover off the gearbox it was solid burnt grease and fines. I cleaned it with a pocket knife and a big screw driver.

The gears are pretty bad. All the bearings and seals are bad. Probably need at least one new shaft. Plus, I have to figure out how to build a new seal. CoPilot says they can find me a more modern seal if I give them the shaft size. I think I will just cut one out of a truck mudflap...

I will drop some photos and then I have to go to work. My Nephew says I have to help deliver a load of hay today. I think he is trying to kill me so he can live in my trailer house and have my Studebaker car...

Bottom line is this: If you buy a 30 year old mixer grinder for cryin out loud, CHECK THE GEARBOX! Better yet, just remove it and clean it out. It wasn't that hard to do...

I uploaded my pictures in reverse order...

There is supposed to be a felt seal under the red shield that keeps dust out of the slightly charred gearbox. 

This is what came out of the gearbox with a fair amount of work

Digging out the crap

Solid crap under the shield

The gearbox is out!

A view from below

How to safely and properly lift a New Holland 358 Mixer-Grinder

Carefully blocking up the auger

Selling Feed to people with different cultural backgrounds

I am not a good salesman. I don't start high and dicker. I start low and get grumpier.

Friday morning our friend Jose was out for coffee. He wanted a plastic barrel for water. His wife is convinced the power is going to go off again and she wants water for dishes and the bathroom.

Jose, being a farmer like the rest of us, over achieved. He brought his wife a 350 gallon plastic tote. "We will never have to fetch water again," says Jose.

The wife did not approve.

This was pretty funny as I could imagine the reaction to a giant Round-Up tote in my front yard, even with the best of intentions.

I found him a nicer 55 gallon barrel that was clean and didn't look bad. 

We were talking about selling oats. Oats are not selling. There are not as many cows out there as we imagine. The price got so high people just sold them. 

His buddy has cows and is always looking for cheap feed. I told Jose I would sell a big bag that weighed 800-1000lbs for $120 or $100 to him. He gets on the phone to his friend and makes the sale. I did tell Jose he could have it for $100 and keep the difference...

Later in the afternoon his friend shows up. New pickup and fancy wheels. He is overjoyed to get such a good deal on my "special," oats and hands me $150! He just bought a 1000lbs of screenings for $300 a ton. (groats-oats with the hulls stripped off by the combine)

Sad thing is that this guy will not buy my oat, barley, corn pellets for $350-$450 per ton. Too expensive... But he will pay $350 a ton to his friend who seriously upsold a bag of screenings!

Got a good laugh out of that one...

These are Baylor Oats which had the hulls knocked of in the combine. (groats) They should be higher protein in proportion to fiber without hulls. Are they a premium product or are they screening?

On top of the world! Newphews are now on there way home. Oregon or Bust mode...or so I hear

 I just got this "proof of life," picture in my messages. They are at the top of Monarch Pass in Colorado and headed home! It is running fine. The word is vacuum leaks and a spark plug problem. One plug had the electrode bent down some how. We did not get an update gas mileage report.

The illustrious 1970, 71, 72 Ford F250 Hi-Boy at 11,312 Feet atop the Continental divide. Its all downhill from there!

You got to stand and face it, Life is so complicated-License issues with Making feed from your own farm grown ingredients in Oregon

Yesterday was cold and wet. Yesterday was not a day that inspired productivity.

However, I had a customer who ran out of pig feed and I had a bin of Chicken feed pellets setting in the barn absorbing moisture. So I pulled myself out of my easy chair and went to work...

I was thinking I should boost the peas and corn ratios for pigs or add barley. The mix was 17 percent protein but much of the protein was from clover seed and I feel peas are better for the pigs.

But, my customer was happy with the mix and so I filled a couple barrels for her.

I set up to bag the rest and put an ad on FaceBook marketplace when it hit me.

I can't sell a whole feed ration in Oregon without a license and label.

Well, that is not a big deal, I will get the license and three labels. Sum Pig, Super Chicken, and Oats/Alfalfa.

Except, that is not as simple as I thought.

If I am doing a custom mix for a customer, the label or invoice must include, my name and address, the customer, date of delivery, net weight, ingredients by name, guaranteed analysis, Crude Protein (min), Crude Fat (min), Crude Fiber (max), Moisture (max)

This is where it gets sticky. 

I can make custom mixes with a basic license. I can sell the customer the grain and then process it to the customer's specifications because I can take the customer's grain and charge him to process it. It seems like I don't need a license for that.

But it is a grey area.

AND, I can't sell what is left over.

If I go with a labeled feed then I have to keep the ingredients constant and I have to provide more information on the label. Of course I just have to do that once and print a bunch of labels. But, I just wanted to do batches for individuals. The business model was not to be selling 40lb bags to random individuals on Marketplace, the idea was to have regular monthly customers who would buy 40lb bags or 1000lb bags, or 55 gallon drums. Technically this also won't work because I can't make one batch and sell to 15 people.

Here is a link to the actual law. (Click Here)

This is my current build sheet for a ration. I can use this to figure the cost to me or the customer. I then add on the processing fees. Mixing grinding 1/2 hr $60, pellet mill 1 hr $120, extra ingredients: Garlic (1lb) $10, Red Pepper (1lb) $9. It appears I need to add Crude Fat and Crude Fiber. More complicated...

In the past I consulted with a local feed seller and I called the Department of Agriculture. No one really seemed to care what I was doing as I was raising my own ingredients and selling from my own farm.

At the minimum I am going to have to add columns for Crude Fat, and Crude Fiber to my spreadsheet. 

As the Straw Man said to Dorothy, "I wish I had a brain..."

This is the 4 mm pellet out of the new PelletMasters mill. This is the above mentioned chicken mix. Pellets held up pretty well in an open bin

This is my rather crude hopper. I have it mounted on a pallet so I can move it with the forklift. It is tall enough I can fill a 55 gallon drum. I need to put a block under the 40lb bags.

My plan to dedicate my PowerBook 180 to calculating feed has come to naught. For some reason it will not start up. The power supply still puts out 7.5 volts. It might be that storage in a damp shop has finally killed it. It also means I can't play Bolo on my AppleTalk network anymore...

Vicegripgarage is a bad influence on my Nephews-They drag a vintage F250 out of the blackberries and attempt to drive it to Colorado

My nephews are on a road trip to Colorado...

We live in Oregon.

I think they are stuck in Idaho...

They decided to drag the 1971 F250 out of the black berries. They found the original 390, reinstalled the 390, gave it a tune up. Put disk brake front axles and a different rearend and transfer case, fixed the lights, and took off.

Most of this was done over Christmas Break.

I blame binge watching www.ViceGripGarage.com.

There should be a "Sponsored by The Lazy Farmer," sticker on the back as I gave them four beef sticks, a box of Chicken in a Biscuit, and $8. (it was a slow feed sales day)

Those of you who read the Daily Strumpet newspaper may recognize "Mom's Pickup," from 1996. It was red and came from South Beach, OR. Eventually the cab just rusted off. This cab was applied but it was not driven long in this format. This truck has pulled a Freeman 200 baler, rakes, had a big fuel tank (which we almost lost in the Yamhill river late one night) and generally been around the block. It was a slight embarrassment to my Mother who did not appreciate junk but somehow ended up with her name on the title.

All the essentials for a trip. Handiman Jack, extra gas, a spare, and yellow/black totes for storage.

Lots of stickers are important. MacAuto Supply provided extra stickers. I donated my last "Keep America Beautiful," sticker. 

What could go wrong? We all Support the rainbow flag!

Unfortunately, they kept the Edelbrock carburetor... After about ten hours she started pulling down and backfiring under load.

They cleaned the fuel tank, changed distributor, coil, plug wires (maybe), cleaned fuel lines. They pulled the filter in the carb to discover it was actually missing and there was dirt in the filter housing area.

I spent some time on the phone with them Sunday. They left Friday and had struggled their way to Post Falls, Idaho by then. This is a common problem with Edelbrocks and FE 390's. You start by removing the Fuel cap, checking the rubber lines to see if they suck shut under load, check filters, check fuel pump, check carb filter, check for vacuum leaks.

The last I heard, they suspected carb gasket leak. Hopefully it is not a manifold gasket. I know they did the spray starting fluid test.

Hopefully they are out of Idaho...

7.7 mpg...

Someone is doing a Best of The Daily Strumpet, but I can't figure out the traffic source

Something strange has happened to my blog.

Someone is reading old entries. Like they have posted a best of. Well, 12 hits in one day will set off by excitement meter as this blog has become pathetic.

I used to be a lot more entertaining!

Back in the old days, 2013. I was more entertaining and better looking an no one had backed a forklift into the store air conditioner. I also had a big wrench.

Stanley was still alive. Stanley was an awesome dog!

You never know what you have until it is gone. 

The first story that caught my attention (13 views) what when Scooter boy lost his pigs and shocked the piss out of himself by picking up a live fence wire! I had forgotten about that one. I actually laughed out loud! (Click here for Scooter Boy, The Pigs, and What not to do with electric fences...)

Of course there is always the old faithful (20 hits this week), "An affront to German Engineering, I repair a Dual 1019," this one is linked somewhere and brings in a steady stream. Also the one about the Freeman Baler Company which isn't a very good post.

Next with 22 hits is just a random straw baling post with the MM G1355. (Click here)

This one called "Sunday Decisions and my Lack of Enthusiasm,"  had 18 views and it is about me staying home from Church to read a book and fix the sink and the book is boring and the waterline breaks and makes a fountain. I also rant about men's groups and I sound rather antisocial. Sort of funny.

"No news is Good News," is about bicycle crashes. Lots of comments.

This one got 18 views and is one sentence about finding eggs in the barn!

There are a few others but I am going to bed. I was a lot more entertaining before I went to work Linfield and got the soul depleted from my body...

Speaking of soul depleting jobs, this one also got 20 hits, it is titled, "I have yet to get fired..." That was prophetic. 

This one didn't get any hits, it was from day three of my new job. I can't believe I was there eight years... What a Maroon!

Edit: Five minutes after posting I see that someone in Portland is reading this blog! Its a Sunday night, you should be in bed! You probably have a real job...