I think the record for yesterday was 110 in 1956. Day before was 105 in 1997. I think. May be off on my days.
Have a new helper. I hate breaking in new people. Explaining how to rake and bale. Don't make piles with the v-rake. You know YOU are going to be the one to bale it. Watch the moisture tester and stroke counter in the baler. If the moisture goes over 16 percent let me know! That is why we have the moisture tester in the tractor.
Don't slip the clutch. Don't drive into piles of straw at full speed. Do you have enough water?
I like hiring high school and college girls. They are always happy. And I can't get mad at them unless they do something really stupid twice in a row.
I started on my $30 a ton straw yesterday. Baled half a truck load. The stuff is crap. I don't know what I'm going to do. I desperately need the money but I'm thinking of pulling out. I've got to find the fellow buying the straw and see if he will take it.
I have a fellow who owes me $$$ for hay. He is trying to cut me down on the price. But, I lost his phone number and now he is annoying my land lord.
A/C blew up in the cab in the stacker. Found a loose hose fitting and fixed it. I was drenched with sweat by the time I was done. Tried to boost the air in the 2-135. Got it colder by adjusting the A/C pressures up a little. Then the fitting on the gauge set blew out with a whoosh. Lost my added r-134 on that one.
Then the combine. It is freon and it is not working. Burnt my hand working on that one in the 130 degree engine compartment.
I want to go away...
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When things are going rotten, everything's coming apart in your hands...that's farming! EIEIO. All the happy places disappear. Nothing works right and all the trends are wrong. Hell is when it's just not quite rotten enough to force a fellow to apply himself to something else. Those of us born into it often don't get it. There is life after farming and it can be very good. I never believed that until I had to step off the end of the plank.
ReplyDeleteSounds kind of extreme, but that's how it worked here. You're a really good writer. Really good writers are a dime a dozen, but then banjo players are a nickle a bushel. All a person needs is a fine idea and a whole hay load of persistence and then all the energy and stubbornness that the farm economy takes as it bleeds you dry actually has value. Whoever started the Idiot's Guide to Pretty Much Everything franchise had a great idea, whatever you might think of the product. People buy for understanding and entertainment value. Ticker at the bottom of your page represents the edge of a market of people who should be working but they're here looking for something they can't find or make as well on their own.
Insight and edgy humor is a commodity. Doesn't mold in the field, doesn't trample you in the lot, doesn't break down and demand expensive parts and time you'd rather be spending somewhere else. You could be at the coast with a laptop instead of on your back under broken equipment considering the grand tradition of English invective. A man's livelihood should be a dancing partner, not his slave owner.
Been there.
Yup...
ReplyDeleteOn the other topic-
Have been wondering about the hit counter. Not sure where they all come from. Wish someone would comment, would like to know if they know me. Or it is just random because of keyword searches that I don't understand.
Dunno. I'm sure Papa Google knows but he ain't saying. Sometimes if I have time and feel like looking at random foreign languages I'll hit the next blog button at the top of the page. You might be picking up some random traffic that way. I'd guess most hits are repeat customers.
ReplyDeleteI followed a link here from another blog, maybe Ed Winkle. I grew up on a farm and miss it now I live in a city.
ReplyDeleteHi Russell, probably Ed's blog. Nice to hear from you. You may get a warped view of farming from this blog. Ed Winkle is a much better example of the proper farming attitude than I am! I'm a bit of a complainer.
ReplyDelete