My wife is an optimistic person. Some where in her life she decided she was going to be happy. It has worked out pretty well for her I think.
I have the opposite problem. I get uptight and reclusive.
I have an add on craigslist for feed and for hay. A fellow called yesterday and wanted me to deliver him two bags of feed for $20. I said no, my wife said, "do I get to keep the $20?"
Yesterday the relatives were discussing computers. It was painful.
If you have a small business there is really only one system. Quickbooks. I do really hate Quickbooks, but then I really hate the Microsoft OS, so if you are already in hell does one more poke in the eye really matter?
We have been through this with our business.
The best system for an amateur would be...
1. Have your nephew (me) buy a 14" iBook with 1 gig of ram on ebay for $250. Then either buy or borrow quickbooks. One of my helpers mother does books for several businesses, she has offered to help. Take advantage of her help and set up the inventory and invoice system and away you go. It would be painful but could be done.
2. Go in with the farm on wireless internet for $50 per month. Then you can look up and order parts on line and it doesn't matter that the idiots at TISCO have set up their catalogue on a DOS based format on their DVD.
3. Get paypal and use that to accept credit cards
The best system for an amateur who is does not realize that the Mac OS is the best would be as follows...
1. Go the local Office Depot or Staples (five miles away).... Got to the isle that sells Quickbooks software. Get the Quickbooks system that you need. Inventory, invoices, payroll. Look on the back of the box and read the minimum system requirements. Go to the computer section of the store. Buy the biggest laptop that you can afford that beats those specs.
2. Go in with the farm on wireless internet for $50 per month. Then you can look up and order parts on line and it doesn't matter that the idiots at TISCO have set up their catalogue on a DOS based format on their DVD.
But they won't. They have this idea to use some other program. Probably some DOS based program called "My Small Business program which is a piece of crap but I don't realize cause I won't take a book keeping class but still think I know what I'm doing..." And they won't buy a laptop because someone said laptops are not powerful enough... Which is kind of insane, and they won't buy anything that cost too much cause they have no idea of the value of their time vs money vs frustration vs getting the job done. This has always been a problem out here. Waste your time on minutia and then buy something you really don't need.
Of course they will attempt to use a dial-up if they even get the concept of accessing parts-books online into their heads.
And what really frustrates me is that I think my brother could manage the place very well. We just never seem to be able to make the leap or perhaps more importantly- you have to interact with people in a way that makes the opportunity happen. I can never make the connection with the old person where they turn the place over to you. I never want to take advantage of them and I guess I maintain a distance. So they never sell the place to me. I've got a hay field rented where they set up a trust so that I can rent it forever, but yet I could never buy it. They wanted me to drive their bus across the country for them at one point, but they didn't want to bother me. I'd of done it!
But, sitting and complaining is not getting work done.
I go over and read Ed Winkles blog and get even more depressed. He is always happy and wants to go to work.
I just registered with tractorhouse. Perhaps I'll put a few things up for sale.
Speaking of Sales, Ralph! There is an internet auction for a White 2-185 somewhere in your neck of the woods. If I had $30,000 setting here I would see if you wanted to borrow it till I got it home. I will have to look up where that is. I think trucking it to Oregon would be incredibly expensive. Perhaps I could drive it. 2000 miles at 18 mph. Hmmmm.
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WEll Bud that would be a slow trip for you. I thought I had a long haul today when I rode along with a friend pulling a 37 foot deep tillage cultivator he bought at a farm auction sale. We hit the road about 10:00 am and arrived home about 2:30, about a couple of hundred miles I think. It was interesting with the combination of heavy traffic, impatient drivers following our 24 mph pace on 2 lane blacktop and negotiating underpasses that had only a small margin of clearance above the cultivator frame. I guess I should do a blog posting about this but its been one long long day and I'm about ready to sign off.
ReplyDeleteRalph, I spend a lot of time moving down the highway and I hate it. You made a long drive!
ReplyDeleteI really want a White 185 FWA as it has a cummins and a small but quiet cab.
However, I have not planted in over a month and so it will be a pretty lean year. I need to do 500 acres in the spring to make my payment. I have been doing that for the last five years, but not his year.