I am a bad farmer. A lazy farmer. There is hay to cut and in three days, there will be hay to bale. I have feed to make, I have a broken tractor, a broken motorcycle, a broken golf cart, and several axes to grind. (metaphorically speaking)
It is 8:30 a.m. on a Saturday. I have a baler to put together and I am blogging. Perhaps that is where the Lazy Farmer name does truly apply.
I hate working on baler plungers. I have trouble reading the instructions. When I had my larger helper Bill, we would argue over the instructions and somehow figure it out. I do not think in the same way as my new helper. Nothing against him. It just doesn't work the same.
I need my daughter. But she has abandoned me.
The weather man is calling for 90 degree temperatures next week. I am taking a vacation. I am going to drive a dumbstruck for the company that is redoing the steam lines at my University. I also have an interview at another University as a handyman groundskeeper. There is a very unlikely possibility that it will pay two dollars an hour more. If so I will take it.
My daughter is working in the grounds department of that University this summer. It is where she attends. She has been advocating for my employment there. I am not sure this is a good idea. I tend to interact too much with her. She objects, but then turns around and seeks me out. This job is an example. She was going to work in my grounds department but then got a job at her University. Then she tries to recruit me.
She said, "At LU I am known as Farmer ....'s daughter. At GFU you will be known as Lulu's dad." A subtle difference. But somehow important in terms of status....
The decision to switch jobs is actually impossible. I was offered the job a couple years ago. The pay turns out to be almost the same when the extra half hour drive is figured in. The drive kind of sucks. At my current job I now I have 15.5 hrs of PTO per month and they give me all sorts of interesting junk. They are renovating the science building and I am really hoping for cool scientific junk this time!
I am listening to "How to stop worrying and start Living," by Dale Carnegie. It is a refresher course...
Ok, I'm lying... This is what I am really listening to. Probably why I can't read.
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I always kept just a LITTLE distance between me and the folks, despite working with my dad. Sometimes too much is just too much.
ReplyDeleteI think that is how it is going to have to be...
DeleteWe are similar in quite a few ways, but music is not one of them! Although on a recent trip while playing with Sirius in the vehicle I was driving, I found "Yacht Rock" which turned out to be 70's and 80's rock which I have no idea why I knew most of the songs; I am a classic country listener. Maybe in a alternate life of that time period.....?
ReplyDeleteI didn't say it was good music, I just said I was listening to it. I am a more of a George Jones fan myself.
DeleteWhile not a farmer I have many broken items and pieces of equipment for which I have the parts but seem unable to complete. At a point I'll misplace the parts. My estate sale will be most enjoyable for people like me who accumulate.
ReplyDeleteChildren are a joy, sometimes. My son needs support in life activities but lives distantly in London. My daughter lives nearby but has squirrels infiltrating her attic. This week I'll focus on squirrels.
The new job sounds good. In life's play we do all loose center stage to our children. 'Lulu's Dad: move to stage right.'
I don't know. Perhaps it is time for another career change.
DeleteMy farming hobby keeps getting in the way of my real occupation of messing about with old cars. I don't think I've had the Merc out for a cruise in May yet. And now its June. Set to break a 1988 heat record today. Its 90 at noon. And I'm supposed to be heading out on the open John Deere to haul rocks. The heat is making me lazy too.
ReplyDeleteSo does my farming. I need a substantial grant to for the preservation of mid century farm equipment.
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