Observations on clueless people and never ending straw fields...

There was a time I though people hired me because I do good work. Now I realize that it is because I am the only one left who has a stacker.
I didn't mind the rough field I stacked for the neighbor girl. She was embarrassed it was swathed across the rough spots and thanked me repeatedly.
Around dark I went to stack for the other neighbor, long bales, and an odd stack pattern that would come apart when I hit the center-pivot ruts. Center-pivot ruts in tall wheat straw in the dark. I quit.
Then I got a call from the guy who is supposed to do my hauling but hasn't yet. He wants me to stack a steep hillside that I have actually refused to stack in the past.
I'm thinking about taking the money I was supposed to spend on baler twine and diesel fuel and buy a semi-truck. Do my own @#$%^& hauling.
Which brings me to a couple news stories.
This guy doesn't realize he is a moron. He thinks he is clever and ironic and doesn't realize only pretentious marooons make their own wallets out of duct-tape. The chick doesn't have a boyfriend, she just told him that after a one-night stand because he got all weird and clingy and would go home.
So he tapes a note on the underside of the toilet seat? Too funny.
This girl got fired for writing "truth" her job in her blog. She was a bit disillusioned because she thought TV news people actually did news reporting.
The funny thing is that she never figured out she was not hired for her reporting skills...
Who you think you are is not always who other people think you are...

News-Register wins awards but doesn't report on three combine fires and a hay press that is still burning (smoking)

Of course now you can't read the "premium" stories because they want you to pay. We are on again off again subscribers but I don't even bother putting someone else's password in to read the "in-depth reporting."
I was attempting to find out about several local fires and broke down and went to the NR website. They have a "breaking story" about a fire that has been out for several days. No mention of the large hay press that is still emitting smoke from the wreckage. I know there have been several combine fires in the last week. Sounds like a dangerous fire season ahead.
I will admit to reading the stories under google cached documents. This feels like I'm stealing and I like it. Makes the reporting seem more "in-depth." Sort of like stolen watermellon tasting sweeter.
News-Resistor wins awards-whoop! whoop!
If you actually want to know what is going on around you, the have to have the right network of friends on facebook.
I find it hilarious that the News-Register wins awards. Perhaps it is because there are only five local newspapers left in the USA.
I do enjoy Karl K's features on local people and locations and think he should win an award and I like Rose's column. I suppose I should not fault the NR on local news coverage. The problem is after years of being misquoted by that idiot that used to be the sports reporter nobody wants to talk.
Have a nice day...

--- Update, the hay press did not burn up. Only a very large straw stack outside was on fire. We would all have known that if there was any news coverage in the area. A cloud of smoke that could be seen for 20 miles?

Things that happen on the farm when you have kids of a certain age

I was baling hay the other day when I chanced upon a three-wheeler tire at the edge of the field. I was wondering what was up with that and I nearly missed the key to the whole crime scene.
Look closely at this photo. Can you reconstruct that happened?

That three-wheeler is pretty far into the blackberry vines. I have not seen any boys running around with broken arms or scratches so I assume it was not that serious.

Now here is the issue.
I've been to many safety meetings where the dangers of kids on a farm have been explained in great detail. There are terrible accidents that have happened. I am not downplaying that issue.
However, it seems that everyone has to learn the hard way.
The kids have been told to wear helmets and not drive around with a loose wheel but until someone gets hurt will they really listen?
You don't know the power of a firecracker until you nearly loose a finger. You can tell a kid to never lean over a irrigation valve opener when opening it or closing it, or to never stand in front of an irrigation pipe when you just turned the pump on, until the valve opener handle goes shooting past your head or you see a 40ft six inch pipe go flying 100 foot across a field.
The problem is, when that first accident is your last...

A Monday update for my loyal readers...

I am not a mechanic

This all started when I was looking at balers last winter. I was trying to make a decision on if I should get more acres to bale and buy a second three tie baler and quit renting a two-tie baler or concentrate on what I have and buy my own two-tie.
I should have been applying for janitorial jobs.
Anyway, I looked at a baler at the local dealer. It was really a really good deal. I talked to the original owner. It sounded okay but it had a lot of hours on it. But, something about it just didn't look right to me.
Plus the previous owner had robbed off the steps you have to climb to get access to the knotters and the auto-luber.
After thinking about it I decided it was pretty stupid to buy a baler with more hours than my own and that I did NOT want to rebuild a knotter before baling season.
But what happened was a friend ended up buying it. He asked me for advice on it and I told him he needed to negotiate a service call if he bought it. I didn't have any specific complaints. Everything seemed ok. Had a lot of wear on it.
He called me to help him get started baling.
He tried it himself and the plunger and the stationary knife connected after three bales.
The dealer repaired it and yesterday he was ready to try it again.
I spent four hours riding around on the back of the baler trying to get it to tie yesterday. It wasn't just one thing wrong. I would adjust one thing and something else would go wrong.
I finally told them it was kind of the luck of the draw on a used baler. Sometimes they are hard to get to tie.
However, once the knotters loosened up from setting outside all winter (or two) I could see they were really loose. It really needs a complete knotter rebuild. Worn out knotters are really touchy to get working.
I'm not good at ironing out the small details. I start getting worried about all the other stuff I have to do and I end up with anger management problems.
Plus I had to deliver four blocks of straw for the local tractor pull. You can't mess with the tractor pull.
I am still frustrated.
I've been baling for most of my life. I should have been able to get that #$%^&*( baler to tie.
On the other hand, I am so glad I did not buy that baler.
I may go help him bale today. If I would just show up with a baler and rake we could go through his 100 acres in two days. Of course I have my own 100 acres to do so we shall see.

I hate alfalfa

I'm sure you are all waiting for more no-till corn pictures. It is not growing as well as I think it should and I have no photos.
Just finished baling 8 acres of alfalfa.
Not a large amount but a pain in the bottom just the same. Had to wait till after dark for the moisture to come up. Otherwise it was knocking the leaves off. 95 degrees during the day and the stuff still won't dry. Could be the rain-like dew at night.
I bought a really nice used baler to make small bales for horse ladies.
It works really well. The bales are 14" x 18" x 46" long. I can pick them up with the automatic balewagon and make a nice stack you can load on a truck. 72 to 80 bales in a block depending on the stacking pattern I use.
Here is a photo of the new baler.

My final statement on the recent news events-like anyone cares...

I was going to post about corn but the first headline that I saw upon opening my browser and looking at the news feed was to the effect that anyone's child who likes skittles and hoodies could be shot at anytime for no reason... Click Here to find out what Kelly thinks...
It it that people are just stupid?
Is it that people can go through life never knowing how things really work?
We live in two worlds. What everyone wants to believe is real and what actually happens. In the 21st century reality seems to be only what you say it is.
I guess it all boils down to people believing what they really want to believe.
I've been busy.
A lot of driving around in circles in a stacker with no radio.
So the other day when I figured what really happened in the TM incident I had no one to tell. I was going to call MuddyValley but I figured he really didn't want to hear me rant.
One of the very important things to learn in life is when to cut and run.
I never learned that, but that is another story.
So here's the deal.
TM heads to the store cause he has the munchies. We don't need to comment about the time of day or what he was wearing cause random stuff happens. There is always an exception.
On the way home he attracts the attention of the amateur neighborhood watch captain.
TM does not know that here have been problems in the neighborhood caused by kids who look like him.
TM is talking to a girl on the phone and thinks he is king of the world. After all he is 17 years old.
He decides to teach the "Creepy-arsed white Cracker a lesson."
I'm not so sure I really blame him that much, I understand his point of view. I don't like people who want to be cops.
So he punches Z in the face and knocks him down.
I'm still ok with him at this point.
Now what he should have done was run. There is a point where you have to decide when to quit. Jumping on the guy and beating his head against the pavement puts you into a whole different situation. It becomes life and death.
If he wanted to prove his point then a good kick to the ribs or the balls would have left Z writhing in pain and not thinking about his gun.
Then TM should have ran like bloody-heck.
But, no... he had to get out some anger.
So is there anyone using this incident as a teaching moment.
"Son, when you punch a creepywhiteassedcracker, knock him down and get the heck out of there, you know the cops will beat the crap out of you, there ain't no point in getting in one more punch when you might get your arse shot off"
I suspect not...
By the way, I did not know that creepyassedwhitecracker is NOT a racial slur. However, many creepyassedwhiteliberals think not...
You know most of those people at Jonestown drank the "Kool-Aid" on their own...

No justice no peas...

We are seeing the perfect illustration of the term, "undeniable virtue of the oppressed." It will be an awesome teaching moment for the children.
You can dress like a gangster, beat the crap out of someone, get yourself shot, and become a cultural icon- if you fit the current definition of an oppressed class.
You certainly would not want to use the moment to caution your kids about wandering about late at night dressed like a stereotypical potential criminal.
You certainly would not teach your children to actually read about a news event before running out in the street to protest.
I've told my daughter time and time again, just put your glasses on,  kick the mean boy in the knee, start crying and say, "he hit me." Nobody will argue with a cute little girl with glasses on.
"Support Whirled Peas," is my slogan.
If makes about as much sense as the blather I've been hearing about racism.
Wonder if the Justice Dept is still helping to organize the rallies?
I'm more annoyed by real racial profiling stories of which there are many on the internet which I did not take the time to link to. Non-criminal looking people of color do get picked on unjustly. Just not in this case.
Why are all the people with the "Question Authority" bumper stickers such utter tools?