Happy Birthday to me

What I did on my birthday...
I was actually singing "Happy Birthday to Me," but it didn't show up on video.

The lovely wife and daughter and going to England. My lovely and gracious wife was left a small inheritance. She has always wanted to see London. They are leaving this weekend. I figure I can live on Snickers and coffee for a couple weeks...

Plowing

I plowed today.

I forgot the radio was on when I took the video

I also forgot how to plow.

I laid out the lands after dark using GPS. I went 100 feet instead of doing the first land at 100 and the rest at 200.

My helper took over this morning and seems to have figured out how to fix the problem.

I took the suction tube from the filter to the hydraulic pump out five times attempting to fix a hydraulic leak on the number two 2-155. I welded up the wear grooves on the tube with the wire feed welder and sanded it downs smooth. 

Then the other end started leaking.

I put bigger o-rings in. It seems to have stopped.

I hooked up the Melroe 911 plow with AC bottoms to help plow. It would not go in the ground.

I went back home and attempted to grade the driveway with the only tractor that worked and had three point. The number two White 2-155 with duals. It was dark and the three point is a little jumpy for grader work. Several shrubs died in the process.

A crisis solved

I was hurrying back to the main facilities building for my break. When I was flagged down by the cleaning crew supervisor and her helper.

They excitedly informed me that there was a big nasty slug on the steps of one of the dorms and they were afraid someone would slip on it.

I am mediately passed it off to pest-control which is my supervisor and suggested that they fill out a work order.

But I am basically a happy agreeable person and so after break I went and picked up the slug. 

It was a truly horrifying experience.

Although, I really did expect it to be somewhat larger...

Labor Day to do list

Blah, blah, blah...

Gene Logsdon died...

I've been feeling my age... Not to sound too much like a whiner but the truth is that this blog is one long running whine...

In a few more days I will be a deck.

I went to MuddyValley's brother's party yesterday. Folks seemed a bit older.

On the other hand I posted a photo of my Triumph on a Triumph owner's group on Facebook and I got 74 likes and counting.
So I got some validation. Ain't that what Facebook is about?

I've had a lot of comments to add to this blog but I mostly forget them by the time I sit down to write.

I know it was coming but Gene Logsdon was writing hero of mine. So I will take a moment and remember Ed Winkle, Frank James, and Gene Logsdon. Then I shall go find the cover crop disk and a tractor and disk up some ground that will probably yield half of what it should and move one step closer to loosing the whole damn dern farm...

Also, what ever happened to that guy from Africa? Now he was NOT a whiner. He is probably getting something done somewhere... Wonder if I still haves his email address.

Perhaps I'll throw in some random pictures. Everyone loves photos!

Could I pull this with my 2-155 white? How do I tell if they are 16" or 18" bottoms? I don't think I can pull 6-18" inch bottom in Whapato soil.

Another weekly blog without a catchy title

I don't understand how it was that I had more time to blog when I was working 18 hrs a day farming but now that I have a 7:30 to 4:30 job and farm in my spare time I have no blogging moments...
If the iPhone had actual speech recognition like my old android instead of just randomly imagining phrases I suppose it would be a little easier...

Random thoughts on a Sunday morning.

1. I watch my Facebook page for my liberal friends and relatives rants about Trump and find a lot of entertainment out of their purposeful misinterpretation of his random rants. They have nearly convinced me to vote for Trump. I think the only way I will be able to vote this fellow who has annoyed me since "Art of the Deal," came out many years ago, is to just listen to the Democrats whine about him.
Comedy gold...
I also find the Hilary supporters HILARIOUS, (get it?)
I grew up during the Reagan area and find the irony between what was said about Reagan as criticism and what Hilary does and is applauded for.
Ok, get this... A CIA head endorses Hilary and that is a positive? The CIA used to be utterly evil but now it is not?  I could continue but won't...

2. Protest votes... Republicans who endorse Hilary should be noted as they are the ones who have sold us out...

3. Republican policy makers unite against Trump. But of course they do, that is why Trump is in the race. We hate them. They got us into idiotic endless war. They bailed out the banks and screwed up the economy.

4. Bernie Sanders supporters who are voting for Hilary. I am not a Republican and can vote for whomever I want. I was going to vote third party as a protest. You must vote your conscience. If you are a Bernight you must vote for whatever whacko group best fits you, the Greens or Communists, but preferably Libertarian.  As a conservative independent I will vote either Libertarian or Constitutionalist. I'm not happy with some of the Libertarian party planks. I don't think they are taking themselves seriously. I think this is an election where they could really gain votes.

5. I actually bought new old records. I put on Slim Harpo, and Lightnin' Hopkins for Sunday Morning  Omlette Session. Never before played records.
It was beautiful. Lightning' Hopkins guitar blues sounds amazing. I'm not good at describing these things as I am not using proper terms I think. The acoustic guitar has an unbelievable crispness. It sounds like a live performance. A lot of the old blues performers have voices which tend to distort around the edges at higher volumes. Hopkin's voice as clear and there was no fuzziness when he hight the high ranges. The tone was also amazing. A very warm sound but well balanced. Perhaps you could say it had an airiness to it. Again, it sounded like he was in the room and not in the speakers.
Now I need reel to reel tape so I can preserve the sound and not ruin the record by playing it till the record grooves are flat.

6. Baling straw is not going well. I have one customer who buys 7,000 to 10,000 small bales from me. The bales are 14" x 18" x 46" long and weigh 55lbs. The baler must be turned to maximum tension and you cannot bale at 90 degrees temperature. Despite my warnings, my helper baled at too low a moisture and they bales are fluffy and light. This is bad as they are stacked into an 80 bale block and picked up with a squeeze. It will be a nightmare.
I'm mixing the bales Lulu made at night with moisture with the dry bales.

7. The stacker won't stack. The second table won't push the bales back into the load rack far enough and they fall forward. When you raise the bed to dump the push off feet come out. When you want to lower the bed the push off feet won't retract.
Sometimes they will retract if you raise the bed while retracting the feet.
I put a different master valve on from a salvage yard. It cost $500. It helped for half a day. By evening Saturday it was getting frustrating.

8. I must get ready for Church.

Flat tires and more

The day before yesterday arrived at the field to find three flat tires on the stacker.

When I arrived yesterday the people I am stacking for at the offending tires repaired and mounted on the stacker.

I did some minor repairs and then got Lulu started baling.

I came back to the stacker picked up one load and broke a hydraulic cylinder.

I took it home and came back.

Lulu is listening to books on MP3 and wanted to work late.

I was picking up the last few bales of the day when I hit a rut and heard a loud pop.

It took me a little while to discover that the bolts holding the steering gearbox on had broken.

When I got to our Strawfield I discovered that Lulu had 2000 bales on the counter. She worked past 11 o'clock and seemed a bit tired.

The news is predicting rain on Sunday. I'm taking today off from grounds keeping.