What a beautiful week of summer weather. For the grain growers it was close to perfect. Warm in the day, then some showers at night. The crops have just flourished. I don't think there is a poor crop in the area. This crop has such a canopy and growth, the only thing that could stop it going through to harvest is the Great White Combine or fall frost. Please, Big Guy, don't send either one!
For the cowboys trying to make hay, things aren't so good. It must have been frustrating for them. First the alfalfa was slow to flower, then everything was ready at once. Every time they cut down some hay it rained. Have patience, cowboys, the rains are just about over and you will have good haying for the rest of the month. There is a good looking crop out there, it should get baled up in good condition.
On the home front, my man Jaco is moving clay for a new pad for my seed and fertilizer bins. I didn't realize we had made a little dam and created a swamp at the old site. If I wanted seed or fertilizer, we had to tow the trucks in, then, not filling them too full, we had to tow them out. I hate towing trucks! Now we are moving the bins beside a gravel road that I already have in my yard. I am hoping this will be much better.
Upon driving around, I am happy with my crop. The wheat is heading nicely. The only thing in my canola I have been gopherinated. There are some big spots that have no canola. Those little rodents just love young canola plants and will eat every plant in the area around their burrows. In the past I have been hesitant to poison as I always worried I would kill the predators too. Now I can see Mother Nature is not looking after the problem for me. Where are the coyotes and hawks? What happened to the badgers and weasels? The damage is done for this year but next year I will have to look after them. A fella phoned me up and asked if he could go shooting gophers out there? I said "Great, go ahead, do you need any more shells?" War on these rotten rodents has begun! Bonus!
In Bev's perennial garden she has found a Hungarian Partridge nest with 18 eggs in it. The nest was abandoned. I assume a coyote got the hen as they are in our back yard every night. When you think about it, that's a miracle that a little bird that size could lay that number of eggs. The pile of eggs would be just about as big as the mother bird. It is a shame that she disappeared but that is sometimes nature's way.
After watching the tragedy at Lac Megantic in July 2013, where a 70-car train of oil tankers without an engine roared into the town, derailed, catching on fire and killing 47 people, the questions that the media was not asking about bothered me. I wrote to Lisa Raitt, federal minister of Transport asking her some questions. Where was the locomotive? How did the cars get past the locomotive? Was the train sitting on a siding for the night? Surely the train was not left on the main track. What if another train came along and ran in to it? That would not make any sense. If the train was on the siding, how did it get on the mainline? Someone would have to move the switch. I have loaded countless producer cars. I can tell you railcars just don't start moving by themselves. First you have to release the hand brake, then it is somewhat like a truck where there are still some brakes until you blow down the air. Then and only then will railcars start to roll. Someone had to do all this plus set the switch from the siding before this tragedy could happen. Did we have some Greenpeace terrorists playing dirty tricks? What are the answers? People have the right to know.
Minister Raitt sent me a two-page email. She only blew her own horn. She told me they had made safety changes, removing the DOT-111 rail cars from service to transport dangerous goods, requiring two-man crews on the trains, reduced speeds for trains and requiring emergency response plan for dangerous goods. She also stated that the government had committed $60 million to rebuild the town and another $95 million to help in the cleanup of the contaminated site. Never answered "one" question as to how this train got loose and on the track without an engine. Why did I waste my time writing to her?
I am still not happy that SGI officials can impose laws on us without full debate in the legislature or anywhere else. That is how you get bad laws. In my mind there is no debate about stupid people texting when they are driving. Must we pass a law that there be common sense? On the other hand talking on the phone I don't think is as serious. You can have Bluetooth or speaker phone or one of those other devices and it is thought to be fine. But you are still talking on the phone.
To have a law that states that all children under seven should have a booster seat is ridiculous. Are you asking the RCMP to ID these kids to prove they are seven and over. Bad law! Stupid law! Surely the RCMP have better things to do with their time.
To quote Winston Churchill "If you have an overburden of laws, you create a society of criminals." Think about it. Is that not right? Stop with state being overbearing and seizing citizens property just because they can.
Joke of the week: A couple of cowboys, quite full, are arguing about whose dog is smarter. "My dog is so smart," says the first owner, that every morning he waits for the paper boy to come around. He tips the kid and then brings the newspaper to me, along with my morning coffee." "I know, says the second owner. "How do you know?" "My dog told me!"
