Another beautiful week of July weather. The cowboys have had some shower delays, but a good hay crop is in the making. We are lucky so far, as to escape the severe rains, hail and plow winds that the southern part of the province has had. With this heavy crop out there, we are holding our breaths and asking the big Guy to let us get this harvest in the bin.
On the home front, some disking got done. We had a day of showers so went on to change a barrel on the hydraulic couplers on the 4450 tractor. It did not go well as there are seals buried back in the housing that us two old guys couldn't see. Now after a visitation to Agland, consulting with big Jay, we got it straightened out. Armed with Alvin's snap ring pliers and a happy hooker we will get it together. No, I didn't write about some female prostitute, a happy hooker is a special tool for changing o-rings that lets you get the old ones out and put in the new o-rings. So, there you are, now you know!
Lots of debate, some protests about the jury verdict acquitting George Zimmerman of murder of Tayvan Martin. If you remember the news story, George Zimmerman was a neighbourhood watch guy who confronted Tayvan Martin, who was walking home at night. They got into it and Tayvan Martin got Zimmerman down and was banging his head on the cement sidewalk. At this point Zimmerman, who was legally licensed to carry a pistol, shot Martin, killing him. Then there was a big public outcry because a white man shot and killed an unarmed black teenager. Zimmerman was charged with murder. At the trial the jury thought Zimmerman was in fear or his life and acquitted him. Then more protests erupted, from even the president. They even wanted to change the Florida law. I have my own opinion and I hope that if someone is bashing my head into the side walk or whatever, I should be allowed to defend myself.
The cleanup of the train derailment at Lac Megantic continues at a snails pace. It is a terrible tragedy that almost 50 people burned to death in their sleep. I dislike the media coverage as they were right there for the big explosion and fire but were mighty short on facts about what happened. I have loaded countless producer cars, so I know a little bit about rail cars and some of the facts don't add up. The train was coming from the west so the engine would be in the front. How is it the engine was back 12 miles west? How did the cars get past the engine? The cars don't come unhooked unless someone pulls the lever to decouple them. Who did that? Someone had to do it! Most sidings were picked in a low spot in the early days so cars would not roll away. Where the train was parked for the night, was it on a high grade? What set these cars loose? More information is needed to understand what happened, but I have this idea in my head that sabotage from "Save the world from dirty oil" protesters is possible.
I have had my 68th birthday and I am never happy to be a year older. In fact I find it depressing. My friends tell me the alternative is not so good. This year I received an unexpected surprise, a baby came on my birthday, July 22. Not just any baby but the future king of England. He was named George Alexander Louis Windsor and he was born on my birthday. Isn't that something? My congratulations to William and Kate.
Aug. 4 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Waseca Community Hall we are putting on a come and go tea for my mother Agnes (Howson) Lesyk. She is flying in from Victoria and would be pleased to visit with old friends. Everyone is welcome. She is going to be 90 the next day and it's my friend Lorne Topley's birthday on Aug. 5 also. He is much younger!!
I am currently running without the Internet. About a month ago we could not get the Internet connection to work so Bev phoned SaskTel. We never did see them but they phoned one day and said we had a wet pedestal. After that the darn thing worked. Now it's not working again.
Joke of the week: Little Johnny's family moved from Newfoundland to Toronto and in school little Johnny became the butt of many jokes. The classmates decided little Johnny was stupid so they had a test for him. They put a nickel and a dime on the desk and asked him which one was more valuable, hinting since the nickel was bigger, it must be worth more money. Johnny would pick the nickel every time. Then there would be snickering and talking about how smart Johnny was behind his back. Finally the teacher couldn't stand it any longer and she took little Johnny aside and said "Why do you let them do that to you, you know the difference between a nickel and a dime?" "Yes," said Johnny, "but if I picked the dime they wouldn't give me nickels anymore."
