Another week and another week of hot weather. My sympathies to those poor flag girls on Waseca grid north who must stand out in the sun all day long from 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. I know I could not do it. Let's hope the pavement stands up this time to the traffic it is about to receive.
We need this weather to hurry the crop along so we can get it in the bin before Jack Frost comes along and feed grades us. Peas are getting killed in this area. The high clearance sprayer guys have been busy doing them in with chemical. In about two weeks the combines will start and harvest run is on. When I see the pea crops there are this year, I wonder about growing them again but I do not have pleasant memories of growing peas. I determined about 15 years ago life was too short to grow peas and I don't think I have changed my mind. I kind of treasure my combine and I well remember the wear and tear peas put on the harvest machinery. Let someone else grow them.
On the home front, the new office windows in the elevator are in. This time I got quarter inch plexiglass. I hope these will thwart vandals. The combine got serviced and greased. Three rookie guys took a little longer to understand and find all the grease nipples. Now is the time to have this happen as I don't want to go through the procedure when we should be combining. I will insist that it be greased again before we start. That's how they learn.
We also had the front-end loader tractor in front of the shop. A job that should have taken an hour or so took most of the day. Bolts were missing underneath, some bolts broke off in the holes. It was a real performance by the time we were done but it is done, tractor is fixed and back on machinery row. I hope Jaco and Sven learned a little about using the mig to weld little bolts on the broke off stud to get the broken bolt out. I didn't help them but I could tell them what to do. Their plan, to drill a hole in the stud and use an easy out might have worked but I think they would still be drilling. I had to do that one time on my Cat on a roller were I couldn't get at it to weld. It was a long drawn out procedure. This is better. I learned this welding on a nut or small bolt trick years ago either from my Uncle Ernie Snell or Roy Davis.
Our crops are coming along nicely with the wheat, some ripe, some green spots but someday soon the question will come up "When do you start cutting?" Are the green spots mature enough to make good wheat or will there be green kernels ruining the grade? It seems I never know the answer. I think my wheat is turning greener at the moment. I would like to start swathing soon!
The canola is finished flowering and looks decent. It is a ways off from swathing yet. The green feed patches are doing well with the ground almost covered. Here we are past mid-August, can harvest be far away?
Today, my weekend warrior Cole told me he wanted to take a different job closer to home. He has quit on me! He came here knowing nothing and I hope I was able to teach him a few things about fixing and servicing the machinery. I wouldn't say Cole knows how to cut and weld but he has done enough to have the concept. He just needs more practice. He can count on having experience putting on roof tin. He has an understanding of nuts and bolts and the difference between metric and standard. He came knowing almost nothing, now he has usable skills that could get him a job anywhere. It seems like you just get someone trained and they move on. I knew the day was coming, but I thought I would at least have him until he was out of school. He was pleasant to get along with and not a bad kid. I wish him the best of luck in his future endeavours.
In political news, Alison Redford has resigned as MLA for Calgary-Elbow. The scathing report from the auditor general about her spending was due out the next day. What a shame it had to end this way. Alison graduated from high school in Calgary and then took her law school from the University of Saskatchewan. This was a person with high level accomplishments to her name. Through the 1990s she worked as a technical advisor on constitutional and legal reforms in Africa. She was appointed by the United Nations as one of four commissioners to oversee the first elections in Afghanistan. What a legacy she could have left. Instead she has resigned in disgrace. What a shame. What a waste.
Joke of the week from father-ind-law Bob Polinsky: A family, father and mother and a little girl went to church. Everything was fine until the collection plate came around. Then in a high shrill voice heard all over the church the little girl said "Daddy, Daddy don't pay for me I'm under five."
