We are having a nice slow beginning to spring. It melts every day and then freezes up at night. That way there is not any big floods or stuff. We have water flowing in the creek but not over the banks. We don’t need that. As we bask in the nice weather, I am aware that March came in like a lamb and will go out like a lion. We will see. What the Big Guy decides, we have to go with because that’s the way it is. Snowstorm the end of March?
On the home front, I have got Jaco working at the elevator. I also have employed Quinny as a helper as it’s a two-man job. Quinny has worked for me before. He is a good man and easy to get along with. I have one bin with some seized up heated canola in it. It wouldn’t flow out. It is a bit of a contract as you have to climb down in the bin and Jaco has rigged up a pipe and air hose that he has the air compressor on. Quinny is pushing this pipe through the canola to push the grain toward the drain out. The bins are 30 to 50 feet deep. It is a young man’s job that I could not possibly do.
When we get that job done I want to have someone come with a picker truck and lift my air seeder tank above the grinder and pelleter that I have at the elevator. This is a project that I would like to see completed as I am slow of foot and also slow to get things done.
I have had the grinder and pelleter for at least four years. It is time. Some years I had no help and some years the weather was too miserable, but with Jaco’s and Quinny’s help maybe this year will be the year. I have bins built other years in the elevator ready for this project, so once the air seeder tank is up there, we just need to get augers to feed the grain up to the air seeder tank. I have the augers already.
I have built a frame of two and seven eights mechanical tubing six feet square to hold the tank, grinder and pellet machine. The air seeder tank will be at the top. The air seeder tank will meter the grain into the grinder. Out of the grinder it will fall into the pelleter. The grinder and pelleter are wired in and ready to go. Then I need a system to take the pellets away. My brain is working on solving that problem.
We have some other fixing to be done at the elevators. I have a used rug that I want to put in the office. I am going to buy a steel door and put it in. Hopefully that will keep bad boys out.
On a personal note, I am going to be 70 this summer, so I thought I should look into taking out my RRSPs. When I asked about it, they told me there would be a 20 per cent withholding tax. Lord love a billy goat. They have had my money for 20 years for next to nothing, the money that is in there will not buy anything it could 20 years ago and now they want 20 per cent of it. GEEZZE! Then, I found out if I took only $5,000 or less that the tax was only 10 per cent so that is what I did. I distinctly remember my father, who had a big wack of RRSPs, dithered until the last minute and then rolled it all into an annuity. They paid him a small pittance per month and I doubt he even got his principal back. I did not want that happening to me. A lot of people who have large amounts in RRSPs are in for a big shock and disappointment. Here is the thing, you may think you have a large amount of money saved. It is not your money. It’s the bank’s and government’s money. They just let you think it is your money but it is not. It’s really their money.
In political news, Conservative MP for Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound Larry Miller created some controversy when on a radio program he stated that ”If you are not willing to show your face in a ceremony that you are joining the best country in the world then, frankly if you do not like it or are not willing to do it, go back to where ever you came from.” This created a stir in the media. Women’s groups were not happy. The opposition parties were not happy. Personally I think he is right on. Then he did something I don’t agree with. He issued an apology. Surely in this country if you tell it like it is, do you then have to apologize?
In Saskatchewan, the Brad Wall government has brought out a budget and it is balanced and no new taxes. This is great accomplishment with the down turn in the oil. Saskatchewan was never as dependent as Alberta on oil revenue. We have mining, potash and agriculture besides, which provide revenue for the province. Finance Minister Ken Krawetz will be leaving politics and this is his last budget. We in Saskatchewan have been blessed with a steady hand at the wheel with Ken Krawetz and before him Rod Gantefoer as finance ministers. These are large shoes to fill. My hat is off to Brad Wall and his Saskatchewan Party for a good job in tough times.
Joke of the week from Marcella Pederson: A little girl was at the bank with her mother. She received some money for her birthday and the mother wanted her to know how to open a bank account. The little girl was quite interested in the pen at the teller’s station that was attached by a chain. After they got back in the car the little girl said, “should we trust the bank with our money when they don’t trust us with the pens?” Good question, hey?
