Lack of posting

I feel compelled to comment on why I haven't. I just finished the second week in which I logged almost 70 hours at work. I also spend time with Sarah, try to get in devotions and other necessities like laundry. So maybe when the harvest is finished I will have time to post pictures and make more cool and perhaps humorous comments.

Video of how not to play football

Miami - Florida International Football Game Brawl. I want you to leave your comments on what should happen to the players or the teams that are involved here. If you are interested in learning more just go to Google and type in "Miami Florida International brawl" or something similar.

Aston Martin and Cash

Aston Marton was always one of those always talked about but never seen cars. Well, That day has come to an end. I was on my way to pick Sarah up for an evening out (for her birthday) and I decided to go a different way as it was a friday evening AND It was rush hour. In the process this interesting vehicle, one that I did not recognize, passed me . Now I pride myself in being able to spot a make and model after seeing only one profile, but this one had me guesssing. I am pretty certain it is an Aston Martin, but as the fancy writing on the back was hard to read all I saw was a capital A and a capital M. So let me know it is a just decoy.


On a different Note. I recently recieved a pair of pants. I am not sure whose they are but they fit and they had a bill in the pocket that had the picture of President Lincoln on it. Now I have decided to give this bill away. However to recieve this bill you must be the first to meet the following requirements.

A: E-mail me your current mailing address. DO NOT post as a comment, this is not very secure for either of us.
B: Tell me how much is a "Lincoln" bill worth.
C: Agree to use this cash to bless someone else.
D: Provide at least one unique suggestion on how you might use this money to bless someone.
E: Be at least 10 years of age and be able to read, right and do arethmatik in inglish.
F: Be Ok with me publishing your first name and idea.
G: Not be dating me. Sorry Sarah, (I'll take you to a nice place for your birthday).

Good luck!

WE HAVE A WINNER
Congratulations to Charlie, who earned the "Lincoln" by knowing that it was worth $5. He apparently is planning to use it to help support his sponsored child.

Down on the farm

I have Bragged about my Girlfriend, blogged about my time out west, Taken pictures of my new mansion, and even told you about my neighbors. And I am sure you are wondering how I afford the luxuries that I indulge in. I am going to satisfy your curiosity with snippets from work.

Welcome to M&M Farms. This is the shop.

This is the inside of the shop, or a different angle.

Commodity storage.

Equipment storage. But I think we are going to fill this with corn this fall.
The truck I drive the most is on the left.

More equipment in storage

We dont' just sit around all day. We often haul fertilizer onto the fields.
This is the plant where we load. A tanker can hold about 4800 gallons.

Then we drive to the field.
In this picture we have to back off of the road because the field is too soft for the trucks.
We try to unload downhill so our tanks empty better.

We transfer the load to a vacuum tank spreader called the 'Balzer'. It holds 7500 gallons. There is a hydraulic powered vacuum pump that powers the unit. When we are loading we turn the valve to suck air out of the tank, the vacuum sucks the contents from the truck into the spreader. To spread we switch the valve to apply pressure to the tank which unloads when we open the valve on the rear.

Then we spread it on the fields at the appropriate rate. The rate of application is determined by the percentage of nitrogen (N) of that particular load. We have a chart in the tractor that tells us how fast to drive. One load I had to drive 15 MPH.

We also haul lime out of lagoons like these.
This lime was used at a water treatment facility to soften the water.

It is then transferred to this settling lagoon to let the lime settle out
before the water returned to the local estuary.
We have a pump we back down into the lagoon which mixes the lime and the water and then pumps the slurry mixture into our trucks. The slurry is similar to that of elmers glue in texture, and is about 40% solids.
We then apply the lime to fields just like we do the fertilizer.

Yes, agriculture is a science. Yes, it is a form of industry
and yes, it does put healthy food on your table.
Thank a farmer today.

Sexual Offender: Marked for Life

I was looking through the mail this evening and I came across this interesting semi-scary looking piece of literature.The reverse side has a mug shot of a person with their address, hight, weight, eye color, offense and other pertinent information informing us that this person is living in our area.

I had always read about communities having a sex offender list but I never gave it much thought. When I showed it to my buddy who was with me the first thoughts were how this poor person will live with this info following them for the rest of their life, wheather they change or not. Then we dicided that it might be nice to take them supper sometime. After all, we know their name and where they live, and they probably don't get many visitors. We didn't do it yet but I am sure two able bodied young men don't have much to fear, especially given the picture of this poor soul.

In case you can't read it, the fine print gives some common sense safety tips on this side, and the other side has a warning informing me that using the enclosed information to commit a crime is a bad idea (I didn' t read that part too close, Is providing a meal considered a crime?). That is one reason I am being careful, the other is just to preserve this person's dignity. Also remember that the definition for "Sex Offender" is rather broad.

Could this be the modern day "samaritan" or "tax collector" ?
Thats all for now, and let's remember to pray for this person.

MTV: Cribs-My new house

Its been exactly two (2) weeks since I have moved into my new Pad here in the thriving metropolis of Columbus OH, (better known as Hollywood East). It is an amazing place with massive expanses of yard to roam, a pool, an elaborate dining-room, an exsquisite deck overlooking many gardens,a library, a TV room, a fully stocked kitchen, a hot tub/Jacuzzi, and even a well stocked wine cellar with hard-to-find wines. I even have exclusive use of a yacht whenever I want, and if I choose I have limo service to and from the boat club.

I really can't complain, meals are catered, free wireless internet, great downtown location, security system, and the rent is impressivly cheap.

My camera crew is on strike (150 grand/year seems to be too little) so just imagine I am taking you on a tour myself, all decked out in my bling-blings and oversized pants falling to my knees, and an NBA jersey that is 5 sizes too big. And don't forget I also have a couple gaudy earings and a semi-sideways cap on advertising the latest rapper.

This is the front view, Notice the flower garden bottom center.

This is my office which also doubles as my room.This is the dining room with the library to the right.

This is the TV room. The TV however has not been installed yet as there is not enough space for it.

The Hot Tub.
Note the pure Ivory pedestal sink imported from a poachers workshop in Zaire.

This is the Deck, with one of the gardens, and did I mention the commercial size grille?

This is the view from the deck. Note the VAST expanse of lush green backyard space to roam and host skanking parties. If you look close you can see the security system on the right, The guards and their dogs were not allowed to be photographed for security reasons.

This is the pool, it has been drained, however, for winter maintenance.

This is the wonderful street front that provides access to literally ANYTHING, including many other famous Hollywood-East'ers and their properties.

The Wine Cellar.
Of course we use only the best oak casks. You can also see the beginning stages of the process in the two 5-gallon 'vats' in the left side of the TV room.

I almost forgot the yacht, we call her MOY (Mother of Yachts). I still have'nt even been in all the interior rooms yet, but I hear they are elegant.

This in Butch, the best of my three (3) limos. We also have a red German made, and a green domestic SUV style that we cruise around in depening on the occasion.

So if you ever get to central Ohio look me up and I will give you the code to my security system and you can either lounge in the pool, watch football on the bigscreen, or just relax in the Hot Tub until I get back. And if you fly in, I could probably even send one of my drivers with a limo to pick you up.

Until then 'Hang loose bro'

Price Update

Gas prices continue to fall, the lowest I saw them was $2.05. I was talking to a friend tonght and he said he saw $1.99. For other updates in my area go HERE.
-I am sure there is a web site for the locations near you-

$ 2.13 A Gallon, but not for Milk

That's right folks, I filled my Jeep today for two dollars and thirteen cents per gallon for regular gasoline near Hilliard OH. I don't know why gas is going down but I do know that when the news stops talking about the horrible "Oil Crisis" we get some welcome relief, even if there is a pipline rusted out in Alaska. Here are some other possible reasons why the fuel prices are backing off. Feel free to weigh in and leave your feedback, or give your own reason.

1-The summer "rush" is over (but isnt' winter coming?)
2-New Orleans is back to normal, refining as much as ever
3-Bush has buddies in 'Big Oil' and he pulled some strings
4-Americans are using less fuel (so we dont' cause cancer in rats and Californians)
5-I am subsidising crude oil prices, Happy early birthday Sarah!
6-New drilling technology being used in Alaska doesn't disrupt the caribou and semi-extinct birds
7-New drilling in Alaska, and the caribou and birds are just dealing with it.
8-The Democrats want to win the next election
9-Exxon-Mobil discovered 'ethnic' imigrants (who actually work) so they are firing the white boys.
10-Winning the war in Iraq increases the stability, which equals more crude and less uncertainty on wall-street
10.5-Prices are'nt really coming down, I just think so because I got my gas at Wal-mart

It is still a sad day when we think $2.13 is cheap.

Wheat Harvest: Home for a Spell/Final Saga

Special thanks to my good friends who decided to get married I had the wonderfull chance to come home for a weekend.

This is Sarah's wonderful family that we had breakfast with Sunday morning at a park.

Special thanks to the early wheat harvest (and the boss) for letting me add a week to my vacation and be home for Labor day.

What did you do on Labor day?

And special thanks to the sorry corn crop (although I am not excited about the poor yield the farmers will get) for not needing me for fall harvest.

You heard me right, Mel called the other day and said that they don't need me for the fall, so I am staying east. While it does cause complications in trying to get my stuff shipped in, cancelling plane tickets and such, I am not dissapointed to be back home.

And while it is nice to be back in familiar territory, it was great to be able to see the west and I learned a lot from and through the people I met. I saw lots of amazing sunsets, often with combines in the foreground. I met lots of good Americans who work hard for the food we eat, and I grew in understanding of their lifestyles.

With that I conclude this chapter of my life which will be forever remembered as
Wheat Harvest: 2006

Wheat Harvest: Good-bye Montana

I don't have any new pictures but we have wrapped up many (well over 10,000) acres of wheat and are now looking to heading back to KS to start the corn harvest. We will be here for a week or two yet doing minor repair on the combines. It is nicer working in 80 degree weather here than 100 degree weather in KS. It will take two trips to move the entire entourage, and will probably take two days to get there. Don't worry mom, it will most likely take a good week to complete the whole process. I am leaving for a wedding on the 27th, taking a few days off (yes, I plan to spend time with Sarah) and then flying back to start fall harvest. Since the wheat was about 3 week ahead, here will be a few weeks of down time before we start corn.

See you all soon.

Wheat Harvest: FIRE!

“I think my combine is on fire” yelled the radio. I looked out across the field that I was combining and that quick there were two machines coming straight at me full tilt around the outside edge and a third cutting right through the middle of the field (leaving a rather hairy pass as he was driving too fast to cut the wheat clean). If you want to see action, imagine 8 combines all screaming across the field and then the operators grabbing their fire extinguishers and running to the burning combine. Its like kids running to free candy. I took the cue and followed suite, not knowing exactly what to do I took the advice of the old adage “when in Rome do as the Romans”. So I too hurried to the combine in question and hastened to it with the first of my 2 pyro-suppressors. By the time I arrived they had put it out, “it” being the orange glow and a lot of smoke. So I re-mounted my fire extinguisher and went back to harvesting wheat while the boss assessed the damage. The verdict: a bearing got too hot. I apologize for the lack of fine photographs of this event, but taking pictures is not top priority when a quarter-million dollar machine is being threatened by fire.

This picture, however, does show what could happen if a fire goes unchecked. Not only could it consume the combine and surrounding equipment, but possibly thousands of dollars of crop still in the field. All farmers have a “fire truck”. This is usually a 4 wheel drive vehicle with a water tank, pump, hoses, shovels and other things used for fighting fire. If someone has something burning everyone drops what they are doing to go and help. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

And for those of you wondering, Sarah still acounts for the majority of my phone time, as little as it may seem.

-CWTSYA-

Wheat Harvest: The Crew

Here are some of my co-harvesters. I dont have the best pictures for everyone, sorry. I also included what they do and where they are from.

Mel (Boss), Laura (Chef), Tanisha, Ok.

Andy (Co-owner), Combine, OK
Ben (Co-ower), Combine, OK

Kyda (boss's daughter)
Breanna, Combine, Ks.

Me, truck, PA

Jeremy, Combine, Pa

Riley, Combine, Ok.

James, truck, Ky.

Ned, truck, Va.

Adam, Combine, Ne.
Dave, truck, Pa.

Allen, Truck, Pa.

Chad, truck, Pa.

Nate 'fuzzy', Combine, Va.

Junior, truck, Pa.

Matt, Combine, Pa.

Linford, Combine, Pa.

Wheat Harvest: Montana

It is touted as one of Wyoming’s finest resort destinations. Nestled quietly in the beautiful foot hills of the Bighorn mountains this metropolis not only has the wild open west feel too it but also a relaxed everyone-knows-everyone atmosphere. The city of Lost Springs boasts beautiful golf courses, a lovely lake, and close to 1000 hotel suites with verandas that look out onto the lovely Bighorn mountains. The finest restaurants coupled with the hot springs draw close to a million visitors a year, anyone from newlyweds to corporate execs to retires come and enjoy this truly exotic area.

While moving north into Montana we got to drive through this beautiful municipality and enjoy the amazing décor. Apparently the mayor is a very prominent public figure and is engaged in daily life. Here is a picture of the expensive sign that greeted us as we entered the town.

Of course this is all tongue-in-cheek, but I thought it would provide some entertainment.

We are finally in Montana. Enjoy.

When the truckers can't get to the chuckwagon, we deliver.

Chppewa-Cree indian reservation. This is one of the dozens of cattle guards that we cross every day.
"Truck 106 leaving the field and heading down the mountain" is a common phrase used on the radio. It is also a safety feature when on roads like this the passing spots are scarse. Imagine having a 30+ ton truck heading down these roads meeting an empty truck coming up. It might be 100 feet till we stop if we did go off the mountain.

In case you couldn't tell that's an atelope on the sign. Probably in 16 miles there will be another sign. We also see many burned spots like this. Some bigger, some smaller.

Post office of a town similar to Lost Springs. I think the other buildings in this town included a cattle corral and a stock watering tank.

In Hemingford NE, we made the local paper.

Look at the pretty clouds. Well actually it is smoke from a fire. We could see the smoke at least 30 miles away.

Montana, or maybe Wyoming.

Montana.