It was the closest I've come to feeling like I was working back in the cubicle. A button-up shirt and shiny shoes would have brought me closer. My dirty Carhartts on the leather chair just didn't feel right.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Meetings...
I'm a farmer, but I went to a meeting today that made me think otherwise just for a moment. There were twelve people in the conference room with a long table and comfortable black leather chairs all around. Lunch was provided, minutes were taken, action items given, agenda followed, and at some points I was trying desperately to stay awake (did I mention lunch was provided?). We talked expenses and budgets, productivity and cost/benefit analyses. I felt like I was worked in an office again. But there were differences. Ten of the twelve were wearing baseball caps. Most were in jeans and tee-shirts. Some may have smelt bad, but I couldn't tell because I probably smelt the worst. And we talked about pigs. Sows and boars and guilts. And pig health and mating and litters and weaning. Most things were over my head, being the new-guy and all.
Friday, August 6, 2010
A Few Pictures
I took my camera with me for chores a few days ago. The beauty of this place is awesome. Difficult to capture; you'll all have to come visit to take it all in for what it is. This beats the inside of a cubicle wall hands down. And the scenery is totally worth the smell.
That particular morning the fog was sitting in every valley. This is at Abby's folk's place looking over the cattle lot.
Rounding up the pasture calves on the 4-wheeler.
Foggy corn.
The fog burned off and the sky was cloudless. The view on this hill is great (better than the picture makes it look).
Buster; a good friend of mine.
Hungry HUNGRY piglets.
There are so many picture-worthy things that happen on the farm; just today, I was digging some dirt with my back to a fence and got licked in the butt by a thousand-pound holstein; my father-in-law playing with one trying to grab its tongue; earlier, I witnessed an eleven-hundred pound steer teeter-totter (think high-center; no wheels on the ground) on a four-foot fence before breaking it and getting to the other side. All picture-worthy, if only I had a camera with me and I was quick on the draw. Maybe I'll get more pictures whenever I get my hands on that Droid-X; then I'll have a good camera with me all the time.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
A Shocking Statistic
Not shocking like surprised, shocking like an electrical shock. Here's the fun fact (not really a statistic): I've been shocked more times in my first month as a farmer (at least 4 separate occasions) than I ever did as an electrical engineer (none, that I can remember). Yesterday's shock was the worst yet, but let me back up and tell about the first few.
The first one was also my first time to feel what the cattle feel when they get too close to an electric fence. I had just fad the cattle at the Ranch, and I was closing the gate where I had driven the tractor and feed wagon in and out of the lot. There was a wire that had some cracked insulation that was allowing it to short to a chain that was hanging too close to it. That was the chain I was using to secure the gate. The electric fence only is charged for a short burst about every second, so when I grabbed the chain, the jolt wasn't immediate. It came a half second later and it scared me as much as it hurt. I'm glad I was alone that time; I let out quite a yelp.
The second shock was actually on purpose. I was supposed to test the electric fence that ran around the pasture. Now the best way to test an electric fence is to use a non-metal-handled tool (such as a screwdriver), move it close to the electrified wire and watch for a spark. I didn't have a screwdriver. All I had were my all-metal pliers; no good for this application. At the time, I was pretty sure that the fence wasn't working; a calf had climbed through the fence about ten minutes prior. I was testing a different part of the fence, but it's all connected, right? Yes, actually... I put a finger on the fence to prove to myself it wasn't working. I was wrong. And right. The shock was very mild, but it was there. Later that day, Doug found and fixed where the fence was shorting (and thus reducing the intensity). So, all in all, that one was anti-climactic.
The third came on that day it was raining during chores (see: Soaked). One of the ingredients of the cattle feed is a liquid that gets pumped out of a tank daily. The particular pump I was using that day needs a new switch wired for it; but in the mean time, you can just plug and unplug the pump. Turns out, the plug needs rewired too. It's one of those where you have to make sure the wire is "just so" for the pump to get power. It's actually a simple process to get the wires adjusted correctly to get continuity. Except in the rain. The wet plug mixed with the poor wiring lend to getting shocked, and then having to get shocked again to make those adjustments, and possibly more when you unplug the pump. So the third shock was actually a series of three or four shocks. 120 volts; 60 Hz.
The fourth, worst, and latest came yesterday. Chad and I were trouble shooting the automatic feeding system in the hog nursery (a pretty ingenious feed system, if you ask me). The controllers for the motors that run the feeders were burnt out by what we believe to be a voltage spike that came from the power company (they may or may not own up to it), and Dustin had been turning the motors on and off manually to get by until the controllers got fixed. However, he was gone over the weekend, so I was doing his chores. I left to motors on too long and burned some things up. Ok; back to the trouble shooting. I had fixed one of those controllers and was working on installing it while we were trying to figure out what was going on with the burnt stuff. The breaker didn't get turned off one time and I got hit with 240 volts. OW. I gave out a yelp similar but louder to the one following the first shock, but this time Chad was close by. He didn't chuckle; this wasn't like an electric fence that's made to not kill when it shocks. 240 volts will more than wake you up. It just got me in the fingers, luckily, but THAT'll teach me to be careful messing with wires like that!
In the future, I'll be more aware of the high voltage around me. I'll avoid the stuff that can kill, and that fence won't catch me off guard the next time (even if I do get a zap).
The first one was also my first time to feel what the cattle feel when they get too close to an electric fence. I had just fad the cattle at the Ranch, and I was closing the gate where I had driven the tractor and feed wagon in and out of the lot. There was a wire that had some cracked insulation that was allowing it to short to a chain that was hanging too close to it. That was the chain I was using to secure the gate. The electric fence only is charged for a short burst about every second, so when I grabbed the chain, the jolt wasn't immediate. It came a half second later and it scared me as much as it hurt. I'm glad I was alone that time; I let out quite a yelp.
The second shock was actually on purpose. I was supposed to test the electric fence that ran around the pasture. Now the best way to test an electric fence is to use a non-metal-handled tool (such as a screwdriver), move it close to the electrified wire and watch for a spark. I didn't have a screwdriver. All I had were my all-metal pliers; no good for this application. At the time, I was pretty sure that the fence wasn't working; a calf had climbed through the fence about ten minutes prior. I was testing a different part of the fence, but it's all connected, right? Yes, actually... I put a finger on the fence to prove to myself it wasn't working. I was wrong. And right. The shock was very mild, but it was there. Later that day, Doug found and fixed where the fence was shorting (and thus reducing the intensity). So, all in all, that one was anti-climactic.
The third came on that day it was raining during chores (see: Soaked). One of the ingredients of the cattle feed is a liquid that gets pumped out of a tank daily. The particular pump I was using that day needs a new switch wired for it; but in the mean time, you can just plug and unplug the pump. Turns out, the plug needs rewired too. It's one of those where you have to make sure the wire is "just so" for the pump to get power. It's actually a simple process to get the wires adjusted correctly to get continuity. Except in the rain. The wet plug mixed with the poor wiring lend to getting shocked, and then having to get shocked again to make those adjustments, and possibly more when you unplug the pump. So the third shock was actually a series of three or four shocks. 120 volts; 60 Hz.
The fourth, worst, and latest came yesterday. Chad and I were trouble shooting the automatic feeding system in the hog nursery (a pretty ingenious feed system, if you ask me). The controllers for the motors that run the feeders were burnt out by what we believe to be a voltage spike that came from the power company (they may or may not own up to it), and Dustin had been turning the motors on and off manually to get by until the controllers got fixed. However, he was gone over the weekend, so I was doing his chores. I left to motors on too long and burned some things up. Ok; back to the trouble shooting. I had fixed one of those controllers and was working on installing it while we were trying to figure out what was going on with the burnt stuff. The breaker didn't get turned off one time and I got hit with 240 volts. OW. I gave out a yelp similar but louder to the one following the first shock, but this time Chad was close by. He didn't chuckle; this wasn't like an electric fence that's made to not kill when it shocks. 240 volts will more than wake you up. It just got me in the fingers, luckily, but THAT'll teach me to be careful messing with wires like that!
In the future, I'll be more aware of the high voltage around me. I'll avoid the stuff that can kill, and that fence won't catch me off guard the next time (even if I do get a zap).
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