I made this video yesterday, finally! 1st Melchert Harvesting video ever! Titan Case dealers have a promotion out right now....send them a video and the winner will receive a prize!! Cash money! or maybe it was store credit...either way would be good :) So there are definite marketing aspects to this video, for us as well as Titan. I have only videotaped a few times, so I am no expert, but I thought this turned out pretty cool. The biggest hassle was getting it formatted correctly and getting the correct software to put all the clips together. But thanks to Alec at Titan, I think it is good to go!
If that doesn't open, here is the link to you tube, or you can search "Melchert Titan" on you tube and I think that will bring it up.
http://www.youtube.com/user/MelchertHarvesting
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
....to WaKeeney (not bikini, though it sounds tropical!)
We are now in WaKeeney, KS. It is right along I-70 in the NW portion of the state. We pulled in here Saturday morning, to a small RV park, there is a KOA right next door! but this is more economical ;) On Saturday we hooked up the camper here, left the machinery at the truck stop across the road, and headed out to do some scouting for acres. We left business cards everywhere and talked to as many farmers and people working at co-ops and elevators as we could. No luck that day, but got our name out there. Sunday - we were able to go to church! More like we didn't have a field to get to so the temptation wasn't there to skip. It was great to go, the message was wonderful and made us all think. The members there were so welcoming to us, and chatted with us for 1/2 an hour after church! Very nice people, 1 couple was going to Lake Ida by Park Rapids, MN in a few weeks to visit some friends of theirs, so we all laughed about that as we could then relate with them. After church and lunch the guys headed out all day again to do more scouting, I stayed back to clean the camper, make a good supper, and I even had time to sneak over to the KOA's pool and swim laps for 30 minutes. It was amazing, it felt so good to be in the cool water and get my heart pumping, I love swimming. We played a couple games of euchre that night, Jon & I beat Andy & Chris...it was fun :)
Monday had a lot going on..... after getting more biz cards made in town and getting a plan set we split up and headed out like this scouting for wheat to combine:
Jon & I headed NW to the Atwood area, stopping everywhere in between
Jeff & Jodi set out for Colorado, the NE side of it
Andy & Bob went N from the camper
Ron & Chris went to Chad's to take the tranny out of the Tauras and order parts
Dan & Ben brought the rest of the machinery to WaKeeney from Chad's
Jon got a call that afternoon from a farmer that saw a card of ours! He had 360 or so acres of wheat to cut, not a big amount, but it was still something, 35 miles north of WaKeeney. We had been feeling a bit bummed out and this really cheered us up! We are very thankful, God provides! We drove right there to meet him and look at the fields. He said he normally has around 700 acres of wheat, but due to the wet fall he didn't get it all planted and has more corn, beans, and milo this year because of it. Some of the wheat was ready to cut, but some is a little green yet. We said we'd bring the machinery up tomorrow! We had hopped in the farmer's truck so he could show us the fields, and 1/2way through his power steering went out and then it really heated up, so we parked his truck and we all walked the mile and a half back to our truck. He felt bad, but we didn't mind the walk at all, we'd been in the truck all day. We had a nice visit with him anyways, saw where he grew up, and even walked the road that he took to go to school 2 miles away.
He pointed out some stakes in the ground of the farmstead he grew up at. They were for wireless internet. There had obviously not been anyone living there in the last 30 years or more, and we asked him why in the world that was there. He said it is how Obama is trying to help that rural area, the stimulus plan. Sure there were people hired to put that all in, but what good does it do anyone if it NEVER gets used? and don't think that is the only place it was put in, they were putting it in all over in that area, and only a handfull of people live scattered out there. He said most of them are older and don't have computers anyway! jeepers.
It has been hot, but a little more comfortable than last week. Upper 80’s-90’s, breezy everyday, and no rain in this area. Today, Tuesday, the combines were taken out to the field, unloaded, and started combining again! It was the best looking wheat we have been in yet. Thick, golden, fluffy, and few weeds! This morning while the guys were getting stuff ready I baked a cake, made sandwiches for lunch, and put a hotdish together in the crock pot for supper. We all went to the fields. Then around 6:00 or so Chris and I came back refilled the tank with fuel and he took supper out to the field for everyone else. I stayed at the camper since my Grandma & Grandpa were on their way here to visit us for a few days! There is a hotel right across from the RV park so I reserved a room for them. It was so nice to see them when they got here!!! They had brought along meat from our freezer back home, Grandma made cookies, and Marg sent lots of goodies! :) They wanted to wait here till the guys got in, but it will probably be 1am before they get back here from the field, so they headed to the hotel.
Well now I’m caught up I think, and seems I just wrote a book, but at least you have a better idea of what’s been going on here in the last week!
Monday had a lot going on..... after getting more biz cards made in town and getting a plan set we split up and headed out like this scouting for wheat to combine:
Jon & I headed NW to the Atwood area, stopping everywhere in between
Jeff & Jodi set out for Colorado, the NE side of it
Andy & Bob went N from the camper
Ron & Chris went to Chad's to take the tranny out of the Tauras and order parts
Dan & Ben brought the rest of the machinery to WaKeeney from Chad's
Jon got a call that afternoon from a farmer that saw a card of ours! He had 360 or so acres of wheat to cut, not a big amount, but it was still something, 35 miles north of WaKeeney. We had been feeling a bit bummed out and this really cheered us up! We are very thankful, God provides! We drove right there to meet him and look at the fields. He said he normally has around 700 acres of wheat, but due to the wet fall he didn't get it all planted and has more corn, beans, and milo this year because of it. Some of the wheat was ready to cut, but some is a little green yet. We said we'd bring the machinery up tomorrow! We had hopped in the farmer's truck so he could show us the fields, and 1/2way through his power steering went out and then it really heated up, so we parked his truck and we all walked the mile and a half back to our truck. He felt bad, but we didn't mind the walk at all, we'd been in the truck all day. We had a nice visit with him anyways, saw where he grew up, and even walked the road that he took to go to school 2 miles away.
He pointed out some stakes in the ground of the farmstead he grew up at. They were for wireless internet. There had obviously not been anyone living there in the last 30 years or more, and we asked him why in the world that was there. He said it is how Obama is trying to help that rural area, the stimulus plan. Sure there were people hired to put that all in, but what good does it do anyone if it NEVER gets used? and don't think that is the only place it was put in, they were putting it in all over in that area, and only a handfull of people live scattered out there. He said most of them are older and don't have computers anyway! jeepers.
It has been hot, but a little more comfortable than last week. Upper 80’s-90’s, breezy everyday, and no rain in this area. Today, Tuesday, the combines were taken out to the field, unloaded, and started combining again! It was the best looking wheat we have been in yet. Thick, golden, fluffy, and few weeds! This morning while the guys were getting stuff ready I baked a cake, made sandwiches for lunch, and put a hotdish together in the crock pot for supper. We all went to the fields. Then around 6:00 or so Chris and I came back refilled the tank with fuel and he took supper out to the field for everyone else. I stayed at the camper since my Grandma & Grandpa were on their way here to visit us for a few days! There is a hotel right across from the RV park so I reserved a room for them. It was so nice to see them when they got here!!! They had brought along meat from our freezer back home, Grandma made cookies, and Marg sent lots of goodies! :) They wanted to wait here till the guys got in, but it will probably be 1am before they get back here from the field, so they headed to the hotel.
Well now I’m caught up I think, and seems I just wrote a book, but at least you have a better idea of what’s been going on here in the last week!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
On the road again...
Let me back track a little to catch ya'll up. Wed. of last week was the day we went to Enid and back. Thursday we packed up from Kiowa, KS and traveled to Dighton, KS. We know a guy by the name of Chad that lives there, he farms and is a custom cutter also and we hit it off with him at a convention last spring. He is a great guy, and has been a blessing to us. He had been trying to help us line up some more work in his area, and told us we could park our camper in his yard and use the bathroom and shower in his shop. And we did for thursday and friday night. We appreciated his family's hospitality very much. His 2 dogs even warmed up to us (they especially liked me when I gave them the fat and scraps from a pork roast for supper 1 night!) there were 2 kittens on his farm that got to hanging around the camper the 2nd night even, I didn't mind, 1 looked just like Speckles back home. :) Chad was working on a field only 10 miles south of his farm, so he was able to come home every night. And he needed another semi to haul grain, so Ben was able to use 1 of our semis and work with him. The area by Dighton was overflowing with custom cutters, so we were not having much luck lining up work there after 2 days of talking to farmers and none of them calling back so we decided to head out Saturday morning and move about an hour north to WaKeeney.
The Tauras.....Andy brought Jon's Tauras down here a couple weeks ago so we'd have another vehicle for running errands and getting parts. It was so nice to have it here, then after the 2nd day of it I was driving back from getting parts, was on a highway and had the cruise set, I was going up a hill when it was like the car slipped into neutral or something. It revved up really high. I took it out of cruise, but nothing happened when I hit the gas pedal, I was able to coast up the hill and pull over, just in time before a semi would have made me into roadkill. It wouldn't go forward or backward, so I called Ben and he towed the car to Kiowa. We found out there was a good tranny fluid leak. put some leak stop in, then more fluid, it would last a day or two, we would repeat, until we got to Chad's and the seal was completely wore. So we pulled it into Chad's shop, tore it apart, have the parts ordered, and Ron will hopefully be fixing it on Thursday or Friday. Yeay!
The Tauras.....Andy brought Jon's Tauras down here a couple weeks ago so we'd have another vehicle for running errands and getting parts. It was so nice to have it here, then after the 2nd day of it I was driving back from getting parts, was on a highway and had the cruise set, I was going up a hill when it was like the car slipped into neutral or something. It revved up really high. I took it out of cruise, but nothing happened when I hit the gas pedal, I was able to coast up the hill and pull over, just in time before a semi would have made me into roadkill. It wouldn't go forward or backward, so I called Ben and he towed the car to Kiowa. We found out there was a good tranny fluid leak. put some leak stop in, then more fluid, it would last a day or two, we would repeat, until we got to Chad's and the seal was completely wore. So we pulled it into Chad's shop, tore it apart, have the parts ordered, and Ron will hopefully be fixing it on Thursday or Friday. Yeay!
Friday, June 25, 2010
To Enid and back
We got a call about cutting 700 acres of wheat south east of Enid, OK the other day. We were really excited as our job in Kiowa was coming to an end. So Wednesday we got everything packed up and headed out. Not far down the road a tire blew out on Jon's combine trailer. We made it to a town that could fix it. They asked Jon to drive the combine off the trailer, their jack couldn't jack up that much weight they said. It is not just a 10 second deal to unload the combine, but he did it. they brought the jack over, it was a 20 ton jack! the combine only weighs 30,000 lbs, so it could have easily jacked up the whole thing. oh well. Had them replace another tire that was looking wore. We dinked around there for well over an hour by the time we got it loaded up again. It was hot, 100 degrees or so, and we were on the West side of the building. It is hot everyday though! ugh. When we left that town, we saw more fields burning.
This is a whirlwind in the smoke, it was pretty big, there were a few of them we spotted, kind of crazy.
Anyway, the other 2 semis and pickup had kept traveling when we stopped, so we figured they were there already. We called them, and they were still a ways away from the field......hmmm...we found out that a semi side-swiped the combine Andy was hauling! So they got held up a bit dealing with that, unbelievably there was little damage done to either semi. That guy should not have been passing Andy there I guess. They met up with the land owner and he led them to the field. Those guys still got to the field well before Jon & I, and they said they got that combine unloaded in record time! The land owner was a 97 year old man, he was very nice. But when he stopped his pickup at the field and got out, he didn't quite have it in park, it rolled backwards and bumped into the truck Andy was driving! No damage was done at least. But then an angry farmer pulled up by our guys and he hit that same trailer! Hit #3 in a couple hours....thankfully no damage was done by any of them, but boy if someone would have told me lightning doesn't strike the same place twice today I wouldn't have believed them. Anyway, the farmer was all upset because he had been renting the old gent's land for 25 years and he always lined up the custom cutters, he said he had some coming soon. Well the land owner was sick of waiting and hired us. The farmer said he can't do that and called the sheriff. (all this happened before Jon & I got there, so we pull up shortly after this and here is what we see).....
I didn't get a picture of everything unfortunately. There were these 3 squad cars, then the farmer and his granddaughters vehicles, then our machinery, then another squad car. We find out that because of the contract those guys have, we can't end up cutting the wheat there. The cops were all really cool. So we hauled all that machinery, blew a tire, and dinked around all day for nothing. But we made a good connection with the land owner, and maybe it will work out for us there next year. But he did feel really bad about us wasting fuel and time, so he said he'd reimburse us for that. This old man-driving a ford ranger, wearing what I call Veterinarian's coveralls, and old tennis shoes wore so much his toes were just about sticking out-pulled his wallet out of his pocket. He had a rubber band around it to keep it shut it was so full. I have never seen so much cash, much less $100 bills in my life, he probably had $10,000 in 100's in that wallet, no lie, it was nuts. He counted out 10 of those to pay for our fuel and wasted time - and pizza for supper :) He was sure a nice guy, it was just too bad he was caught up in disagreements with his renters and we couldn't cut for them. So back to Kiowa we headed, had to stop and get a new fuel filter for 1 of the tandem trucks on the way back, but other than that we made it back fine.
Some thunderheads to our northeast on the way back.
This is a whirlwind in the smoke, it was pretty big, there were a few of them we spotted, kind of crazy.
Anyway, the other 2 semis and pickup had kept traveling when we stopped, so we figured they were there already. We called them, and they were still a ways away from the field......hmmm...we found out that a semi side-swiped the combine Andy was hauling! So they got held up a bit dealing with that, unbelievably there was little damage done to either semi. That guy should not have been passing Andy there I guess. They met up with the land owner and he led them to the field. Those guys still got to the field well before Jon & I, and they said they got that combine unloaded in record time! The land owner was a 97 year old man, he was very nice. But when he stopped his pickup at the field and got out, he didn't quite have it in park, it rolled backwards and bumped into the truck Andy was driving! No damage was done at least. But then an angry farmer pulled up by our guys and he hit that same trailer! Hit #3 in a couple hours....thankfully no damage was done by any of them, but boy if someone would have told me lightning doesn't strike the same place twice today I wouldn't have believed them. Anyway, the farmer was all upset because he had been renting the old gent's land for 25 years and he always lined up the custom cutters, he said he had some coming soon. Well the land owner was sick of waiting and hired us. The farmer said he can't do that and called the sheriff. (all this happened before Jon & I got there, so we pull up shortly after this and here is what we see).....
I didn't get a picture of everything unfortunately. There were these 3 squad cars, then the farmer and his granddaughters vehicles, then our machinery, then another squad car. We find out that because of the contract those guys have, we can't end up cutting the wheat there. The cops were all really cool. So we hauled all that machinery, blew a tire, and dinked around all day for nothing. But we made a good connection with the land owner, and maybe it will work out for us there next year. But he did feel really bad about us wasting fuel and time, so he said he'd reimburse us for that. This old man-driving a ford ranger, wearing what I call Veterinarian's coveralls, and old tennis shoes wore so much his toes were just about sticking out-pulled his wallet out of his pocket. He had a rubber band around it to keep it shut it was so full. I have never seen so much cash, much less $100 bills in my life, he probably had $10,000 in 100's in that wallet, no lie, it was nuts. He counted out 10 of those to pay for our fuel and wasted time - and pizza for supper :) He was sure a nice guy, it was just too bad he was caught up in disagreements with his renters and we couldn't cut for them. So back to Kiowa we headed, had to stop and get a new fuel filter for 1 of the tandem trucks on the way back, but other than that we made it back fine.
Some thunderheads to our northeast on the way back.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
A combines worst nightmare
We have been here in Kiowa, KS for the past 12 days or so, and been combining for a farmer for the past week, after the ground dried out enough to get the combines going again. He had around 1200 acres total, but broke into 10 fields, ranging from 20 - 200 acres. He had some challenging fields. They were kind of hilly, and here if there are hills, they are terraced to help prevent the soil from washing away. But unlike home where we leave grass grow on the terrace, here they are not as sharp and they plant right over them. So it takes twice as long to do the fields, and the field looks like a maze with all the curving around from the terraces.
The grand canyon of the worst field. It was deep too. could have lost a combine head in that one!
Chris found a washout with the grain cart too, luckily we could back the tandem truck up to it and unload the grain, then shovel in some dirt and drive the tractor right out.
The grand canyon of the worst field. It was deep too. could have lost a combine head in that one!
Chris found a washout with the grain cart too, luckily we could back the tandem truck up to it and unload the grain, then shovel in some dirt and drive the tractor right out.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Life on the border.....the KS / OK border that is.
We went out to look at all the water standing in the fields, thankfully our machines weren't standing in water like some peoples.
1/2 sogged straw :(
drilling more oil wells
some liked all the rain more than others!
Oh look, more pioneers coming over the hill!
I saw this crew at a gas station and just had to get a picture of the name on the truck :)
wheat on the edge of a soybean field. the farmer we were combining for was drilling soybeans after we got done combining a field.
these are everywhere here, we must be sitting on an ocean of oil, it may be a mile down, but there is a lot of it.
tanks for all the oil the pumps pull up
there are these pretty horses that I drove by all the time to get to some of the fields, so I decided to take a picture of them on my way back the other night, and I ended up with a good picture of their rear-ends.
there are trains each day with just semi trailers on them! it is kind of funny.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Rain and red dirt roads
It has been rainy here the last 3 days, 3+ inches of rain here, but other areas have had much more and we are glad we didn't get anymore. We've all caught up on some sleep and are ready to get going again. Today the sun is shining and the guys are fixing on a few things on the machines, I caught up on all the laundry, cleaned the camper, and caught up this blog!! there was a lot to catch up on, so much has happened I can't believe it has all taken place in only 2 weeks.
The day after we got here it started pouring, so combining any wheat on Saturday was out of the picture. It was Andy's birthday though so we had a little party. I made a big supper of pork roast(from home - yum!) mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, and I even made Andy a birthday cake!
It was oh-so-good with homemade frosting :)
We had time to hang out and play cards since it was rainy.
We have run into some people here that we met at the convention back in Feb. It was nice to talk with them for a bit. Our neighbors here at this very small RV park are harvesters also, they are super friendly and we have had time to visit with them since everyone is in the same boat due to the rain.
Yesterday we drove around looking at fields, and all the water, there are combines in standing water. I have to download those pictures yet. It may be a few days for some harvesters yet, but we are on some slightly higher ground and may get out there tomorrow. We drove through Wakita, KS yesterday, where parts of Twister take place, now I want to re-watch the movie. They don't have gravel roads here, they really are red dirt roads. And when it rains a lot they get greasy and wash out in low spots. Don't drive off the road even a little bit, you'll sink right in, not from experience or anything.... ;)
The day after we got here it started pouring, so combining any wheat on Saturday was out of the picture. It was Andy's birthday though so we had a little party. I made a big supper of pork roast(from home - yum!) mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, and I even made Andy a birthday cake!
It was oh-so-good with homemade frosting :)
We had time to hang out and play cards since it was rainy.We have run into some people here that we met at the convention back in Feb. It was nice to talk with them for a bit. Our neighbors here at this very small RV park are harvesters also, they are super friendly and we have had time to visit with them since everyone is in the same boat due to the rain.
Yesterday we drove around looking at fields, and all the water, there are combines in standing water. I have to download those pictures yet. It may be a few days for some harvesters yet, but we are on some slightly higher ground and may get out there tomorrow. We drove through Wakita, KS yesterday, where parts of Twister take place, now I want to re-watch the movie. They don't have gravel roads here, they really are red dirt roads. And when it rains a lot they get greasy and wash out in low spots. Don't drive off the road even a little bit, you'll sink right in, not from experience or anything.... ;)
Moving on to the next stop
On Friday June 11th, we loaded up the machinery, met with the farmers to settle up, and packed up the camper. It was time to move on to the next stop. Funny as it sounds we were starting to call that place home, even after being there for a week. We knew our way around better and recognized a few faces. The farmers seemed happy with the job we had done and hope that we will come back next year. They were all great to work with, really nice people that we got the pleasure to know and work with for a week.
We headed on our way up 81, all the way to the top of OK. By the time we were closer to Enid, OK there were harvest crews everywhere. In the fields and on the move like us. Outside of town, the majority of traffic on the roads were harvest crews moving. At an intersection we witnessed a semi pulling a trailer with a tractor and grain cart on it roll-over. The driver was going way too fast and couldn't hold the corner. He skidded right over the median, tipped over, and slid a ways. A sight that made my heart stop, but could have been soooo much worse if there would have been another vehicle sitting at the intersection. The driver's convoy of vehicles stopped of course, so we did not, there was enough help and we would have just been gawking and in the way.
We were just about to shut off the trucks after we got into town and parked them at a co-op for the night when we heard a distant voice over the CB. "Jon, is that you?" It was Ben, he had been making trips back and forth bringing machinery up here, and was headed here with the Danny's semi. "Ben, where are you?" asked Jon. "I'm at the Wal-mart in Alva, I'm running on fumes, my phone is broke, and I don't have any money" Ben said. It was so fuzzy we could barely make it out. Alva was over 30 miles away from us, it was a miracle the CB was even in range that far out. Ben's gaurdian angel was with him that night! It was getting late and Kiowa is a small town, so we wouldn't be able to get into a campground that night anymore. We took the pickup and camper to Alva and camped in the Wal-mart parking lot for the night. We weren't the only ones with that idea, there was 1/3 a parking lot full of harvesters. I honestly don't think I've ever been so happy to see a Walmart! We went in and washed up in those clean bathrooms, then grabbed sandwiches for supper (it was midnight and we were very hungry) waited in the checkout line for 15 minutes I bet though. We were falling asleep standing up. Stroke of midnight and we wished Andy a Happy Birthday! Then we fell asleep.
Glad we were able to start where we did, it was a lot quieter. This area is big-time wheat country and kind of intimidating. Even the small towns have huge elevators, sometimes 2 of them. Some of the truck drivers drive so fast, and we can see what results of that. There are also trains zipping by at mach 1 every 1/2 hour at least if not more.
This is also big oil drilling country. There were 2 more oil pumps being drilled on our way here. It is interesting to watch.
Black Gold! $$$$$$$$$$$
Jon checking the fields we'll be starting on next.
We headed on our way up 81, all the way to the top of OK. By the time we were closer to Enid, OK there were harvest crews everywhere. In the fields and on the move like us. Outside of town, the majority of traffic on the roads were harvest crews moving. At an intersection we witnessed a semi pulling a trailer with a tractor and grain cart on it roll-over. The driver was going way too fast and couldn't hold the corner. He skidded right over the median, tipped over, and slid a ways. A sight that made my heart stop, but could have been soooo much worse if there would have been another vehicle sitting at the intersection. The driver's convoy of vehicles stopped of course, so we did not, there was enough help and we would have just been gawking and in the way.
We were just about to shut off the trucks after we got into town and parked them at a co-op for the night when we heard a distant voice over the CB. "Jon, is that you?" It was Ben, he had been making trips back and forth bringing machinery up here, and was headed here with the Danny's semi. "Ben, where are you?" asked Jon. "I'm at the Wal-mart in Alva, I'm running on fumes, my phone is broke, and I don't have any money" Ben said. It was so fuzzy we could barely make it out. Alva was over 30 miles away from us, it was a miracle the CB was even in range that far out. Ben's gaurdian angel was with him that night! It was getting late and Kiowa is a small town, so we wouldn't be able to get into a campground that night anymore. We took the pickup and camper to Alva and camped in the Wal-mart parking lot for the night. We weren't the only ones with that idea, there was 1/3 a parking lot full of harvesters. I honestly don't think I've ever been so happy to see a Walmart! We went in and washed up in those clean bathrooms, then grabbed sandwiches for supper (it was midnight and we were very hungry) waited in the checkout line for 15 minutes I bet though. We were falling asleep standing up. Stroke of midnight and we wished Andy a Happy Birthday! Then we fell asleep.
Glad we were able to start where we did, it was a lot quieter. This area is big-time wheat country and kind of intimidating. Even the small towns have huge elevators, sometimes 2 of them. Some of the truck drivers drive so fast, and we can see what results of that. There are also trains zipping by at mach 1 every 1/2 hour at least if not more.
This is also big oil drilling country. There were 2 more oil pumps being drilled on our way here. It is interesting to watch.
Black Gold! $$$$$$$$$$$
Jon checking the fields we'll be starting on next.
Other tidbits from the 1st week
The campground we stayed at the 1st week was really just an RV park, maybe 20 hookups. Not really any families on vacation, just us(harvesters), a pipline crew(that was headed to MN ironically!), and some other random people once in a while. It was nice that we had a lot a space. There were bathrooms, 2 showers, and laundry available. They really stunk and were kind of yucky. I think there was something dead in the trash by the door. It would not have passed my Aunt's test for cleanliness that's for sure! But that shower felt so good at the end of the day and I was just thankful we didn't all have to use the bathroom in the camper.
It is usually around midnight when everyone gets back and can shower. One night Ben fell asleep on his bunk clutching his towel and shower stuff waiting for his turn to shower. We couldn't even wake him up, he was out.
There are a lot of cattle grazing in this area.
We were in the area of the Chisholm trail, 1 of 3 trails that were used in the 19th century to herd millions of long-horned cattle from Texas to Kansas. Makes me think of old western movies.
We were also close by to Waurika Lake, a 10,000 acre lake, it looked amazing, but we didn't have time to take a dip.
When I got back from picking up the door, Jon asked me to come drive combine so he could fix the door. After a 5 second refresher course I was all alone to drive that big machine with a 30 ft wide head. The last time I drove combine was Dec. 7, 2009; and that was corn. I had never combined wheat, and these guys cruise pretty fast (around 5 mph or more if the going is good). So I refamiliarized myself with the machine and started out around 3 mph. It took me a few rounds to get comfortable with setting the height just right for the wheat, but after that I was good to go. I finished the night off in the machine. I have to admit I was nervous after the problems Brian created, but he was driving much faster than I was. I just wanted to do a good job and NOT BREAK ANYTHING!! Jon said I was doing a better job after only a little while than Brian did after a few days, so that made me feel good, really good actually. I unloaded on the go into the grain cart while still combining for the 1st time that afternoon also, I felt rather proud of myself ;)
When I was combining, there were big storms in Texas, and to the west of us, but we only got a few sprinkles and could keep going. We were able to see this beautiful rainbow though! The encouragement was needed, it had been a week filled with trials and tests and was just plain hard. I know God is always with me and that he won't give me more than I can handle, but He just seems so far away sometimes.
"If I can endure for this minute whatever is happening to me, no matter how heavy my heart is or how "dark" the moment may be---If I can but keep on believing what I know in my heart to be true, that "darkness will fade with the morning" and that this too shall pass...
It is usually around midnight when everyone gets back and can shower. One night Ben fell asleep on his bunk clutching his towel and shower stuff waiting for his turn to shower. We couldn't even wake him up, he was out.
There are a lot of cattle grazing in this area.
We were in the area of the Chisholm trail, 1 of 3 trails that were used in the 19th century to herd millions of long-horned cattle from Texas to Kansas. Makes me think of old western movies.
We were also close by to Waurika Lake, a 10,000 acre lake, it looked amazing, but we didn't have time to take a dip.When I got back from picking up the door, Jon asked me to come drive combine so he could fix the door. After a 5 second refresher course I was all alone to drive that big machine with a 30 ft wide head. The last time I drove combine was Dec. 7, 2009; and that was corn. I had never combined wheat, and these guys cruise pretty fast (around 5 mph or more if the going is good). So I refamiliarized myself with the machine and started out around 3 mph. It took me a few rounds to get comfortable with setting the height just right for the wheat, but after that I was good to go. I finished the night off in the machine. I have to admit I was nervous after the problems Brian created, but he was driving much faster than I was. I just wanted to do a good job and NOT BREAK ANYTHING!! Jon said I was doing a better job after only a little while than Brian did after a few days, so that made me feel good, really good actually. I unloaded on the go into the grain cart while still combining for the 1st time that afternoon also, I felt rather proud of myself ;)
When I was combining, there were big storms in Texas, and to the west of us, but we only got a few sprinkles and could keep going. We were able to see this beautiful rainbow though! The encouragement was needed, it had been a week filled with trials and tests and was just plain hard. I know God is always with me and that he won't give me more than I can handle, but He just seems so far away sometimes."If I can endure for this minute whatever is happening to me, no matter how heavy my heart is or how "dark" the moment may be---If I can but keep on believing what I know in my heart to be true, that "darkness will fade with the morning" and that this too shall pass...
FIRE!
In these parts some farmers bale the straw after the field has been combined and some farmers burn the fields. 2 of the farmers we worked for started burning their fields while we were working for other farmers in that area. We were shocked how fast it burnt up (a matter of minutes) and how they didn't seem concerned that it would catch other fields on fire.
Another fire occured while we were there. I was off getting parts so I only heard about it. A neighbor stopped in at a field our crew was harvesting. He was driving a gas pickup truck. He stopped the truck and got out to chat with the guys. Before everyone knew it there was a fire right by that guys truck. Thankfully there
were several guys standing around there at the time. They all grabbed fire extinguishers or shovels and got the fire out in a matter of seconds. Say 30 more seconds would have went by before people could have got to it, it would already have been out of control and there would be little chance of stopping it. Needless to say the farmer was very thankful for our guys' quick reaction times and chewed out his neighbor that he should have known better; you never want to drive a gas vehicle into a wheat field, gas is more combustable than diesel.
Another fire occured while we were there. I was off getting parts so I only heard about it. A neighbor stopped in at a field our crew was harvesting. He was driving a gas pickup truck. He stopped the truck and got out to chat with the guys. Before everyone knew it there was a fire right by that guys truck. Thankfully there
were several guys standing around there at the time. They all grabbed fire extinguishers or shovels and got the fire out in a matter of seconds. Say 30 more seconds would have went by before people could have got to it, it would already have been out of control and there would be little chance of stopping it. Needless to say the farmer was very thankful for our guys' quick reaction times and chewed out his neighbor that he should have known better; you never want to drive a gas vehicle into a wheat field, gas is more combustable than diesel.
Brian.....
We were really getting down to the last minute back home, before we were leaving and still needed to hire another person. A kid from Kansas called Jon. He had seen some of our advertising posters, looking for acres to combine and wondered if we needed anymore help. We did and began the process of hiring him. He said he had been on harvest crews 2 other summers, so we assumed he would do a good job. We asked for a copy of his driving record, he said he had a clean record and he'd get it to us, but we didn't receive it before we left. He seemed very anxious to get going and would call Jon several times a day to ask what was going on and when we were leaving. Jon told him the approx. day and that we would contact him as soon as we were on the road, and would pick him up on the way down. Well you all know how hectic it was the couple weeks before we left and Brian soon became an annoyance, he even called Jon at 2:30am once. Once we left he called Jon every couple hours asking where we were, well, a couple hours farther than the last time I talked to you, what do you think? We stopped that night a few hours from his house and gave him the choice of either picking him up in the morning or he could have someone drop him off where we were. He showed up that night and was nice enough, we tried not to pre-judge, but he was rather hot-headed. We had plenty of time ahead of us to get to know him. Give him a chance.
The next morning Ben & Brian set off in our truck pulling the camper to get it to the campground so they could turn around to go back and bring the double header trailer down. Brian spit his chew juice out the window of our truck and it got all down the side. If he wants to do that in his own vehicle, fine, but NOT in our vehicles! dumb-butt. He was washing it off at a gas station with a window washer squeegee, Jon told him if he ever does that again he's washing all of the trucks and machinery by hand.
Fast forward to when we are combining, he does not have a class A license, says he has combined before, and is more familiar with John Deere equipment. So Jeff showed him how to combine with the green machine. He thought he knew it all and didn't listen very well. The next day he plugged up the combine so bad he almost burnt up an expensive belt. So he was banned from running that. He was just riding around with Chris in the tractor & grain cart after that. Chris was backing up and Brian decided to open the door. The dual caught the bottom of the door, shattering the glass on the entire door. Oh boy, that was a bad day let me tell you! Brian's nickname has now become "headache".
When I got back from a parts run that Saturday and saw this I felt sick, for 3 reasons.
1) I was sure it wouldn't be a cheap fix.
2) Who knew where there would be a door in stock and tomorrow was Sunday.
3) It is blasted hot and dusty in the field and hated to think that Chris or whoever would be driving the tractor would be in there till we could replace it.
We located a door in stock 3 hours away in Kingfisher, OK. They were even open on Sundays during the wheat harvest. So I headed there to get it. I got just the glass instead of a whole new door, we hoped the frame wasn't bent too badly that we could attach the glass and save some money. It was a tight squeeze getting the glass in the truck. Well we found out the frame was bent worse than originally thought, but they got it bent back enough to get the glass attached, it just doesn't shut flush to the tractor, there is a gap. but it will have to do for now.
Back to Brian....I found out that he wasn't very truthful with us, he did indeed have several major offenses on his driving record. We actually weren't surprised after being around him almost a week; reckless, immature.... It was just time for him to leave, we were tired of dealing with him. Good bye Brian, you're fired.
The next morning Ben & Brian set off in our truck pulling the camper to get it to the campground so they could turn around to go back and bring the double header trailer down. Brian spit his chew juice out the window of our truck and it got all down the side. If he wants to do that in his own vehicle, fine, but NOT in our vehicles! dumb-butt. He was washing it off at a gas station with a window washer squeegee, Jon told him if he ever does that again he's washing all of the trucks and machinery by hand.
Fast forward to when we are combining, he does not have a class A license, says he has combined before, and is more familiar with John Deere equipment. So Jeff showed him how to combine with the green machine. He thought he knew it all and didn't listen very well. The next day he plugged up the combine so bad he almost burnt up an expensive belt. So he was banned from running that. He was just riding around with Chris in the tractor & grain cart after that. Chris was backing up and Brian decided to open the door. The dual caught the bottom of the door, shattering the glass on the entire door. Oh boy, that was a bad day let me tell you! Brian's nickname has now become "headache".
When I got back from a parts run that Saturday and saw this I felt sick, for 3 reasons.
1) I was sure it wouldn't be a cheap fix.
2) Who knew where there would be a door in stock and tomorrow was Sunday.
3) It is blasted hot and dusty in the field and hated to think that Chris or whoever would be driving the tractor would be in there till we could replace it.
We located a door in stock 3 hours away in Kingfisher, OK. They were even open on Sundays during the wheat harvest. So I headed there to get it. I got just the glass instead of a whole new door, we hoped the frame wasn't bent too badly that we could attach the glass and save some money. It was a tight squeeze getting the glass in the truck. Well we found out the frame was bent worse than originally thought, but they got it bent back enough to get the glass attached, it just doesn't shut flush to the tractor, there is a gap. but it will have to do for now.
Back to Brian....I found out that he wasn't very truthful with us, he did indeed have several major offenses on his driving record. We actually weren't surprised after being around him almost a week; reckless, immature.... It was just time for him to leave, we were tired of dealing with him. Good bye Brian, you're fired.
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