Thursday, September 13, 2012

#114. or, New used combines can screw with getting healthy

  You know how it's Christmas time and you've been wanting, and asking, and waiting for that certain thing for like.........forever. Then it finally shows up and you are all bummed because it turns out to be a bit of a let down from what you had built that thing up to be in your mind.

  Ya well, my new, used combine finally showed up on Monday evening just as the dealership was closing. You remember the combine right? The one that was lost for almost 5 days. Well, it came, and I was excited, and a little worried too, because I had only seen it over a few pictures and didn't really want to be on the hook for well over $100 000 for a giant green piece of shit. So I ran into town, to take a look at it. Luckily, the fellow that they have to go over the operation of new equipment with purchasers was there and we spent some time going over things.

   And I left, that evening, a little disappointed. And with a list, all be it a short list, of things I wasn't overly enthused with on my new, used combine. Granted, they had also trucked the combine from wherever it was hidden to our town through the rain that had been going on for most of Monday, so it did have a healthy layer of road film on it as well.

  That being said, my dealership has been working like crazy to shape her up to what I want a combine to look like. A good washing helped a lot to give it a bit of her shine back, and I'm sort of expecting to get my hands on it sometime Thursday. I'm itching to try it out. (If you've ever harvested grain, you might smile at that last sentence.)

because even new, used combines are AWESOME!


  It's week 2 of the Pish Posh 8 week Challenge. Week 1 didn't go as well as I had hoped. I sort of tripped, and stumbled my way out of the starting gate, then fell face first into the dirt.




  Needless to say, I've been stressing a little bit over the last week while I wait for this combine, and now while they're working on it. It also doesn't help that the weather is nicer and all of my neighbours are slowly getting back in their fields to do their harvest and I'm sitting here waiting. I've been trying to get onto some sort of diet schedule but that's all gone to hell. I've been in town every day this week and because it worked, have eaten out with my lovely wife. Which, while awesome, isn't exactly helping my waistline. YESH!

  So have I done anything good? I'm trying to get a handle on portion size and limit myself to one helping. I'm really trying hard to not have any beers in the evening. Other than on the weekend, which worked out well because my combine was missing through the weekend and beers WERE required! I'm also trying to drink more water as well.

  I'm calling week 1, flush. My mind is in the right place. Yesterday, I desperately wanted to stop and buy cookies but I resisted. So that's a good thing.

Week 2, monkey toe scale report.......no change.

    ...........Part of getting a new piece of equipment, is saying good-bye to an old one. I was cleaning out the cab of my old combine so they could pick it up the other day and I found an old, hairy, jelly bean under the seat and I ate it because I got all nostalgic and shit. That probably wasn't a good choice. It was green. I think it was originally green, so that was OK. Still though.......better choices, Ken.







30 comments:

  1. I'm no farmer so I don't know what it's like to get a new piece of machinery. I bet it's a lot like getting a new car though. When you look at it and test drive it, all the features jump out out at you and you say "Wow!" But once you own the car, those same features are kinda boring and not nearly as appealing as they once were.

    And you ate a green, hairy, dirty jelly bean? What were you thinking man?!

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    1. I was just about to agree with you Dan, but then I thought......Combines never get boring! At least for me.

      Green, hairy, dirty jelly bead, it was a moment of insanity.

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  2. I think you are safe. Jellybeans are nothing but sugar and more sugar. Whatever had glommed on to it probably made it healthier.

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    1. Probably a bit of grain dust? Hell, it was almost a granola snack! :)

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  3. Consider getting rid of that bathroom scale along with the old equipment. My wife got one of those talking scales where a sexy voice tells you how much you weigh. I stepped on that scale and the sexy voice shouted, "One at a time!"

    Old joke but I love it.

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    1. The old one's are always the best, Stephen! Says the guy in his mid-40's. :)

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  4. Let's take small steps. No hairy jellybeans next week

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    1. I only ate it because I remembered having them in that combine. If I find something under the seat of my new combine, I won't eat it.......probably. :)

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  5. You can do it. And you should pay yourself on the back for not buying the cookies. That would have been much worse than the hairy jelly bean.

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    1. Probably, but I REALLY want cookies! That's such a hard one for me.I struggle with that.

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  6. I was wondering if you had a chance to play with your combine, yet! Okay, I know you don't actually play with it, but I hope you enjoy trying it out :)

    I say good job at staying the same weight! It was a stressful week and you could have packed on some additional pounds, but you didn't. So this week, fresh start, both with your challenge and your harvest!

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    1. I went in yesterday and they thought it would be ready. Once I saw what was left, I knew it wouldn't be done. Maybe today. I'm getting a little excited. :)

      Fresh starts, all around! :)

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  7. Another thing I did in my weight loss/life change plan was eliminating hidden calories. So instead of half in half in my tea I would put in whole milk, and I stopped drinking soda. You would be amazed how much weight you can lose just by looking into the calories that you drink.

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    1. I've pretty much cut out all the soda from my diet. Other than for mix of course. If I have tea, I'll use a bit of honey and that's all. I think that does help quite a bit.

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  8. Hey! At least you got the combine without murdering anyone. That is an acheivement all by itself. As for beer. You could always switch to those 67 cal beers. They actually taste pretty good. I know it's not manly drinking them and they have less alcohol content but little changes are usually more helpful then huge sweeping ones. Right?!

    I have faith that this next week will be easier for you now that the combine is in.

    Good luck friend!

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    1. Thanks Carrie.

      I think I'll have to get some of that. I actually don't mind it too much. Plus if I drink it when I'm at home, who's to know? The bad thing is that Pish got me hooked on drinking all the "fancy beers" so now, what am I supposed to do? :)

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  9. Does harvesting make you itchy?

    If we are running a race and you trip and fall flat on your face right out of the gate - I'll pick you up and we can start again. Because the first two weeks of making changes is the time for falling. Totally understandable. We're trying to make sustainable changes, so it's going to take a bit to adjust.

    But let's kick it into gear now. And I hope you get this super duper new used and now improved combine to ease your worries!

    Go Ken, Go! even at 6mph you're doing great!

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    1. Thank you Pish. You can pick my up and dust me off and wipe the snot bubble off my face. :)

      Itchy. Some grains are worse than others but if you get a neck full, it can drive you crazy. At night, I blow the dust all off the combine with a leaf blower. I head straight home and shower but still wake up with my eyes glued shut with opti-goop.

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    2. Yuck!!

      And I complain about the bf being covered in paint, concrete, and sawdust. You manly men!

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  10. It's all about choices. That's my biggest challenge at the end of the day, and not having a beer! Sounds like your heads in the right place. Thank god that jelly bean was originally green!

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    1. The good part of being trapped in the cab of my combine all day is that I can only eat what I bring with me. I try to choose healthy snacks. And bring water. My wife brings me supper, but we're trying keep the portions small so that helps too. The bad thing about it is, NO exercise at all!

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  11. Dude... I waved as hard as I could when I was in Stony Plain - I'm sorry my Grandma mojo didn't make a bigger impact.

    I absolutely get your combine issue. I was skateboarding in DC shoes for awhile, but after I recovered from the sprained ankle, my left second toe started getting beat-up. Then my right heal started to chafe. So I bought new shoes, but couldn't skate because it was raining. Totally the same thing, except I didn't pick the gum off the sole of my DCs...

    You did great in the first Pish challenge. I expect you'll get past this struggle and beat the scale beast this time around too. Just limit moldy candy to once per week.

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    1. I'm confident, you're grandma mojo IS the reason i'm in the field right now.

      The skateboard/shoe story is completely relatable.
      I'm wondering why this happened after you healed back up? are you standing differently? (when it's not raining?)

      If I find a piece of moldy candy under the seat of this combine, I probably won't eat it. Unless it looks familiar? :)

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  12. My friend!
    I haven't done very well at cruising through blogs lately. I have had my fill of reading about things that would put a person in a coma they're so interesting...anyhoo!

    I am sure I speak for all when I say, we want pictures of you in your new combine! :) Just don't be eating any hairy jelly beans or anything...ew! Ha ha.

    Good luck on the Challenge Take Two - I can totally sympathize. All this studying and sitting is really getting to me, and then I stay up so late or get up so early (or both) that I am too tired for a run or anything. I have gotta change that! I managed one trip to the gym last week. And let's not even discuss my eating habits this weekend....

    I hope you have a great week!

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    1. Hello, my friend!

      Unfortunately, all my spiffy combine pictures are all over on twitter right now. I just changed my header picture today so there's one to start. I have actually 2 posts in my head about the combine and pictures to add. I'm a little worried everyone is getting sick of hearing about it by now though?

      I've been trying to get on line to do some commenting and try read a couple posts in the morning but during the day, it's been a bust. I cant seem to get the time to check things as my attention is busy with not wrecking my new combine. Plus I haven't been getting home until after midnight, so I don't think there will be too much from me here for a bit.

      That also means zero exercise so I don't know how well I'll do on this challenge. I'm just focused on diet right now. I hope that's enough until I get more time.

      I hope you have a great week as well. And have a good adventure with your family. :)

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    2. Well lookie there! There you are in your combine!!! :)

      Don't worry ONE BIT what others may be sick of hearing...you would be surprised at all of us 'wet-behind-the-ears' farmer/gardener people want to hear/read from an expert! Ultimately, this is YOUR blog for your thoughts, what is important to YOU. If someone is 'bored' of it, they can politely skim and move on... but I can tell you, most people come here to hear from Ken, not matter what he has to say. :)

      I'm in the same boat - I have been so swamped with work I can hardly see daylight. I am TRYING to build in some balance and some exercise but it is a challenge. I totally get it so no worries. What we have to keep telling ourselves is that 'this too shall pass' and hopefully 'calmer waters' are ahead where we can spend more time being reflective, writing, and interacting with others in the blog community. We can only do what we can do at present. For me, my blog is my only outlet so I am trying to get there at least once a week to post and checking other blogs/commenting is hit or miss.

      Hope to post about said adventure next week!

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  13. Nothing makes me crazier than not meeting goals because things are making me crazy. Hopefully this week will be more cooperative and you can get to where you want to be.

    I don't know you well enough to comment on eating an old hair jelly bean, but... um...

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    1. You can trust me when I say that this is probably the craziest time of year for me. It's always that way with harvest. I just try work within that as best I can.

      I don't think it matters how well you know me, there's probably some universal rule, straight across the board on eating old hairy jellybeans. I was just in a moment of weakness. :)

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  14. Man Ken, that looks like one fine looking machine. Of course I'm no expert on farm equipment. What are the things you were disappointed in?

    Also, don't stress too much on the diet thing. There really is no magic to loosing weight. It's simple math. Take in less calories than you burn. The hard part is taking in less calories than you burn. I feel your pain, but stick with it. Its much better to slowly take off the weight than fast. If you take it off slowly you are more likely to keep it off.

    Good luck buddy!

    Michael A. Walker
    Defying Procrastination

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    1. Thanks Michael.
      There wasn't too many things that disappointed me. Just some things were worn a bit more that I would have liked. But it is used, so you have to expect some of that. The worked to fix most of the issues that I had. I'm still having some troubles with the computer but I can work around that and they're going to fix that after harvest. All in all it's not too bad.

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