Friday, September 27, 2013

#170. or, How's it Going? It's......going.

  I was really excited to dive into the harvest, so I could tell you all about the progress that I was making, and how much I look forward getting our combine rolling each year. Not because it's easy. But rather, because this is what it's all about. The culmination of a series of events, set into motion some 5 months back, when I hooked up my tractor to put seeds, some not much bigger than the head of a pin, into the ground. Then looked after those plants to the best of my ability, with the help of a preferably  favourable Mother Nature, to hopefully fill all of the grain bins we own, and maybe a few borrowed from the neighbour as well.

  Mother Nature has been kind. Except maybe that rainy stint while I was trying to make hay. But the Fall has been an exceptional run of harvesting weather for us. My combine, on the other hand, has not been quite so cooperative. 

  I wanted to tell you about how awesome my combine is. And how over the winter, while it was in the shop getting a proper going over from one end to the other so I could avoid any issues come harvest, we discovered it was actually a prototype combine. The tractor company I use, that makes green equipment, will make a handful of units, say about 30 or so, that have all the specs of the next piece of equipment they want to introduce, and sends those units out into the world to be tested before they begin the actual production run of that next unit. Turns out I own one of those combines. So, it's sort of like the Batmobile of 9750 combines. It looks like a 9750 combine on the outside, but on the inside, it's an angry thumping mass of gears, horsepower and hydraulics that can chew up and spit out tiny little pieces of your run of the mill 9750 combine.  

  That's what I wanted to talk about. Instead, I think I'll tell you about how I've made so many early morning parts runs into town, that the fellow I meet on the bicycle each morning and I have now become casual acquaintances, and we've stepped up our relationship to the "good morning" nod, as we pass on the street, just before the only lighted intersection we have in town. Or that how it crossed my mind, on the 3rd of 4 trips to the dealership last Saturday, the staff there might not be so happy to see me for my cheerful demeanour and engaging  personality, but more so, for my contributions to their winter vacation. 

  But, I've been getting the bugs out, and there have been good days as well. I've decided that I might be able to eliminate any further stress by replacing the header portion of my combine with an upgraded one that is supposed to feed the crop into the combine a little more evenly. The bad thing is, the one I want is 6 hours away and I have to send my old header along in trade, so basically, I'm buying this newer header unseen, except for a handful of email pictures, and on the word of the salesman, that it's a good unit. What can go wrong? People buy shit on the internet all the time?

  ............also, I'm not entirely sure I was supposed to mention the whole prototype combine thing. So if people in green jackets and dark sunglasses show up and I mysteriously disappear, you'll at least have an idea of what happened to me.   




24 comments:

  1. Would it be an understatement to say a combine is a temperamental machine?

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    1. Temperamental might be the word Stephen. There's just a whole lot of moving parts that all have to work together to achieve the goal. Sometimes one or more of those moving parts becomes the weak link.

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  2. If YOU disappear? Who has a great big field you could bury those sunglassed strangers in? Why YOU do. Run them over with the prototype and plant them 6 feet deep. Or more. :)

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    1. Hey Kait!

      I suppose that is an option. I'd just rather not put those cards on the table, right up front. One has to keep something hidden in his bag of tricks. ;)

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  3. Oh oh. You've let the cat out of the bag now. But don't worry. The Men In Black won't show up on your doorstep. It'll be the Men In Green. Who can run like a deer, you know.

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    1. Hi Debra,

      I hope they don't run like deer! I'm not quite as fleet of foot as I used to be. But I guess that depends on if I'm the chaser, or the chasee? :)

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  4. When you say "prototype" I hear "we don't know if this will actually work in real life."

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    1. Hi Holly,

      Funny thing is, there's been days this fall, that I question that myself.

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  5. Ken, your link at yeah write is linked to 'preview' post. Sending vibes the new part works.

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    1. Thanks LaTonya,

      I guess I got a little hasty in trying to get my link up in. I've fixed it now.

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  6. I feel like I learn so much every time I read your blog. :) Hope it all turns out well!

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    1. Thanks Natalie,

      I hesitate to post these sometimes, because to me, it always seems like I'm complaining about something. I hope you're not taking away that it's all bad. There are good days too.

      However I end up achieving my goal, I'm sure it will turn out well. :)

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  7. I worked at Sears and we sold a competitor (craftsman doesn't really sell farm equipment per se) and our keyword for prototype was "limited edition., anything stamped with that logo was bound to break earlier

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    1. It's all in the spin! Some days, I think I have a lot of "limited edition" going on around here.

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  8. boy ken I got nothin other than I enjoy reading your stuff. I just feel overwhelmed by your equipment issue...

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    1. Hey Zoe,

      I appreciate your concern. I really need to write a post about the good things that go on around here so people see that side too. It's a pretty wild ride around here at harvest time.

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  9. The G-Men of green farm equipment. Nice.
    You know I'm a good secret-keeper. Your secret's safe with me.

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    1. Hi Red,

      If I need someone to help me hide bodies, I'm calling you! :)

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  10. So you're saying they sold you their experiment? Was it at least cheaper than the "real" combines? Maybe this is typical practice but it sure sounds shady to me. Especially when it affects your livelihood.

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    1. I'm just happy we didn't discover this until AFTER I had signed the bill of sale. Otherwise, they probably would have tried to charge me more! :)

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  11. Whenever you mention the combine, I always think of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Have you ever read it? The narrator believes the Combine is part of a vast conspiracy to make everybody conform. So your ending was especially perfect from that perspective.

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    1. Hi Marcy,

      I've never read that book, but now I'm extremely intrigued! The combine, you say? I'll have to look that up!

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  12. Whoa. People buy combine shit on the Internet too? Music, books, clothes, combine shit. It makes total 2013 sense.

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    1. Yes indeed! Except the anticipation that you get, checking the mail each morning until the small item finally shows up, is ramped up a bit when it's a major component for your combine.

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