Yes, I'm really ready for Spring to be here. This week I ordered a new sickle bar blade for my John Deere 350 sickle bar. I'm ready to be back on the tractor cutting hay! Last year I knew the blades were a bit dull, but I didn't have the time to replace them. Instead of pulling the bar out and replacing the bad blades this year, I decided to get a replacement bar and now I'll fix the old bar giving me a spare. TSC had the bar advertised, but when I went there to order it, they said it was a "special order" and it was going to be $250+!!!! After picking up my jaw, I kindly explained that I could get a new John Deere blade for much less. The TSC manager was not very helpful at this point, and away I went to John Deere parts online. Two days later, the new blade was at my dealer (Cross Brothers) in Clinton, IL. That's service. I'll be working on the mower in the coming weeks as the weather warms up. Oh wait, it will still be February. Oh well.
My other fix 'em up job was the fridge door. It stopped shutting right over a month ago. I replaced the cams at the bottom of the door, but that didn't fix the problem. The guys at Parts Depot in Normal, IL (EXCELLENT STOCK OF PARTS) said that it could be the seal, but that they sure didn't think it was. I decided to have them come take a look. Well, it turned real cold (-7F one morning) and their service guy couldn't make it down to Heyworth. So they gave me the name of another guy. He came out this weekend, took a look, and decided we should empty the door out and see what happens. Well, as you can guess, that fixed the problem. Turns out that one of the shelfs in the door was bumping a drawer I replaced.....about a month ago. At least I didn't order the $120 door seal. That adventure? $18 for a new cam kit that I installed, $25 for the service guy to visit, PRICELESS to have the problem be a something stupid.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Monday, January 7, 2008
Flying for RK
From August 2007 until December 2007, I worked for Rural King Supply
. I did mainly IT work, but I also got to fly their helicopters on occasion. Rural King had three helicopters at the time, and they were used for executive transport from their main headquarters in Mattoon, IL to any of their 40+ stores in the Midwest. I got to fly executives around when my workload allowed, and I also got to fly to stores when there were major computer issues. I've moved on to CA now, doing strictly IT work. Rural King was a lot of fun, but the pay wasn't very good, the hours were really long, and the drive to Mattoon each day (3 hours round-trip) after working 10 hours just plain wore me out. I know there are a lot of people that do that kind of driving every day. To them I say, ARE YOU NUTS? Anyway, here is a picture of one of the Robinson R44 helicopters that I got to fly. I was able to bring one home from work one weekend when the weather was especially nice. This picture was taken at our farm, right on top of the "H" in the ground that designates the Brown Heliport, in Heyworth, IL.
. I did mainly IT work, but I also got to fly their helicopters on occasion. Rural King had three helicopters at the time, and they were used for executive transport from their main headquarters in Mattoon, IL to any of their 40+ stores in the Midwest. I got to fly executives around when my workload allowed, and I also got to fly to stores when there were major computer issues. I've moved on to CA now, doing strictly IT work. Rural King was a lot of fun, but the pay wasn't very good, the hours were really long, and the drive to Mattoon each day (3 hours round-trip) after working 10 hours just plain wore me out. I know there are a lot of people that do that kind of driving every day. To them I say, ARE YOU NUTS? Anyway, here is a picture of one of the Robinson R44 helicopters that I got to fly. I was able to bring one home from work one weekend when the weather was especially nice. This picture was taken at our farm, right on top of the "H" in the ground that designates the Brown Heliport, in Heyworth, IL.Sunday, January 6, 2008
Outside chores on an abnormally warm day!
It's up to 60 degrees today. Wow, you wouldn't think it was January. We got the salt washed off of the vehicles, but as soon as I brought them back in from town, they got filthy from the driveway. No paved driveways here. The packed lime/rock mix makes a great driveway until it rains. Then, it turns into a slurry that really makes a mess of the vehicles. Bambi, our Appaloosa mare, is due to foal in mid-March. Today we need to figure out where to build a dry lot to keep her in after she foals. We won't want to turn her out with the other horses for a while after that. Not that she can't keep them in line - she is definitely the king of the herd - but it is just safer for all involved. We have a bit of a problem with bedding here in Central Illinois. There just aren't that many sawmills, and so we can't get sawdust very easily. The nearest sawmill to me is about an hour away. We have been using woodchips, but they are pretty expensive. I found that Timber Creek Stables has sawdust in bulk for sale, so I'm going to give that a try. Maybe I should invest in a gooseneck dump trailer and make some money hauling sawdust!
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Spring Time
It wasn't that long ago that the horses arrived. It was in May 2007, and the weather was great. We finished the fence just in time. On a cold winter day, it sure is nice to look back at some of these pictures and then look forward to how pretty it will be in just a few more months!Cold, cold, cold on the farm
It is terribly cold today on the farm. We were below 0 last night, and we hit a high of 12 degrees F today. That's just wrong! We turned the horses out anyway, as they can only stand spending one day in the barn before they start getting pretty darn upset.
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