Canesister's 2025 journal - Bushel & Peck Farm

[farmerjan]

Glad you went with a 2nd breeding... any chance he gave her a shot of gnrh? Helps with egg release sometimes... but I don't think the AI guys carry it, mostly something the owner does. Still ought to be covered if she had an egg release early or late.
Jersey's, and even moreso Guernsey's , are known to have later released eggs so later breeding in the heat cycle is often preferred.... but every animal is different. I sure hope she settles. Gar breeding is good overall for calving ease... they are not as a rule overly large calves... some of my dairies have used this bull,. I recognize the bull code number.

The 4 day weekends will spoil you in a hurry.... Enjoy them while you can although it is a little early in the season to really get into gardening or something like that.

 

[canesisters]

Glad you went with a 2nd breeding... any chance he gave her a shot of gnrh? Helps with egg release sometimes... but I don't think the AI guys carry it, mostly something the owner does. Still ought to be covered if she had an egg release early or late.
Jersey's, and even moreso Guernsey's , are known to have later released eggs so later breeding in the heat cycle is often preferred.... but every animal is different. I sure hope she settles. Gar breeding is good overall for calving ease... they are not as a rule overly large calves... some of my dairies have used this bull,. I recognize the bull code number.

The 4 day weekends will spoil you in a hurry.... Enjoy them while you can although it is a little early in the season to really get into gardening or something like that.

He did give her a shot at the 1st visit in hopes that we could work out a 2nd sometime the next day. Turned out later in the day than we wanted, but I think we're good.

 

[canesisters]

We've been on that partial shutdown at work. It's been ROUGH. I knew that having all 4 crews combined was going to be an issue.. but I seriously underestimated just how petty, nasty, arrogant, hateful, etc some of these people would become.
All of A & B shifts (the day crews), the 2 beamers from C shift (including my newly graduated trainee), and me from D shift. The trials we were running called for MAJOR reconfiguring of the machine. A HUGE learning opportunity for most of us who were either new or who usually work nights & don't get to do this.
But noooooooo. B shift takes over the creel & is flat out rude & nasty when I am sent back there to help load the 700+ rolls of new fiber. I try to stay out of their way doing different tasks & get thrown out each time. Their supervisor tells me not to take it personally, they're just 'manly men who don't like letting women do anything' . Well that works out well for her since she doesn't do anything but flirt with them, but not so much for me.
I come back up front & the very experienced Beamer op from B shift is literally pushing people out of the way & telling them to get out of his way so he can get the technical work done as fast as possible. I protest that with 2 very new people here (one is HIS trainee) & me trying to learn how to do this, he should either slow down & explain what he's doing or move & let us do it with coaching. He says he's got no intention of spending all day doing this .
What ELSE are you going to do!?!?! That's WHAT WE'RE HERE FOR. We've got 10 people available to do work that takes 3 or 4. Share the work! Share the knowledge!
I'm all up in everyone's space asking questions..... How did you know to make that adjustment? You just added that keeper in an unusual place, what did you see that made you do that? So, when switching out the groove bars, how do you know they're centered? How did you find center on the combs? Where does it tell you that the fiber need to be set in this 3-1-3 pattern instead of the 1-1 we always use?
Everyone's snappy & short tempered.
All the other beamer folks are muttering about not doing anything all day.... but every time there's a task to do they just stand there looking at each other. I keep standing back waiting to see if anyone that needs the experience is going to participate.... when the supervisor handling the beamer part of the reconfiguring has to repeat his instructions & still nobody moves... I'm the one (the oldest one there!) shimmying under the machine on my back to remove bolts & switch out the combs; climbing inside to set lines on the internal groove bars; hunkering under the catwalk for an hour getting the fiber in the right pattern; squeezing through a 16" access to scrape adhesive buildup of the platten.......
I've got 2 more day shifts to do & then, hopefully, back to my regular nights. This has been soo bad that I'm ready to tell them I DO NOT want to move back to days after all - especially if the opening happens to be on B shift!

.... rant over

My washer got stuck in drain mode Wed night. I googled & youtubed and figured out how to do a system reset (didn't work), then how to put it in diagnostic mode to get error codes.
The codes were pretty vague & it was late so I just dug out anything clean & not too holey to wear Thurs.
Today I'm going to see if I can figure out how to get it running again...... or go to the laundromat & call for a repairman.

On the 'farm front' things are going petty good. Eva is her usual happy, fat, cud-chewing beauty queen.
I did lose a couple of the old chickens during all that terrible cold & wet weather; but I'm getting eggs again... so I'm convinced that they were eating eggs. BAD little cannibal raptors!
I just checked & we're looking for clear weather & mid 60's for the next 3 days.
I've got some cleaning up to do around here - raking pine tags (maybe bed the coop with them?), lots of branches & sticks to get up, a broken window in the coop to remove, and maybe even getting those next 2 garden beds put together & filled with old hay/poo to compost for fall planting.

 

[murphysranch]

Oh good grief. What a bunch of ill tempered men. I don't blame wanting to go back to the D shift to be able to do a good job, without interference. Sheesh!!

 

[Mini Horses]

Men!!! Not always good

 

[SageHill]

Rants are good -- lets off steam -- but geeze what a bunch of _______________s

 

[Baymule]

I admire your spirit. Don’t let them get to you. Smile big, be bright and cheerful and keep asking questions, LOTS and LOTS of questions! It will drive them more nuts than they already are. BWAHAHAHA!!!

 

[canesisters]

I admire your spirit. Don’t let them get to you. Smile big, be bright and cheerful and keep asking questions, LOTS and LOTS of questions! It will drive them more nuts than they already are. BWAHAHAHA!!!

Made them even madder everytime I DID get to do something & I'd stop and call the trainees over to show them the new thing I just learned.

We ALL get better every time one of us gets better.

 

[canesisters]

LOL!
I haven't been to a laundry mat since sometime in the late 90's! They have not changed ONE BIT!!!
Well.... more expensive, but otherwise still exactly the same.
I get here & there isn't a single soul here. Which is good because I have to read instructions & scope out the place..... and because the load I took out of the washer wed night had a towel in it that a cat had peed on .
I get 2 washers running ($3.75 each) and look for a seat near a plug, which doesn't exist.
Then the whole town comes in to do laundry.
I think just about every machine is running & I'm worried that if I get up to check & see if that's one of my machines raising a racket & starting to walk out of the line I won't have anywhere to sit when I come back.

 

[Baymule]

If I go to He// when I die, my punishment for eternity will be to do everybody’s dirty laundry at the laundry mat.

I love it that you call everyone over to see what you just learned.