Category Archives: Business

2025, Automotive, Business, Farming Update, Kids, Nature, Seasons, Songs, Uncategorized, work

Dirt

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The weekend Farm Report comes to us from Ben.

I heard a snippet of a blog and they said, “A person will work three jobs so they can go home and farm. You never hear of a person working 3 jobs so they can open a plumbing shop.” Sweeping generalization alert there. I’ve been thinking about that since I heard it. And while I’m in the tractor I think about what it is that makes farming so entrenched for us. What exactly is it that calls us to it? For me, it’s a lot of things: I like the machinery, I like working on the tractor or changing the oil, and learning, and having the skills and tools (and shop!) to work on stuff. A sense of achievement. I like working up a field and watching the soil turn black. Stan Rogers says it best in ‘The Field Behind the Plow‘ “Watch the field behind the plow, turn to straight dark rows. Put another season’s promise in the ground”.

I like being this close to the seasons and the circle of… everything. The growth, a faith in something bigger I guess. It’s deep and it pulls in my chest.

I’ve had a few late nights. Working at the college, then home and it might be 6 or 7:00 before I get out in the tractor and to the field. But it’s my time and I got nothing else at the moment. I feed the chicks, talk with Kelly. Daughter asks me to sit on the deck with her. We play with the dogs. Going out half an hour later doesn’t matter. (unless there’s rain in the forecast)

Daughter, turning 30 chronologically, but maybe 16 developmentally, she gives lots of hugs, but when we say “Love You!” she responds, “yep” or “OK” or maybe just “Bye”. And it makes me chuckle. That is when she doesn’t roll her eyes and simply walk away.

So, I’m in the tractor. One night I listened to Joni Mitchell. I haven’t had her albums or listened to much of her stuff. Just the hits. We saw Ben Folds in Rochester on Wednesday night and I listened to his stuff. I did some classical MPR. On the weekends it’s MPR News and their great programming: Wait Wait, Moth, This American Life, Radio Lab. It’s all so interesting! And some podcasts. In the tractor is the only time I can really do that, when I can listen and pay attention.

Best of all, I found some podcasts of TLGMS!

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mpr-skits-from-the-morning-show/id104720092

It has been so fun to hear all these characters again. Cap’n Billy, Bubby Spamden, The Bowzer Bed, Wally’s Sherpa, Dr. B. Marty Barry and his bottomless Well of Wellness, Spin Williams, Congressman Beechly, Genway, and that wonderful cure-all pill, Purplex from Spendy Popper. I cannot get over what an amazingly creative writer Dale is! How he came up with all these ideas! We didn’t know what we had at the time, did we?

Me and Bailey enjoy our tractor time. She’s 7 1/2 years old and I have to boost her up into the tractor. Every few minutes she sits up and put her head against my knee and I scratch her ears and she lays down again.

It was a busy week. Filled the big tractor with fuel. It only needed half a tank.

Ordered more diesel and gasoline for the barrels.

I’m using the boating app again to find my place in the fields. And how can I take the linear distance to make it acres? (13.6 miles x 5280 feet divided by 24′ digger divided by 43,500 sq feet / acre = ? Hmm, that doesn’t come out right. Seems like it should make sense.

Did a lot of math figuring what 18, 50 lb bags of oats, at 32 lbs per bushel and I want 3.5 bushels / acre will do how many acres. And if I ran out at 6 acres, how much did I really apply?

Went back to Meyer Seeds on Wednesday morning and bought 12 more bags. Remember last year when I ran out 1/2 acre short of finishing with rain in the forecast and I said I would order extra seed next year so I didn’t run out?? I DID order extra! But I got a different variety of oat seed and the rate changed so… back for more.

After planting, this year I had time and cooperative weather to go over the oat ground with the drag (harrow) to smooth it out and help cover the seed in the tractor tracks that don’t always get covered.

Got the old 630 running pretty well. And I’ve ordered a new exhaust pipe and muffler for it. I’m looking forward to working on that after the spring rush.

Parked the tractor in the shop and changed oil, engine air filters, (there’s two) and cab air filters. Two tall, narrow ones outside, and two small ones inside the cab.

The new exterior shop lights are great!

Finished planting oats on Friday while my brother was out working up corn ground. The Co-op applied corn fertilizer on Thursday, and I hope to be planting corn on Saturday.

When I’m planting, I’m travelling at about 5 MPH. Faster than that and the seed spacing gets messed up. And seed spacing is really critical in some crops. Corn it’s extremely important. Soybeans it’s moderately, and oats doesn’t matter so much.

Fancy newer ‘high speed’ equipment carries a seed to the ground using a brush belt to gently place the seed in the trench. New planters are capable of 10 MPH. Time is money you know. It’s fascinating how fast some of these parts are moving to drop a seed every 6″ at 10 MPH. There’s some math for you. Bill, how long does it take to go 100′ at 10MPH and how many seeds does it drop if they’re 6″ apart? That mechanism is really moving!  

Getting ready for commencement at the college. Hung some of the fixtures over the stage, before they place the stage. Had the gym to myself and it was pretty nice.

Will look a lot different this time next week.

Got the laptop and ‘Hog’ console set up and doing all that math / prep work. Or trying. Thursday afternoon the laptop didn’t want to play nice. But Friday morning all was well. I have a plan B and C. It will be fine, FINE I tell you!

HOW MANY JOBS HAVE YOU WORKED AT ONCE?

FOR WHAT GOAL?

2025, books, Business, History, Mysteries, Uncategorized

Where in the World Was VS?

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Turns out that Renee and I were both out of town last weekend.   Any ideas where I was?

  • This town was established in 1848 and was initially named Bad Axe. (There is still a Bad Axe Music Store in town.)
  • A Masonic lodge and theatre was rebuilt in 1922 (after a fire) and was a hub of the community for decades. In 1995, after being shut for several years, it was purchased and the theatre was subsequently remodeled with monies raised by the Historical Society and the surrounding community.
  • 40 years ago, a one-room Waldorf schoolhouse was established in town. It is still operating with 125 students, grades kindergarten to 8th
  • This is the home of one of the earliest organic dairy companies, cooperatively owned and managed, opened in 1988.
  • In 2012 a guy named Randy moved to the area, built himself a cabin and then built himself a wood burning stove. Folks started asking him to build stoves for them and within a couple of years he founded a company for wood heating solutions which has been a runaway success.
  • This is the smallest town in America that hosts a book festival.

Any thoughts?

 

100 Words, 2025, Business, Family, Mysteries

Postal Game

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It was bound to happen.  The postal tide has turned.

As a working young adult, YA now gets a chunk of mail.  Lots of credit card offers, lots of requests from charities. Stuff from her healthcare folks, catalogs for trendy clothes.  Very little useful stuff at all and almost all of it ends up in the trash.  But it occurred to me today when I was sorting our letters, all of which went into one pile for her, that she gets more mail than I do these days. 

Unfortunately the mail I do get is mostly the bills.

You get anything interesting in the mail these days? 

2025, Business, Family, Food, Mysteries

Coffee Break

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These days I rarely stop at coffee shops.  Mostly I’m just too cheap when I can make my own coffee or tea at home for a fraction of the cost.  But every couple of months, YA and I will make a stop at a Caribou if we are out and about.

In early days, when there was a Caribou two blocks from house, I will admit I was more of a regular.  But in keeping with my “like it cheaper” gene, I purchased myself a mug that I could use whenever I stopped by.  Saved a bit of money and saved yet another coffee cup in the trash.  Even though this mug is close to 25 years old, it’s in pristine shape – it doesn’t get used that often and I wash it by hand instead of throwing it in the dishwasher.  When we lost our little Caribou (first the big Lyndale closing and then the Minnehaha Creek bridge re-build), my use of my mug plummeted.

When I dragged it out to the car with me yesterday, it was probably the first time in a year that it had gotten any use.  The young man behind the counter was astonished to see it.  He picked it up, turned it around, looked at the bottom then called over co-workers to look at it.  The big draw turned out to be the logo, which apparently was “updated” back in 2010.  If you had asked me, I would not have been able to tell you what the new logo looks like:

Guess I’m just oblivious.  But it turned out OK… they were all so enamored of my antique mug that they gave me my decaf for free!

Do you have a favorite cup/mug for your coffee or tea?   

2025, Business, History, Uncategorized

Greenbacks

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In addition to a daily check of our local regional jail for the inmate list so I can see which of my little darlings are in the hoosgow, (There are several today) and the two funeral homes to see who died, I also check a history site to see what of importance has occurred on this day in the past.

I see that today is the anniversary of the US Congress in 1862 authorizing the printing of paper money. I rarely have any paper money in my purse. Husband usually has some, but it is hit or miss. I remember my dad being so happy to have some “Silver Certificates” in his possession when I was a child. I remember that the engraving was quite elaborate on those bills. I wonder, given the advent of all that is digital, if we will need paper money in the future. It seems the penny is also on the way out.

What is your favorite bank robbery movie, song, or story, or songs or stories about money in general? What is the largest monetary bill you ever carried?

2025, Business, Fantasy, Food, TV

Avocado Tumble

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Sitcoms have never been my favorite form of entertainment.  A few exceptions over the years, but for the most part they seem silly and overblown to me.  Truly, what person on the planet would actually do this:

Then every now and then…

I was meeting a friend at Whole Foods for lunch (they have a great salad bar and hot bar along with tables and chairs, so it’s a great place for two folks with food restrictions to have a fun meal together).  My friend texted me that she was running about five minutes late so I decided to hang out in the produce section near the front door while I waited. 

And then it happened.  A woman took a corner a little too tightly with her cart and rammed into the lovingly stacked display of avocados. They didn’t all come tumbling down (like they would have on tv) but it was still a waterfall of green as them fell.  She was mortified and sank to her knees, trying to corral the wayward fruits.  Three Whole Foods employees appeared out of nowhere and they had the avocados re-stacked in less than a minute.  It was very impressive.  The photo above is after everything was back in order. 

Although I never video tape anything, I did have a small wish that I could have gotten the fall and the re-assembly on film. 

Maybe I should give sit-coms more leeway!

If we were casting for sitcom roles today, who would you like to be cast as?

2025, Business, Government, Uncategorized, work

Legislative Attire

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I recently found out that this Thursday I have to testify in person in Bismarck at a Labor committee hearing regarding a proposed bill that my regulatory board opposes. Our ND legislature is in session right now. The proposed bill involves lumping all the mental health regulatory boards, now independent, self funding, and self sustaining volunteer boards, into one board run by the state.

I have never done testimony like this before. One of my board colleagues is writing the testimony. He has done this many times before. It will be no longer than three pages, because if you go on too long the legislators start looking at their phones and stop paying attention. We have a good strategy and have had several emergency board meetings to plan.

I have two major concerns regarding this experience: What should I wear, and will the sciatica in my left leg cause some problems (problems as in giving out from underneath me and causing me to collapse on the State Capitol floor). My colleague who is writing the testimony works for an agency that provides long term residential services to developmentally disabled individuals. Rather tongue in cheek, he told me he has access to lots of wheel chairs and could bring one to Bismarck. He thought me being wheeled in would elicit sympathy for our cause. I told him it wasn’t THAT bad, thank you, and I would bring a walking stick if I thought I needed one. I told him I could also it to club legislators who were difficult.

Regarding attire, it used to be a rule that that women legislators had to wear dresses to the Capitol when the legislature was in session, and I was worried because if that extended to people testifying, it would be a problem for me. I haven’t worn a dress in ages, I have no workable stockings, and I really didn’t want to drive to Bismarck in this cold in a dress and heels. I was relieved to hear that I just need to dress in “Business Casual”. I have yet to decide what that means for me. Whatever I decide, I will dress in warm clothes, given how drafty the Capitol can get.

Any cleaver Baboon suggestions regarding attire or costuming that I should consider? What would be your considerations if you had to give public testimony to a legislative body or commission?

2025, Business, Travel, Uncategorized

House Sitting

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A high school classmate of mine has found a really interesting gig lately. She has become an international house and pet sitter. I had never heard of this before, but there are companies you can sign up with who certify you as a good and responsible person, and then allow you to travel to house sit for people. You have to pay for travel expenses, but you stay for free in the home you are caring for.

My friend is currently in the south of France in a lovely old farm house caring for a couple of dogs, two cats, and some chickens. She is working remotely at her job in the States while she is there. The most difficult part of her current stay is firing up the stoves that warm the house. This place has no central heating. When she isn’t working or hauling wood and coal, she is traveling to quaint villages and markets nearby. The only down side to her current trip is that her luggage first went to the Canary Islands before it came to her.

Her previous stay took her to Montreal for two weeks. There, and now in France she stated that the neighbors take a keen interest in her and take her all around to show her sights, feed her, and socialize. I don’t think she speaks French, but that hasn’t been a problem. I am curious where she will go next.

Where in the world would you like to house sit?

2025, Business, Fantasy, Gatherings, Nature, Uncategorized

Warm Floors

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At the sibling gathering (while I was visiting Nonny in St. Louis earlier this month), someone must have mentioned something about heated floors.  I made a note on my post-it note app, assuming (ha ha ha ha) that the words “heated floor” would trigger my memory for what I thought might be a blog piece.  Again, ha ha ha ha.

About 25 years ago, I had a site inspection scheduled to San Francisco and Napa.  The morning of the trip, the client called to cancel due to his wife’s illness but he told me to go ahead, see what I needed to see and take good notes and pictures.  No problem on my part.

The plan for the group was to do a day of wineries and a lovely lunch.  However the group was too big to be at any one winery at once (most of the Napa wineries are actually pretty small) so we needed to split up the group.  Group A and Group B went to different wineries in the morning, had lunch together at a place that could hold them all and then the groups would flip and do the wineries for the afternoon.  Easy peasy, right? 

In one long day, I visited 11 wineries to find the four that would work well for the group.  Each owner met me, toured me around and… offered me samples.  There didn’t feel like a gracious way to turn down the wine.  Even though I never finished an entire glass, by the end of the day, I was a bit tipsy.  Add to that the weather was chillier than had been forecasted and my coat was not up to the job.  By the time we got to the hotel, Meadowood Resort, all I wanted was to have a bit of room service and collapse in a warm bed.  

With all that liquid refreshment, I ended up having to visit the bathroom in the middle of the night.  It was chilly as I walked across the bedroom and then…. oh my stars… the bathroom floor was warm.  The first and last time I’ve personally ever come across heated floor tiles.  And of all the times I could truly appreciate them, there they were!  When I finally left and headed back to bed, I slept like a baby.

If this wasn’t what I was thinking about when somebody at the sibling gathering mentioned heated floors, then I’m completely in the dark.

If money weren’t an issue, what home improvement would you like to make?

2025, Business, gardening, Seasons, Uncategorized

Hunkered Down for Winter

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Bachmans is a fixture in my life.  In addition to the many times I stop by in the spring, summer and fall, it’s also located on my main conduit for when I am out and about.  I go by it five or six times a week.  Last week was the first time I’ve visited the shop in January.

Two things took me there.  I’ve written about the hot sauce bird seed cylinders that I discovered – it turns out they have them at Bachmans.  Also, if you go to visit your mother and forget that you need to mail your Bachmans bill before the trip, you can stop by the store and they will process the payment for you on the spot.  Saves a stamp as well!

I got there right at 10, when they were opening and the gal unlocking the door said she would let me in but that I would need to leave using the gift shop/Patrick’s Bakery door.  As soon as I stepped inside, I saw why.  What I consider the main part of the store was absolutely empty.  No bulbs, no seasonal anything, no shepherd’s hooks, no fertilizers, no merch on the endcaps, nothing.  And looking out the sliding doors towards the back were row after row of empty tables and shelves.  It was the eeriest feeling.

The gal at Customer Service told me they do this every winter; they start to ramp back up towards the end of February.  That’s when people start thinking about seeds and getting started indoors for the eventual return of warm weather. The gift shop is open through the winter – if you need something for Valentine’s (including cut flower bouquets), Bachmans is ready for you.

Luckily the bird seed section on the far wall towards the back is still available.  It’s nice to know I won’t have to drive to St. Paul if I need another hot sauce cylinder before spring!

Do you have any seasonal shops?