Today (August 20) was a much cooler day. We began our day by putting the new part on the Beast and hoping the sprinkles would quit so we could get started again. We had lost nearly a whole day due to that breakdown and the miles we had to cover to get the new part. I believe it was nearly 10:00 by the time we were ready to rock ‘n roll again.
After you make repairs, you just hope there isn’t more damage from the piece that broke…especially when it’s part of the shaking system. We could only cross our fingers and hope nothing more would come from this. As it was, things ran as though the breakdown never happened.
My day was a long one! I don’t know what the heck I was thinking when I left the Cottage without even a magazine to look at. I wasn’t thinking about being 45 miles from the nearest cell tower. I wasn’t thinking about sitting in the Frank all day wondering what to do next. I just wasn’t thinking. When I was in the combine all day, I didn’t have to worry about this. I’m learning the hard way.
So, today nearly killed me. At one point, I rearranged the space between the two seats in Frank so I could stretch out and take a nap. I dug through the pile of Jim’s equipment magazines and flyers in hopes of finding something to read. I did find a small magazine I enjoyed but that only lasted about 1/2 hour. I was so bored. I should have just walked up one of the hills in the field but was a little worried about snakes.
What I finally did do, though, was take a field trip to a location I’ve been to many times. Before I was the hired man, I used to come out here with friends. I have a lot of good memories of being out to the ranch with Charles and MaryAnn. I know Jamie and Jenna do too.
So, I jumped in the pickup and went for a ride.
I was nearly back to the field when I hear Jim on the radio, “Tracy, you copy?” “Yeah” “Your truck is full” “Ok, be there in a second”
That worked out perfectly! And…it helped kill a portion of the day.
For those of you who know nothing about how the unloading goes, I’ll try to explain. The red auger carries the wheat that’s coming from the back of the truck to the yellow auger.