Well it has been a while since I got to sit down and blog. Up until today, things have been busy and I haven't been able to sit down and blog around like I have in the past. Three weeks ago, I subbed every day of the week and came home and did some farming. Two weeks ago I ran a tractor and a disk every day of the week until dark. Last week we were rushing around getting the corn out, and finished on thursday. On friday we started our opening weekend in our greenhouse and that kept me busy all through the weekend. I had to wonder how I had time all last fall to keep up the post a day pace I was posting.
With the rain, we have finally been able to slow down some and catch our breath on all the activities of agricultural pursuits. Hopefully all the rain doesn't soften up all that corn we put out and kill all the seeds. Replanting will be a bear, especially if we have to go in a muddy field. It would be real nice if the weather was going to be sunny and dry things out, but that doesn't seem to be the case for the week according to apuzzo over on 9.2.
We also have caught up to where we thought we would be last year at this time. The people that bought the paylake at the auction last year decided that they were willing to sell us the properties. I don't think we are going to try and run a paylake. The lake was run poorly last year, and not many customers will be back soon. I have heard people say that many of the fish died over the winter because the oxygen machine wasn't running because the electric was shut off. I have heard that people were stealing fish all summer and however else long also. One of the people who used to help run it thought we might have to re-invest 10 grand just in fish to get people back and fishing. I hope we don't do this, I'm really for the idea of using the lake as irrigation and growing some niche crop during the summer. If I am going to make a living and be a respectable non-bum of a person, I would like to invest in a niche market. The tobacco market is moving away in three years and after that we will need a way to replace the income we garnered for being cancer merchants.
In other news, I was finally able to do something cool for the farm. I used the software dad been buying for the past six or seven years to make a map of all our fields. With the binders I put together, we can take field notes in all the important equipment and have a better managed farm. Hopefully this translates into spending less money on the farm and making better decisions.
Dad did mention to me that he would like to clear out a part of the woods we bought with the lake. The woods is right behind my house, and would translate to plenty of firewood if I wanted it. This means I will very likely push ahead with the outdoor furnace I want to install to heat my house with. Most of the money for the furnace will have to come from my saving account, but as long as I leave enough in the account to make a years worth of mortgage payments, I do feel comfortable about taking money out. I turned off my furnace about a month ago, and that dropped my electric bill by about 90 dollars for the month. I have paid for that though, the house is just about as cold as it is outside. That's fine though, I do have plenty of warm clothes to wear. I think I will have to spend some money installing some heating ducts to the upstairs. Right now, there is no heat upstairs, so I might as well spend some money if I am going to be pumping heat in my house as soon as the fifties hit next fall. This may cut back on the renovation I wanted to do on the other room I have upstairs. I would like to put the room in drywall and get rid of the wood paneling, but time will tell how much I have to spend and invest in my estate as I see fit.
I also found out one of my cousins is losing his teaching job near here. His family thinks they were lied to about the whole deal, but the more I look at it, the less appealing being a teacher is. All I ever read is how schools don't have money and have to cut things they saw fit to have before. What incentive do I have to invest in a career as an educator if I can't make a living doing so? My skill set isn't limited to that area, so I am lucky in the sense I don't depend on that area for an income. Some people such as my cousin have invested that much of their schooling and education to being a teacher. He has to scramble around for a job to provide for his wife and daughter. On top of that, he mentioned to me when we worked construction together that he wanted to coach and that was one of the reasons he wanted to get into teaching. Hopefully things can work out and DDJ and others I know job searching can be gainfully employed sooner than later.
times typed "oftern"-0
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