Work, Work, Work...

Work bought us new xray markers.

The nice thing about working so much is, well, the paycheck. The not-so-nice thing about working a lot is it leaves very little time to do what I actually WANT to do...like work around the farm.

This past weekend, I went in to work at 2pm on Friday and left at 9pm Sunday night. If my sleepy-brain math is correct, that's 55 hours straight...and that was at the end of my regular work week (which is Monday, Tues, Thursday.) But I'm not complaining, don't get me wrong. I need the paycheck for moving my family. And it helps that I actually LIKE my job too.

This small town hospital that I work in now is gracious enough to provide a break room (read: sleep room, just like the physicians get) that we are allowed to take advantage of in the middle of the  night when all our work is caught up. Considering all the bugs in the farm house, sometimes I think I get better sleep at the hospital :-/

Hope I get to play with this one!

Speaking of bugs, I knocked the same black beetle off me three times last night in a 30 minute period before I finally sent him to bug heaven. The hospital, just like everywhere else around here, has a HUGE bug problem. Grasshoppers, black beetles and spiders are so common place that everyone just seems to ignore them. They were literally dropping out of holes in our ceiling and landing on my desk. There's a virtual bug cemetery strewn across every door entryway at the hospital. They're either dead from pesticide, get smashed by the automatic hospital doors or just plain stepped on by passersby. I don't think anyone even tries to step on them. It's just unavoidable because there are THAT many of them here.

Anyway, enough about the bugs. I'm hoping the winter cold relocates them for a few months soon. As I was leaving the farm to go to work today, I found a nice surprise in the field outside the front yard: a big 'ol tractor hooked up to a huge brush hog that puts my little one to shame. I hopped in the Jeep and raced over to look at it. I guess my cousin came by this morning and began to clear our front 35 acres for the next crop while I was sleeping.

The grass is as tall as the fence out front.

I hopped in and took a chance on trying to crank it up. I pushed in what I figured would be the clutch and turned the key but got nothing. I looked around at all the levers and gizmos...clueless to what they all did. Wish I had the day off. I could have cleared some serious brush with this baby. With all the rain we've had for the past eight weeks, things have grown back up to the level they were at when I arrived. The grass is as tall as our fence in some areas. The only day I'll have off this week to mow will be this coming Saturday then my work week starts all over again.

Bales across the street, waiting to be loaded up.

The neighbor who works the 80 acres my family owns across the street has been busy baling up his recent crop. I think the large bales are called "rounds" and there were lots of them ready to be loaded on to a truck. I stopped on the way to work and took a few pictures. The sky is always so picturesque out here in the country.

So with all the work, I feel like I haven't had much to blog about lately since I haven't gotten much done. I received my multimeter in the mail the other day and began trying to trace down the electricity short that keeps me from being able to turn on the power at the barn. I was told the rats keep eating through the wires. I'd like to get the barn powered up again, get the grass mowed back down, and start straightening out the barn.  There's fence that needs to be mended in a few places but mostly I just need to clear out a ton of overgrowth all over the place.

So, come on Saturday! I'm getting behind!

~OJD