2019.01.08 07:00 - back on the John Deere

The Guardian for this meeting was Riddle Sideways. The comments are by Riddle Sideways.

Riddle Sideways: Ah, Welcome sports fan
Riddle Sideways: it is NFL playoff time and Adams wears the Team Colors
Adams Rubble: Good Morning Riddle :)
      not sitting next to each other, a couple cushions apart.  then moves next to.  then moves apart. then together and stay.
Riddle Sideways: ya know what, have never sat like this
Riddle Sideways: oh
Adams Rubble: Good to take a break :)
Riddle Sideways: in the movies, the Royals always sat at each end of a long table, just the tow
Adams Rubble: yes, a tradition in many house
Adams Rubble: houses
Riddle Sideways: they sent notes to the other end
Adams Rubble: a continent away
Riddle Sideways: literarily

Adams Rubble: do you have a topic stuffed in your back pocket?
Riddle Sideways: looking around, yesterday had a topic
Riddle Sideways: it was a good one
Adams Rubble: ohhh
Riddle Sideways: hmmmm, have lost it
Adams Rubble listens

Riddle Sideways: there was the thing that you might like about the book for the club this month
Adams Rubble has been too busy to blog some overnight thoughts
Riddle Sideways: about current
Riddle Sideways: weaves religion, politics, news, sci, tech, bio, doom, hope
Riddle Sideways: of course it was easier to listen to interviews with author and not read it
Riddle Sideways: an hour instead of a month
Adams Rubble: :)

Adams Rubble has been listening to readings of some novels while multitasking
Riddle Sideways: is there enough concentration?
Adams Rubble: it goes in and out
Adams Rubble: if I miss some novel it is not a disaster
Riddle Sideways: am going back and forth on multitasking values
Adams Rubble: there is much to be said for concentrating on one task at a time
Adams Rubble: some tasks like minding little ones demand full attention
Adams Rubble: or driving in neavy traffic in icy conditions

Riddle Sideways: in a beginning, needed only 27% of brain to drink tractor between turn-arounds on rows
Riddle Sideways: so, followed many other thoughts/things
Adams Rubble: drink tractor?
Adams Rubble: ooohhhh drive tractor
Riddle Sideways: oo oo, *drive
Adams Rubble: it would take allll ones concentration to drink a tractor
               --BELL--
Riddle Sideways: seeeeee, was thinking about driving cup-o-caffee

Adams Rubble: was the tractor a John Deere?
Riddle Sideways: sometimes
Adams Rubble: :)
Adams Rubble gets excited when seeing a John Deere
Riddle Sideways: truth = have never had a John Deere hat
Adams Rubble: me neither
Adams Rubble has a John Deere tractor on the Christmas tree
Riddle Sideways: and gets excited seeing several models/makes of tractors
Riddle Sideways: wow
Adams Rubble: just a little one :)
Riddle Sideways: second farm worked on, had 3 John Deeres of different sizes
Adams Rubble: ohhhh, you worked on a farm. I did not know that
Riddle Sideways: several
Adams Rubble: wow

Riddle Sideways: grew up in small dairy farm area
Riddle Sideways: went to college to be an Ag teacher
Adams Rubble: ohhh
Riddle Sideways: that did not last long
Riddle Sideways: the Revolution came and moved along
Riddle Sideways: the disillustionment started then
Adams Rubble: college can do a big disarranging of one's mind
Riddle Sideways: knowing you are waiting for more ㋡
Riddle Sideways: but it ain't coming
Adams Rubble: :)

Adams Rubble: Eden asked me a question that I thought was too personal too answer yesterday
Adams Rubble: but I realized I did not know the answer
Riddle Sideways: oooo
Adams Rubble: I hope to have a chance to blog about some thoughts today
Riddle Sideways: good
Riddle Sideways: don't need details
Riddle Sideways: but, you working it out is good

Adams Rubble: my John Deere experience was on my grandfathers farm
Adams Rubble: he had two
Riddle Sideways: size-models?
Adams Rubble: an older smaller one and a newer bigger one
Riddle Sideways: ah
Adams Rubble: I used to know the model numbers but it is lost in my brain
Adams Rubble: I think the older was about 1939 and the newer one about 1947; I do not know how I know that and whether it is true
Adams Rubble: the older one had to be started with a fly wheel
Adams Rubble: had spokes on the wheels
Adams Rubble: The newer model has a B in it
Riddle Sideways: never worked on a farm with the old two cyclinder bangers that popped so loud you could hear accros the valley
Riddle Sideways: ah a B
Riddle Sideways: it was easier to let it idle during lunch break than try to start it again
Riddle Sideways: so they sat idling

Adams Rubble: I once road with my grandfather in his 1920s truck to a John Deere distributor to get some parts. There were rows and rows of cute little green and yellow boxes with part numbers written on them
Adams Rubble: rode
Riddle Sideways: oh, yes, how big our eyes got in those dealerships
Adams Rubble: we learned the world was bigger than we imagined :)
Adams Rubble: It was about 50 miles a way and I did not think the old truck would make it
Adams Rubble: did not want to go
Riddle Sideways: ha, but did it
Adams Rubble: yes, my grandmother said i would be company for my grandfather. I am glad i went
Riddle Sideways: yes, in the small world there was a place with an endless back room with Every part to fix any and all problems
               --BELL--
Adams Rubble: fortunately I was allowed to sit in the cab and not on the flatbed on the back (giggles)
Riddle Sideways: yes, the number of hours sitting in the back of pickup
Adams Rubble: or 15 kids in the back seat of a car without any seatbelts
Riddle Sideways: or sitting on dads lap driving the car, so he could smoke and hold the beer can
Adams Rubble: whoops--could not have been more than 11
Adams Rubble: oooooooo
Riddle Sideways: now days, even dogs have tie-downs in the back of pickups
Adams Rubble: My German ancestors always took care of the animals :)
Riddle Sideways: no airbags then, just fall into sister to cushion the crash
Adams Rubble: mothers hold the babies in the front seat
Riddle Sideways: yep

Adams Rubble: my grandfather always warned us to stay away from the big tires when we were riding on the John Deere
Riddle Sideways: those were the dayz
Adams Rubble: 3 or 4 cousins holding on tightly
Adams Rubble: holdhood was not for the feint-hearted
Adams Rubble: childhood
Riddle Sideways: riding standing on the little tongue on the ones that had no fenders
Adams Rubble likes typo
Adams Rubble: yes, that's the one
Riddle Sideways: ah, remember it well
Adams Rubble: in a break out in the fields, granfather warning little one not to drink too much or too fast from the bottle of ice water
Riddle Sideways: ah, had that same big bottle
Adams Rubble: :)
Adams Rubble: sat in the shade of the tree line

Riddle Sideways: old old farmer drove the tractor for the baler. had to ride along to jump off and fix clogs and breaks
Riddle Sideways: he just sat and pointed
Riddle Sideways: explained how wrong it was being fixed

Adams Rubble remembers grandfather having to empty the manure spreader to fix a break in the chain
Adams Rubble: nice old farmer :)
Riddle Sideways: ok yes, that was the worst
Adams Rubble helped shovel it out and then later back in
Riddle Sideways: done that
Adams Rubble: not all got back in :)

Adams Rubble: you must have lots of cow experience
Adams Rubble: used to be assigned to go out and bring the cows in from pasture
Adams Rubble: that was a nice job
Riddle Sideways: want to see the bruises
Adams Rubble: hehe, they walked
Adams Rubble: ohh, you brruises
Riddle Sideways: cow kickings, being stepped on
Adams Rubble: when milking?

Riddle Sideways: had an old 30 year old broke down horse to saddle and ride toward the cows in fall
Riddle Sideways: 4:30 in morning
Adams Rubble: ohh cows far away
Adams Rubble: ouch
Adams Rubble was shielded from the 4:30 mornings
Riddle Sideways: in fall after harvest most fences go down
               --BELL--
Riddle Sideways: cows go wherever
Adams Rubble: oh my
Adams Rubble: fences stayed up at grandfather's farm
Riddle Sideways: needed to go find them
Adams Rubble: ouch
Riddle Sideways: once near the horse knew what to do
Riddle Sideways: the easiest way to herd them without effort
Riddle Sideways: it was old and smart
Adams Rubble: :)
Adams Rubble: the cows went out in the morning and in at night
Riddle Sideways: think it would say in a fake cow voice, "come-on, I know where there is going to be grain and hay"

Adams Rubble: the scariest job was when there was not feed coming down the chute and my grandfather would send us upstairs to push it down
Riddle Sideways: actually the silo was fun
Adams Rubble: upstairs there were two light bulbs way up in the cavernous space of the dark barn
Adams Rubble: we would have to walk from the stairs to the end of the barn past dark doorways
Adams Rubble: we would run most of that
Riddle Sideways: always had to go break the bales and push down shoots
Riddle Sideways: chute
Adams Rubble: then sucking up and bravly diving into the opening in the feed bin hoping nothing was waiting for us inside
Adams Rubble: then we push the feed into the hole and wait until he yelled up it was enough
Adams Rubble: then carefully poking our head outside the opening and staring into the dark space
Adams Rubble: then climbing out and racing for the stairs
Riddle Sideways: or throw silage down until tunnel was filled and wait for somebody to unplug and release
Adams Rubble like the silo too--it smelled so good
Adams Rubble: fermented hay
Adams Rubble: yummy

Riddle Sideways: built great mazes of bales throughout hayloft in summer
Adams Rubble: yes
Riddle Sideways: then fall in them in dark of winter
Riddle Sideways: trying to get feed
Riddle Sideways: and silage was warm once surface was broken
Riddle Sideways: nice during winter

Adams Rubble was fortunate that most of the time on the farm was free time
Adams Rubble: yes about the smoking sllage :)
Riddle Sideways: long free afternoons
Riddle Sideways: the woods of the pastures
Riddle Sideways: eating the baby corn ears
Adams Rubble: :)
Adams Rubble: running down the corn rows that seemed to go on forever
Adams Rubble: getting fingers sticky from milkweed
Riddle Sideways: with age came less free time
Adams Rubble nods
Riddle Sideways: ah, the milkweed
Adams Rubble: my grandfather died when I was 14
Riddle Sideways: ooo

Adams Rubble: watching the butterflies on the milkweed
Adams Rubble: and the clover
Riddle Sideways: (of unknown wise imaginary idea) milkweed milk would get rid of moles on skin
Riddle Sideways: so would squeese it on
Adams Rubble: :)
Riddle Sideways: and try not to wipe off before dry
Adams Rubble: lots of older cousins to pass on items of dubious wisdom :)
Riddle Sideways: early career as witch doctor was not very good
Adams Rubble: hehe

Adams Rubble: well Riddle, this was an unexpected topic today :)
Riddle Sideways: one thing from book interview ...
Adams Rubble: the first annual John Deere chat
Riddle Sideways: great
Adams Rubble listens
Adams Rubble: then will go

Riddle Sideways: if a million people believe something for one week, it is fake news
               --BELL--
Riddle Sideways: if a billion people believe something for a thousand years, it is religion
Riddle Sideways: in six months we shall have the Farmall chat

Adams Rubble: thank you for the morning chat
Riddle Sideways: thank you, very enjoyed
Adams Rubble: maybe see you Thursday
Riddle Sideways: yep, if the creeks...
Adams Rubble: bye for now
Riddle Sideways: by All