It's not all gloom and doom...

But I'm sure it will be again ere long.

My current plan is to win the lottery and move. Fiji is starting to sound better and better. I probably should buy a ticket for that plan to work.

On a somewhat lighter note, I did learn how to drive the Deutz over the weekend. The problem with this little jewel is that it has some electrical problems; therefore we have to roll it off to start it whenever we need to use it. That isn't a major problem, except for the fact I can't leave anything hooked up it.

Today I tried to start it so I could bring it up to the barn and fix the drawbar so that I can use it to rake hay tomorrow (provided I can escape from the office). I started off down the hill; let off the clutch... nothing happened. Rolled a little further... still nothing. Rode all the way down past where the dozer guy is working on Sweetie's arena... still nothing. I ended up a quarter mile from where I started without getting it to crank. I walked to the barn, got the truck & my bride and went back down to get her to pull me off. She dragged me around for twenty minutes without any success.

That's when I remembered to check the fuel shutoff.

It seems I had forgotten that little item. After I disengaged (not sure if that's the right word) it, it started within twenty feet.

Sweetie was not pleased with me. One of her more kind statements was "why don't you ever buy sh*t that runs?" Then she dissolved into laughter at the hangdog look I gave her.

Unfortunately, by this time it was nearly dark, so I was unable to do anything other than fix the drawbar today. I didn't have to right pin to fix it with, so I used what was handy, which was a hydraulic cylinder pin and a rusty nail. Not sure I want to take off down the road with that rig, but it should be fine for what I'm doing here on the farm.

Two pieces of good news, I got my truck back from the shop, where it has languished since Friday morning after that unfortunate little incident on the interstate... No, I didn't write about that, because it was overtaken by events, but it wasn't a big deal other than me being truckless for five days. That's hard on a redneck. It also left me stranded when I would have been better off traveling.

I think I may have figured out what’s wrong with the Nissan too. It seems to have a loose battery cable. That beats the heck out of buying a new alternator.

Hopefully tomorrow I can rake and bale some hay. If the rain holds off and I get the fields I mowed Saturday I may be done for the year... maybe. I've got a field that might mow towards the end of October if I have some decent weather.