Interview news, expanding the herd, repairs, coming up short

Yesterday flew by and it was after 3 pm before I knew it. I was in scheduled meetings for the majority of the day and I had several informal meetings through out the day so there was not much free time. Mama found that out early in the morning when she tried to call me about something urgent she needed to get done that did not actually get done until after 4 pm.


I interviewed one of my former employees for the Training Coordinator position and she did very well. Both of the gentlemen that were involved in the interview via phone thought so as well. She came back to my office here later in the morning after she had visited her way around the building to confirm that she was not disqualified by anything she had said. I reassured her and told her I will let her know as soon as a decision was made. I realize it is always a difficult thing to do when you interview for a job.

Speaking of interviews, Chase got the job with Sprint. He will start after the first of the year. He asked to be allowed to continue through the Holidays with Sears so they would not end up being short handed – and so that his sales would not be subject to the loss of commissions that result from the returned items normally coming back to the store after Christmas. He is pleased with the offer made to him by Sprint and in reality it should be a good job for him on a more long term basis.

We now have three more calves. That brings the total on the bottle to fifteen. It is a handful. Grandpa is slowly getting all of them lined out and healthy but he is fighting against unexpected opposition. Grandma, who is our milk mixer, decided that the problem the calves were having was the result of the milk being mixed too strong. So, she watered it down without telling anyone. When the calves continued to loose weight even thought they were being fed twice per day Grandpa began to put two and two together.

Now we are doctoring the needs and feeding the proper diet and the whole group looks better, healthier and stronger. Even the most gaunt are filling out and their energy levels are picking up. Every day he puts them out onto the lot so they can run around, soak up the sunshine and begin to eat a little grass. I am learning that the calves must develop a taste for grass. Once they do, it is their preferred food source. If only we had more to offer.

I am hearing the weather reports that offer the model analysis to try to prove that we are not actually in a drought, but it is hard to feed the cattle on supposition. They require something more tangible. I am hearing that the winter rains are coming. I am ready. I hope it will be well before the first hard freeze so there is time for some growth. We have enough hay to make it through the winter and into the early spring so we will be able to retain our herd. Many others will not.

We still need the steel and beams for the roof, but short of a miracle, it will not happen quickly. So on the flip side, the dearth of rain is a blessing of sorts. I am about $2500 short at the moment for that particular need but I have a feeling things will begin to work out pretty soon. Regardless, our stuff is coming next Friday. We will find the best way to deal with that after the fact.

Grandpa tried the last thing he could try to get the diesel truck running and it was not successful. We will have to do major repairs – about $1200 - on the clutch to get it operational again, but for the moment we are able to work around it. I am getting thousand dollar-ed to death right now.

Oh, for the days when I worried over $100.