Safe delivery, debit card issues, kids on the farm

I called Mama pretty early yesterday morning to see if Grandpa had gotten the calves to market and to find out if he had any problems. She said Grandpa was gone before she got up. I did not find out the details until much later but he had had no trouble loading the calves, no trouble getting them to the sale barn and no trouble at any point in the round trip to Windthorst. We should hear something from the sale early next week on how much the calves sold for and the expenses incurred in that sale. Mama is anxious to compare weights; tape vs. scale.


I am hoping to hear today that the metal for the shop has arrived at the Metal Mart in Gainesville. I left the debit card for the account with the money in it with Mama to be used for that purchase. It may be tomorrow before the trip can be made to get the metal but in case there was some interest in getting it done today I tried to make sure Mama had the resources at her disposal.

I had to cut up my Happy State debit card yesterday. For the second time in six months I was contacted by the bank and alerted that some transaction may have compromised the security on my card and it would be better to cancel the card and get a new one. It is not a huge problem, but each time I have to go update all the accounts that have recurring charges against that debit card. I know it is better to be safe than to be sorry, but it is still an inconvenience.

I went online yesterday – at work since we are disconnected at the house – and looked to see what “card skimmers” looked like. I had very little idea what a thriving business thievery is. There are suppliers, developers and installers for the illegal devices. There are ‘how to” instructions available for the person who is willing to make the right (or wrong) contacts. It is very a sophisticated market. With the invention of 3D printing, it is becoming more difficult to tell a planted or overlaid skimmer from the real thing. God help us!

The grandkids are really enjoying the freedom of the farm. One of the real blessings of the timing for this visit is that the temperatures and mild and the bugs have not invaded the area yet. That is a blessing because children really, really, really like to talk in the open doorway. I am not sure what it is about having a doorway to stand in while a conversation is going on but that is where they like to conduct their business. There is a rush to communicate every little thing; what the dogs did, what the chickens did, what the sibling did, etc. All three children have to come separately to give their report. All reports require the door be held open for the duration of the update.

We do not have either the heat or the air conditioning going yet so it is not a problem, but it seems to create one for one adult or another in the home. I have not been in the house except in the evening but I know it goes on throughout the day. I can only hope that since the windows are open almost all day that the door being open also does not bring too severe a scolding.

Bottle feeding the calves could be an issue for the grandkids. They stand very nearly face-to-face with the calves. I can envision the calf butting the bottle right into the nose of the child holding that bottle. It would be like getting hit with a bat. Grandpa has great insight into such eventualities so I hope the kids heed his warnings while feeding the calves.

My only fear is that the amount of gravel we have on the driveway will invite a rock throwing incident that will cause us problems. Day one went by without any serious issues – at least none that I have been told about. Day two will begin in less that an hour. We will see how things go as we progress.

I hope we all enjoy it together.