This is long overdue. I went home mid-December for a week to celebrate the life of Olive Robison, the late mother of my uncle Jim. I was glad to have been able to know her, and to have spent time with the Robisons at that time, especially right before Christmas. I hadn't seen my cousins Emily and Noah in several months and two years respectively, and wouldn't have otherwise because Sarah and I had already made plans to meet my parents in Arizona to spend Christmas with my sisters. Much catching up was done in just a couple days, then I went to the ranch. It's a quieter time of year there, and I happily relieved my dad from a few days of feeding, which he seldom gets a break from for six months a year. I had brought my fiddle because I couldn't have shown up to a Robison gathering without one, and got one evening of playing in with the Helena crowd, thankfully at a slow, closed session where my out of practice fiddle couldn't be heard by the general public. They always welcome me back like I haven't been gone at all. My friend Dan Boyce met me for a couple beers and his company was as good as could be asked for, as always. Somehow without weather delays, I made it back to Iowa.
After two very pleasant days spent in southeast Iowa with Sarah's family for their Christmas, we each worked one day, then flew to Phoenix that night. We spent the week with my parents, sisters, Aaron, Elayna, and Brian, spending overdue time with each other in ACE's massive new house, cooking, hiking in the hills in and around Phoenix, bowling, watching E do things, taking in a Suns game, playing games around ACE's backyard firepit, riding segways, and going to interesting restaurants. The latter included sushi, a semi-famous breakfast place, and a Mexican-Chinese mashup. The Arizona winter was also appreciated by those who'd come south. Sarah and I regrettably had to endure late night/early morning flights (direct 2:30am return), but otherwise our travels went smoothly.
I've accepted a different role at work. A spot in the enhancement group, which is in the same office but deals with production problems and changes to current products, opened at the end of the year. My workload for Brazil-related things had dwindled to very little, and I felt the need for a change. I am in the middle of my second week, and all is well so far.
I am taking advantage of the indoor weather this winter by working on a couple braiding projects. I am just about done with a stockwhip handle, which will eventually go to Jesse Munk, whose place in enhancement I took after he moved to Parts Center. It's nice to not travel for a little while, after being gone for more than half of December.
11/19/13
Brazil
I've just returned from my first trip to Brazil. I spent eight days of a ten day trip in the south of the country in a town called Ipaussu, which is in the middle of a large sugar cane area.
This trip was brought about as a result of my reassignment at work away from mower design into biomass related applications. As I typically do, I'll stay scant on the details, but the purpose of this trip was to help determine certain options for Vermeer in a developing market. I've been told the change is only temporary and I'll be back to the mower group in a year or so.
I had known I would be going to Brazil since my reassignment the second week in October, and the company began helping me apply for my visa, which takes several weeks. I'd expected to be going this week, but was told on the afternoon of the 5th that the visa would arrive the morning of the 6th, and to pack my bags. Just as an FYI, I believe my MSU tuition for a semester cost roughly the same as a day-of plane ticket from Des Moines to Sao Paulo.
I flew through O'Hare to Sao Paulo overnight, which took 10.5 hours, was driven to Vermeer Latin America in a nearby town called Valinhos, then caught a bus and rode for six hours to the largest town close to where our demonstration was taking place. I was told when I got on the bus to be sure I got off at the right place, or I'd wind up in Paraguay, a warning I'd never had aimed at me before. After another 45 minutes or so, I arrived in my first sugar cane field at 10:30 pm on the night of the 7th, after 28 hours or so of travel. The logic behind not letting me just go to bed made me scratch my head.
The Vermeer equipment for this demonstration was supported by about four VLA service personnel, Harold Gorter, who had managed the service department in Pella for forty years before moving to international sales, and myself. Two engineering technicians from Pella had also been there the preceding weeks.
I monitored and learned about the piece of equipment I had traveled there to see and to make function, but the majority of my time was spent working on balers. I commented to Harold at one point that I hadn't worked on balers so much since before I worked at Vermeer. Cliff Cox, it can be said your knowledge went to work in Brazil.
It's mid-spring in Brazil right now so it's the start of their "wet" season. It was in the 90s every day, and we saw no rain except for a sprinkle Monday afternoon. It was quite dry, and very dusty. The soil in that area was rust red, fine as flour, and got into and stuck to everything. This was hard on both man and machine. Clothes were instantly dirty once you got to the field and faces were comically filthy within minutes. I've never scrubbed off so much dirt in a shower only to still leave the towel brown. It's also proving to be stubborn if not impossible to get out of my clothes.
Tools were scarce. The VLA guys had some tools provided by the company, but these were pretty basic. We had no chains, no blocking, no pneumatic or electric impacts, no jacks, and no pry bars. We did everything out in the field in the rusty dirt. There was an old hacksaw blade in the toolbox that I used a surprising amount, most importantly to cut new threads on a worn but critical SAE bolt for which we had no hope of finding a replacement. A very helpful operator handed me a prison-shank-like sharpened piece of plate steel that I constantly used to cut net wrap out of pickups and off of rollers. I had thought ahead enough to bring my Leatherman, and was glad for it.
This was my first trip to a non-English speaking country. I don't count the Netherlands because almost everybody there spoke English. We were always with English speakers in the field to help get our points across to the locals with whom we worked, but Harold and I still did a fair amount of arm waving. I used every bit of broken Spanish I knew in the hopes something might match up, and it occasionally did. I didn't have too hard a time getting my point across in some way or another, though in the few times I was not understood, I felt a bit like a little kid. It gives some empathy for others in that situation.
I generally got along with everyone I dealt with. One Brazilian technician I talked to every day spoke some English and told me to 'speak in English. We like it.' Like most other Brazilians, he greeted us every morning with a good handshake, a slap on the back, and a 'bom dia!' (good morning!). He and I would teach each other a few words here and there. Our last day in the field, he asked to look at my Leatherman. Such tools are hard to come by in Brazil and expensive if you can find them. I had meant to leave it with him, because he needs it more than I do. My biggest regret of the trip was being off somewhere when the shift changed in the afternoon and I missed him before he left.
The two technicians from Pella had both gotten sick on their trips, so I was a little leery. I never got sick from drinking yellow rain water in Australia, and still don't understand how, but I nonetheless steered clear of tap water in Brazil, and never ate fresh fruits or vegetables for fear of how they were or weren't washed. Aside from a belly ache one night, I never got sick, which seems like an accomplishment.
Long days were spent in the field all week, but no one works on Sunday. Herb Waldhuetter from VLA graciously drove us into the hillier country south of where we had been working to see the coffee, cattle, lakes, and rivers. We had lunch at a restaurant on a deck by a waterfall, something I hadn't expected.
The demo ended Wednesday, and Harold's and my ride took us back to Valinhos on Thursday. My flight didn't leave until Friday evening, so I explored the area around my hotel for a few hours without incident. Herb took me to a Brazilian steak house my last night there, which had been the one item on my Brazilian to-do list. Twenty-one cuts of beef were offered to us on skewers by waiters, along with lamb, chicken, and wild boar. We were nearing meat comas when we left. It was everything I'd ever dreamed of.
There are plenty of other stories from this trip, but this post is getting plenty long. Drop me a line and I'll share some more.
It wasn't an easy trip, but I accomplished what I needed to, didn't get hurt, sick,or lost, and collected some more stories. I haven't experienced that much in ten days in quite awhile.
This trip was brought about as a result of my reassignment at work away from mower design into biomass related applications. As I typically do, I'll stay scant on the details, but the purpose of this trip was to help determine certain options for Vermeer in a developing market. I've been told the change is only temporary and I'll be back to the mower group in a year or so.
I had known I would be going to Brazil since my reassignment the second week in October, and the company began helping me apply for my visa, which takes several weeks. I'd expected to be going this week, but was told on the afternoon of the 5th that the visa would arrive the morning of the 6th, and to pack my bags. Just as an FYI, I believe my MSU tuition for a semester cost roughly the same as a day-of plane ticket from Des Moines to Sao Paulo.
I flew through O'Hare to Sao Paulo overnight, which took 10.5 hours, was driven to Vermeer Latin America in a nearby town called Valinhos, then caught a bus and rode for six hours to the largest town close to where our demonstration was taking place. I was told when I got on the bus to be sure I got off at the right place, or I'd wind up in Paraguay, a warning I'd never had aimed at me before. After another 45 minutes or so, I arrived in my first sugar cane field at 10:30 pm on the night of the 7th, after 28 hours or so of travel. The logic behind not letting me just go to bed made me scratch my head.
The Vermeer equipment for this demonstration was supported by about four VLA service personnel, Harold Gorter, who had managed the service department in Pella for forty years before moving to international sales, and myself. Two engineering technicians from Pella had also been there the preceding weeks.
I monitored and learned about the piece of equipment I had traveled there to see and to make function, but the majority of my time was spent working on balers. I commented to Harold at one point that I hadn't worked on balers so much since before I worked at Vermeer. Cliff Cox, it can be said your knowledge went to work in Brazil.
It's mid-spring in Brazil right now so it's the start of their "wet" season. It was in the 90s every day, and we saw no rain except for a sprinkle Monday afternoon. It was quite dry, and very dusty. The soil in that area was rust red, fine as flour, and got into and stuck to everything. This was hard on both man and machine. Clothes were instantly dirty once you got to the field and faces were comically filthy within minutes. I've never scrubbed off so much dirt in a shower only to still leave the towel brown. It's also proving to be stubborn if not impossible to get out of my clothes.
Tools were scarce. The VLA guys had some tools provided by the company, but these were pretty basic. We had no chains, no blocking, no pneumatic or electric impacts, no jacks, and no pry bars. We did everything out in the field in the rusty dirt. There was an old hacksaw blade in the toolbox that I used a surprising amount, most importantly to cut new threads on a worn but critical SAE bolt for which we had no hope of finding a replacement. A very helpful operator handed me a prison-shank-like sharpened piece of plate steel that I constantly used to cut net wrap out of pickups and off of rollers. I had thought ahead enough to bring my Leatherman, and was glad for it.
This was my first trip to a non-English speaking country. I don't count the Netherlands because almost everybody there spoke English. We were always with English speakers in the field to help get our points across to the locals with whom we worked, but Harold and I still did a fair amount of arm waving. I used every bit of broken Spanish I knew in the hopes something might match up, and it occasionally did. I didn't have too hard a time getting my point across in some way or another, though in the few times I was not understood, I felt a bit like a little kid. It gives some empathy for others in that situation.
I generally got along with everyone I dealt with. One Brazilian technician I talked to every day spoke some English and told me to 'speak in English. We like it.' Like most other Brazilians, he greeted us every morning with a good handshake, a slap on the back, and a 'bom dia!' (good morning!). He and I would teach each other a few words here and there. Our last day in the field, he asked to look at my Leatherman. Such tools are hard to come by in Brazil and expensive if you can find them. I had meant to leave it with him, because he needs it more than I do. My biggest regret of the trip was being off somewhere when the shift changed in the afternoon and I missed him before he left.
The two technicians from Pella had both gotten sick on their trips, so I was a little leery. I never got sick from drinking yellow rain water in Australia, and still don't understand how, but I nonetheless steered clear of tap water in Brazil, and never ate fresh fruits or vegetables for fear of how they were or weren't washed. Aside from a belly ache one night, I never got sick, which seems like an accomplishment.
Long days were spent in the field all week, but no one works on Sunday. Herb Waldhuetter from VLA graciously drove us into the hillier country south of where we had been working to see the coffee, cattle, lakes, and rivers. We had lunch at a restaurant on a deck by a waterfall, something I hadn't expected.
The demo ended Wednesday, and Harold's and my ride took us back to Valinhos on Thursday. My flight didn't leave until Friday evening, so I explored the area around my hotel for a few hours without incident. Herb took me to a Brazilian steak house my last night there, which had been the one item on my Brazilian to-do list. Twenty-one cuts of beef were offered to us on skewers by waiters, along with lamb, chicken, and wild boar. We were nearing meat comas when we left. It was everything I'd ever dreamed of.
There are plenty of other stories from this trip, but this post is getting plenty long. Drop me a line and I'll share some more.
It wasn't an easy trip, but I accomplished what I needed to, didn't get hurt, sick,or lost, and collected some more stories. I haven't experienced that much in ten days in quite awhile.
9/15/13
Maquoketa Caves
Since last winter, Sarah and I have planned tentatively to visit a state park in northeastern Iowa called Maquoketa because of the caves it is known for. After some relief from the very warm end of the Iowa summer, and possibly from a recent motivation we've gotten to camp, we finally made the trip this weekend. We got there a little late on Friday night and found one campsite left, waiting just for us. It was a very pleasant, windless, clear, and comfortably cool evening to sit around a fire.
We explored the caves on Saturday. Neither of us quite knew what to expect. Apart from three large interconnected openings with one or two small offshooting tunnels, the other dozen or so caves in the park were not connected and went from ten feet into a hill to about fifty feet deep; some had rooms large enough to stand up in, others were much more cramped. Crawling on your belly was necessary for several of them, if the caver was up for the tight fit. Sarah and I were game and were filthy at the end of the afternoon. I also crouched through one opening with a shin-deep stream coming down it later in the afternoon. In one such moist area, we were puzzled by the walls seeming to glitter around us. After closer looks, we realized it was from condensation on the walls in the form of speck-sized droplets. No pictures would have given those rooms justice, and will simply have to be experienced and remembered.
Unlike Lewis and Clark Caverns' guided tours with restricted access to it's upper and lower openings, these caves were wide open to the general public and always have been. This was reflected on the park by its well-traveled feel and lack of geological growth in the caves; foolish souvenir hunters robbed the place clean of stalactites and stalagmites years ago. Nonetheless, we were glad to have experienced them.
We drove through Davenport to get to Maquoketa, so we had planned on stopping by there on the way back. Sarah went to St Ambrose College in Davenport, so she showed me the campus and around town.
Sunday morning we woke up to rain, which was absolutely welcome, especially since didn't need to rely on a campfire to cook our breakfast. Another adventure accomplished!
We explored the caves on Saturday. Neither of us quite knew what to expect. Apart from three large interconnected openings with one or two small offshooting tunnels, the other dozen or so caves in the park were not connected and went from ten feet into a hill to about fifty feet deep; some had rooms large enough to stand up in, others were much more cramped. Crawling on your belly was necessary for several of them, if the caver was up for the tight fit. Sarah and I were game and were filthy at the end of the afternoon. I also crouched through one opening with a shin-deep stream coming down it later in the afternoon. In one such moist area, we were puzzled by the walls seeming to glitter around us. After closer looks, we realized it was from condensation on the walls in the form of speck-sized droplets. No pictures would have given those rooms justice, and will simply have to be experienced and remembered.
Unlike Lewis and Clark Caverns' guided tours with restricted access to it's upper and lower openings, these caves were wide open to the general public and always have been. This was reflected on the park by its well-traveled feel and lack of geological growth in the caves; foolish souvenir hunters robbed the place clean of stalactites and stalagmites years ago. Nonetheless, we were glad to have experienced them.
We drove through Davenport to get to Maquoketa, so we had planned on stopping by there on the way back. Sarah went to St Ambrose College in Davenport, so she showed me the campus and around town.
Sunday morning we woke up to rain, which was absolutely welcome, especially since didn't need to rely on a campfire to cook our breakfast. Another adventure accomplished!
9/4/13
The State Fair, Stockwhips, and Labor Day
Another Iowa State Fair has come and gone. Sarah and I attended both weekends of the ten-day affair, though in hindsight two solid afternoons there is plenty; either the crowds were more obnoxious than last year or I was more averse to them, and it didn't seem as magical to me this year as last year. I did enjoy the good (and more restrained) sampling of fair food, craft beer, the draft horse pull, visiting with friends, and watching my friend and coworker Mike Buban play with his band.
It's been intensely dry here for close to two months. It even sounds like Montana's gotten more rain the last few weeks than this part of Iowa. The corn is drying out and some farmers have started chopping it for silage. I believe some corn was chopped several weeks earlier than this time last year due to the drought, but this year still seems very dry. Wildfires aren't a concern in the midwest like they are in the mountains, but fields of dry corn still make me wonder if it's possible. I'm told crop fires do occasionally start here, but there's no way they'd have the ferocity of a forest fire.
I've been trying my hand at leather braiding and made a four-foot stockwhip in July. I just finished a ten-footer that is being tried out here before it will be sent to Dave Clark in Winston so he can tear it up and give me suggestions for improvement. I've already got some ideas for what to do differently next time. I also decided to use the Vermeer serial numbering system, with the first prototype being '100'. I made the bold decision to give the ten-footer the '101' stamp of the first production unit, instead of the '99' of the second prototype. Hopefully it's worthy.
Sarah and I enjoyed a perfect Labor Day weekend: busy enough to keep us entertained and pleased about not wasting our holiday weekend, yet not frantic. Friday night was pleasantly laid back with no plans. I spent part of Saturday morning stacking small square bales for a local friend whose paints I've ridden several times before. Tyler Schiferl and his wife Jamie had another great get-together at their place featuring a fire and music, though I didn't add much to the music. Sarah and I made a mini-road trip to northwest Iowa to see the Grotto of Redemption in West Bend. It is the work of a lifetime of a local priest who passed away in the 50s, and is a collection and construction of shells, petrified wood, and crystals. It's the largest such structure in the world, and there certainly isn't anything like it anywhere else. Northwestern Iowa is hardly the place you'd expect it either. From there, we met my MSU buddy Bret Orner in Spirit Lake. I've seen Bret only once since 2008 and only twice since 2007 but we still keep in touch often. His Grandmother lives in southwestern Minnesota so it was an easy drive and good opportunity to see him. We also didn't want to pass up the chance to camp before the end of summer, which is somehow upon us already. Fall doesn't seem as unwelcome as it used to though.
It's been intensely dry here for close to two months. It even sounds like Montana's gotten more rain the last few weeks than this part of Iowa. The corn is drying out and some farmers have started chopping it for silage. I believe some corn was chopped several weeks earlier than this time last year due to the drought, but this year still seems very dry. Wildfires aren't a concern in the midwest like they are in the mountains, but fields of dry corn still make me wonder if it's possible. I'm told crop fires do occasionally start here, but there's no way they'd have the ferocity of a forest fire.
I've been trying my hand at leather braiding and made a four-foot stockwhip in July. I just finished a ten-footer that is being tried out here before it will be sent to Dave Clark in Winston so he can tear it up and give me suggestions for improvement. I've already got some ideas for what to do differently next time. I also decided to use the Vermeer serial numbering system, with the first prototype being '100'. I made the bold decision to give the ten-footer the '101' stamp of the first production unit, instead of the '99' of the second prototype. Hopefully it's worthy.
Sarah and I enjoyed a perfect Labor Day weekend: busy enough to keep us entertained and pleased about not wasting our holiday weekend, yet not frantic. Friday night was pleasantly laid back with no plans. I spent part of Saturday morning stacking small square bales for a local friend whose paints I've ridden several times before. Tyler Schiferl and his wife Jamie had another great get-together at their place featuring a fire and music, though I didn't add much to the music. Sarah and I made a mini-road trip to northwest Iowa to see the Grotto of Redemption in West Bend. It is the work of a lifetime of a local priest who passed away in the 50s, and is a collection and construction of shells, petrified wood, and crystals. It's the largest such structure in the world, and there certainly isn't anything like it anywhere else. Northwestern Iowa is hardly the place you'd expect it either. From there, we met my MSU buddy Bret Orner in Spirit Lake. I've seen Bret only once since 2008 and only twice since 2007 but we still keep in touch often. His Grandmother lives in southwestern Minnesota so it was an easy drive and good opportunity to see him. We also didn't want to pass up the chance to camp before the end of summer, which is somehow upon us already. Fall doesn't seem as unwelcome as it used to though.
8/3/13
Cox Family 40th Anniversary, 50th Annual Broadwater Rodeo
Happy 40th anniversary to my parents, who celebrated 40 years together this last month. Court and Lic organized the event, which involved a very pleasant afternoon cocktail hour at the park in Townsend the Friday of rodeo weekend. Sarah came with me, Licia was joined by her boyfriend Brian, who had never been to Montana, and of course Aaron and Elayna came with Courtney. Thank you so much to all who attended and enjoyed the afternoon with us!
Sarah and I made a week-long trip out of it. After flying in on the early flight from Denver, we were at large in Bozeman by 9:30. After a stroll downtown, we went through the Lewis and Clark Caverns, which was unlike anything Sarah had ever seen. We made a detour on our way back to the ranch through the old town of Elkhorn. Visiting a ghost town was another first for Sarah. It was a perfect day to take in the somewhat still green July Montana hayfields and scenery.
On Thursday, we hiked from our pasture down to the lake and back on a rather hot and dry morning. The crew from Arizona showed up later that day. We were pleased to visit with them and of course Chris, Jim, my Grandma, and my parents.
While the girls did preparatory shopping for the party on Friday, my dad had the guys slated to put in a dozen hefty paver stones to replace some wooden tie steps that had shifted and largely come apart the last few years. It could not have been done without Aaron and Brian, and I'm still a bit shocked about one of the stones falling unexpectedly on Aaron's hand, crushing four fingers and breaking two of them. It's the raw end of a deal to get for volunteer work while on vacation, and I hope he recovers quickly with no lasting issues.
The party was that evening, and was quite well attended; my parents, sisters, and I are all grateful for such good friends and family. Lic, Sarah, and I took Brian to his first rodeo afterwards, which he either enjoyed or faked enjoying quite well. Sarah is a rodeo veteran by now, after attending the Pro Bull Riders in Des Moines in April with some friends of ours and a local rodeo in Bloomfield, Iowa on the 4th.
I was thrilled on Saturday morning to bale the last twenty bales of first cutting with the ranch's new tractor, a Massey 7465. It's a completely different machine than the ranch's old tractors and is a pleasure to drive. Sarah even drove it in a circle later in the trip and was surprised at how easy it was. It was her first time driving a tractor.
The younger crowd made our usual trip to Mackenzie River Saturday afternoon and took the tour train to familiarize the newbies with Helena lore, with the Saturday night rodeo to top off the day.
We all attended the 50th and sadly final Cattlewomen's BBQ on Sunday. Court and Chris rode on the past rodeo queens' float in the parade. I rode a cow in the rodeo that afternoon, with much anticipation from the rest of the family in attendance. The old girl put my shin into the gate and my boot caught and slid me back in the blur that was the ride, but I rode the full 8 and scored a 59. I limped out of the arena and put my gear away before I took my boot off and realized I had a roughly quarter-sized gash on my shin. The EMT cleaned it up and sent me on my way.
Monday was thankfully a laid-back day at home, and we were glad to visit so much with my cousin Emily. We flew back uneventfully on Tuesday, concluding another Montana adventure.
Thank you to any and all who Sarah and I got to see last week and who made the trip worth making. A huge thank you to my sisters and their significant others for organizing things and being especially good sports. My leg has been inspected by several nurses and is being treated appropriately. It has slowed me up some, and I get curious looks at work from my limp, but at least there's a story to go with it. It's a fun one to tell.
Sarah and I made a week-long trip out of it. After flying in on the early flight from Denver, we were at large in Bozeman by 9:30. After a stroll downtown, we went through the Lewis and Clark Caverns, which was unlike anything Sarah had ever seen. We made a detour on our way back to the ranch through the old town of Elkhorn. Visiting a ghost town was another first for Sarah. It was a perfect day to take in the somewhat still green July Montana hayfields and scenery.
On Thursday, we hiked from our pasture down to the lake and back on a rather hot and dry morning. The crew from Arizona showed up later that day. We were pleased to visit with them and of course Chris, Jim, my Grandma, and my parents.
While the girls did preparatory shopping for the party on Friday, my dad had the guys slated to put in a dozen hefty paver stones to replace some wooden tie steps that had shifted and largely come apart the last few years. It could not have been done without Aaron and Brian, and I'm still a bit shocked about one of the stones falling unexpectedly on Aaron's hand, crushing four fingers and breaking two of them. It's the raw end of a deal to get for volunteer work while on vacation, and I hope he recovers quickly with no lasting issues.
The party was that evening, and was quite well attended; my parents, sisters, and I are all grateful for such good friends and family. Lic, Sarah, and I took Brian to his first rodeo afterwards, which he either enjoyed or faked enjoying quite well. Sarah is a rodeo veteran by now, after attending the Pro Bull Riders in Des Moines in April with some friends of ours and a local rodeo in Bloomfield, Iowa on the 4th.
I was thrilled on Saturday morning to bale the last twenty bales of first cutting with the ranch's new tractor, a Massey 7465. It's a completely different machine than the ranch's old tractors and is a pleasure to drive. Sarah even drove it in a circle later in the trip and was surprised at how easy it was. It was her first time driving a tractor.
The younger crowd made our usual trip to Mackenzie River Saturday afternoon and took the tour train to familiarize the newbies with Helena lore, with the Saturday night rodeo to top off the day.
We all attended the 50th and sadly final Cattlewomen's BBQ on Sunday. Court and Chris rode on the past rodeo queens' float in the parade. I rode a cow in the rodeo that afternoon, with much anticipation from the rest of the family in attendance. The old girl put my shin into the gate and my boot caught and slid me back in the blur that was the ride, but I rode the full 8 and scored a 59. I limped out of the arena and put my gear away before I took my boot off and realized I had a roughly quarter-sized gash on my shin. The EMT cleaned it up and sent me on my way.
Monday was thankfully a laid-back day at home, and we were glad to visit so much with my cousin Emily. We flew back uneventfully on Tuesday, concluding another Montana adventure.
Thank you to any and all who Sarah and I got to see last week and who made the trip worth making. A huge thank you to my sisters and their significant others for organizing things and being especially good sports. My leg has been inspected by several nurses and is being treated appropriately. It has slowed me up some, and I get curious looks at work from my limp, but at least there's a story to go with it. It's a fun one to tell.
6/15/13
Oklahoma's the place to be lately
I was in northeastern Oklahoma again last week. No corporate jet this time though: we're testing a prototype in coastal Bermuda grass and I needed a service truck for tools and to haul parts. Details about the machine have to stay scant of course, but Stu the mower technician delivered the mower two weeks ago and got rained out and the farmers we're testing it with had very little luck running it without two particular parts Travis Koster and I had forgotten to install, so I was the first person to get it running successfully. I cut 98 acres in three days, which also included lots of experimentation. I was by myself this trip and liked the break from the office grind. I also showed up on Friday much earlier than was expected; I drove back Thursday night after working eight hours.
The farm was wonderful to work with and is very accommodating to Vermeer. Their operation was large enough to keep multiple mowers busy, and they really knocked hay down when they wanted to go, but they went out of their way to make sure I got done what I had gone down there to do. I really respect their knowledge of hay equipment and what it's capable of, but also that they have realistic ideas about how to improve equipment, which isn't as common as you'd think. They are also very loyal Vermeer customers, and I was sure to thank them for it.
The seven-hour drive was a straight shot and couldn't have been easier. The only notable sight from both drives was the 10+ft tall construction barrel man just north of Kansas City. I didn't have time to get a picture of him, but he was so hilariously well-built that I thought it was a prank.
I won't be checking in on all the new mowers as previously thought. They will probably be visited as needed, but this could change. I seem to be the last one to learn anything when it comes to mower group plans.
Sarah and I will be home for the rodeo! My parents' 40th anniversary is this July, so my sisters and I will be home for a few days to celebrate and take in the old Broadwater County summer festivities. Nothing beats Montana in July!
The farm was wonderful to work with and is very accommodating to Vermeer. Their operation was large enough to keep multiple mowers busy, and they really knocked hay down when they wanted to go, but they went out of their way to make sure I got done what I had gone down there to do. I really respect their knowledge of hay equipment and what it's capable of, but also that they have realistic ideas about how to improve equipment, which isn't as common as you'd think. They are also very loyal Vermeer customers, and I was sure to thank them for it.
The seven-hour drive was a straight shot and couldn't have been easier. The only notable sight from both drives was the 10+ft tall construction barrel man just north of Kansas City. I didn't have time to get a picture of him, but he was so hilariously well-built that I thought it was a prank.
I won't be checking in on all the new mowers as previously thought. They will probably be visited as needed, but this could change. I seem to be the last one to learn anything when it comes to mower group plans.
Sarah and I will be home for the rodeo! My parents' 40th anniversary is this July, so my sisters and I will be home for a few days to celebrate and take in the old Broadwater County summer festivities. Nothing beats Montana in July!
4/13/13
Big Timin' in the Corporate Jet
Today was one of those days I had to step back and think about the series of events that led me to where I happened to be standing. I flew to Miami, Oklahoma this morning on Vermeer's newest corporate jet, an Embraer Phenom 100 with Luke Mushitz (bale processor engineer), Jim Richardson (service tech), and Phil Egging (non-baler product manager). We went to an open house at the ag division's largest dealer, Eubanks Equipment, in Welch. 500-some people attended. The other Vermeer folks and I visited with customers about Vermeer equipment. It was a productive day, and I learned about the area and some details about equipment from chatting and listening. Getting down to Oklahoma by 8 and back by 3:30 also blew my mind; driving down there takes seven hours.
This trip came about when Seth Schreur offered a spot on the jet to any member of the mower group. Mike and Travis couldn't go, so Eric and I flipped for it and I won. Sorry mom, but it wasn't like I was hand-picked by a bunch of executives.
On regular workdays, I'm lately bouncing between my desk, the engineering shop on the other end of plant 2, and the plant 1 Lely mower conditioner bay where the mowers I'm working on are being made ready for delivery to our dealers. A walk from there to my desk to the shop can take more than ten minutes, so I've been putting on the miles.
Aside from work, I've been keeping busy trying to learn a little Spanish, getting outside when southern Iowa's finicky spring allows it, braiding a parachute cord mecate, and of course spending time with Sarah. I got my first day riding last week with Jesse Munk, and his incoming string of horses that need time promises more entertainment. The mecate's a project I got hooked on thanks to Tyler Schiferl, who happens to be a rawhide braider. Googling 'mecate' may answer some questions. Rawhide and parachute cord braiding are not the most popular hobbies out there, and I got curious about them when I found out Tyler braids. We'll have to see if my first project turns out well at all, which should be done in another week, I hope.
On regular days I'm still mostly doing odds-and-ends and clean-up work for the new mowers. There's a strong chance I'll be out on the road a ton this summer setting up a large portion of the twenty machines spread across the country and checking in on them throughout the season. I love going down the road, but I'll probably be wishing for the jet at some point.
This trip came about when Seth Schreur offered a spot on the jet to any member of the mower group. Mike and Travis couldn't go, so Eric and I flipped for it and I won. Sorry mom, but it wasn't like I was hand-picked by a bunch of executives.
On regular workdays, I'm lately bouncing between my desk, the engineering shop on the other end of plant 2, and the plant 1 Lely mower conditioner bay where the mowers I'm working on are being made ready for delivery to our dealers. A walk from there to my desk to the shop can take more than ten minutes, so I've been putting on the miles.
Aside from work, I've been keeping busy trying to learn a little Spanish, getting outside when southern Iowa's finicky spring allows it, braiding a parachute cord mecate, and of course spending time with Sarah. I got my first day riding last week with Jesse Munk, and his incoming string of horses that need time promises more entertainment. The mecate's a project I got hooked on thanks to Tyler Schiferl, who happens to be a rawhide braider. Googling 'mecate' may answer some questions. Rawhide and parachute cord braiding are not the most popular hobbies out there, and I got curious about them when I found out Tyler braids. We'll have to see if my first project turns out well at all, which should be done in another week, I hope.
On regular days I'm still mostly doing odds-and-ends and clean-up work for the new mowers. There's a strong chance I'll be out on the road a ton this summer setting up a large portion of the twenty machines spread across the country and checking in on them throughout the season. I love going down the road, but I'll probably be wishing for the jet at some point.
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