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Post by gipsy on Aug 28, 2021 21:42:26 GMT -6
Thank you kind sir
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Post by ncsfsgm on Aug 29, 2021 14:14:21 GMT -6
"Mr. Coleman, Cal Coleman?"
"Yes, this is he."
"Mr. Coleman, my name is Clay Johnson and I work at Pioneer Farm Equipment. This is a part official, but mostly personal call." First, I'd like to thank you for your latest order, and I recognize you as someone who appreciates horse drawn equipment.
The personal side of this call is this:
My late deceased uncle, who lived near Shelbyville, Indiana was a private collector of antique horse-drawn equipment. He had a couple of two-story poultry houses he filled with his collection of hundreds of antique farming-related items. His surviving relatives, only care about liquidating the estate, except for me and the Estate Executor . They have no idea what he has and the Executor and I think it would be a crying shame to see these items end up as wall items and garden planters. I would like to invite you to view the collection and offer a price for the entire collection without it being broken up.
Well Mr. Johnson, you have captured my interest. May I get the Executor's contact information and the location where I can view this collection?"
Cal took down the information and thanked Mr. Johnson. Ending the call he sat there and thought about whether it would be worth making the trip to Indiana to see what might turn out to be a bunch of junk or quaint curios.
Finally, he stood up. Hell, in for a penny, in for a pound. There might be, like the potato planter, things that weren't available today, that could be reproduced and improved upon by Joshua. He looked at his watch, then sat back down at his computer. Shelby county had an airport. He called a local rental car agency and arranged for a rental vehicle to be waiting at the airport for him. Next he called and reserved three rooms at the Holiday Inn express. His next call was to Craig.
"Craig, Cal. Do you have anything scheduled for the next two or three days?"
"No, nothing really." Craig answered.
Want to fly with me to Indiana. I need to go check on something there."
"Sure."
"Well, pack a bag for at least three days, but we'll probably be back in two. We're leaving at 0600 in the morning."
"Okay Cal. I'll make sure the Piper is ready."
Cal ended the call and called Joshua.
"Joshua, pack a bag for three days. We're leaving for Indiana from the airfield at 0600 in the morning."
"I'll be there Cal."
Cal's last call was to the Estate Executor, George Reynolds.
"George Reynolds' office."
"Mr. Reynolds, please."
"May I ask who is calling?"
"Cal Coleman."
"One moment Mr. Coleman."
Cal was on hold only a few seconds.
"Mr. Coleman, I'm pleased you called. Clay Johnson told me about you and said you might call. How may I help you?"
"Mr. Reynolds, I, and my colleagues, will be arriving at Shelbyville Municipal tomorrow around 10:00 AM. I've arranged for lodging and transportation and need a contact location to meet with you."
"Very good. My office is located at 1194 Intellplex Drive. It's about two miles southeast of the airport. I look forward to meeting with you, Mr. Coleman."
"I look forward to meeting with you also, Mr. Reynolds. Until tomorrow."
Ding ding DING! Cal hoped this was worth it.
They were 20 miles from the airport and they should soon see the airport.
"Change frequency to 122.8. There's no tower here so watch for puddle jumpers."
"I've got one contact at ten miles to the northwest headed toward Indianapolis." Craig
"Memphis Center is 128.15."
"Roger."
Cal banked to the left and lined up on the runway.
"Flaps, one quarter."
"Roger."
"Gear down."
"Gear down and locked."
Cal touched down just past the threshold and throttled down, having plenty of room. He touched the brakes a little to make the turn to the FBO. Stopping the plane in a parking space, he shut the engine down.
They got out and walked into the FBO and arranged for the plane to be refueled while Joshua unloaded their bags. That done, they walked over to the Operations building and asked around until they had the keys to a Ford Escape that Enterprise had dropped off for them. Pulling out his phone, Cal pulled up his MapQuest app and entered Reynolds' office address. Tossing Craig the keys Cal, Craig, and Joshua loaded their bags in the vehicle and headed to the office of George Reynolds.
They walked into the law office of George Reynolds to be met by an elderly receptionist.
"Mr. Coleman?" She asked.
"Yes."
"I'll announce you."
She went over to a door and tapped lightly then opened it.
"George, Mr. Coleman is here."
"Thank you, My Dear."
He got up from his desk and came out.
"Mr. Coleman, happy you could come." George said, holding out his hand.
"Please, call me Cal." Cal said, shaking George's hand.
Something was familiar about the man, he recognized him from somewhere. Then it came to him, George was almost a twin of Milburn Stone, who played Doc Adams in the western "Gunsmoke."
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Post by ncsfsgm on Aug 29, 2021 14:15:29 GMT -6
"Mr. Reynolds these are my associates, Joshua Cross and Craig Jensen."
George shook both of their hands. "Pleased to meet you all. Let's go into my office, and call me George."
They filed in and took seats in a sitting area around a large coffee table.
"Well, I can't tell you how pleased Clay and I were to your quick response. I was Bill Bennet's lawyer for over forty years. I watched him meticulously build that collection during that time. After Bill's passing, we tried to get museums to take the collection, but the items can frequently be seen in farm museums throughout the country, but not easily available to the common collector in the excellent condition they are in. Just what are your plans for the collection.?"
"Until I've seen what is in the collection, I have no Idea. We are setting up to farm with horses and I've been buying modern, horse-drawn equipment. In one instance Joshua here, disassembled an antique potato planter and used it as a pattern to fabricate a new potato planter with improvements. I plan to use the items in the collection to fill out the things that aren't manufactured today and to use them as we did the potato planter."
"Excellent! I'm sure you're anxious to see the collection. It's a ways outside of town. I would like to accompany you if you don't mind. It would give me a chance to get into more comfortable clothes during office hours." George grinned.
"Of course! You are more than welcomed." Cal responded.
George got up and went into another room, soon to return in boots, khaki pants, a light colored long-sleeved shirt, carrying a straw farmer's broad brim hat.
"Well gentlemen, if you will follow me..."
George went outside and got into a Ford Explorer. Craig followed him out onto the street and out of town. About seven miles out, George pulled into a drive and stopped to unlock a gate. He left the gate open and continued on the drive until they saw a two-story house with several outbuildings.
George got out and waited beside the Explorer.
"The buildings are down here." George said as he turned and started walking. They came to a two storied building that had once been used for laying hens. George unlocked the double doors and walked inside. The cages and other things related to egg production had been stripped. Now, the floor was covered with horse drawn farm implements, some of which looked like they just came off the factory showroom floor. The three men went over each item. You could even see the hint of grease on the wheel hub bearings. There were suckle mowers, a combine, hay rakes, gang plows, planters, potato plows, a potato harvester, a horse-drawn road grader, a thresher, farm wagons, carts, hay tedders, harrows, cultivators, and on and on. The almost 200 foot building was packed, with just enough room to walk between the implements. Cal saw something else interesting. Leaning against the far wall were three pond scoops.
"What's upstairs?" Cal asked George.
George pointed to the broad stairs at the end of the building They walked up the stairs and a whole different part of the collection was revealed. This level contained single horse implements, tools for repair, plow blades, hand tools, axes, mauls, wedges, all the things that keep a farm going. This level was also packed, but with implements that could be moved up the stairs relatively easy.
"Could we see the other building?"
"Yes, of course." George said. "Follow me."
They went downstairs and out the door, which George locked back up. Behind the building they had been in was an identical building, but with larger doors.
"George rectified the mistake he made on the first building by having the doors too small and having to assemble the machinery inside." He unlocked the doors and locked them open.
First inside was a McCormick-Deering corn binder, a two row corn harvester, an Austin road grader, water wagon, two more manure spreaders, a Russell-Hiway Patrol #8 Road Grader, two more pond scoops, log hauler, and more. Single and double trees were displayed on the wall along with eveners.
"Cal! Take a look at this!"
Cal walked down toward Joshua and saw a wall covering half of the width of the building. It wasn't noticeable from the other end of the building. He walked around the end of the wall and there sat two Marshall 10 hp Portable Steam Engines. They looked fully restored.
Cal stopped where he was. "Are there just two buildings?"
"Well, there is a large building containing things he hadn't gotten around to restoring…."
"Let's take a look." Cal said.
George led them to a large steel building. Inside were many implements that hadn't been or were partially restored. Cal walked around, not saying much.
"What do you want for the whole lot?" Cal asked George.
"This building too?"
"Yes."
"Nine hundred thousand wouldn't be out of order." George said.
"I've got to ship this stuff over a thousand miles. It's going to cost me at least $100,000 in shipping. I'll give you $725,000."
"Yes, I suppose we can do that." George said.
They went back to George's office and did the paperwork plus do a bank transfer.
The three went and checked in at the Holiday Inn. It was already 5:30 PM and they were hungry. The desk clerk recommended the steak house up at the racetrack and casino so that's where they headed.
While they were waiting for their orders, Craig asked, "What next?"
"Well, Joshua is going to be busy. Joshua, you're going to come back here with Ben and take charge of getting everything shipped to the Ranch…. everything down to a paperclip in all three buildings. There's going to be several truck loads. I'll need you to see about hiring a crane to lift some of this stuff onto a flatbed. When you come back here, you'll pick up the keys from George. I'll have the moving company to do their estimation of how many vehicles and trailers they'll need. You just supervise and make sure they don't break anything."
"Why do I need Ben here?"
"To get his feet wet. Craig will fly you and Ben back up here next Saturday, then he'll come back home. When everything is moved, he'll fly back and pick you two up. Questions?"
"Good. Now, Joshua, between now and when you leave to come back here, I want you to do some shopping for steel blanks and rounds to make parts and repairs. You've seen the implements, so that should give you an idea of what's needed."
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Post by paulk on Aug 29, 2021 14:34:50 GMT -6
You keep getting better and better. More please, please.
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Post by gipsy on Aug 29, 2021 14:57:53 GMT -6
Picturing all those fun tools. So cool. The pond scrapers reminded me of mining Marl from the lake on the farm. You young pups might have to look it up.
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Post by NCWEBNUT on Aug 29, 2021 15:19:32 GMT -6
Picturing all those fun tools. So cool. The pond scrapers reminded me of mining Marl from the lake on the farm. You young pups might have to look it up. My neighbor has an old one he converted over to fit the back of his red belly ford, and as a former soils engineering technician Marl was a bane to foundation construction in the sandy soils i have worked in around eastern South Carolina.
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Post by gipsy on Aug 29, 2021 15:30:43 GMT -6
This was in central Wisconsin. The town still has only 1300 people. The family farms were all sold because none of the kids wanted to farm, and I was off for 20 in the navy.
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Post by texican on Aug 29, 2021 18:38:19 GMT -6
Gabby was over for dinner one night. She was looking forward to flying out to Oklahoma and bring Bill back for the weekend.
Shepard Air Force Base is located in Wichita Falls, Texas.
Wikipedia: Sheppard Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located five miles north of the central business district of Wichita Falls, in Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the largest training base and most diversified in Air Education and Training Command.
Texican....
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Post by ncsfsgm on Aug 29, 2021 19:33:45 GMT -6
Gabby was over for dinner one night. She was looking forward to flying out to Oklahoma and bring Bill back for the weekend.Shepard Air Force Base is located in Wichita Falls, Texas. Wikipedia: Sheppard Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located five miles north of the central business district of Wichita Falls, in Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the largest training base and most diversified in Air Education and Training Command. Texican.... Billy went to Vance AFB for fighter training after graduating from basic flight training at Shepherd.
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Post by paulk on Aug 30, 2021 13:21:45 GMT -6
Refresh, refresh, refresh! More please!
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Post by ncsfsgm on Aug 30, 2021 14:03:58 GMT -6
"Cal, Jerry. They're finished with the silo."
"Good, I'll send one of the guys with the feed truck. You'll have a full silo by evening."
"Well, the horses have adjusted very well. They haven't ventured far from the barn yet but they are getting used to everything."
"That's good. Do you have a line on any more horses yet?"
"Yeah, I know of three we can pick up, two of them are greys."
"See if you can get a good price and get them if you want."
"Okay, Cal, I'll talk to you later."
Cal sat there, tapping his pen on the desk pad. He put the pen down and went out to the Great Room. Everything was quiet so he grabbed his hat and went out the door. Seeing Darryl go into the wood shop he changed directions and headed that way. Darryl was rummaging through the scrap stack and pulled out a couple of pieces.
Hearing the door open, Darryl looked up.
"Hey Cal."
""What's up Darryl."
"Making some keg legs."
"Keg legs?"
"Yeah. I got a two and a half liter keg from Jacque."
"And the keg is for….?"
Darryl grinned.
"Holding the moonshine I ran off on my 5 gallon still."
"Is it any good?"
"It will knock your socks off. I had to cut it with spring water as not to peel the enamel off my teeth, but it is smooth.
"How long are you going to let the keg age?"
"Not sure. I'll check it for pureness once a month." Darryl replied, and winked.
"I thought that still made 5 gallons."
"It does, I filled some quart jars with strawberries and peaches and letting them 'mature.'
Cal shook his head and walked out the door. He went back to the house pull up the list of the equipment he had purchased. He stopped what he was doing. He'd wait until he got the list from Joshua of what was shipped from Shelbyville. He wanted to go to the barn construction site anyway. Going into the kitchen, he got a glass of ice water and watched Siobhan and Alice kneading bread dough.
"Did you know Becky was going with Craig to fly Joshua and Ben to Shelbyville?" Siobhan asked.
Cal shrugged and took a sip of water. "I'd rather have two pilots on that trip."
"But what if they have to layover because of weather?"
"So, they layover. Make up your mind. Half the time you're pushing them together, the rest of the time it seems as though you want to protect her from the appalling aspects of a male/female relationship. As for me, I'll continue to shrug and let two young adults work out the framework of their relationship. Until either asks me for input, I'll keep my advice to myself. If you will excuse me, I have a horse barn being built and would like to check the progress before it gets dark. Ladies, I bid you, adieu."
Cal drove up to the construction site and watched the men work, Harry, the Manager walked over.
"Looks like you have some new crew members, Harry."
"Yeah, the company uses them on timber frame construction when they can get them. They're a crew of Amish out of Indiana. They are hard workers."
"I can see that. You having any problems?"
"Nope. Everything is going smooth. When are you going to put the gravel in?"
"Before the stalls and rooms gets put in. I'm not worried about the apartment, feed room and tack room. Those floors will be concrete. The stalls and aisle will be where we put the stone before we lay the mats."
"We'll have 'er dried in in about a week and a half."
"Good, we can start packing gravel then."
Cal left and went back to the house. He parked the K5 in the garage and walked down to the steam engine. Chewing on a piece of wheat straw, Cal stood there looking over the engine, his arms crossed and. Cynthia came out of the greenhouse and walked over to him. Her someone approaching, Cal turned.
"What's up. Lawyer Lady?"
"Cyn laughed. I needed a break from keeping your butt out of jail!"
"What have I done?"
"Nothing, I was just kidding. You seemed deep in thought, like you were worrying about something."
"Ah Cyn, same as usual. I sometimes worry about whether I'm doing enough to prepare us for whatever comes."
"Cal, have you ever heard of Maslow's hierarchy of needs?"
"Yeah, I think I had it in one of my business classes in college."
"Well, think about it. Everyone here on this ranch came here with some type of need. The very first thing you did was fulfill their Physiological needs, the biological requirements for human survival, for instance,. air, food, drink, shelter, clothing, warmth, and sleep. Then you provided for their safety with the type men you have around you, the shelter, the school, small business, and it goes on. Next, you fulfilled their Love and Belongingness needs, you built a community in which people developed friendships and in some cases, fell in love. Then Esteem. You managed to maneuver people into jobs here on the Ranch that they enjoy doing that built their self-esteem and won the esteem of others. All that helped fulfill their Self-actualization needs, their desire to accomplish everything that one can, to become the most that one can be. Cal, this is what you have done, whether it was subconscious or not. Only God knows what more you could do because we mortals are still amazed at what you've already done. I don't want you to get the big head, but you need to be proud of what you've done here. Just don't ever be satisfied. Your creative genius flourishes under pressure."
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Post by ncsfsgm on Aug 30, 2021 14:05:00 GMT -6
Boss, can I talk with you a minute?"
Andy looked up. "Sure Jeanie, come on in. What's up"
"There's this girl I know…"
Andy's eyebrows arched. "Oh?"
"Get your mind out of the gutter. It isn't anything like that."
"Now, like I said, before your salacious thoughts ruined the moment, I know a girl I think you should hire. She lives, eats and breathes zeros and ones. I can do the dirty work with a computer but this girl shoots programming language out her ears. I figured since Billy is off flying with the eagles, she would be handy to have around. As you have noticed, there's been an upswing in white-collar crime and money laundering. This girl can track a gnat's ass through a tornado. She not only can tell you where the gnat is going, she can tell you every time that gnat stopped and farted."
Andy threw his hands up. "Okay! Okay! I get the picture! Have Mark run a background check and get back with me."
Jeanie grinned. "Thanks Boss!"
Cal was waiting at the airfield when Aggie drove Joshua and Ben up. Cal handed Ben a computer bag.
"Joshua, there's a spiral notebook in the bag and a computer. Make a list what they pack in and on the trailers. Ben, I want you to take your father's list and put in on a spreadsheet."
Cal handed Joshua a credit card. "The bank will honor purchases up to $100,000. I called a crane company up there and they have a ten ton waiting on call. The contact information is in the notebook. You have rental vehicle waiting and reservations at the Hampton Inn in Shelbyville. George will meet you out at the farm Monday morning and give you the keys. The moving people are scheduled to meet you at 1300 Monday. All information is in the notebook. Don't hesitate to give me a call if you run into any speedbumps."
"I'll give you a report each evening." Joshua said.
Becky and Craig walked over. "Ready Joshua?"
Joshua grinned. "Let's do this thing!"
Joshua and Ben boarded the plane while Craig and Becky did the walk-around. Cal waited until they made their 360. "You two be safe. If you need to set her down, then set her down. Don't bend my plane. Becky hugged her Father and grinned at Craig. Cal walked over and got in his K5. As he was driving away, he saw Becky run from the hangar with two overnight bags in her hands.
Cal went back to the house and went into Amy's art room. Amy was busy working on a sketch at her drawing table.
"Want to ride with me over to Shire Hill and see the horses?
"Yes!" Amy grabbed her camera bag and they went and got in the truck. When they got Shire Hill, Cal led her down to the barn and found Carrie brushing one of the grey mares.
"Hey Cal!" Carrie said.
"Morning Carrie. Carrie, this is my daughter Amy. She wanted to come see the horses."
"Well, welcome to Shire Hill Amy. This girl here I'm grooming is Greta."
Amy walked up to the horse, which was twice s tall as she was, and rubbed her nose. The horse bowed her head down, enjoying Amy's pleasurable actions. Amy's eyes lit up.
"May I take a picture of you and Greta, Carrie?"
"Sure."
Carrie moved over to the side of the horse.
"No, not like that."
Amy took Carrie's hand and led her back to stand in front of the horse's head. She positioned Carrie closer and had Carrie's hand on the horses jaw.
"Now, pull her head down slightly and kiss her nose."
The horse seemed to understand what Amy wanted and bent her neck down for Carrie to kiss her.
Amy's camera rapidly snapped off five pictures.
"Perfect!" Amy said.
Amy drifted outside and took more pictures of some of the horses grazing in the paddock and of the landscape.
"Don't be surprised if she doesn't return with a drawing for you. She's quite good."
"She's an adorable little girl."
"Any problems with the barn?"
"None whatsoever. I'm loving the grain chute. Beats lugging sacks of feed any day. All I have to do roll that double-wheel wheelbarrow over there, flip the auger switch and fill the hopper. Empty the hopper into the wheelbarrow and start putting feed into the feeders."
"Yeah, Joshua came up with that, and it's adjustable for the number of animals you have on hand. He build one for my barn that has a lever with markings of the number of feed scoops you want and you just pull the lever to your desired selection. When he gets back from another project, I'll have him upgrade this one."
Cal heard a vehicle on the road and went outside. It was a Sheriff's patrol car. It pulled up into the parking area and stopped. Earl Gilmore got out. Jerry came out of the house to greet Earl and they began walking toward Cal and Carrie.
"Morning Earl."
"Morning Cal."
"Sheriff, this is my sister, Carrie." Jerry said.
"Pleased to meet you ma'am." Earl said, tipping his hat.
"Those are some good looking horses. Kirk said you were going to use them for farming, Cal."
"Yeah, like a Boy Scout, be prepared."
"I'm curious, why have you decide to farm with horses?"
"Earl, this nation is being destroyed from within. It has been coming for a long time. The drugs in the 60's, 'turn out and turn on', the sexual revolution and the decline of morals, political graft and crimes, abortion on demand, Black Power, White Power, Anti-Semites, the destruction of history, the destruction of the economy through an abandonment of values and fiscal irresponsibility.
Unnatural cultural and economic conditions brought by socialist, and protected by the Democrats, have led to social discrepancy and civil unrest. This has brought an erosion of democracy, less freedom, and less economic opportunity. You can add destruction of property of hard working Americans and disruption of their lives to that.
Look at what happened during the lock downs during the sicknesses. We saw the elite's accumulation of power and consolidation at the expense of individual liberty. The current Washington and coastal elites are forcibly imposing their cultural views on the American people. The country's progressives in control of the media, academia, the corporate sector and almost every other institution manifest a vision of the U.S. as irredeemably racist, evil, and oppressive. We are turning on each other and it will all blow up. Distribution of goods and services will suffer, to include fuel deliveries. If need be, we can switch to horse power to grow our food. My community will survive. We may pile up bodies at our ranch boundaries, but I intend for my people to persevere."
Earl nodded. "Taters 'n tomahawks."
Cal nodded. "Taters 'n tomahawks."
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Post by paulk on Aug 30, 2021 16:49:53 GMT -6
Amen! Thank you!
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Post by gipsy on Aug 30, 2021 18:13:34 GMT -6
Adding my thanks
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Post by texican on Aug 30, 2021 18:42:32 GMT -6
Gabby was over for dinner one night. She was looking forward to flying out to Oklahoma and bring Bill back for the weekend.Shepard Air Force Base is located in Wichita Falls, Texas. Wikipedia: Sheppard Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located five miles north of the central business district of Wichita Falls, in Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the largest training base and most diversified in Air Education and Training Command. Texican.... Billy went to Vance AFB for fighter training after graduating from basic flight training at Shepherd. Missed that one. Wikipedia: Vance Air Force Base vance.af.mil Vance Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in southern Enid, Oklahoma, about 65 mi north northwest of Oklahoma City. The base is named after local World War II hero and Medal of Honor recipient, Lieutenant Colonel Leon Robert Vance Jr. Texican....
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Post by udwe on Aug 30, 2021 20:02:01 GMT -6
More,please!
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Post by ncsfsgm on Aug 31, 2021 3:17:26 GMT -6
When Cal and Amy got back home, Amy went straight to her art room and began printing the pictures. Cal found the kids and Siobhan in the Rec room.
"What's for lunch?"
Siobhan looked up at him. "I don't know, what's Casey's specialty of the day?"
"So, it's going to be like that, hunh? Well, let's round 'em up. Get Alice and Judy too."
Cal pulled the Suburban out of the garage and the wrecking crew came out and jumped in. They all fit around the Stammtisch, barely. Sally brought juices for the kids and iced tea for the adults and Judy.
"What time do you think Craig and Becky will be back?" Siobhan asked
Cal grinned. "Oh, I wouldn't count on them being back until tomorrow."
"Why? I thought they were just dropping Joshua and Ben off and coming back."
Cal looked at his watch. "Well, within an hour or so, I should get a text from Craig, or at least Craig's phone, saying they were having problems,,, blah…blah…blah, and were going to set down in Kansas City for safety purposes."
"Why Kansas City?"
"Good food, nice hotels… a number of reasons."
They had finished their meal and Sally brought dessert out to the children. Casey personally brought Brigid a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream covered with fresh chopped strawberries in its syrup.
Cal's phone vibrated and he just pushed it to Siobhan.
Siobhan read, "Craig says he's having erratic readings from the air speed indicator, possibly a plugged pitot and were landing to check it out."
Cal looked at Siobhan and smirked.
Joshua called that evening.
"The movers estimate it will take at least two flat-beds and three trailers. They have arranged to have more on standby if needed. They want to do the flat-beds first, so I'm calling in the crane tomorrow. By the way, did you notice the sawmill?"
"No, I don't remember one."
"Well, there is one. Looks like it was powered by a steam engine."
"Well, have Ben add comments to the spreadsheet and if you have something to say about a particular piece of equipment, put it down." "I will Cal. I've got to call Aggie, so I'll let you go."
"Okay Joshua, I'll talk to you later."
Jerry had the horses pulling a two-blade sulky plow. Just a light touch on the reins kept the in the right position. This was going to be easier than he thought. He looked behind and Carrie was following with another two-horse team with another plow, following him. The horses didn't seem to be bothered and trudged on.
Jerry pulled up and stopped at the end of the row, lifting the blades and moving out of Carrie's way.
"How did your team do?" Jerry asked.
"No problems here."
"Let's do a couple more passes and we'll work with discs."
They turned their teams around to line them up and continued to plow the test area.
Cal had called the outdoor furnace manufacturer and found out they would have no problem burning the coke in the furnaces, so he had covered bins built for every furnace. That was going to save a lot of money on firewood. It was getting cooler so he did his first test at the swimming pool. After lighting the furnace, everything seemed to be working normally. They would have to do some tests and see how much coke ash they could add to the compost.
"Jeanie, just what all do you know about Patricia Mabry?"
"Patty, she goes by Patty. She and I went to a lot of the same classes at MIT. She, like I, were the nerdiest of the nerds there. We both kept a 3.9 average…. I've only had casual contact with her after college. Is there something wrong?"
"No, it's just that it seems she's led a pretty 'plain-Jane' existence."
"That's Patty. She's not one to party, although she does like the occasional glass of wine. She'll pick up a classic before People's Magazine…so yeah, she might be considered to be living a mundane existence."
"Okay, I'm getting ready to call her. Do you want to speak with her?"
"Yeah sure."
Andy called the woman and offered her a position at a slightly better salary than she was currently getting. He offered to fly her out from Seattle to Grand Junction to look at the Facility and she accepted, agreeing to come out the following week. He turned the conversation over to Jeanie and left the room.
Some of Sylvio's workers helped Shay and Dennis haul gravel into the barn and using the small compactor, tamped and leveled the floor. They wouldn't put the mats down until the stalls were built. The well had been dug and a 500 gallon water tank erected to the east side of the barn. Barry was in the process of installing the solar panels on the roof and wind generators.
"Everyone ready? Okay in 10 - 9 - 8 - 7 -6 - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1."
Bryan flipped the switch. There was a 'POP' and nothing else. When nothing else happened after 30 seconds the all came from behind the viewing panel Bryan turned to John.
"What were the readings?"
"As soon as the overload was detected, the battery killed itself. The temperature went only 10 degrees above the optimum and activated the emergency vent ports."
Two technicians were connecting devices to the battery, running tests.
"It's dead. Ports were activated and all energy has been discharged." One of the techs said.
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Post by iamnobody on Aug 31, 2021 7:17:22 GMT -6
Look at what happened during the lock downs during the sicknesses. We saw the elite's accumulation of power and consolidation at the expense of individual liberty. The current Washington and coastal elites are forcibly imposing their cultural views on the American people. The country's progressives in control of the media, academia, the corporate sector and almost every other institution manifest a vision of the U.S. as irredeemably racist, evil, and oppressive. We are turning on each other and it will all blow up. Distribution of goods and services will suffer, to include fuel deliveries. If need be, we can switch to horse power to grow our food. My community will survive. We may pile up bodies at our ranch boundaries, but I intend for my people to persevere."
That is the truth, even though this is a fictional story. Walk through any store – food or other, and all you see are empty shelves. Some geographical areas are worse than others. Even store to store in the same area. The stores “face” the shelf, having a row or 2 of items at the front and behind is empty. Or stock the same item in several areas to “hide” empty spots. The stores and warehouses are not getting the supplies in.
I work in a big food warehouse for a BIG company that I will not name. Been there 17+ years My job is to make sure the right item is where it is supposed to be so I know from experience what is normal. I won't give percentages but I will say that the amount of empty spaces does not make me feel all warm and fuzzy.
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Post by paulk on Aug 31, 2021 15:19:30 GMT -6
More please, please!
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Post by ncsfsgm on Aug 31, 2021 15:53:06 GMT -6
Cal ran into Harry Bell at the store.
"How's it going Harry?"
"Better. Greg had his trial yesterday. He was found not guilty because he wasn't with the others when they robbed those other people. If he had been 50 yards closer the night they got caught, he'd be serving time with the rest. But the really good side of it all is, he saw the light and knows he almost made the biggest mistake of his life. He's settled down and has been working hard. He's doesn't want to go gallivanting around anymore."
"How's he with horses?" Cal asked.
"He does good and is trying to learn more."
"Send him to see me. I've got a job for him if you don't need him."
"It might help him even more. Thanks Cal."
Cal watched from the buckboard as the horses pulled the gang plow down the field and came back. As he watched, he thought about the service truck that the men used when they were using the heavy equipment. It held fuel, tools, repair parts, oils….anything that might be needed so someone would have to return to the shop.
"Jerry, what di you think about putting together a wagon with a water tank, repair parts, tools, etcetera, that might be used or needed in a far field."
"Like a maintenance vehicle?""
"Yeah, That would help, especially the water for the horses."
Cal handed Jerry his pocket notebook and a pen.
"Write down what you'd put on the wagon."
Cal sat and watched Carrie pull over to the side of the field and switched implements on the forecart and backed over to a disc harrow. She started on the field again and cut up the newly plowed area.
"Here you go."
Cal looked at the list and put the notebook back in his breast pocket.
"I might get a couple more of these buckboards."
"The women might light them a little better if you get the ones with the rubber tires." Jerry said.
"How many horses do you have ready?" Cal asked
"I've got six ready to bring over when the barn is ready. I've got four mares that will be arriving Wednesday from a breeder in Missouri."
Cal okayed Craig going to Seattle and picking up the Mabry woman. Jeanie went with him for the 3-hour flight up. They returned to the Ranch that afternoon and Jeanie took her immediately to the Facility. Jeanie took her into the conference room and got her a bottle of water. Andy walked in and introduced himself.
"Patty, welcome to HTR Security. We provide a number of services to our clients, which, at times, includes information technology security. I'd like to use you as a 'Swiss knife" here because of your skills. Our main software writer is now flying in the Air Force and we are lacking in the software arena. I'd like you to fill that void along with Jeanie."
"Will I also be working cybersecurity?" Patty asked.
Andy chuckled. "You'll find that most of us wear more than one hat around here. At any time, I could be called up as a Reserve Deputy Sheriff, as a Special Police Officer, or as a Deputy U.S. Marshal. I'm going to leave you to Jeanie. She'll show you some of our normal operations and show you around our little community. Thanks for coming."
Cal went into his study and turned on the computer. He searched the web and found Werner Wagon Works in Horton, Kansas. He called and talked to a lady, who turned out to be the wife of the owner and ordered two double box wagons, two buckboards, and a set of rubber rimmed wheels for a buckboard.. They only had one double box wagon on hand in a natural finish, with another partially completed. Cal told her that was fine. They could ship the other one when it was finished. He would give Joshua the list Jerry had made out on it and let him use his imagination on how it was set up.
He was going to need storage for the wagons and buckboards to keep the out of the weather. He pulled out a sheet of paper and started drawing. He finally came up with a design that was workable. The building was ten stalls wide. Each stall had doors in the front and back to allow the driver to just drive through instead of having to back the wagon in. The doors would be ten feet tall. There was a storage room at both ends of the building and attic storage in the attic. He hadn't any idea what it would be used for but you could never have too much storage.
Joshua had reported last night they were working on the things in the restoration building. There was a good deal of steel that was used in restoration repairs and considered that part of the deal and was shipping it also. They had about three more days and would be finished.
Joshua checked off another truck as it left the farm. There was just one corner of the building that they were cleaning out and they would be through. One of the workers yell and called the others over. The workers were pulling aside some old tarps, uncovering 4 x 8 sheets of steel. Joshua counted them and there were 12 sheets of 1/8 inch, 10 sheets of ¼ inch , and 8 sheets of ½ inch.
"I saw some of the same stuff in a shipyard in Michigan." One of the movers said.
"We'll need another flatbed for this." The moving supervisor said. "Eric, can your forklift pick this up?"
"Yeah, we may only can move a couple of sheets at the time, but we can do it."
Two hours later, the flatbed arrived and the movers loaded the steel sheets and strapped and dogged them down. Mission complete.
Joshua called Cal as the last truck was pulling out.
"Cal, last truck just pulled out."
"How many did you end up with?"
"Nine total. This last is a flatbed with sheets of steel. Looks like the kind they build ships out of."
"Interesting. Well, go get a beer and a steak. I'll have Craig there at the airport at noon tomorrow."
"Okay Cal, I'll see you tomorrow afternoon."
Joshua walked around and made sure the buildings were locked back up. He and been got into there rental and returned to the hotel.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Aug 31, 2021 15:54:12 GMT -6
Cal took his drawing of the wagon house to Gary to draw up plans.
"What do you want this built out of Cal? Logs, steel, block…"
"Can you draw it up with a steel frame with metal roof and board and batten siding? Garage doors can be of steel also."
"Gotcha. Give me a few days and I'll have them for you."
"Don't give them to me, give them to Sam. He's going to build it for me."
Cal was waiting at the airfield when Craig and Becky landed. Joshua and Ben got out and walked over to them. Cal shook both men's hands.
"Thanks guys, I know it was a boring job…."
"On the contrary! It was really interesting. Ben and I couldn't wait to see the next treasure pop up."
"Well, you two take some time off. Come back to work when you're ready."
Ben handed Cal the computer case. "The backup is on the flash drive."
"Thanks Ben."
Aggie drove up and Joshua and Ben got into the EV with her, and headed home..
Craig and a grinning Becky came out of the plane.
"Hi Daddy! We didn't bend your plane!"
"What?" No clogged pitots or anything?"
"Nope, we had passengers."
Cal grinned. Shaking his head, he climbed into his truck. "I'll see you two later."
A week and a half later the wagons and buckboards arrived. The wagon manufacturer had called and said if Cal could wait four more days, they could ship the other box wagon also. Cal told him to go ahead and finish the wagon. The wagon barn was still under construction so they parked the wagons and buckboards in the maintenance area.
Cal told Joshua what he wanted to do with the two double box wagons and gave him Jerry's list. Joshua nodded and went to study the wagons.
Cal went back to the house. Alice and Siobhan were baking cookies. Cal reached over and plucked one and too a bite of an oatmeal raisin cookie.
"Don't eat those! Those are for the children to take to school!."
"Well, make a dozen more for me then. I love oatmeal raisin cookies."
"Did you see Amy's sketch?"
"No."
"That's right you had gone to get eggs when she left for school. I think it's on her drawing table."
Cal went into the room and looked at the sketch of Carrie and Greta. He looked on her easel and she had already started working on the painting. He took the picture back in the kitchen.
"She's getting better and better."
"She asked me if I thought you would take her over to Shire Hill so she could give it to Carrie."
"Yeah, I'll take her. I'm going to run in and get an inexpensive frame so Carrie can display it outside the apartment on the aisle wall." "Better use plexiglass instead of glass."
"Yeah, I will."
Joshua and Ben had towed one of the wagons down to the shop and parked it under the overhang. After studying and discussing the project, Ben went to Tractor Supply and bought two 50 gallon plastic tanks and some ¾ inch hose, clamps and two Automatic Horse Waterers w/Adjustable Float Valve. In the front portion of the wagon bed they built tool boxes and holders for an axe and a shovel. They secured the water tank and attached the waterers to the outside of the wagon bed.
They both stood back and took a look at their handywork.
"Well Dad, the only thing missing is shade for them when they take their noon break." Ben joked.
"Joshua looked at Ben, walked into his shop and got his phone off a table. He called around to a few RV parts dealers until he found one that had what he wanted.
"Ben, there's an RV place down on Hays road. Let's go pick up a manual crank RV Awning."
Ben grinned.
Cal got back from the framers before Amy was home from school. He poured a glass of iced tea when the kids burst through the door. Siobhan came in behind them, having picked up Brigid from pre-school.
"Daddy, I finished my drawing of Greta and Carrie!. Can we take it Shire Hill?"
Cal pushed a large bag over to Amy. Inside was the framed drawing.
"Oh! Thank you Daddy!"
"I got that on framed so she can hang it outside her apartment on the aisle wall. When you finish the painting, she can hang that in her apartment."
"Let's go Daddy!"
Cal chuckled and got off the stool. Amy ran out, with the framed drawing in her hands, and got in the truck. Cal got in and they headed to Shire Hill.
When Cal parked in the parking area, Jerry and Carrie were walking to the house from the old barn. Cal and Amy stood there and waited for them.
"Hey Cal, Amy what brings you here?" Carrie asked.
"I wanted to give you this, Carrie." Amy said, handing the framed drawing to Carrie.
Carrie and Jerry stared at the picture.
"It's beautiful, Amy!" Carrie said.
"I thought you could hang it on the wall in the barn so everyone could see how much you care for the horses."
"Oh, I will! Thank you so much! Won't you come in and Have some refreshments?"
"No, we've got to get back. Amy has homework to do."
"Of course. Maybe next time. Again, thank you Amy for the picture."
""You're welcome. Carrie.
Carrie and Jerry stood there looking at the picture as Cal and Amy drove away.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Aug 31, 2021 15:55:26 GMT -6
Joshua and Ben returned with the awning. They went down to the woodworking shop and picked out two 4 x 4 spruce posts and carried them back to the shop. Cutting some ¼ inch pieces of steel strapping, he made brackets to bolt to the side of the wagon for the two posts to slide the posts in. The last bracket had a piece welded across it to keep the post from slipping through. Ben made some quick attachments to hook the awning to the posts. Pulling the wagon out from the overhang, they tested it out and the setup worked perfectly. Looking through his tools, Joshua pulled out some horseshoe nails, a spare set of nail cutters, a file and driving Hammer to put in the tool box. They would add different things as they saw need.
Cal watched as Carlos, Greg Bell, Shay and Dennis lay matting and spread the gravel over it. The only thing left to do before stabling the horses was to add two or three inches of wood shavings. Dennis had taken another tarped grain trailer and had it filled up a couple of days before. The stalls were in, as was the lighting and Siobhan had furnished the apartment.
Cal had hired Greg Bell and gave him a probation period. So far, he was working out well. He was anxious to do a good job and was smart enough to ask questions when he wasn't sure about something. Cal thought he'd turn out to be a good hand.
"Jerry? Cal. You said he had another person to handle the horses over here?"
"Yeah our cousin Cliff. He's as good as Carrie."
"Is he available?"
Jerry chuckled. "He's been tugging at the bit since we told him about this place."
"When can he be available?"
"He probably could be here this weekend."
"Well, I'd like him to be here when we start taking in horses. I've got someone to be his apprentice."
"I'll give him a call as soon as we hang up."
"Okay, then. I'll talk to you later."
Cal ended the call and almost immediately it rang. The Caller I.D. said it was Joshua.
"Yeah, Joshua."
"You got time to come down to the shop?"
"I'm on my way."
Cal saw the wagon sitting next to the shop. He got out and walked around it looking at what they had done.
"The waterers are a nice touch." Cal said.
Joshua and Ben climbed up into the bed and lifted the two posts into place. Quickly attaching the awning assembly Ben cranked the awning out.
"Nice, nice. What do you have in the tool chest?"
Call nodded as Joshua rattled off the list of items.
Take a good look at the implements and see what kind of tools we might need to do make adjustments or tighten a nut. See about grease fittings. You may want to add a grease gun."
"We'll check them out."
Becky was over for dinner that night. When they were cleaning up the dishes and kitchen Cal said, "I want to cook out Saturday. Why don't you invite Craig."
Becky gave Cal a surprised look.
"What?" Cal said. "You're a little more than friendly with him.. Might as well get it out into the open."
Becky blushed and went over and hugged her father. "Thanks Dad."
Siobhan smiled.
Sylvio and his crew had been working on a ten acre paddock throughout the summer. They had plowed and sowed pasture grasses and kept it irrigated. It was rich with all the manure that they had plowed in and was now knee high. They could have cut it for hay. The barn had been filled with hay and everything tested. They were ready for the horses.
Cliff Patterson was a long way from South Dakota, and he wasn't the worse for the wear. He was ready to leave. The way Jerry and Carrie talked, the place was too good to be true…but they said it was. Jerry said the place was a little difficult to find so he would meet Jerry at a General Store and would lead Cliff out to his house. The drive was pleasant. He loved the scenery that was a hell of a lot different than the plains of South Dakota.
He pulled off of I-70 as directed by the geek's voice on the GPS. The road began climbing into the hills in twists and turns. His ears popped. He looked at the GPS which showed him he was now 6,000 feet above sea level. By the time he reached Glade Park, he was at 6,900 feet above sea level. Following the GPS instructions he soon was at the General Store. It being Sunday, the store was closed, but he saw Jerry sitting in the parking lot. Cliff pulled up and stopped, got out and stretched. Jerry got out of his ruck came over.
"Hiya Cliff!" Jerry said, shaking his hand.
"Hi Jerry. We got much further to go? My ass is so flat from driving I'm gonna need a bicycle pump to pump it back out."
Jerry laughed. "Not much further. Just follow me."
Jerry drove to Dale's place and took his driveway to get on the ranch road to Karen's and on to Shire Hill. When they got there, Jan and Carrie and the boys came out to greet them.
Carrie smiled. "Welcome to Shire Hill Farm!"
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Post by gipsy on Aug 31, 2021 16:44:36 GMT -6
Great update. Thanks
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Post by udwe on Aug 31, 2021 20:41:03 GMT -6
Thank you! Need more! Still have another day off!
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Post by ncsfsgm on Aug 31, 2021 21:37:24 GMT -6
Cal walked into the greenhouse and watched two workers completely empty a bed of soil and fill it with other soil. Ellen saw him and came over.
"What's up with this Ellen?" Cal asked, pointing to the workers.
Ellen grinned. "It's like mixing concrete. We take three parts of this soil out of the bed, mix it with two parts compost, toss it in a cement mixer and put the soil back into the bed. What is left over is spread in the garden and gets tilled in. That's why the outside garden plot is doing so well."
"I guess. Listen, when it comes time to plow the gardens up for the winter, don't use the tractors, I want the men to practice using the draft horses."
"Okay, no problem. I'll let you know when we're ready."
"Oh, and I've got some horse-drawn manure spreaders to spread the compost on the fields also."
"That will be interesting to see. Yeah, we spread the compost before plowing so again, I'll let you know."
"This is a nice setup. One of the better barns I've seen. How many horses do you have trained?" Cliff asked.
"We've got eight right now. We'll have four more to train in a couple of days, and we have four bred."
"How many horses is he planning on?"
"He wants sixteen. We'll continue to breed and sell after he gets his sixteen and rotate horses occasionally to keep his herd fresh."
"So, what is going to be my job in this?" Cliff asked.
"You'll Be the manager of his draft horses. You have an assistant who is young and needs to be trained, and his farm workers need to be trained in the use and care of the horses."
"So, when do I start?"
"You started getting paid the minute you set foot out of that truck. I'll take you over there in the morning. You'll have a barn apartment just like Carrie's.
"You're right, this is almost too good to be true. How did you get up with this guy?"
Jerry shrugged. "Word of mouth from a friend of a friend. Cal flew up and made us an offer we couldn't refuse. Word of advice. Get involved with the people over there. Salt of the earth. They really take care of each other."
Jerry call Cal and told him Cliff was moving into the barn that morning and he was on the way. Cal told him he'd meet them there.
When Jerry drove up, Cal was next to the horse barn looking at the construction taking place on the wagon barn.
"Cal, I'd like you to meet Cliff Patterson. Cliff the is Cal Coleman."
"Good to have you on board, Cliff. Let me show you around."
Cal showed him the apartment, the feed and tack rooms, the wash area and explained about the wagon barn."
"This is nice. I'll definitely like working here." Cliff smiled.
"Well, this is your castle. Make sure the horses are taken care of, train the people and keep the horses exercised. Four of the stalls in the wagon barn will be used to house forecarts and implements you'll use for training and exercising the horses. We've also got a ten acre area set aside to training people to plow and will eventually be rotated with paddock areas. I'd like you to get that plowed up for planting a cover crop for the winter."
"No problem." Cliff said.
"Jerry, when will you start delivering the horses?"
"Tomorrow Cal. Karen doesn't mind us using one of their rigs. Keeps the them from just sitting there."
"You remember that Jerry. That's the kind of neighbors we have and want to be."
"I will."
"Well, I'll let you get settled Cliff. If you need anything, contact numbers are on the bulletin board in the barn."
"Thanks for the opportunity Cal."
Sylvio had some men move two sets of horse drawn implements from the Carlton storage building down to the wagon barn, to include a manure spreader. Cliff took a team of horses down to the practice field and plowed a row with the gang plow then taught Greg how to follow and plow a straight row. Greg really enjoyed himself and was quick to learn the ins and outs of the care and feeding of the horses.
Cal bought a used landscaping rake with wheels and Joshua, with Ben's help, fitted a tongue to it and a lever to life the tines and turned it into a horse-drawn rock rake, collecting up the rocks the gang plow had turned up. Sylvio enjoyed using the horses. They were calming to work with. They weren't fast as a tractor, but it seemed you felt a closer connection with the earth.
Cal finally found an old grain drill that Joshua refurbished and converted it to a horse-drawn implement. He used parts from other old pieces that came from the restoration barn and made a seat and foot rests. Once he had completed everything, he sand blasted, primed and painted it Farmall red.
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