Crimson Red Sports

Bet you folks didn't know I was a dairyman. I had a chance to go to Montezuma,Ga at that Mennonite restaurant last weekend, and it brought back some good memories. I was workin for my bro-in-law back in the early 80's in the Dairy equipment business (Boumatic systems out of Madison Wi). I learned the ropes, and eventually learned the art of milkin/takin care of those milk producin Holsteins...Guernseys...and Jerseys.

Good times...working with cattlemen as well! If your ever down Montezuma way, ck out that Mennonite (self owned) eatin establishment. The Yoders and Swarzentrubers used to run it. Everything is completely Organic, and you get TWICE the food/dessert you would anywhere! and the Scenic scenes are fantastic!...ck it out.

Now that I have rambled on...what was one of you're first jobs that you remember?...good or bad.

I have more EPIC tales comin soon...  ;)8)

I've done a lot of carpentry work over the years, especially during the summers when I was still in school.  I enjoyed the work but you just can't make much money doing it.  Now I occasionally volunteer to help build a church or work on a Habitat for Humanity house.

So do I SC. but I ain't worth a flip when it comes to workin with wood. That my only drawback in a profession I would have loved to learn. Kudos to you sir for helpin with 'Habitat for Humanity' folks. All of the aluminum cans I save go directly to those folks.

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Sorry... forgot to include the link to that Restaurant...It's Noah Yoders place now apparently.

http://home.earthlink.net/~white_and_gold/Yoders.htm

... on my one room shack, now my mom pimps her act with minks on her back, and she loves to show me off course, smiles every time my face is up in the sauce.  We used to fuss when the landlord dissed us, no heat, wonder why christmas missed us, birthdays was the worst days, now we sip champagne when we thirsty...  

I worked at carmike cinemas (lorna rd, hoover), delivered newspapers to the greensprings area, was helper for remodeling contractor in huntsville in grad school, and a bartender at the bubble lounge in Mobile when it first opened.

I worked for Jim Walter's Resources (coal mines) in college, but two roommates worked for Perry's Pride. We lived a semester on ice cream, the cracked nuts for drumsticks, and the wafers they make ice cream sandwiches with.

Then you know something about hard work, it takes a special person to own a dairy.

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First job was working for a car wash/gas station in Tuscaloosa right after high school. Did that for several years, but it was awful during the summer.

The Mennonite restaurant has a website? Do they know?

There is a "Yoder's" restaurant in Abbeville, SC. Great food there as well.

All the Mennonites around here are lined up at the Library to use computers. They don't mind using them, just owning them.

We visited an Amish community in the foothills between Jackson, TN and Nashville. Surprising to us, they had phones, computers etc.

They still work hard. Rest assured their restaurants, bakeries, etc., are clean. A little weird but nice, honest, reputable folks. We get along fine.

Dairy Farms is a lot of hard work. 7 days a week. RTR!

During summers in High School - cutting, baling and putting hay in the barn.

During  college summers - worked as a carpenters helper for a house builder...in the days before power saws and nail guns.

Started mowing grass for money around 13.  Tried picking blackberries for extra money a few summers; that's a tough job.

Worked for my uncle on the farm - feeding cattle, building/mending fences, etc for a few years.  Hardest job I ever had, and he paid me under minimum wage.

After I could drive I started cooking at a local restaurant.  I did that for about a year and a half, and then I went to a convenience store.

Some of the summers in college I worked at a pawn shop until I started the engineering co-op program.

Looking at this I'm wondering how I didn't end up with a better work ethic... :-[

My first real jobs were working in Tuscaloosa at the Bama theatre and  Sirloin Stockade.  After high school, I worked at Partlow as a Group Home Parent in a house with 10 mentally retarded women from Partlow. It was a rewarding (at times) job and frustrating (at times). My BEST job ever was in Nebraska working for an education research and development company. I was an Executive Administrative Assistant. LOVED the job.

worse job? picking strawberries one summer. NEVER again! LOL

Yes sir I do. Back then I was in my late 20's. There was no such thing as a 8/10/12 hour workday. The round-up started @ 0400, and went through 9...sometimes 11 at night, milkin 2x a day.

There was prep work in the milk barn...and clean-up afterwords, along with many other chores...I can't begin to list...7 days a week.

I didn't own the dairy btw. I was only a hired gun...

My first job was at McDonald's on Fairview Avenue in Montgomery. I was 15 years old and my manager's name was Ralph Adams. He taught me more about life and business than anyone I ever worked with. He wanted me to go to "Hamburger University" (Yes, it was really called that) to train for a management position when I was a senior in high school. I told him I could never have self respect by attending a school with that name nor could I live down the crap my friends would give me for going there. It was a great experience to work for him, never the less.

I flipped burgers as a senior in school @ Hardees. I brought a ton of business in that place, but missed the camaraderie joining them on fri/sat nights...that hurt. :(

True dat!

Along the way...Alan Bryant (My boss) started up a Dairy Equip. sales and service Co. We started catering to other dairymen around the Pine Mountain Ga. area. Nothing was beyond that boys capabilities...

We would put in feed bins, completely renovate Herringbone milkin parlors...to include...vacuum lines...the pump...milkin lines with pump...
New stanchions (where the cows stand whilst bein milked) Bulk milk tanks from 500-2000 gallon capacities with new refrigeration equip.

It was rough in between milkings, but we did it. We even installed a new feed bin delivery system to each stanchion, and had a computerized delivery, where each cow had a certain portion delivered via a tag around the cows neck that came in contact with a sensor, that delivered that particular cow/heifer's history stored in memory to the computer. (yep they had'em back then)

Hows that for modernization in the 80's

 :'(...

Whilst I'm at it...My boss Alan's dad was named William Bryant. Put 2an2 together for that thought... ;)

Into the business it grew like crazy! If you've never been a Farmer...or a Dairyman, there is a lot you need to do for yourself. You can't afford to call in a plumber...Electrician...or a Refrigeration tech. And a lot of times, I've seen those good folks do their OWN work...and MAKE it work, without spending countless $$$ that they could have saved...think about it people.

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Alan got a call from Plains Ga....This hawg farmer, had a peculiar problem that involved those bacon/pork lovin critters runnin from one end on the pen to another, squealin like...well you know. Them hawgs would dip their snout into the water trough and thats what got it started..........

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When we got there, we met up with this feller, that must of had 250...300 hawgs. He had tried to call other farmers...friends to figure out what the h*** was goin on.

They would run to the trough, and dip their snout into the water...then sqeal like crazy...runnin to the other end!...Crazy
He had a rough concrete pad about 100 x 50' and he kept it purty clean,so it did'nt smell all that bad...
I danged near died laughin soo hard, that my stomach actually ACHED whilist watchin these critters run from one end to another...

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I actually found the problem. While noticing the water trough rigged up with a commode ball-cock filling valve...I received a 'mild shock'. Alan went and got his meter, and it was determined, that 20 something volts was un-acceptable.

We tracked the line back to a barn some 100' away, leadin up to a HW heater that wasn't bein used. It was then determined that the old 120 gallon behemoth, had one of the elements that had grounded. We just killed the circuit...and drove a 9' ground rod by the water trough using #4 copper to make sure there was no back-feed...

Results= less that a volt...

True story!

boy do I remember those days LeeWillie

bailing hay for my uncle for about zero dollars and looking like we had a heck of a ice pick fight afterward
picked up a bail one day to throw it up on the trailer and there was this rattlesnake under the strings
he was about 12 inches from my nose so it didn't take long to get that bail in the air  :o

then there was the cotton picking we got lucky on at my other uncles
he paid great though ... a penny a pound ! I'd fill up that long old white sack and I could make
about 20 cents for eight hours work .
we use to try to pick the cotton when the dew was still on it so it would weigh more , that was a joke .

always had a gallon mason jar of water at one end of the field that was cold in the morning so
we sat it in the shade . but you know , even with no ice or anything that water was always pretty
cold all day , or seemed like it on those hot Alabama summer days .

then one summer we hit the big time ! got a government job !
it was topping corn , we rode on a highboy tractor down through the corn field snatching the tops out
of the corn so it would pollinate , 7 idiots on a tractor , riding over the top of the corn , going about
10 miles per hour , snatching  and grabbing like it was cool , picture it ...
we thought we were movie stars , making the big money ! 50 cents an hour ! we had struck it RICH !

yep , that was my experience with our government , and I'm still getting screwed until this day  ;D

As I read some of the posts it brings back a lot of memories as I grew up in Reform, Ala located in Pickens County. The one job that I think I learned the most from was cutting pulp wood, I did this my Jr and Sr years. I learned there was a better way to may a living in life so I left Reform and moved to Davenport, Iowa and I never regretted it.

I washed dishes in the cafeteria in college. I was the guy behind the opening in the wall where you put your dirty tray and dishes. Not a glamorous job by any means but I got a few free meals and some spending money.

You my fellow countryman did some hard work. Pulp wooding is so very hard, I have done it. RTR!

It was hard work even before I started cutting the pulp wood, but it taught me a lot at a very early age. My dad passed when I was 12 and I became the man of the house so I did anything to make a nickle to help out at home. The people in Reform knew our needs and they were always offering me ways to earn money, and I'll never forget them.

In HS I worked summers at the local library or in the school office.
Went to college for a while just cause I was supposed to but didn't have a clue what I wanted to be when I grew up.
Quit for a while and worked at McDonalds.
Then worked in the Radiology dept at DCH.
Went back to school.  (I only stayed out a quarter or two)

After graduation my first nursing job was in Labor and Delivery.  That was fun - I had no kids and had never been involved in the birthing process.
From there I went to ICU.

I got tired of nights, weekends and holidays so I went parttime when B was born.
From there I went to Doctor's office work.

Very 1st job was slinging watermelons in the field at age 10. Started at daylight,and worked till dark.Usually approx.12-13 hours a day,at 1.00 per hour. After the 1st day,I didn't think I could get outa bed,however,my Grandma had different Ideas,with a leather strap to boot:(

My last entry as a 'Dairyman'...

I was on call one weekend, when a 'frantic Dairyman' from Woodbury Ga  called. His Bulk milk tank was shocking him...and his cows kept raisin their hoofs in the parlor...not eatin...and giving very little milk in the process...

When I got there, the outside hull of the tank indeed gave off a very considerable jolt of 80 somethin volts. I grounded the leg of the tank, outside to the power pole's ground rod. It took it all out, and seemed to calm down the cows in the parlor as well...

I stayed and helped the old man out until he got through milkin. I took the ground wire off, and received another JOLT...wth?! I hooked it up again, and went on a mission trying to find wth was going here.

Long story shortened...the old milk tank used a chilled water cascade system, that circulated an ice cold water made by the copper pipes submerged in water. The colder the refer system got the ice would build around those submerged copper tubes. Outside the barn, the old refer system had a sight-glass where you could see the flow of freon. I saw MILK flowin through it!...or so I thought.....

Somehow a leak developed (there were several) in those copper tubes where water meets with freon and the oil...resulting in grayish/whitish color in the freon ( same thing when water meets motor oil) HOW this compressor didn't go to ground and short out is beyond me.

We repaired the copper tubing...a brand new condensing unit (whilst using Nitrogen to clear out the moisture in the refer lines) and had the Dairyman back up to operating conditions the next day.

The parlor where the cows were problems came from the same problem since the Stainless steel milk lines were attached to the tank...thus solving that problem as well. We went ahead and grounded that parlor as well with a 9'ground rod on both sides of the barn as well...

I have led a very interesting life-style in my youth...lol

This week, I'll talk about bein a machinist. I still miss rebuilding engines...

Youre a very handy guy to have around.  :-)

I got a 4 cylinder gasoline tractor engine that needs rebuilding.  I'll pay for the parts.  No time table.  It runs fine, but overheats no matter what the only thing left to be the issue is a circulation issue.  Time for a total rebuild.  The top end got redone about 15 years ago.  It's a '61 and still has points and runs off 6 volts, I think we should update that.

"
I got a 4 cylinder gasoline tractor engine that needs rebuilding.  I'll pay for the parts.  No time table.  It runs fine, but overheats no matter what the only thing left to be the issue is a circulation issue.  Time for a total rebuild.  The top end got redone about 15 years ago.  It's a '61 and still has points and runs off 6 volts, I think we should update that."


After you finish with that I have a 1957 1/2 Chevrolet Apache in my back yard that needs attention ...   :-X
She used to work but now she doesn't...

Not a bad idea bro. Parts aren't the only issue here. As old as that engine is, I would pull the whole engine down, and have the head...block...and crank magnafluxed to ck for cracks first. Then there is some machine work to think about as well...

The electrical system shouldn't be a problem. The voltage regulator/generator/distributor/starter could be replaced if there's an aftermarket kit/setup for it.

Is this a flathead engine?

After you finish with that I have a 1957 1/2 Chevrolet Apache in my back yard that needs attention ...   Lips Sealed
She used to work but now she doesn't...


I sure would like to Allie. A COMPLETE restoration should be in order on that truck!
btw...I owned a 55 myself....a beautiful truck! and I got rid of her, like a dumb@#% >:(

Most folks don't think about machine work when it comes to any vehicle. Those days of do-it-yourself backyard engine work days are about over...

But I started out grinding cranks. I loved it when customers came in and told me "I need this TURNED" So I just walked over and rolled it with my foot. You GRIND Cranks (with a rock). You TURN Rotors/drums with tool steel implements on a lathe... oh well.

After I got proficient (which takes about a year) I moved on to various other things in the shop. Block-boring/decking/and align-boring, on to the head shop to grind valves/seats/and surfacing.

Yes I do miss it... :( 

Not sure.  Parts are not that hard to find because there are so many of those tractors out there.  You have to order them, but they can be found.  

Let me know if you want to play with it.  You certainly can't hurt it at this point.  People want to buy it from me, but it's not for sale, I will probably just push it into the corner of the barn until I am a bazillionaire and then I'll have redone really nice.

I also have a '76 Ford F-100 that needs a seal replaced on the front end of the transmission.  Not a big deal, if dropping a transmission isnt a big deal to you, it is to me.  lol.

Thanks, but no thanks man. I'm just not setup for anything like that, but I do appreciate the gesture lol.

Too bad you never hooked up with the Nascar boys or maybe you did?

Wished I had man. The closest I got, was the 'dirt track gang @ East Alabama motor speedway.  http://www.eamsdirt.com/
I live about 10 miles from that track, an on a good clear quite night...you can hear'um turnin the revs...

Did a lot machine work for those boys.

There is nothing more fun than the dirt tracks. When I lived in Davenport, Ia, our weekends were the dirt tracks somewhere. As you probably know, it's not hard hard to find a dirt track facility in the Midwest. I still go to a dirt race when we are up there on a summer trip, as well as some drag racing. I went to Brainerd, Mn this past summer for their big NHRA event, it was a blast.