June 30, 2023

            Today is Friday, but is it Fry day? Do real people actually fry food anymore, doesn’t frying mean there is a bunch of bacon grease involved?

            It is now 9:00 and I am here at the key board entering this data for the reading publics edification. What has the Don done today prior to coming in here to the computer? Mr. Don has watered the flowers in flower pots, both front and back yards, and he has picked up the sticks and debris from the front yard, then he mowed the front yard. The front yard was mowed last Saturday and I had to wait for the grass to dry before mowing due to the sprinklers running that morning. Knowing that the yard needed to be mowed, I decided not to wait until tomorrow because the grass is dry today. I have not mowed the back 40, maybe tomorrow.

            I have a cup of homemade coffee here at the desk and I also have a cookie that I am allowed to enjoy after all that work. I even plan on a shower when I complete this soon to be wonder filled article. I know you did not ask, but it is an, “Oatmeal raisin cookie”!

            Allow me to tell you what my favorite wife and I did yesterday, yes it was a team effort. We defrosted the deep freeze. Now there may be a couple things that one might need to know before they would understand the extent of this project.

I think we received this freezer back in the late 80s. It was a gift from the neighbors who live across the street, they had it in their garage and no longer wanted it. We put it in our garage and it has been there all these years.

Before we started on the defrosting, I was allowed to go to the shed and remove items that were in front of and or on top of our big ice chest. This is a large ice chest which I put on the Ford’s ole red wagon and pulled to the garage. Inside the large ice chest was another normal sized ice chest and a small ice chest like you would take with you if you were going to work. Inside the normal sized ice chest was another small ice chest. In total we had 4 ice chests.

We then unloaded the freezer and put the frozen food in the chests, we filled them all plus we put a couple items in the refrigerator which is also in the garage. With the freezer door open I then pointed a fan blowing into the freezer, yes, the freezer was turned off. The freezer began to defrost quickly as it was hot in the garage and the fan was providing lots of hot air. we were able to get the freezer defrosted (ice removed, and inside of the freezer dried).

The large ice chest is said to keep ice in it for 5 days with an outside temp of 90 degrees. We took a break and went inside out of the heat to rest our ole bodies.

About 1.5 hours later we returned to the freezer and begin reloading the items. My present spouse was attempting to keep like items together, this took a while. Then I wiped out the ice chests and allowed them to dry in the sun for a while before returning them to the shed. Yes, I put the small chests in the big chest and then replaced all the items that I had removed from the shed. 

It was a lot of work and we both needed a little rest and some food, so we went out to supper.

Deiced!

Senior person who doesn’t like to work, but is glad he can, Don the Ford

May today be better than your best day, but not as good as tomorrow!

June 29, 2023

            We are very close to ending this month and starting a new month. In the next month my favorite wife will have a birthday, and she will be over 21 years old. 

            I did not do a lot outside yesterday due to the heat, but late in the afternoon, after I had eaten my supper, and no we did not sit outside yesterday, I did water the flowers in pots and the black berries. The berries are basically finished producing for this year, although I did see some ripe black berries while I was watering yesterday. I see this as odd, there are also some new buds coming out on one of the vines.

            We need rain, I have a sprinkler running at this time between the # 1 and # 2 beds as the ground is just cracking open.

            Speaking of watering yesterday, I did acquire a photo of some voluntary growth in one of the hanging flowerpots.

            And now that we are speaking of photos, I took a photo this morning when the Tres and I were out in front of the Homestead. You might understand that the sun was just coming up over the Horizon.

            A minute or two later the entire front of the house was lit up. For that one person, the name Ford is not there so this ole senior person can remember my name, although it does help at times.

            I have worked on my story about the beginning of time and have put the ending that I wanted in. I have found other notes that could lead to continuation or a follow up to the story. I also found other short stories and I will possibly use these, “hot days”, to read through them.

            Well, I need to get outside and water the flowers in pots before it gets too hot, I also need to go to the teller machine and get our stipend for the week.

            We hope you have a good day and that the ole people leave you alone, or at least maybe an ole person might be nice to you. Enjoy all you do and please be safe.

Don the water bug!

Senior ole person who might get a cup of real coffee when I get our stipend, Don the Ford

 

May today be better than your best day, but not as good as tomorrow!

June 28, 2023

            Yesterday was another hot day, and I did not do any work outside the house, I doubt that I did any work inside the house.

            Newspaper; since we no longer get the so-called newspaper, Tres doesn’t have much to do when we go out front each morning. He does smell of everything and he usually eats some grass and then back in the house we go.

            Lunch: we did have lunch yesterday with some of the men from the bible study group. We were surprised at how many men came to the lunch. I may have said previously that I expected 4 or 5 to come, but we had 11 men at the lunch.

            Coffee; I did go to the new Star coffee place yesterday and I was able to get a real cup of coffee. there were no vehicles wrapped around the building waiting to get something, there was one vehicle at the window when I arrived. I think they are learning how to do things before they have a grand opening.

            Mower; while I was getting my cup of coffee, I drove by the store that has the mower on sale, but I did not stop and go in. maybe the ole mower will continue to work with the new spark plug.

            Cold water; this morning as I was brushing my teeth, yes, I do brush my teeth, a thought came to mind. When I was getting water from the faucet, I thought of a fellow who lived in Indiana, (his name was Wayne) and he work for the same company that I did. He did not like coming to Waco in the summer time as he would say, he could not get a cool shower. He noted that the water in the Waco area was always warm in the summer time. He was correct, the water coming from the faucet is not cool or cold, it is lukewarm during the summer.

            I have nothing planned for the day other than reviewing my story, reading the bible and staying cool. We hope you will have a nice day; please be productive and safe in all you do.

Cool warm hot!

Senior ole person who might get a cup of homemade coffee, Don the Ford

May today be better than your best day, but not as good as tomorrow!

June 27, 2023

            What did we do here at the Ford Homestead yesterday, basically nothing. It is too hot to do much of anything outside so we stayed inside. A neighbor did bring us some vegetables from his garden. I did do some reading both from my story and from the bible. I have completed Leviticus, and I haven’t decided whether I will continue in the Old Testament, or move to the New. I most often do not jump from one to the other, but I am considering going back and forth until I complete the bible again.

            Lawn mower note: I am considering checking with the store that had the lawnmower on sale, and see if they still have it. If they do, can I get it for a cheaper price. Also, while in that area, I might go to the new star coffee place, for the first time.

            Berry note; my favorite wife went out to see if she could get enough black berries to complete the last quart. She did not get enough; we now say the few berries that are left there are for the birds. 

            I am supposed to have lunch today with some friends from the bible study group. Not sure how many will be able to come, this group is not all ole retired people, some of them have jobs.

            We did not sit outside yesterday, as it was just too hot. I wish these temperatures would get down in the 90s and the humidity would get lower, then we could actually go outside and act like we were working. Speaking of going outside, I need to water the plants in the flower pots this morning before it gets too hot.

            With that watering in mind, I should get going. We hope your day is fun and safe.

Cool rain would be nice.

Senior ole person who don’t want to go out, but I will, Don the Ford

May today be better than your best day, but not as good as tomorrow!

June 26, 2023

            Good morning to all but that one person, and to that one person we say, good afternoon. Yes, we know you get up a little later than most of the reading public.

            Just so you know, we had a good day yesterday, mostly rest and reading for me. Now when I say reading, I read daily from the bible and I have been reading in Leviticus. To me Leviticus is mostly rules and regulations that Israel was supposed to live by. If you read this part of the Old Testament, you might be surprised, at least I find it to be, to the point.

            Since you did not ask, I will not provide any information about my reviewing the story I wrote several years ago. You do not need to know that I was able to get through 6 chapters yesterday, and I was able to update the file and save the file. I am not going to tell you that I hope to get through more of the story today.

            Black berry update; I think we are at the end of this year’s harvest. We did go out in an attempt to harvest the berries yesterday afternoon, and yes, we did get some, but not enough to brag about. I doubt that we will attempt to harvest any more this year. Those berries that are left can be for the birds.

            The leader of the bible study group that I was in, is planning a lunch at a local restaurant for any of the group tomorrow. I need to decide if I want to go or not.

            Well, I need to get started on all my projects for the day, if I have any projects for the day. It is difficult to do anything outside due to the heat, so I will stay inside as much as possible. Our lawn man is at Boy Scout camp this week, so if there is any outside work at the Ford’s homestead, my favorite wife will need to do it.

            We hope your day is filled with love and kindness, please be productive and also safe.     

Don the story reader!

Senior ole person who needs to do something, or nothing, Don the Ford

May today be better than your best day, but not as good as tomorrow!

June 25, 2023

            We are back to Sunday and I think it will be a sunny day. My plans for today are to stay inside and take it easy all day.

            Yesterday my first wife went out back and got on her hands and knees. After praying for guidance in her project, she began to pull the weeds from some flower beds. Since she was going to be working, I decided I should also do some work, so I got the string trimmer and trimmed the areas inside the back 40, I did not go into the ditch even though it needs it. I then help clean up the weeds that my present wife had removed, and carried them to the trash can.

            The front yard needed to be mowed and when I checked on it the grass was to wet. Yes, the sprinkler system had ran that morning, so I needed to wait until the grass was a little dryer. I do not like to mow wet grass; it leaves too many clogs of grass making the yard look less than manicured. I retreated to the air-conditioned Fords homestead, where I waited until the sun was mostly off the front yard.

            I had decided to wash the underside of the mower since I had used it in the weeds at the ditch, assuming that there would be weeds and weeds seeds stuck to the underside of the lawn mower. I leaned the mower back to see how much trash was under there and I was surprised how clean it was. There was no grass, weeds or seeds that I could see, it was basically clean!

            The front yard did get mowed and the ole mower started ok, maybe the new spark plug was all it needed. When I finished the mowing exercise, I was allowed to get a shower and for the remainder of the day we rested. 

            We did sit outside for about an hour yesterday afternoon, there was a little breeze but it was still very hot. Later, I was able to watch some of the three stooges shows as I was eating my supper.

            I need to get going as I have obligated myself to watering the flowers in pots this morning, and I will also water the berry beds. Note the berry beds production is reduced, and we are getting close to not attempting to harvest.

            We hope you have a good day, and please stay safe.

Pot waterer, what kind of pot?

Senior ole retired person who never tried Pot, Don the Ford

May today be better than your best day, but not as good as tomorrow!

June 24, 2023

            Let’s see what the Don did Friday. Well, he needed to get the weeds from the ditch cut down and was thinking about how he wanted to do it. The Don got up a few minutes later than usual (5:15am) and he decided he would get some ole clothes on and get out back and get to work, after he had a cup of homemade coffee. The temp on Friday was supposed to be about 96 and it will be hotter next week.

            The Don went out back and he decided he would put some water in the dog’s water pan, along with the bird’s bath. That completed, he decided to go ahead and water the flowers in the pots. All the pots watered he decided to see if he could pull the weeds from the #1 berry bed. One side was easy and the other side was more difficult. The side with the leaves as a mulch was much easier than the side without.

 

            In the photos there is a before and after photo. There are some black berries hiding behind the leaves. The bed does look better now.

            I then got the Ford’s ole walk behind mower out and mowed the areas that would be difficult to get to with the riding mower. When I finished that, I then took the ole walk behind mower out to the ditch. I was able to make about 3 passes with the mower, even though the Johnson Grass was at least knee high, and I needed to watch out for the fire ants. I can’t do much to the rest of the ditch since the city workers messed it up with that four-wheel vehicle. I need to get out there with the weed eater, that is the ditch and the back 40, and finish the job.

            I need to have my yard man here to do all this work but he is studying to get ready for the Boy Scout camp next week, he will be learning how to be a certified scuba diver. I never got to do anything like that at Boy Scout Camp. 

            I then got the riding mower out, and after airing up the tires, checking the oil, and adding gas I then mowed the back 40. I knew that I would be done about 10:45 and that should allow me to get Dave from work. Well, when I got done, I check the phone and I had a text message from Dave saying that Claire was getting him from work. I think he got off about 10:30, and that is about 30 minutes earlier than normal. 

            I put everything away and went to the house for a period of rest. After resting and drinking a lot of water, I proceed to get a shower. Once I was all clean, I hopped on the fords ole recliner and kicked back for about 30 minutes.

            Rest completed, and I was almost alive again, I decided to go to town to see if I could get a couple items at the Harbor store. I was able to get two of the three items that I wanted, and I returned home. I have a photo of one item, and it is a bug zapper. Photo to follow.

             The bug zapper does work, I was able to zap a few flies and a couple bugs that I did not know what they were.

            Well, we know what the Don did on Friday. By the way, he did not work on his story Friday as he worked on it Thursday and when he went to save the work the SD card failed. I was not happy with that and I did not attempt to work on the story Friday, maybe I will today!

            That’s it for now, have a good day and please stay safe.

Tired ole yard person!

Senior ole retired person who need to get started, Don the Ford

May today be better than your best day, but not as good as tomorrow!

June 22, 2023

            I have a couple photos that I thought you might want to see.

            Two different flowers from two different locations at the Ford’s homestead.

            Our plan for today is to get the grand kids to come over for lunch today. We don’t plan to cook the food; we will go to the chicken place and get the meals. This was suggested to me by Gabi, maybe she don’t want to fix her own lunch at home.

            I need to drop by the bank, both the teller machine and go inside the bank this time, I need to get some checks. I may go look at a new mower today, there is one that is supposed to be on sale. The sale price at the store is $50 less than the wholesale price at my previous employer.   

            I have started working on the story that I had written several years ago; the first part is to decide how I will approach the process. I have been looking through ole files on the computer to see which is the lasts version of this story I have on file. I do have a printed version which plan to use along with the computer version as I review and or edit.

I have been surprised at some of the stories and articles which I have found on the computer, articles and stories written in the past, and had forgotten about.

            I need to get going, so have a good day while being safe, and be nice to ole all people.

Stop and smell the flowers!

Senior author and all-around nice guy, Don the Ford

May today be better than your best day, but not as good as tomorrow!

June 21, 2023

            So, what happened yesterday, we had the Cable people out to fix a problem. He found some cable connections that were old and bad and he replaced them, the TV seem to be working very good now.

            I did not need to get Dave from work as his wife had taken the day off and she went to the city to see about getting the Tax on the house reduced. She was successful, and as I understand it, they will be reduced for a couple years. Claire was able to get Dave from work, so I stayed at home.

            I did very little yesterday other than read from the bible. When I am having a day of relaxation, you know, no physical labor, I have a tendency to read from the bible. I did go out later in the hot afternoon and watered the flowers in pots, and also the berry beds. This heat takes the water away very quickly. The sprinkler system did run yesterday morning and large areas of the yard have been watered, but they do not get all of the flower pots, and none of the berry beds.

            Now I may not have a posting every day for a while, or if I have postings, they will likely be short. I have decided to get my story that I wrote a few years ago, and go back through it, I do not plan to add a bunch, maybe edit some of the wording, but I do what to put a new ending to the story. I have written this story and most people will understand it is fiction, but what if it is not fiction.

            Anyway, for a few days I may or may not post anything until I review the story and give it a new ending. Nope, I do not think anyone has read the story but me, even though I had it posted at one time.

            The weather person this morning noted; we have had only one day where the temp reached 100 degrees, but we have had many days where the feels like temp was as much as 120 degrees. Now as we understand it, the real temperature is the one the thermometer shows, and when we add humidity to the real temp, we get the feels like temp.

The Don says, “if it feels like, then it is real!”

Another thing the weather person said this morning is, today is the first day of summer, he must have been staying inside because we have had summer for more than a month.

            Have a good day, stay cool, and be safe.   

Thanks

Senior story author and plant waterer, Don the Ford

May today be better than your best day, but not as good as tomorrow!

June 20, 2023

            Has the Don been using windows eleven, yes, he has? There are some differences between eleven and ten, but so far, I have been able to do the things I normally do.

             Ok, allow me to comment on yesterday, “It was hot”!

            My favorite wife and I went to town together, yes, it is unusual that she would go to town with me but this time she did. There were a few things we were looking for, dog food, a six-foot-tall shepherds hook, and a power strip. We visited 4 stores in the process, we found the dog food and the power strip but not a shepherd’s hook. We were able to get our ole bodies back home safely.

            I had planned to mow the front yard yesterday, even though our yard man was not available. The air temp would have been less hot in the early morning, notice I said less hot and not cooler as the word cool does not seem to exist these days.

In the morning the sun shines on the front yard and I try not to work in the sun. In the afternoons the front yard is shaded. Well, 100 degrees and the humidity, was said to feel like about 115 degrees, and I was working in it. The mower would not start again, so I had to clean the spark plug to get it to run. I mowed, I trimmed, I cleaned up afterword’s.

All in all, it took about 2 hours in the excessive heat. I did water myself (drink water) and when I finished my clothes were soaked with sweat. I do not think I could have been any more wet, even if someone would have sprayed me with a hose. After a period of cooling off, I was allowed to take a shower.

Later in the afternoon my first wife and I did sit outside for about an hour, with cold drinks in hand, and yes, we had a fan blowing on us. Later, I was convinced to go with my present spouse to harvest the berries.

Now let’s get to my plans for today, I have none!!! This may be a day of rest.

The cable repair person is supposed to be here this morning, the cable box in the front room has problems. We need to get rid of this service and find something that is both reliable and less expensive.

Well, I need to get going, so that is it for now, we hope you have a nice day and please be safe.

Ole Sweaty person!

Senior ole person who needs something for breakfast, Don the Ford 

May today be better than your best day, but not as good as tomorrow!

June 19, 2023

            It is Monday, do you think the name Monday came from the fact that we may be required to spend our Money on Monday?

            Well, as usual, there is nothing going on at the Ford Homestead. I was allowed to get outside in the 100-degree heat, which felt like 114 degrees due to the humidity yesterday, to put together a hanger for the Ford’s new Bug Zapper. A hanger is a device to hang the bug zapper on so it would be about 5 feet above the ground which would allow the bugs to commit suicide. Yes, it is 1-inch galvanized pipe that was in the scrap pile out back. Wow more scrap projects!

I need to work on the power supply for this device, I have a remote-control device that I can push a button here in the office and it will turn it on and off, I need an easy way to plug it in.

            After what seemed to be an eternity working on the bug zapper hanger, I was allowed to help sit up a whirly gig, (whirly gig, one of those things you stick in the ground and the wind makes it turn) with the sweat dripping off my ole senior body, we were able to get it set up.

            I was then allowed to water all the flowers in pots in the back 40, and they needed it. I will need to water the pots in the front yard today.

Now my ole body had almost run out of sweat, yes it was dripping off my ole body, when my favorite wife asked if we were going to pick the black berries. In truth, I wanted to get inside and cool off, but I went out back with my present spouse and we harvested a big bunch of berries. If all those red berries that I saw yesterday, were to turn black in one day, we would need help harvesting the berries. I think we are around 25 quarts of black berries.    

            Our front yard needs to be mowed again; it was mowed last Monday. A super-hot day today, and the yard needs to be mowed, and our yard man is working at his other grandmother’s house in Dallas.

            I did get a gift card to the Star coffee place for Father’s Day, so I might get a cup this morning before it gets too hot outside. We do need to go to the store and see if we can get some dog food, not for me this time, for Tres!

            Well, I guess that is it for now, please stay out of the heat as much as possible and be nice to at least one person today.

It is not hot, it is hotter!

Senior ole person who needs to get going, Don the Ford

May today be better than your best day, but not as good as tomorrow!

June 18, 2023

            Today is officially Father’s Day, but we celebrated it yesterday. Now for me and my favorite spouse, our fathers have passed many years ago, but we do have memories of our fathers. A couple memories of my father, he never used bad language, also if he was working on something and it wasn’t going the way he wanted he would not get mad and throw something, he would say, “contrary outfit”, and stop what he was doing, get a cup of coffee, then, when he had calmed down, he would go back to the project. I have spoken about this next comment before, dad told me, “Let the tool do the work”, meaning don’t try to force the tool, just use it, and it will do the work. Dad also told me, never start a fight, never run from a fight.

            We went out to lunch with Patrick, Karla, David and Alex, along with a good friend Bob, and we had a nice time, good food, and lively conversations yesterday, to celebrate Father’s Day. Allow me to tell you that Bob is Karla’s Dad. 

            I have a couple photos that I will present to you and no one else, just you. (You do know that anyone can read these postings, and when I say just to you, I am kidding?)

 

            The first photo was taken this morning as the Tres and I went out to get the newspaper. The first photo is not even close to how wonderful that morning view was! The second photo was taken a couple days ago, this sunflower is growing in our #1 Black Berry bed.

            Well, that is it for today, we hope your day is good, and please be nice to all fathers. Thanks for viewing this posting and please be safe.

Photographer extraordinary!

Senior person who might be able to afford a cup of homemade coffee, Don the Ford

May today be better than your best day, but not as good as tomorrow!

June 17, 2023

              I guess we made it back to Sat-all-day again, and that is what I have planned for the day, although, I have already been working this morning, if you call it working. This morning I got up as usual and after a cup of homemade coffee and some so-called morning TV news, I went out into the garage to see if I could finish the scrap wood project. It took a few minutes and as I see it, the project may be complete. I guess I should attempt to get a photo in a little while and add it to this posting.

              Yesterday, I worked in the heat on the scrap wood project, then I went out to the back 40 in an effort to mow. It was so hot that the sweat was literally dripping off my face. The sweat was so bad that I got an ole bandana and tied it around my head, and that kept most of the sweat out of my ole eyes. I also drank a lot of water.

              I went to the ole shed and brought the walk behind lawn mower out. After checking the oil and adding some gas, I started the ole mower and it ran for a short time, then I remembered that I did not have my ear plugs, so I shut the mower off and got some ear plugs. Yes, you guessed it, when I tried to start the mower again, it would not start.

              Now it was 100 degrees and I did not want to work on the mower, heck I did not want to be outside in the heat. Well, I got a glass of ice water, that was for me, and some tools, that was for the mower. I started with the spark plug and after cleaning it, I also replaced it. To my happy surprise the mower started. I decided to get all the walk behind mowing done without turning the mower off. Luckly, some parts of the back 40 are in shade.

              After using the walk behind, I then went to the ole riding mower. Yes, I checked the oil and added gas, I also check the tires and added air. Mowing with the rider isn’t too difficult and I did have a bottle of cold water with me. I did get the back 40 mowed and it looks ok. When I put the mower back in its parking location, I did not cover it with the tarp as it was too hot.

              My ole body was very tired and I was still drinking water when I returned to the cool air-conditioned house. I took it easy for a while allowing my ole body to cool down before I went to get my shower. I asked my favorite wife if she would wash my back, and she just gave me the look, you know the look, “there aint no way look”!  I showered alone.

              Later in the afternoon a friend dropped by in her new car. I noted that it must be nice to be able to afford a new vehicle. After reviewing the vehicle, we went inside to get out of the heat. Then another friend arrived, this friend grew up with Patrick and he talked about the olden days and had lots of stories to tell.

              After that friend left, I began watching the weather, and they started predicting storms with hail in the area. Our friend with the new vehicle left quickly, in order to get her new car under a carport. We did get some very high winds, a little hail and ½ inch of rain.

 

              They are scrap wood crosses. Why did I make them, because I wanted to. Yep, they will be free just like the scrap wood bird houses that I made were. They are scrap wood; they are not perfect.

              I guess that is it for now, we hope you have a good day, and stay safe.

Don the Scrapper!

Senior ole person who has nothing to do, and that is good, Don the Ford

 May today be better than your best day, but not as good as tomorrow!

June 16, 2023

            Was it hot yesterday, yes it was hot yesterday! I was working out in the heat, now when I work, it is more like messing around, but it was still hot as I messed around.

            If one was inquisitive, one might have asked why the Don is commenting on the heat, please allow the Don to “splain Lucy”. I had worked outside in the heat for a couple hours and I did have a fan moving air most of the time. I carried the table saw out of the garage and cut some wood, (I did have a couple pieces of scrap wood in the shed), I returned the saw to the garage and then brought the sander out of the garage. After working with the sander, I carried it back into the garage, and then I carried the router out of the garage and routed some wood. That part of the project complete, I carried the router back into the garage.

            Now I needed to drill a few holes in the scrap wood, but before I could do that, I needed to move a few things away from the drill press. During the removal of items from the drill press I noticed that there was debris on the floor, some of the debris was dead bugs and plane ole dust. Now I have another project, sweep the floor. Do ole people ever get to rest!

            Drill press cleared, I then attempted to select the drill bits that I need and did a test drilling. In this project I will be inserting a screw in the underside of a piece of the scrap wood so I need to drill a hole so the head of the screw would be flush with the bottom of the scrap wood. That complete I was attempting to set up for another hole that I needed to drill when I realized that I was too hot, even though I had the big fan blowing on me, and I needed to get into the cool of the house and drink a bunch of water.

            Cool air, cold water, and resting for about 30 minutes, I was back to feeling like an ole senior person again. I hope to get back out there this morning and get the project started again.

A shop with tools and equipment properly placed, where you don’t need to carry things back and forth, would be great. Too old and too late.

            Topic change: I did order a bug zapper yesterday, in hopes of getting rid of these flies and mosquitoes. Sitting outside in the heat is bad enough, but having those flies landing on everything is very annoying. Now I need to determine where I will hang it, and I will need to run a wire to it, never any rest for the senior person.

            Different topic: After picking the black berries yesterday, I was allowed to get a couple photos of flowers that are in the back 40.

 

 

            Some nice slow rain would be appreciated, then I would not need to water the plants.

            Well, I guess that is it for now, we hope you have a good day, and if you are out in the heat, drink lots of water, rest as needed, and be safe.

No shop for the scrap wood butcher!

Senior ole person who needs to get going before it gets any hotter, Don the Ford

May today be better than your best day, but not as good as tomorrow!

June 15, 2023

            Good morning to some of you, and good afternoon to others of you, and to that one person, and we all know who you are, good evening to you. Let’s see what is in the Don’s journal for today. Now, before that one person asks, I consider most of the data that I provide to the reading public as, “my journal”. It is for the most part what I did or did not do, will or will not do.

            Let’s get with it: yesterday my favorite grandson Alex and I did some scrap wood working together. I had previously cut 7 pieces of wood which needed to be sanded. I also wanted to use the router to round off the edges of the 7 scrap wood blocks. Unfortunately, we learned that half of the wood blocks had a crack in them, yep, one of them broke in half when I dropped one. I may have another piece of that same type scrap wood in the shed.

            It turns out the Alex is a good sander and he even tightened up a couple nuts on the sander that someone had failed to tighten. Sanding complete, we got the router out and after a very short demonstration of how to use the device, Alex was routing the wood. He learns quickly, and does good work. It was very hot yesterday and working outside for very long is difficult for ole senior people. Alex did help me get everything put away and the machines back into the garage.

            Later in the day: even though it was too hot to be sitting outside, we went outside to sit. I did place a couple air movers near where we were sitting in an effort to make it almost comfortable. We had two neighbors come over and sit with us, I did get a small fan to provide some additional air. There were lively discussions and some that were just interesting. We did discuss lawn sprinklers and who I had to check mine the other day. Both of us can work on the sprinklers but there are some parts of the system that we would rather leave to a professional.

            Today or tomorrow: I do want to get the back 40 mowed but it is so hot I hate to ask the yard man Alex to do it. Maybe we can get him started early and beat part of the heat.

           

            Management counselor: this is a follow up to yesterday’s posting about management. 

Managers at all levels need to understand what I am presenting today. As a manager you should be friendly with all staff, but you should not be friends with any of the staff.

Now I know someone is thinking how dumb that statement is, but let us consider. I have spoken about this in the past, and that I learned as a manager how that this can, and will, affect staff members. As a new manager in a new position, I became good friends with one of the staff members. We went fishing and hunting together, our families even knew each other. Even though I did not think I gave this person preferential treatment at work, there were those that thought I did. I often sat at his table during breaks and lunch, I probably spoke to him more often than some of the other staff, and that is seen is preferential, at least as seen by others.

Your hiring practices, your actions, your comments, are being watched by the other staff. As a manager you should be friendly with all staff, but you should not be friends with any of the staff.              

If you are a good manager, you should consider the above!

You may share this with anyone.

Friends or friendly?

Senior ole person who needs to go water the berry beds, Don the Ford

May today be better than your best day, but not as good as tomorrow!

June 14, 2023

            I have decided to run the sprinklers even though it isn’t my day for running. I don’t know if we are still on water restrictions but if we are, I am still watering the lawn and flowers. I will need to water the flowers in the pots also, I do stick my finger in the dirt in the pot to decide if it needs water or not.

            I did get the front yard mowed yesterday, I did get the kids home safely, we did get the berries harvested yesterday, we did sit outside for a while. Sitting outside would be more fun if the flies were not present. I would like to have a bug zapper to kill the flies and mosquitoes. By bug zapper I mean, one that makes a zapping noise when the bug gets in it. I want to hear them being zapped!

I did go to the shed yesterday and bring the miter saw to the garage, along with a couple of air movers (not normal fans) from the shed. Since I was going to use the saw I wanted the air movers to move air and saw dust. I cut one of the pieces of scrap wood at a 45-degree angle, then I decided that was not what I wanted to do, so I cut the others without the 45-degree angle.

I then decided to use the router to make the angle cuts on the scrap wood. I will need to bring the router and stand to the garage today so I can work on said project. Alex will be here, so maybe I can get help from him (teach him a couple things, or he may teach me). Hay if I ever get done with my projects, I will attempt to post a photo for my enjoyment.

 

Topic change:

Getting the work done accurately, productively, and safely!

In today’s world, it may be difficult to find people who want to work. There are many people who want to come to work and get paid, but do not want to work.

Finding the right person is important. Management must do a proper interview, which means the manager must know how to interview (think about that if you are in upper management, have you selected the right manager).

Background checking and checking with other employers is important, but much of the time the previous employer will not tell you everything as they do not want to be sued. 

Proper training prior to allowing them to work is very important. When proper training is done, the new employee will have a good basic understanding of what is expected of him / her, and they will understand safety in detail. The new staff member should be assigned to a well-trained staff member as a mentor.

Everyone in management thinks they know the above basics. Knowing and doing is two different things.

Supervisors should be checking with new staff, in a friendly manner, almost hourly. Supervisors should be talking to seasoned staff, especially those working near or with new staff, daily. We can learn a lot talking to and listening to seasoned staff.

Department managers should be talking with the new staff, they should be verifying that the supervisor is providing the proper training and communications with both new staff and with seasoned staff.

General managers should be talking with department managers, supervisors, seasoned staff and new staff.

General managers may assume that those below them are doing their jobs correctly. Do not assume, verify.     (When we assume, we make and ass out of you and me, ass-u-me)

 Upper management should be talking with general managers, department managers, supervisors, seasoned staff and new staff, anytime they are in the work areas.

Upper management sitting in the office talking with general managers and or department managers is necessary but should be done only after having many conversations with many hourly staff.             NOTE: when talking with hourly staff, that means any and all hourly staff, who want to talk. Some hourly staff may be considered difficult, (they often present concerns) maybe those concerns should be listened too and considered. We do not only learn from positive interactions, but a negative interaction may also be important!

It is easy for a management at any level, to get busy doing things, and not verifying that new staff have the proper training, or that seasoned staff are being listened to. You will be surprised at what you can learn, if you listen to others. 

 

Wow, I guess I need to get that out, let us hope it gets to the right person, and if the right person wants to talk, they can call me.

That is all for now, we hope your day is blessed with happiness, and as always be safe.

Management councilor!

Senior ole person who should get to work but might get a cup of coffee, Don the Ford

May today be better than your best day, but not as good as tomorrow!