Made it back to the farm at 6:30pm CST last night.  There was some question as to the road conditions, but the forecast was calling for things to get worse rather than better, so I figured I'd better go while there was still a window of opportunity.  The Trans-Canada was actually in pretty decent shape, and the worst of the trip was the ( Read more... )

     Today was the last day of classes at the Kohler Engines plant down here in Kohler WI.  The classes were excellent, and I think I (and the others) learned a lot about Kohler's line of diesel engines.  I don't know how many of these things I'll ever see in my shop, but at least now I have the training to know what I'm looking at, and the ( Read more... )

     I arrived at the motel in Sheboygan around 4pm (local time) this afternoon, had a quick bite to eat at one of the local establishments, and crashed.  I had less than four hours sleep in the previous 40-some hours, and I was totally exhausted!

The flights here were nice and uneventful, which is exactly the way I like my flights to be!  I ( Read more... )

     I made it back to Shaunavon in just over five hours (at the speed-limit, thankyou), including a stop-over in Medicine Hat get get fuel, and pick up two copies of Kaspersky Antivirus 2012.  They had the three-user version on for $19.99, and I've got six computers to protect, so that works out nicely.  The trip itself was uneventful, thankfully ( Read more... )

     I had to drive to Swift Current today since (as I expected) the Co-op Agro centre did not have a thermocouple for my furnace.  They did have a small one, but far too small for my furnace (which, BTW, uses a 24" universal-fit thermocouple.)  It's a costant annoyance that the Agro claims to have everything you need, but in reality they rarely ( Read more... )

     First off, a Happy Canada Day to my fellow Canadians!

Trixstir and I made it safely home yesterday, the trip taking just under six hours.  We left a little later than I would have liked, but it worked out fine.  I dropped trixstir  off at the farm, changed to my work uniform, and headed back into town for my shift.  I wound up starting at 4pm, so ( Read more... )

     But what a trip!

Due to many things that had to be taken care of before we left, we didn't leave Shaunavon until around 5pm yesterday.  Normally, this would have put us in Calgary around 11pm, but with the Trans-Canada highway closed due to the damage from the floods, we had to take a detour route.  Thankfully, we didn't have to go all ( Read more... )

      That used to be the mantra with standard transmissions, at least for those who couldn't be bothered to learn how to work one properly.  Employers usually aren't too happy about having to rebuild or replace expensive transmissions though, so they really prefer that one learns how to shift properly.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, the ( Read more... )

     I got to drive one of the fuel-tankers today.  Wayde has the week off, so John (the oldest driver, at 65) was taking his place.  John's truck is the newest one, and has an Allison Automatic transmission.  I like this truck!!!  Not only does it have an automatic transmission, but the set-up in the cab is much better, and the fuel-delivery ( Read more... )

Today's weather forecast: Partly cloudy with a 30% chance of afternoon showers, a low of -2c, and a 100% chance of complete morons on the roads. Have a nice day ( Read more... )