John F Dean

A few years back I stumbled on a hand cranked mill in a junk shop. Not sure if the cost …maybe $20. I can’t remember.  Anyway, it is my goto for smaller amounts.  I also have a Wondermill that I plug in for large loads.

Hi Kevin,

I have been less than happy with my Messerschmitt grain mill.

Neither diagram describes me. I have redundant systems. One is the grid; the other is a solar 12v dc. The two are not connected.  The green or blue outlets in my home connect to the 12v.  

I spend about $50 a few times a year for beef brisket that I cut down into one pound servings for the two of us.  It gets cooked in the crock pot. What else that goes in it depends upon what I had for breakfast, the last song I heard, and the phase of the moon.   Looking at the OP, I sometimes substitute homemade catsup for the tomato paste, garlic, and Worcestershire sauce. The Bay Leaf always makes its way in.

Hi John,

Possibly worse, 2x12s.   Anyway, I selected a good place to stand. It didn’t matter. They couldn’t figure out how to use the sand. AND, I am remembering as I write this, I was asked which way the board needed to be turned.  I suppose it is sort of like right  and left handed drywall screws.  I was nice, I told them it didn’t matter. And it didn’t.  They never tried to use the boards.

A number of  years ago I ordered a piece of custom equipment.  As is common with specialized equipment, the build time was much longer than estimated.  I finally got the message it was ready.  Giving the issue some thought, I decided to make the drive from southern Illinois to northern New York.  At that time I was putting around 50,000 miles a year on the road, so the distance wasn’t an issue, and the savings in shipping costs was significant. Besides, the item was fragile. I loaded the equipment in the AM and headed home. Oddly, when I reached northeast Ohio, I was very sleepy and checked into a hotel. The next morning I opened the car door …. If I had a match in my hand the car would have exploded.   I rolled down the windows, and, even though it was winter, I drove home with the windows down.   And, I took many breaks.  

To this day I am amazed at the intensity of the fumes.

I was feeding the animals this AM when I heard the tires spinning.  There was a delivery truck sitting on the ice on the township road going no where.  I grabbed a bucket of sand and a couple of 2x12s.

The two people in the van were pretty determined to see how deep of a hole they could dig with with their spinning tires. What is interesting is that there was bare gravel on the right hand side of the road, but for some reason the decision was made to drive on the smooth ice on the left side.

I attempted to explain the purpose of the sand and boards, but my efforts were wasted.  One of the people in the delivery truck had called their brother.   The brother arrived, hooked up the tow chain to the delivery truck’s front bumper….gunned his engine….ripped off the delivery trucks front bumper (yes, a well known commercial carrier)….the delivery truck went into a spin and ended up in a ditch at a 30 degree angle. I am pretty sure the delivery truck driver floored the pedal. The boards and sand remained untouched.

They finally called a real tow truck. I packed up my stuff and left.

I am pretty sure a major carrier had towing insurance.  Anyway, the above contains some pretty good  examples of what not to do.  And, no I did not offer hands on help.  I did not want to put myself in a position of being blamed for any damage.

Incidentally, having had 53 employees,  I can assure you that my experience has been that 100% of the time, in spite of much training, an employee will call a relative when stuck rather than an approved tow truck.

My present I phone 6 is dying.  The only functions that work on it are sending/receiving calls and voicemail.   I really can’t see spending a couple hundred dollars to get a free phone.

We have rural transit in name only.  If I were to use it, I would have to schedule my trip 5 days in advance.  To get to where the van would feel safe picking me up I would have to walk a minimum of 1/4 mile.   The van is rather famous for not showing in time.   When it did show, it probably would not be able to take me where I wanted to go.  This has to do with linking with other rural transit systems.  It is fully possible…likely….that a trip of 30 miles would take me more than one day.  Finally, there are the direct costs involved. …I think it is $5 one way.  If I wanted to go to the grocery store 4 miles away, it would cost me $10, and I would have to schedule it a week in advance.  Of yes, our local rural transit company has received multiple awards for being the best in the USA.

If I were without my own  transportation, I would be far better off paying someone to take me where I wanted to go.

The above is not a complaint, just a realistic assessment. It is the price I pay for deliberately living in a remote area.

Hi TAmmy,

The distances you state are reasonable to me ….if they are for you.  I was thinking of a greenhouse operation that drove a circuit in a van making deliveries several times a week. …12 months a year. For them, the12 months was critical when talking with upper end restaurant chefs.   They could promise fresh greens, tomatoes, herbs, etc all year.

If you do go in this direction, remember the concept of “value added”.   Toss in a sample of a new herb you are growing…a different type of tomato..
Etc. Also “never trust the count”. That is you want to be ready for the customer who says “ I know I ordered two dozen, but I really need three dozen”. Then of course, there will be the customer who insists he ordered four when you know he said 3.

What do you do with the extras at the end of the day if they won’t last until the next delivery?  Give them to a quality customer ….a customer you are courting….or a food bank.