The M68 Mercury

I thought it was about time for a new youtube video from Roosty6. This old Mercury truck belonged to my uncles and last ran over 40 years ago. Its home now but I have not made much progress on it yet.

Statistics

I think Mark Twain had it right about lies and statistics . I made the mistake a while back of actually by passing my answering machine and picking up the phone. Wouldn't you know if was somebody from Statistics Canada wanting me to participate in a survey on employment.
Really , what a poor source of information I am. The nature of this self employment called farming means some days I work maybe 15 hours while others I might not work 1 hour. Winter time on a grain farm is a pretty slow time. The big herd of 8 cattle might take an hour of my time, some days less, some more.
So when the nice statistics person calls up to ask the questions on my work hours for the past month it is a really wild guess on my part.
Time spent driving the tractor pushing snow, running the grain vac to load grain, lining up the auger to unload fertilizer. All work. Driving to town to pick up grain cheques and pay the fertilizer bill. I guess that would pass for work too. But do I deduct the hour spent talking to a neighbour outside the post office from the total?
Helping cut firewood on the weekend definitely felt like work but I doubt it would qualify as part of my self employed farming career.
Really, some days I am sure that the lazy farmer works harder than I do.

A Hard Way To Gain Ground

Thats my dad standing beside the water flowing from the floating slough pump we just set up on the slough in the background. It may be relaxing to watch the flowing water but it involved some hard labour getting everything set up . It was the spring of 1979 and likely a couple of weeks before spring planting judging by the remaining snowbanks.
That big flat slough in the background covered some pretty productive soil that would only grow bulrushes if we could not get it dry enough to seed a crop. I don't recall how successful it was but it was always a gamble pumping out these sloughs. Hours of setting up and pumping could all be literally washed away by a heavy rain storm that would flood the land again.
The floating pump was one heavy unit to carry out into the water. Wearing hip waders and sinking in the mud at every step. On a windy day you needed to get that long length of light plastic collapsible hose anchored down or filled with water before the wind took it and twisted it up in a tangle. Every few hours (or less) you needed to walk out into the water with fuel for the engine.
Nowadays that slough is probably about twice the size it was in 79. I just drive around it, plant what I can and hope for a return to normal moisture conditions one of these days.

I Saved 147 Dollars

At least that is what statistics say and they don't usually lie. The average guy spent $147 on his wife/girlfriend/significant other for Valentine's day this year. So not having any of those I now have some extra cash to spend on something.  Maybe a Phantom drone similar to the one used shooting this amazing snow pushing video shot this January in Washington state.
Or maybe new brake cylinders for the "legendary Mercury"?

In other news, it is raining in some parts of Oregon according to weather forecaster Bud E. Shepherd.
Sask . weather continues above normal temps and below normal snow. I don't hear anybody complaining.

The Things You Find

When you are looking for something else. I figured the bill of sale for the 52 Mercury was long gone but guess what I turned up today? Its all there right down to the serial number. Only thing missing is the mileage.

Surprising to see you could buy a good used 7 year old Mercury for $800 in 1959. Although using the inflation calculator from the bank of Canada that sum would be equal to $6529.03 in 2015. But that $800 was pretty hard to come up with in 1959 as the document indicates a $300 down payment and the balance financed through GMAC payable one year from the date of purchase. Money was scarce raising a family on a small farm in those days.

More Of The Same

Its been an easy winter so far. No snow to move but enough to keep everything white and looking "normal". Above normal temps are agreeable even if they are cause for concern of climate change.
Not a whole lot happening at present. While temps are above normal it is still cold working with bare hands on rusty old vehicles in an un heated shed.
I did get the front bumper of the Mercury removed finally. It had an uneven look to it all the time and I thought I might be able to improve on it. Not so sure now. That is one heavy piece of iron. They built bumpers like a bull dozer blade in 1952. I found one completely broken off bracket on the left side and it appears to have been that way for a long time.

Now do I attempt to weld it back on and probably damage the chrome surface? Or align and bolt the bumper back in place trusting that the remaining intact brackets will be sufficient? Re-chroming that bumper would likely more than double the value of the entire car at this point yet it would not do a thing towards improving drivability. (Spell check doesn't think that is a word?)
Meanwhile, back in the real world where serious news is happening, check out fellow blogger Budd E. Shepherd's latest blog post at the lazy farmer blog.

Will It Ever End?

No, not complaining about winter, but this endless debate about the safety of gmo crops and food. I get a little tired of reading and talking about it but this news item about a recent video caught my attention today. License to farm
It is an attempt to explain some of the facts and dispel the myths and misguided thinking some seem to have about "franken foods". Comments about roundup injected into the seeds! Good grief! Not a clue.
From this simple uneducated farmer's point of view, and gmo canola is all I am familiar with., the genetic modification to roundup ready canola is as simple as the name. It is resistant to the herbicide Roundup, or it's generic equivalent herbicides. No more or less.
Herbicide resistance is something that occurs naturally over time in crops and scientists have simply taken advantage of that trait and used it to our (the grower's) advantage to develop a strain of the canola plant that can be sprayed with roundup and thrive while all weeds around it die. That simple. It is a cheap and safe herbicide that allows us to grow a clean, and therefore more profitable , crop.
Conventional (non roundup ready) canola required herbicide to control weeds too. More expensive and no safer than roundup.
Meanwhile, on a more interesting and enjoyable topic, one of my favourite youtube channels has a new video about what else, rusty old cars. The latest from coldwarmotors.