does anyone ever...

[regolith]

focus on the positive a little more, and the negative a little less.

Isn't it easy to say?
I can't speak for GMN, but I know where I am mentally if I start questioning something as basic as the daily drudge of farming. My only solution to depression is "wait it out". (Had dual meaning when I used the phrase before - didn't want to presume)
Of course there are others - but that works for me.

The stars were bright tonight, half a moon. One of the things I love about this work - walking home under a different sky each night.
The quiet places down the farm - the farm I'm on now has planted native trees, hidden creeks, a couple of extensive gullies where the phone can't get ya.

novaman: that sounds awful! I guess we really do have it easy with the climate here. Real hard winter last year and it snowed once :lol: The cows hated it.

 

[dun]

I'm on board with ya GMN. Had no power the past few days because of ice on the powerlines. Been having issues keeping the generator running at the proper output. Burnt up a nice expensive milk pump motor yesterday. I sure am excited about my spring flush coming up though. Dry up these late lactation buggers and get something in here that's gonna rock the pipelines.

We must live in a less elecricity reliable area. Every dairy has a generator that may sit for years without prolonged useage but generally get's used for a short time every couple of month when the power goes out during milking. But they are also capable of running for 2-3 weeks coninuously for when the ice storms hit.

 

[VanC]

Every life, whether you farm or not, has good times and bad. Sometimes it has to do with what you do for a living, sometimes not. I've learned that, as msscamp said, it helps to focus on the positive as much as possible. But in doing that, don't ignore the negatives, confront them. If something is out of whack, and you have the power to do something about it, then do it. If it's something you can't control, at least try to muddle through it and wait for better times. They'll come eventually. If you lose a battle, so be it, but go down fighting. It'll make you stronger in the long run.

 

[Aaron]

Never.

I do know, however, that one week in a cubicle, working 9-5, answering phones and listening to coworker's petty problems would drive me to hanging myself in the janitor's closet. :cowboy:

No offence, but you how old are you Aaron; and not married and mom and dad still run the operation. Get back to us in 20 years when you have a wife and 2 to 3 kids.

I understand what you are saying but you have not yet walked in most of these folks shoes, especially the dairymen that traded in quota for unlimited milk. Grass is not always greener on the other side. ;-)

HD speaks true words.
When the chips are down you just have to do the best you can do.
When I was in my mid 20s a very wise man told me that I did not know what hard was. I thought I did because I had worked hard from the time I was just a small chap.
He was right. I "thought" I knew what hard was. Doesn't necessarily have anything to do with cows.
It's just the way the cookie crumbles.

As msscamp suggested, it's a lot better to focus on positives then negatives. Pretty hard to do if your a bonafide pessimist, seeking out the worst in life every day. I have lived with a father like that off and on now for the last 24 years. And I can guarantee you, with people like that, it is easier to tell them how much worse it could be, rather then better...because they will take any bit of light you offer them and crush it. All they recognize is shades of darkness. You can't help continual whiners. You can only make them shut up about it for a short time. :cowboy:

 

[Howdyjabo]

I learned a long time ago that I don't trust my feelings in Jan and Feb. I take one day at a time.
I have been farming for a long time and I have thought things were bad before but this spell is a new all time low.
Its easier when you are young to be hopeful- but I am running out of energy and time to weather this spell.

For young farmers-- when you are figuring out if you can make it farming full time. Keep in mind to triple or quadruple what you are paying for insurance as you age. Its nice to think that things will improve to cover higher costs as you age but I haven't seen it. I have made capital investments to improve cash flow in one area and as soon as I do costs will go higher in another and eat up all the gain.

I am sure 9 to 5 has its drawbacks -- but you have time off, it ends and you get to leave it, and you haven't got lots of money invested that can get eat up when things go bad. And you can always find a new job and quit.

I too don't envy dairy farmers- I couldn't do it.

 

[novaman]

I'm on board with ya GMN. Had no power the past few days because of ice on the powerlines. Been having issues keeping the generator running at the proper output. Burnt up a nice expensive milk pump motor yesterday. I sure am excited about my spring flush coming up though. Dry up these late lactation buggers and get something in here that's gonna rock the pipelines.

We must live in a less elecricity reliable area. Every dairy has a generator that may sit for years without prolonged useage but generally get's used for a short time every couple of month when the power goes out during milking. But they are also capable of running for 2-3 weeks coninuously for when the ice storms hit.

Don't get me wrong, there is a generator at every place here too. They are ready whenever we may need them. The problem is they are PTO generators run by a tractor. I can't keep the voltage consistant as things kick in and out. The variation is too large so it's been a headache.

 

[dun]

I'm on board with ya GMN. Had no power the past few days because of ice on the powerlines. Been having issues keeping the generator running at the proper output. Burnt up a nice expensive milk pump motor yesterday. I sure am excited about my spring flush coming up though. Dry up these late lactation buggers and get something in here that's gonna rock the pipelines.

We must live in a less elecricity reliable area. Every dairy has a generator that may sit for years without prolonged useage but generally get's used for a short time every couple of month when the power goes out during milking. But they are also capable of running for 2-3 weeks coninuously for when the ice storms hit.

Don't get me wrong, there is a generator at every place here too. They are ready whenever we may need them. The problem is they are PTO generators run by a tractor. I can't keep the voltage consistant as things kick in and out. The variation is too large so it's been a headache.

That's what most of them aroudnd here use also. Very few problems with the voltage fluctuations. Biggest problem is the boost in the fuel bill for running them almost 24/7 for multiple weeks. I used one for a remote welding (5 days 8 hours a day) job and it turned out to be more consistant the useing utility power.

 

[alftn]

I been called a NOVICE,on this board more than once...It is funny ,I was raise around cows ,did the daily chores the whole time I was a growing up, but that did not make me a cattleman......Lost a few years( was out of country, in USMC) got out and went to college in late 70's, sure enough cows came back around... Or at least a girl friend with cows, shorthorn and the show ring ,,A.I.,ing, giving shot to make them all come in at once, (BUT I AM A NOVICE ), and this did not make me a cattle man... I have been working on this herd now, for about a dozen years , (I am still a NOVICE, My live does not depend on the beef I raise) ... BUT I raise good cows and good beef and I am proud of them.... I was raise poor, did not have DADDY to carry me, what I have, I have earned...

Kids , you know the ones under 25 who are just out of college, or yet, still in college that offer advice or run their mouth as IF they KNOW something, when in fact , They can only offer what someone else or DADDY told them, their live experiences are so limited, you just have to love them......(I wonder was I ever so young and nieve) , sure I was, just been so long ago that I forgot...


I think I have been using this board for 11 years now, under 3 different names and address( move around some) There are some many good people on this board, some wore out folks to, some youngs ones, and kids.


For those that have been doing this for 40 years...I salute you , you have my best wishes and a heart felt job well done...

 

[dun]

alftn, doen;t it sometimes make you wish you were a teenager, back when you KNEW all the answers?

 

[GMN]

alftn, doen;t it sometimes make you wish you were a teenager, back when you KNEW all the answers?

We were just talking about this, when U are younger, you take more gambles, do more things, not afraid of the things that could happen, when you age, I think we all tend to overthink things, when we should just do what feels right-and go with the flow-really why do you think it has to change, more responsibility, more work, maybe the answer is just staying young as long as U can, and blowing alot of this junk off, and saying I'm just not gonna worry about it.

By the way I consider myself to be optimistic, however the last 4 mnths or so there have been a few things that have put me in the spin cycle, just trying to come off of that, and get back on track-not always as easy as it seems.

Gail

 

[GMN]

I learned a long time ago that I don't trust my feelings in Jan and Feb. I take one day at a time.
I have been farming for a long time and I have thought things were bad before but this spell is a new all time low.
Its easier when you are young to be hopeful- but I am running out of energy and time to weather this spell.

For young farmers-- when you are figuring out if you can make it farming full time. Keep in mind to triple or quadruple what you are paying for insurance as you age. Its nice to think that things will improve to cover higher costs as you age but I haven't seen it. I have made capital investments to improve cash flow in one area and as soon as I do costs will go higher in another and eat up all the gain.

I am sure 9 to 5 has its drawbacks -- but you have time off, it ends and you get to leave it, and you haven't got lots of money invested that can get eat up when things go bad. And you can always find a new job and quit.

I too don't envy dairy farmers- I couldn't do it.

This is very true, its the increase in things in the past 5 years that have really hurt dairy farmers, compare that to milk prices and it is a financial headache for many of us. Plus health care is a issue-I never would have imagined that the plan we use to have thru DFA would ever have gotten that crazy high. Thankfully another option appeared, and we have a better and more inexpensive plan elsewhere now, but for a bit, it was decison time to seriously think drop the insurance just to maintain the current budget-choices they are what determine your path in life. Sometimes we all make good ones, sometimes you go for a spell and second guess everyone you have made. I think this is what has happened to me, the past few months we had to make some choices, and now we just got to make it work-accept it and move on to whatever lies ahead.

 

[Aaron]

I been called a NOVICE,on this board more than once...It is funny ,I was raise around cows ,did the daily chores the whole time I was a growing up, but that did not make me a cattleman......Lost a few years( was out of country, in USMC) got out and went to college in late 70's, sure enough cows came back around... Or at least a girl friend with cows, shorthorn and the show ring ,,A.I.,ing, giving shot to make them all come in at once, (BUT I AM A NOVICE ), and this did not make me a cattle man... I have been working on this herd now, for about a dozen years , (I am still a NOVICE, My live does not depend on the beef I raise) ... BUT I raise good cows and good beef and I am proud of them.... I was raise poor, did not have DADDY to carry me, what I have, I have earned...

Kids , you know the ones under 25 who are just out of college, or yet, still in college that offer advice or run their mouth as IF they KNOW something, when in fact , They can only offer what someone else or DADDY told them, their live experiences are so limited, you just have to love them......(I wonder was I ever so young and nieve) , sure I was, just been so long ago that I forgot...


I think I have been using this board for 11 years now, under 3 different names and address( move around some) There are some many good people on this board, some wore out folks to, some youngs ones, and kids.


For those that have been doing this for 40 years...I salute you , you have my best wishes and a heart felt job well done...

"I never dared to be radical when young. For fear it would make me conservative when old."

 

[msscamp]

focus on the positive a little more, and the negative a little less.

Isn't it easy to say?

Yes, it is easy to say, but it's always easier to talk the talk then to walk the walk. It takes a little more determination, perserverance, sheer stubborness, and practice to do it on a day to day basis when things are going bad, but it can be done. One can choose to see the negatives, or one can refuse to let bad times get them down and actively search for the positives - however small they might be, they are still positive and will serve as a focal point if you choose to go that route. A beautiful day, the fact that your crops are growing well, the fact that the calf born today is alive and kicking, the fact that dinner came out good, the fact that you are healthy and have the use of all of your body and faculties - there is ALWAYS SOMETHING positive to focus on, even in the worst of times, IF you choose to look for it. Find it, focus on it, and believe in your abilities to handle the rest of it.

 

[peg4x4]

It sounds to me that you have a bit of depression--Not the outside things weighing on you,something on the inside. If I might suggest you talking to a Dr? Sometimes we all need a bit of help,if it is a "sunlight lamp" or a pill. Honestly,some days if I won the big Lottery,I'd gripe because I'd have to go into Austin to pick it up
Wishing you well,Peg..

 

[Ryder]

focus on the positive a little more, and the negative a little less.

Isn't it easy to say?

Yes, it is easy to say, but it's always easier to talk the talk then to walk the walk. It takes a little more determination, perserverance, sheer stubborness, and practice to do it on a day to day basis when things are going bad, but it can be done. One can choose to see the negatives, or one can refuse to let bad times get them down and actively search for the positives - however small they might be, they are still positive and will serve as a focal point if you choose to go that route. A beautiful day, the fact that your crops are growing well, the fact that the calf born today is alive and kicking, the fact that dinner came out good, the fact that you are healthy and have the use of all of your body and faculties - there is ALWAYS SOMETHING positive to focus on, even in the worst of times, IF you choose to look for it. Find it, focus on it, and believe in your abilities to handle the rest of it.

Well said and well worth the effort, and it may take a lot of effort. More important than it seems on the surface.
Like the BOOK says, "think on those things that are good...."