3-03- 2012 a lot of that s-word

      at the time of my next experience i was in my early 20's working as a farm teacher / manager of the cow calf operation , at apple creek institute around 1976 . basically my job was to do everything everyone else was doing and more plus i was blessed with the opportunity to teach enterprising young folks who had never saw a tractor before , the pleasures of proper and safe tractor operation. sometimes just teaching them how to operate a clutch was enough to scare some away. 

      being brought up on a farm had its advantages as i was  past the awkward  getting used to clutch stage.. this day i was out teaching these 2 girls the fine art of manure spreading. no i really wasn't trying to bs these girls so to speak but in actuality i was just trying to unload a manure spreader after filling it up at the barn . i just figured that for the first couple of rounds i would have these young ladies  just sit on fender and watch as i was having trouble with the chain that runs the manure spreader. when it would come off then i would have to stop and put it back on . 

      and it seemed when i had someone new running the tractor , it would come off more often. so to avoid having to put it on  , i would operate and they would sit and watch. we started to spread manure in a cornfield we had taken silage out of earlier , and no sooner we had started than the chain came off again. i left the the 2 women sitting on the tractor while i dismounted and using my leather gloves i pulled the cover off the chain  and saw the chain wrapped and drenched in green stuff. it was cold as i maneuvered the chain out of its knot rolling the chain around in both hands all the while paying no attention to the girls on the tractor. 

      i had the chain on the small pulley which was the pto pulley, and was trying to work the big end on the larger pulley when all of a sudden a whoosh and my fingers were being carried into the pulley as suddenly my   one hand was being pinched as i tried to pull back on my gloves. my hand was beginning to twist around the pulley and all of sudden my hand was released . the glove continued through the gear and chain and was spit out on other side. the tips of my fingers hurt so bad on my right hand as stood there wondering what the heck just happened. i turned to look at these girls on the tractor and asked who engaged the power take off , and the one pointed at the other . i politely asked her how she would like her butt kicked . 

     she only said in her defense she was bored and started punching buttons on the tractor. i looked down at my manure covered glove and picked it up and to see how close i came to losing my fingers , one would only have to look at the fingertips and see that the chain and the gear sheared the tips off what would be 4 fingers on the right hand. my drawing hand. 

     i am thankful for so small things , and appreciate anything  that comes my way. i saw it as a sign i needed to be even more careful . take steps to learn how i can avoid being in this situation again. mainly i just realized as in a joke i heard about a guy who broke down in front of massilon state hospital.of the not doing so good.  how his tire was flat and when changing the tire had lost all but one lug

nut on his car. well an inmate  from the institution happened to be passing by and says to the guy . looks you are having a problem with your lug

nuts, but if you take one from each wheel then you will have enough to get you home. on contemplation the disabled motorist thought it was a good idea.there were 5 lug nuts , and after he took one off each wheel , that would give him 4 on each wheel .  and  to this he decided to pay the guy a compliment , asking why he was in this crazy house . 

      and promptly the crazy man said well i might be crazy but i am not stupid. 

     i let my guard down, and stupid just about bit me.