Lubricity- need i say more?

Here I Am

      But as we used to say in the oilfields, but where the hell are we. Well I am here on the farm writing about the last couple of days of fairly nice weather we have had, and some of the progress on various projects I have going on. The greenhouse is in pretty decent shape as compared to the last couple of years in terms of being clean, and having potting projects completed. Somehow with a concerted effort I have been able to catch up on potting of perennial plants I will have available for sale and for planting here on the farm also. The trees are in good shape as they start busting leaves from a wintry rest. Bulbs are starting to swell in anticipation of warmer days and early spring. Still I have yet to hear the peepers officially signaling the beginning of spring.

      The chicks are growing bigger and last night they spent their first night in the corner of the greenhouse where I have them corralled into a much larger pen, as now they need more space having grown to almost three times their original newly hatched size in almost 4 weeks. I plan on converting the old cow barn into a chicken house and tool storage shed soon, to accommodate the chicks as they grow into a larger body. I will include nesting boxes and a run to allow them to wander about when I can’t be around all the time to assure their safety. Water is not too far away and maybe we can even accommodate the ducks there also in the event I need to pin them up also. Hopefully by feeding both in same area they will get used to coming inside the chicken house. Of course there isn’t much I have found that ducks can be really pinned down to as they seem to have a mind of their own and choose to exercise their right to use it too frequently.

     I never knew that ducks mated with the same partner but after observing greenie and mama duck I can see he has a certain affinity towards the mama brown duck and tries his best to keep whitey away from her, assuring there will be no mating between those two. In spite of greenie’s small size I watched him inflict a serious ass whooping on whitey that is almost twice his size. At times attempting to drag him under the water in a death duck bill grip, this reminded me of alligators wrestling. Whitey survived underestimating little greenie and has since left mama duck alone. This sorting out of a mate has been going on around the farm with the remainder of the ducks as  they pair up for egg laying. There appears to be three males and three females. Even the lone goose has been heard trying to call in a mate from the overhead passing of geese on their way north, trying to encourage a suitor to land and dip his webbed toes into the water and enjoy a little romance. So far she has seen no action yet though.

     I have managed to get some wood cut but have had some problems with the tractor cutting out on me. One thing I have found out is that there appears to be a problem with diesel fuel getting to clean and losing its lubricity, reminds me of a woman I used to know, but still another story better left untold. Lubricity being the word of the day as it sticks to your tongue and slips out of your mouth like a bad night Sooners Schooner Saloon slopping shots of tequila down like there was no tomorrow’s, or hangovers to worry about. Lubricity is the ability of a liquid to coat a surface so that it acts like oil instead of like sandpaper. Apparently we’re taking the sulfates out of diesel and making it so efficient and clean it is stripping our engines and creating problems. Who would have ever thunk a diesel engine would be too clean. It seems as if this is only a problem we have with road fuel and not off road fuel that is dyed. Apparently the latter which I can’t afford to buy in large quantities enough to make it affordable, undergo different refining procedures, and now just like gas you have to add a bottle of crap to this to make the diesel work as it once did.

      Now if you understand all that then I give you an A,as sometimes I scratch my head and wonder if all this is worth it. Or if there wasn’t easier ways to reduce emissions while achieving efficiency. Maybe if we eliminated all that plastic packaging you can’t open with dynamite designed to protect a part or toy from being stolen from store shelves. Add up the weight on all those plastic packages and figure out how many are actually recycled as opposed to being landfilled and realize it was worth a lot more than profits, for a big retailer who could have just added a couple more security personnel on and eliminated some unemployment and made the part cheaper and the load that brought the part to the store more efficient by hauling more in less space. Essentially saving diesel fuel.. But then that would be too easy for a store manager to grasp.

    Maybe someday we can get a grasp on the right way for everyone. Still I wonder if we find a perfect solution to all problems, wewouldnt hesitate going out and creating more. It is just the nature of humans to do that.