Canesister's 2025 journal - Bushel & Peck Farm

[farmerjan]

Best times here to do laundry is in the evening... Sat or Sun night... after 5 or so.... most have "last load" at 8 or there abouts so you have time to dry... but I just tell them that I am not going to dry if it is a little later.. Sat night no one uses them... everyone is "out" somewhere...
NO ONE wants to do laundry on Sat night.....

Mondays are one of the worst days since some people are off work on Mondays... and any of the mornings... then again after school lets out in the afternoon... shift workers that get off at 3 or 4 come in after work alot...

 

[Ridgetop]

OMG! That post just reminded me that instead of being on my computer I have to do laundry today!

 

[fuzzi]

We've been on that partial shutdown at work. It's been ROUGH. I knew that having all 4 crews combined was going to be an issue.. but I seriously underestimated just how petty, nasty, arrogant, hateful, etc some of these people would become.
All of A & B shifts (the day crews), the 2 beamers from C shift (including my newly graduated trainee), and me from D shift. The trials we were running called for MAJOR reconfiguring of the machine. A HUGE learning opportunity for most of us who were either new or who usually work nights & don't get to do this.
But noooooooo. B shift takes over the creel & is flat out rude & nasty when I am sent back there to help load the 700+ rolls of new fiber. I try to stay out of their way doing different tasks & get thrown out each time. Their supervisor tells me not to take it personally, they're just 'manly men who don't like letting women do anything' . Well that works out well for her since she doesn't do anything but flirt with them, but not so much for me.
I come back up front & the very experienced Beamer op from B shift is literally pushing people out of the way & telling them to get out of his way so he can get the technical work done as fast as possible. I protest that with 2 very new people here (one is HIS trainee) & me trying to learn how to do this, he should either slow down & explain what he's doing or move & let us do it with coaching. He says he's got no intention of spending all day doing this .
What ELSE are you going to do!?!?! That's WHAT WE'RE HERE FOR. We've got 10 people available to do work that takes 3 or 4. Share the work! Share the knowledge!
I'm all up in everyone's space asking questions..... How did you know to make that adjustment? You just added that keeper in an unusual place, what did you see that made you do that? So, when switching out the groove bars, how do you know they're centered? How did you find center on the combs? Where does it tell you that the fiber need to be set in this 3-1-3 pattern instead of the 1-1 we always use?
Everyone's snappy & short tempered.
All the other beamer folks are muttering about not doing anything all day.... but every time there's a task to do they just stand there looking at each other. I keep standing back waiting to see if anyone that needs the experience is going to participate.... when the supervisor handling the beamer part of the reconfiguring has to repeat his instructions & still nobody moves... I'm the one (the oldest one there!) shimmying under the machine on my back to remove bolts & switch out the combs; climbing inside to set lines on the internal groove bars; hunkering under the catwalk for an hour getting the fiber in the right pattern; squeezing through a 16" access to scrape adhesive buildup of the platten.......
I've got 2 more day shifts to do & then, hopefully, back to my regular nights. This has been soo bad that I'm ready to tell them I DO NOT want to move back to days after all - especially if the opening happens to be on B shift!

.... rant over

My washer got stuck in drain mode Wed night. I googled & youtubed and figured out how to do a system reset (didn't work), then how to put it in diagnostic mode to get error codes.
The codes were pretty vague & it was late so I just dug out anything clean & not too holey to wear Thurs.
Today I'm going to see if I can figure out how to get it running again...... or go to the laundromat & call for a repairman.

On the 'farm front' things are going petty good. Eva is her usual happy, fat, cud-chewing beauty queen.
I did lose a couple of the old chickens during all that terrible cold & wet weather; but I'm getting eggs again... so I'm convinced that they were eating eggs. BAD little cannibal raptors!
I just checked & we're looking for clear weather & mid 60's for the next 3 days.
I've got some cleaning up to do around here - raking pine tags (maybe bed the coop with them?), lots of branches & sticks to get up, a broken window in the coop to remove, and maybe even getting those next 2 garden beds put together & filled with old hay/poo to compost for fall planting.

Sounds like a fabric operation. Ron worked several years at a woolen mill, then when we moved south he worked in a cotton mill until he got a great opportunity to work at the Goodyear tire plant. Nasty, hot, dirty work, but it was steady, some OT, and good pay and benefits. I'm drawing his little pension.

 

[fuzzi]

Best times here to do laundry is in the evening... Sat or Sun night... after 5 or so.... most have "last load" at 8 or there abouts so you have time to dry... but I just tell them that I am not going to dry if it is a little later.. Sat night no one uses them... everyone is "out" somewhere...
NO ONE wants to do laundry on Sat night.....

Mondays are one of the worst days since some people are off work on Mondays... and any of the mornings... then again after school lets out in the afternoon... shift workers that get off at 3 or 4 come in after work alot...

When I have had to replace a washing machine I try to get one that can wash a comforter. I despise laundromats, I spent plenty of time there when my kids were toddlers.

 

[Baymule]

I’ve got to put my sheets in the dryer. I’ve washed them 4 times today. Power blips stopped the washer and its tiny computer bran could understand the power was back on, it cheerfully blinked at me. Poor thing just couldn’t comprehend how to start mid cycle. No problem. Turn off, turn on, press start. Again. Again. Again. And yet again. After the first power off, I used the rinse and cycle, only 19 minutes. But nope. Finally they are done. I wonder if I can get them to dry now?

 

[fuzzi]

I’ve got to put my sheets in the dryer. I’ve washed them 4 times today. Power blips stopped the washer and its tiny computer bran could understand the power was back on, it cheerfully blinked at me. Poor thing just couldn’t comprehend how to start mid cycle. No problem. Turn off, turn on, press start. Again. Again. Again. And yet again. After the first power off, I used the rinse and cycle, only 19 minutes. But nope. Finally they are done. I wonder if I can get them to dry now?