23/10/17

We, that is my wife and I, are away for a couple of days. Instead of driving a truck around the smaller roads of Yorkshire I'm driving a car around the slightly smaller roads of the Lake District.  Here's to the change.
Be back soon.

12/10/07

I am fully back to driving as of today.  I enjoy the change of customers and work that seed dressing offers but I'm glad it doesn't last the whole year.  By the end I'm tired and keen to be back to my normal route.  Some things seem to be getting worse with the declining daylight, namely the cyclists.  Due to the encouragement they are receiving from events like tour de Yorkshire.  I have nothing against cyclists in general but I wish they had the sense to wear high visibility clothing not the black that they seem to find so attractive.  I propose a new set of laws to ensure their saftey
1. The minimum of a high visibility vest and if a rucksack is to be worn this must be high visibility so as not to obscure the vest.
2.  A safety helmet must be worn, No exceptions.
3. After lighting up time a they must have a red light attached to the frame on the rear (NOT FLASHING as this makes distance judgement more difficult.) this light must be bright enough to be seen clearly at a distance of two hundred metres. A front light of sufficient brightness so as to illuminate the road clearly for ten metres in front of the cyclist this light must be attached to the frame of the cycle and must not be flashing.
4.The police should have the power and obligation to fine any offending cyclist a two hundred pound on the spot fine or have the bike crushed.
These measures would give other drivers a chance to keep cyclists safe on the road.  Its time cyclists thought of others who use the road and made sure they are seen.
No more black costumes please.
See you some time.

02/10/17

Nearly done seed dressing, I've been driving today.  Back on my usual area though I only had the local store and two drops.  No I didn't escape that lightly I had another load on my return to base but in the opposite direction , out to the coast.  Sorry I didn't take any pictures.

12/08/17

Still on holiday in Portugal.  Walking down to breakfast this morning I was unaccountably reminded of my view that the only constant is change.  Change is the one inevitable fact of life, everything is subject to change from second to second even if the changes are too slow to see in a whole lifetime they still happen.  Even granite erodes.  For no reason whatsoever my thoughts turned to the inevitable destruction, not only of this hotel but of the whole planet and solar system.  True: that death may be several billion years away and the human race may be long gone by the time that event occurs but it will occur.  Even though all memory of myself and my descendants will have been erased long before that event I still feel sorrow at the thought of the loss.  That may be stupid but that's what I felt on my way down to breakfast, the loss, not only of the moment and all I have known but of the planet and the whole  solar system.  Strange melancholy thoughts for a driver away from home.  See you sometime.

09/08/17

I'm on holiday in Portugal for a week.  I have been busy when not at work so I haven't had time or inclination to comment on work for the last few weeks but I suspect that will change when I get back.  It's not raining here and that's a wonder for both of us.  The summer in the UK has been more miserable than usual, temperatures have been low and it has been wetter than usual for the time of year, though not nearly as bad as 2012.  We have had all the plums from the first tree to ripen, Opal, and will miss most of the second but when we get back the others should follow in succession with either the Marjories seedling or the Haganta last.  Hopefully that will be in October.  My orchard has seventeen varieties of plum.  The first of the apples should be ready when we return though there will only be a few of the first as the trees are young and I haven't allowed them to carry more than a single fruit this year.  The other momentous news is that we are to be grandparents for the first time, we are both looking forward to the event early next year.
See you  when I get back.

27/07/17

I'm still here but haven't managed to switch my computer on.  Even though I have switched off automatic updates it's still slowing down.  In my opinion automatic updates are designed to ensure most computers grind to a halt in around three years in the hope that you the user will be forced into buying a new machine which will only last another three years.  So as to stop those of us who circumvent this by switching off the damned updates they invented the abomination Windows 8 and when it proved to be so poor that users were refusing to buy they modified it and called it Windows 10 which I don't like either.  In my opinion Microsoft haven't made any improvements since windows XP and that wasn't much better than Windows 95.  I'm thinking of trying a chrome book when I have to upgrade.  I will be back.

15/06/17

Been busy and too tired to turn the computer on at night. Perhaps it's my age, yet I think that's the problem I'm getting old.  But on the good side I'm getting old and I'm here to get old and that's good.  The work has been getting less now, but that's normal for the time of year, agriculture is still very seasonal and it will pick up as the seasons turn.  I am now seeing young magpies flying about and every time I see one I wonder how many song thrush chicks have gone into producing one more unnecessary magpie.  If everyone destroyed a magpie in early spring I wonder how big an increase there would be in the population of small birds.  But on the good side I suspect our local blackbird population is busy raising the second clutch of the year.  In this area we do remove as many magpies as possible.  I haven't seen any young buzzards yet but going by the number of buzzards I'm seeing there should be some.  I'm also seeing barn owls on a regular basis so they must be feeding young.  The population seems to be recovering from the two very hard winters we had in 2008 and 2009.  The poor things won't eat road kill, unlike tawny owls, so a large part of the population starved to death, very sad.
See you tomorrow.

08/06/17

Another day gone in a rush and a blur.  I still haven't got my truck back the mechanical geniuses have taken it to bits, you'd think  they would have something better to do but apparently not. So I have the pleasure of the spare truck for another day.  What fun!! The day went reasonably well but I wasn't able to complete my collection as the weigh bridge closed at three pm.  Why?  Three pm close?  Weird! But apart from that everything went well despite the spare truck.
See you tomorrow.

07/06/17

Today has been silly and irritating by turns.  Firstly I was sent to the edge of York to collect ten tonnes of feed that wasn't ready until tomorrow.  Back to base and try again. The next load was more successful, three deliveries, everything available and everything delivered okay.  Then the first and second collections okay but then back to the edge of York to try to collect what wasn't available until tomorrow, again.  No wonder they looked at me as if I'm daft, but as I explained I'm just a driver and go where I'm sent.  But what wasn't available until tomorrow was available if I was willing to wait for a quarter of an hour.  And they think I'm daft.  The trouble was that I now had three tonnes loaded and hence was unable to collect the whole of the order as I would have been well over my weight.  What fun.  I ended up back in the yard by half past five fully loaded.   I have had the spare truck all day as mine was in for service, now our mechanical geniuses have found a bearing and an oil seal that need replacing and I can't have it back until Friday at the earliest.  I could cry or I could swear, BUGGER IT.  Can't do with tears.
See you tomorrow.

06/06/17

It's been raining nearly all day and I came home damp.  The wet weather seems to have effected peoples ability to use their indicators  but otherwise the rain hasn't bothered me.
Unfortunately Radio 4 was  broadcasting election rubbish on and off nearly all day.  I made the mistake of listening to some of it, by acciadent as I was concentrating on driving.  I heard the woman conducting the interview ask one of the politicians what their party would do to address a particular problem.  Instead of answering this particular example of disgusting scum (politician) tried to tell us what the opposing parties were doing wrong.  Luckily the woman conducting the interview pulled the politician (disgusting scum) up short and eventually brought it back to the point in question.  Politicians really sicken me off, I find them all equally offensive.
But otherwise the day has been good and all but one drop went well.  I was unable to complete one drop as the customer wasn't answering the phone and the address only gave the village and street, not the house name or number.  The street is approx three quarters of a mile long with houses on both sides.  Not a chance.  I'll leave the powers that be to get a slightly more specific address.
See you tomorrow.

02/06/17

Friday, thank goodness, it was a particularly frustrating day.  Firstly we had a drivers meeting at 7am and that's never good.  Next I was sent to Helmsley store with a load of stock, that wasn't and never is a problem, next came the problem.  I was sent to Scarbrough area with deliveries, I don't know the area but this wouldn't have been a problem but it was Friday , I was going to an area where I only knew one drop and I didn't get out of the yard until half past eleven.  In a word "CRAP", and don't normally swear, well not much.  Just after five pm when I had called the number for my second to last drop and got the answering service for a customer who wanted nine railway sleepers I gave up and came back with the last two drops.  I hate returning with my work unfinished but it was Friday I was going out , he was taking the mickey, and that isn't the expression I am thinking.  So someone else can sort that out on Monday, not my problem, that's why I'm no longer self-employed.  Any other day of the week I would have completed the work with no complaint and if I'm not going anywhere on Saturday I'm happy to come in on Saturday morning but on Friday I finish by five.  As it was it was six when I clocked off, not a happy bunny.
See you Monday

31/05/17

The last day of May, thank goodness.  I don't like May it seems a month for problems to occur.  Today has been hot again.  The heat wouldn't be difficult if it warmed up in spring and just continued warming until summer.  We would get used to the heat, but as you know it doesn't happen like that.  We seem to be keeping busy at work, not as manic as earlier in the year but busy enough.  I have nothing to report about the work today, it went easily enough though it was nearly six when I clocked off.  We ate our evening meal outside and had the pleasure of watching a buzzard being mobbed by crows as it was trying to gain height on a thermal.  The poor thing made three attempts before it finally rid itself of the crows.  See you tomorrow.

25/05/14

Today has been hot by UK standards.  The trouble with our weather is that it always takes us by surprise.  Last week it was cold, wet and miserable and from that it's gone to hot, it's all a bit of a shock to us, though we should expect it.  If it gradually warmed up with the advent of spring we would be used to it by the time it was hot, but no, it goes from cold to hot with nothing in between.  It's no wonder we spend so much time talking about the weather.  Back to the work, I do wish that car drivers would realise that it's irritating and dangerous to rush past me at the end of a piece of dual carriageway and then brake.  My stopping distance is worked out and is safe but to have some idiot pass me then brake up leaves me no option but to brake quickly.  It happens time and time again on the A64, the idiots are only gaining the length of my truck , why take the risk.  And while I'm on the subject of idiots in cars when will some drivers learn that there is nothing but danger in tail gating a truck.  We can't see you if you can't see our mirrors the only indication we have that something is close in is the shadow that is cast if the sun is at an angle to cast  shadows.  The practice doesn't irritate truck drivers as it does other car drivers because we can't see you and it's possibly dangerous for the idiot who's so close in.  And for my last rant of the day it's cyclists, for goodness sake wear a high vis vest or the equivalent.  Black Lycra doesn't show up in shadows when we are facing the sun.  Three times today I've come up behind cyclists in black lycra riding along in the shadow of roadside trees while I have had the sun in my eyes.  If you really want to die go jump off the Humber bridge then you get your wish and other motorists don't have to explain things to the police and fill in unwanted paper work.  Show some concern for other road users, give us a chance to see and avoid squashing you.  And finally, don't you think that men wearing, what amounts to, thick black tights is a little odd or at least a little Tudor.

See you tomorrow.

24/05/17

I?ve not been out of the yard today.  Our company puts us through a day towards our CPC every year and today was my day.  While it isn't fun the instructor made the best of it and I managed not to fall asleep and the first aid part of the training was useful.
See you tomorrow.

23/05/17

I would like to express my sorrow at what happened in Manchester. I know it won't help but I would also like to express my sympathy for those effected by the horror.

17/05/17

Guess what! I got wet  again today, not as wet as yesterday but wet all the same.  Perhaps I should start wearing my waterproofs.  Not wearing them could be what's causing the problem.  Once again I had two loads to a local store before starting a delivery run usually completed by one of the other drivers but at least i didn't have a collection as well, unlike yesterday.  Even though I wasn't loaded the night before the work went well enough and I was finished by half past fire.  I managed to ignore most of the political clap trap today so the world seemed a better place.  Yes I know I could switch the wireless off but I like listening as I'm driving.  All in all it would be better if the politicians shut up and kept their lies to themselves then they would be fooling the only people to believe them, themselves.  I'm feeling grumpy because the Tesco web site isn't working correctly and I can't complete our shopping order for the week.  One more try them I'm giving up until tomorrow.  See you then.

16/05/17

It's raining, the roads are wet and so am I. At least it's not cold.  The trouble with warm rain is that I tend to ignore it until I suddenly find I'm soaked through.  I'm sure it will be good for the crops, it will even be good for my orchard but the driver doesn't appreciate being unexpectedly wet.  Wet is nearly as bad as listening to politicians who have been mistakenly given air space, trying to convince us that their lies are better than those told by the opposition.  I don't keep my hatred of politicians for any particular party I spread it to cover the whole disgusting lot.
Apart from being wet, did I mention I got wet? The day went well enough even given the fact that I was loaded the night before and had to do a local store delivery first followed closely by a second load to the same store.  All very irritating as the store doesn't open until eight and after the first two loads I had to complete my normal days work which all ran late and I didn't finish until six thirty in the evening.  See you tomorrow.

15/05/17

Today we have had rain! Not the heavy drenching rain we were promised by our weather forecasting teams, just regular and constant drizzle.  At least it wasn't particularly cold.  If weather were an expression today would sum up my enthusiasm for the UK's up and coming election.  Yes, once again we are choosing which group's lies we like best and picking them to act as our government for the next five years.  The whole damned thing must be a hugh waste of money and is, as usual, extremely boring.   But I will be voting, not to do so would be to belittle the sacrifice made by our forebears, a sacrifice that gave and maintained our freedom.  So no matter what I think about the various parties involved and the pathetic back biting they involve themselves in I will vote.  But that's enough of my views of politicians, back to the day.  The work went well everything was completed as required with no incidents to report.  See you tomorrow.  

12/05/17

Friday again, work has gone reasonably well, everything arrived where the customer required it.  Funnily enough its wasn't always at the address which my paperwork claimed was the delivery address.  But that's not unusual though things usually work out without too much trouble.  I forgot to say on yesterdays post that the day was mad, four full loads all reached their destination, for a change everything worked perfectly and I was back in the yard by five, amazing! Back to today, nothing exceptional to report as I said,
See you Monday

11/05/17

The swifts have come back.  I saw the first while I was at work, can't remember where, and the second flight when I arrived home.  What a wonderful sight to greet me at home.  As usual I heard them before I saw them, screaming as they dash between the houses of our little village.  The swallows were late but I think the swifts were back early, perhaps not very early, but early.  They're drab coloured little birds without the advantage of a beautiful song and can't take off if they land of the ground but their redemption is their design, they are built to fly.  In fact they take life in the air to extreme, even sleeping on the wing, never landing until they nest for the first time.  It's a pleasure to see them return.
See you tomorrow.

10/05/17

Today has been the warmest day of the year so far and on the good side and totally unrelated to the weather and sunshine, it looks as if we are getting super fast broadband in our village.  At last and about time.  And to change the subject entirely has anyone else noticed how few swallows we have in the country this year?  Farms that look as if they should be home to ten of more pairs seem to have only a single pair.  I know one swallow doesn't make a summer but can we have a summer with no swallows?
See you tomorrow.

08/05/17

I've been trying g to find out if two apple varieties montioned by Robert Hogg around one hundred and sixty years ago are still in existence. They are the Siberian Harvey and the Siberian Bitter Sweet. If anyone knows of either of these app!es p!ease let me know. From their description it is just possible that they would both produce high quality juice here in Yorkshire. I'm trying to produce cider, yes I know I'm too far north, but that's where I live so I will try to choose varieties that give good juice here. The cider was good this year, I didn't muck it up this time, there just wasn't enough of it.
See you tomorrow.

Profound Thought

As I have aged I have eventually come to realise that the only constant in life is change.  To live is to change.
See you Monday

03/05/17

Apologies.  I have been a very poor blogger for the last couple of months.  I have been distracted by my orchard and by truing to brew mead.  Both endeavours seem to be progressing reasonably well now.  Though I did go to the expense of buying some heather honey at great expense, hoping to make superior mead, so far it seems to have produced the opposite.  For the moment I am going to give it the benefit of doubt and put the bottles aside until next year in the hope it will improve.  The problem I have with brewing is that, so far, I haven't brewed anything in a large enough quantity to allow me to sample on a regular basis and keep some long enough to age correctly.  I have hopes that one day I will brew in large enough quantities.   I very nearly threw my first batch of mead out as it tasted like petrol.  Thankfully I did a little reading on the net and discovered that , early in it's life, it often tastes that way due to fusel alcohol.  But according to what I read the chemical taste fades and disappears with ageing.  From my tasting the comments are correct.  But that's enough of that for the moment, back to the driving.  Apart from the lead up to the bank holidays the roads have been reasonable though I did notice someone had attempted to drive through the road barriers on the Ouse bridge.  Not a good idea, the drop to the water is a long one , not fun.
See you tomorrow.  Perhaps.

06/04/17

Some customers seem unable to get up in a morning.  It's twenty past eight and I'm sitting in front of a locked gate waiting for the customer to wake up. Oh well that's life sometimes.

21/03/17

Today is the day before my daughters thirtieth birthday.  How am I old enough to have a daughter of thirty and how has the time gone so quickly?
I have been seed dressing for the last two days and not with my machine.  My usual machine has died and is undergoing resurrection, poor thing!  Hence I have been lumbered with the other damned machine and I hate it.  It blows dust and chaff all over the customers yard and in the gutters as the cyclone isn't large enough to cope with the output from the fan.  The mixer has a habit of stopping for no apparent reason, thus blocking up the treater feed auger.  This usually happens once a day but if I'm lucky it will happen once with every new customer.  The thing should be broken for scrap or given e descent burial or possibly an indecent one. As you will have gathered I hate the thing.  Otherwise the day has gone well, even the customer whom I dread, due to his inability to organise a drinking party in an alcohol production establishment, behaved in a semi reasonable way.  See you tomorrow.

Thoughts on toasters

I wonder if there is a technical reason why toaster manufacturer's are not able to build a toaster which fits a full slice of bread and toasts it all. If I were to build a toaster I would measure several slices of bread and design it to fit them so as to toast both sides fully. But I'm not a design engineer so what do I know?
See you Monday.

Why does no one read posts from my android pad?

17/03/17

Back to driving today and had a much better day thank goodness.

16/03/17

Today was horrible from start to finish. I was seed dressing and as mine is being repaired i had to use the other machine. It hadn't been cleaned out by the last users, what a mess.  The thing is hard work if it is clean but with an auger bunged up with wet grain not good. The thing needs scrapping yesterday .

15/03/17

I must apologise to the driver who I cut up on a roundabout on the A63 this morning.  The truck has a blind spot caused by the door mirror and if circumstances are such that my speed on approaching a roundabout keeps a car behind the mirror it is possible that I don't see it until I have caused it to slow or stop.  I usually move forward in the seat just before entering a roundabout to clear the blind spot, this morning I failed to do so.  So I apologise for my lack of care, I am usually better than that.  Otherwise the day went well, we had no rain snow or sleet and very little wind and just to top it off we had some sunshine.  The bad news it that I'm seed dressing tomorrow and my dresser is still under repair as the generator set finally failed after over seven thousand hours operating in cereal dust.  Can't say I blame it I sometimes feel like failing after a full day in those conditions.  See you tomorrow.

14/03/17

I've been busy at work for the last couple of weeks and when I got back I've been too tired to add to this blog but things seem to have calmed down now so I'm back.  Today has been a descent day, not too onerous and it wasn't raining, snowing or anything else horrible.  I even got a little sunshine to cheer things along.  I was back in the yard by half past four and finished by five, unlike last Monday, quarter past nine, and that after a six am start.  By the end of the day I'd had enough, especially since the third to last drop involved me driving through Doncaster at the busiest time, not good.  Our new transport co-coordinator seems to be settling in well enough.  Now that is a horrible job, everyone gets at the person in that position, us the management and the customers and sometimes other office staff as well.  The poor lad did look a little stressed by the middle of last week but he seems to be recovering well.
See you tomorrow.

01/03/17

The first of March already, the year is one sixth gone and it's only just started.  It'll be Christmas before I know it.  But that's enough of that.  On a more cheerful note it has been a good day here and I've been off work for the day, using my last day of holiday before the end of the month.  We aren't supposed to carry any time over to the next holiday year and it starts again in April.  Monday was a longer day than I thought it would be when I set off in the morning.  I got diverted to another collection south of Lincoln so I had a late finish.  Tuesday I had Easingwold store before starting my normal run and I had to do the collection that I'd been diverted from the day before as well as the collection that was booked for the day.  I was told the second collection was only a small one, about three pallets.  Looking at the ticket I made it eleven. As it turned out I was correct, eleven as well as four from the missed collection.  Weight wasn't a problem as the goods were light and I doubt if I had eight tonnes in total but I was full. On the good side this year has been the best year for snowdrops that I have known.  I have a height advantage from my driving position and from the truck seat I see more than anyone in a car can.  The snowdrops have been and still are putting on a great display.  These small white flowers add a wonderful dash of colour  to the otherwise dull February countryside.  See you tomorrow, I'm back at work.

15/02/17

Today has varied from cloud, to light fog and occasional sunshine, what I haven't had in out area is rain or snow.  So it's been a good day weather wise.  The work hasn't been bad either.  So far as I know everything has been delivered to the correct customer in good order.  So I suppose the day has been a success.  It hasn't been a particularly exciting day but I'm happy with it and now I'm tired and ready for bed.  See you tomorrow.

14/02/17

Valentine's day I just knew it would be bad and it didn't disappoint. I have always thought that valentine's day was a con thought up by card manufacturer's to get them over the after Christmas lull and I have seen nothing to change my opinion.  Perhaps my wife disagrees but we do occasionally hold different opinions so that's that. I was asked to take asked to take someone elses load to an address that wasn't on the ticket. I was given clear direction so far so good. I found the place from said directions. No one there. I made a call. I had been given the correct directions to the wrong place. Great. Luckily I  did eventually find d the right place but it was all without and despite our office staff. Idiot's.  I don't think a clear and correct delivery address is too much to ask but sometimes is seems it is.
See you tomorrow, that is if I have the right address for tomorrow.

13/02/17

Seed dressing , with a possible apprentice today. The job didn't seem to scare him so perhaps he will do, we will see. The trouble is the powers that be will think that once he has been out with me he will be able to RR in the machine! When we got back to base our safety consultant issued me with a rubber apron and a drain cover. He then proceeded to instruct me on how to use a drain cover. Apparently you place it over the drain. Amazing, I wouldn't have thought a drain cover was to go over a drain, why didn't I think of that?
See you tomorrow.

10/02/17

What an exciting day I have had.  I have been seed dressing again, so far so good.  The first customer was easy enough six tonnes of spring barley with single purpose dressing and all went extremely well.  I like going to this customer, they are well set up I work under cover with plenty of air flowing through to take away the dust, all very good.  I enjoy working there and like the customer. Once again so far so good, but!  The but, next two tonnes of beans.  Again I like the customer the set up is good, on concrete and outside, clean and easy.  But the seed was two tonnes of beans.  The dresser will cope with beans, usually, but not today.  I changed the riddles and got everything set up then started the beans running through.  Everything seemed okay, the first fifty kilos went through okay so I climbed on the back to set the dresser and then it went wrong.  The customer came round to tell me there was a belt slipping.  By the time I got round to the controls the belts on the bag auger had burnt through.  Guess whet, no one in the area had any A42 V belts.  The customer took me round several likley suppliers but non available, the last chance was back to base.  The mill engineering genus had two A40 V belts that he thought just might do.  Oh well, best try!  To fit them I had to slacken off the adjustment, this brought the shaft of the motor into contact with a metalo plate.  That contact stopped me being able to turn the pulley and hence fit the belts.  My only option was to tighten the adjustment just enough to enable the shaft to turn but of course this made the belts harder to fit. And yes I said belts not belt, two of them to force onto the pulleys and they were an inch too short.  But I managed it and I'm still alive.  But I did swear a little, well more than a little.  i finally got the job done and with a little luck the customer didn't think the worse of me for the problem.  I re fitted the guard in the warmth of the garage back at base.  I omitted to say that all of the fitting took place outside while it was snowing and raining in turns.  I love spring seed dressing.
See you Monday for more seed dressing.  I broke my Friday rule and looked at my tickets.  What a mistake.

09/02/17

Seed dressing today.  When I first started seed dressing I imagined working in beautiful spring weather enjoying being outside.  How wrong I was.  The reality of spring seed dressing is working outside in snow, rain, frost and mud.  It really isn't as much fun at this time of year.  The memories of being so hot that I tried to park with the working area in the shade to avoid the summer heat are now dim and unbelievable memories.  Yes I know summer will come round again and perhaps I'll be complaining about the heat by then.  In truth I don't mind the cold I can work to keep warm, what I hate is avoiding rain and snow running down my neck.  And even worse is the mud, trying to keep the bags clean is a problem.  To make matters worse at the moment I have no heater in the truck cab and I have to keep the fan running to avoid steaming up. I will work with the problem tomorrow but after that I'm spitting my dummy out and refusing to drive the machine unless the problem is fixed.  And as for the other dresser, in my opinion, it requires two people to operate it correctly.  I have operated it on my own but it isn't easy and it can't be operated to its best with one operator.  But it's Friday tomorrow, then two days off.  See you tomorrow.

07/02/17

Frustrating! A simple word but it describes my work today perfectly.  Not much went wrong, other than trying to deliver a tonne of sheep food to a customer who doesn't keep sheep.  He looked at me as if I were cracking up even though I was at the correct place according to my delivery note.  Wouldn't life be simple if we were able to deliver to the delivery address we are provided with.  But I had to start and fathom out who had ordered a tonne of sheep food and get a ticket reprinted at one of our stores.  It eventually arrived at the correct customer but I ran short of time for my collection as they stop loading at half past four and I left the last customer at quarter to five and was still a half hour from the collection.  I hate leaving work undone, very frustrating.  But there's always tomorrow and everything will get done eventually.  

I wonder if President Trump follows that philosophy.  I don/t dislike President Trump, I'm not sure if his approach is correct but his actions usually provoke someone.  I think his term in office will be interesting for everyone.  

See you tomorrow.

06/02/17

No paperwork this morning so I'm nearly at the back of the queue waiting to load in the fog  so far I've wasted nearly two hours with nothing achieved.  Not a good start to the week.
See you tomorrow.

01/02/17

The day started very badly and went down hill until I finished work.  We had a lot of rain during the night and the ditch that runs along side of my orchard was running very full.  I built a sand trap on in front of the potted section last summer and as I expected the grate in front of the pipe was blocked by leaves that had washed down the ditch;.  It was about twenty to six in the morning and still fully dark when I went out to clear it before going to work.  I looped the strap of my torch around my wrist in case I dropped it whilst raking out the leaves and sticks.  As expected I dropped it, as not expected the damned strap broke and it fell into the murky water.  It was, as I have said, pitch dark and my torch was in the bottom of the sand trap, yes I did swear a little and then some.  It didn't help.  I managed to rake the remaining detritus off the grate and gave up on my torch, meaning to order another from Amazon during the day, I forgot.  The day went further down hill as it progressed but I don't intend to  recite the details but on the good side i did get finished by half past four.  When I got home there was enough light for me to shovel out the muck from the bottom of the sand trap.  yes I found my torch covered in mud and it was still on and working.  I didn't believe it but the thing had spend eleven hours submerged in mud and water and had survived and was still shining.  It wasn't sold as waterproof but this one is.  The batteries did run out by the end of the week but I forgave them all things considered.  See you Monday.

31/01/12

Today has been frustrating.  Nothing went wrong but everything took too long for my liking and the drops were such that I couldn't make a sensible route from the tickets.  And to make things worse my truck is due for a service and MOT so I am loosing it for the next three days and what I'm left with is a heap of c**p that won't manoeuvre well in small spaces.  In fact I won't be able to get into one of tomorrows drops unless the customer doesn't mind me taking out  one of his gate posts on the way in and possibly the other on the way out.  I don't think so. see you tomorrow.

30/01/17

The day started well enough but a nail in my off side front tyre has brought me to a standstill.  Luckily I was close to Ian Brown tyres and made it to their yard. What fun.

25/01/17

Sorry I've been falling asleep in my chair after tea and by the time I wake up I can't be bothered to wait for my computer to boot up.  The week so far has gone well, apart from the fog, but the poor visibility has only served to slow me down.  Everything has still got to where it was supposed to go so no problem there.  I have done my first seed dressing for the season, two customers with two and a half tonnes each. So far as I could tell that went well enough.  I had to re calibrate the chemical pumps as the chemical flows much more slowly in the cold weather.  I have only one grumble about the day, badly mannered speed warning signs.  I was travelling through a village today at approx 25 miles per hour when a sign lit up telling me to slow down as the speed limit was 30 miles per hour.  Very irritating.  I like the signs that flash red when you approach and change to green with a smiley or a thank you when you adjust your speed.  Silly, perhaps, but that's the way I like it.
See you tomorrow perhaps.

18/01/17

Yet another dismal January day, I'm referring to the weather, not my mood.  Unlike the weather I've been happy enough with the day.  The work went well, everything appeared to get to the correct places, the customers seemed happy enough and best of all I was back in my own truck.  Yesterday I had to drive one of the other trucks.  It's newer, quieter, has a bigger engine and it will carry more but I like my old truck better, so there!  I spent all day grumbling to myself about the uncomfortable seat only to find, at the end of the day, there were three buttons which I hadn't seen.  You've guessed it, they made the final alterations to the seat, I could have been comfortable.  My suffering was completely unnecessary if only I had known how to adjust the seat.  Why are things so complicated? Perhaps it's me.  See you tomorrow.

13/01/12

Friday, not a  bad day at all, everything went well enough except for the last delivery.  It was a drop I hadn't done previously, after looking at the drop on Google maps I chose the most likely way in, one I could back out of reasonably safely and tried.  I had a choice, either take off several wing mirrors on my way in or back out.  I chose to back out which I accomplished, with due care, safely.  I had a look at the alternative way in as  I passed on my way back and didn't like the look of it.  Backing out of that entrance couldn't be done in safety unless I had someone watching.  Of course it may be that I could drive in, back up to the house, complete the drop and drive out safely but unless I am able to speak to the customer or find someone who knows the route I have no idea what the road is like.  I did try calling the customer but there was no one home, I'll try again on Monday.  I hate drops on housing estates you never know what the problems are until you get there and then it's often too late you're already in the s**t.  See you Monday.

11/01/17

Sitting waiting for a customer to unload me, watching a storm drift passed.  The wind is bad enough to rock the vehicle,  it's hard hat time when moving the curtains. I'm waiting out my half hour break in a farm yard at Barton upon Humber. I wanted to be back across the Humber bridge but it's closed to high sided vehicles due to high winds. I need to be about six miles from here in a straight line but I'll have to go thirty miles round. But that's life sometimes. On the good side I'm on pay and I'm not paying for the diesel.  Some times working for someone else is great. See you tomorrow.

10/01/17

I have just suffered the indignity of being bitten by a dig. I usually get on very well with dogs. I meet many in the course of my work and greet them all in a friendly manner   nearly all respond well some keep their distance. I only know of two that are real problems, and that's fine they are guarding their patch. What I hate is sneaky sheep dogs that lack the courage to come straight at you.  I am temprementally unsuited to get along with sheep dogs the breed are all sneaky and sly. The thing didn't draw blood but I'm still furious that the disgusting thing thought it had the right. The thing was extremely lucky it dodged away quickly and that it's owners appeared before I had chance to retaliate. Perhaps there will be no one there except it on a future occasion. Here's to that occasion,  this is war. See you tomorrow

09/01/17

Days like today serve to further convince me that in a perfect world I would be somewhere warmer, drier and with much more daylight from November to March. I don't mind cold, cold is good what I don't like short wet dark days, the sort of day we have had today. Clear crisp frosty days are a real pleasure they make it good to be alive, but where are they? That's enough a out the weather for now, it isn't a perfect world so I'll just have to put up with what I'm given and be thankful. Today has been busy, no time to eat or drink. Yes I did manage to show the correct breaks. There's not much more I can say about today's work, the day passed quickly. See you tomorrow.

08/01/16

Its Sunday and No I'm not at work. Its just that I've been very lax this week so I thought I'd best say something otherwise people might have thought I forgotten about the blog.  On Friday, at least I think it was Friday, I was listening to BBC Radio 4 again, bad habit? Well possibly.  But it was announced that thirty four people had been made redundant because they were being replaced by AI.  Yes artificial intelligence took thirty four jobs in Japan.  More losses are predicted to AI in the coming years.  This made me think. If everyone is made redundant and replaced buy AI what will people do for money?  When everyone has run out of money how are people going to buy the goods and services that are produced by the AI units? If people can't purchase the goods and services produced by the AI units what is the point of the AI units?  The AI units are producing things that can't be sold so they are no longer needed, therefore they are made redundant.  So what use replacing people with AI.  Just something to think about for a Sunday night.
See you tomorrow.