tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post801525448266629695..comments2024-03-22T05:18:29.555-04:00Comments on Romance Bandits: She Thinks My Tractor's SexyLoucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217492654108300014noreply@blogger.comBlogger126125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-72248060191405631632008-10-10T16:22:00.000-04:002008-10-10T16:22:00.000-04:00I love and adore this post! I heart, this post!I'...I love and adore this post! I heart, this post!<BR/><BR/>I'm married to a farmer...he's nice, handsome, smart, owns many tractors - drives a big truck, has lots of tools (lots of'em) and can make, build, drive, weld, anything.<BR/><BR/>He is completely and totally CAPABLE.<BR/><BR/>:-)<BR/><BR/>I'm gonna' have to pass this on!<BR/><BR/>Happy Thursday!Farmer*swife a/k/a Glass_Half_Fullhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06369013637299261668noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-83166708543705976952008-05-09T12:09:00.000-04:002008-05-09T12:09:00.000-04:00Thanks, Cassondra, for your kind words on my blog....Thanks, Cassondra, for your kind words on my blog. And yes, he was a bonafide Scottish farmer. Don't remember how he looked, but I sure can picture exactly how his tractor looked in that muddy field. We were rooming with a different farmer in Stonehaven and they were nice enough to provide us with the rags and hoses and water to clean off the car. Took us a few hours. What a tale to tell though!Keira Soleorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14440213826734580889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-34850913883023042542008-05-09T00:43:00.000-04:002008-05-09T00:43:00.000-04:00Thanks so much to everyone who came out for a ride...Thanks so much to everyone who came out for a ride on the tractor with me today. I loved all of your stories.<BR/><BR/>What a fun day!<BR/><BR/>See you again tomorrow--it's off to bed for me.Cassondrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07420982030156788059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-74529324302576547412008-05-09T00:41:00.000-04:002008-05-09T00:41:00.000-04:00Thanks Minna!The drying cupboard is interesting BT...Thanks Minna!<BR/><BR/>The drying cupboard is interesting BTW. I often put my dishes away a bit wet because...well...I'm just too lazy to dry dishes. If they haven't dried all the way in the drain rack I figure what the heck, I'll use them again in a few hours anyhow!<BR/><BR/>They're talking about charging for our grocery bags here too. I'll go broke if they do because I can't remember to put canvas bags back in my car. I must own a dozen and they lie there lonely. :0/Cassondrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07420982030156788059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-14842398901594840492008-05-09T00:24:00.000-04:002008-05-09T00:24:00.000-04:00You Know You Have Been In Finland Too Long, When.....You Know You Have Been In Finland Too Long, When... <BR/>You rummage through your plastic bag collection to see which ones you should keep to take to the store and which can be sacrificed to garbage. <BR/>The plastic bags - formerly free, now costing about EUR 0.10-0.15 - supplied by Finnish shopkeepers are vastly superior to those in other countries and the small black plastic bin-bags (not the BIG ones that line dustbin/garbage cans, but the little ones for in-home use) are pretty poor, and everyone uses the plastic shopping bags as temporary storage for garbage till it gets chucked out.<BR/><BR/>You don't think twice about putting the wet dishes away in the cupboard to dry. <BR/>I've heard this cupboard where you put wet dishes to dry is a Finnish invention. Not to mention we don't have the British habit of not rinsing plates before they are put to the cupboard to dry. The plates and other things are rinsed in hot clean water and then you put them to the cupboard dry. Unless you have a dishwasher, of course.<BR/><BR/>Silence is fun. <BR/>This would take too long to explain. Take a look at When Cultures Collide and Finland, Cultural Lonewolf by Richard D. Lewis.Minnahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04150644876765079753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-56501462242261208692008-05-08T23:39:00.000-04:002008-05-08T23:39:00.000-04:00Oh, and yes I'm fine. Thank you for asking. It d...Oh, and yes I'm fine. Thank you for asking. It didn't qualify as an accident really--just a "wheel off the ground" sort of aggravation. I've seen lots of cars like that but until this incident, I'd never had it happen. Always managed to steer clear of deep holes and culverts. My poor little mail car lives a hard life and has seen worse over the past winter and it's okay too.<BR/><BR/>In truth though, since the whole culver thing brought about my hunky, competent farmer experience, I wouldn't take it back and undo it. ;0)Cassondrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07420982030156788059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-59168022945639026562008-05-08T23:35:00.000-04:002008-05-08T23:35:00.000-04:00Kiera, that's a GREAT story. And I must have miss...Kiera, that's a GREAT story. And I must have missed it the first time you shared it. That's awesome. Pulled out of the mud by a Scottish farmer?<BR/><BR/><I> Wouldn't take the money we held out. "Nae necessary."</I><BR/><BR/>Par for the course. That's a farmer for you. Glad to know they're still good people no matter where in the world they farm!<BR/><BR/>I have not seen a tractor limo, though I have seen some VERY long tractors. Some of them here are so large they're articulated. Some are articulated TWICE and run on big tracks instead of wheels. Now I have a personal bias against that type of "tracked" tractor. I think it sort of doesn't qualify as a real tractor--more like heavy equipment or something--and belongs in a different category. But they're not asking me, so....there you go.<BR/><BR/>BTW Kiera, YOUR blog this week was wonderful!Cassondrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07420982030156788059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-52232771293062228442008-05-08T23:09:00.000-04:002008-05-08T23:09:00.000-04:00Cassondra, oh my goodness. Are you alright?? Your ...Cassondra, oh my goodness. Are you alright?? Your poor car.<BR/><BR/>I'd like to know if there's such a thing as a tractor-limo. I've been in a hummer-limo, so there's still hope for a tractor-limo, because that's the only way you're going to convince me to ride a tractor that moves.<BR/><BR/><I>Cassondra wrote, "For me, confidence is a matter of competence. Of being capable and knowing it."</I><BR/><BR/>Yes!! That is why those confident-sounding marketing students (no experience) cause me to gnash my teeth. A real pain in the rear. Worse than ignorance is brash hubris.<BR/><BR/>I have mentioned my own rescue by a farmer in a tractor before here in The Lair, but I'll do so again. This was in the middle of farmland in rural NE Scotland. My brother and I were attending an honest-to-goodness country fair AKA the Highland Games. It started raining half an hour after we got there. It dripped for two hours, after which the games were over. And the nice dry patch of ground we'd parked in? Yup, a mud puddle. And we had this dinky Ford POS. We tried various thing and all we did was ended up with mud from head to foot (and in my ear--don't ask). Along came a farmer with his ginormous tractor. Pulled up right out and gave a nice big grin. Wouldn't take the money we held out. "Nae necessary."Keira Soleorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14440213826734580889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-53294184481038826722008-05-08T23:02:00.000-04:002008-05-08T23:02:00.000-04:00Kirsten said:I will never understand why some peop...Kirsten said:<BR/><BR/><I>I will never understand why some people believe their needs are more important than the needs of people around them. It's very odd. </I><BR/><BR/>Ha! I don't get it either. And I bet there wasn't ONE tractor in your neighborhood Kirsten. <BR/><BR/>Hmmmm. Maybe that was the trouble.Cassondrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07420982030156788059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-59453459208115440352008-05-08T22:26:00.001-04:002008-05-08T22:26:00.001-04:00Cassondra and Nancy, I totally agree with you on t...Cassondra and Nancy, I totally agree with you on the noise and loud car thing. I find this so offensive. Our first house was in a tough part of town, and though there were drugs being dealt across the street, and the occasional shooting down the block, the thing that really drove us out of the neighborhood was the noise. Made us very sad, actually. I will never understand why some people believe their needs are more important than the needs of people around them. It's very odd.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-64101993398680251382008-05-08T22:26:00.000-04:002008-05-08T22:26:00.000-04:00Caren (Posh) said:Now many of the people I have no...Caren (Posh) said:<BR/><BR/><I>Now many of the people I have no respect for wear suits.</I><BR/><BR/>Hey, not <I>all</I> farmers are Knights in Shining Armor either of course. <BR/><BR/>Still. I think I run upon fewer folks with an unfortunate sense of entitlement when I go for the jeans and boots kind of guys.Cassondrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07420982030156788059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-82567348472543438992008-05-08T22:23:00.000-04:002008-05-08T22:23:00.000-04:00P226 said:My active imagination can conjure little...P226 said:<BR/><BR/><I>My active imagination can conjure little more terrifying than the thought of a nine month pregnant woman wielding a sledgehammer</I><BR/><BR/>You know, when a woman is pregnant and wants her house renovated, it's not the time to argue with her. (grin) Hand her the sledgehammer and stand back. WAY back.Cassondrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07420982030156788059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-51236226059536395932008-05-08T22:21:00.000-04:002008-05-08T22:21:00.000-04:00Nancy, recently the restaurants I frequent have be...Nancy, recently the restaurants I frequent have been turning their music up WAY loud. At least, it seems loud to me, in comparison to the volume at which they used to play it.<BR/><BR/>I frequently request them to turn it down just a tad. And sometimes just a tad more.<BR/><BR/>I hadn't put it together until this blog, but I'm wondering if it doesn't seem that loud to half their customers because those customers can't hear?Cassondrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07420982030156788059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-86906344222474692022008-05-08T22:18:00.000-04:002008-05-08T22:18:00.000-04:00Posh said:I have struggled to teach my kids how to...Posh said:<BR/><BR/><I>I have struggled to teach my kids how to be fixers rather than replacers. These days, it gets tougher to find capable men all the time.</I><BR/><BR/>Amen Posh, AMEN!<BR/><BR/>It's hard to teach kids a skill when few others around them practice it. And I guess, based on my Marine corps mom's experience, that young girls are tending to "settle" for what I (and she) consider's a wuss because, well, there aren't a whole lot of capable guys out there. <BR/><BR/>People whine "he's only fifteen, what do you expect?"<BR/><BR/>Well, I expect at least some semblence of the competence fifteen-year-old guys had when I was fifteen--the competence that I had at that age. Cuz I know they're able to approach that if they'd try. They just aren't willing to bother. And their parents, so often, don't demand it of them.<BR/><BR/>Lazy. We've raised a culture of lazy young men. And perhaps lazy young women. I don't know about that.<BR/><BR/>I can relate to necessity being the mother of capability. It was in our family as well. Even more so for my parents and grandparents. Unfortunately with more disposable income we've tossed the baby--capability--out with the bathwater.<BR/><BR/>That's a shame.<BR/><BR/>The thing is that teaching your kids to do stuff for themselves also teaches them to problem solve--and to think through stuff until they figure it out. Sigh.<BR/><BR/>I mourn the loss of capable men.Cassondrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07420982030156788059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-40958050788667794782008-05-08T21:36:00.000-04:002008-05-08T21:36:00.000-04:00with a sledgehammer when she was 9 months pregnant...<I>with a sledgehammer when she was 9 months pregnant with my sister-in-law.</I><BR/><BR/>My active imagination can conjure little more terrifying than the thought of a nine month pregnant woman wielding a sledgehammer.p226https://www.blogger.com/profile/05502193525250005347noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-46628885585676002862008-05-08T21:25:00.000-04:002008-05-08T21:25:00.000-04:00Limecello, I'm with you. I used to kind of dig guy...Limecello, I'm with you. I used to kind of dig guys in suits - until I started working at a Bank. Now many of the people I have no respect for wear suits. *g*Caren Cranehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12352366686017375279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-37572386587529960482008-05-08T21:23:00.000-04:002008-05-08T21:23:00.000-04:00Cassondra and p226, my mother-in-law knocked a hol...Cassondra and p226, my mother-in-law knocked a hole in an exterior wall (so as to make room for window installation) with a sledgehammer when she was 9 months pregnant with my sister-in-law. I'd forgotten about that until y'all started all this sledgehammer talk.<BR/><BR/>Susan, I learned to drive a stick, too. My parents' theory was that learning on a stick meant always knowing and pretty much being able to drive whatever was handy, while learning on an automatic made the stick that much harder and less desirable. I learned in my mom's old VW bus (white over green).<BR/><BR/>Cassondra said: <I>Can you imagine how loud everything is going to be in a few years when all the people who are teenagers now get to be middle aged? Ouch!</I><BR/><BR/>Already ouch. I bought an MP3 player for RWA CDs, intending to use it in the car. Which turns out to be clumsy for a lot of reasons we don't need to worry about now. So I was going to use it in the living room and found that, even with the volume turned all the way back, it's painfully loud when the buds are actually in my ears. And they really don't stay if you try to just drape them over. Am "gruntled."Nancyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13705259501965011703noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-71510689190774502842008-05-08T21:17:00.000-04:002008-05-08T21:17:00.000-04:00Cassondra, I love the capability of farmers! Now, ...Cassondra, I love the <I>capability</I> of farmers! Now, neither of my grandfathers was a farmer, but both could drive tractors. One grew up on a farm and the other grew up tough (and probably on a farm, though he wouldn't talk about his background). One was a self-taught machinist and carpenter and the other owned timberland, a hardware store, a lumber yard and all manner of other things (that he didn't talk about).<BR/><BR/>Both these men (and their sons and daughters - my parents included) grew up to be <I>capable</I> people. I think a lot of that was from necessity. When I was a kid in the 70s, everybody was kind of poor. There was far less discretionary income. So, we all learned to change tires and check oil and do all manner of car maintenance. We all knew how to fix things, because there was no money to buy new.<BR/><BR/>I have struggled to teach my kids how to be fixers rather than replacers. These days, it gets tougher to find <I>capable</I> men all the time. Where I live, we have the biggest AG college in the state. Lots of guys on campus drive trucks and wear cowboy hats and boots. Lots of others wear Abercrombie and drive hand-me-down Beemers. <BR/><BR/>Honestly, I prefer <I>capable</I> over polished any day of the week. Then again, I'm Southern. Maybe that makes a difference!Caren Cranehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12352366686017375279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-38423075012919498622008-05-08T21:13:00.000-04:002008-05-08T21:13:00.000-04:00Beth said:He has an insatiable appetite to know ho...Beth said:<BR/><BR/><I>He has an insatiable appetite to know how things work which is lucky for me since he can do most anything he sets his mind to :-)</I><BR/><BR/>Oooo, Beth. This is the sexiest kind of guy evah! The curious mind makes for an interesting person. Men who are curious are capable AND good at conversation cuz there's lots to talk about. Lucky you!<BR/><BR/>And my motto is, "how hard can it be?"<BR/><BR/>Now granted that's gotten me in the middle of some difficult spots, but I figure hey, somebody can do it, why can't I? (Okay sometimes there's lots of cursing before I actually figure out how to get it done)<BR/><BR/>My family is sort of that way--my cousins and brothers and aunts and uncles--if my grandmother's house needed roofing, we'd all show up one weekend at an appointed time, climb onto the roof and Git-R-Done. You just figure it out. It's great bonding, and I don't have kids, but all of their kids are very competent people. I think living in that environment can make us stronger individuals.Cassondrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07420982030156788059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-11421767058075484762008-05-08T21:07:00.000-04:002008-05-08T21:07:00.000-04:00Nancy said: I don't think a helpless woman would l...Nancy said:<BR/><BR/><I> I don't think a helpless woman would last longer, for instance, in the lair than a helpless guy.</I><BR/><BR/>Nancy this is an interesting point. We are all strong individuals aren't we? I think that's what makes us fun though. <BR/><BR/>And I guess it's no surprise that we get called "rowdy" by onlookers.Cassondrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07420982030156788059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-90998205615598764262008-05-08T21:05:00.000-04:002008-05-08T21:05:00.000-04:00Great post, Cassondra! My husband is one of the mo...Great post, Cassondra! My husband is one of the most capable people I know *g* He has an insatiable appetite to know how things work which is lucky for me since he can do most anything he sets his mind to :-)<BR/><BR/>My favorite fictional heroes are usually blue collar workers - carpenters, law enforcement, cowboys - doesn't matter to me if they drive a tractor, a motorcycle, a police cruiser or a horse -- they're all sexy in their own way :-)Beth Andrewshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01204356784898045866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-11334152641762613722008-05-08T21:04:00.000-04:002008-05-08T21:04:00.000-04:00How do these people hear emergency vehicles? Those...<I>How do these people hear emergency vehicles? Those sirens are hard enough to pin down on direction as it is.</I><BR/><BR/>They CAN'T hear them Nancy. And in about ten years they're not gonna be able to hear anything else either. <BR/><BR/>Can you imagine how loud everything is going to be in a few years when all the people who are teenagers now get to be middle aged? Ouch!Cassondrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07420982030156788059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-74660566860533022732008-05-08T21:02:00.000-04:002008-05-08T21:02:00.000-04:00Jo said:My students always commented about my outf...Jo said:<BR/><BR/><I>My students always commented about my outfit. I just told them my daughters dressed me (which was mostly true anyway).</I><BR/><BR/>LOL! I bet your students LOVED it.Cassondrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07420982030156788059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-4983320262645576152008-05-08T21:00:00.000-04:002008-05-08T21:00:00.000-04:00Nancy said:Jeanne, the changing a diaper thing is ...Nancy said:<BR/><BR/><I>Jeanne, the changing a diaper thing is so important! It's not rocket science, for cryin' out loud, and any guy who says he "can't" do it is dancing around "don't want to." Uck. So unappealing. Yeah, Cassondra, that's my wuss line, I think.</I><BR/><BR/>Amen. You nailed it. "I CAN'T" is the sound of "I don't want to cuz it's gross." <BR/><BR/>Yeah. Uh-huh. You want some cheese with that whine, Mr.?Cassondrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07420982030156788059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815530646091177574.post-88555708942172160062008-05-08T20:55:00.000-04:002008-05-08T20:55:00.000-04:00Anna said:I think in reality running a huge estate...Anna said:<BR/><BR/><I>I think in reality running a huge estate isn't that different to being the CEO of a huge company. Even a small estate took a lot of work to keep going. </I><BR/><BR/>Interesting that you say this. In the rough draft of this blog I said that I thought the farmers were actually reverting to a way of life similar to Lords and Earls in that farms have to be so LARGE now that often the farmer is basically an estate manager, putting out fires and dealing with problems and overseeing workers who do the actual farm work. <BR/><BR/>Though the farmer owns the land sometimes, a lot of times it's actually leased from other people. <BR/><BR/>A good many have higher degrees in agribusiness and they spend a good amount of their time at the computer doing paperwork. <BR/><BR/>That's kind of a sad thing in a way, as most farmers have stayed in the family business because they loved the farm life--and loved the work that was included. But they don't really do much of that work themselves. It's all hired labor. <BR/><BR/>Unfortunate and yet, it does show the necessity of the variable skills and knowledge of the modern farmer or rancher. <BR/><BR/>Let's hope we don't see the day when the farms are owned by the government (as they were technically owned by the crown weren't they?). I hope at least some of the farmers will always be able to own and love their land as they did when I was a kid.Cassondrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07420982030156788059noreply@blogger.com