Return to the Tour

It is always tough to get back to the grind after time away but today I was quick on my feet. There was not slew of meetings since Monday got jumped over this week. I had a fairly open schedule with just one call so I formulated a quick plot while I covered my MSF duties in the morning. I left the house before eight and with fuel and my McBreakfast to keep me going I headed North of London to cover a few locations. The plan was ambitious but I think was very achieveable. The rain would be the biggest deterrant, it wasn’t clear what was going to happen so I ensured that I was prepared for anything. The first site on my list was a corn location that had the 85RM and 90RM maturity tests. I hadn’t seen much of them in this part of the country yet so I wanted to get a look and I had been told this location was nice. It was a bit late to see it, I wouldn’t get much of an idea on staygreen or plant health but I would see enough. The sky was getting darker and darker while I pushed through the location. I got a phone call part way through and was distracted. I may have mixed up messages and will have to deal with that issue later. No time to worry, there are crops to see and soon combines will make that impossible.

After getting across that corn location I slid down the road south for a bit and landed at the first of three soybean locations that I needed to see. This was one of the special ones so it didn’t take as long. I had that one call while I was there and it fully rained for most of the time I was there. I had my rain jacket on and my umbrella up and the handle jammed down my jacket. If I pushed my head just the right way it would stay in place. That allowed me to take notes at that site. I was back on the move around noon. The next site was down the main road about forty minutes and it was a big’un. There were four tests to review, each bigger than the last. The first one put me in a bad mood. The material was way too early for the location and looked terrible. It was pretty much a waste of time to take notes at that location for that material. The other three sets weren’t much better. I’m not sure what happened there this summer but it was a touch site. It was supposed to be my backup to bring customers to and I’m very glad that never came to pass. I’ll be having conversations with the group that runs that site. It rained twice while I was there but just light showers, enough to make sure that no harvest could happen soon. Stupid weather, days like this are why I put my hand up for a desk job. After I finished the site it was nearly two and my tummy was hungry. I stopped at the dirty bird ten minutes south and I was greeted with a delightful surprise. The Double Down was back! And for a limited time, so I was urged to get it while I could. Seeing no future opportunities to do so, I made my move. It was better than I remembered. They seemed to have changed the breading to something thicker and crispier than I remember. It was a wow meal. I got popcorn chicken too because I was hungry. The Double Down was fantastic and surprisingly easy to consume. I figured it would be slopping everywhere and had reserve napkins for that eventuality but they were for not. I dipped my popcorn chicken morsels in a buttermilk ranch sauce and slurped back my Mountain Dew fuel before heading to the last location of the day with a pleasantly full gut. I was in a much better mood now.

The set at the last location was pretty small and I made the decision not to put my boots on, to try it in my Crocs. Recall that it had been drizzling on and off all afternoon. I came to regret my footwear decision. Nothing epic happened, it was just slippery and I got my Crocs muddier than I like them. I guess I haven’t shared my footwear strategy for walking plots I can drive to. I keep my Blundstone steel toes in the back seat and my steel toe rubbers in the box. I’ve only needed the big boys once this fall, in Quebec, where I mentioned they’d sprung a leak. Generally I’ll put my work boots on and if they get dirty I’ll put them in the box. I take them off before I get back in the truck, replacing them with my Crocs. So while I’m in the truck I’m generally wearing the Crocs and when I’m out of the truck I’m usually in my Blundstones. It keeps the truck clean and is more comfortable for driving. I need to replace the work boots and the rubbers I think. The blundstones barely go 5000 steps before it feels like I’m walking on plywood. I’ve wore out the sole before the boot, that’s a first for me. Anyways, I got across the last location with limited rain hitting me. I had an hour drive home which landed me there towards six. I didn’t need much of a dinner since I had a large late lunch. I had some water and some granola bars and settled in for the night. I reviewed my draft results again and set my lines for the week. I also played some Microsoft Solitaire Collection challenges to start to get caught up. I still had lessons from September to wrap up before the window of availability closes. I finished the evening with what else, MSF and YouTube, coasting into a bedtime around half ten. It felt like a most productive day for me.