Do you trust your instincts?
Unless I’m suffering from a particularly bad day of anti-anxiety or PTSD drug withdrawal, my gut feelings or instincts are the best tool I have with judging weird situations. If a group of people just feel wrong, if someone is giving me bad vibes, if something seems too good to be true… it probably is. I know I miss out on boones and fortunes, however, my day-to-day life is mundane. I like routine.
december 10/25 snow-covered rock farm report.
Reasonably happy news #1... 1.5 hours of snow clearing, sometimes daily. It all depends whether we have a good blow or not. On the peninsula, that’s almost guaranteed. Everything aches. We’re getting our exercise and our hearts are in good shape (I recover quickly).
We have 6 replacement foam snow brooms coming in from Michigan. The product was designed to NOT shatter glass photovoltaic panels, and sacrifice themselves on the protruding anchoring bolts. I don’t want to shatter those glass panes with a metal or hard-plastic scraper.
The manufacturers order-desk & shipping department is tempermental and one has to treat them with cognitive oven mittens. They ignored TS’ requests for brooms and I had to take over. What the fuck was that all about?! Why did they ghost TS? They operate using several umbrella corporations and our bank flagged them as a suspicious vendor. They might advertise themselves as a “family owned Michigan company” and that Americans should “Now more than ever – support small USA business!…”, but they act as though they’ve been burned by Canadian customers!
One of their more bewildering comments to me was that THEY WOULD BE VERY UNHAPPY if I tried to shirk paying duties, tariffs, or taxes when the brokerage firm contacted us. Apparently, it’s common for out-of-USA orders to ignore paying these fees and the brokerage firms go after the manufacturer for compensation. What kind of Canadian or European assholes does the manufacturer experience? With respect to tax-duty-tariff collection?
TS got so disgusted by their behaviour, that she wanted to abandon the entire order and let us use pool-noodles and industrial adhesive to repair the broom that we have. With 6 heads in rotation, we should be able to keep our PV panels clear for the next 10-12 seasons! At least until we can replace the panels with inherently hydrophobic glass panels (or even paint-on voltaic cells). I’d recommend Canadians who want to buy this product to buy the product DIRECTLY… either through Amazon (thus paying up to double the cost) and/or having them shipped to a friend in the the United States, where they then forward it to you.
United States isolationism and anti-USA sentiments are getting worse. Up go the watchtowers and barricades, I fear.
Unfortunately, Canadian technology companies are no better than their counterparts south of the border. Our freshwater cistern monitoring hardware was supported by an obnoxious engineer who ignored what we had done, ignored that I had read-the-fucking-manual, followed the steps, documented the steps, and showed him what we had done. The asshat had the nerve to say “press the connect button”… nothing? Call us. What I found the most obnoxious about this company were the silent firmware updates they pushed to our unit, followed by UI-updates pushed to our devices. Honey, I knew what you were doing and I find your company disrespectful to its clients. Yes, the monitoring software is running, somewhat normally. I know that many end users ignore RTFM and act with learned helplessness. Dude, that’s NOT us. We’re an off-grid homestead and we are by necessity self-reliant and do-it-yourselfers.
I’ve already reported my findings to our home builder, warning them against using this technology supplier. Unfortunately, it’s another example of a small manufacturer who has an understaffed support desk, who prefers to talk to tradesmen instead of educated homeowners.
Happy news #2… I’m getting good at using our snowblower, without ripping apart its traction and auger belts.
It takes 2-3h to completely clear the driveway, upper and lower parking lots, AND de-icing the snowblower. If I can get away with it, this job should happen only twice a week. It’s exhausting work, as the Cadet’s self-propelled feature can get stymied by icy accumulation. And the post-job cleanup cannot be skimped on. When I eventually get an insulated workshop, I can allow the blower to dry out with less propane heating use!
Happy news #3… We had a very successful weekend market in Owen Sound. The 2026 Artisans Sales & Event, held at the hockey arena on the east shore of Owen Sound, north of downtown. We made enough money to cover the $200-300 table fee and make some modest income. I’m grateful we both have teacher pensions so that we can afford to do this activity. Neither of us want to return to the high school classrooms. Sure, the money as a supply teacher would be nice (and help me get those capital projects done a lot sooner), however, the psychological cost is too great.
sunday, december 14th rock farm update.
I’m relieved that it’s mid-December. I have a complicated relationship with the month, despite it being a lucrative sales period of Black Dog Biscuits. The extreme quiet in January and February is a welcome relief. I’m not a salesman nor do I enjoy the entrepreneurial spirit (unlike TS). I avoid the over-the-top Christmas decorations seen in some homes. It’s not my culture.
Tuesday, december 17th off-the-farm update.
- Owen Sound Toyota dealership. Our only vehicle got its preventative maintenance. Did you know it’s illegal for them to crack open the seat belt units and revitalize them? They did their best to clean out the gunk that cause them to have over-sensitive pendulum action. Oil and filter change, as there’s nowhere for me to do them on the farm (yet). We confirmed the battery and alternator are in good shape (so that I don’t have a dead battery).
- CPAP clinic. I purchased a replacement unit. The other one was 5 years old and was becoming a squeaky toy. I’m trying a unit made my Phillips.
- Cafe Gilou for a good lunch. Support your local chefs.
- Shoppers Drug Mart. It might be a corporate juggernaut, but they know how to run a pharmacy when compared to the bush-league operation in Lion’s Head.
- Mark’s Work Wearhouse. I found replacement mitts. Not TS. The shit they tried to sell her made me leave my garments unpurchased on a shelf and walk out in disgust. The girly shit Mark’s Work Wearhouse tried to push on TS was NOT appreciated. The woman needs serious kit for fuck’s sakes. Nah. I’d rather give my business to Home Despot.
- Canadian Tire. We needed replacement windshield wipers for the TACO. For about seventy bucks, they would sell me a 30-pk of those fluorescent driveway markers for snow clearing. Maybe next time… or I’ll continue with my DIY thing and TS’ orange flares.
- Michael’s Craft Superstore. Because a knitter needs yard. Full stop.
- No Frills. I can’t afford Zehr’s and we get a surprising number of frills at the store near Springmount!
- And a loooong drive home to the rock farm. White out conditions on Ferndale Flats, near Tru-Foods (and the NBP municipal offices), and even on Dyers Bay Road. Neighbours, PLEASE KEEP YOUR HEDGEROWS UP OR AT LEAST INSTALL SNOW FENCES. Snow white drifts right across the road and our SNOWKAT struggles plowing through the snow. TS goes bald with stress and I get that grim look on my face when I drive in 4WD-low.
Tomorrow, I enjoy some overdue cannabis, thankyouverymuch.
BCB&B, neemtree, bdb, and blog 