Back from a week's vacation, and ugh, I wish I could take another week off. 
Not exactly enjoying my return to work shall we say.  Stuck doing clean-up
from a week away isn't exactlythat much fun. 

Let's see, spend the week out on the farm.  Beautiful weather for the most
part the entire week I was away.  I got to watch the countryside turn its fall
colors all week long to near peak on Sunday.  Spent the previous weekend and
the first half of the week working on blocking firewood for next year. 
Basically, I'm working through all of the oak tops I've drug out of the timber
in the last few years.  There is a possibility that the farm that is giving us
the free firewood may soon change hands.  So for now, my new emphasis is to
get all of the wood blocked so Dad can pick up a trailer load or 2 in his
spare time and haul it to our farm.  I got better than half done with the oak
(not even started on the walnut yet).  I figure I'll need another week or so
to get through the remainder of the oak and about the same for the walnut. 
And let me tell you the pure bliss of using a fresh chain in the saw.  I just
rip through the wood now.

On Thur. morning, the parents and I came to CR to check on a house I thought
about buying.  The lot, garage, and house from the outside looked great, and
then we went inside and it was a dump.  Plaster walls and ceilings, orange
linoleum in the kitchen, and faded blue 70's shag carpet in the living room. 
What a disappointment!  I walked into the house and hated it immediately, and
I'm not one for looks.  It was such a disappointment that I even apologized
for my parents for wasting their time immediately as we left.  Even the
realtor knew this was a lemon, she didn't even try to sell the place.  Kindof
felt sorry for her.  

On Friday morning, I took the parents down to the semi-annual antique show. 
Dad ended up buying a Sleepy Eye stein, a couple Wavecrest boxes, and a pair
of oil lamps with his "fun" money that he makes throughout the year.  As soon
as we returned home, we decided to start on the corn harvest.  Weather was
near ideal, and the corn moisture was a little high, but the warm temps would
help make up for that.  So, Fri. afternoon through Sun. I helped Dad with the
harvest.  Corn yields are up in every field we've gone into so far.

On the downside, the 4440 John Deere I was using to pull in the wagons with
started overheating on me.  So, Dad had to have the local dealership come out
to pick it up for repairs.  Last I knew, it was either a head gasket out or a
small crack in thehead block.  And since everything runs in 3's, the burner on
the bin started acting flaky.  Had to have a repairman come out to check it
out.  And for the third problem, the clutch on the 930 Case tends to stick
when the transmission gets warm.  So, Dad needs to get a new clutch spring to
help with that problem.  Yesterday, I had to keep kicking back the clutch with
my foot to get into gear while hauling wagons with that tractor.  Fun times. 
A million times better than sitting in on a phone call with the customer that
wants an answer ASAP even though they won't get to that question for their
design for a while yet.  *sigh*

So, that's my week off in a nutshell.  Lots of work, lots of good home cooking
from Mom, even got some stuff around for Dad's upcoming farm sale.  Just a
good time all around.  Tonight's blog brought to you by "Stillborn" Black
Label Society