is a wonderful thing. It is amazing how addicted to the internet that we are as a society. And yet, I have the worst internet provider possible. Of course, when you live in the middle of nowhere, I guess we should be happy we have any internet at all.

After a crappy week of work, I made an executive decision not to go to Kelly’s sale. Stayed home, saved money and got stuff done here at the house. Finally, got some rain–1/2 ” Saturday evening followed by 20 minutes of golf ball size hail. Dragon Lady and I were in the barn when it started, so we stayed there till it finished. It was just a little bit loud.

Trimmed hooves on the wethers. Trying to do a little corrective hoof trimming on one or two of the wethers. Duke and I are trying to decide whether to show at the city this weekend. We may just go help others.

That 100% chance of rain for Woodward & Major counties amounted to less than 1/10th and that is being generous. I like Channel 9. Don’t know why, but I do. I don’t think that Gary England or Jed Castles lie to us, but sometimes I wonder. Maybe they do, just to get our hopes up. I hear a lot of hot women say that Jed is a good looking son-of-gun. He can’t be as he wears glasses, isn’t 6′ tall, is starting to get gray haired and he doesn’t know when it will rain again anymore than I do.

If you aren’t putting blankets on wethers by now, then you are behind the proverbial 8 ball. Just because you haven’t sheared yet, doesn’t mean that they will stay warm. Remember, a boer goat originated in South Africa. That is a hot climate. Their hair does not have any insulating value. If you need a jacket when you go outside, your wethers need a blanket. The colder it gets the more layers they need.

Well, one thing about any blog titled “professions”. It stirs up a little discussion. No, I am not mad at anybody… at present time. It just got me thinking of things that need fixed in my favorite profession. I don’t blame anybody for me not teaching anymore. I was burnt out. BAD! I have had numerous opportunities to go back to teaching in OK and TX, but it just doesn’t fit my family at this point. Besides, I get to deal with all of the livestock and speeches that I want to, without having to deal with any lazy bastards. I do miss dealing with the kids on a daily basis. I miss shop projects, state fair projects and CDE events.

Hey, it kind of rained this morning. Jed Castle says that it is going to rain off and on for the next three days. Let’s hope he isn’t lying to us.

If you are showing goats at the state fair or Tulsa. You better be working leg hair by now. You can’t wait till the day you shear in order to get leg hair to pop correctly.

So I agreed to do an interview over the reasons people quit being an ag-ed teacher and why they don’t get back into the game. My exit from the profession was a little different than most, but not all. I should have quit teaching in 2005. I didn’t. My arrogance, and the women that I live with convinced me to move to Fairview. We did. Fine. Looking back, I would rather have been castrated with a rusty spork (as long as the signs are right) as to teach at Fairview; however, it was a good move for the family. Besides, my legal event was cheaper and easier than a divorce/ therapy/ rehab. I wouldn’t recommend it, but it served its purpose. If you need to know more about my exit, buy the book.

Now why don’t they get back into the game? First and foremost, is that the real world sets in. A GOOD ex-ag teacher can make way more money, working fewer hours, fewer weekends and dealing with less BS while still helping kids learn about ag. Second, you realize what kind of waste of time, double standard crap goes on in public education dealing with administrations and OKcareertech.

1–Twelve month contracts–Oklahoma ag teachers are on twelve month contracts. Great–they should be. But they also should be allowed to use their 2 weeks vacation when they NEED a vacation. Like, the Tuesday morning after the premium sale at OYE after having lived in a hotel for 13 nights at OYE, the week after the District show, which was the day or two after the County show, which was a day or two after the local show (which local shows should be illegal). All of this while having less than 3 weeks to get ready for PI speeches and CDE contests and only a couple of weeks after a proficiency deadline. Not to mention getting crap ready for a sub to cover your classes. Throw in a convention and a banquet as well as actually teaching class. Give a person a break and don’t make them feel guilty about taking a day off. Some need it in order to recharge batteries. And they will be better in the classroom after a day of rest.

2–CESI reports/ follow up reports–In the real world, there is a paper trail that leads to commissions, bonuses, etc. The careertech office piles an assload of reports on ag-ed teachers. The CESI report is nothing but a report to justify somebody’s job in the state office. And when an ag teacher calls the state office requesting info from the CESI report, you can’t get an answer. True story. Obviously I’m still pissed about it. Another occasion had me doing all of Fairview’s students. I traded Roller. “I will do the CESI report, if you collect sausage money.” I did them all in my name. The state office calls and wants me to do ONE student in Roller’s name so that there is not a red flag next to his. After all of the log-ins, etc. an hour of my life later, everything is fine with the state office. All of the students were accounted for on the first report. So why waste somebody’s time? That is their job.

3–Gate duty–no other teacher builds/repairs stuff for the rest of the school. That alone should absolve them from doing gate duty, prom sponsor, class sponsor, etc. Even bad ag teachers do more community service with the chapter, than anybody else in the school. That should cover gate duty. Good administrators acknoweldge this fact.

4–Collecting money. It gets old collecting nomination fees, entry fees, sausage money, vet bills, jacket money, MFE expenses, alumni camp money, etc. One, it is a pain in the ass because kids will lie, parents will lie, etc. Two, when buying show animals, is the money coming out of a personal account? I have a whole pile of stories on this subject. However, it always came out of the Chris Kelln personal account. Did I charge interest? No. Did people pay in a timely fashion? Not normally. Did I spend a little more on some animals in order to get a good one? Yes, and that is my fault/addiction. Money well spent if the kid did a good job. Money pissed away if they didn’t.

5–The state office needs to do a better job of scheduling due dates. Their job is to help teachers and students. Don’t schedule worthless contests. See: opening ceremonies contest. Keep the State FFA Convention about the kids, not the monetary sponsors.

6–Time. A person has more time to themselves and family if they are not teaching. Time is money. The amount of time that active ag teachers spend on the job is staggering. This is probably the single biggest dilemma. All of the first 5 items add up to waste of time on the job.

I am not bashing anybody. I worked for some very good school administrations. I also worked for some that were less than par. I have friends in the state careertech office. I have an opinion on the subject and this is the CENSORED version. There is way more from where this came. And I am not opinionated, I’m just always right.

I hold a good ag teacher in higher regard than most lawyers, all politicians, some doctors, and most school administrators. Why? A good ag teacher does more good for a community and it isn’t about the paycheck. Until you get out.

The barn has a different look to it, as there are now pigs in it. Made a journey into Kansas yesterday to look at some shoats. Flies, stench, etc. Fortunately, after Lamle put his hat on backwards and literally dove into this pen of filth to force them out into the light, there was a pair of hogs that have a chance. Got them home on clean bedding, clean water, level ground, a fan…after several hours the barrows are getting their legs under them. One of them looks like he will make the team. Duke already wants to name them Bacon and Sausage.

One thing about it, hogs are cheaper to buy than wether goats. However, it is offset by the feed and bedding costs.

Started to pull into the Sonic to get a cold drink, but then I remembered that Big I has a ban on Sonic. So I drove on by.

The Pokes looked better last night, both ways. They played better and the all black uniforms looked way better than the gray jerseys. It is a way cool atmosphere that surrounds Boone Pickens Stadium nowadays.

The signs are right today for banding goats. Therefore, Duke and I are going to worm, vaccinate and band the late July/August wethers tonight. Have to get done quick, so that Duke still has time to work his wethers before he goes into town to watch football. Working the wethers is a priority as he needs to build butt and bone into this set of wethers.

Lots of county fairs going on this weekend. I’m glad that ours is already over. Granted, the temperature is better now, but I just don’t enjoy local or county shows. I’m always glad when they are over. Then it is time for the real shows.

Been getting some questions regarding bucks. Joe Dirt will not be available for lease as he will either be working here or in Shattuck at Tyke’s. Freak on a Leash will be available at certain times. Like now, through Oct. 10. Captain Morgan may be available. If you call me about leasing one of them, know what dates you are wanting them, so that I can answer your questions. If you don’t know, I won’t know and that would just be a waste of our time.

Allen Poe and Allen Miller may have Rainman available for breeding. Poe also has a young buck available for breeding. I don’t have a clue what his name is, but I am sure he can breed does. This buck is a Black Sabbath x SpongeBob SquarePants Turner doe that has been a solid producer for us.

If a person only has a handful of does, leasing is the only way that you can afford to breed to a high quality buck. It takes some numbers in order to be able to justify owning one of these high dollar animals. And the good ones aren’t cheap. I have heard of leases from $100 per head to $250 a head. Most seem to cost about $150 a head. I don’t want anybody to bring their does to me. You can come get the buck and use. Some people would rather you bring the does to them. Always make sure that your does have been vaccinated, wormed and don’t have any other obvious problems.

This topic could lead me in a lot of different directions. However, the dumb asses that I am referring to are Duke’s show wethers. I don’t know if it is because we have a set of wethers that is stacked with 900 genetics, just plain inbred or if they are just dumb asses. I don’t normally like to help break wethers, but a couple of these are dang near impossible to deal with, especially for a 10 year old.

One of them, Bobo, has to have a plastic chain on him at all times. If you use a halter or spike chain, he automatically chokes himself down. He won’t walk unless you are constantly tapping him on the side. He is a mouth breather who holds his tongue out when he is stressed, which keeps him from breathing. He bites down on his tongue when you brace him; therefore, making him a “tongue biter”. I know people that are as stupid as Bobo, the difference is that Bobo was castrated.

Squatch won’t walk with his head up and he tries to lunge on the brace. Waterboy just sulls up and sucks air in until he is bloated like a toad. He humps up on the brace and he tries to walk sideways on the move. Spasm, well, his name fits. Torque won’t walk, chokes himself down on the stand, but he does run and he does brace. Five goats, five different showmanship techniques–one ten year old that does have a touch of ADD and one old fart dad with very little patience. He works hard, but the wheels can fall off if he sees a rabbit or a bird or a cloud that resembles a deer. Somehow, we are making it through this and beginning to make progess. Probably, because after he works with the first 5 special needs wethers, he then gets out his favorite– Little Stevie Peaches. This wether is easy to catch, likes to walk, will setup and will brace. He also runs hard. Plus, he was the cheap one. He might not win a show, but he is the best one in the kid’s mind. Sometimes, that is all that matters.

Lots of dollars changed hands the last week or two in the goat world. Several high dollar bucks sold in Texas this past week. I did get to lay my hands on the world record sellling doe. Way impressive. There were also several other top notch does in the pen with her. Somebody has spent some time gathering genetics.

Between the Best of the West and the Labor Day sale in Alex, there were some awfully good goats that sold well worth the money. I was hoping to find 2 or 3 at Alex and I came home with 8. They will all find homes in the next day or two. Buyers with a budget should have been at those two sales. Goats aren’t going to get any cheaper the rest of the fall.

The temperature finally dropped this past weekend. Beautiful weather. The only way it could be better, is if it was raining. It will come. As the night temps are now dropping into the fifties, people need to pay attention to the comfort of their wethers. If you need a hoodie or jacket when you go outside, then the goats need a canvas. I think a lot of people mis-manage their goats by not keeping them warm enough.

Lots of chatter and BS going on about goat prices. I’ve been getting a lot of calls and emails regarding where to find that magical buck for $5,000 or that guaranteed OYE premium sale wether for $500. He probably doesn’t exist. And if somebody like me finds it first, I probably won’t sell him. Find a partner, sell a kidney or go in debt, but it will take a pile of cash IF somebody will let a good buck sell. There are some bargain wethers out there if you follow genetics, have a good imagination, a solid feeding program and a dang good showman.

Until the economy collapses, these goat prices aren’t going to back up much. There are very few good ones out there. Just like slobberin Bob taught us in intro to Ag Econ–it is all about supply and demand. How much are you willing to pay for that donut? Supply of good ones is limited, demand is high; therefore, prices are high.

I read the Breeder’s World forum tonight. My goodness there are several people on there that have WAY too much time on their hands. I write this deal 3 or 4 times a week. Some of those post 5 or 6 times a day. You can read that crap and not find one worthwhile nugget of info. At least, I occasionaly dispense some wisdom on here. However, if you want some worthless info, I have a new monkey statue that I found in Costa Rica.

Make sure that you have plenty of salt in your wether and buck pens. The more salt they eat, the more they drink, the more they piss, the less chance of urinary calculi. I like the little rectangle blocks that they sell at Atwoods. Price of salt block–$2.49 Price of a wether–you all can do the rest of this commercial.