A farmer I can really admire............

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Good morning,

I found this clip this morning and it appears to be a farmer, maybe a guy with a vineyard, British or German perhaps? But certainly with a few disposable $$. While not a Corvette I think we can all appreciate that he does both work and play hard............

The Ferrari Enzo WRC - YouTube

Cheers,

Garry
 
Riley P said:
He sure couldn't give a crap about getting it dirty, eh? Looks like he is enjoying his car. He must have a lot of dough as I'd never treat my Vette like he treats his Ferrari...but he does seem to be having a lot of fun treating it how he wants.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't it be nice to not have to worry about getting one's ride dirty -- just bring it home, have it detailed and readied for its next 'outing'.....:D

What we could all do with a little more dough.......

C.
 
That guy has zero respect for that car. If you want to beat on it, take it to the track where you can see how good the car is and how bad of a driver you are. Doing doughnuts and wailing around in the wet seems idiotic to me. He needs his ass kicked and the car taken away from him. You are not spoiled just because you have everything. You are spoiled when you do not appreciate what you have. This tool is spoiled.
 
If I was to guess and I say guess, this is inherited $ and not made. Land prices in Europe are stupid crazy, even in Alberta they have sort of doubled in a decade pretty well.

I can't think of any strangers who have come into this neck of the woods with say 3 mil in hand and decided they wanted to go grain farming. Risk too high, return on investment too low. But if your folks and grandparents were in it then you're set.

Not to say that there are not some very sharp farm managers out there, but it is easy to take was previous generations have build up and to keep it going. Having said that there are some real prizes around here who inherited a paid off functioning farm and who through mis-management have lost everything.

But there are few of us that could walk into a bank and get a loan for 3 million to go and buy a farm without significant collateral. Thus why we see business ventures from China coming in and buying farming operations, farmers from Europe selling out and buying farms in Ontario and farmers from Ontario selling out and buying farms in Western Canada!!!!!

I've made this observation before, but if a farmer could buy a $400,000 combine, $300,000 seed drill, $300,000 tractor and depending on where you live $150,000 to the sky's the limit for 160 acres of land is it so hard a step to make to see these guys buying exotic cars?? The first Lamorghini I ever saw was bought by a local farmer who bought it from a farmer who lived 25 miles away - back in 1980 or 1981...........

As interesting a comment as Keith makes about how this guy treats his car, I've heard stories about farmers who buy a new combine and trade it in every year and the mechanics at the dealer tell me the apint isn't even off teh grease zerks - the guy never even takes the time to grease it as he knows he'll be getting a new one next year!! But then there are also folks like me who had no idea they were suppose to be regularly changing the clutch fluid in their car........oops. Knowledge is power...........

Cheers,

Garry

Cheers,

Garry
 
Good morning Keith,

That is actually a good point to bring up. My grandparents made a living but probably a good one for the dad. Granddad died in an accident back in 1939 and my Grandmother ran the farm with her eldest son (13 or 14 at the time) and there were 8 kids in the family. I think they had 6 1/4's at the time, close to 1000 ac and that was a very big farm at the time. But the problem was lots of assets and not so much cash. But it appreciates, my unlce takes it over and now it is 2500 ac. He makes a better living and has good cash flow. It has appreciated massively. Back in the day a 160 acres might cost $800 or $1000 for very good land. Now it sells around here for about $150,000 and this part of Alberta has the least expensive land in the province. So you can see how while not necessarily Enzo range, my uncle could roll his farm for 3 mil plus equipment and his retirement would be pretty good.

I can remember when we moved here in 1979 and the cash was tight as we were setting up a farm. We had one vehicle for the family to use. Now almost 25 years later even I have two pickups and two cars, my parents two pickups and a van (and a slew of beaters too) and it is a different situation. I appreciate my good fortune to be in a family that has benefitted from appreciation so much and the opportunity that it will give to me and to my son in the future. His standard of living will be assured unless he royally screws up. While with mine and my parents farm in his posession (1500 ac) he will not be able to rent it out and retire, now it could generate $45,000 of pure rental income, more so when my son gets it. Imagine having your regular job and another $60 K coming in yearly for having done nothing yourself but being in the right place, right time, to take advantage of what the previous generation built up.

My challenge will be to make sure that he still proceeds with life, goes to university and gets a career he will enjoy and that this will be icing on the cake for him to have in his life. Sort of a legacy for the family to benefit from regardless of what they elect to do with their lives. The farmland can generate a good income stream to produce a more comfortable life.

It is a situational thing. It didn't have to go this way re land prices but it did and farmers are just experiencing something currently that previous generations of farmers could not have ever imagined. Most of them sadly do not deserve it or appreciate it. I had a uncle with a grade 3 education and while he may have worked hard in his life died with about 6 to 8 million plus set up his two oldest sons in farming operations. I can't think of too many occupations or jobs/professions under which that would have occured. Yet to his dying day he griped and bitched about how "the lowest paid person in the world is the farmer"!!!!! But then again he never had a job job or worked for anyone else to experience what most of us do with job. Most of us don't get to call the shots and end up in servitude to someone else for life............

My one cousin failed out of university as an engineer, accountant and finally got a degree in education. Never worked at any job in his life, his dad set him up with a farm and he likes to think that he accomplished this on his own rather than understanding that it was handed to him. Their kids are the same way. The eldest boy is 22, failed at university, works for his dad's accounting company and farms with him. He brags about how he buys land and pays $200,000 for a combine to his cousin and its kind of like, uh no, your dad is backing you at the bank on this otherwise the bank wouldn't touch you! A 22 year old without an education, a solid professional career and a s**t load of assets is not able to borrow money like that from any bank I'm yet aware of!

It is not that it is bad or wrong to have the good fortune to be born in a lucky family situation. What pisses me off is people (a lot of my relatives) who think that they created this situation of a financial windfall on their own rather than it being simple situational dumb luck.

Cheers,

Garry
 
I could point out the odd person around here too who was set up for life and ended up blowing it and losing everything in the process. Not all, but some were nothing more than spoiled brats who never had to be responsible, not growing up and carried on the same way into adulthood. It doesn't work in the real world and down the road Mom and Dad are not there to bail them out again one more time. In cases like that, some times the parents are/were to blame. Of course, if a person is a fool, even good parenting doesn't work.
Whatever, Dale and I appreciate our good friends and everything we have and look after it as best we can. We have been more than fortunate all our married lives and you just wonder if some day the good fortune will end. Hopefully not.
 
My high school years were filled with watching kids whose parents would buy them a car for graduating grade 12 (never had 13 in Alberta). I mean, considering these days all you have to do is show up for class - a teacher in Edmonton was suspended for giving students zeros for tests and assignments they missed - that is sort of like rewarding someone for breathing to me. And giving a kid who is 17 or 18 a vehicle they didn't have to work or contribute to doesn't help them learn the value of money and how hard it is to come by.

I remember once when the daughter of one of the secretaries and a friend of hers came to work to wait for the mother. I overhead the friend saying to the daughter that she wanted to buy a Mustang convertable. So I asked her how much one cast and she said $35,000. I asked her how much money she would have to make in a year gross to end up with 35K net to buy this car and that was assuming no money needed to pay living expenses etc. All I got was a blank look.

Sadly, at least for me, it is the suffering and set backs in my life that I have learned the most from. I'm glad that my parents were not affluent when I was younger and that I have had to earn what I have in my life. I'm still one lucky SOB but for me the key is to realize and be aware of this and to not take it for granted or to feel entitled to it.

My life could have been much different if I had had a difference financial sense then the one I developed...........pay off debt, enjoyment/perks/extras will come in time.

My fear is whether or not I can teach and instill this belief into my son. But he will need to be aware of the fact that nothing is written in stone for him and that what ever I do have I would be very comfortable and happy to donate to a tank museum in Britian or France for a legacy and that I am not going to set him to be an underachiever in his life. That his life could be enhanced as mine as been sure but he is still going to have to go out and make his way in the world on his own first.

As with the work that Manny does, performance is expected here too!

Cheers,

Garry
 
I have the very strong feeling that your son will turn out just fine. :) Jim Woolfrey was the guy who hired me into the GM apprenticeship programme. He liked Peterborough because the high schools all had good tech and he especially liked us farm boys because we already knew how to work. My first 19 years have served me well as it has you.
 
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