You're done combining?! Lucky! We might start in a day or two.

My plan is to keep going forward - with life or into the ground. No slowing down here. Plans maybe to return to Quebec City at Easter and Switzerland and Slovenia in August.

Happy otherwise though but that could be my pain meds too.

More snow? Please keep it there!!

Cheers,

Garry
You'll need to delay the trip to Quebec City for two weeks as I only get my chariot out the beginning of May.
If you are there then, then I'll be there.
 
That would be sweet but it depends on holidays for my gf as well.

Still I won't be saying never............and if not then we still meet for a drink!

Peas tested 17.8, dry is 16. I think I'll start taking them off today anyway as long as today's sample is no tougher, they ought to be safe for a few months and I'll make them the first to be delivered. With luck they'll dry more over the next two days. Lets get harvest done and move on to other things!

Cheers,

Garry
 
Nice!

We've had a few killing frosts here already along with about 5 cm of snow so there is no more plant growth taking place.

I figure even with 17.8% peas if I try to put a contract $0.25/bu below current street price the elevator will pick it up, for me a discounted price but out of the yard is better than pissing away a possible good combining day to try to get them dry. Plus the forecast is for showers starting at midnight and tomorrow morning followed by 1 cm of snow and showers on Thursday. So I think I'm better off to get what I can now, heck I could even dry it if I wanted to during the wet period. Often wondered why we bought a grain dryer and yet never seem to use it........

I hope my driveway gets done this week too. The fog light came in for my sedan so I can put that back together but of course can't take it out of the garage and of course can't get teh Z06 out either. Very excited to see if we get the slope right so the car's chin stops bottoming out!

Good times ahead!

Cheers,

Garry
 
So off to combine. 1st load tested 21% but there were some green spots and dad agreed to dry it - forward! The 2nd load tested 18% yeah baby!

Then the unloading auger plugged. Really? So we tried to tighten the belts but it is an odd setup, not just with an idler pulley and we couldn't get it to go. So I get new belts this morning and put them on and hopefully that solves the issue.

But the yield........I checked it twice and even had dad verify my work and it seems the 2nd hooper was 105 bu/ac! I've never heard of peas yielding this high before. And this is 2 1/2 times what we normally get. I'm not sure why - the phase of the moon it was seeded by????!!!!! The stars aligned?? But if this continues or is anything close to that overall like say 80 there will be a Bolt in my future as soon as I can get a deal I feel I'm not being screwed on!

I know it has only been three days and I don't want to get any hopes up including my own but the smallest of tumors appears of have died and my gf peeled it off when she was removing some dead skin on my arm last night. We were stunned. Not that this didn't happen from time to time with the imiquimod lotion but this is the first sign of something since the IPI. But like I said, it could just be a one off - but again the feeling of hopefulness has returned. Will God spare my life once again??

Cheers,

Garry
 
So off to combine. 1st load tested 21% but there were some green spots and dad agreed to dry it - forward! The 2nd load tested 18% yeah baby!

Then the unloading auger plugged. Really? So we tried to tighten the belts but it is an odd setup, not just with an idler pulley and we couldn't get it to go. So I get new belts this morning and put them on and hopefully that solves the issue.

But the yield........I checked it twice and even had dad verify my work and it seems the 2nd hooper was 105 bu/ac! I've never heard of peas yielding this high before. And this is 2 1/2 times what we normally get. I'm not sure why - the phase of the moon it was seeded by????!!!!! The stars aligned?? But if this continues or is anything close to that overall like say 80 there will be a Bolt in my future as soon as I can get a deal I feel I'm not being screwed on!

I know it has only been three days and I don't want to get any hopes up including my own but the smallest of tumors appears of have died and my gf peeled it off when she was removing some dead skin on my arm last night. We were stunned. Not that this didn't happen from time to time with the imiquimod lotion but this is the first sign of something since the IPI. But like I said, it could just be a one off - but again the feeling of hopefulness has returned. Will God spare my life once again??

Cheers,

Garry
Maybe the peas were thinking about Trump and the trade war and thought to step up their game. lol
If the crop is really good and those tumors keep on slopping off then hold out for an electric Vette. Why settle for a Bolt. If it for the missus then I am quite sure she would appreciate and E-Vette. Especially if she is from Quebec and that is her name, lol
 
Wow Garry ... the difference a day can bring.
I think the awesome person you mention as "gf"
is being realized as "gs" (godsend) by a few of us.
Best of continuing Fortune ....
 
My gf, whom you call the Godsend, I describe her to people that have never met her as the "women I don't deserve". I really actually wonder if I would have the ability to stand beside a partner during a time like this or would I flee in self preservation. It must be so hard, day in, day out, all the wrapping and wondering what is going to happen to me. Do you invest more emotionally or cut your losses?? I know that I would probably not be either alive or sane without having her in my life. She loves my son, my parents and puts up with me. I must have done some real good in my earlier life to be blessed like this right now.

So OK, onward!

It was pour day today!!!!!!!!!! The driveway is poured! Of course I now have to wait 7 days before I can drive on it but let the curing take place - be it driveways or cancer actually!

Farm wise no harvesting today for me. We replaced the belts on the unloading auger but it did not solve the problem. Thankfully cousin John was by and he's encountered the same problem with Uncle John's 9600. So he took us though the procedure of what has to be taken apart, worked with Dad, Jesse, and I for a bit and said he'd be back tomorrow to help us. Such a super guy cousin John is, as is Jesse.

I'm looking into replacing the return elevator on the combine as well since it has to be removed to access the part of the auger we need to repair and it has a lot of corrosion on it. Trying to get a price on a use done. And it also rained a bit and there was even some hail so I'm not too worried about missing some combining. But with luck we can get it going soon. I'm just itching to do that 3rd hoper of peas to see if the yield really is that high! Sure Donnie can buy it, for a price!

Yeah. The electric car. To be sure if I knew that there would be a E-Vette I might consider it. But I don't that is written in stone yet. And unlike Spence I'm not sure I could be a two Vette family. The Bolt is available now and I could enjoy it. Having said that, long term fantasy, I beat cancer, the E-Vette is build, I trade off the Bolt on the E-Vette! But I must go with what I know.

To be honest, I feel pretty happy right now. I'll be back combining soon, the driveway is done and I got into the clinical trial! Life for me just abounds with goodness!!!!

Cheers,

Garry
 
Gary, hope the weather smartens up and dries things down so you can start threshing. Same here, just rain rain and snow and more rain. At least the snow melted as of this morning and even seen some sun, but the swaths are dripping wet, and I seen some standing stuff get flattened abit from the snow. We will be lucky to get it off this year from the way the forecast sounds. But I always say things could be worse. Down south I heard peas going 1/2 bush/acre , wheat 6-7 ....lots of red ink there ! Get that Johnny Boy green all tuned up and you'll soon be watching all that $$$$ pouring in the hopper !!!!
 
Oh those are not yields but more like seeding rates! That is a full blown train wreck. I hope those guys have crop insurance. It is not buckets of money but if it can help cover input costs that is something.

Our first year, 1979, we had a canola field of maybe 130 ac and we didn't have to take the truck out to the field, the combine hopper never filled!

Not in a panic yet but with possible high yields not something I want to leave out over winter. Plus Dad and I usually have huge arguments over drying grain and as he has agree to dry the peas i want to take advantage of this. Plus I really want to get that 3rd load combined so I can see if the yield is really that good or if it was just a good piece I combined.........

My gf was just so happy with the driveway but especially that while I could not be there I asked the crew to put our names and the date we moved into the driveway and they did a super nice job, very arty script.

No call from the wreckers yet about the used return elevator. I may just have to try to patch the old one but the clean out door is also so badly rusted we had to bolt it into place last fall.

Some showers and even a few small hailstones yesterday afternoon but I don't think there was any damage and there were combines running on my way home so it must have been spotty.

I'm not sure if we'll have the combine going today or not but we'll get as close as we can if not.

6 more days until I can introduce the Z06 to the new driveway! There is a slight drop from the garage to the start of the driveway but at this point I don't expect that to be a problem and the approach to the street looks like it should be fine too - the end of damage to the valance!

Cheers,

Garry
 
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I've been wanting to write this since Thursday but just didn't have the energy.

I had a PET scan on Wednesday in Edmonton. Compared to the one done in June the tumors have gotten larger thus they are stopping treatment with the immunotherapy drug PEMBRO.

They also wanted to stop with the lotion imiquimod but as I have no doubt it is working on some of the tumors I want to continue. For the moment we are going to.

Now I don't know why this has so devastated me but it has. I haven't had much confidence that the PEMBRO was ever working and was very surprised when they actually authorized the last 4 treatments to be honest with you. If it had been working then I wouldn't have expected to see any new tumors and over the past few months there have been a few new ones.

However things are not over yet.

I have applied for a clinical trial and hope to hear today if I will be a candidate. 4 treatments, no more, no less, every three weeks in Edmonton and I'll have to spend two days at a time there. Oddly this treatment is considered to be more effective for former PEMBRO patients, but we're still talking about 20 to at the outside 40% effective.

They will also treat one tumor on 50% of the patients but I do not know if I will be in that group or not.

The plus, and a big plus, if it does work, this is one of the few drugs that the FDA has permitted the use of the word "cure" rather than "remission" to be used.

I'll have to stop the imiquimod if I get into the trial which I am not excited about but the price to be paid for another long shot. I worry if the treatment doesn't work the tumors running rampant for three months.

As well, there may be another long shot trial in Toronto that I might be able to apply for after this one.

I'm worried but not as freaked out as I might have been. I went through my "God I don't want to die" when I had cancer 11 years ago, so mentally I'm not in as bad a position as I could be.

But there is some apprehension that this could be my swan song...……………….

I appreciate that I can vent here and for all your support, sorry but I need it a while longer yet!

Cheers,

Garry
Garry

I am thinking of you pal I with all the other CCF folks send positive thoughts your way. Never quit

Wayne B.
 
Good morning!

So combine all apart, even a replacement (used) return elevator on hand. We should be starting this morning to put it all together.

Arm pain was a bit worse this morning but there was a lot of physical activity yesterday so probably not a surprise.

Wow the four tumors on my elbow seem to be having a race to see who can grow the fastest. Two mega ones and two just behind that. Two of them will be touching soon at this rate and growing against each other. I can't even imagine the joy that will bring and what it will be like to keep them clean and infection free.

While I can't say there is any progress on the tumor front I am looking forward to the next treatment. And I know I have to be patient as it has only been 5 days since the first one and I need to have my expectations in line.

But I push forward all the same.

Driveway done, crack lines have been cut. Plumber coming this morning to try to solve out slow draining bathtub in the main bathroom - we draino'ed it to death so time to get a pro in to look at it.

Weather was amazing yesterday, +17 and looks to be +13 today so I hope we can try the combine out!!

Spence I told my gf/gs what you said and she was really touched to be seen that way.

Cheers,

Garry
 
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The weather does look good so I am hopeful. And my experience is that things go together faster than they come apart!

Sitting here, 45 minutes after an 8 am appointment for the plumber. I hate people who have such little respect for my time, can't call to say their delayed etc.
 
A few days later...……..

The drain is fixed. Looked like it had something to do with the old mechanical drain mechanism that was still left there. Oh so happy not to be waddling around in 4" of water after my shower!

I missed my son's Terry Fox Run at school this week. And while my son said on his sticker on his shirt that he was running for "his dad", unbeknown to him 5 of the boys in his class said they were running for "Mr. Ropchan". I was really touched and gave Aidan money to take them all out for lunch at Subway. None of the girls though...…………..

Farming front. Everything fixed. The unloading auger on the 9600 was due to the failure of the splines on a shaft that operated the auger that takes the grain out of the tank to the horizontal main unloading auger. I replaced the rusty return elevator on the combine with a nicer one from the wrecker - I even painted it! Then we went out to try it out and we forgot to add the little cleanout door on the back side. So when I started to unload all this chaff and dust came pouring out onto my...…...still wet green paint! No luck sometimes!

We did a lot of small jobs besides that. Jesse welded my exhaust on the 1150, cleaned out the 2320 cart, even discovered how to flip the cart loading auger hopper so it will not fill with water over the winter and wreck the bottom bearing. Cleaned the canola around the grain dryer, fixed the feeder house chain on the 8820 combine, replaced the batteries on one of my grain trucks, yeah just all sorts of things.

Took another sample on the peas yesterday, 21.8 so leave it for another day yet. But we need to get moving.

Weather poor for the next week. No rain or snow but just highs of 2 and 3 for the week, not much grain drying takes place when it is that cold out.

Still waiting for the driveway to cure.

Next treatment week after next. Pain getting worse as is the oozing and bleeding, just soaked my arm pillow and towel but thankfully protected the mattress.

Six more weeks, cured or arm gone but I sure hope some relief of some kind, I am starting to go out of my mind. There are so many tumors ands they are sop large I can't find a position in which to rest my arm without there being pain. Almost at the limit of my daily med dosage too...………………….

But resolved to see this through!

Cheers,

Garry
 
Curiosity finally got me so I checked out where Fairview was located.
Those must be snow peas that far North.
Looking at the western weather on the news last night and they said you guys out west went from Summer to Winter. Hope things improve for the harvest or you'll be harvesting frozen peas.

Take care Garry. Keep up the fight. Looks like with some help you have the mechanical side up to snuff. Just need to get the physical augers & blockage in shape. Thinking of you every day.
 
I know a few people are going to Kentucky next year for the Caravan anniversary. I can’t go .... but ... I’m thinking a drive to Fairview will work out just fine .... it’s on my 2019 bucket list right now.
Awesome kids up there Garry 👍🏻
Thanks for keeping us in-the-know 👍🏻
 
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I know a few people are going to Kentucky next year for the Caravan anniversary. I can’t go .... but ... I’m thinking a drive to Fairview will work out just fine .... it’s on my 2019 bucket list right now.
Awesome kids up there Garry 👍🏻
Thanks for keeping us in-the-know 👍🏻
might join you if in you think my car can keep up Jeffer
 
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