Yes, sir.?ÿ Seeing blonde-headed girls working with the hay is super-familiar to me.?ÿ The middle one was about 14 when she made the mistake of swinging upwards to hook the end of a bale and missed.?ÿ The tip of the hook hit her square on top of the head and made a solid hit.?ÿ She was seeing stars that time?ÿ When she parted her hair just right you could see the little scar for years.?ÿ The oldest daughter could handle hay at 13 far better than her 13 and 15 year-old boy cousins who also grew up on a farm.?ÿ Once during her Senior year of high school, one of her boy classmates was trying to give her a hard time.?ÿ He was about 6' 2" and 200 pounds.?ÿ She told him to knock it off or she would stuff him in a nearby 30 gallon trash barrel.?ÿ He dared her to try.?ÿ Big mistake.?ÿ She succeeded on the first try in front of his buddies.
Here are some powerlifting statistics for a teenage farm gal I happen to know.
Do not drink only plain water??Google rhabdomyolysis?ÿ
I find snacking constantly helps a lot.
@holy-cow I love it. My 7 year old is a natural worker. She believes she is helping by running through the field and turning all the bales from their side to flat. But she has actually become productive on the hay wagon. She will push pull drag to keep me a spot to load on the wagon. Once i get to many I will jump up and stack then start all over again. The 11 year old has developed the strength to get them picked up and on the wagon for a bit. And she can stack them in barn as long as I can get them on the same level pretty good.?ÿ
The 11 year old asked one day why we had to help. I said you will be starting middle school this year. You will have boys wanting to kiss you. So you will need your strength. Now the wife and I had our anniversary this past Monday. She made us a card wishing us happy anniversary. And a note on it that said ??Have fun do your kissing somewhere else?. I told her she would be wanting to kiss boys soon. She said yuck. Well we all know how long that will last. But she said if a boy tries to kiss me I will toss him out like a bale of hay. You did the right thing. I am hoping and praying that I am somehow instilling a good work ethic in them and the ability to think for themselves and not be afraid of hard work. She has her moms brains and my good looks. Lol. ?ÿThe youngest she is all about tools measuring building things. She has ruined 5 25ft tapes in the last year. ?ÿLost 4 of my chaining pins. I use them all the time when setting up paddocks with my 300 ft steel tape. But i just keep encouraging them to try to figure out whatever it is they want the selves. With whatever they can find laying around. Both are way smarter than I am. They take after their mom in school. Every kid needs to work atleast one summer doing hay. Character building for sure. ?ÿ
never got that, but experienced wild mania due to over water without electrolytes and it really really sucked.
I always spilt water and Gatorade as a st@ple.
was working out in the Nevada Desert a few years back and actual was 111, ambient and radiant was a whole other story.
I blew through 20 liters of water and Gatorade and like Williwaw you could have sold salt in bags from off my skin and clothing I was so crusty.
?ÿ
Do not drink only plain water??Google rhabdomyolysis?ÿ
I had never heard of it.?ÿ Google led me to the NIOSH page, which says that dehydration can exacerbate rhabdo and shows a picture of a guy drinking plain water.?ÿ So why the slam on drinking water?
Working in serious heat while drinking water without any salty foods or Gatorade-like drinks isn't good.?ÿ
1. Caffeine works against your body's ability to regulate heat, so minimize how much you drink before and during work in the heat.?ÿ
2. Drink at least 64oz of water before noon.
3. Switch to Gatorade or something similar or eat salty foods consistently throughout the day. I find that it's easier to drink enough salt and electrolytes than it is to snack all day.
Two or three tablespoons of honey a tablespoon of Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar, a small pinch of kosher salt to 32oz of water keeps me going. Eat a banana at lunch for potassium and you'll be able to beat a camel in a mid-day marathon in Death Valley.
Farmers used to make switchel (spelling?) With water, molasses, and vinegar that accomplished the same thing.
I experimented with raising the temp in my house and was surprised how much of a difference a few degrees makes.?ÿ If you can tolerate setting the thermostat at 75, you should notice an improvement when working outside.?ÿ?ÿ
?ÿ
?ÿ
I've heard the formula 1 unit Gatorade-type drink after each 3 or 4 units plain water throughout the day.
What does the vinegar provide?
But I don't think I want to lower my AC thermostat to 75 F. If 77 isn't comfortable move some air.
But I don't think I want to lower my AC thermostat to 75 F. If 77 isn't comfortable move some air.
I keep ours set at 80?ø, but hereabouts the temps usually cool into the low 60s overnight, so we don't have to run the AC all that much.
This is one of the first threads I've seen about the ability of the human body to adapt to conditions.?ÿ I grew up on a farm, still live on one and it seems surprising to me that most folks don't?ÿ know the things that happen at a cellular level.?ÿ In warm weather, I can store up water like a camel but put me in AC for too long and my body starts dumping water even if I haven't had anything to drink for a while.?ÿ I can presume the opposite happens for those living in chilly climates.?ÿ Back in the Navy days, we had to wear leather gloves because everything was too hot to touch on "board and search" operations in the Red Sea.?ÿ You could stand in one spot and a puddle would form under you from your own sweat.?ÿ Djibouti was even a little hotter.?ÿ Africa hot we called it back then.?ÿ I drive around now with my windows open with no AC to help my body with acclimation.?ÿ In the winter however, there is nothing I like better than settling in by a roaring fire.?ÿ Apparently I can acclimate to heat well but not cold.?ÿ Still amazed that there is a whole country north of Maine.
@murphy well I can??t give up my coffee or my brain will work less than it already does. But I always have the salty stuff covered with chili fritos and potted meat with a side of sardines and saltines hot sauce and touch of mustard. ?ÿIf I eat to much i will be worthless and ready for a nap. Oh and evey evening i have to have watermelon sprinkled lightly with salt. ?ÿThats my magic potion.?ÿ
Throwing bales was one of the main reasons I was glad my Dad transitioned the farm to a combined cash crop/hog barn operation just prior to my birth.?ÿ Visiting my dairy friends during the summer, it was "all hands on deck" no matter who you were when it was hay/straw baling time.?ÿ I have only done it a few times but doing the "bucket brigade" of throwing bales when you do not have the elevator was brutal.?ÿ Shoveling feed out of multiple wheelbarrows to a cacophony of squealing wieners seemed like child's play after baling.
?ÿ
My general rule of thumb for dealing with heat is that if your pee looks like lemonade, you are not hydrating enough.
Aging male diabetics go through a huge amount of liquids daily.?ÿ Often and copious.?ÿ Pretty much anything that is liquid, except coffee and alcoholic drinks, is passing through my personal sewage treatment system daily in sizeable quantities.
We have not operated any residential air-conditioning for three or four years, now.?ÿ Quite tolerable most of the time with an attic fan and a couple other fans.?ÿ Being gone a lot during the afternoon helps a lot.?ÿ We do run the automobile A/C sometimes.
@holy-cow We DO run our air conditioner in the summer.?ÿ Sometimes the night time temperatures will hover in the upper 70s to low 80s.?ÿ I'll sweat in the daytime but come time to sleep it's gotta be cool(er).?ÿ I sleep with a ceiling fan on year round.
I also keep a gallon jug of water in the refrigerator all the time.?ÿ I add a couple of shots of lemon and/or lime juice to it when I fill it.?ÿ I grew up drinking sweet iced tea and probably would but after a few kidney stones and possible links to iced tea I decided to give it up (mostly).
Andy
