Posted by JD Seller on January 08, 2016 at 18:55:54 from (208.126.198.123):
My Grand daughters have been looking at things they can do to earn money in the winter. They mow yards and those type of things in the warmer months. There are few things a girl can do to earn money in the colder months. They started researching different things they could sell to make money. They considered selling beef but soon found out it had lots of rules and regulations for them to try to direct sell our farm raised beef on any type of a regular basis. It also would take more capitol than they had to work with.
Well they finally came up with the idea to sell shelled corn in fifty lbs. bags. There is a demand in Cedar Rapids and Dubuque from people that feed wild life and such. They take orders and will deliver on weekends, alternating Dubuque one week and Cedar Rapids the next. They have advertised on their face book page and some horse web sites. They are staying away from Craigslist.
Well tomorrow is their first delivery to Cedar Rapids. So they had to bag corn today after school. They where just going to hand fill the bags and tie them shut. I had a better idea and that is where history repeats itself.
I have told how I started working in a feed mill at the age of 13 to help my Mother out raising a family basically single handed. What I did at that mill was bag ground feed. The owner would not hire me as a laborer because of my age. So I bagged feed for so much a ton. I guess I would be called a subcontractor today. LOL I got $1 a ton to bag and stack the bags on pallets. The first afternoon I only did 4 ton in five hours and I thought I would die the next day. LOL By the time I was eighteen I could do 13-15 ton in 5-6 hours and I got $2 a ton.
Fast forward to 1990. The feed mill I worked at close in the mid 1980s. The owner decided to sell the mill and equipment at auction. He had been trying to sell the entire business and could not get it sold. I heard of him selling. I went to him prior to the sale an bought the bagging scale and sewing machine I had used all those years ago. Both where in terrible shape as they had not been used since the late 1970s. I rebuilt the bagging scale and had the sewing machine rebuild by a company in Des Moines that services them. I never used them nor planned to but I did want them as a reminder of days gone by.
So when the girls came up with their idea I knew the machines would get used again. I got the bagging scale mounted under one of the over head bins in the old granary. We then got 250-300 bushels of corn from one of the bins, in a wagon. We used the bucket elevator in the granary to fill the overhead bin. I borrowed a digital scale that is certified legal for resale. We spent yesterday getting the bagging scale and sewing machine setup and working.
So right after school today they learned how to bag fifty pound bags of feed/corn. They did 80 bags or two tons. That will fill their orders for tomorrow and will fit in the pickup.
The middle girl filled the bags and dropped them on the slide. The youngest ran the bags through the sewing machine and the oldest stacked the bags. The first 10 to 15 where slow going as they had to figure everything out. They got a rhythm going after that and did not want to stop at the 80 bags.
As I sat there and watched I closed my eyes, letting my ears take me back to my youth. The BANG of the bagging scale tripping shut when the bag is at the correct weight. Then the BRRRRROOOM of the sewing machine closing the bag. The SLAP of the bag hitting the pallet. For awhile I was a teenager again.
So history repeated itself. Another generation using these SAME machines to make money. The Grand daughters' situation is different but it still is good honest,physical work making some money. That job helped me in life in several ways. The physical work helped develop my body for the hard work I did later in life. Actually turning labor into income was a valuable lesson. The showing up for work five days a week helped me work better all of my life. The most valuable lesson was one of showing me what I did NOT want to do the rest of my life. Just pure hard physical work that was mind numbingly boring. I had many an hour to think about how to make a better living for myself and my family.
So a little trip back in time today.
PS: You know I had to bag some after they left. Well I am not at my best by far. LOL At 18 I could bag a ton in under fifteen minutes for hours on end. It took me thirty minutes and I am SORE tonight. LOL
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