1/ I'm about 30 minutes in to farmhand season. Lead farm hand, who was variously dismissive and absent back when he had too much work in the fall, is now polite and inquisitive, because he has too little.https://twitter.com/DavidKMagnus/status/983405814034546688 …
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12/ ...and then at one point, I realized that Deposed Farm Hand was One Of Those Guys™. Both to women (he's got a TERRIBLE reputation around here, from all the women he's creeped on), but also to other people. >>>
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13/ Several times I've given in on some issue after telling him "no" six times. "FH, use nails" oh I think screws are better "no, use nail" why do you want nails? "they're code" you don't care about code, do you? Screws are better "please just use nails" why? Screws hold.
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14/ "just use nails; I already bought them" why do you like nails so much? "I assume that code specifies them because they have higher sheer strength." No, they're the same kind of steel. "I have no evidence of that; they might be a different alloy. So, use nails"
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15/ him: I think screws are better. me: !@#$ it, look, fine, whatever. 4 hours later: him: I used screws, like we discussed. me: I...I... me (whispers to myself) "I'd kill him, but there are basically no other options. Also, who'd dig the hole for me?"
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16/ As always, I strongly support your right to run your farm the way that works best for you.https://twitter.com/kwashn/status/983411923604725760 …
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17/ Arguably so. Certainly he's got Aspergers and maybe some other issues. I think he's on a local optima - by aggressively ignoring pushback, he gets some decent portion of what he wants. https://twitter.com/GolfNorman/status/983411178645925888 …
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18/ Local optima are the root of all evil. If Deposed Farm Hand took steps to behave better, his life would get much WORSE in the short term.
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19/ Yes. So now I've got decking screws holding structural members together, and nails (which pull out) holding barn siding down, which WILL try to cup as it ages, and which will pull nails out. FFFFFFFFFFFF https://twitter.com/plzbepatient/status/983413273167933440 …
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20/ I have literally (no, LITERALLY) used hobo labor at certain points. (Paid a guy $100 one evening, had to front him $5 for breakfast the next day bc he "got pretty wet" at the bar in between).https://twitter.com/horsewithnonick/status/983413617319178240 …
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21/ He has never hit on MY farm wife. He made a joke about it once, and I told him that the nearest AR-15 was in a closet 6 feet from me, and if he looked at her cross eyed no one would find his body. He knew I was dead serious; has been polite to her. https://twitter.com/AuldenGhostley/status/983413812803063808 …
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22/ This is EXACTLY right. Newly Elevated Farm Hand tells me that Deposed Farm Hand bad mouths me bc I'm "an a-hole who always wants things to go my way". Imagine that - me, the property owner paying cash, wanting things my way. https://twitter.com/KennethCullen14/status/983414177724280832 …
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23/ "use it for 'the job'" are we talking building structures, or disposing of farm hands? https://twitter.com/plzbepatient/status/983414332821094400 …
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24/ if for framing, I've got a variety of Bostitch nail guns. Have had some of them (e.g. the coil framing gun) for almost 20 years. Old enough that the rubber gaskets are starting to go and I have an opinion on rebuild kits.
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25/ Yeah, Deposed Farm Hand is ALWAYS pushing boundaries, and pushing them hard. I offered him soda once, found him in my kitchen pouring himself soda the next day. etc. Raised by a single mother, no father figure, lots of other issues. https://twitter.com/AuldenGhostley/status/983415261897347072 …
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26/ I UNDERSTAND why he is terrible, but I do not TOLERATE it. Most people are not remotely as good about steady forceful pushback as I am, so they get victimized, then they explode at him, and he perceives this as "out of nowhere, they flipped out".
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27/ This is why he considers me a huge a-hole: I calmly succeed in stopping him from doing 90% of the bad crap he wants to do at me; this unprecedented push back strikes him as entirely bizarre and unreasonable. (No, you may NOT host a bonfire party for your friends on my land)
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28/ No, you may NOT deposit construction debris from your house on my burn pile. No, not even if I gave you permission for the last load - WAIT, WHAT? WHEN DID I DO THAT? GOD DAMN IT...
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29/ No, you may not take a shower in my master bath. Yes, if that means that you will be sweaty at the group dinner you're going to in 15 minutes, that IS, IN FACT, ok with me.
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30/ No, you may not park your Airstream project trailer here. No, not even if you pay $20 per month. No, not even if I have 56 acres.
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31/ No, we are not going to change the pay scale, which is $10/hr with a $60 bonus if you work 30+ hours per week, to $12/hr. Why not? Well, my system incentivizes you to show up. What does your proposed system incentivize?
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32/ Concur. I've got a female friend who was VERY creeped out by him. He came to her house for some reason, then wouldn't leave. Other women are very upset with his advances. https://twitter.com/DarkShamashAran/status/983417276199088128 …
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33/ Anyway, to people who ask "why not sever ties?", please note that I 95% HAVE. I'm bringing him in for maybe 2 days to work with / teach Newly Elevated Hand.
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34/ Maybe two years ago he and I had a Come To Jesus moment. I explained that he could enter the house and go no further than the tile entrance, to access the bathroom. https://twitter.com/AuldenGhostley/status/983417729670635522 …
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35/ He also turned a courtesy on my part (giving him and his guys a pitcher full of lemonaid) into a power dynamic, where he would TELL me that the pitcher was empty, and EXPLAIN that he would just go into the kitchen and get glasses. This also fed into the Come to Jesus moment
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36/ The New Policy made things tolerable... ish... for the last two years, but even with that improvement....no, I'm done. A few days here and there to train others, but our time together is almost entirely over.
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37/ I told him back in February "hey, you're overloaded with work, and this year is pretty slow at the farm; I'm having XXX do weekly lawn mowning etc; maybe just 1 or 2 big projects for you: X and Y for a few days each" >>> https://twitter.com/SnekeanRemoval/status/983441398828601344 …
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38/ You can see that his response is... not fully engaging in my statement "I've got another guy; there may be ~ 4 days of work for you this year". Notice how he tells me that he's looking to recruit more guys for his crew. Why? Because he's ignoring the facts on the ground.pic.twitter.com/QNQ0ImGmns
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39/ He's gonna show up for the 1 day of work, and then tell - not ask me - what he's going to do when he's back, and explain that ACTUALLY I probably want to do project XYZ and he'll start it tomorrow. And I'll tell him "finish this task today or tomorrow, then leave".
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40/ I get lots of advice like this. And I understand where it's coming from. Life is trade offs. e.g.: you've got 4 paddocks but you need 5 bc pigs arrive in ~5 weeks, so you need to subdivide. X has run fences before. Y hasn't. It's a 2 man job. What to do? https://twitter.com/B30wu1f2/status/983446118498435072 …
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41/ One answer is "work along side good farm hand". OK, valid...but my hourly rate >>>> $10/hr, so that costs me hundreds if not thousands of dollars in opportunity cost. Another is "hire someone new". OK, who?
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