http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alicel,_OregonFirst off, I'm surprised there is even a wikipedia page on a grain elevator I had to drive 2 hours to go do some work at! Anyway, I had to drive out to this elevator to work on the camera system I had installed back in April and when I arrived at Alicel I saw the grain foreman in his wife beater shirt out in the sun with a lawn chair. I think to myself, hmm thats odd I wonder what he is doing and upon closer examination the guy had a pellet gun and was hunting these sparrows/starlings that had created a huge network of nests on the eves of the elevators!
I thought to myself, Jesus Christ don't these guys have anything better to do? I asked the gentlemen why he was shooting sparrows and starlings and he told me flat out that the bird shit is toxic to the dolly pile (for those who don't know what a dolly pile is when a grain elevator reaches capacity and they have to literally dump the grain into a pile) and that our lovely company didn't have the resources to hire a exterminator to keep the birds out.
I suggested that he didn't piss off the angry birds as they may do their business on him and suggested taking some of my wife's cats to the elevator for pest control. He mumbled something to the effect that the EPA or something crazy like that doesn't allow cats on the premises. So I left him to hunting his birds as I started to gather my equipment and I kid you not even 5 minutes later he screams that one of the birds shit on him directly on his face!
Red faced and pissed off, he says he'll be right back and I continue to gather my equipment to diagnose the cameras at the elevator. I would say about 20 minutes later I hear several loud BOOMS and when I went to go investigate the guy busted out with his duck shotgun! Apparently he shot a bunch of these annoying pests and was dancing and hooting and hollering like a buffoon. I just shook my head and told him rednecks and their entertainment. He laughed and I went back to work. What a way to start off harvest...
Topic: Why being a grain foreman at a elevator is the best job if you are a redneck (Read 337 times)