Anyone and everyone have that one friend or family member that seems to have a pile of completely random information that they’re known for recounting at the drop of a hat.
Some of these people in your life will also talk forever if you ask them questions about their niche hobbies or interests – that’s just the way it is.
Sure, you might hear the same story more than once or have to endure a long story before you get to the point of the matter you originally wanted to know about, but that’s really just part of the charm.
Unless you’re in a hurry or something is very time-sensitive.
As the eldest in our household, Mike is a fountain of historical, political, Tolkien, and overall literature information.
My mom and sister Ashlee speak the same obsessive language about baking, flowers, and other plants, and some arts and crafts ideas.
My brother is great if you need help with computers, information technology, and cars and sometimes is pretty handy when it comes to home improvement projects.
And me, well, I’ve got a lot of modern history, music, and literature covered along with a slew of random tidbits I’ve found interesting and retained over time.
Though, I’ve started to notice that I’m picking up more information with this job and finding it hangs around for days, weeks, or months later.
Sometimes it feels like it’s taking up valuable space for other things in my head that I want to keep.
I can recall far too much about the basic outlines for the Texas Open Meetings Act, how local governments, school boards along with their respective districts operate, and the guiding principles for the Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) funds used to promote tourism.
It feels like the longer I’m exposed to these people, places, and things, that I should just join more civic organizations and participate in more boards to help share my knowledge.
However, since the news doesn’t sleep, that’s impossible and I have to limit my volunteer services to maintain a healthy work-life balance.
Aside from that, I’ve found a few recent factoids stuck in my thoughts from last week’s Ag Breakfast where two Kubota employees spoke about hay – how to grow it, harvest it, and the best methods to achieve hay that sustains nutrition for animals over time.
That includes things like the moisture content of hay at the time of harvest – which is ideally between 35-55%.
If hay is too wet, it rots in storage by fermentation and if it’s too dry, it’s really nutritionally useless.
I also learned that using a net to tie up round hay bales is preferred over twine because it weathers better and the bales can be wrapped tighter.
They really didn’t discuss square bales very much and I honestly haven’t seen those used outside of rustic wedding venues as seating and overall decorations.
But, again, this is broad information that at the time I found interesting and it just seems to linger days later.
By no means am I interested in getting hands-on experience in the hay business and am more than glad to encourage anyone who wants hay to come harvest our back acreage for themselves.
On some level, a strange part of me is excited to see what new information replaces the hay facts and I can only hope it’s more useful in my life.
