My husband made some money yesterday

Those of you who have been following my blog closely will recall our search for a tractor with a cab throughout the summer and fall of 2020.  Cliff sold all his classic tractors and had enough cash laid by to buy a new, or almost new, tractor.  Almost magically, such a tractor appeared on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist, I don't recall which.  You can read about our acquisition of that tractor HERE.   It was like new, and the price was very reasonable.

There have been no unpleasant surprises with the tractor since we bought it last December.  Cliff used it to dig post-holes, and he mowed with it.  It only had a little over 300 hours on it when we brought it home.  All brand new tractors have re-gen added, a feature which is good for the atmosphere... but everyone hates the feature.  It's awkward and aggravating to use.  Commercial tractor-trucks have the same feature added now; the drivers hate it.  But the like-new tractor we bought was manufactured before re-gen... another plus in its favor.  

I really don't understand this re-gen thing, so I'll give you a brief description I found... maybe you will understand it better than I do: "A forced regen occurs when soot builds up inside the diesel particulate filter (DPF) to the point that the vehicle is no longer operable. When this happens, a driver has to pull over and initiate a self-cleaning process that can take up to 40 minutes — valuable time that could have been spent on the road."

My husband has done enough reading about it on the Internet to know that nobody likes the process, and some have had big problems with it, even to the point of returning a tractor to the dealer and taking a loss on it.  So we scored big-time on that point.  

However, although the tractor was the same as a new one and didn't have the dreaded re-gen, there were some small details about the way it was made that weren't perfect for Cliff.  The cab wasn't very roomy for a big man; the seat wasn't comfortable... those sorts of issues.  The air conditioning was excellent, which was great for his asthma.  But those little built-in issues were there.

Cliff started talking about selling the tractor; he figured with everybody hating re-gen, he might make a little money by selling it for more than he paid.  The first time he mentioned that, I was almost speechless and tried to dissuade him, but he finally convinced me that this particular tractor wasn't perfect for him.  

I put an ad on Facebook Marketplace for him, but told him if he was going to advertise it for sale, he needed to add a couple thousand dollars more to the price than he was planning to.  After all, we didn't have to sell it, and later on, he could go down on the price if need be.  For a while, the ad got no action at all.  Then a few people called, most of them trying to get him to go down on the price without even coming to look at the tractor.  Lately, though, we had a couple of guys who were obviously serious buyers; one of them was very tempted to buy it, and even told Cliff that he had moved money over to buy it, but decided it was a little larger tractor than he needed. 

Yesterday a man bought the tractor, giving my husband a substantial amount to hold it for him until he comes back to get it next week.  We made a lot of money over what we paid for the tractor, and now Cliff can once again pursue his favorite activity:  Searching for a tractor that is just right for him!  Meanwhile, he still has his little John Deere which can do most any task that's needed around here.

Such weird weather

I just came in from the clothesline; it's chilly outside, even with a light jacket on.  It's 49° out there, to be exact.  I could have tossed all three loads in the dryer as I washed them, but I hate paying the electric company for drying my clothes if I can help it.  The predicted high for today is 59°.  I'm not complaining:  We don't have the furnace or air conditioner running, so I'll take a couple of cooler days.

We could use a new sofa.  We made the mistake of getting a leather one last time and we've hated it ever since we bought it.  All the furniture stores have big sales on Memorial Day, so I considered shopping for sofas this weekend.  But the more I thought about it, the less I wanted to go looking; I never want to go anywhere these days, especially shopping.  It's so hard to find what we want, and it seems as though we often don't like the couches we buy once we get them home, no matter how much time we spend trying them out in the store.

I had a scare this morning:  When I opened the door to feed the two cats, only Mama Kitty was there.  Blue is usually waiting for breakfast at least an hour ahead of time.  I fed Mama Kitty and called for Blue.  I checked the garage and the shop to make sure he hadn't been locked in, but he's wise to that now; if he hears the automatic doors closing, he runs as fast as he can.  He's been locked in those places accidentally before, and doesn't intend for it to happen again.  At six AM he still hadn't shown up.  I went to the back porch and yelled for him across the pasture where he hunts so often, wondering if the hunter had become the hunted.  About ten minutes later, I looked out the window and saw Mama Kitty had mosied back there and was sitting, peering intently out over the pasture.  I couldn't see anything in that direction and came inside, but five minutes later, Blue was back there with her.  

I was so happy to see him I let him inside and fed him breakfast in the house.  That was shortly after six, and as I type this at 10:30, he's still in his bed across the living room napping, occasionally stretching, yawning, and changing positions.  The problem with outdoor cats is that there are so many things that can happen to them:  coyotes, bobcats, and foxes are numerous here.  Every time I get a scare like this, I remind myself we've had Mama Kitty 11 or 12 years, and she's still around doing fine.

It's been a lazy couple of days.  It rained off and on yesterday, and today we have clouds and chilly weather.  Cliff is cat-napping on the couch, and I haven't done much to brag about.  

These are strange times we're living in, in so many different ways.  I think I need a nap.