It was still dark out when I got up at 5:30. Got dressed and was in the truck heading to the office by 6:30.
Same as any other day. I enjoy having this quiet time to arrange my day and get the guy’s jobs set up before the phones start ringing. It’s the same as any other day.
Soon enough it’s a bit past 7:00 when the phone rang. I answered it to hear the farmer my brother and I are buying a cow from say, “I can’t get YOUR cow to get into the truck!” Of all the cows he has, apparently it’s ours he’s having a problem with. So, I asked him if sending a few guys over would help the situation to which he answers, “It can’t hurt.”
So I went out into the yard and told Eric what was going on. He and a couple of the guys headed on over to lend a hand. Now they are awesome plumbers, but cow wrangling? This was going to be a first for them. But then again, how hard can it really be?
They got to the farm, saw what was up and formulated their plan… they just forgot to let the cow in on it. They tried to steer her towards the truck, she didn’t steer. They gave chase and she loped away. They zigged, she zagged. At one point, she decided the field was too crowded for her and she broke through the fence into the next field. Then they had to get her back into the first field.
Eric and the guys persisted. Eventually all the running made the cow hungry, so she headed back to get some tucker and then she was off again. Eric gave me a quick call to tell me some of the cow’s tricks, how big she was, and how the only one not freezing that morning was her.
Bessy finally tired of her game and allowed the guys to lead her into the truck and they headed back to the office to warm up for a few minutes before heading off to their scheduled jobs of the day. Only took them an hour and a half.
I sat there and mused a bit. While this has been our only call to help with an unruly cow (and I don’t know if I could talk anyone here into doing it again), every day is different at Farmington Valley Plumbing and brings its own unique issues to be solved. That’s just the nature of the business. And solve issues we do. Every day. Yup, in truth it was a day like any other…
