Getting there...

On Thursday all the kids had a day off school and we went down to the border, to hand in my old work permit and apply for my new one. After what seemed like ages trying to get into the States, we were eventually turned around with the proof we needed that we had left the country and we came back to the Canadian side ready to try our luck. The reason I say this is you are not supposed to exchange your permits this way as they say the border is not a processing office and they have more important things to deal with. So after a good bollocking and alot of puffing and sighing, he eventually changed the permit. (Now I can get paid from the start and I don't have to volunteer while I wait for my permit.) The kids got bored very easily and I think he might have took pity on us as they looked very fed up.
We had the permits in our hands at lunch time, so I rang my new boss up to find out what the next step was and he told me to come straight to the feed lot east of Iron Springs and load my first trailer full. I drove directly there and met him in the pouring rain. (When I say pouring it drenched me in two minutes flat) There was about five of our wagons loading and Jim had already loaded mine, so I stood and watched the other guys get their cows on and it was off to the plant to get rid of them. This was my second time this week driving with the Eaton fuller transmission, but this time I had someone to impress with my skills, as the boss wants to know that you are not going to kill his truck. Needless to say I didn't impress, but he did bare with me and by the end of the day I was able to get by without using the clutch and not too much grinding..
When we got to Brooks it was great to not turn right where the reefers go. The amount of time I have spent in this place, you would think I was part of the furniture. Waiting for trailers to be ready was my worse nightmare and to go straight on and wait 10 minutes before I unloaded was like a breath of fresh air. (Even though the reality was, it was not that fresh) Once I had backed on the chute the adrenalin started pumping as it was time to get in the trailer. Armed again with my trusty giant rattle, I opened the back door and they started to walk off. The size when you are stood up close is phenomenal and as they rumble past, I started to build up my courage. Once those on the back had come off, I ran up the ramp opened the door to the top deck, turned and legged it. (There wasn't actually any need for this as they didn't come straight away, but better safe than sorry) I think I thought I was the cow whisperer, as they didn't need any coxing off.
The emptying of the dog house is supposed to be the hardest of unloading but they came off just as easy..
The loading was, however a completely different thing. When you are taking animals off a trailer they are looking for an escape route out of their confinement, but when you are loading you are trying to coup them up so they don't want to go in. Again though, I must have been talking fluent moo, because they walked, just where they were supposed to go.. I think it will get harder in time, as I get animals that are a bit more problematic. But only time will tell..