On the run

Scrub day at the dairy and it was forecast to be the hottest day of the week. (Scrub day means after milking for four to five hours, Mike and I turn around, foam the parlor and use brushes to clean everything until it sparkles again.) Yesterday, Mike suggested that we might want to scrub before milking in order to avoid the heat. "OK," I said, "as long as we let the dairy owners know so they don't wonder why we are here early." Mike and I agreed to start cleaning at 3:00 a.m. which would allow us to finish before first shift milking began. We had been working for 1/2 hour when the owners showed up. They had decided to come in and help us out. It was hot work but not as bad as it would have been later in the day. Actually, I rather enjoyed scrubbing before milking (something I'll never admit if asked!)