Path through the woods

Yesterday after milking we ripped up the thick rubber mats the cows stand on while being milked. Mike got out the steamer and thoroughly cleaned where the mats were before installing the new ones. This morning, Tim, our milking system service guy, and Christine, who will be giving us training later this month came in to observe. Tim said he'll be putting in larger milk hoses. The larger hoses should milk out the cows faster w/o raising the vacuum level. The dairy owners may not be entirely convinced about the wisdom of this change since they told Tim to only switch 1/2 of the units. Christine watched Antonio and I milk for awhile and then asked if the herdsman and Mike would come in and milk too. She took notes and will use them to critique us later at the milker training class. The parlor looked pretty clean so I checked in w/ Mike. Yes, after I left yesterday, he'd blasted the rest of the parlor clean. Yeah! - no need to scrub today. However, the most memorable part of work today was caused by Mariah.  Just a cow, waiting to come into the parlor. I was busy prepping another cow when she put her nose down by my cheek and whipped her long tongue out and across my face.   Yet another good reason to keep my mouth shut at work.