Jordan the Potato Farmer

Whenever I tell people that my summer job is potato farming I always get strange looks, so I felt the need to clarify my job.

No, I'm not out in the fields with a hoe chopping at the ground. I'm actually in charge of shipping at the Pinto Creek Potato Shed. I guess I should say I'm a shipping manager and not a potato farmer (like I said I just like the reactions people give me.)

My day goes like this:

I'm in charge of spread sheet data, so I have to enter in all the weights of the trucks that brought the potatoes in from the fields.

Those numbers help us figure out the Daily Summary and how much gross income the shed is making (along with other numbers like quantities being shipped out, and number of man hours worked in the shed.)

When I'm not working on that, I'm checking in big 'ole hairy truck drivers. I get their paperwork, and enter them into the system, then send them to the back to get loaded up. Most of the time we end up putting about 44,000 lbs of potatoes on their trucks. When they're done loading they pull on the scale and I weight their axels. When all the weights have met legal standards, they are free to go and I get their bills of lading ready (this is their sign out sheet) then I send them on their merry way be it: Missouri, Maine, Canada, Pennsylvania, Washington, Iowa, etc. We also do local shipping so there's a good chance if you pick up some packaged Green Giant potatoes at Wal-Mart they were grown in our fields and packaged at our shed.

The best part about this job is the down time. When it's slow, it's SLOW, so as you can see I've had a lot of time lately to bring our blog up to speed, and facebook has become a new time-sucker. I also watch tons and tons of DVDs. Basically it's the perfect job for me. Now mind you. . .when it's busy, it's like a tornado in here. Phones are ringing off the hook, truckers are lined up at the window, and trucks are lined up at the scale. So, it's kind of a catch 22 (where did that saying come from anyway?)

I hope this lets you all understand what it is that I do a little better, and hopefully will get me a little more respect then just being a "potato farmer." I have the job like Chandler on friends where nobody really knows what he does.