Moving Hay

It's that time of year around here where we have to find hay to buy, luckily this year there is plenty, and get it moved to our place. We purchase the hay in "stacks" of 160 bales and hire a retriever truck to go get it and bring it to our place. It not inexpensive at $0.50 a bale.
This morning I went out to the hay stack to meet the retriever, the hay is only about 1/2 mile from my place so I got a break on the cost. The retriever is a truck with, what looks like, a fork lift on the back with the addition of a set of "claws" to hold the stack.
The driver of the retriever is an artist in his field, it was a pleasure to watch him position the retriever at the stack, pick it up and place it. I was freaking out that he was going to run into a horse trailer parked near by, or knock over the stack of stacks, over spill my hay over the side. What I was freaking out about was the ease with which he went about his job and how precise he was in the execution of it.
The battery in my truck went dead so I hitched a ride back to my place with him to get someone to come jump me. As we drove I asked him what he did for a living besides moving hay. "This is it. I do this from January until November most years." That's how he got his 10,000 hours and became a Master at hay retrieval!
I watched again in awe as he placed the stack outside of my barn, within six inches of where I asked him to. Now I get to watch in awe as my 18 year old son moves 160 60# bales of hay the 60 feet from where it is to where it will be stored. This is his last chance to make money before he leaves for college in two days. which means I get to move the next stack myself. Having horses at home requires a lot of time and energy!
On another note, I've decided to start using Twitter, the link is www.twitter.com/animalsi