Cowgirl Tunes

Murder on the Highway

2006-02-12T17:08:00.000-08:00

I confess. I am a murderer.

I killed about a gazillion bugs all over the windshield of my little rice rocket. It was sad. They smeared all over the place almost to the point of affecting my visibility.

I wonder what the population of bugs would be if we didn't have cars. Would we be getting eaten alive by bugs? Because, I already feel like I get eaten alive by them in the summer time. I can only imagine what it would be like if our vehicles weren't here to control their population. I wonder if in all those million bugs all over my windshield, one of them was the very last of a species. That means that it is now extinct. But I will never know for sure.

I wonder...

Drink to My Health

2006-01-23T21:34:00.000-08:00

Well, good evening, and welcome to yet another rant from the cowgirl.

Health insurance. Need I say more? It's not insurance, it's, well INSIDIOUS!!! I happen to really like that word, and for those of you who think I don't know what I am talking about, I even happened to look it up!

insidious: adj. 1. intended to entrap or beguile 2. stealthily treacherous or deceitful, (and my personal favorite...) 3. operating or proceeding in an inconspicuous or seemingly harmless way but actually with grave effect.

So it is without question that I do declare health insurance companies to be in fact, insidious altogether. They themselves are an insidious disease (used in the dictionary reference that I cited), that we, ironically, cannot live without. Well, I guess we can, but the question is...how long. They operate in a way that SEEMS harmless ("Oh, yes, we're here to HELP you when you get sick, and help reduce your doctor's bills..."), but in actuality, they are raping you for all you're worth (financially).

Today, after a quite wonderful day of riding and training horses, working cattle and the like, I collected my mail only to be unpleasantly surprised with a notice from my so-called insurance (insidious) company. Effective March 1, my premiums are going to increase. Mind you, this is not an oh-so-small, don't-worry-about-it, it's-not-a-big-deal increase. Oh no, it was a whopping $40.00 per month increase on my already hefty premium. My premium is already increased due to the fact that I was seen previously for something that is not going to ever kill me, but they thought I may cost them a tiny tiny bit of money one day, so they jacked me up. So, now I am getting hit twice!!!!

So what is their excuse, you ask? Oh yes...the rising cost of health care, new technology (of which I have yet to take advantage) etc, etc. Rising cost, my foot! What they don't want to really tell me is that my premium is going to cover the cost of bogus claims by people trying to rape the system. This country is so screwed up. We have to pay outrageous amounts of money to go to university/college, and then once we are out and trying to start a life on our own, we can't afford to get health insurance. Then, of course, because the insurance companies are so crooked, doctors jack up their rates (rising cost of health care) and we all get screwed. To top it all off, no one in government is doing a DANG thing about it. Instead, we are dumping a gazillion dollars in Iraq (a country we will NEVER save...), illegal aliens are having children on US soil to reap our benefits, illegals are getting free health care, workman's comp claims are out of control, social security benefits are dwindling, and the government continues to pay for new computers for all terminals in the VA Hospitals. How screwed up is that???

Is there nothing we can do? Sure I can raise a stink, but it'll get "buried in appropriations" and its business as usual. I can't afford insurance, but I also can't afford to not have insurance. Why are other countries getting it right? Their governments subsidize education and health care.

Health insurance companies are terrorists on our home turf, yet we are out there fighting a war on a concept, not something that is tangible. Let's bring it home, and deal with our problems here. I want to know that if I get sick, I won't feel guilty because I can't pay my doctor's bill. You might as well just shoot me now!

A little much, I know, but that's how I feel. I'm gonna go pop my vitamins and get ready for bed, cuz this here cowgirl wants to ride for years to come.

Systematical Failure

2006-01-10T21:54:00.000-08:00

America's "system" is messed up. I don't know how else to describe it. Everything from Social Security (will I get any when I'm old???), to disability, to unemployment! What I mean by screwed up is that there are too many ways to take advantage of the "system" and there are many people out there doing it. Allow me to explain...

I just saw a friend of mine from college recently during the New Year's holiday. He is a firefighter. During the summer months he is on a helicopter crew. He loves what he does. He is in his mid twenties, young, healthy, and enjoying life. Problem is, he enjoys it at the expense of the rest of us. You see, his work season lasts approximately four months, give or take a month or two. He is usually full-time employed during the summer months (the fire months, mind you), and the rest of the year he is a full-time student (sort of) finishing up his bachelor's degree. I met him in the fall of 2000 when I transfered to a four year university. He was in his second year there, I believe. Unfortunately for him, he had some "difficulties" completing his degree in a timely manner with qualifying grades, and had to leave for a short time and beg to come back. I congratulated him when I found out that he wasn't going to give up and that he was going to clean up his act and finish his degree. I thought that was great. What I didn't know was that his poor grades and many alcohol-induced, sleepless nights were paid for by yours truly and the rest of us hardworking taxpayers.

Here is his defense. He works fighting fire during the summer months risking his life to save whoever and whatever, and then is "involuntarily unemployed" because it IS a seasonal position, and then takes unemployment money out to pay for the rest of the year. I asked him recently if he would like to take a job up here at the ranch cutting down some trees in one of our pastures that desperately needs some attention and he said he may be interested, but only if he is paid "under the table" so that he can keep his unemployment money. I couldn't believe it! I look back at the time when I was in school. I too took seasonal positions during the summer months, but as soon as school started back up, I found another job to carry me through until the next summer. The thought of digging into my unemployment money never once even occurred to me! And then to know that it is taking him twice as long to graduate because most of the time was spent partying (when he could have been studying and working part time) makes me so incredibly mad, I felt I had to BLOG about it. So you are now hearing my rant. It's not like he can't find another job to carry him through. Like I said, he's young and healthy; he can read and write, and I am sure has a number of other skills that could be useful to an employer. Heck, anyone can clean a horse stall, and that's what I did to help pay my way through school!

He isn't the first that I have known to do this. Another friend of mine a few years ago was doing a similar thing. Only this guy didn't do ANY work (seasonal or non). He just got laid off one day and decided to live off of unemployment for a while. He was 30 years old. Mind you, he spent hundreds of dollars per month on alcohol, cigarettes, and "great green bud!" Once he drove 4 hours round trip just to buy some really good bud for $200!!! Don't forget, the gas costs money too!!! And he wasn't working for any of that money! It drove me nuts! Meanwhile, I was busting my butt applying for jobs because my seasonal summer job had ended and I needed to pay rent!

And he wondered why he couldn't get a girlfriend...

No wonder the rest of us won't have any social security benefits to look forward to when we get old. No wonder our government is in a deficit. Don't forget we also spend a lot of money on new computers for all the doctors in the VA Hospitals all over the state (see previous blog).

This makes me so mad I want to actually go to someone to "turn him in." But I know that wouldn't fly. Legally, he can do what he's doing, provided he doesn't get paid for any other work, but that IS the problem!!! Our "system" is so non-systematical (is that a word???) that it doesn't work. Unemployment is kind of like insurance money. If you are involuntarily unemployed (not fired) it is money that you have previouslypaid into to get you by until you can become unemployed again. Unfortunately, people think that it is money that they paid into at one time to pay for the rest of their life and all their partying!!!

Someone tell me how we can put a stop to this.

The Cowgirl Rides Again

2005-11-26T18:35:00.000-08:00

No, I did not ride off into the sunset. No, I did not get bucked off a horse and die. No, I did not get run over by a stampede of wild cattle. The cowgirl is alive and well. It has been a long time since my last post, and for that I apologize. I believe the Frog has it memorized by now. This one's for you, Gracky!

The cowgirl narrowly survived a long summer in the foothills of Central California. For a while there, I didn't know if I was going to make it, but before I knew it, the first rain had hit and the temperatures finally dropped below ninety degrees at night. I have never been around such severe summer weather as is typical in the Central California region. Oh wait, I just realized that some may not even know why I would be in Central California. Allow me to rewind approximately 8 months. It was about then that I could not take another day at my job and I hurriedly responded to the calls of the great outdoors, horses, and cattle. Yes, I quit my job.

I took a position with a horse ranch located at the base of the Sequoia and Kings Canyon Nat'l Parks. My new town boasts a thriving metropolis of 140 inhabitants, a post office, wanna-be convenience store, and most importantly...a bar. We're sophisticated up here, let me tell you. We also have our fair share of wildlife including coyotes (too many to count), bears, deer, wild pigs, and I even saw a wolf! It was a starving wolf. It was eating roadkill. It was a wolf, nonetheless.

After arriving at the ranch, my life took a strange turn of events. I originally took the position as an assistant trainer/breeder/manager. Kind of the Jill-of-all-trades, kinda cowgirl. Oddly enough, however, the very individual who recruited me to work for her, left the day that I arrived at the ranch. Well, not that day exactly, but that is when she broke the news to me. I was immediately promoted to horse trainer. It wasn't long after that, that the breeding manager decided to try her hand at Vet School in the Bahamas (yes, you can get a DVM and a tan at the same time!) and I took over as manager of the ranch. It's not many places that you can work your way up to the top of the totem pole in a matter of weeks. So here I was at the top with no one under me. I had no full time employees to boss around and a long summer of intense heat quickly approaching.

So that roughly brings you up to speed so I can tell you about the summer. I was riding approximately 6 horses/day and working about 15 others. The temperature for 3 weeks straight stayed above 105 degrees. At night we were given a break and it would drop to a whopping 90 degrees. I'm not kidding! I drove home from hauling horses and looked at the temperature guage in the truck and at 10:00pm, it read 99 degrees! I couldn't believe it! To top it all off, I had no air conditioner or swamp cooler in my house so I spent the nights wide awake and sweating bullets. Here are recaps of a typical summer day at the ranch:

4:30am wake up
5:00 am drive to barn area, water arenas, drag arenas, start saddling horses.
6:00 am start riding horses and working
11:30 pm break for lunch and siesta. eat. spend entire afternoon on couch watching reruns of Law and Order.
6:00 pm peel stuck skin from leather counch and drive back to barn to finish the day.
10:00 pm return home, check the thermometer to confirm that it is still above 90 degrees, fall onto the bed out of sheer heat exhaustion and pretend to sleep on top of the covers.

Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep, but then one day I bought an air conditioner for my bedroom, and life was never the same. I actually slept at night! I could function during the day without 3 or 4 cups of coffee! I love technology. I have never loved a/c so much in my life! It truly is a wonderful thing.

Now we are headed into the cold winter months. I am sure it won't be long when this here cowgirl is begging for blue skies and warm sunshine. But for now, I very much enjoy a nice gray day of fog and chilly nights.

Until next time...

Your Money Down the Toilet

2005-03-06T23:04:00.000-08:00

My dad is a physician at the VA hospital. He has been working there for about 3 years or so. This past week, he just received his fourth brand new pc. Yep! You read that right...his FOURTH new computer for his office.

Can you believe it? What the heck does a doctor need with a brand new computer every year? I realize that computers are virtually obsolete the day you purchase them (probably the day they hit the shelves), but I can't see that my dad needs the most up to date system when all he's using is his MS Outlook for e-mail, and the occasional powerpoint presentation. It's not like he's doing graphic design in some huge privately owned firm....which brings me to my next point. Recall he is working at the VA hospital. Where do these hospitals get their funding? You guessed it... And where does good ole Uncle Sam get his big bucks? (Three chances and the first two don't count) Right again! We lowly taxpayers are funding the purchase of a new computer for our VA physicians and staff every year.

So my dad and I did a quick calculation and came up with some interesting numbers. There are approximately (and this is on the conservative side) 2000 computers in the hospital where my dad works. Each year these computers get replaced. Figure on approximately $1000 average per computer (again on the conservative side). This equates to approximately $2,000,000.00 per year spent solely on the purchase of new computers.

But it doesn't just end there. There are approximately 50 VA hospitals in the state of California alone. If each hospital is under the same policy, quick multiplication gives us $100,000,000.00 dedicated to the purchase of new computer systems hospital-wide.

This is not to mention the labor involved in installing these systems and maintaining them. The IT department is responsible for this end of it all and they have employees working to get all the systems up and running. I can't even begin to estimate the cost of labor here.

There is absolutely no reason why computers need to be replaced every year. What I haven't mentioned yet, is that not only is it a brand new computer, the monitor is a brand new 19" flat panel monitor. Does the word overkill mean anything to anyone?

Is anyone else outraged that our tax dollars are going to such frivolous purposes? We continue to have overcrowded classrooms, overworked teachers, increased tuition costs at state schools, yet we continue to cut the education budgets in order to fund...what....computers? This is a ridiculous expense that needs to be evaluated and adressed. I don't even know where to begin.

Some people are wanting my dad to be appointed chief of staff. Those at the top are a little frightened of that prospect. Hmmm...makes sense. Money is going somewhere and it is obviously not in the hands of the right people. Besides, they may not get their new computer every year.

Breast Cancer Awareness

2005-02-24T22:00:00.000-08:00

I'm gonna do it again. I'm gonna run for money.

This year will be the 3rd year that I will run in the Revlon Run/Walk for Women. What is this you ask? It is an annual 5k run/walk (I run) to raise money for breast and ovarian cancer research. This will be the 12th Annual Revlon Run/Walk. It will be held in Los Angeles. The 5k (3.1 mile) route winds through downtown LA near the Los Angeles Coliseum. It is a fantastic day where literally thousands of participants join in the fight to raise money for cancer research.

Last year, a young woman whom I had known and worked with (Vikki), lost her life after a long, hard struggle with breast cancer. By the time she passed away, cancer had spread like wildfire throughout her body. She was only 34 years old.

In the past I have simply joined the marathon, almost more out of an excuse to exercise, and raised a little money on the side. This year, I want to get more serious about it. I have set a goal of $3,000. This money goes directly to cancer research. Hopefully, one day we can find a cure or more advanced treatment methods so that others don't have to lose the fight in the same way as Vikki did.

This year I will be running in memory of my grandmother and Vikki, and in support of my aunt. If you so wish to support this wonderful cause, then please make a donation in my name to the Revlon Run/Walk for women. You can visit my personal website at: https://www.revlonrunwalk.com/la/secure/MyWebPage.cfm?pID=211287

Once there, you can make a donation online. If you can, please help me reach my goal of $3,000. Every cent counts.

Also, if anyone wants to join me in running or walking, visit my website and register for the event. I can't even describe the feeling you get when you cross the finish line with 60,000 other participants. It is overwhelming and beautiful to see. If you can't run, but want to offer support, there are other areas in which to volunteer. Please see the website for more information. www.revlonrunwalk.com

Thank you all in advance for your support.

Older and Rounder

2005-01-31T20:59:00.001-08:00

It's my birthday tomorrow! I will be a whopping 26 years old! Wow, I feel old. I am now officially MORE than a quarter of a century old. Actually, I don't feel old except for my level of physical activity has decreased significantly since starting this job over a year ago. I am starting to realize that the older you get, the harder it is to get back in shape if you have not been staying in shape. Just this past year I started to go running every day. I used to run 3 miles a day and it took me no time at all to get my muscles in shape and then I would just go and run it. This past year, however, I found that my body was screaming for me to walk more and I didn't have as much motivation to run the whole distance. I seemed to not be able to maintain that level of activity. It is really hard to come to terms with that and then it makes me mad that I do not have the time to work out like I once did. It is especially hard in the winter time when the days are short. I keep telling myself to wake up early and go running, but my bed is so nice and cozy.

When I first started running a few years ago, I had great motivation. I think I am going to create that motivation again this year, and I invite all of you to join me. I have twice run in the Revlon Run/Walk for Women to raise money for breast and ovarian cancer research. I think I am going to sign up for it again. It occurs on Mother's Day weekend in May down here in Los Angeles. The 5k marathon ends in the LA Coliseum and it is a tremendously touching experience.

Check out the website, then determine for yourself if you are interested in joining the fight against breast and ovarian cancer. Maybe I'll see you there in May!

http://revlonrunwalk.com/

Thoughts on the English Language

2005-01-25T10:51:00.000-08:00

I couldn't think of anything creative to write about today, so I thought I would pass on this tidbit of information:

The European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby
English will be the official language of the European Union rather than German,
which was the other possibility. As part of the negotiations, Her Majesty's Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a 5-year phase-in plan that would become known as "Euro-English".

In the first year, "s" will replace the soft "c". Sertainly, this will make sivil servants jump with joy. The hard "c" will be dropped in favour of "k". This should klear up konfusion, and keyboards kan have one less letter. There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year when the troublesome "ph" will be replaced with "f". This will make words like fotograf 20% shorter. In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expected to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible.

Governments will enkourage the removal of double letters which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horibl mes of the silent "e" in the languag is disgrasful and it should go away. By the 4th yer peopl wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" with "z" and "w" with "v". During ze fifz yer, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords containing "ou" and after ziz fifz yer, ve vil hav a reil sensibl riten styl. Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu understand ech oza. Ze drem of a united urop vil finali kum tru.

Zen ve vil rul ze vorld.

Buckin Broncs

2005-01-24T21:42:00.000-08:00

They say you ain't a true cowgirl until you've been thrown off and gotten back on again. I guess I can say that I have had my fair share of being thrown off by horses, and then some. Yesterday was no exception.

I own a young thoroughbred filly. She's in the very beginning stages of her training. We basically have learned walk, trot, lope (canter), turn left, turn right, sort of stop, back up, and a little bit about moving to the side when I apply leg pressure. Well, it was made apparent, by yesterdays episode, that she hadn't learned enough. Or I hadn't been a very good teacher.

There's this one area of the arena that she is deathly afraid of...why? no one knows. She just one day got it into her little thoroughbred horsey brain that it was a scary place and that she wasn't going to go near it. So of course I have made it my goal in life to get her near that scary place and find out that the trees are not going to eat her alive, or that the boogie man is not going to jump out from behind the building there. Ah, the mind of the intelligent horse.

So yesterday, we were doing quite well, and we had walked boldy by that ever so frightful area of the arena. I thought, well heck, she CAN be taught! Things were looking up. So, being the gutsy cowgirl that I am (or think I am), I urged her into a slow lope, except in her case, there is no such thing as a slow lope. She pretty much has one speed...fast and out of control. But I was getting control...slowly. As we neared that part of the arena, I was prepared. I had my right leg in her side to help "push" her over towards the fence. All of a sudden, she remembered that she was supposed to be scared and she veered sharply to the right, into my leg pressure. My right spur dug deeply into her side and I had her head pulled around as well. She began fighting desperately to get away from the horrible danger that lurked beyond the arena fence just waiting for the right moment to pounce upon its helpless prey. The more she fought, the more pressure I put on her. She was literally running sideways now. I thought, "hey, no problem! I've done this before." And then, all of a sudden her legs got tangled up in each other and all 850 lbs of horseflesh careened violently to the ground, taking her helpless rider with her. This cowgirl found herself in no time being slammed recklessly into the hardpacked sandy arena and felt her leg and ankle being crushed under the weight of this four legged, unstable creature. Had it not been for the gruesome snapping of my neck over to the side, pulling all the muscles in my left side of my neck, and the shooting pain in my leg, I would have laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation. Imagine the scene: a rather large 4-legged animal, legs flailing about in the air, with the unfortunate rider rather haphazardly sprawled on the ground. It might actually have been funny! But like I said, the pain was in the way.

She finally managed to heave herself up on her side, while I quickly extricated my body from the wreckage. She got to her feet and kind of stood there in a daze, probably wondering, "What the heck just happened to me? I don't think that was supposed to happen!" In the meantime, I grasped at my leg, which I could no longer feel below the knee, and looked around for help. Of course, there wasn't a soul around. I heard myself calling out for help, but once I realized no one could hear me, I figured I was on my own and would have to get myself up on my feet...somehow. I found that my leg actually worked, although I couldn't feel it, and I could sort of walk...or hobble. I gimped over to my horse, grabbed her reins and headed for the barn. By this time, someone finally saw me and came into the arena. It was one of the hired hands around the stable. He took her reins, while I dealt with the pain that was now coming back in my leg. It was as if someone set my leg on fire! I have been in some good wrecks before, but this one takes the cake for pain....well, maybe not...there was this other time....oh wait, I can save that story for later. That's a good one.

Long story short, I forced myself back up on her, and tried in vain to ride her around and finish the lesson I started. The pain in my right leg was so bad, though, that I eventually had to give up and realize that it would have to wait until another day. I got off and gimped to the barn, sweaty horse in tow.

So today, needless to say, I have severe whiplash in my neck, and my leg is the color of...well, it's lots of colors! It's darn near a rainbow, a dark and dreary rainbow I might add. But I thank God, because I know it could have been much worse. My boss tells me I should take up a less dangerous sport...like motorcycles.

On a Mission...From God

2005-01-20T20:06:00.000-08:00

So the Beauti-Phil-meister says that we must get the Frogg a V-Day date. Hmm...I guess he's referring to me when he says that those that live down with her need to get her a date. Well, I dont' know. I like having Vday by myself. No pressure. No frills. No expectations. Just the cowgirl and her cowgirl self. But if the Frogg wants to experience the overrated St. Valetnine's Day, then so be it. I will succeed in my assigned mission or die trying. Well, not really...I'll probably just relax and enjoy the day. I'm not even gonna be aroudn for it! I have to be up in Norcal for the job! Lame. I cna't even relax in the comfort of my own home for V day.

For all the rest of you out there...you got one month...good luck.

The Cowgirl's in the Kitchen

2005-01-16T20:54:00.000-08:00

I cooked the BEST dinner tonight that I have ever made in my life! Some of you who may know me, may be thinking...oh no, I've had her food, and its just what a cowgirl would cook...yuk! No, let me tell you...this was incredible. Actually, my mom and I cooked it together...it was definitely a two person job. I got this particular cookbook a few years ago called A Cowboy in the Kitchen, and it was full of Tex-Mex recipes from the famous Reata Restaurant. Recently, my copy of the book got destroyed when our basement flooded and soaked the box that housed that book. But fortunately for me, a cowboy friend replaced it for me. Atta boy!

So we picked out a recipe tonight...Roasted pork tenderloin with apple-poblano chili chutney and dutch oven potatoes with dried fruit. Now was that a mouthful or what? MMM MMM GOOD! For anyone that has followed a recipe before, you know that when a recipe calls for you to turn to page such and such to see how to make such and such...blah blah blah...that it is going to be a tough recipe. And it was a little complicated...lots of ingredients that the average person does not have in their household. I mean, who has jalapeno jelly, for cryin' out loud? That was the only thing I couldn't find in the grocery store, but wouldn't you know it...we actually DID have it in our refrigerator! That's weird. I dont' know what else you use it for, but I noticed that it is called for in more than one recipe in this book. The book also tell you how to make it, but I didn't have time for that too. The chutney is killer. I want to start putting it in jars and selling it...it's THAT GOOD!

And you can't go wrong with pork tenderloin...I mean, it's always tender! The potatoes were basically a different take on traditional scalloped potatoes. But, man, were they oh-so-good!

So, the cowgirl CAN cook. But I guess I shouldn't have said anything, because now you may all be expecting me to cook for YOU! ah, think again.

Cowgirl Truth

2005-01-15T21:40:00.000-08:00

I was just asked again today if I am a real cowgirl. That's a tough one to answer. I mean, if you ask anyone in my family, they would say that I am in fact a cowgirl. I ride horses, so that must make me a cowgirl, right? Also, I have a silver belt buckle, so that there is a dead giveaway, right? So you might agree with the family, but let me tell you what I think. I don't consider myself a true cowgirl. I was raised in Southern California and grew up riding horses in a drill team. I moved to northern california after high school to attend a junior college where I could take my horse and use him in some of my classes. My major there was "Pack Station and Stable Operations." A very unique major, I must admit. My major professor was also the owner of a modest ranch in the town. I would go out there and help work the cows. I didn't really know what I was doing, but I loved every minute of it.

I spent a lot of time on horseback during myh college years. I learned to start 2 yr olds under saddle and get them ready for sale. I would expose them to cows and do light cow work and rope off of them. (I can't rope worth a darn, but I do what I can) When I transfered to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (YAY!!!), I continued on in the animal science dept. Again, I spent most of my time on horses and even got paid to do it! I also spent a lot of time on one end of a rake...if you know what I mean. Job security, I guess you could say, cuz I got paid for that too! I worked a lot of cows and started a bunch of horses on cattle and took one to the Annual National Reined Cow Horse Association (NRCHA) World Championship Snaffle Bit Futurity Horse Sale. While at Cal Poly, I also helped at brandings, doctored cows, gave shots, dewormed them, etc. Yes, I rounded up cows and moved them out on the ranch. I don't call myself a cowgirl, though, because in my opinion, a cowgirl is someone who does all that stuff for a living. I unfortunately, am not at a point in my life where I have the privilege to do that full time. One day, I hope to do it again. Until then, I have just one horse that I ride and am training. She's far from being a cow horse, but I'll forgive her for that.

So there you have it. Straight from the "cowgirl's" mouth. Oh yeah, and since you asked "what do I sing?"...well, pretty much anything that I can. My biggest claim to fame is that I sang the national anthem for an Alan Jackson concert in front of about 8000 people. My dream is to sing at the National Finals Rodeo, the Grand Ole Opry and Carnegie Hall...hey, a cowgirl can dream, can't she?

Nighttime, sniffling, sneezing...what?

2005-01-14T09:23:00.000-08:00

I took Ny Quil last night and today I'm...well...I think you all have a good idea of how I feel today. Need I say more? What's the deal with Ny Quil? What do they put in the darn thing that makes you feel like you're having an out of body experience? I mean, I've never really had an out of body experience so I don't have anything to compare it with, really, but I've heard about them (or seen people have them on TV) and I think the feeling you get from taking Ny Quil is very similar. But like I said, I wouldn't really know. Unless, I AM having an out of body experience when I take Ny Quil, and then I DO know. hmmm.....

I was supposed to drive to Temecula today, but when I woke up this morning feeling the way I felt, I decided that being behind the steering wheel of my car for an hour and a half wasn't such a hot idea. It's bad enough that the lulling of the car on a SOBER day puts me to sleep...how much worse would it be with Ny Quil? Isn't there a warning on the back of the package that says "Do not operate machinery or drive a car while taking this medication?" Well, I didn't check, but I am going to assume that there is and if my boss says anything, then I will just tell him that I can't violate the FDA. There is that other warning that states that it is a violation of Federal Law if I don't follow the instructions on the back of the medicine, so I have the government to back me up, right? Wait...I don't know if even that will work. Oh well, I'm not gonna drive down there anyway. I have other stuff to do.

So for all of you who are suffering through the winter sniffles, I raise my glass (shot glass that is) of Ny Quil to you! And here's to better (feeling) days!

Mudslides

2005-01-12T19:12:00.000-08:00

Southern California took a beating over the last couple weeks and I have already had my share of the flooding fun. Today, I got a little taste of tragedy. Many may have heard about the tragic mudslides in La Conchita. I didn't even know where La Conchita was until today when I drove up that way to see a customer. The freeway was closed off and traffic was horrible. When I met with my customer, she informed me that a good friend of theirs had been killed in the mudslide. It doesn't seem as bad when you hear about people dying on TV, but when someone actually knows the person, it seems so much more vivid.

As I was driving up that way, I passed a few boarding stables and noticed there were no horses there. I was informed that some of them had been flooded out and the horses had to be relocated to other facilities. The destruction was incredible! The small creek had turned into a rushing river. There was mud lining the sides of the road and water spilling over.

In the midst of this terrible destruction, and the tragedy in Indonesia, let's just remember to pray for the families of those lost and whose property has been destroyed.

Flooded in Southern California

2005-01-11T21:17:00.000-08:00

As many may be aware, So Cal has been hit recently by a number of successive, severe (i love alliteration), torrential rainstorms. Today was the first clear day (in the LA area) in over a week. I had to drive out to Indio. Indio, for those of you who don't know, is way out past Palm Springs. Pretty much in the middle of nowhere. Surprisingly, there are a lot of people out there. I guess land was cheap there at one time, but just like everything else in California, it is completely unaffordable for the common folk these days. Ah well...but I digress.

So I went to call on a horse trainer out there. His facility sits back off the road a ways and you have to take this dirt road to get there. I stopped as I approached the entrance to the dirt driveway. There was pretty much a lake of muddy water guarding the entrance. I took a deep breath, decided that my mighty, mini Honda Civic could in fact make it across and once across I was probably over the worst part. So I ventured in. I let out my breath as I reached the other side and was now safely on the slick, muddy driveway. In some places there were ruts deep enough to trap...well, a Honda Civic! And trap me, they did. I was about halfway down the main drive when I, vainly trying to stay on either side of these deep ruts on "dry" land, slipped suddenly into them and high-centered my poor vehicle. My front tires just spun and spattered mud all over my doors, etc. I tried putting it in reverse, but to no avail. I couldn't believe it! I started to laugh. Here I was, a salesperson, calling on a customer, and I was stuck in THEIR driveway! I got out of the car and walked sadly to the house.

Once there, I found that he wasn't even there. His girfriend was in the house nursing a mass migraine headache, so the two ranch hands offered to pull me out with the tractor. What a sight that was. While hooking up the car, the UPS man drove up on the other side of the fence lining the driveway and simply states, "That's why I DON'T drive up to the house." Thanks, buddy. It wasn't long before we had the little Civic unstuck and I was able to be on my way to meet up with the trainer at the neighbor's ranch down the road apiece.

But the story doesn't end there. I couldn't leave Indio without leaving a mark either. I hadn't done too much investigating in that area, so I decided to drive around a bit and take a look at the horse facilities in the area, maybe drop in on one or two. Well, I picked the perfect one to drop in on. I pulled down a long dirt driveway (one with NO RUTS) and when I couldn't find anyone around, I went to turn around. All of a sudden I wasn't going anywhere, although my foot was on the gas. turns out, the ground wasn't as dry as I had suspected. It was an illusion, I tell you! As I stepped out of the car feeling totally hopeless, both my feet sank into the dry-looking ground. I had no idea what to do. Since I didn't know where I was, I could't call AAA to help me and there didn't seem to be anyone home at the ranch. I tried to stuff pieces of wood under the spinning tires to gain some traction, but was unsuccessful. Finally, a woman came out of one of the ranch houses and offered to help me. She got a hefty rope and the 4-wheeler. We tied it to the same place we had pulled from about an hour before that and back to the 4-wheeler. She went ahead to pull and all of a sudden the 4-wheeler flipped up and she fell off the back. I was horrified initially, but then as the reality of what just happened sank in, I began to laugh. Thankfully she was okay and we retied the rope to the ball-hitch on the 4-wheeler and she pulled me out easily enough. I wanted to die of embarrassment, because here I was trying to solicit their business and I get stuck in their driveway! They didn't even know who I was! I left my business card, jumped into my car and quickly drove off. I don't think I will be going back there for a while.

I think I had a Monday on a Tuesday. The saga will continue tomorrow...

No Habla Espanol

2005-01-10T22:19:00.000-08:00

Okay, I dare to bring up the age-old argument of this country's national language. What is it, anyway? As far as I knew, English has been the dominant language in the United States. But apparently, the United States Postal Service thinks otherwise. Last week at the post office, I noticed the poster that explained the rates of express and priority mail. To my surprise, I saw that it was in spanish! I looked around for the english version, but couldn't find a second poster. I then looked closer and noticed that both languages were represented, but the english was in smaller print and listed second to the spanish. Now, mind you, this was posted in a post office that is located in a neighborhood of predominantly upper middle class to upper class WHITE or ASIAN people. The few hispanics or latinos are usually found as gardeners in this town. Now, don't take this the wrong way and think that I am racist, because I am most suredly not. I am simply stating the truth. The majority of my graduating high school class was asian and white. I would have to look up in my yearbook to see if I had any hispanic classmates. There may have been a handful. So why is there Spanish plastered in BOLD print on the walls of our post office?

I am also not opposed at all to learning a second, or even a third language. I traveled abroad and spent time in other cultures. What I noticed most in my travels was American lack of education in foreign languages. I also noticed that other countries don't accomodate english in the same way we accomodate other languages. True, people from other countries are required to learn english starting at a young age. But I don't walk into a post office there and see bilingual posters. Thankfully, I was able to remember an adequate amount of French to get by in France, but it was also the kindness of strangers that helped me out. I did not expect whatsoever that these countries I visited would bend over backwards to put MY language first.

I realize that hispanics, have contributed greatly to our economy, especially here in California. That does not mean that we need to cater to them the way that we have for so many years. They are allowed to take their driver's license exam in Spanish! I couldn't do the same in their country! I couldn't take their driver's license exam in English, now, could I?

So what next? Is the next generation of American children going to take English as a Second language to Spanish in our schools? Okay, maybe I am overreacting. I just thought that it was rather astonishing that instructions for mailing packages was boldly in spanish. If I hadn't taken a second look, I would have thought that it was strictly for spanish speaking individuals. Maybe its just me, but this doesn't seem quite right.

It's funny how many can graduate high school without being able to create grammatically correct sentences or even spell, and instead of alleviating this problem, we just focus on another language entirely.

American Justice at its BEST

2005-01-10T16:57:00.000-08:00

Okay, time for another cynical look at today's issues. This one hits close to home cuz it happened to me! I guess that means it HIT home!

Uninsured motorists...need I say more? I was in a car accident a couple weeks ago. NOT my fault. A speeding motorist passed me on the freeway and while trying to merge into my lane in front of me, swerved to miss another merging, speeding vehicle and lost control of her own. She swerved right and left, completed a full 570 on the freeway when her car finally came to rest in the front left fender of my poor little Honda Civic. Thank God no one was hurt and the damage initially looked minimal. At first I was going to get a police report, but when our esteemed CHP put me on hold for 5 minutes, I got sick of waiting and just went ahead with exchanging information. Thankfully she had insurance. Eventually, CHP DID show up and made sure that everything was "okay," and after about half an hour, I was on my way home with my steering completely out of alignment.

Fast forward to today, a couple weeks late, and I call about my car. It was supposed to be ready on the 7th, but I find out it won't be ready until the 11th. No problem. I've got the rental car and she's insured so her insurance company is going to reimburse me for all my out-of-pocket expenses for the rental (I owe 20%). Then I call my claims adjuster just to touch base and make sure that all fault was determined to be hers. He confirmed that it was and when I asked how much I had to pay for my deductible (to be reimbursed later by her company), I was politely informed that it was going to be covered by none other than my own Uninsured Motorist insurance! WHAT?!?!?! I couldn't believe it. Apparently, I had just THOUGHT that she was insured. But it turns out that she hadn't been paying her insurance company and they had cancelled her policy. Go figure! so here's the kicker. The cowgirl here gets to pay for my 20% of the rental car. My only other option??? Take her to our highly esteemed small claims court. Boy what a waste of time. Even if I did win, I would have to go through all the stacks of paperwork and crap that goes with it. All for a couple hundred bucks??? and then you have to demand your fees, and half the time, the person doesn't pay it anyway, and the courts don't enforce it!

So I called my insurance agent, whom I've known since I was a kid, and ask her what this lady is going to get as a penalty for not having insurance? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. She gets off scott-free for not having insurance, which is THE LAW!!!! And who's going to enforce that? No one, it seems. But the Cowgirl gets to pay for it. Don't you just love our justice system? The GOOD people pay hundreds of dollars a year for car insurance and get screwed when they get hit by someone who is not insured. I had no choice in the matter in regards to a rental vehicle. The cowgirl makes a living by driving, so I had to have one! And besides, I kind of liked my big, luxury 2005 Nissan Maxima with a V6, 260 HP engine, dual climate controls, cd player, automatic windows, automatic driver seat, moonroof, and a bunch of other stuff that I never did figure out.

So now the question remains...do I bother taking her to small claims court? Is it worth it just to prove a point? What would you do?

Happy New Year

2004-12-31T20:52:00.000-08:00

I must apologize as it has been quite some time since I have posted to my blog. To all my faithful readers...and I know you are a select few...I am sorry for disappointing you. Much has happened too, but alas, I find it difficult to sit down and put my thoughts together to communicate effectively. That is what a sales postion does to a person...you spend so much time talking and communicating, you don't want to do it in your off time! :)

Cheers to a new year! Of course it is not quite midnight yet here on the West Coast, but I am ready for bed and have little care for ringing in the new year. I suppose it would be fun if I were at some great party, but I find that I can be somewhat of a party pooper and unsociable at times. So here I am during yet another New Year's Eve and spending it in the comfort of my own home, where I don't have to dodge the crazies on the freeways or wonder how I myself am going to get home after a long night of....ahem. Just kidding. I prefer sticking close to home. I think I am getting old.

No resolutions this year. I am continuing the tradition. I don't think I have ever really made a new year's resolution. Why do people have to wait until the new year to resolve something? That's a sure sign of the failure that is to come. I mean, if they couldn't resolve to do it the minute they thought of it, then do they actually think that they will be effective at adhering to their own rules after the new year? I don't think so! And I've said enough about that because Lord knows we have all read way too many editorials about new year's resolutions gone awry, so I will spare you the agony of yet another.

Here's to hoping that you all have a wonderul evening surrounded by friends and family! Here's to a safe holiday! And God bless us...everyone!

The Cowgirl

High School diploma not required

2004-12-13T17:24:00.000-08:00

When you're driving long distances, any fast food sounds like good food. Yesterday I was driving home from northern california and about 2pm my stomach did not hesitate to let me know that I had not stopped for a proper lunch 2 hours previous. For some odd reason, and this doesn't happen very often, McDonald's seemed to be the fast food restaurant of choice. I was being lazy and did not want to get out of the car and I wanted a menu that I knew. I wanted chicken mcnuggets. So I got in the long line at the drive through and waited. The guy in front of me ordered "chicken selects." Not knowing what those were, I looked at the large menu screen looming in front of my vehicle and quickly scanned it for "selects" vs. "nuggets." Hmmm...looked like selects were a step up from nuggets in that they were more like "chicken strips" and had what looked like a spicy-seasoned breading on the outside. They looked good. So I decided to order them. Now anyone who knows McDonalds knows that nuggets have always come in the following increments: 6, 9, and 20. These "selects," however, come in 3, 5, and 10. Rather confusing for those of us who have grown up with the traditional nugget ordering system. Nevertheless, I made a quick mental note of it and drove up to the order window. I ordered "6 chicken selects, no fried, and a med drink, light ice." (My mom taught me the "light ice" part because these fast food joints are famous for giving us a little drink with our ice) They gave me the total and I proceeded towards the first window to pay. It sounded as if they had undercharged me, so I clarified my order at the window, only then realizing that I mixed up the increments with my "selects." I could not believe the reaction from the cashier. He acted as if the world had come to a screeching halt! He slammed his fists onto the register drawer in exasperation, and replied with an extremely over-dramatic, "Oh MAN!" Then he turns around and yells to the order taker that "She wants the 5 piece selects now!" This is where I got perturbed. This was the biggest, most blatant display of customer UN-service I had ever seen! He was making it MY FAULT that the order was incorrect. So I proceeded to correct him and yelled out that it wasn't that I wanted them NOW, but that they had not taken the order correctly the first time and clarified what I had wanted. They hadn't repeated my order back to me, nor had it shown up on the screen that they placed by the order window for the very purpose of "order accuracy!" Another waste of corporate dollars. I'm so glad they put the screen there so that I have something to look at while waiting in line at the drive through. I can repeatedly read, "Please read screen to verify order accuracy."

The cashier finally takes my money, but says that they will correct the order and the amount due at the next window. Once there, they girl asks me for $0.55 more and hands me my little bag and drink. I pull into the parking lot and arrange my food so that I can safely eat and drive. I open my little box of selects and am horrified to find....3 CHICKEN SELECTS!!! And very measily ones, at that. It wasn't even enough for a meal! it was like the CRUMB of a meal! That was it. I turned the car around, found the closest parking spot and marched into the McDonald's, incorrect order in hand. They guy at the register listens to my sad story and goes to get me the corrected order, but is stopped midway by the manager who has to put her nose into everything....isn't there anything called "empowerment???" After a brief interchange, she agrees to give me the 5-piece order and I happily walk out with my food. And it was oh, so good! But I couldn't help but to think about those sad people at the McDonald's. Do they not know how to do anything else but punch buttons on a register and spit out rehearsed lines like "do you want fries with that?" And then I couldn't help but to wonder why McDonald's would fill their restaurants with mindless workers, such as these. Then I remembered...they must not pay very much. I could not help but to get angry. Maybe if monster, corporations like McDonalds would pay their employees better, the employees would have a sense of purpose at their job and would desire to raise their standards of work ethic and go beyond the call of duty, even daring to do something without having to check with a manager!

And then I remembered....it is McDonald's.

Long week ahead

2004-12-12T21:30:00.000-08:00

Well, its Sunday night and need I say I am not looking forward to tomorrow. I just came back home from northern california and am exhausted! Lots of driving. Then tomorrow, I have to get up at the crack of dawn and head to east county San Diego. What a life I lead. I can't wait til Christmas, although I am completely unprepared for it. I haven't done ANY shopping! It's amazing! Uusally, I am mostly done by now, minus one or two few things, but this year has been the absolute worst. Last year was great. I knew what to get everyone on my list, so I just walked into the stores, grabbed what I needed, and left! This year I don't know what to get anyone, so I actually have to go "shopping..." I do not like shopping. It makes me mad. You have to fight crowds of nasty people who are supposed to be in the holiday spirit, and then you wander around in so many stores and practically faint at the prices of things that you KNOW are way cheap, and you wish you could just buy everything at the after Christmas sales, but that means you would have to battle even bigger crowds that are now even more vicious because they don't have to fake being nice for Christmas because it is...after Christmas!

So I am not looking forward to shopping. Besides that, I think I am getting sick. Not a good time to be sick. Lots of work to do and places to be, etc. I guess its time to turn in and go to bed...maybe I'll feel better in the morning.

Rain, rain...

2004-12-08T08:10:00.000-08:00

It is raining. I love the rain. It makes me want to curl up in a ball in my big bed and lie there listening to it under the warm sheets. But then reality strikes and I have to get up and go to work, which consists of a lot of driving. I used to like driving. I don't like the traffic. It makes me mad. But I love the rain....for a short time.

The Greatest Blogger Bloopers

2004-12-06T20:49:00.000-08:00

Well, folks, my sister has done it. I didn't think it was possible, but for her, it is. She has been able to stuff her entire foot, ankle and all, into her mouth and down her throat. Amazing. How did she do this, you ask? I will tell you.

Earlier today, I couldn't help but to think that she was, perhaps, the greatest blogger ever! Not that I have read a whole lot of other blogs, but she is really good. If you haven't yet read any of her posts, please feel free to visit her site at www.grackyfroggink.com/froggfiles Earlier today, I found myself doubled over in laughter at her story of getting a job at the Apple Store. I thought that had to be one of her best....and it was...in more than one way!

I, of course, put in my two cents worth comment at the end...but it gets even better. She blogged about her ex-boyfriend, only to find out later, through one of the comments, that her ex-boyfriend READ her blog! How embarrassing! But how beautifully funny! I think it is all rather brilliant, really. I am so happy that someone else in this world likes the taste of their distal limbs.

So I have learned a thing or two about blogging since then....don't write about ex-boyfriends, don't write about current boyfriends, don't write about people you know, don't write about people you don't know.

I think I will stick to writing about Budweiser Clydesdales. I might actually be safe.

Scary Made-up Stories

2004-12-02T19:02:00.000-08:00

So some have been bugging me to update my blog, cuz it has been a while. Unfortunately, I am so burned out from a long week at work (its only Thursday!) that my brain is a bit fried to think of stuff to write about. My sister tells me to just make it up. The last time I can remember making something up, it turned out rather scary.

I worked at a summer camp for inner-city children for 2 summers between my first couple years in college. What a great experience! Of course, with any camp, there are all the scary stories to tell around the campfire. This camp, being as it has been around since 1940 or so, had a lot of stories that had carried over from year to year. I was no good at telling them. At least that's what I thought...until one night...

I was in charge of the horse program at camp. During the summer we had six 12-day sessions of kids. Every session, we took a select group of kids out for one overnight campout with the horses. We would ride about 45 minutes outside of the main campgrounds to a small clearing that was called Lost Village. It was a pretty neat spot. The main area was this big flat space with a spot for a campfire and more than enough space for the kids to spread out their sleeping bags and sleep out under the stars. There was a separate clearing where we would tie up all the horses and a nearby spring where we could water them. The camp staff would drive all the food and the kids' sleeping bags up earlier in the day and everything would be waiting for us to set up for a fun night under the stars.

We would start the evening out with an easy hike up to a spot where you could look straight out to the ocean and we would watch the sun set over Ft. Bragg, located on the north coast of California. What a view. Then we would head back down for hot dogs, and later, s'mores. One particular night, over some especially good s'mores, all the kids begged for a scary story. I didn't really like the common stories that are told frequently around the place: Bat Boy, The Ridge Runner, and numerous others, so I decided to make-up my own. I decided to make up a story about how this particular area came to be known as Lost Village.

Mind you, I cannot remember much of anything of that story as it has been about 6 years since I made it up. But what I do remember is that I don't think those kids, nor myself, were ever as scared as that night. It wasn't long before I noticed that they were no longer sitting on the opposite side of the campfire, but rather they were crowding in close around me and my other staff member friend, Liz. But by then it was too late, I was too far into the story to quit. So I kept it going and the kids eyes got wider and wider....then all of a sudden...SNAP! Something behind me made a loud sound and I jumped off the ice chest that served as my bench, and kids jumped to my side, clinging to me fiercely. I turned around and looked and didn't see anything. Much relieved, I sat down again and the kids relaxed. Then an eery quiet settled over the place. I believe my story was done at this point and the kids were about to get ready for bed and clean up the campsite. I sensed something behind me and as I slowly turned, a figure appeared out of the shadows walking towards me. I screamed louder than I ever have before and kids scattered everywhere...I couldn't stop screaming, even AFTER I recognized the figure as being one of the staff members from camp who had snuck up to our campout to scare us all. Well he did a darn good job of it...I was screaming like a mad woman and wouldn't shut up. He had to grab me and shake me out of it.

Looking back, it was pretty darn funny. I guess I succeeded at my mission to tell a scary story. But I don't think the storyteller is supposed to scare themselves. No more making stuff up for me!

Until next time...

Bad Day

2004-11-24T19:26:00.000-08:00

Can I just say that today takes the cake for bad days in the last few weeks? Let's start at the beginning...no wait...the beginning is too boring. You know, you have to have a "hook" (literary term) to get your reader's attention. Basically, my manager was not in the best of moods today. Thankfully, I successfully avoided talking to him all day. Stupid thing is, his mere emails are enough to get me riled up.

I don't think today could have progressed any slower.

The day ends with the following events...I leave to go meet the horseshoer at the barn so he can put shoes on my horse and I end up getting a ticket at the top of my street. Its the DAY BEFORE THANKSGIVING!!!! and this cop with nothing better to do is sitting on a quiet residential street giving out tickets to honest, hardworking, very cautious (usually) drivers!! For the love!!!! Why isn't he out on the highways and byways doing what we PAY him to do and get the REAL bad guys, like the ones that are causing accidents all over the congested southern California freeway system? I know there are many out there because I spend enough time on the road to see it all. Yesterday I witnessed an almost accident (or "near miss" as our company calls it), where this guy careened across 2 lanes of traffic to ricochet off the curb on the side of the freeway, then overcompensate, burning his brakes and rubber all the way (smoke everywhere, and trickling through my vents to stink up my car), then careened back across those same 2 lanes to return to the heavy traffic and swerve on down the freeway! Where are the cops when THAT happens? But I digress.....

I arrive at the barn wiping tears out of my eyes and angry as all get out to stand there and listen to this horseshoer go on and on about the ways of shoeing horses and training them. Blah blah blah...Then he proceeds to tell me how to handle my horses. As if I didn't know!! I've only been working around them ALL MY LIFE!! Now, that is not to say that I don't think I could learn more, and I am always willing to learn more, but here I was being told why I have to hold the horse a certain way for him! I would go into detail, but I would probably confuse most and then I would have to explain other principles of horse training, and before long, you'd all be asleep. So, there I was, all angry and having to bite my tongue while he went on and on about what he knows. Then we started into horse feeds. Mind you, that IS my specialty. I only spent 6 years in college studying ANIMAL SCIENCE!!! Well, there I had to listen to him tell ME why corn is a great feed for horses. I won't go into the details of why it ISN'T, but I have the scientific journal articles to back me up. But of course, once again, I knew nothing and he knew all. Then (and here's where it gets REALLY good), he proceeded to start in about religion. Never start a conversation with an angry person about religion. He claimed his was the religion of "common sense and logic." Then he continued to explain that human beings are the result of cross-breeding between aliens and apes! Hmm...what's he smokin? Of couse, this conversation began soon after he told me to write the check out to "cash" so that he could take it to the liquor store and cash it there so the IRS didn't have to know about his side job of shoeing horses....I really want to call this guy out again. About the time that he offered to "show me one more thing...." I interrupted and told him I had to get going. I quickly got in my car and left. I am in the market for a good horseshoer...know of any? As far as his idea of creation goes, I sure prefer my belief in an omnipotent, omniscient, divine, loving God, and the fact that I was created by an eternal, holy being. At least that makes me more grand than being the result of a hybrid cross between an ape and a green thing with slanty, black eyes!

The drive home was icing on the cake, let me tell you. I get a call from some customer in Arizona telling me my products suck! I felt like saying, "Well, sorry, I guess you don't have to buy them anymore."

Is it time for bed yet?

Too late for Thanksgiving

2004-11-23T19:29:00.000-08:00

So what’s the deal with the holidays anymore?

I mean, you can’t celebrate one without being completely and totally inundated with decorations, supplies, and useless items for the next. For example, let’s take this Thanksgiving. My mom and I went to the store two and a half weeks ago (mind you, that is three weeks before Thanksgiving) to get some decorations for the house. This year, I volunteered our house for the big family get-together. Being that lately I have had this terrible bout of domestic tendencies, I decided that we should go all out and have the dining room all decked out with matching placemats, napkins, candles, and anything else that would help to get us in the Thanksgiving spirit. Being also that we didn’t have unlimited resources for this seasonal purchase, my mother and I quickly agreed that we should visit the “bargain” stores…Big Lots here we come! (“Big Lots Dictionary” definition of bargain= cheap junk)

Now there’s a reason that I don’t shop at stores like Big Lots on a regular basis. It can be quite claustrophobic. You can’t help but to wonder where all the people have come from, because not once have you ever seen them step foot in your neighborhood. But here they are! They kind of just appear there pulling things off shelves, leaving discarded items on the floor, or any other convenient spot, and clogging up the aisles. It’s as if the mere cheapness beckons to these individuals and they travel from far and wide just to save a buck or two, which they happily spend on gas getting there! Anyway, we battled through the crowds deep into the depths of the shelves and racks of cheap, gaudy, “Made in China,” yard sale-quality items. We soon found that there was not a single Thanksgiving item in the store. That is, not a single one that was decent enough to be displayed on our dining room table that didn’t exude “Big Lot-ness.” All we could find were Christmas decorations. Hello…it’s not even Thanksgiving! I mean, we’re talking THREE WEEKS before Thanksgiving, and we can’t find any fall decorations for the house?! Fall just started, didn’t it? I actually thought that for the first time in my life, I wasn’t waiting until the last minute…when IS the last minute anymore? For the love…

So we moved on to another store, Rite Aid I believe it was (I had to pick up my prescription besides). No such luck there either. Christmas stuff was all we could find. We then decided to try our hand at the more upscale, trendy, expensive stores. We crossed the street to Pier One Imports. I love that place, but unfortunately cannot afford much of the stuff in there. Lucky for us, they had a sale rack of Thanksgiving stuff. You know, because the season had already passed. So we gathered up an armful of autumn colored and scented candles. I love candles! Then we found some matching table settings, and added those to the cart. Fortunately for us, we were able to get out of there before our purchases could have the chance to disappear into the dark recesses of the storage room and end up instead as Christmas items in our basket.

After Pier One, there were just a few small items we had left to get. So, yesterday (the Sunday before Thanksgiving) we headed out to Michaels to get some silk flower arrangements and silk fall leaves for decorations. How could we even think we would be so lucky as to find anything remotely pertaining to Thanksgiving? Fools that we were. The few things we did find were fortunately on clearance. We were able to buy 2 silk potted flower plants for…get this…90% off! Because, you know, the season had already passed. We took the items, paid, and quickly hurried out of the store, just in case we got jinxed or something. Then we headed to Target, searched high and low once again through all the Christmas stuff, finally found the last few things, and headed home. Whew! It was ridiculous I tell you!

My mom says she can still remember back when the day after Thanksgiving marked the beginning of the Christmas season, and the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade would have Santa bringing up the rear as to sort of ring in the new Christmas season. But alas, it is no longer. Some “brilliant” retailer one day a few years back, got the greedy idea that he could steal some more sales and make more money by bumping up the holiday season. Unfortunately, no store could afford to be left behind, so here we are today, and you know the rest of the story.

So here’s just a reminder for next year…buy your Christmas stuff over Labor Day weekend, and Easter stuff at New Years. But if you wait until the last minute (and may God help you), you might be fortunate to find great sales three weeks before the holiday! You might as well just shop the sales this year for the holidays next year!

Happy Holidays to one and all!

Budweiser

2004-11-19T08:17:00.000-08:00

I know I must have thrown a few of you off with the title....but it's not what you think. I mean, I don't mind having a beer from time to time, but Budweiser? Come on!

Let me explain. As some might already know, I work for an animal nutrition company, so yesterday I had the wonderful pleasure of going to the Budweiser Clydesdales West Coast Team Breeding Facility. How cool is that? Well, it was! Those horses are so cool...so BIG....and just so...well ...cool! They're these big "gentle giants." They're such slow movers, they just kinda cruise around their little paddocks and seem to just be "chilling out" all the time. So I met with the guy who manages the team and we talked about horse feed. I can't really divulge the details, but let's just say that I may have the opportunity to service the most widely recognized horses in the united states! Everyone knows who the Budweiserr Clydesdales are! Even if you don't know the first thing about horses, you could probably tell me what a clydesdale looks like. So its all pretty exciting. Even if things don't go as planned, I still feel good about being able to go out there and visit with them and see the team. Yes, I know I sometimes complain about my job too much, but it does have its perks! I get to meet some interesting people and see some magnificent animals. Oh yeah, and if things DO work out....then I will have helped serve all the budweiser clydesdales nationwide, cuz all the horses across the US will end up using our products. Now that's cool!

Aside from that, yesterday was quite hectic. The phone was ringing off the hook and it seemed like everything that could go wrong, did. Then as if that wasn't enough...I was an hour late for my dentist appointment, where I was scheduled to....(evil music please) get my wisdom teeth yanked from my mouth! I imagine everyone wishes they would be late for that appointment, but I really didn't mean it. Really!

For those who have had their teeth pulled, consider yourselves lucky if your dentist "puts you under." You can wake up and you don't remember a single thing that has happened. I, on the other hand, didn't get that privilege. My dentist doesn't like putting people to sleep, so he just numbs you up nice and good, and pulls out the big, scary tools, and pulls away. I won't go into the details, but lets just say that it wasn't very pleasant. Especially when he had to numb one side of my mouth THREE TIMES because every time he would proceed with pulling, the pain was unbearable. Buck up you say? Well, I say NO! Remember, you got to go to sleep. I won't even describe the sensation that you feel in your jaw as he yanks those suckers out. I'm just glad its done.

Now I have to go spit.

Who Needs an Olive Garden?

2004-11-18T06:35:00.000-08:00

So last Sunday night was interesting.

It's taken me a while to get this on paper (er.....computer). A group of us went out for a friend's birthday dinner. What better place to celebrate than the Olive Garden? I mean, I really like the Olive Garden. I especially like the Tour of Italy and the chicken parmesan. mmm, mmm, good. The one complaint I have about OG, is that usually they take FOREVER to bring you your food. Sunday night was no different. My sister, Grace and I arrived later than everyone else cuz I got caught up working with my horse for longer than I intended....that's a horse for you! Anyway, we got there, but we had already eaten, thanks to Egyptian influence, so we were just going to snack on "Neverending Salad" and breadsticks. Oh, but then we decided that it wouldn't be right to eat the salad without buying anything, so we ordered an appetizer. I love Spinach-artichoke dip!

So after a good, long, healthy wait, we got our food, gave thanks, and began to eat. Then came the bill....(not right away of course). This is where it all began. Of course, whenever you get a rather large party together to go out to eat, it is often a challenge to organize the payment of the bill, what with some people putting in cash, others credit cards...it's a mess! For some odd reason, our esteemed server split the bill, rather haphazardly I might add, two ways. One had the majority of the meals on it...the other, only 4 or so. Mind you, there were about 13 of us. The smaller bill got tallied and paid right away....the second, not so easy. Somehow we came up short (typical, right?). But not short a few bucks....try $50.00! Whoa! So being the wonderful mathematician that I am, I decided to take control of the bill and money counting. I went down the list, and after putting initials by everyone's meal, I found that we were overcharged by 3 salads and one Stuffed Chicken Marsala. So I contested it, and that is where things started to go awry.

The server argued (unsuccessfully) that we were not mischarged and that the salad charges were because two people split a meal, and my sister and I ordered an appetizer (which doesn't include a salad). Well, excuse me, but when you place a HUGE bowl of neverending salad on the table, it only makes sense to share it with others. The point of the matter, which my friend Sonya was so quick to share with the server, was that we were not told that we were going to get charged for the salad. It was just placed in front of us and we started chowing, and then we ordered the appetizer cuz we wanted to justify eating the salad! Its NEVERENDING SALAD!!!! No one can finish it by themselves!!!!! There's no way that we even ATE $2.95 worth of that NEVERENDING SALAD. Did I make my point?

So she took the bill back and took off the few items that were mischarged. So we tallied up the cash again, and were still short. Then I did a double take....they had automatically included 18% gratuity (cuz we were a party of 8 or more), but what I found funny was that the 18% gratuity was the same on both bills, even though there was more than a $20.00 spread between the two bills. How does that work?

So I contested that. This seemed to put the icing on the cake for this server. She couldn't believe that I actually wanted to recalculate HER gratuity! Oh the nerve of some customers! Before long, the manager on duty came over to the table in a very defensive stance (hands in the air as if we were attacking him). He claimed he had "comped" us the 3 salads and extra chicken marsala. My friend, David, made the point clear to the manager that he didn't "comp" us the meals, but that he just credited back what was mischarged, and that the gratuity should have been adjusted as well. (In the meantime we recalculated the gratuity and realized that the difference was only a couple bucks so we thought we would pay it anyway.) We told the manager not to adjust anything, but just to take the bill and we'd be done. Of course he couldn't take it that minute (for some reason), and came back later with an adjusted bill....just what we DIDN'T want. Arggghhh...

We recalculated, David took the cash and threw in his credit card and we gave the bill to the server. She brought back our 3 cards and then realized that she had closed out someone else's bill with our cards!!! Wait...who hired this girl anyway? Anyway, I think she got the mess fixed (I'll check my bank statement online), and we got out of there. The whole ordeal took about 40 minutes!!! That's rediculous! Just to pay our bill? I never knew giving money to someone would be such a challenge!

Words to live by....Tour of Italy isn't that good.

New Chair and Pony

2004-11-15T21:59:00.000-08:00

I would like to announce that I FINALLY got a new office chair. Amazing. Well, its amazing considering the chair that I had been using (or trying to use, considering its condition) was probably about 15 years old. I think I got it when I was in 5th grade and it has since been well-used and abused. Let's see...the back was barely hanging on, and the seat itself tilted at this dangerous angle. All the cushioning was completely gone, which made your rear end fall asleep rather quickly, making for a miserable "day at the office." On more than one occasion, I would find myself sitting, working at my computer, and all of a sudden, it would jerk sideways and the back of the chair would fall away from my back and I would feel like I am falling rather violently towards the ground. Of course, I wouldn't hit the ground, but imagine the scare! How we all take for granted the simple things in life...like expecting a chair to hold you up when you sit down.

So this new chair is great. It has lots of cushioning for my poor bottom, and has a tall back with lumbar support! It even has armrests! Of course, those don't do me a whole lot of good because I cannot scoot the chair all the way in under the desk cuz the armrests get in the way...guess its time for a new desk too! It's on the list. Of course, I love the up and down feature as well. And its got a great swivel which keeps things exciting on those days that you just can't seem to focus on work. The best part about the whole thing was that it was on sale! Yes siree folks! Office Depot can be a wonderful place to shop...mail-in rebates are a good thing. I have learned that you have to take care of the mail-in rebates right away, or you never do anything about it, and there goes the money that you COULD have saved. So I quickly sealed up a copy of my receipt, UPC symbol, and required form in an envelope, stamped it, and placed it in the "Outgoing Mail" stack on the kitchen counter. Ahhh...now if only I could pay my bills as promptly! he he he...

Did I mention yet that I bought a horse? She's nothing fantastic to brag about, except that I got her at a screaming good deal. Just to bring her into the world, the original owners (breeders) paid $25,000 for her. Of course that was just the stud fee, not including mare care, vet bills, feed, and other incidentals of horse ownership. I, of course, did NOT pay $25,000. I almost feel guilty for the amount that I paid, but such is life.

So why the sudden change of subject? Well, I cantered the little filly today. She was actually pretty good, except for when she tried to swing her head around to bite my foot when I tapped her in the sides. If anyone knows anything about horses, they'll understand when I talk about training a two year old....filly......thoroughbred. I think I am just a glutton for punishment. Not only did I take the more moody of the two sexes (sorry ladies!), but I topped it off with a flighty, hot-blooded breed!

So why did I get this horse, you ask? She was definitely investment material. If all goes well (and I'm praying it does), I will be able to sell her in a few months for around $10,000. Not too bad of an investment. And all that time, I am having fun. I am always in a good mood when I get to work around horses, even when they don't do what I want. I know that I can always come back the next day, after we both have had time to "sleep on it" and usually things work out just fine. If you have not ever had the privilege to work around horses (and I don't mean just going for a trail ride), I highly recommend giving it a try. Take a lesson, or two, or five. Start from the ground up; grooming, saddling, bridling, cleaning the stalls, working them on the ground....you can learn a lot from a horse! And you learn a different means of communication. Body language means a lot. I could go on about the philosophy and joys of training horses, but I'll spare you. I'm sure you'll hear plenty before I have exhausted this blogspot.

So I leave you with one thought:
If you ever get the chance to go to the races, go. Bet on a horse...just one. It's kinda fun! But leave your ATM card at home.

Until next time....Happy Trails.

Friday Night

2004-11-12T21:13:00.000-08:00

Ahhhh...home at last. It was a rather long drive, strangely enough. Usually the drive from Phoenix to LA takes about 6-6.5 hours, but it seems like it took forever today. I started to fall asleep about 1 hour outside of Phoenix so I quickly pulled over in a rest stop to catch a few zzzz's. That's a new one for me. I used to just get it in my mind that I would get to my destination at all costs, but I am slowly learning that it is OKAY to pull over and get some shut eye. I hope the world is a much safer place because I do that.

Driving across the wide expanse of desert called Arizona gives you lots to think about, but I find it funny that I have nothing really to write about tonight. But then again....I do.

So I was watching some Phoenix news channel last night in my hotel room. There was an extremely interesting and shocking story. They were unveiling something dispicable that is happening right here in our country. Polygamy. I'm sure many are aware that it exists, but I know there are laws governing its legality. Anyway, the story overall was a sad one. It told of an "underground railroad" type system, where young girls (usually age 13-16) are "smuggled" across the border into Canada and start a new life as one of the many wives of a polygamist. They interviewed one woman who admitted that she was one of 26 wives! That's incredible! I didn't even know what to think while I watched the story on TV. I was truly shocked. 26 wives?!?!?!?! What do you DO with 26 wives? Don't answer that.

But, really, what kind of sick, perverted, disgusting person desires more than one "love" in their life? What a sad individual. But what was even more sick and disgusting, was the fact that these young women very often look forward to it. Although some were saying that the young girls were forced across the border, others said that the majority stayed of their own accord. It was a "better life" for them. Why would any woman WANT to be one of many wives? What's in it for them? Sounds like they just become childbearing machines for the sick man of the house. When this one particular woman was asked about the "trafficking" of young women across the border, she responded with, "Well, it all depends on what you mean by trafficking." Her brothers back home in Arizona had deserted their previous life of bigamy and wished that their sister would come home. Unfortunately, she seemd perfectly content where she was. How sad.

Then to top it off, they started going through the statistics of the results of inbreeding in this small community in Arizona that sends its young women north. The frequency of handicapped/or disabled (whichever is PC today), was more than 2 times the national average! That's AMAZING! By the way, the name of the city is Colorado City way up on the border of Arizona and Utah. They even showed a small, quaint cemetery with many fresh graves, the eternal homes of the bodies of young, stillborn children; a result of the disgusting inbreeding that was taking place.

I don't really know what to say about the whole thing, but I thought that I would share what I learned with other people. I don't know if there is anything anyone can do, but something like this needs to be stopped. God did not create us to destroy ourselves like this. This is moral and physical destruction. I guess I live a sheltered life and didn't think that anything like this existed, but unfortunately, I was wrong.

So there are some happy thoughts to leave you with. Just when you think you have seen all of the sadness and corruption in the world, something else pops up and blindsides you. I guess all we can do is continue to pray.

Until next time...happy trails....

Singing the Hotel Blues

2004-11-11T21:33:00.000-08:00

Okay Grace, you win. You won me over and now I am sucked into the world of blogging. Wow. I can see her now...evil smile of victory creeps across her face. Yeah, yeah....I give you the credit, older sis.

So here it is! Sue's first blog. This blank page is just waiting to be filled with juicy tidbits of Sue. So where shall I begin? Well, I am currently spending my evening in a boring hotel room in Arizona. You know the thing about hotel rooms is that they all look the same. Boring, neutral wallpaper, neutral curtains, ugly bedspreads that don't really keep you warm, and old bathrooms. The temperature is never right either. Its either way too hot, or way too cold. And what about those light switches? Why are none of them actually connected to a single light in the room? I mean, they are randomly placed in awkward spaces on the wall, and you end up having to go and actually turn the switch on the light itself. What's up with that? Then to top it off, they don't put off much light anyway! You have to turn all the lights on just to see where you're going!

I come here about every 5-6 weeks. The less the better, I think. The first hotel in Tucson was just fine, as usual. Phoenix is a different story, though. I took my socks and shoes off last night and was walking around the room, but the floor felt strangely cold. Didn't think anything of it at first until I stood in the same place for a while. The floor was actually WET. I don't really know why. And I still don't, cuz I didn't bother to call the front desk and say anything. I was simply too tired. In addition to a wet carpet, I got another little surprise. Oh these hotel people are just finding new ways to entice guests to return to THEIR hotel. You know, they throw in little things like mints on the bed, or nice shampoos/conditioners. This was a new one, however. On the back of the toilet, I discovered a complimentary tube of.....caulk. Yep! You heard me right....adhesive caulk. What does that say about hotel maintenance? Well, I guess it means that they are maintaining it. But of course it made me notice the sloppy caulking job anyway. And then the best part is that I came back this evening after being gone all day only to find the caulk still there on the back of the toilet! And get this...they even replaced the towel that sits on the back of the toilet (the towel for your feet when you get out of the shower), which means they had to pick up the caulk, set it aside, fold the towel, place it on the toilet, and put the caulk back on the towel! Wow!!! Did they happen to notice a tube of ADHESIVE CAULK??? Did they think it was MINE? (Hmm...I think I had better pack some adhesive caulk in my suitcase, cuz I might need to fix a leaky seal around the bathtub in the hotel. )

Well, tonight is my last night on the road. I expect to be home tomorrow night. I don't really like this part of the job all that much. I used to think that the traveling would be fun, but when its not on your own terms, then it just doesn't seem to be that fun. And for someone like me who is mostly outgoing, it can be extremely lonely. The TV and cell phone become your best friends. Oh yeah, and going to bed early is a lot easier cuz you don't have much else to do! I usually skip dinner. Eating by yourself on the road is the ultimate in lonely. I try to bring a book along or something to read so I don't look like a loser at the restaurant staring off into space, but sometimes I do just sit there. People watching can be fun, but before long, people notice that you are staring at them and they have no problem staring back, cuz after all, you're the one who is alone! Well, 6 hours on the road tomorrow and I'll be home. Thank the Lordy.

And maybe during that time...I'll think of something else!