Thoughts from a weekend in California

1.) Crying on the phone will get you a better discount
2.) It's advantageous to have flexible travel arrangements when flying US Airways; they tend to overbook flights and give out $400+ vouchers if you can wait for the next plane.
3.) Californians don't believe in posting speed limits in a logical manner and are firmly against them being visible at night.
4.) Yes, a four lane highway *can* dead-end into a military base, stop looking for the turn off

5.) Joshua Tree National Park is worth visiting if you're in the Palm Springs area.  It's nice for a day trip but also has enough variety to explore over several days. 
6.) Being disarmed sucks.  I missed my gun almost as much as my dogs. (Is that healthy?)
7.) I could use recommendations for good food in the Twentynine Palms / Yucca Valley / Palm Springs area(s).  We like eating local (ie, not Applebee's) but kept finding duds all weekend. 

Overall, I had a unexpectedly wonderful weekend and should have some pictures up soon :-)

Disappointing Day

I found out earlier this afternoon that my husband got the green-light for a 96hr leave this w/e and subsequently found that travel's too expensive for me to be with him.  Looks like it's me and the dogs this weekend.

**Correction:  Where there's a will, there's a way

Discrimination

Courtesy of the Russian Times, I found this interesting article:

On Tuesday twelve members of the Buffalo's firefighter squad were rewarded $2.7 million for emotional distress after a judge ruled that the city of Buffalo racially discriminated white men.

According to the lawsuit filed back in 2007, the city overlooked the twelve individuals and promoted black firefighters instead.  "This never should have happened,” said the plaintiffs’ attorney Andrew P. Fleming to BuffaloNews.com.

I'm shocked this made it to court and that they found in favor of the firefighters.  I'm sure they could have taken a payout without much fuss along the way.  Bravo for pushing it to be called discrimination; four years is a long time to fight for vindication.  I don't quite get the 'emotional distress' part of the case, but I'm not a lawyer.

Sad that I couldn't find the story on Fox News, etc.  I find myself using www.rt.com to get a more balanced view of the news.  Seems slightly counter-intuitive to use a foreign news source to find out what's going on in your own country. O_o

That about covers it....

Doesn't it?

Bugger

I stopped riding Dressage in any formal capacity over two years ago.  While I like the discipline, I hate showing.  It seemed rather pointless to practice for perfection when I had no intention of showing it off to anyone.  So I rescued a gaited horse and hit the trails.  I still use dressage principles but it's not the same.

Now, in an effort to rehome a few horses, I'm back in the dressage saddle again.  I've been thrown into riding 3+ times a week, from zero O_o  Sufficient to say, my body hates me & certain muscle groups are barely on speaking terms. 


On the upside, I'm dealing with nice horses not hopeless cases.  The one horses is quite talented, but hadn't been ridden from early spring to December.  We're both out of practice, which isn't helpful when folks are interested in what she is capable of doing but want to see it first.  Saying she can do X, Y, Z doesn't mean much without proof.

All would be well & good if I could find the video from when she was showing, but it's missing.  So I tried to make a new sales video tonight but I utterly buggered the ride.  I don't even want to watch it to see what can be salvaged.  She knew I was nervous (remember that whole 'hating to show' thing?) and we spent more time vaulting sideways than going forward.  Yeah, maybe I'll post it for y'all to watch - could at least be amusing, 'though I'd be as embarrassed as hell!

Funny, I know I'll ride tomorrow (after a healthy application of Advil and Icy Hot) and she'll be fine.  I'm irked she unsettled me this afternoon when I know we've done better in the past few days.  Anyhow, I'm off to pamper my poor, sore muscles.  Maybe I'll post some of the less embarrassing clips later. 

Wednesday Video

Had to share this video, I love how he builds and fills out the music - fantastic!