Time For Some Fun

Irish College Entrance Exam


Now, scroll down for the answers











That's all right....I didn't pass either...

It is what it is

Rod

Wandering Thoughts

My mind has been wandering some today from my daily reading on the internet.

A lot of what you are able to read about these days is about the swine flu out break, epidemic, plague, joke. Just depends on who was writing about it and if the so called facts they read are true or not. Heck the news places each have different stories and accounts of what has or has not happened. So once again you do not know what to believe or not believe.

Do I feel that there is a threat? Yes anytime that there is a virus going around that can kill you and they have no vaccine for it then I am worried. But then how many people die each year from the normal flu viruses?

Now do not get me wrong here I am not trying to step on any toes or piss anyone off. It just does not make any sense to me is all.

I have a disease that has been around for years and they have not even came close to find out for sure what causes it and or even come close to a cure for it. Sure it is not a very common one but you would think they would of found something by now.

How would you like it when your hurting and sick and all they do is tell you go on a clear liquid diet and give you pain pills? And you know that it is slowly killing you.

Real comforting especially when you go to the specialists office and all of the doctors there have heard or it but I am their first case. In fact I have made them do a lot of reading about it because I knew more about it then they did. But that is another story.

Ok then what about cancer? Aids? I could keep on going but what good will that be.

Now the part that I have heard about swine flu is that it is a man made virus! Now why in the world would they do this for? Your guess is as good as mine.

But I will close with this...Do not screw with mother nature...It will kick your butt every time!

It is what it is

Rod

Grandkid

We had a surprise today.

Pixies daughter Gretchen came for a visit. We had not seen her in over a year but as you can see mother and daughter acted like it was only yesterday.

Fancy on the other hand did not like her at all growled and snapped at her. Was quite funny actually.

It is what it is

Rod

Question For You

What do you think would happen if we followed these rules?

(1) Press 1 for English is immediately banned. English is the official language; speak it or wait at the border until you can.

(2) We will immediately go into a two year isolationist posture to straighten out the country's attitude. NO imports, no exports. We will use the Wal-Mart's policy, If we don't got it, you don't need it.

(3) When imports are allowed, there will be a 100% import tax on it.

(4) All retired military personnel will be required to man one of our many observation towers on the southern border (six month tour). They will be under strict orders not to fire on SOUTHBOUND aliens.

(5) Social security will immediately return to its original state. If you didn't put nothing in, you ain't getting nothing out. The president nor any other politician will be able to touch it.

(6) Welfare - Checks will be handed out on Fridays at the end of the 40 hour school week and the successful completion of urinalysis and a passing grade.

(7) Professional Athletes--Steroids. The FIRST time you check positive you're banned for life.

(8) Crime - We will adopt the Turkish method, the first time you steal, you lose your right hand. There is no more life sentences. If convicted of murder, you will be put to death by the same method you chose for your victim; gun, knife, strangulation, etc.

(9) One export will be allowed, Wheat. The world needs to eat. A bushel of wheat will be the exact price of a barrel of oil.

(10) All foreign aid using American taxpayer money will immediately cease, and the saved money will pay off the national debt and ultimately lower taxes. When disasters occur around the world, we'll ask the American people if they want to donate to a disaster fund, and each citizen can make the decision whether it's a worthy cause.

(11) The Pledge of Allegiance will be said every day at school and every day in Congress.

(12) The National Anthem will be played at all appropriate ceremonies, sporting events, outings, etc.

Sorry if this steps on anyone's toes

GOD BLESS AMERICA

It is what it is.

Rod

This Is America

After hearing they want to sing the National Anthem in Spanish - enough is enough. Nowhere did they sing it in Italian, Polish, Irish (Celtic), German or any other language because of immigration. It was written by Francis Scott Key and should be sung word for word the way it was written. The news broadcasts even gave the translation -- not even close. NOT sorry if this offends anyone because this is MY COUNTRY - IF IT IS YOUR COUNTRY SPEAK UP -- please pass this along..
I am not against immigration -- just come through like everyone else. APPLY FIRST - Get a sponsor; have a place to lay your head; have a job; pay your taxes, live by the rules AND LEARN THE LANGUAGE as all other immigrants have in the past -- and GOD BLESS AMERICA!

PART OF THE PROBLEM
Think about this: If you don't want to forward this for fear of offending someone -- YOU'RE PART OF THE PROBLEM!
It is Time for America to Speak up!

Calling an illegal alien an 'undocumented immigrant' is like calling a drug dealer an 'unlicensed pharmacist'

I checked this on Snopes and it is not true but it does make my blood pressure rise just thinking about it. And I will bet you that it has been brought up more than once.

It is what it is

Rod

The Fun Continues

Some things do not make any sense. Like this one.

I was talking to the bank about my mortgage. Since I have been unemployed I have not been able to make payments due to medical insurance costs. Now due to my medical conditions I can not go with out insurance as I could be in the hospital tomorrow or at any time. Just the savings on prescriptions alone makes it mandatory that I have it.

Well part of the stimulus package was a health care tax care (HCTC) program that pays 80% of a qualified participants COBRA health care insurance. I qualified so now I will be able to make a partial payment so I called to talk to a mortgage specialist at the bank to see what could be done.

First of all I got the feeling that this so called specialist was doing nothing other than reading from a script and that their only job was to try anything possible to get money out of me. The lady was not nice at all and even tried to humiliate me. One of her solutions was to borrow the money from someone else to catch the back payments up. Now how smart is that add to the vultures?

After a while I guess she got tired of talking to me and offered to connect me to the foreclosure department. So I asked if that was how they helped a person to rework their mortgage. She said that as far as she could see that was the only solution.

Ok I said but would it not be better to get some money until things changed for me rather than let the house sit empty because they all ready had 4 houses foreclosed on in this area did they really want another. And even if they did sell it they would not even get close to the amount owed.

Now here is the good part. She said oh do not worry we will get our money. Really I said I do believe that it is against the law in my state for you to do that. Her reply was I see you have done your home work.

She then said if I paid my mortgage current then maybe they could do something for us. But she needed to know right now. Sorry but I need to know for sure before I can do that I repiled. Her response was what are you going to do put your family out on the street? No I replied but for what was needed to catch up my mortgage I could rent a house for a year.

So about this time she did start getting nicer but told me that she had no choice but to send it to the next step. Fine I said do what you need to do just stop calling. So the next step showed up in the form of a certified letter stateing what I already knew. We are behind on our payments.

So now we will wait and see what happens next. Have done some reaseach and we probably have around 4 to 5 months before they can officially kick us out.

I have been checking into the produce the note thing that I have heard about of the news and internet. The more I have reseached it the more I do believe that this is a nessisary thing to follow up on as if they have sold the note to another bank they then can come after you for the note and even though bank 1 has foreclosed on your house you are still liable to bank 2 because they have the note.

Now I have not wrote this for anyones sympathy but more of a documentary of what you could expect if it happens to you.

It is what it is

Rod

MRI

You ever had a MRI? Well I had my first one yesterday so they could check out my pancreas and see how things were going.

People who had been through it before were more than happy to tell me about how they did not like going into the machine as it made them claustrophobic. Well I do not have that problem and it was not bad for me.

The machine is very noisy but they now have music for you to listen to so that was a lot better. The only thing I noticed while going through the procedure was that when they went to take a picture I got a weird warming feeling inside my stomach. When it was all over the tech said that it was normal for that.

But to be honest with you the whole time I was in there and I kept feeling that sensation I only had one thought on my mind.

Am I the hamster in the microwave???

It is what it is

Rod

Since We Are On The Topic

WHAT A DOG !!

A man had just settled into his seat next to the window on the plane when another man sits down in the aisle seat and puts his black Labrador in the middle seat next to the man...

The first man looks very quizzically at the dog and asks why the dog is allowed on the plane.

The second man explains that he is a Drug Enforcement Agency officer and the dog is a 'Sniffer dog'.. 'His name is Smithy and he's the best there is. I'll show you once we get airborne, when I put him to work.'

The plane takes off, and once it has leveled out, the agent says:

Watch this.' He tells Smithy to 'search'.

Smithy jumps down, walks along the aisle, and finally sits very purposefully next to a woman for several seconds. Smithy then returns to his seat and puts one paw on the agent's arm.

The agent says, 'Good boy', and he turns to the man and says: 'That woman is in possession of marijuana, so I'm making a note of her seat number and the authorities will apprehend her when we land.'

'Say, that's pretty neat,' replies the first man.

Once again, the agent sends Smithy to search the aisles. The Lab sniffs about, sits down beside a man for a few seconds, returns to his seat and this time, he places TWO paws on the agent's arm. The agent says, 'That man is carrying cocaine, so again, I'm making note of his seat number for the police.'

'I like it!' says his seat mate.

The agent then tells Smithy to 'search' again.

Smithy walks up and down the aisles for a little while, sits down for a moment and then comes racing back to the agent, jumps into the middle seat and proceeds to poop all over the place.

The first man is really amazed by this behavior and can't figure out how or why a well-trained dog would behave like this, so he asks the agent 'What's going on?'

The agent nervously replies, 'He just found a bomb.'

It is what it is

Rod

A Dog's Purpose (from a 6-year-old)

When I read this story it made me wonder what the world would be like if we all lived by these simple rules.

Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish Wolfhound named Belker. The dog's owners, Ron, his wife Lisa, and their little boy Shane, were all very attached to Belker, and they were hoping for a miracle.

I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the family we couldn't do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home.

As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for six-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience.

The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker's family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away.

The little boy seemed to accept Belker's transition without any difficulty or confusion. We sat together for a while after Belker's Death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives. Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, 'I know why.'

Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I'd never heard a more comforting explanation.

He said, 'People are born so that they can learn how to live a good Life -- like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?' The Six-year-old continued, 'Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay as long.'

Live simply.

Love generously.

Care deeply.

Speak kindly.

Remember, if a dog was the teacher you would learn things like:

When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.

Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joy-ride..

Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure Ecstasy...

Take naps.

Stretch before rising.

Run, romp, and play daily.

Thrive on attention and let people touch you.

Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.

On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass.

On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.

When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body.

Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.

Be loyal.

Never pretend to be something you're not.

If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.

When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by, and nuzzle them gently

ENJOY EVERY MOMENT OF EVERY DAY!

It is what it is

Rod

It Is Official

(l-r) Katie Collins, Coach Turner-Bolton, Alyxe Bruns

EUGENE, Ore. – Willamette HS girl’s basketball players Alyxe Bruns and Katie Collins and Stayton HS product Kelsey Atkins have been announced as the first recruits for the 2009-2010, according to Northwest Christian University women’s basketball coach Liz Turner-Bolton.

Bolton said, “I am pleased and excited to be adding three strong guards to our program for next season. All three of these girls have been extremely successful in their high school endeavors and have come from programs with a rich tradition of excellence. Their experience, work ethic and defensive tenacity will add stability and depth to our program.”

Bruns was a 2009 McDonalds High School All-American nominee is the most decorated athlete to come into the NCU program after leading the Willamette Wolverines to back-to-back 5A state championships. Bruns was a First-Team All-State selection as a senior, averaging 8.9 points per game.

“Ally Bruns is one of the quickest players in the state and will be a force to contain in transition,” said Bolton. “She provides instant offense with her shooting abilities and can put up big numbers in a hurry.”

As you can see my niece Ally received a full ride scholarship for her basketball achievements.

It is what it is

Rod

Fears

I have done a lot of hunting in my life starting out as a kid hunting with my Dads family. It was always a time of year that we always looked forward too and we had a great time.

As the years passed and my uncles grew older and no longer could go hunting my Dad lost interest in hunting and the game department started a draw system for rifle hunting. As you guessed I did not draw a tag one year so I started bow hunting as there was no draw for tags at that time.

One year we were hunting in this area that had a lot of logs torn up and rocks turned over. One of the guys I was hunting with had no idea what could of caused all that. So I finally told him that it was because of bears looking for food.

Little did I know but he was scared of bears and it seemed to be that every where we hunted that year had lots of sign of bears. He asked me why I was not scared of them and I gave him some excuse for a answer just trying to calm him down.

A couple of years later I was hunting with another friend and there was cougar tracks every where. He did not have to ask me what they were as they are rather distinctive.

We had got lucky that year and were hunting a road closure area so that meant we had to pack every thing out on pack boards. So we had loaded the first pack and my buddy shouldered it and headed off by himself as the rest of us worked at loading another pack.

I took this one and headed out of the canyon that we were in and was about half the way back to the rigs when I caught my buddy trudging along with his pack. I walked up and caught him and he looked over and said thank God it is you I thought it was a cougar coming after me.

So the rest of the way back to the trucks we talked about cougars and I found out that he had a big time fear of cougars. So I told him about my other buddy that was scared of bears as we were walking along. He also asked me why I was not scared of them and once again I also gave him an excuse for a answer to calm him down.

Ok now for the truth I have a very high respect for bears but normally they will just run from you unless it is a sow with cubs. Now with cougars yes I do have a fear of them as they can sneak up on you and you will never know what hits you.

But I had one secret weapon when I was hunting with these two buddies. They were both big boys. I never did tell them until years later that the reason I never had to worry about bears or cougars when hunting with them was...

I could out run them!

It is what it is

Rod

A Little Humor

Two elderly ladies had been friends for many decades. Over the years they had shared all kinds of activities and adventures. Lately, their activities had been limited to meeting a few times a week to play cards.

One day they were playing cards when one looked at the other and said, 'Now don't get mad at me....I know we've been friends for a long time.....but I just can't think of your name! I've thought and thought, but I can't remember it. Please tell me what your name is.' Her friend glared at her. For at least three minutes she just stared and glared at her.

Finally she said, 'How soon do you need to know?'



THE SENILITY PRAYER
Grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,
the good fortune to run into the ones I do,
and the eyesight to tell the difference.

It is what it is

Rod

Easter Traditions

When our boys were young we always did the traditional Easter egg hunt for them. They loved it and as the years went by they would then hide them again and again for each other until the eggs were basically trashed and falling apart.

One year when we lived on the farm we hid the eggs and then they went and found them all except one that we could not remember where it was hid. Oh well it was only one egg so we did not think much of it.

So of course they went ahead and started hiding them for each other and as they kept doing it more and more eggs kept coming up missing. Now they were not to old then so they did not hide them to well and could not put them up to high so I decided that maybe I should go find them..

As I was looking for them they continued with their game but I was having no luck locating any of the missing eggs. I then decided that maybe if I watched them maybe I would have a clue as to where they might be.

So one boy went into the house and the other was hiding the eggs and I noticed that they were not hidden that well which made the missing eggs even more strange.

Well he finished and headed to get his brother so he could find the eggs and it was about then that I discovered the mystery behind the missing eggs.

Our cow dog was sneaking in behind them and eating them shell and all.

I am sure you all have your traditions that you do for Easter every year and we will do our normal with a potluck type dinner at my parents with our sons.

So if you do or don't observe Easter just be sure to have a good day.

It is what it is

Rod

Bull Riding

When I was working on farms I worked for a few different farmers. One of them had bought the place next to us for his son to farm since the home place was to small for two families to make a living on.

He also raised registered Herfords for breeding stock. He had about 5 or 6 herd bulls and a few cows. The bulls were enormous running from 2,000 pounds up.

All the bulls I had ever been around you had to keep an eye on at all times as they can be a little ornery at times especially if it was someone they did not know.

One day they had me go to the home place to change the water and of course the water also had to be changed in the bull pasture. I started changing the water and the biggest of the bulls decided that he needed to head my way.

I was hurriedly trying to do my work and stay ahead of this huge animal but as fate would put it I got detained long enough for him to catch me. Just before he got to me I turned around so maybe I would have a chance to run one way or the other.

He plodded right up to me and did not even stop to smell me or nothing. He just started to rub his head on me. He was as tame as a dog and all he wanted was to get scratched on.

So later I was telling the farmer about it and he said that a couple of years before that he had a guy working for him that used to ride him kind of like a horse.

So me being me the next time I changed the water in the bull pasture I just had to do it and jumped on him.

I had no more and got on his back and he started off across the pasture at a slow but steady gait taking me back to the barn where I was wanting to go anyway. So when we got there he stopped and I slid off him and gave him a good scratching and went on my way.

So it became a routine for us. Every time I changed the water in his pasture he would then give me a ride back to the barn. We even had our picture taken by some tourist that were driving by and saw us and just had to have a picture for their friends in the city so they would believe them.

Now I bet this story did not turn out like you thought. But...

It is what it is

Rod

Old Farmers Advice

*Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.

*Life ain't about how fast you run, or how high you climb, but how well you bounce.

*Keep skunks and bankers and lawyers at a distance.

*Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.

*A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.

*Words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled.

*Meanness don't jest happen overnight.

*Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads.

*Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.

*It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.

*You cannot unsay a cruel word.

*Every path has a few puddles.

*When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.

* The best sermons are lived, not preached.

* Most of the stuff people worry about ain't never gonna happen anyway.

* Don't judge folks by their relatives.

* Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

* Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll enjoy it a second time.

* Don't interfere with somethin' that ain't botherin' you none.

* Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.

* The easiest way to eat crow is while it's still warm, 'cause the colder it gets, the harder it is to swaller.

* If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.

* It don't take a genius to spot a goat in a flock of sheep.

* Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.

* The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with watches you shave his face in the mirror every mornin'.

* Always drink upstream from the herd.

* Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.

* Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back in.

*If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around.

*Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply.

*Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.

It is what it is

Rod

Branding Calves

Growing up in the country and working on ranches part of the job/fun was branding calves. So here is some of the episodes that I have seen/been through.

When I was a kid I was introduced to the rite of spring branding going to a cousins place and helping him. Branding is a lot like that where people help others especially family. They make a day or sometimes two days and there is lots of good food kind of like a big party at times.

My cousin had a small place so he did not have many cows so we did not use horses or a calf table to brand with. We just put them in a small pen and waded in and caught them by hand and threw them on the ground and took care of them. Usually it always seemed to be that the biggest calves were the last to be done but one year it happened to be the smallest one. He was small enough that we had just over looked him. Well he was spotted and my grand father was closes to him so he grabbed him and all hell broke loose that calf was not liking it at all and was jumping and kicking and just flat out going crazy.

The rest of us for some reason were finding it quite humorous just watching this 50 pound calf pretty much winning this battle. When my grand father finally got him some what under control the rest of us joined in and helped out. Later on our way home my grand father was not in a very good mood so I asked him what was wrong. So he told me he thought he had broke a rib and was just a little upset that it was the smallest calf in the pen that had done it.

When I got older and was working on a ranch we would have 600 head of calves to brand so it took us 2 days. With that many head to do they had a calf table to use.

For you that do not know a calf table is a small squeeze chute that will tip the calf on its side so you can work on them easier.

So the second year that I worked there they decided that they were going to brand all the calves in one day so they borrowed another calf table from another ranch and had some cousins from the city come out to help.

One of their cousins that showed up was a big kid well over 6 foot tall and 200 plus pounds most of it muscle. He was very proud of his strength and liked to show it off at any time possible. The one problem he had was that he was afraid of the calves.

My job was ear making and dehorning and I had to do both tables so I was running back and forth doing that and if they missed a calf going through the chute is was also my job to catch them and stuff them back in.

Well I could not be in two places at the same time and they missed one at the table I was not at and he got away and it took a lot of time to catch him again. So the owner decided that we needed some one to watch what ever chute I was not at so that would not happen again. Well Jerry being the biggest was the chosen one.

Things went fine as they were catching the calves but then it happened and they missed one and Jerry was there. Ok now imagine this you have a 200 plus pound very strong kid face to face with a maybe 90 pound calf. Jerry was just dancing around in front of this calf waving his arms and I still do not know what he was thinking but it did stop the calf.

Well I had finished on the calf I was working on and had started to head that way when all of this was going on. I just ran over there and pushed Jerry out of the way and jumped the calf and stuffed him back in the chute.

Now at the time this happened I was maybe just a little bit over 5 foot tall and might of weighed 115 pounds soaking wet.

So there was a lot of ribbing at Jerry about that and he was not liking it at all. As expected it was not too much later and they missed another one. This one was rather small maybe 60 pounds and Jerry was still smarting from the last one so this one had no chance and Jerry felt a lot better about life.

I have done very few brandings like what you see on TV with the horses and roping the calves as I am not very good with a rope. So when I do go to these I am mainly ground crew but that is fine with me.

I was at one and we had the calves in a pen and were down to the last calf and no one was even getting close to roping it. They kept running the calf around and missing. So one time they ran the calf close to me so I grabbed it and flanked it down so we could get the job done. I was not very appreciated so one of the guys rode around behind me and preceded to rope me and drag me off through the dirt.

So on the next pen I said I wanted to rope and they put the guy that had roped me on the ground crew as I had hoped. Well needless to say I never did rope a calf but I did rope him twice and it made him real mad but everyone else basically told him that he had started it and if he did not like it to leave.

So that is some of my experiences branding calves.

It is what it is

Rod

$100

A little boy wanted $100.00 very badly and prayed for weeks, but nothing happened .

Then he decided to write God a letter requesting the $100.00.

When the postal authorities received the letter to God , USA , they decided to send it to the president.

The president was so amused that he instructed his secretary to send the little boy a $ 5.00 bill.

The president thought this would appear to be a lot of money to a little boy.

The little boy was delighted with the $5.00 bill and sat down to write a thank-you note to God, which read:

Dear God: Thank you very much for sending the money. However, I noticed that for some reason you sent it through Washington D.C.. and those assholes took $95.00 in taxes.

It is what it is

Rod

The Chase Continued

Here we go again another episode of chasing wild horses.

This time we were in a area that we could not take the pickups so we were using horses instead. Real wild west stuff!

We had a temporary corral set up and Mike had located the horses the day before so we saddled up the horses and set out after them.

Now let me give you a little idea of what we had going here. One of the horses we were riding was a thoroughbred tall built for running. The rest were Quarter horses good all around breed except for one...my horse. I had Sundance. Sundance was a cayuse horse. That was what the Indians called a wild horse that they caught and then broke to ride.

Now wild horses are not the big horses you see on the westerns or read about in the novels. They are small because as they tend to get inbred.

I still to this day believe they did it for a laugh to have the white boy on the smallest horse but that was not all. They also stole my hat and told me that I had to wear one of theirs. Ok I can play along with them where is my hat then.

They sent one of the kids to get my special hat and he returned with a ball cap but it had stuffed cow horns on the side kind of like a viking hat but with a bill. Ok give it to me I will go ahead and amuse you. So I put it on and not one smile or grin or nothing just a all right lets go.

We took off and trotted for about 5 miles until we finally spotted the wild horses and then we had to sneak around them so we could chase them back to the corral.

We got around them and then put the boots to our horses and off we went the chase was on!

Now the terrain around here is not very flat. I have posted pictures of the mountains and we were chasing these horses in the foot hills. Steep hills and a lot of brush and trees and rocks.

Well we took off after the horses yelling and hollering and they took off like they had been shot at with us in hot pursuit. Well everyone else was in hot pursuit as Sundance was not that big and also not as fast as the other horses.

I will never forget that chase When we topped the first hill I could not see the wild horses at all but the kid on the Thoroughbred was just topping the next hill and the Quarter horses were starting up the next hill. I was getting left behind real quick. So I tried to get Sundance to go faster but then it dawned on me that he was giving me all he had so we just chugged along while everyone else was having the real fun.

So having nothing else to really occupy my mind I started to pay more attention to my horse I was riding. Now I have rode a lot of different horses in my life having worked on ranches and have even owned my fair share so I do know a little bit about them.

Well by the time Sundance and I had topped out on the 3rd. hill I could no longer even see anybody else. I could here them whooping and hollering and see the dust cloud but that was it. It was around this time that I realized that even though I was on a little horse he was a very fine animal. He had not slacked off of his pace and was not breathing very heavy and was a fine animal for the terrain we were in. Not one slip or stumble and I did not have to give him much direction he knew what was needed and was giving me everything he had.

Well we kept going for all he had and then a couple of hills later I suddenly saw another rider but he was not running anymore and the horse was done wore out. It was the Thoroughbred fast but no endurance. As I came up to him he just waved me on by yelling at me not to stop so I kept on going.

By having to go up and down the hills we probably had 10 or more miles to go to get back to the corrals and as the miles went by my little cayuse horse slowly but surely caught and passed everyone else and as they had dropped off the wild horses had slowed down so we were able to catch them just before we topped the last hill before the corral.

Everything ended up as planned I was able to get the wild horses close enough to the corral that the riders waiting there on fresh horses were able to take over and we caught them.

But then the ribbing started as the the other rider showed up on their spent horses about the white boy showing them up and of course there was plenty pointed at me and my cayuse horse and oh of course my hat.

But I got even with them and kept the hat! You should of seen the look on their faces when I told them to keep my old hat I liked the one they traded to me a lot better.

It is what it is

Rod

What A Day

April fools...right!

Everything started out just fine you know opened my eyes great! But it soon changed.

We have been having some problems with the power lately. Lights flickering and dimming and then everything would be fine again. But then it would start again. So one day I had the power company come over and they checked everything out on their end and it was fine. I then talked to a electrician friend and he said to make sure all the grounds were good and tight and if that did not fix it to replace the main breaker.

Well I did as he said and tightened all the grounds in the main breaker box but the problem only became worse. Ok then put in a new main breaker and it stopped. For about 3 days and then back it came.

Now what do I do? Since we had the house was over 25 years old I decided I would go ahead and replace the rest of the receptacles in the house and see if one of the old ones I had not already changed was bad. Once again the problem disappeared for a short while and then started again but not as bad as before.

About that time we also noticed the it was not all the lights flickering just some of them and then just intermittently. That left us scratching our heads and wondering what it could be. Until this morning.

I was sitting at my computer and it suddenly shut down and then tried to restart but could not. Oh great I thought April 1st. virus day and I got it. About that time my wife opened the refrigerator door and the light was real dim. I went around the house and checked other lights and some were fine and others were real dim. Now what?

I went to the breaker box and checked the power with my voltage meter and what is this one leg is at 120 volts and the other is at 70 volts. Definite problem here so I called the power company so they could come and check it out on their end again.

The same power employee showed up and of course was kidding me about it but when he pulled the cover off the meter base box the problem was then very apparent. One lug was completely melted. Wonderful so I shut off all the main breakers while he got into the lift and unhooked the power lines at the pole and then pulled the meter.

I was talking to him as he was pulling the meter and said that I would call him to hook everything back up as soon as I replaced it. Oh no he said it has to be done by a electrician and they have to give him a letter of responsibility before he could put the meter back in.

Well after 4 phone calls I finally found a electrician that would come right over and look at it and yes it would be fixed today.

He showed up and was looking at things and said that if we were lucky it would only cost $400 and that if we were not it would then be $2000. I must of had that WTF look on my face as he then explained that by state law he could only replace 1 part. And since he was going to have to change the box out that was the one part. Now if he has to change out more like the wire going to the breaker box he then has to replace it all from the power pole to the breaker box.

Ok I said where is the lucky part. Well if the original electrician has left enough slack in the line from the breaker box to the meter box then I would be lucky. Well I was lucky as there was more than enough slack in the line so we were able to pull it through and it will only cost me $400. Whew!

Now the real sad part of this whole thing is that of the $400 total cost to fix it $100 of it was for the permit! And then I found out the inspector will not even make it here until Friday! But that is why there is the letter of responsibility so they can turn the power back on and I did not have to wait.

So how was your April fools day?

It is what it is

Rod