August 2023

Ark, I'm glad you enjoyed your trip. I know I will never forget some of the scenery of the Grand Canyon. I hope you took lots of pictures so you can relive the trip many times.

Welcome home ARK & Donnie. I never would have known about the luggage. I hope it wasn't your favorite shirt that you are now going to burn!

My Fed Ex story continues. I've been assured that the address has been corrected and that my package will be delivered by end of day today. It also looks like it's going to cost me an additional $20 for the address change. Still going to argue that one, but I have to wait to make sure it actually gets delivered and then for the initial invoice to be processed even though a payment is pending on my credit card. I do have a funny story that happened when I went to drop the envelope in the drop box.

There is a drop box a few blocks from where I work in the Prosecuting Attorney's office building. There is not exactly underground parking but a very small lot between the PA office and another building with offices above the parking. I pulled in off the street to park to run in an drop the envelope in the box only to see this tall, skinny, black man dancing naked. I kept on driving right on through the lot and out the other side. I then called the police and parked a little way away to see what happens. First I was amazed how long it took for a police car to get there. First it's at the PA office and second the parking lot is a block away from the police department. Police come, put man in police car and I leave. I'm about a mile away and I get a call from the communication center asking that I return to the scene to identify the person they took into custody. I blurted out to the dispatcher. "You got to be kidding! I can't identify him! All I can say it that it was a tall, skinny, black man naked in Downtown Elkhart." She then repeats that the officer would like me to return to the scene. OK. I'll turn around and go back. It will take just a few minutes. I get turned around and am headed back and she calls back to tell me that I can disregard the previous request.

Elkhart is getting to be crazy. A few months ago it was the shots fired at the 7-11 and now yesterday it's naked men in parking lots. What will be next?

I have only one thing to say... Where are the parents teaching their kids to grow up to be decent adults?

Tomorrow, I'm going to an Ohio state park to help celebrate my cousin working at the same job for 50 years. She is not retiring yet. She works at a vet clinic and has outlasted about 8 vets who have come and gone. The vet and the practice manager are hosting the party and have invited her family.
It's a beautiful state park and will be a great place to have a good time.

INDYAPP:
Wow. You lead an interesting life! Was the guy still naked when they wanted you to identify him? If he was, why would the police need you, they could see for themselves....
No, it wasn't my favorite shirt I wore for almost 3 days. Now it is my least favorite one. I wore it because it had pockets, but is an obnoxiously red patterned shirt. My fellow train travelers probably got tired of looking at it. We carried changes of clothing on the return trip in our carry on luggage.


ELLEN:
Congrats to your cousin! That is quite an accomplishment. Have fun at the party!

GRAYMARE:
How's the heat going? It wasn't too bad in Flagstaff and at the Grand Canyon. While warm, there is something about the lack of humidity that made it not seem so bad. And it was windy.


We had a fun trip, but I don't think I'll ever do a round trip train ride again that is that long. Maybe fly one way. It was fairly exhausting, probably mostly because we kept arriving and departing around 3 a.m....and I am not a night owl. When we got home, we were zombies for a couple of days and only did minimal stuff, then slept a lot. We are recovered now.

Tomorrow, Saturday, Donnie is going to mow our lower hayfield. We are in a high pressure system and the temps are great and no rain is predicted next week. It will be nice to get that field done, it is the larger one. Our upper field had horses on it off and on until about 3 weeks ago and needs more time to recover. It won't get done until sometime in September. Donnie isn't looking forward to cutting the field, he could use a vacation....

It has been a long but good day. 3 1/2 hours to the park, food, cake, stories, and fun. Then 3 1/2 hours home. Lots of driving, but uneventful.

Graymare, where are you?

That is quite the accomplishment for your cousin ELLEN. And very kind of the current vet to recognize her. It started out as a part-time after school job right?

Happy to hear that you and Donnie had a fun, if exhausting, vacation ARK. I know, right?! How many naked men do they think there are walking around downtown Elkhart that I would need to identify him? I'm just glad they decided that I wasn't needed. I would have been late getting my great-niece to her clarinet lesson. She would have been furious.

Debbie's job started when she was 18, just out of high school. We had horses and the vet she started working for was the one who took care of all of the horses. He took care of Debbie too. He set up a savings plan for her right at the start, one that has been maintained all these years.
The current vet revealed that when she was ready to sign the contract to buy the business, it wasn't written in the contract, but the seller insisted that Debbie might as well be considered to be part of the contract. By that time, Debbie had "outlived" about 6 or 7 different vets.
The original vet died, and the practice was sold two or three times in the intervening years. The current vet has had it for about 20 years now. She is a good vet and treats her staff well and pays well, which is why Debbie continues to work even though she could have retired 4 years ago. One of her perks is that she can pretty much take days off whenever she wants to and doesn't have to tend to boarded animals on weekends.

I'm getting a little concerned about Graymare.  She hasn't posted since August 6th.  I texted her and got no answer, then I called today and didn't get an answer on the phone either.

ELLEN
Hopefully she is just visiting her family.....
Thanks for checking.

ARK, did you and Donnie get your hay in? It's been blistering hot here this week. The horses have all gotten hosed off when I get home from work. Lily who is not a fan of baths has even stood quietly for the rinse.

I hope all is well with GRAYMARE and she is enjoying time with family....

We got blind-sided at work on Monday morning. Found out Goldman Sachs is looking to sell our division after only 4 years. The press got ahold of some not quite right information and published it and GS had to correct the information. I don't think we would have ever known it is in the works until the deal had been done. So now we know we're up for sale and that it is expected that a deal will be final before year end, but we have no details. Does not make for a great work environment. Very discouraging. Unfortunately I'm not in a position to take early retirement.

Ahhhhh. At last, a cool evening. It's sure been a hot week.

INDYAPP:
 Yes, we got in 97 bales of hay on Tuesday.  The weather was just perfect and our neighbor volunteered to help move it, so the job went faster than usual.    We still have the upper field to do, but it needs more growing time.  We got a bit of rain yesterday, which should help.
 I am sorry to hear about your business being sold.  I hope they retain all the employees.  And gives them all a big raise!


ELLEN:
 Glad your weather has gotten cooler!   Is the lake getting ready for a big holiday weekend?  


Donnie's birthday went well.   We went to his favorite BBQ place,  Mission BBQ, and then to see the movie,  Oppenheimer.  He enjoyed his day.  We got the hay done the day before his birthday, so he didn't have to work hard like he has been.  Tomorrow he is going to trim Ivan's feet and I am going to ride that horse for the first time since I started that Virtual Tevis ride with Areion.  He has had a relaxed summer.  I fitted him up with a s-hook hackamore today so I wouldn't have to keep readjusting the one I have on Areion.   Her head is longer than Ivan's and changing the lengths of the hackamore sides is a big pain.

I do wish GRAYMARE and several others would check in.....

It's been a beautiful day. Mid 70s and low humidity. I didn't do anything wonderful, but tomorrow should see me out on the jet ski again.

I've sent a card to Graymare, hoping either she or her daughter will answer me.

ELLEN:
Still no news, I guess. I hope she is okay and just having fun with her gang somewhere.


It's been relatively cool here, and cloudy all day today. It felt pretty good. Donnie raked the arena and I am going to try to ride Ivan tomorrow. I haven't been on him since May, I think. Areion's Virtual Tevis ride took all my energy this summer. I haven't been on either one since the end of July. That month flew by.


We got a nice rain yesterday evening, so hopefully our upper field will grow some. I'd like to have it cut and done soon.

My (infrequent lately) riding friend's saddle slipped around in early August and she broke a rib or two and hurt her shoulder when she hit the ground. No riding for her for awhile. So the arena is awaiting me.

Still no information from Graymare. The card I sent should be there by today. I hope I'll get an answer soon.

Yesterday was pretty chilly for summer. Today will be a little bit warmer, but summer will return for an encore this weekend, temperatures in the 90s.

I hope all is well with GRAYMARE.

Sorry to hear that your riding partner got injured ARK. Hopefully you and Ivan have an uneventful ride, even if it is only in the arena. Perhaps after a couple of rides in the arena you on Ivan and Donnie on his bike can venture out. I think I remember you telling us you both were going to try that. My memory isn't all that great, but didn't you tell us you were going to try that? That sounds like an adventure.

INDYAPP:
Yes, we did try that once. I think it would take a bunch of times before Ivan would calm down. He really hates going out without a horse companion and didn't consider the bike a decent horsey replacement. Even Trinket would have made him happier.... .... So, we haven't done it since, but probably should. It was a pretty miserable ride on my part.

Time to change the calendar. Go to: https://horsefriends.forumotion.com/t147-september-2023#15270

or go to Basket and then to September 2023.