Ok, so when I left for work this morning, I saw FOUR cop cars in my development parking lot, all clustered together in the same area.  I only saw one cop, and he appeared to be searching an suv in the parking lot.  Looking in the side doors, then as I went around the corner, he opened up the rear hatch and was looking back there.  Very weird...  Or I just look for interesting stories all around me =)  I can't say it hasn't happened before...

Ok, so the "post" button failed, and I'm like "fuck".  I push the back button, crossing my fingers.  Why the heck does it remember EVERYTHING except for the body?  Like seriously, the title is there, the tags, the mood, the security setting.  No body...  I really need to get back in the habit of copying the body before pushing that button, just in case!  =(

I got a mailing from Clearwire today.  It says $29.99 a month for life.  I am thinking about it.  The service is limited in area at this time, but currently my internet is only good in my house, so anything would be an improvement...  That's a big enough savings to really think about...

I will be upset if they decide to do another season, weaning off the main characters.  Blech, no spin-offs!  They really just need to end it on a high note, and not let it die a slow and painful death =(

First of all, I am a complete idiot for not looking at the drive up to Elkton, and actually absorbing the fact that I had to drive around DC and Baltimore, and putting 2 and 2 together, in realizing that I was going to have to deal with icky traffic, and idiotic drivers =P  The drive up was ok, a little traffic here and there, but nothing prolonged, which made it a little more manageable.  I did have several interactions with idiotic drivers (AND a truck driver, who is supposed to understand and empathize with our mutual inability to stop quickly =P  ).

I got there eventually though, after about 4.5 hours, and thanks to Becky, I had a spot all blocked off for me.  It was near the port-a-potty (which is good at a ride, since you don't have to walk far to go to the bathroom!  And not too far from the vet-check area, and thus later finding out that Becky was planning on crewing AT the trailer (I would do the same), so it was really nice.  After setting up camp, we went out for a short ride, to introduce Cheyenne to the scary tunnel we have to go through, and stretch their legs.  Cheyenne did great, but I decided that I should probably wear my gloves during the ride, since my rope burns were not quite healed to the level I would have liked for the ride.

Doing everything myself, I woke up in the middle of the night to feed Cheyenne her breakfast (luckily this ride wasn't too cold, so it wasn't as huge of a deal).  I went back to bed for a few hours, and got up around 5-5:15ish to start getting ready for the ride, starting at 7am.  I got everything ready for the vet check, and got Cheyenne all tacked up and ready.  We left with plenty of time to spare.  Though about 50 feet from the trailer, I realized I forgot my half chaps, so off we go trotting back to the trailer (wouldn't want to be missing that important piece of clothing/equipment!).  I felt like I was running out of time, so trotted a bit to get to the start (though we ended up waiting a good 5+ minutes before the trail opened anyway, my plan wasn't to wait in the back of the pack, so I wanted to be there in time).

I didn't hear the guy announcing the trail was open, but I saw the cluster of horses trotting/cantering off down the field, so I assumed it was open, and started in that general direction.  There were a ton of horses registered for this ride, 80 in the 25 mile ride alone.  As we calmly trotted down the field, we passed at least one or two people who had fallen off (lesson number one to newbies about leaving at the start of the pack, lol), and at least one person off to the side with a psyched up  horse, trying to calm him/her down, lol.  We all make our own decisions, and that is exactly what I wanted to avoid...  ha ha.  I'd say I passed a good 5+ people during the course of the ride who had fallen off for one reason or another.  One horse that got loose after having dumped their rider (and someone else running off with their horse to successfully CATCH that horse, lol).  And heard that the guy I had sat near at dinner on Friday galloping to catch another horse that had gotten loose towards the end of the ride.  Props to them, as I'm no hero, and would likely just be trying to keep Cheyenne relaxed and away from the psycho horse, so that I stay on her, lol.

The first loop was somewhat of a fight.  I wanted her to go slow down the steep hills, and if there were horses in front of us that continued trotting down, she'd get mad at me, stop, back up, back herself onto a wall of dirt (if it was there, she's weird, lol), anything other than walking forward, which I personally thought detracted even further from our progress than what I was asking her, but she was annoyed, ha ha.  Even though we left after the first rush, there were still a ton of people passing us at high speeds.  Cheyenne dealt well with it though, and we eventually fell into a decent bubble of space.  The first loop still maintained a generally high energy feel (which is normal), and was definitely the cause of my sore shoulders after the ride and the Sunday after.  Maybe a quarter mile from the end of the first loop, I was going through some deep mud, and noticed a renegade boot stuck in the mud.  I thought for a second, and decided I'd save someone's day, got off on the side of the trail, and heaved and ho'd, eventually pulling that suctioned renegade boot out of the mud.  I strapped it to my saddle bag, asked some passing riders if they could stop while I got back on (which they did), then proceeded through one of the scary tunnels I had prepped Cheyenne for.  It wasn't long before we got to the hold (making for the 15 mile loop in about 2 hours), and I went walking around yelling "Is anyone missing an orange renegade boot!"  lol.  I eventually found someone who knew the woman who had lost it, he said she was off crying about it, and he brought it to her, I'm sure saving her day as I had predicted ;-)  Yay, I did my good deed for the day...  =D  Those things are worth about $80, and she had apparently just got them last week.

I took Cheyenne to the trailer, untacked her, sponged her off, and proceeded back to get her pulsed in, get our out time, and go through the vet check.  She went through with flying colors, except for a small scrape she had gotten on her lower leg, near the hoof.  I was very pleased =)  Returned her to the trailer, set her up with her food, some apples, carrots, sponged her off, etc etc.  By the time I was done with her, I had about 10 minutes to sit down, eat my sport beans, drink water, and lie down for a second.  Then, stood back up, tacked up, and got Cheyenne ready for the second loop.  Headed out about 5 minutes late (oh well), and trotted down the fields...  It wasn't long before April came up from behind, and we ended up riding together for the rest of the loop.  She was great to ride with, and our horses got along great =)  This loop was amazing, both April and I rode it almost entirely with a loose rein, it was nice and relaxing, no struggling, no fighting, and Cheyenne had perky/excited ears the whole time!  I could tell she was enjoying herself...  We finished that loop in about an hour and a half.  A little longer than I had wanted, but it was with great company, and Cheyenne REALLY enjoyed that loop, so I was happy =)

The second loop also provided more interaction with the 50k runners running that day.  They were going in the opposite direction, so we passed them head on, but we passed a ton of them.  What was funny, is that there was one group that we passed, that had someone in it, that Cheyenne didn't like the looks of.  She bent her neck, turned, and looked at them, like she does to those holes in chopped down trees that obviously have boogie monsters in them.  It was quite amusing.  I also think there were at least 3 or 4 times (probably more) that I saw the trail go in a different direction from where everyone else was going, started down it, calling out to the other people that the trail was "over here!"  lol.  I was a good samaritan at this ride...  =)

This loop was only 10 miles, so it was over really quick (but was oh so much fun).  April was worried about her horse, as she has had lameness issues with him, and they ended up getting pulled, so I was sad =(   But Cheyenne recovered well, and got all A's at her final vet check...  Finishing up the ride with all A's, with the exception of the one B for wounds at the first vet check.  I brought her back to the trailer, and slowly started packing up camp.  Not forgetting to go up to the main area to get my complimentary hot dog =)  yum!

It was a great day, which is great, but also leaves me with the dilemma on whether to sign up for the 25 or 50 in SC...  If Cheyenne had been tired after the 25 at Foxcatcher, it would have been an easy decision ;-)  I should probably do the 50, but I'm simply not sure if I will be able to make myself go slower, I'll probably want to do the same pace we did at Foxcatcher, and I'm not sure if that would guarantee a completion or not...  So still deciding on that, we'll see.  I might sign up for one, and see what the weather is like, to possibly switch when I check-in.  So many options ;-)

So I'm having mixed feelings about my ride yesterday.  On the one hand, it was SO much fun, lol.  I am in love with those trails.  I do wish they were a little closer (an hour and a half drive), but at the same time, they're only like 10-30 minutes closer than most of the places I go, and WAY better!  The trails were so much fun, that I was literally laughint out loud on part of the ride back.  The trails were all dirt, so Cheyenne was 100% comfortable (also having 4 shoes on), so we really moved out, and even did the occasional canter stretch.  The trails were windy, so we got to move out, but it was interesting, and not boring.  I didn't bang my knees on any of the trees, which probably would have severely hindered my enjoyment, ha ha.

Unfortunately, Fran was coming out to ride with me, but was running late, so I only did a 5.5 mile ride by the time I went back to get her and her horses.  We waited around a decent amount, resting, before heading back out with her and her horses.  I then did about 7.4 miles.  So in total, it was a decent conditioning ride (13 miles), but with the break in the middle, I didn't get the comfort that I was looking for, in knowing that Cheyenne was ready for a 15 mile loop of about the pace that we did yesterday (with no break in the middle).  So now I'm reconsidering taking next weekend off with no riding.

I actually don't think Cheyenne needs that time off, but I might.  I feel like my work week is my time off, and time to sleep in, ha ha.  So having a day off would probably be nice.  On the other hand, going on the long ride I had originally planned for yesterday, would probably be good conditioning for ME for the ride the following weekend, lol.  But also, if I went, I'd want to do another gravel free ride, and Beaverdam is really the only place that provides that (at this point in my knowledge), and I'm not sure if I want to do that drive again so SOON after doing it.

I guess Cheyenne is probably fine for the ride :-/  I don't know what I want to do.

I forgot suntan lotion again today, so got sunburned again.  Not happy with myself...

Are apparently not even yummy smelling enough for Abby.  I gave her one that fell on the ground, and she didn't know it was food, so started batting it around on the floor.  She had a ball, and it was absolutely adorable!  =)

I wasn't planning on going to Cedar Point for CoasterMania this year, but I don't know if I can imagine not riding Millenium Force and Dragster this summer =(  So I'm not sure what I want to do...  I might fold, even if I go alone :-/  I guess I will readress everything next month...

I want to take my trailer in to get a screen door put on the dressing room, and am thinking about whether there is anything else I would like to get done while I'm sending it in.  I really have no idea the costs of everything else, but felt like posting about it, lol.

I also definitely want to have them put on some hold-backs for the front escape door in addition to the dressing room door, so they will stay open even if it's really windy.

I am trying to decide whether I want to permanently hang the trailer organizer I just got to the door or not.  I think it will be more useful / accessible on the door than where I currently have it, so it'd probably be a good idea.  I'm just sort of aversive to drilling holes into my pretty "new" trailer, lol.

Originally I got the organizer with the idea of hanging it below the bridle hooks, and thus (in addition to being able to hold things) also acting as a buffer between the metal on the bridle and lead ropes and the metal wall of the rear tack.  If I hang the organizer on the door, do I want them to put up some carpet on that wall to serve as that buffer?

One of the more expensive things, and thus I probably won't do it, but I may be interested in putting in a full stud divider (make the stall divider go all the way to the ground, rather than just halfway).  This will make things more secure in the front stall when I'm trailering for a weekend ride, and thus being able to store more stuff in the front stall, which would be very handy.  I would sort of like to talk to them about a removable stud divider, so I can put it in when I'm going for a weekend ride, and take it out if not.  Then maybe I could also put some blanket bars on it as well.  I'd just like the flexibility of being able to use the front stall as a stall if necessary, and not just have it as storage space.

On that note, I am also wondering about if I want some blanket bars (and where I would want them).

Lastly, how much would it cost to put a separate power source on the tongue of the trailer?  I'd like to be able to use the interior lights even if I don't have my key in the truck in the "on" position.

So I guess at this point, assuming moderate cost, I want all of them, ha ha.  Yeah, I spend too much money on cheyenne and riding =P  I like my idea of a removable stud divider though, with blanket bars, that'd be awesome...

Why I need to say no to spending money whenever I am able to, lol...

I finally bought my new camping pad and my new sleeping bag.  Granted both were on clearance, but still.  I also spent about $100 on stuff for Cheyenne.

I think maybe I like buying things, lol, and saying no to a lot of stuff makes me feel less guilty about buying this other stuff, lol.

I set up an appointment for VA Truck & Trailer to do an annual service check on my trailer this weekend.  That will make me happy and feel a lot better about the long trips I plan on taking in the coming months.  I also am planning on getting my 60,000 mile service done on my truck a little early (just one "service" period earlier).  That will make me feel even better...

This past weekend was productive, despite not being able to ride, and that making me sad.  However, I am looking forward to this weekend's 70 degree weather.  Where else is there a "blizzard" one weekend and 70 degrees the following weekend?  lol.  I'm planning a short ride on Saturday afternoon (it's too hot that day for anything too long), and a longer ride on Sunday (still hot, but gotta start pushing her some).

All I have left to buy is a pack, and I'll be ready for an introductory backpacking overnight trip =)  Though Rick (one of the organizers on meetup.com) said he had a smaller pack that I could borrow.

This summer is going to be crazy busy, and I really look forward to it!

I went into Borders today, because who knows, maybe they'd have a dvd sale, ha ha (right...).  They had a shelf of the books that were made into movies that were nominated for Oscars.  I may simply just be out of the loop, but I was surprised at the large proportion of the major movies represented at the Oscars that were books first.  Between novels and comic books, I wonder if our society still has the ability to create stories from scratch for the big screen?

Novels that were presented (many of which I will try to get from the library, to read before I see the film adaptation):
Slumdog Millionaire
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Duchess
The Reader
Revolutionary Road

Ok, so I went to Costco first, and brought in my shopping list for the potluck dinners, for some reason, even though none of the items I planned on getting in Costco.  During the period of shopping, I moved the sticky note from on my coupons to on my rebate check.  When I got to Kroger, I couldn't find my sticky note.  I started freaking out, but thought I remembered all of them: sundried tomatoes, milk, cream cheese, white chocolate chips, and bread / chips.  So I got all that stuff and came home.  Once I got home, I got really pissed at myself, as I remembered I put my list in the pocket so I wouldn't lose it during checkout!  I pleaded with God that I remembered everything.  Nope, missing baking powder...  And now looking through the ingredients list in trying to make sure I remembered everything that I had remembered (lol), I realized I am also missing milk chocolate chips.  When I was making the list, I must have gone to the line below "chocolate chips" after writing down white chocolate chips, and thus missing the milk chocolate entirely.  I am going to do whatever I can to avoid having to go back to the store though.  I might substitute milk chocolate / caramel chips that I have lying around, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do about the baking powder.  I could go next door I suppose =P  ha ha, but it's getting kinda late.

Ok, so I originally got my PDA to use as a universal calendar / to do list / notepad, lol.  But my work calendar is on outlook at work, obviously, so I have to manually transfer anything of importance over to my pda.  Now I have my google calendar, which is yet ANOTHER calendar.  I like the google calendar though.  It's much easier to read (since the pda screen is so much smaller), and thus it's much easier to get a bigger picture of everything, which is what I'm looking for with the purpose I've placed this calendar under, general ideas of weekend plans coming up in the short and long run.  My pda is more detailed in the short run, and not necessarily that up-to-date in the long run.  It also is a place for me to jot down random notes of things I want to try to remember to go to (like the Bizarre Bazaar).  It's hard to keep all calendars in sync, but each has its own purpose.  I don't know, it's just kind of frustrating... =(  I like having my "calendar" with me at all times, and thus why the pda is very useful.  But at the same time, the google calendar is really nice, and I like being able to access it no matter what computer I'm on.  The work calendar is just required, sucks in and of itself, but I can't really get rid of that one, lol.  I suppose what I can do is not really do anything with my work calendar beyond vacation days and work stuff (right now I put some notes on other stuff on it too), then I just have to worry about transferring important work stuff to my pda, and keep the pda and google calendar in general sync I suppose.  When are humans going to start having little hard drives, and pop out screens coming out of their belly?  lol.  Blah blah blah, I'm way too dependent on my computer...  lol.

I went to the barn during lunch today.  It was really nice outside, not hot, not cold.  The horses were turned out in the large paddock, and all but one of them (that I could see) were laying down in the sun.  Though Cheyenne was the only one lying flat 100% (the rest were sitting on their sides with their heads up.  I started worrying that she was dead or something =P  But she was just resting, ha ha.  They were adorable, and I wish that I had had my camera.  I have never seen such a large group of horses all lying down at the same time =)

On another note, I started using the google calendar.  I had been keeping up three spreadsheets on google, one for ACE events, one for endurance rides, and one for trail rides.  I started to think this was silly as I have to mentally go back and forth between all of them.  So I put in my google calendar all of the events from each spreadsheet that I am planning on going to.  This should help significantly.

Anyway, during the process of setting up my calendar, I found the option for what day the beginning of the week is (Saturday, Sunday, or Monday).  Instinctually I put it as Sunday, but then later changed it to Monday.  I really don't understand why Sunday is the beginning of the week in our culture.  In calendars it makes more sense to me to have Saturday and Sunday touching.  Any weekend plan beyond just one day is likely to stretch between the two days, and it's so much more visually appealing on the screen when they're together, rather than on different rows on opposite sides of the screen.  Another reason it makes more sense to me is that it seems much easier to quickly glance at the month and see what "whole" weekends have plans, which are "empty".  Rather than having to mentally connect two squres that occur on different rows on opposite sides of the screen.  So yeah, I decided that weeks should start on Monday.  It's silly to have them start on Sunday =P

This weekend looks like it's going to be icky and rainy.  Why do we have to have set weekends?  Why can't we just make the weekend on the two nicest days of each given week =P  I could be out riding right now!  But instead, I'm sitting inside, and will have to work around the rain this weekend to get in a good ride.  Yeah, traditional works schedules suck =P

On a similar note, I was rather tired this morning for some reason, and wondered if once the summer hours at Markel start up, if I'd be able to have a half day on Wednesday (the second half), rather than a half day on Friday =P  lol, and whether I'd prefer that most of the time.  I don't know.  I like the idea of having a break in the middle.  Maybe I should start going the route of trying to win the lottery, and then one day maybe I'll be lucky, and if I play my cards right, I can just stop this madness =P  lol.

I biked to work today for the first time.  I had been planning on trying it for a while, and finally set a date.  I didn't let the high winds discourage me, and even when I couldn't figure out how to loosen my helmet, I was still determined.  I finally realized that I was turning the dial the WRONG WAY, lol, and figured out that that's why the helmet was too darn tight =P  Problem solved, and out I went.  The wind made it a difficult journey, but I made it.  I wore too many layers so was hotter and more sweaty than I anticipated, but oh well, you live you learn.  The intersection of Cox and Nuckols is tricky and annoying, and unfortunately occurs at the bottom of a hill (in both directions), so either walking up the other side or having a difficult start, lol.  That intersection ruins an otherwise fairly pleasant ride.  I look forward to feeling in better shape as I make more and more trips in the future (this trip was moderately tiring, lol).  Ryan (at work) says that it was mighty windy, and that that's a decent excuse, but I won't use it unless I know for sure that was the reason I had a tougher time than expecting, lol.  I am also thinking that MAYBE the trip TO work is a fairly constant SLIGHT incline, which would explain a lot.  I will see on the way back home.  If I am coasting even slightly down a "hill", all the way down Springfield, then I will take that excuse and run with it, lol.  On another note, I need to decide when and if I'm going to work on getting comfortable riding on the road rather than the sidewalk.  The road is definitely a lot easier to bike on, a lot smoother, so it will be beneficial if I do, but I also don't want to die, lol.  I will always do the sidewalk on the way to work though, so that I can go the wrong direction, and thus my left turns are really  negligible and I can just keep on pedalling through =)  I look forward to the nice days of spring, and am still deciding if I will put forth the energy to shower once I get to work or not, once the summer heat brings forth.  I'll probably be lazy and just smell =P  Or I can just bring my work clothes and change once I get here (maybe towel off too, ha ha).

I finally got around to start cleaning my workroom tomorrow, and found the emergency credit card key for the matrix.  Yay for an excuse to email Jake, ha ha.  I tentatively emailed, worrying about hearing about a huge accident completely totalling my baby =(  He says it's still going strong!  yay!  hehe.  Hopefully Tom doesn't mind, but he's going to swing by tomorrow to pick up the key from me.  I'm happy... lol, I'm weird =P

I've been thinking about my old Matrix recently...  =(  Not that it's alive or anything, but I think about whether it's "ok".  I know, I'm weird, no need to simply respond with agreement =P

"How great was that challenge? It was physical, it was in the water (which means bikini's), and...it was pouring rain! I mean it was dumping! Here's a fact I've never admitted before. I secretly pray for rain every time we do a challenge. I love it when it rains. Not just because it turns me on a little bit, but also because it adds so much to the look and play of a Survivor challenge. It amps up the drama, it makes the shots look that much ''cooler,'' and like I said, I just like being wet. Anytime it's raining, just know that I'm happy...and yes, a bit turned on. Is that wrong? Or weird? I recently had to take a required sexual harassment course and I'm pretty sure merely writing that last sentence constitutes sexual harassment on some level. Sorry if I've offended." - from Jeff Probst's blog of Survivor

Ok, so I'm not the only one, ha ha.  But this is going to totally change how I watch rainy challenges from now on =P  hehe.

I just had a couple thoughts on this...  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090213/ap_on_re_us/plane_into_home

First of all, the first fatal crash of a commercial airline in  2.5 years.  It's amazing when you look at the odds, thinking about all of the people afraid of flying.  But nonetheless, the thought is scary.  It's like skydiving.  The odds are low doing a tandem dive, but the thought of being absolutely helpless as you plummet to the earth, knowing you're going to die (in either situation), is among the scariest situations I can think of.

Second of all, the dramatic irony of the widow of a 9/11 victim, on her trip to a celebration of what would have been her husband's 58th birthday.  Not to undermine the other deaths, but that story is particularly saddening to me.

The fact that it was a direct hit and didn't hit any other homes in the tightly-spaced community, crazy.

No voicing of a problem from that particular pilot, but others stating the presence of ice on their own planes.  Yet another reason to stay in the south =P

Lastly, the story of the pilot guiding his crippled plane to a landing in the Hudson River.  I must have missed this article...  but that sounds awesome and amazing to me.  Saving everyone on board after both engines were disabled by birds (who woulda thunk).