I am feeling edgy again today. I cannot imagine why my boss suddenly wanting good results from project that was dropped because I couldn't fix it so they went and hired an orbital expert who comes in November puts me out of joint /sarc.
I am wondering if response to my email was just a diversionary "oh yes, I understand your feelings" gambit. But I do know that he was going to cut out the problem by making the group "flat" but the former group boss who was moved up to managing program talked my direct boss out of it. And big boss had a point, if group was completely flat my boss would have to spend too much time on the PITA CYA paperwork that HR demands. But big boss was probably also protecting feelings of his long time friend and refusing to admit making any mistake w/ making friend the supervisor for software development.
They need to get pink elephant out of the way of the software/tech wizard. They could leave him supervising me, have the new hire 'supervise' the young software team (tell her she just has to do the HR crapola,) the team members are very self directed and don't need management except to get the elephant out of the way to the extant possible. He is a problem for never wanting to get on board with things we HAVE to do because we signed a contract that we would have IT security and whatnot and it makes it hard for the ones who have to develop stuff when the stubborn employee who is dragging their heels on getting on board is called their supervisor.
I guess I do have to say minerals are helping though because I don't feel quite as edgy as I would have last week. Still god bless the inventor of sudoku. Focusing on the little numerical puzzles helps me get over emotional angst and be able to do work again.
I am tempted to run up to ride in WY this weekend. I had thought I would skip it, because its a long drive but I am feeling like I could use a change of scenery.
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
Tuesday, August 30, 2016
well upping amounts of minerals taken is helping some
Saturday I almost had a meltdown riding Tanza. Head bopping to the maximum was freaking me out. After sleeping on it I decided I need to ditch the tie down I bought. Its too big and heavy and I think it bumps his nose, then he tosses head, gets bumped harder and away we go. I put him back in the D-ring snaffle with a fairly loose german martingale and had a normal ride on Monday morning. WHEW! I was frantic at the thought that maybe he actually has a pretty sore leg.
I had a decent ride on Sadie on Saturday so that was pretty good. I had planned to take her to an AERC ride on Sunday but I kept putting off packing up for it and finally told myself that if I was not wanting to go then I should just stay home, its not like I had pre-registered or anything.
I got all the goats heads sprayed on Sunday. I'm still going to be spraying quite a bit next year as many had already set burrs before I got them sprayed but it is progress not to have just crossed off even trying to spray some areas. Spots that I got sprayed the last couple years did not have a lot of burrs so I feel like I can get down to only having to spray the few that pop up to keep them from getting established again if I am able to spray at the right times next year.
Of course being human nature instead of celebrating the goats head battle I have started to obsess over all the dead branches around the place and a bit on the gates that I should cover with wire mesh or put boards in gaps before Tanza wrecks a leg putting his foot through rails. Little stinker thinks it cute to rest a front hoof on a rail and even slide it through. He has been calmly removing the foot but he only has to be startled at the wrong time once. Oh and I'm also trying to get some new trees going to have more pasture shade, trying to save a couple trees that have been struggling and trying to keep up with fly bait and stuff. I spent so much time and effort on trees and yard work on Sunday, plus it was hot in the afternoon that I punted on riding at all that evening. Then I baked a pizza and we ate pretty late and my tummy was unhappy Sunday night and naggingly so all day on Monday. I got my revenge on it by doing the IF even though I did not have very large breakfast or lunch. No issues today so apparently that worked out.
We had a work retreat last Friday and OMG I went out of my normal character, and took on the pink elephant that everyone else was ignoring and generally was pretty vocal all day. I blamed that for not feeling like going to the AERC ride on the weekend. I was drained Friday night and still on Saturday and Sadie has been such a whirling dervish at times this summer I just felt like it would be too much trying to make sure I didn't disrupt anyone else's ride weekend.
Felt like I didn't have the energy to do that after draining my reserves trying to fix the elephant issue at work so we don't lose key people and fail as a group. Office does seem happier this week so I (and my boss) at least have some reprieve before we maybe have to take more steps to deal with elephant. I personally do not have confidence that the issue will stay fixed w/o some reshuffling of the hierarchy but now I know my boss is on same page and I will back him up if we have to lean on the higher level boss to let us fix the problem.
I had a decent ride on Sadie on Saturday so that was pretty good. I had planned to take her to an AERC ride on Sunday but I kept putting off packing up for it and finally told myself that if I was not wanting to go then I should just stay home, its not like I had pre-registered or anything.
I got all the goats heads sprayed on Sunday. I'm still going to be spraying quite a bit next year as many had already set burrs before I got them sprayed but it is progress not to have just crossed off even trying to spray some areas. Spots that I got sprayed the last couple years did not have a lot of burrs so I feel like I can get down to only having to spray the few that pop up to keep them from getting established again if I am able to spray at the right times next year.
Of course being human nature instead of celebrating the goats head battle I have started to obsess over all the dead branches around the place and a bit on the gates that I should cover with wire mesh or put boards in gaps before Tanza wrecks a leg putting his foot through rails. Little stinker thinks it cute to rest a front hoof on a rail and even slide it through. He has been calmly removing the foot but he only has to be startled at the wrong time once. Oh and I'm also trying to get some new trees going to have more pasture shade, trying to save a couple trees that have been struggling and trying to keep up with fly bait and stuff. I spent so much time and effort on trees and yard work on Sunday, plus it was hot in the afternoon that I punted on riding at all that evening. Then I baked a pizza and we ate pretty late and my tummy was unhappy Sunday night and naggingly so all day on Monday. I got my revenge on it by doing the IF even though I did not have very large breakfast or lunch. No issues today so apparently that worked out.
We had a work retreat last Friday and OMG I went out of my normal character, and took on the pink elephant that everyone else was ignoring and generally was pretty vocal all day. I blamed that for not feeling like going to the AERC ride on the weekend. I was drained Friday night and still on Saturday and Sadie has been such a whirling dervish at times this summer I just felt like it would be too much trying to make sure I didn't disrupt anyone else's ride weekend.
Felt like I didn't have the energy to do that after draining my reserves trying to fix the elephant issue at work so we don't lose key people and fail as a group. Office does seem happier this week so I (and my boss) at least have some reprieve before we maybe have to take more steps to deal with elephant. I personally do not have confidence that the issue will stay fixed w/o some reshuffling of the hierarchy but now I know my boss is on same page and I will back him up if we have to lean on the higher level boss to let us fix the problem.
Tuesday, August 23, 2016
From the blahs to the grumps
Usually when I get overly irritated by dumb little crap like the office used up the sugar I brought in and then some nut brings in organic coconut sugar that doesn't taste great I can review my diet and vitamins and go "I've been drinking extra coffee" or "better order more of my female balance capsules or start taking magnesium again." Well maybe the pricey magnesium + tablets I bought to support my friend with her latest MLM venture aren't delivering much Mag to my system and I need to get liquid gelcaps again. Surely many stores carry them and I can find them somewhere other than Target. I am not a boycotter normally but I really don't want to be giving any business to such a snooty company; calling concerned customers who warned them perverts would abuse a dumb "transgenders can choose the bathroom that matches what gender they self identify as in our stores" policy.
I have been trying to get the yard into nicer shape and eradicate goats heads in the horse pens. I have made progress on the eradication front although I will still be spraying plenty next year. We have been cutting off some dead branches and that project is depressing because after a good bit of work we still have scads of dead branches on trees scattered throughout the yard. I overdid the yard work on saturday and had no oomph to ride that evening and then Sunday was hot when I thought the cooler weather would last. Plus I tried to transplant a few trees. That project took a lot more out of me than I thought it would and I don't know if any of the moved trees will survive. The cottonwoods are not looking good.
I have been trying to get the yard into nicer shape and eradicate goats heads in the horse pens. I have made progress on the eradication front although I will still be spraying plenty next year. We have been cutting off some dead branches and that project is depressing because after a good bit of work we still have scads of dead branches on trees scattered throughout the yard. I overdid the yard work on saturday and had no oomph to ride that evening and then Sunday was hot when I thought the cooler weather would last. Plus I tried to transplant a few trees. That project took a lot more out of me than I thought it would and I don't know if any of the moved trees will survive. The cottonwoods are not looking good.
Sunday, August 14, 2016
I've got the blahs today
Dumped and filled horses tank last night but left the water running and ran the cistern and well dry. It is slowly recovering but I am so annoyed with myself. Feeling generally stupid today this weekend. Perhaps I need to not poke at the chess threads on the blog I follow, I often feel like an idiot for missing obvious stuff and having to ask. Hmmm, well I guess its very theraputic to write it out. I was thinking there was other stuff I mucked up and can't recall now. Just general politics and feeling like I can't get enough of the yard work and maintenance done dragging me down. Eventually the crucial stuff is done.
Monday, August 8, 2016
Cowboy up
AKA as suck it up buttercup, put your big girl panties on and deal with it etc.
When I took Lady up to the ranch in Golden for her summer feed lease the daughter asked me about Shamrock. Well I had not gotten a coggins test on Lady, had figured they would be booked on the 4th either with grandparent stuff or pet sitting so suggested I could haul them to a ride here in Colorado that has an intro/fun ride. Me and my big mouth.
The son had been staying with dad and I thought mom and daughter could ride the fun ride. Ended up that son wanted to come and ride. This was a good thing; he is a big help with camp chores, but it meant that the two kids would need a sponsor so I messaged that info to the mom and also passed on RMs email when the trail boss said they should contact her. And I emailed the RM to let her know my plans to ride the 50 only on Saturday so wouldn't be camping thursday night and that I was trailering horses for these teen kids and they would need a sponsor.
A week before the ride I get an email from the RM saying mom has not been in contact with her. I am like WTF? messaged mom and said ummmm if you don't want to do this I can haul you out for a day ride sometime. "no we'd love to come" I had to text her that the RM and riders offering to sponsor stranger's kids were doing me a big favor and I needed to know their time and efforts would be respected and thanked. Also a bit previously mom had announced that daughter had to volunteer for orchestra so they would not be able to come on Friday. Dear lord I am so bad about saying "OK fine" without thinking about the extra work involved. So I also added to the text that I probably needed son to come with me to help with horses on Friday.
Well son was a big help if a bit unorganized. I get there on Friday, thinking they would all be there to pack up the horses and stuff and it was just son and daughters horse was still out in the big pasture. Son and I had to go catch him. Get on the road and I had a loose trailer tire that I did not realize. The nut that holds the bearing on the axle was loose. Thankfully other drivers alerted me there was something wrong with hand signals and I got pulled over before the wheel broke off entirely.
I cowboyed up at this point and called my dad to see if could bring his stock trailer and p/u and I would still go to the ride even w/o my LQ. I have awesome family and dad did drop his plans and came out. We moved horses and essential stuff to his rig and he limped my trailer home on the 3 wheels. I got Tanza vetted in, paid the RM for meals and ate a super quick sammich of the pulled pork. Son set up his tent and crawled in before it was even full dark, I had more prep stuff to do before I could sleep. I decided the nose of stock trailer was too musty and I would try sleeping in cab of the p/u. Not the best choice as I couldn't stretch out good, but I did nap some and I never sleep very well before a ride.
Tanza rocks and completed his second 50 mile ride. I was so tired at the end I was grabbing the saddle pommel to help myself post. I hadn't taken time in the morning to wake son and remind him that he needed to deal with horse poop and make sure waters were topped up etc and neither mom nor daughter who should have had more awareness as the horse people had done a thing about it either. Well I said they could take care of that after eating but mom shooed the kids up to take care of things before the ride supper. Daughter was a whining diva because allergies were flaring. I had no sympathy for it; she is old enough to know she is allergic to grasses/hay and pine trees and that the ride location was Colorado pine forests and duh; lots of people camping with horses means lots of hay around.
Diva was showing everyone her hives. I think of hives as bigger than the red bumps that she had. I've had similar bumps just from prickly heat rash and she had ridden bareback. I suggested that her brother and I could manage in the morning if she and mom needed to go back that night so she could take care of herself. That shut down the whining and they all piled into their tent. They did offer that I could join them as there was plenty of room. It was starting to sprinkle and I wanted all my horses blanketed because unlike their draft the light horses can get chilled when wet and then having to just stand tied at trailer. Sprinkle turned into a hard rain by the time I got that done but hurray I had grabbed my oilskin duster as part of my essentials from my trailer and the gooseneck nose did not smell musty anymore, having the door to the horse area open had aired it out I think. I was able to get a space I could stretch out in without unloading everything which was good cuz I was running on fumes. I had to tie their draft shorter in the middle of the night so he could not put his butt to the trailer to itch as the rocking kept waking me up.
The kids did clean horse poop in the morning and mom and daughter took off as mom had to work and daughter still felt off (plus Mason was lame at their finish yesterday --mild hoof bruise) son and I rode Sadie and Lady about 6-7 miles. I was feeling too tired to ride farther and he was a total good sport about turning around when I think he would have enjoyed going twice as far. Sadie was a little witch when I got on spinning and doing her sissy baby bucking, I even threatened her I would send her to slaughter if she kept asking me to do it. She settled down as soon as we got headed away from camp though and gave me a pretty good ride.
Son helped me pack up and I drove him, Lady and their draft cross home. It only took a short while to get stuff unloaded there as son had packed very lightly. I got home about 4pm and grabbed a beer which I felt like I needed. I was sore Sunday night and even Monday morning in spite of having taken doses of naproxen and ibuprofen. I didn't have all that soreness after riding the Bighorn 50. A combination of factors I'm sure including the sleeping in the p/u cab the night before the ride.
Resolved. I will not haul that draft for any horse camping that does not have him in a pen. They can set up an electric fence if they want to go somewhere where there aren't pens available but I can't have that beast trying to tip my trailer over anymore. I will set a list of requirements that must be met in order for me to haul them anywhere. Yup, glutton for punishment that I am, I am teasing the thought that I might invite them to the final Shamrock ride next year. But I won't supervise the daughter if mom is not able to come; I cannot handle the diva crap.
I will periodically check on my trailer wheels to ensure the bearing nuts on all 4 wheels are tight enough in the future.
When I took Lady up to the ranch in Golden for her summer feed lease the daughter asked me about Shamrock. Well I had not gotten a coggins test on Lady, had figured they would be booked on the 4th either with grandparent stuff or pet sitting so suggested I could haul them to a ride here in Colorado that has an intro/fun ride. Me and my big mouth.
The son had been staying with dad and I thought mom and daughter could ride the fun ride. Ended up that son wanted to come and ride. This was a good thing; he is a big help with camp chores, but it meant that the two kids would need a sponsor so I messaged that info to the mom and also passed on RMs email when the trail boss said they should contact her. And I emailed the RM to let her know my plans to ride the 50 only on Saturday so wouldn't be camping thursday night and that I was trailering horses for these teen kids and they would need a sponsor.
A week before the ride I get an email from the RM saying mom has not been in contact with her. I am like WTF? messaged mom and said ummmm if you don't want to do this I can haul you out for a day ride sometime. "no we'd love to come" I had to text her that the RM and riders offering to sponsor stranger's kids were doing me a big favor and I needed to know their time and efforts would be respected and thanked. Also a bit previously mom had announced that daughter had to volunteer for orchestra so they would not be able to come on Friday. Dear lord I am so bad about saying "OK fine" without thinking about the extra work involved. So I also added to the text that I probably needed son to come with me to help with horses on Friday.
Well son was a big help if a bit unorganized. I get there on Friday, thinking they would all be there to pack up the horses and stuff and it was just son and daughters horse was still out in the big pasture. Son and I had to go catch him. Get on the road and I had a loose trailer tire that I did not realize. The nut that holds the bearing on the axle was loose. Thankfully other drivers alerted me there was something wrong with hand signals and I got pulled over before the wheel broke off entirely.
I cowboyed up at this point and called my dad to see if could bring his stock trailer and p/u and I would still go to the ride even w/o my LQ. I have awesome family and dad did drop his plans and came out. We moved horses and essential stuff to his rig and he limped my trailer home on the 3 wheels. I got Tanza vetted in, paid the RM for meals and ate a super quick sammich of the pulled pork. Son set up his tent and crawled in before it was even full dark, I had more prep stuff to do before I could sleep. I decided the nose of stock trailer was too musty and I would try sleeping in cab of the p/u. Not the best choice as I couldn't stretch out good, but I did nap some and I never sleep very well before a ride.
Tanza rocks and completed his second 50 mile ride. I was so tired at the end I was grabbing the saddle pommel to help myself post. I hadn't taken time in the morning to wake son and remind him that he needed to deal with horse poop and make sure waters were topped up etc and neither mom nor daughter who should have had more awareness as the horse people had done a thing about it either. Well I said they could take care of that after eating but mom shooed the kids up to take care of things before the ride supper. Daughter was a whining diva because allergies were flaring. I had no sympathy for it; she is old enough to know she is allergic to grasses/hay and pine trees and that the ride location was Colorado pine forests and duh; lots of people camping with horses means lots of hay around.
Diva was showing everyone her hives. I think of hives as bigger than the red bumps that she had. I've had similar bumps just from prickly heat rash and she had ridden bareback. I suggested that her brother and I could manage in the morning if she and mom needed to go back that night so she could take care of herself. That shut down the whining and they all piled into their tent. They did offer that I could join them as there was plenty of room. It was starting to sprinkle and I wanted all my horses blanketed because unlike their draft the light horses can get chilled when wet and then having to just stand tied at trailer. Sprinkle turned into a hard rain by the time I got that done but hurray I had grabbed my oilskin duster as part of my essentials from my trailer and the gooseneck nose did not smell musty anymore, having the door to the horse area open had aired it out I think. I was able to get a space I could stretch out in without unloading everything which was good cuz I was running on fumes. I had to tie their draft shorter in the middle of the night so he could not put his butt to the trailer to itch as the rocking kept waking me up.
The kids did clean horse poop in the morning and mom and daughter took off as mom had to work and daughter still felt off (plus Mason was lame at their finish yesterday --mild hoof bruise) son and I rode Sadie and Lady about 6-7 miles. I was feeling too tired to ride farther and he was a total good sport about turning around when I think he would have enjoyed going twice as far. Sadie was a little witch when I got on spinning and doing her sissy baby bucking, I even threatened her I would send her to slaughter if she kept asking me to do it. She settled down as soon as we got headed away from camp though and gave me a pretty good ride.
Son helped me pack up and I drove him, Lady and their draft cross home. It only took a short while to get stuff unloaded there as son had packed very lightly. I got home about 4pm and grabbed a beer which I felt like I needed. I was sore Sunday night and even Monday morning in spite of having taken doses of naproxen and ibuprofen. I didn't have all that soreness after riding the Bighorn 50. A combination of factors I'm sure including the sleeping in the p/u cab the night before the ride.
Resolved. I will not haul that draft for any horse camping that does not have him in a pen. They can set up an electric fence if they want to go somewhere where there aren't pens available but I can't have that beast trying to tip my trailer over anymore. I will set a list of requirements that must be met in order for me to haul them anywhere. Yup, glutton for punishment that I am, I am teasing the thought that I might invite them to the final Shamrock ride next year. But I won't supervise the daughter if mom is not able to come; I cannot handle the diva crap.
I will periodically check on my trailer wheels to ensure the bearing nuts on all 4 wheels are tight enough in the future.
Wednesday, August 3, 2016
Just been working lately
Spraying weeds. Paying neighbor teens to mow and spray the little pasture. Teens are happy enough to run the equipment but they don't seem interested in taking on more manual work like pruning or weeding. Well it has been hot, so maybe that will change with the predicted cooler weather. But I still got to spot spray weeds. I knew w/o even trying that there is no way a paid teen would walk around and kill goats heads like I do. You have to obsessively hate them like I do. Also I have been working at work, but not focused on a project with a deadline so not staying on track like I should be, sigh.
I invited the family that has Lady for the summer to the ride I am going to this weekend. I am halfway regretting that as they have been slacker on contacting RM to set up sponsor if the kids want to do fun ride. I am doing the 50 which is two 25 mile loops this year, or possibly 30/20. At any rate I did not want to ask the RM if I could sponsor them on one of my ride loops because I don't know if Lady or their draft cross could handle the distance and speed so I would complete in the time window to get official completion. Tanza is just getting into 50s and I'm re-starting after 4 years of not doing them so its not like I could go "oh we can go fast enough on the longer loop to poke as needed for the non fit horses to do the other loop safely" and this ride is pretty by the letter of the rules which prohibit pacing by people not entered in the ride distance. I wouldn't be getting help to increase pace but letter of the rules would probably say it was wrong.
Plus they wriggled out on coming on Friday and I stupidly said I could still take the extra horses instead of pushing back. I need to text and see if the teen boy is coming then, as the excuse was that the girl *had* to volunteer for orchestra. Also to remind them that if they are not there early on Saturday they won't be doing any official fun ride, but they still need to show up pretty early to take care of the horses cuz I have an early ride start. I offered to haul them somewhere to just ride on another weekend and they said they still wanted to do this, so I hope they step up.
I invited the family that has Lady for the summer to the ride I am going to this weekend. I am halfway regretting that as they have been slacker on contacting RM to set up sponsor if the kids want to do fun ride. I am doing the 50 which is two 25 mile loops this year, or possibly 30/20. At any rate I did not want to ask the RM if I could sponsor them on one of my ride loops because I don't know if Lady or their draft cross could handle the distance and speed so I would complete in the time window to get official completion. Tanza is just getting into 50s and I'm re-starting after 4 years of not doing them so its not like I could go "oh we can go fast enough on the longer loop to poke as needed for the non fit horses to do the other loop safely" and this ride is pretty by the letter of the rules which prohibit pacing by people not entered in the ride distance. I wouldn't be getting help to increase pace but letter of the rules would probably say it was wrong.
Plus they wriggled out on coming on Friday and I stupidly said I could still take the extra horses instead of pushing back. I need to text and see if the teen boy is coming then, as the excuse was that the girl *had* to volunteer for orchestra. Also to remind them that if they are not there early on Saturday they won't be doing any official fun ride, but they still need to show up pretty early to take care of the horses cuz I have an early ride start. I offered to haul them somewhere to just ride on another weekend and they said they still wanted to do this, so I hope they step up.
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