Adapt, Improvise, and Overcome

Today in business class we did an exercise called "Lost At Sea" which was basically a hypothetical situation. Your yacht (holy crap I have a yacht?) is going down due to a fire. Your best bet is you're a thousand miles out in the Pacific, you have five crew members, their pocket plunder, and these fifteen items. Rank them in importance.

Then get in the assigned groups and rank them as a group. No voting, or averaging allowed, you must persuade your group members.

Now here's what the Merchant Marines say the ranking should be.

Figure the difference between the Merchant Marines' ranking, your individual ranking, and your group ranking. Total the differences in each column.

The closer the numbers are for your individual ranking and the group ranking, the more influence you had, and the more managerial skills you have.

My numbers were identical.

And I still maintain that fifteen feet of rope is of higher importance to survival than a transistor radio! Or a quart of rum.

It's Good To Be Me

Well E forgot a previous engagement for yesterday, and I let him off the hook to tend to it, so I went home alone, stopped at the construction site where Farmmom had been wrangled into working the last day of 24 hour work, and hung out for a while. I helped pull some of the light plants off, and then the pilot car driver needed a break.

Farmmom looked at me and said "You want the last round?"

I looked back at her and said "Yer damn skippy I do!"

So I wound up driving the pilot car for a couple of hours while they finished up the pick up on the site, the last hour and a half of it being with the other pilot car driver, who told me "No way are you driving the last round without me" as she climbed in the passenger seat.

I was just doing it for the satisfaction, but apparently at the end of the day, the company owner, who was on site to help, and who I mentioned in the previous post, told Farmmom to put me down for the time I was on site, since I was helping.

Works for me, man!

I rolled on site about nine thirty, left about four, and I got paid from ten to four.

Why? Because I'm me, that's why. Owner Lady is one of my favorite people, and she seems to like me too, which works out well for me since not only will she give me work when I need it but she also wants to help me with the horse end of my ambitions.

I just love it when I go hang out and screw around and wind up getting paid for it.

Bits and Things

On my last post about BubbahMonkey (hey, it made Farmmom laugh, I have to use it) a nice discussion about different bits vs. bosals and hackamores was sparked.

Mustanger is worried that the wrong size bit will be detrimental to the horse, and wonders about bosals and hackamores.

Horse Prof likes the snaffle for training, but once the horse is well broke to the snaffle, wants to go to a spade bit.

Me, I like curb bits for the well broke horse. I've had some that needed a roller to entertain themselves with (I think Monkey is going to be one of those, he likes to chew on his bit when he's bored and a curb just doesn't have the flex to allow that) but the curb is what I grew up using, it gives you a certain level of sensitivity, and minimizes the chance of really hurting the horse if something goes wrong (the horse spooks, etc) and you go off, but keep the reins (always keep the reins if you can. Why chase a horse if you don't have to?)

As far as hacks and bosals.. I prefer having a snaffle on a green horse, now that I've had some experience with them. For me, hacks and bosals are for the well broke horse that already neck reins. Horse Prof brought up futurities and high-end competitions where two handed reining is required in a hack, and I understand that. Those horses have been trained in the hack since they were started, though, and they're being ridden by fantastic horsemen. I am not on that level, by any means.

I'm also looking at it less from a competition angle, and more from a working cow horse angle. Not a competitive athlete, but a working ranch horse that's required to do a little bit of everything, consistently, when it's called for. I think it's probably more difficult to train one of those than to train a competition horse, because you can't afford to focus on one thing at the expense of others.

That's what I'm trying to do with Monkey. Right now we're focusing on just riding well and behaving. Once he's doing really well on that, which actually shouldn't be long now, we'll start volunteering to help with the rodeo practices and actually working with the steers and calves. This summer, we'll get more cow work in because I've already warned Farmmom that her cows are going to have to be pushed around to train the horses to do what we want them to.

But for me, a willing horse can be put in nearly any bit that you like, as long as you have the ability to communicate clearly what you want.

In other news, it looks like I may have a full summer ahead of me, my former boss (from road work... more on than in another post) has some three year olds that she needs ridden out. Just miles on the saddle kind of thing, but she's hinting that she might have me ride them out, and she's offered me a two year old for when I do the starting colts program. So the three year olds, along with the turn arounds from the auction, ought to keep me entertained well enough this summer.

Kittens!

Due to the fact that a) Pixel cat is knocked up, and getting close to spawning, b) Farmmom really doesn't want to deal with another litter of kittens without me there to entertain them and keep them as corralled as possible, and c) when said kittens are weaned they will become barn cats for the college, my apartment is now home to one stressed out contraband kitty.

About halfway through the drive up here she chilled out enough to sit in my lap and be petted (it was dark by then, which helped) but once I let her back out of the box (screw jack in the box, you want to be startled put a cat in a box) in the apartment she started giving me the awful mommy glare.

She's now hiding under my end table (how did she fit??) and panting, glaring out at me. My arm sports fresh scratches from when I picked her up to show her where the new litter box and the food were.

Everyone cross your fingers that the complex managers don't need to come into my apartment for the next couple of months. I'll be shutting her in the bedroom while I'm out for a few days at least, so that she won't make a run for the door and get lost.

Of course, if they do discover that I have a cat I can always cite the rat problem next door......

This has absolutely nothing to do with my missing my fuzzy critters. Nope, not a thing.

Accomplishments

I feel good today, it's not even nine yet and I've already accomplished things.

Thing number 1: Tomorrow E and I will be going to visit the ponies at home, to introduce E to Mamaw's filly, Etta. Upon the realization of everything that I don't know and how good E is with our equine friends, I talked to Mamaw about letting E take Etta through the program. Mamaw agreed, and E is happy that he'll know what he's getting next semester. I think he'll be even happier when he sees her, she's a pretty little thing.

Thing number 2: E will be coming home with me when it's time to move cattle again, and helping. We're going to be trailing them a couple of miles to where we have good corrals to load out of, and E is all excited that he gets to help with a real life cattle drive.

Thing number 3: The reason E and I aren't going to see Etta today is that he and another of the students had already made plans to make a trip to the tack store. So, I asked E to pick me up a nose band and tie down, and I'll pay him back. That way I can return Marilyn's.

All in all, I'd say it's been a productive day already. Now to work on the Lit paper.

Yeah, I'm never happy....

Mark reminded me last night of something that I've been meaning to write. Or, more correctly, re-write.

So, I'm working on re-writing the road construction accident from another perspective.

It will probably be in even more installments than the original, which means that all of my readers are going to have to be pretty danged dedicated, because when I printed out the original to aid in the editing process it was 24 pages, single spaced. And the reason I want to re-write it is all of the things that I left out.

Maybe I can turn it into a book, or something.

I wouldn't look for an installment for a few days at least, but I thought I'd let everyone know what was coming.

And, I promise, I won't pull a Pink Gorilla Suit and leave those of you interested in such things hanging on it.

Wow

So last night at about twenty minutes till the interview my nerves went insane. I was suddenly certain that no one was going to call in, and I was going to have absolutely nothing to say.

Then the interview started and the not having anything to say part got a little bit better.

Then a call came in. My first call in on my first ever interview? LawDog just calling to tell me I was doing a good job. From patrolling. Then it was Josh, to pull his stalker schtick, and then AD, and Babs.

It was extremely difficult for me not to squeal and go entirely fangirl when those people called in. When I heard LawDog's voice (once I could actually hear what he was saying) I was just gobsmacked. Listening to it this morning I gave in to my inner fangirl and sat here saying "OhmygodIdon'tbelieveit!"

Just thank goodness I was able to restrain myself from it last night.

Thanks to Mark for having me on, and thanks to everyone who listened and called in.

Oh and LawDog, AD, and Babs? Ya'll are my BlogIdols.