Latest News: March 8, 2007

Wow. Today was a big event day for me. Let's start with the small stuff - TLC has bumped back my show, so it will now air on March 21st.



Now for the bigger news. I was laid off today. After working there for 5.5 years, they finally laid me off. The story is that the mortgage industry has been taking such a big hit and they have to make a lot of cutbacks. A lot of people have been laid off this week and today I was in the group of people that got laid off. It was kinda sad. My manager called me to go down to the first floor, I pretty much knew that the only reason to get that call would be to lay me off...but part of me didn't really believe it. Sure enough...they laid me off - very nice like...telling me that it was a company cutback, nothing personal, blah blah blah...and then they told me that I couldn't go back upstairs to get my things. I had to describe to my manager what I needed from my desk and he would retrieve those items for me. Everything else would be boxed up and I could make arrangements to get them later. So...I listed out my leathers, tankbag, boots, gloves, etc...and then I went home. The only thing that got me to get emotional was that after working there...after showing up to work every day for the past 5.5 years, I was not allowed to go say goodbye to all those people I've gotten so used to. Oh well... So now will begin another chapter of my working life...

Now for the BIGGER NEWS!!!

After fighting back the tears (I still haven't cried yet, I probably should sometime...I'll schedule it when I have some spare time), after going through the whole denial, anger, depression, acceptance...and back again...I decided that this was bullshit. The day could not end like this. I had already scheduled a second meeting with a very special horse and I now wrapped up all my hopes into this beast.

I was laid off at 1pm.

I got home at 2:30PM

I went to see the horse at 3:40PM

I bought the horse at 6PM.



Here is the horse I bought. He doesn't have a name and I haven't picked one out for him yet. He is Andy's birthday present to me.

















If you know anything about horses and can give me any feeback on this horse, I would truly appreciate it. Here is all that I know of him. There was a guy who owned a bunch of horses and a ranch. He died. Son came in and sold everything in order to bury his father - he took all the horses to auction. Friend of son convinced him to let them try to sell this horse because they believed that this horse deserved more than to be sold at auction. That's where I come in. They say this horse is a warmblood and 4 years old. The PP Exam on Saturday should tell me a bit more on this horse, but the suspense is killing me. I went and saw this horse Monday night at 7:30PM, it was too dark to make a decision then so I scheduled to come see him again in the daylight today. He was the only horse out of the many I've gone to see the past 2 weeks that I truly like. He's not perfect, but he was in the right price range...and I think he suits my purposes... we'll have to see. I'm very stressed out about the PP Exam and I hope he passes. He has a big bump out on his left hip bone and everyone is telling me it's nothing...but I don't think it's normal or right. He also has a swollen left front knee which they say is because he got kicked there. He has a bunch of scars from being kicked and bitten...those should heal. He's also a cribber...which I hope will magically disappear once he gets some meat on those bones, love, and good hard work. So...the good thing about getting laid off is that I now have time to spend with my new horse. The bad news is that it just plain sucks to get laid off. It's been a big day.

...and I look forward to many more to come.

Latest News: November 3, 2005

Halloween 2005 - My Work

Latest News: October 31, 2005

I know, I know, I haven't been updating my website as much as I should. Most of that is because we have daily discussions going on in the forum. So...if you've made it this far and you want to know what's going on in my corner of the world, just pop into the forum! Come join us. lol

So Happy Halloween everyone! I can't believe we're coming up to the end of 2005. Dang...every year I get older, years are flying by faster and faster... Well, here is me at Halloween. Nat, my co-worker (the Dead Bride) dressed me (as she does every year since she knows I won't dress up on my own). Her costume was pretty awesome, she won the title "Scariest Costume" from our work...and won a bunch of prizes, including an iPod! I just got "Honorable Mention" - I gave my prizes to her since it was her idea and her costume. =) (Andy wouldn't dress up for Halloween...I guess his work doesn't give out prizes for dressing up...)

Latest News February 18, 2005:

Last Sunday, Andy and I went to my friend Mike's (SPEED) house to pick up my pocketbike, Mini-Toro. Mini-Toro had been abused by the guys borrowing it at the races and trackdays and he had not been running for awhile. I had originally bought the pocketbike from Mike and he was able to fix Mini-Toro right up! (Thank you, Mike!!) While we were at his house, I took his adorable kids out for rides on their pony, Tumbleweed. Yes, I'm able to ride more than just things on two wheels. Tumbleweed knows me well as I've tried to race him before - see picture below. Mike also managed to get a get a shot of Andy for me! Whoohooo! I guess the reward posters I put up around the neighborhood really ARE working!

Chris at Dyno-Dudes Performance, one of my marketing partners, has been very busy the past few months getting my bike fixed. He is absolutely AMAZING with everything bike related: repairing, tuning, painting...he even fixed up the tank that everyone thought was unrepairable! Check out his work!! And YES!! That is the SAME tank!!

My Crashed Race Bike from October 2004:

                                    

Repaired & Painted by Chris at Dyno-Dudes Performance:

               

The Plan:

We were running out of time and just needed to get the bike out there for WSMC Race#1, that's why the paintis not quite done yet. This is just the preliminary coat. Chris custom mixed this color for me and was able to match my most favorite color all on his own! He's in the process of finishing the paint job now. The plan is to have it Silver Stripes on Black up front, merging into Black Stripes on Silver in the rear. I'm off to a Pahrump Trackday Event with Take It 2 The Track, January 29-30th, that is when the big debut of the new paint job will be. Go to SportBikesWest and Take It 2 The Track for more details on this event.