More Learning

Macro is hard! People always say you really need a tripod. I get it, but how to use one when your subjects are constantly moving?

It’s a little easier with some fruits

Or weeds

And look, newly hatched ‘mato and already covered in Aussie hair!

Why does everything look all sticky and gross up close?

Hey, asshole, you owe me 2 bucks!

Learning this should be fun. I do not know, however, why there are bugs all over the damn place until you go looking for them. What happened to the 130 spiders per square meter thingy? Not at my house.

"Nationals" Recap? Not yet.

Because I am trying to decide if I should tow the CPE line, fill my cup with some Kool-Aid and talk about how great it was....or...be honest about it. 

I'll get back to you.

I will say, as a trial it was very well run, very well organized. I had fun, but I had the same fun with the same people that I have fun with 2 hours from my house. I don't think the 12 pounds of Charlie Bears handed out at check-in made up for the cost of gas.

Speaking of gas... I don't like other people pumping my gas.  It's weird. Awkward. Kind of like being in your hotel room while the housekeeper is cleaning it. I feel like I should help.

Trip related, but not trial related, we had some regressions. 

First, Kate got the zoomies in the hotel room Sat. night. She hasn't done that in, like, 6 years.  Sorry People Below Me, it was funny as hell. I had to let her do it.

Second, Bella freaked the fuck out in the car on the way up. We lived in AZ when she was a puppy. Lots of the back roads have cattle guards. It would scare the shit out of her driving over those things. nothing like this has bothered her in years. Somewhere around Redding there was some lane shifting due to construction. This required us to move to the shoulder thus driving over the rumble strip. She jumped up so fast that she hit the top of her crate. Continued panic panting and shaking for the NEXT THREE AND A HALF HOURS. I stopped every hour to give her a break and finally ended up putting her in the back seat. She was not quite as bad on the way home, but still no where near her good travelling self. Lots of looking down when there was a change in the road surface. Much better when we got closer to home with our nice noise-reducing blacktop and totally fine on surface streets. I hope this isn't going to be a thing now - fear of the highway - 'cause that would totally suck.

There was this whole discussion on the yahoo group about whether or not courses could be posted. Just out of curiosity, west and east folks would like to see what the other folks ran. Apparently, lawyers need to be involved to get that done or some such shit. So, I won't post the actual course map, lest I be sued, I will post my rendition of a CPE Nationals Standard course.

Should you like to steal this masterpiece, don't tell anyone where you found it.

All photos by Dave Mills - pixf.com - at some trial or something on our lovely GRASS. :)

Relax and Enjoy

That is my goal for this week(end). I need to learn to be more go-with-the-flow. I know it’s supposed to be about the journey. For me? Not so much. I am more concerned with wrapping things up. Getting things done. Haven’t even left yet, worrying about what I have to do when I get home. That part of my personality makes me good at what I do for a living. Makes vacationing something of a pain in the ass. Not really into stopping and smelling the roses. If you need roses, though? I will get them to you, early, packaged and arranged just as you requested.

It’s weird. I don’t really care about the trial. Not worried about courses or Q’ing or placing or whatever other award thingies they dole out. I am worried about forgetting something. Stuck in the details. There is only one thing I could forget that would cause a major problem and that is Bella. No way I would leave the house without her, so what’s to fret about? I haven’t been up that way since I was a kid, but I’m pretty sure they sell fruit and toothpaste in Washington.

Someone is all relaxed and ready to go

The other one, though?

She heard she’s not running and may possibly have to be on leash most of the week.

We’ll find something for Auxiliary Dog to do. It may or may not involve a ball.

Not making any promises.

I know I didn’t forget the chuck-it. Has a permanent spot in the car.

Even Without Ears...

I just love this little face!

Party Poopers

So, we are off next week to the CPE trial in WA.

Some call it the Nationals.

Whatever.

Since there are 2 this year, we shall refer to it as the Half Nash.

It’s really just another trial wherein you spend more money for less runs.  However, since I declared 2012 The Year Of The Vacation, the road we will be hitting. Plus, it’ll probably never be on the west coast again, so what the hell, yes?

Apparently, it’s some CPE tradition to do this stall decorating thing?

Things like this make me sigh.  Why? Because I don’t like to play like that.  Makes me uncomfortable. No pins on my jackets, no bumper stickers on my car, I wear no jewelry. It irritates me to no end that you can’t get a 3-pack of underwear that are all solid colors.

I am very anti-flair.

So the thought of schlepping a bunch of extra crap from CA to WA to make my stall look California-y makes my shoulders go up to my ears.  And what is a California theme, anyway? This state is very big and very diverse. Hell, even locally…Palo Alto and East Palo Alto may as well be on different planets. This state cannot be represented by a beach ball.

So how should it be represented? How to you decorate a stall to convey near-bankruptcy and bloated housing prices? My ideas so far:

1. Go simple by just taping a foreclosure notice to the stall door.

2. “Borrow” a real estate sign for the weekend that has a “Bank Owned” topper on it.

3. Get an Extended Stay sign to tack on the door.  Extended Stay + horse stall = brilliant. Although, you will only find this funny if you trial frequently in Elk Grove.

4. Meth house. We would put mismatched drapes in the windows and ask everyone that walks past for money. Possibly even hold them up with water guns.

5. Grow house. We would totally cover all openings and have some suspicious looking insulated duct work venting out the front.  Plus florescent lights and a humidifier.

6. And my absolute fav (which was not my idea and I am not outing the person who came up with it :)), a Medical Marijuana Dispensary.  We could make a sign…

“What’s your ailment?”

Wink wink nudge nudge

I got a touch of the 'itis