Copper Makes me Smile
I love Copper. I would buy him in a second if I could. This weekend I went home so I could ride him (like he was my very own horse...) while Katja was at a show. The plan was to use my saddle and girth with his saddle pad, gel pad and girth cover. However, when we finally got Copper out of his paddock (over the river and through the woods, then up a HUGE hill...) and into the barn, I realized that the girth cover was nowhere to be found and neither was the gel pad. So, I figured I would just improvise a bit. But then I discovered that there was no way my girth was going to even remotely fit Copper. It was about 5 inches short of the billet with the elastic stretched to the max. But, using my highly advanced problem solving skills (developed and nurtured by organic chemistry...I knew that class was good for something!) I decided there was a simple solution to my dilemmma. I would just ride him bareback! Since this was the first time Katja asked me to ride him, there was no way I was going to miss it just because of not having a saddle. So yeah, we had tons of fun. I even did a little bit of trotting on him (and am totally sore today, but it was worth it). And, to make things even better, Barbara asked me to excercise her horse, Ketchup, for the next two weeks cause she's visiting her kids in Singapore. So, I'll be getting my horsie fix for quite awhile :-) Oh, and to make the day even better, on the way home I saw about 10 wood ducks sitting on a log. I couldn't get a picture cause they're so shy, but I got a great look at them. They're such awesome birds! And I got some great pictures of a wildflower garden with butterflies. So, overall it was a great weekend
RIP teal-mobile
Talked with the garage that towed my car and they think it's pretty much totalled. So, the great car search begins. It would be fun if I didn't feel so much pressure to find a car soon and if I could actually afford it. But oh well, I guess it'll all work out. In the meantime, here are some pictures of my poor little car...:-(
My Teal-mobile...
Today was suppose to be our departmental reception, but since everyone I know wasn't going, I too decided to skip and get home several hours early. Hindsight truly is 20/20. I carried my bags to my car rather than driving onto campus and parking outside my dorm, cause driving on campus is so crazy, cars and people going every which way. So, I lugged my stuff the 50 gazillion miles to my car and headed home. Traffic on 195 was the typical stop/go that precededs a weekend at UConn, everyone either coming to hang out or leaving to go home. A bunch of people were waiting to cross the road (at a crosswalk of couse...) and a car about three cars ahead of me decided to be nice and let the people cross. So, I too stopped to let them cross. Being the responible/paranoid driver I tend to be, I left about 20 feet between me and the SUV in front of me. It was obviously NOT enough space. A girl behind me was TOTALLY not paying attention and slammed into me from behind (she claimed she hit the brakes, but there was no way she did...) and pushed me 20 feet forward and rammed me into the SUV. Her car was fine and the SUV was fine, but my poor teal-mobile is not. Since the SUV was so much higher than my little car, my hood took most of the impact and is now crumpled like a used tissue. My radio came shooting out and lodged between the dash and the shift...I had to pick it up so I could shift into park. I also lost my left headlight and I (well my car at least) was dumping out antifreeze at an alarming rate. To add insult to injury, the girl who ruined my day, called her mom and told her that the accident "really wasn't a big deal, everything is fine..." Fine my butt!! She was able to drive her car away, while mine was loaded up on Tony's flatbed to be towed to Tony's Garage. Then, she has the nerve to fight with the officer about getting a ticket issued to her, for following to closely. In my opinion, not what she should have been charged with, because it implies she and I stopped about the same time. However, I had been sitting for several seconds before she hit me. Now I understand why people sue. Her parents want to handle the cost of repairs themselves, but I want to get the insurance involved, cause I honestly don't trust them. Plus, I have the scary feeling that my car is going to be totalled, cause its got 100,000 miles on it and its a '96. Oh, and to make things even worse, I just put $600 dollars worth of repairs into it not even a week ago! I made sure I mentioned this SEVERAL times to the girl (her name is Laura, by the way), to the other guy in the accident, to the cop, and to my friend Steph who stopped to help me. Yeah, more about Steph. She's the ONLY person I know at UConn really well. We worked together the past 4 years and she's one of my closest friends from home. She just happened to decide to go on a little shopping trip instead of study (which she NEVER does...procrastinate i mean...) and then on a whim bought herself some coffee. If she hadn't of done that, she wouldn't have been driving by right after my accident. But, she stopped and waited the whole time with me, the drove me and all my stuff back to my dorm and took me to get lunch. I really don't know what I'd do without her. Now, I'm just kinda hanging out, waiting for my parents to come get me so we can look at the car and figure out what to do. It definitely sucks, and now I'm starting to get sore from the whiplash. I think I'm going to the doctor tomorrow. Okay, on that note I'm going over to the Co-Op to window shop and make myself feel better...
Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground. (Rumi, Sufi Poet)
