Seen and Not Heard

Children should be seen and not heard. Silence is a woman's best garment. Aren't proverbs great? But I'm done with being quiet.

Saturday, May 28, 2005

First Riding Lesson (in 12 years)

It was a wonderful day for a ride in Tucson. Yesterday it rained, so this morning was still cool (mid-70's counts as cool in Tucson summer), and damp.



When we first arrived, we got to meet Pia, the little rodent hunting dog. She also ran through the small arena we were in during my lesson, to go attack some gopher holes (or whatever kinda hole it was). Very cute little dog, and all the horses were completely calm around her.




Then we went to get the horse I would be riding. And when I say horse, I certainly don't mean a little pony like Sundancer.




After we convinced Kaibab that no one would steal his hay in his absence, I got to say hi, and groom him.




Oh! It's kinda high up here.




I was being longed, and didn't quite know what to do with my hands. I'm also sitting too far back in the saddle here I think.




I also got to do some trotting. It's been a while, I had forgotten how tiring it can be... or maybe it's just more tiring now I'm not 10 anymore.




Oh, and did I mention bouncy? If it looks like I'm holding on for dear life here... well, not quite, but if it had gone on for much longer I'd have blisters from holding that little strap. I'm glad I didn't have reins to yank.




After some walking and trotting, I was done for the day. Another quick groom for Kaibab, and he got to go back to his hay. But I'll be back next week. :)

Friday, May 27, 2005

Test of the Flickr Blogging tool


lochness
Originally uploaded by Tam Smith.

Here's a picture of Loch Ness. Rather bad scan, but lets stay focused here! :)

Oh, my Flickr page is here.

Thursday, May 26, 2005

The Fat Man Works!

After just under 3 months, and many many many jobs applied for, and a few interviews, The Fat Man has a job. He's starting the day before my birthday (that would be next Tuesday, cause Monday's a holiday). What a GREAT present. :)

Here's what he's got to say about it.

Yay! I don't have to see if I can support both of us on my wage! BEST PRESENT EVER!

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

The Mom-Safe Blog and Flickr

I decided to create a my-mom-safe-horsie-blog, where I can post horsie stuff my mother can get to see. It's Horse Riding Jornals. I'll probably post the more interesting posts here too (interesting to me at least), you guys are going to hear and see all about my lesson, trust me. :)

I also got a little frustrated trying to organize my pictures through Hello, so I joined Flickr. So far it seems really neat. I'll link to my page there as soon as I get some new pictures (and remember the direct link, as I can't get there from work).

Monday, May 23, 2005

Self Appraisal

What was accomplished?

In this section discuss:

  • Accomplishments against goals (including accomplishments that exceeded goals, met goals and fell short of goals).
  • Other accomplishments during the year.
There were goals?! No one told me there were goals!

What's next?

In this section discuss:

  • Personal Development Plan and progress related to personal development.
  • Working relationship between you and your manager and the frequency/format of performance feedback.
  • Career interests
Now there's a plan?! And career interests?! Like I'd be working at this company if I had goals and a plan about a career!

Self Appriasals officially suck!

Sunday, May 22, 2005

I get to go riding!

On Saturday, May 28th, at 6:30am. Every time I start to think that's a bit too early... I think of how hot it is... cause... it's HOT!



Click for Tucson, Arizona Forecast


Thursday, May 19, 2005

Old Horsie Pictures!

I dug up some old pictures of me riding back in Scotland. These come from a "Pony Week". During summer, we would be assigned a pony, and care and ride for that pony for the entire week. I took part in three Pony Weeks, and these pictures are from the second. I was about 10 years old, and was assigned the fast little grey pony, Sundancer.


Is it just me, or are my stirrups way too short here? Maybe that's what I'm looking at.




Poor pony. Sundancer did like to go fast, but it looks like I'm about to pull his head off here.



I have this picture mostly because the bay pony closest to the camera is Twinkle, the first pony I ever had a lesson on.



Here we are both falling asleep. I guess this is why the instructor Mr. Gilbert kept telling me to sit up straight. :)



But we woke up. Blurry, but I could jump!

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Google Ads!

Got Google Ads. I'll probably have to mess with the colors and such. Please click on anything that looks interesting. :)

They're content driven, so if there's no ads to be seen... apparently I have no content... HEY!

Sunday, May 15, 2005

Another weekend

The Fat Man was a little stressed after a week of working for his mother (thankfully that's over now), so we went up to Phoenix this weekend. We got to meet the beautiful Becka-Boo, and I got to go to Ikea with my mom. I now have a cool new birch coffeetable, and two new desks are going to come down with my parents closer to my birthday. My mother SO wanted to keep spending. It was kind of scary.

Tell me, am I the only one who ends up livid if people keep asking the same question even after I've already answered? Or maybe my answers are confusing...

Mum: "Do you want a drawer for your keyboard?"
Me: "I don't think there is one for this model of desk... but no."
Mum: "They make generic ones that fit on anything."
Me: "That one's for a different desk. But no, I don't want one."
Mum: "I'm sure we could find one that would work."
Me: "I don't want one! I don't like them."
Mum: "Well... are you sure?"
Me: "...!"

We had that conversation about different items, about 30 different times during the day. They usually ended with me just walking off to the next item.

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

Head's Up!

It's my birthday in a couple of weeks (exactly 3 weeks from today, but who's counting?), and I've asked The Fat Man for a riding lesson. Horse riding you sickos. But it's not that simple, most riding you're going to see in the Southwest is western. I ride english.

My first riding lesson was on my 6th birthday. My mother finally caved to my constant pleas for a pony. I never did get my own pony, but I got to ride once a week, almost every week, until I left Scotland close to 7 years later. Now, in Scotland if you ride, you ride english.

When I got to Arizona, I made friends with a girl who had her own horse, and I was able to ride at her house for a while. I was also able to join a pony club and get some additional riding time in. But the last time I was on a horse was over 10 years ago now.

It's not that I'm horribly opposed to western riding, but if I was ever to go further in my riding, I'd want to get into eventing. If you're interested, check out What is Eventing? on the US Eventing Association page.

I don't know if The Fat Man has found a place for me to have my lesson yet. If he does manage to pull it off, I'm sure I'll make him come along with a camera. I can't wait!

Sunday, May 08, 2005

Unscrewed and 15 cents richer

This weekend, I was able to get my tire patched by Discount Tire. They patched for free, but then I bought coverage for the life of my tires from them. For $60, if anything happens for the life of the tires, they will replace them. And considering a single tire is $82, and I apparently drive over screws, I figured it wasn't a bad deal.

Besides, I'm rich now! T-Mobile credited my account for a whole 15 cents, so I could activate my "free" account for free on all three phones. Okay, now that I have the 15 cents, I feel sort of silly for complaining, but it was the principle of the thing!

Tonight the plan is to go see Kingdom of Heaven. I hope it doesn't suck, but if it does, I guess I just get to watch Orlando Bloom prance around onscreen with a sword. That's entertainment!

Thursday, May 05, 2005

It's not paranoia if they really are out to get you!

Last night, on the way home from an enjoyable evening watching Lost and Alias with friends, The Fat Man opened the passenger side car window to try cool off. There was a clicking. Almost like there was something on the wheel that made a sound whenever the wheel went round and it hit the road. But it was dark when we got home, and we couldn't see anything.

This morning, I still couldn't see anything, but the noise was still there as I drove to work. When I arrived, I went straight to my desk so I could clock in. I noticed the mousepad and a notebook had been moved. I moved the mouse to wake my computer up... and nothing happened. Another failed attempt, a check that the power was in fact on, and I checked behind the tower. Yup, someone had unplugged the monitor.

When I got back home, The Fat Man and I examined my car in the light of day, and found that there was something on the tire... A bolt had been very neatly screwed into the tire, right in the middle of the tread. So neatly screwed in, that the tire hasn't started losing air pressure yet.

Perhaps it's me being paranoid. Everyone from my old project is now gone from work, leaving me with people staring as they walk past like I'm some sort of exhibit at a zoo. The very last hourly Microsoft person left in Tucson! Only one other like her in the US! Come see this exotic creature now, before it too vanishes into the mists of time!

I don't know when the screw went into my tire. I can't hear it with the windows up, and it's not effecting the handling of the car at all yet. These incidents are probably not connected in any way. The computer could have been a joke, and the tire could be dumb bad luck. I just got the feeling today that there's someone out there trying to fuck with me, it's not a nice feeling.

Wednesday, May 04, 2005

Walmart Down, T-Mobile Up

I beat Walmart. They refunded my money, even the shipping costs, although the email they sent me specifically exempted shipping. Yay me!

Next up, T-Mobile...

I got my first cell phone. So far I'm loving it. But they're already trying to nickle and dime me. In the initial email I received from them, when I ordered the phones, they said:

After you receive your order, be sure to register for your free My T-Mobile account. With My T-Mobile, you can manage your account online, set up your profile and get the additional services, like ringtones, games, alerts and pictures, that help you Get More! To register go to http://www.t-mobile.com/mytmobile/.

So when I got my phone, I register for my "free" My T-Mobile account. To do this, I have to type in my cell phone number, and they send a temporary password to the phone. And charge me 5 cents for sending the password... HEY! That's not free!

So I'm taking them on! For 5 cents! Or maybe I'll let it slide once the PMS wears off.

Tuesday, May 03, 2005

I was told to...

Tam says:
ooh, I forgot to tell you another story from a couple weeks ago
The Fat Man:
k
Tam says:
so I'm driving to work, and I pass a bus stop, and waiting at it are three firemen... like, they're in the pants, with the t-shirt... but the actual pants
Tam says:
standing at the bus stop... waiting for the bus
Tam says:
in their fire pants
Tam says:
we gotta pay our fire fighters more... all I'm saying
The Fat Man:
Hahaha
The Fat Man:
You need to blog that
The Fat Man:
Exactly like that