Weekend update

Well, the box of hair dye that I bought...yep that didn't go over as well as I had planned.  It seemed to have worked out this summer when I did it the night before my cousin's wedding....So I guess this time I was a little over zealous to say the least.  Not so flattering I must say.  So another box or two will be bought this week or next and I'll put 'er back to my natural color. 

As for my weekend of gliding- it was great.  I was kind of nervous initially, both with meeting new staff and about doing winch launches, but I fit in really well and get a long great with the other staff.

Funny things included: everything being "GREASY" to these guys. It's their word or something!! hahah THEIR CLUTCH!!!  I called them on it because I thought it was terribly amusing! 

A couple of the guys thought that I should have a nickname- because the rest of them do.  So, I was dubbed " Spud".....very original eh?.... They thought that that was the best thing since sliced bread!  Seriously....

And my accent, is apparently very noticeable?...I didn't think that I had one....but because of all the razzing that was going on- pronouced RAY-A-ZZING by the way, just like DAY-AD, or GA-RAY-AGE...the razzing continued the whole weekend.......

And Im apparently a "potty mouth"?....I was hardly speaking "french" as much as the boys, but I suppose because I can trash talk as good as them it makes me have as dirty a mouth?....J'ne sais pas?....

Speaking of speaking French..... After I said a few things in French, Greg took to saying some things as well.....hahah it was very amusing to say the least. Good effort though!

On Saturday, we were winded out almost off the bat.  There were only 2 flights accomplished.  My area check flight and a flight I did with one of the staff members to make him current.  Greg ( the site supervisor) and I were the only two instructors present, and where we were doing aerotow- and he was our tow pilot, that meant that I was left doing all the work! But like I said, the wind grounded us though and the Squadron went home without any famils.  I went to Calgary Saturday night and spent the night at a friends place. I was exhausted anyway, so it was a fairly low key night. 

On Sunday, we switched to winch.  It took a long time to set eveything up because some of us had either never done it before ( me ), or this was their first time winching in a couple of years, or their first time with rope and not cable.  It ended up being a very cold morning- frost on the wings and everything! So we took our time getting organized while the sun heated the wings up, and then the squadron got there early.... So we went from being on time to behind.  The plan was for me to do my winch checkout, but I told them that with us starting late, that the cadets should be the priority and my training put on the back burner.  (Very unselfish of me dont you think?)  We had to shut down at 1pm though because we were short staffed as it was and losing 2 guys meant that we couldnt opperate. So the Squadron returned home having completed 15 of 21 famils. 

All in all, they are a bunch of great guys, and they're happy I'm there. I felt included, welcomed, and part of the group....something I didnt think that I could get that back. Everything I know was taken away from me. In a matter of 5 minutes my world was turned upside down and because of that, I didn't want to fly again let alone look at a glider or step foot near a glider again. I even took down all of my flying things and put them in a box. I didn't think that I'd be able to enjoy flying again and Im still not sure that I can, but at least its a start... and I'm happy to be trying it again with a good bunch of guys.

Cadets on Monday night went well.  The unit is about 40 stong, with a fairly small staff. They too are very happy to have me and are going to be bringing me on as a paid member of their staff.  I'm going to be their supply officer and assistant training officer, and because they're losing their Range safety officer, and where I am RSO qualified, they want me to take over the marksmanship program.  AND, they're having a change of command parade in a few weeks and want me to oversee the drill and ceremonial prep for the Change of command parade.  So lots to do in the next couple of weeks. 

Last night before I left work, I rode the horse that Leah wants me to take in the clinic.  She's a little on the fat and pig headed side, but she's an easy rider.  It was nice being back in the saddle after being out for so long too. My butt today is a little sore, as are my shoulders, but the more I ride, the less tense Ill be and less sore! In all honesty, I wish NOW that I hadn't of said that I'd go to it.  I only said yes, because I didn't think that missing a day of gliding was going to be the end of the world- because I just didn't know what to expect.  Now that I've been to the site though, I feel bad about not being there, but the forecast is saying rain maybe? So maybe I wont miss a day of gliding afterall?? Let's hope- for my sake!

Anyway, shower and bed time.  It's been a long day, and my head is kind of feeling as though it wants to explode.....

PS.  Has anyone ever heard the term to " flip a shitty"??????.......because I laughed hysterically when I heard that one.....AND THEY CALL ME WEIRD?!?!......hahahha

Liar Liar...

Pants on fire! 

I CANT GO TO BED EARLY?!?! What was I talking about?!  As I said yesterday, GREYS ANATOMY IS ON TONIGHT!!!!!!!!!

How could I have forgotten?!

Also, I don't have to worry about NOT going to round up 600 calves tomorrow.  The rancher called upon some of his friends and family and got it done today- without Bob's help. 

Tomorrow, though we've got nothing - at all- on the books, Bob and Leah have 105 bull calves, about 20 or so of which need to be castrated.  So it would be a great opportunity to process those calves. So tomorrow may not be a bust afterall!

I bought a box of hair dye before coming home too.  So Im going to take advantage of my time before Grey's and do that, while also sewing, and maybe reading!

Better get to it!

Sounds good!

"Sounds good", I just realized, is yet another clutch of mine.  As soon as I said it on the ....cringe...PHONE....it dawned on me that I say it JUST AS MUCH as I say "Right on".

MUST....SAY....YOU....BETCHA!...... Maybe I should practice. Like think of a sentence and just say "You betcha" every other word?  Think it'll work?.....

Tonight- I've decided, Im going to go to bed early.  I've taken a break, of maybe a week, from reading. It may be even harder to get back into it now that some good shows are starting, but I'm sure I'll get back into it. I just need to pick up a good book and get into it- and once that happens, I'll not likely be able to put it down.Tonight though, before going to bed early, I have to sew a couple of more badges onto my flight jacket.  Might not NEED my flight jacket, because God only knows, it could be 35 degrees on Saturday and Sunday... but I thought that I should at least be prepared. 

OK, now back to answering the phones....

35 degrees and FRIGGIN HOT

Today was 35 degrees. THIRTY FIVE! That is TOO HOT. 

TOO HOT!

I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I wish it were, you know, minus 40 or anything, but really? 35? IT'S THE 23rd of SEPTEMBER!!  And it's not like this is the first day in 3 weeks that it's been 35.... I just thought...I don't know, maybe that it would stop being 35 degrees already?

For example, on PEI, we say that after Old Home Week, summer instantaneously comes to an end and with it goes the warm temperatures.  WHEN DOES THAT HAPPEN IN ALBERTA???

By the way, I will be extremely happy when Monday comes, and the NEW receptionist starts.  I HATE answering the phones. Only because I would much rather do Tech stuff all day than answer the phone and all the other stuff Im doing. 

Actually, there's this ranch that had 5 calves die and 20 others are sick, so the rancher is having a bit of a heart attack because that's money gone and more money spent to treat the sick ones. And I guess there are 600 cow/calf pairs, so to catch and treat 20 of 600- it's a little tough. So on Friday, Bob is going to help round up all the calves and vaccinate them all so that they dont lose or have to treat anymore. Well, I REALLLLLLY want to go with him, and I wouldn't be surprised if Leah might be going too, so staying at the ranch to answer the phone would NOT make me happy :(  But, I foresee that happening...........

Had a REALLY bad dream the other night. Shot straight out of bed at 4:30 hyperventilating.   Dont want to talk about what happened in said dream, but Im pretty sure it's going to haunt me- forever. The last 3 days at work have been tough, because Im on edge, constantly thinking about it...not wanting to screw up somehow.   It's rough.

New shows on TV tonight! 
Just watched Eastwick, Mercy, the Modern Family and Cougar town!  All were pretty great!  Grey's Anatomy starts on Thursday, thank God.

And Im gliding in Vulcan this weekend, and cadets at the new Squadron on Monday. And then! ...and then!...and thennnnnnnnnnnnn....Im going to go to bed now.

Right on....

Stepped on a needle today. That hurt more than you could imagine.  It wasnt vertical either. It was horizontal, and my foot swept into it.  It bled- of course. But that wasn't what concerned me.  What concerned me, was what had been injected through that needle last, and what animal it was inject to.  So I was hobbling around 1/2 the day. 

Cant stop saying " right on" either. I think that's the basis of my vocabulary or something...Ok, Right on, No way? , Right on, Really?, Right on, Oh yeah?, Right on, Wow!, Right on , For sure, Right on.  I think I need to be more "western" and say something clever like " you betcha". Maybe that way Ill blend in more....Because, you know how some words become clutches?...And then eventually everyone picks up on it and that's all they hear. Well, Im scared my clutch has been exposed!!

The cryptorchid surgery went really well!  It's a pretty difficult surgery to just DO. I don't think that a lot of Veterinarians do it and therefore it gets referred in to large practices.  You have to cut right into the abdomen and find the testicle that is retained.  And then, to castrate it by using the EMASCULATORS(Now if that's not a scary word I don't know what is!)- hope that you dont cut the intestines!  And THEN, when you finally remove the testicle, you need to sew up the abdomen again- otherwise the horse may evicerate itself- meaning to dump its abdominal contents- ie its intestines out on the ground.  I managed the anesthesia end of the surgery- making sure the horse didnt wake up....you know....kind of important....haha

Leah asked me to go to a clinic next Saturday with one of her horses!   I guess this one horse of hers is kind of ignorant, and Bob hates her hahah. Leah says she's not THAT bad, and that if I want, I can ride her.  So this clinicwill be a good training session for her, and maybe a little bit of an attitude check. 

Oh my goodness, ever seen Hell's Kitchen? I'm watching it right now....man that chef Ramsay is SCARY!!!! Look at those eyes!

Well anyway, better go clean up. Was running .....hobbling....up and down the stairs between commercials while my rice was cooking.

 Still not coming home of Christmas either...

Yep. That's all. 

Short and Sweet

Well, the rest of last week was pretty uneventful. 

Monday night the Standards officer for the prairie region gliding school FINALLY wrote me back!  I was getting a little nervous, because the gliding season has already started, and neither him nor one of the other guys I was told to contact, had written me back :( 

So anyway, he wrote, I emailed the guy he told me I should get in touch with, and I did. Thursday night I spoke on the phone with Capt Smith, the site supervisor of the gliding site, and have made plans to go and check out their site next weekend.

The weekend itself was also uneventful. Did some shopping. Grocery and book.  I dont like books.....but I seem to be reading a lot lately.  Not really sure why. Especially considering I dont like reading.....I bought 2. A second hand Harry Potter 6 ( Yes, I said second hand! Not only am I reading, but Im also going green!- on books anyway) And I also bought "deception point" by Dan Brown. I figure if Da Vinci code and Angels and Demons were good, this one must be okay. 

Today was steady. A couple of horses this morning, a couple of dogs this afternoon.  Leah bought 3 Doc Walker tickets for tonights show, but then didnt think and her husband or son were going to be able to make it, so she asked if I wanted to go!!!  So I saw them tonight for the 2nd time in 3 months!! haha And they were still FANTASTIC! 

Im sick too. The rugrats all went to school and brought their sickness back with them.  Me, of course, having a crap immune system, got sick.  It could be worse, of course, however Im only congested, so I think Ill live. 

Oh yes, and I apparently cant come home for Christmas anymore either. 

Ok, well, that's all Ive got for now. A cryptorchid horse to castrate tomorrow....full details about that in the next post.....( Just for you Dale!) hahah Only because I know he loves my attention for detail!

Toodleloo!

week 2 down

Well, I've been meaning to write these past few days, but just haven't gotten a chance.

Last week was just a so so week. Bob was away all week in Nebraska at the National cattle conference so I obviously couldn't go on the road with him... And there wasn't much going on on the horse side of things either.

My weekend was good though. My cousin and a few of her friends and I went to "Ralph's" the country bar in town. We had a fun time there, and had a lot of good laughs.

Sunday was spent doing laundry and watching movies.

On Monday Leah and I went and castrated 6 minis!!! You know, theyre the cutest things when theyre not trying to bite you or jump in the air at you! I commend Leah for finding the jugular veins on those little tykes too! Their neck (and bellies) are FAT! Not to mention these little jumping fits they take. It's like watching the Lippizzaner Stallions!..."CAPRIOLE!!!"

Tomorrow Bob's got a big day- BSE at one ranch, and dairy herd heath at 2 different Hutterite colonies. I think he's preg checking there....I think.

Friday should be exciting too! We're doing dentistry on one horse and fixing a hernia on another.

These next couple of months are going to be nuts too! I wish I could preg check like Bob can- I'd love to help him out....He's got about.... 2000 cows to preg check in the next 2 months? One ranch has SIX HUNDRED to do at one time. His arm is going to be SOOOOORE! That's a lot of bums to be putting your arm up, if I do say so myself!

And thennnnn!!! It's round up time come October. People will be calling for help to move, treat and separate cattle- all on horse back :) Should be a fantastic time if I get to go!

Anyway, that's all for now! Time for bed, the 2 year old woke me up at 530 this morning.....

Dont let the bed bugs bite!

Yesterday Bob and I went down to the Montana border and tested a total of 65 bulls belonging to the Pinhorn Grazing Association. I guess how it works is that people pay a type of membership fee to belong to these associations and can then exercise the privileges of the membership- which includes releasing your cattle on the land that the members collectively own. They also pay a person to manage the herd! So the manager gets to ride around on his horse all day long to check and treat the herd. They apparently get full medical, dental, gas and accomodations provided as well! What a job eh??

So I met Bob at 0645 yesterday morning, we collected samples from these bulls, then I drove back to town while he napped. He LOVED this! We only got back to the ranch at 330. I then drugged that horse we've been working on, took off the bandage- which stank really bad like rotting flesh!- and then cold hosed her leg before re-bandaging it.

All in a days work!

Sleeping in this morning was a nice treat! After I got out of bed and had a shower however, I didn't get a nice treat :( The shower in the downstairs washroom has such high pressure, that the water got around the curtain and went all over the floor. I rung out a total of 5 towel fulls and 4 "sham wow" fulls of water. NOT fun!

Other than that, I've been watching TV and reading the fourth installment in the Harry Potter series. I plan to do a load of wash and head to the grocery store before the day is done.

Tomorrow is the Irvine rodeo!! I'm really excited about this!

I planned to post some pictures, however my computer doesn't like my cousin's wireless and has refused to work for me. Im going to continue trying to get it to work- until then though, no pictures. Actually, I have been taking a few pictures with my cell as well, but I some how completely screw something up and deleted a few pictures I wanted to share. One included 5 or 6 HUGE John Deere combines all in a field at the same time. That's how the hutterites roll as it turns out. Go big or go home I suppose! But really, because the hutterites are very technology savy, they tend to have the biggest and most up to date equipment on the market. So imagine seeing 5 or 6 of the biggest combines you can get side by side in a field. IT WAS SPECTACULAR! I also got a picture of one coming down the road- we had to get off the road because there just wasnt room for us both!!! It took up the whole road, EVEN THE SHOULDER!!

Anyway, there are still lots of fields around that have not been touched yet, so hopefully Ill be able to get another picture like this, and if Im lucky, maybe Ill get it with my camera instead of my phone the next time!

But until then, keep the shiny side up!

-A

A long day...

Well, the last couple of days have been pretty non exciting. Today however was a long day.

This morning we left the ranch and wen a couple of hours north to a ranch to pull blood from horses that required a "coggins" test. It just tests for equine infectious anemia. Something which people require before horses go in a sale.

After that, we watched as one of the horses we pulled blood on got hot branded.

AFTER THAT! we went and collected the brainstem from a cow!!!! It was for a BSE test. Ranchers are subsidized for doing regular testing- as a way to ensure that Alberta is a BSE free province. So we shot a cow- one that had arthritis pretty bad - not just a healthy cow- and then cut off its head!!!! and then collected the brainstem and tagged the cow. We'll send the sample to the lab tomorrow and in the meantime the rancher will burry the cows close to the surface until the results come back and then- depending on a negative or positive result, the cow will be properly disposed of.

After that we got lost on some back road.... which as mild as that sounds, is pretty sketchy considering we were in the middle of no where to begin with! We eventuallly found our way to the next ranch, and took a lipoma off the side of a horse. We'll be returning to this place in a couple of weeks to take out the stitches and remove another lipoma on the other side of the horse. Apparently we'll also be heading up there again in October to round out their 2000 cows! All done on horse back, and...you should see the view!!!! Its right on the Red Deer River bed, and surrounded by coulee's. So I guess the trek to get the cows will be up and down these coulees.

We only got back to the ranch at 630 tonight, and we still had another call to do. 20 cows needed to be pregnancy checked. I went home though, and Bob went out to do that call on his own.

Tomorrow Im meeting Bob at the Tim Hortons near my cousin's home and we're going to drive down to the montana border where the largest grazing reserve in Alberta is located. They have close to 90 thousand acres apparently, and some 4000 cows and 4000 calves. We're going to test 63 bulls for Tricomoniasis! So it should be another EXTREMELY long day tomorrow!!!

This weekend is the Irvine Rodeo. Irvine is a town about 20 minutes east of Medicine Hat.

Anyway, that's all for now! Better get to bed. Im going to need all the sleep that I can get! AND! Im going to shut off my cell phone this time, because apparently my WONDERFUL father does not remember that Alberta is THREE time zones away from him and therefore SHOULD NOT call me a SIX THIRTY AM ATLANTIC TIME because that means that my cell phone goes off at THREE THIRTY AM MOUNTAIN TIME!!!!!!

Also, I learned today that a "township" = 36 sections and yesterday I learned that 1 section=640acres....and that some people, like the ranchers I met today own a township and a half of land!!!!!!! THATS A LOT OF ACRES!!!!

ok. bye for now!!

-A