got milk?

Links to a few pictures from my visit to Fair Hill are posted below. I couldn't figure out how to add text after the photo link, so just went with a new post. It's all about quantity over quality, and entirely consistent with how I approach a lot of things. For example, some people might have bought a dozen roses for their Valentine. Me, I went with four dozen. Four dozen brownie bites from Costco, that is. Man, those things are good. I can feel my belly turning to jell-o as I eat them, but I can't stop myself. (I know, I know, you thought they were for my wife. Well, she thought that, too, so you're not alone.) I have a buddy that's had brownie bites for breakfast every morning for, like, the last 15 years. He just can't shake 'em. The best part, though, is that he's a doctor. Not quite as bad as the doctor who comes in from a smoke break to check you out, but I just know he's wiping off a few crumbs on those first patients he sees in the morning. "Anybody got milk around here?!?"

Veiled Reference looks good. You like that back end, huh? She's galloping away in the mornings for the next bit, working at a 20-second clip to start. Tim said that he'll pick it up in a few weeks, then add some speed work once she's nice and fit. She seemed happy enough to gallop, not overly keyed up, but relatively content with the current program. I'm sure she'll be glad once she's fit enough to pick up the pace. I'll get back to see her late this month, maybe bring some brownie bites and see how she likes those. It'll be a one for her, two for me kind of deal, so should make for a great visit.

pictures? of me?

				VR Feb 2009 FHTC

luke, i am your father

I know he has a lot of fans out there, so thought to throw up a few pics I had of Luke from a visit last week. Tim reports that he's doing well. He keeps busy ponying the babies in the morning. Takes it all in from his corner stall otherwise. I was little more than a nuisance, I'm pretty sure. It's a role I've perfected over the years.

oh, no, we're trapped

Okay, more horses, less politics and policy. I get it. In an informal survey of my reader, it was made clear that my commentary related to DC comings and goings is a drag. Just too much anger coming across on the page. People typically get their fill of rage when driving in the car, or hanging out at DMV, so dealing with it here might just be the tipping point. Fair enough. I want this to be a happy place for all of us.

(You should, though, read this. I won't say anything else, okay? Just that 10 years is a lot of years. Especially when doing time and definitely during big bears.)

Switching gears, how about a video from upstate NY?




Nautical kept trying to get after the bag of peppermints that my buddy, Brad, was holding. She kept digging at my pockets, too, just in case I was holding out. We hooked her up with a truckload of those suckers, so she's probably carrying a food baby in her belly now, in addition to the real one that's coming along. All well on that front, I'm happy to report. She's doing everything like a champ; if all well, she'll foal in late April, early May. Gold Fever is the father. He has since relocated to Minnesota, so working out a visitation schedule is gonna be tricky.

She looks really good, definitely put on a bit of size. You'd describe her as a medium sized mare now, which is fine enough. We sometimes had trouble keeping weight on her when she was racing, so it was great to see that she's continued on maturing while in her new job. Donna, who looks after her, also reports that she's fallen into a good routine with her band of fellow broodmares. The five of them get on really well together. When my dad inquired if our girl was still getting picked on, we were thrilled to learn that she now more than holds her own out there. "Oh, she's nowhere close to low mare on the totem pole." I don't know, maybe they tell that to everyone, but at least Nautical was acting like she was happy and confident with herself. I'll allow myself to believe that she's got the other broodmares painting her toenails and preparing her taxes, all while the Agent opines on the stock market and what Gold Fever must be up to out in Minnesota.

it's evolution, baby

Under the category of better late than never, Obama now taking a moderately harder line with the Republicans. He's likely ticked that the $275B worth of useless tax cuts that he floated got him very little in the way of compromise, so now he's just laying down the thunder. Nice to see. Bill still not so hot, but at least he's taking a more appropriate tone with the opposition party. He's learning to be the bear, you might say, and how to deal with all the little Republican bunnies...(some language below, so don't go blasting in the cube).



Not nice to see the "centrists" in the Senate working around the fringes of the stimulus package. Between tax credits for home and auto purchases (what? no tax credits for my metro pass?), and slashes of millions here and billions there, it's the equivalent of clipping your finger nails while bleeding out from a gut shot. Plus, tax credits for home purchases, like they did back in the 70s, were meant to spur new construction (which they did). Unfortunately, as they relate to the current housing market, it's the glut of existing homes that won't move, so tax credits won't do much to create construction jobs. Which, ummm, is the point of stimulus. I'm sure banks are all for it, just to keep up the smoke and mirrors act, but, let's not forget: you need to have an income to make use of a tax credit, and neither measure serves that purpose. Calculated Risk has some data.

Guess everybody wants some TV time. I'm sure that sits great with the record-setting crowd of unemployed. Good for those Senators, man, going after that boatload of money for STD research and putting in green toilets at the Justice Department. You've got folks stretching to see to food, shelter and health care costs for this week, and certain pols are looking to go to the mat on 10% or less of the overall bill? Gimme a break. Now, if you're of the mind that the $900B ain't enough, perhaps that too much of it goes toward tax cuts, not enough for infrastructure, by all means, have a go at it. Just don't go playing footsie-wootsie on the small stuff. The extra costs we're talking about don't even register relative to whether this bad boy gets turned around, and the lost time only takes from more substantive debate (which appears over, sadly), and much needed relief.