Process notes. Knew that I wanted curved corners. Forgot how to do it. Referred back to previous post, [Association Lettering]. Score one for the archives. Was aiming for modular. Turned out more retro than I had intended. Since it was Saturday afternoon, I went with what I had. May try again another day.
Later. More process notes, for my reference. Letters have white strokes to create spacing. Border in Inkscape this time. Could probably figure out watermark. Will always need GIMP to translate file into JPEG in order to upload.
Awareness of the outside world. On the other end of the technology scale, the U.S. Space & Rocket Center is facing an epic budget shortfall. They have started a GoFundMe campaign, Save Space Camp. U.S. Space & Rocket Center, Huntsville, AL
[Show Tweets]
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While I am still excited, see above, I am coming to grips with reality. 100 miles is a long way, especially when done at a relaxed walk, in 1/3-mile sections, at 2-mile increments. This is going to soak up most of our riding time for a while.
Prep Work
This was 5 laps of your pasture. The magic of the Internet tells me that 23:24 min/mile = 2.58 mph. Screenshot from Map My Walk. After our test-of-concept ride at 3 laps, we have been adding a lap each week. Today will be the first day we do 6 laps, i.e. 2 miles. [The Tevis Sippy Cup]
In our three weeks of prep, Rodney did 34.75 laps of the pasture, or 11.6 miles. Milton did 28 ridden laps and 6 handwalk laps -> 9.3 miles ridden, 2 miles handwalked. I’m impressed with them. Pretty darn good for a pair of TB pasture puffs.
Milton is loving it. His people are together. No one is in show mode. Although, he would like to point out that he has to take at least 10% more steps than Captain Longlegs.
Rodney, not so much. He is starting magnificently in terms of being calm and relaxed. He rolls along on good looks and charm for the first three laps. Then, lap 4 comes as a shock to him each time. He has to expend energy. I think he finds trail riding beneath him. Not clear what he thinks his fancy self should be doing, but not this.
Awareness of the outside world. When I was at the zoo, snakes were my favorite animal to demo. I’d convince people to get up their nerve to touch one and they’d say, “They’re not slimy!?” Fight the prevailing paradigm! Snakes are awesome! Yes, some snakes can hurt us. So can tigers and we think tigers are adorable. Coexist.
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Previous post [Wildlife Management]. Sorry to snakephobes. There wasn’t a way to hide this one behind the jump. I made sure the title contained a warning.
Awareness of the outside world. Oamaru is home to Blue Penguin Colony, home of the little blue penquin. “Blue penguins are the smallest penguin in the world stand 30cm (11.8 inches) tall” OBPC: Penquin Facts.
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In honor of CoNZealand, which started yesterday, a slideshow of screenshots from my latest adventure of the imagination. [Biking Virtually, New Zealand]
Awareness of the outside world. CNN: Google will let employees work from home until at least next summer, by Brian Fung, July 28, 2020. A major US corporation does not expect things to change significantly for at least a year. We are in this for the long haul, folks.
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The home team has been humming along. Fat, shiny, enjoying their fans & hay snacks. We work – briefly – just about every day. They continue to prefer pre-breakfast rides to having their post-breakfast routine interrupted. [Let The Morning Rides Begin]
Out of the ring, we have been doing laps of the pasture getting ready for the start of the Virtual Tevis. More about this on Saturday. [The Tevis Sippy Cup]
In the ring, we have been working steadily, if not speedily. I confess to not having the zeal of 1000 burning suns at the moment. Mount up. Walk about. A little trotting. Test the canter system in both directions. Declare success. Go home. Milton works on his long-lining with our resident driver.
I would love to claim that this moderate approach is due to a low & slow training philosophy. Nah, mostly the zeal thing.
… Wow … 55 years later… crossing the bridge again … an amazing moment …. how far we have come … of course, if we really wanted to honor his legacy, we’d stop this voter suppression bullshit … no, that’s a Monday thought; Sunday is for ceremony … stopping at the top of the bridge … a funeral of honor is an impressive sight … the family joins the procession … two guys holding their top hats in the air … so much style on display … so much thought went into each gesture … Good Trouble written on the men’s shirts … the singing, O, my heart …
All true.
At the same time.
I was looking at the horses.
Oooh, pretty … probably Friesians … look at those lovely tails … I wonder who supplied the horses .. I wonder if we know them … not a lot of driving barns in Alabama … hmm, they are wearing poop bags … what good boys (?) … that’s lot of noise … I wonder if the driver has his mask pulled down so the horses can hear his voice aids … big hill to climb … those two guys must be their headers … you can see the horses looking to them for reassurance … there’s a lot of people around us boss, we okay? …
Awareness of the outside world. Giving credit where due. Mask compliance is picking up in my area. The tire store guys were 100%. Ditto the yuppie grocery store, both customers & employees. Also employees at office supply store – no other customers. (I really got adventurous, didn’t I? 3 stops!) The exception seemed to be the tire store customers, three mentioned below and another fellow who was carefully protecting his chin. Still, better overall than it was. Partly, different time; partly, different stores. Feed store was unchanged the last time I was there. Sigh.
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Found a shady spot and waited outside. Felt dorky carrying my chair. Turns out two people in the indoor waiting area had no masks. The other person had a mask hanging off one ear. No thanks. Better dorky than gacking.
Virtual Brush Box 