FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread 12

[HairOfTheDog]

Dolomite lime just about killed me when I was a teen. I reached in to scoop some and took a big cloud in the face and I got so much in my lungs I couldn’t breathe. I ended up getting pneumonia from it.

The funny part was when mom called the ER to ask about it before I went in, at first they were treating it as a poison control issue, not a congestion issue. They were saying “she breathed what? Lime powder? Like the fruit? Like you make lemonade with? We don’t find anything to indicate that would be poisonous. “No - lime stone” - like they make sheet rock out of” “And how did she breathe that?” “She was putting it in a horse stall” “We’re not finding limestone in the poison database either”. “Did she eat it?”

Anyway, I remember the conversation because it was such a complete cluster_____.... They had no idea what it was. We just went in, my chest hurt so bad I felt like I was having a heart attack.

[HaveFaith]

Sounds about right. Probably wouldn’t be much better now in these ER’s around here.

My 2 childhood ER memories are from drinking bleach (I was undernourished like a football) and landing on my elbows in hot coals from a grill after being told not to go near it. Not much has changed from that either. I’ll still drink or eat abt anything and do anything I get told not to.

[FrogInABlender]

...childhood ER memories are from drinking bleach..

Heh, sounds like you were about as smart as me. I drank paint thinner one time when I was 3. Someone out at my Granddad's house had the intelligence to pour it up in a drinking glass. Another time I took a whole bottle of my visiting Aunt's thyroid pills. I'd filched them from her luggage thinking they were candy. I may have been 5 or 6 that time. I think it took quite a few people to hold me down each time long enough to pump my stomach, so I didn't really like doctors for a long while after that either.

[HaveFaith]

Yuck! I don’t remember the bleach incident; just got told abt. it.
I have a memory of sitting on a counter with my elbows in some liquid and some nurses there with the burns, but I have the scars to remind me. You’d think we’d learn!

[Beaker]

Hi there, Ladies!

Well it certainly was a wirlwind of a trip. Wowee. Thursday morning at 4:30 I got a call from the airline telling me that my 9:50 flight had been cancled and to make other arrangements. I called them back and managed to book an 8 am flight instead. I flew out of the house, not even paying attention to what I put on, and booked it to the airport. My 8am flight actually stopped over in Las Vegas (Hi Duchess!) and I was stuck there for three hours because my flight was delayed. Did I play some of the slot machines in the airport? Possibly. :-)The flight over was long but beautiful. I flew from Vegas to San Jose, and then immediately went to bed. When I flew back, I got delayed for three hours in Denver because of weather, and didn't leave until 6:45. I landed in Boston at 12:40 and had to take a cab back home ($$$$!). I got into bed by 2:30 and had to get up to go to work for 7.

On the 4th we went to San Fran, and boy howdy what a STRANGE city. There were a lot of really crazy people there, but not flamboyantly crazy- they were crazy crazy. We got accosted on the BART by a deranged man, who I thought was going to hurt us. It was one of those moments where I honestly wished that I was carrying a gun, because he had us cornered and wouldn't let up. He finally got off the train, and we ended up missing our stop. I have a lot of pictures from San Fran, which I will post in a minute. We really had a blast, though. We went to Fisherman's Warf and ate like pigs. Ice cream, good breads, sandwhiches, chowder, chocolate, sushi, burgers.... we ate it all. We saw some of the fireworks, but left early because of the fog.

The next day we went to Palo Alto, and holy moly what a rich little place. Everyone either drove a BMW or a Benz. That's all that you saw. Down in Silicon Valley, where we were, everyone drove a Mustang. There were Mustangs EVERYWHERE. I can't wait to go back in August. Six more weeks, and I'm there again for 10 days. The weather was beautiful. San Fran. was actually really cool because of the sea breeze. I ended up wearing layers at night.

When I go back, I (may) be getting my scuba diving license while I'm out there. That'll be fun!

[Duchess47]

Hey - welcome back.

Sounds like you had a good time - looking forward to pictures.

[Duchess47]

You okay up there? Just read this.

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA
508 PM PDT THU JUL 10 2008

WAZ043-110300-
/O.CON.KOTX.HW.W.0001.000000T0000Z-080711T0300Z/
OKANOGAN VALLEY-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...OMAK...OKANOGAN...BREWSTER...
BRIDGEPORT...OROVILLE...NESPELEM
508 PM PDT THU JUL 10 2008

...HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM PDT THIS
EVENING...

A HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM PDT THIS
EVENING.

AN INTENSE COLD FRONT PASSAGE THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING
WILL BRING ABOUT ROBUST NORTHWEST WINDS OF 40 MPH WITH GUSTS TO
65 MPH...PRIMARILY NORTH OF OMAK NEAR OROVILLE AND THE BRITISH
COLUMBIA BORDER BETWEEN 3 AND 4 PM PDT. THESE WINDS SHOULD
DECREASE FURTHER SOUTH...BUT WIND GUSTS TO 50 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE
IN OMAK. BLOWING DUST WITH REDUCE VISIBILITIES WILL ALSO
ACCOMPANY THE FRONT. WINDS WILL THEN DECREASE SOMEWHAT BEFORE
BECOMING NORTH AT ABOUT 10 TO 15 MPH AFTER 8 PM.

A HIGH WIND WARNING MEANS A HAZARDOUS HIGH WIND EVENT IS EXPECTED
OR OCCURRING. SUSTAINED WIND SPEEDS OF AT LEAST 40 MPH OR GUSTS
OF 58 MPH OR MORE CAN LEAD TO PROPERTY DAMAGE.

$$

IDZ001-002-WAZ036>038-110300-
/O.NEW.KOTX.WI.Y.0006.080711T0008Z-080711T0300Z/
NORTHERN PANHANDLE-COEUR D`ALENE AREA-SPOKANE AREA-
NORTHEAST MOUNTAINS-OKANOGAN HIGHLANDS-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...SANDPOINT...RATHDRUM...BONNERS FERRY...
PRIEST RIVER...COEUR D`ALENE...POST FALLS...HAYDEN...SPOKANE...
CHENEY...DAVENPORT...ROCKFORD...COLVILLE...DEER PARK...CHEWELAH...
NEWPORT...KETTLE FALLS...REPUBLIC...INCHELIUM
508 PM PDT THU JUL 10 2008

...WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM PDT THIS EVENING...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SPOKANE HAS ISSUED A WIND
ADVISORY...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM PDT THIS EVENING.

A STRONG COLD FRONT DESCENDING OUT OF CANADA WILL CAUSE VERY WINDY
CONDITIONS OVER THE NORTHEASTERN MOUNTAINS AND NORTH IDAHO
PANHANDLE THIS EVENING. NORTH TO SOUTH RUNNING VALLEYS WILL
CHANNEL WINDS AND CREATE LOCALLY VERY STRONG WINDS. THESE VALLEY
WINDS MAY ACHIEVE 30 MPH SUSTAINED WITH LOCAL GUSTS TO 55 MPH.
THIS INCLUDES THE COMMUNITIES OF KETTLE FALLS...COLVILLE...NORTHPORT
...METALINE FALLS TO USK...AND BONNERS FERRY TO SANDPOINT.

A WIND ADVISORY MEANS THAT WINDS OF 30 TO 40 MPH ARE EXPECTED.
WINDS THIS STRONG CAN MAKE DRIVING DIFFICULT...ESPECIALLY FOR
HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES. USE EXTRA CAUTION.

[Beaker]

All right ladies, picture time!

Here are a few pictures of the view from the airplane:

[Beaker]

This was the first thing that I saw when I got into San Fran. A guy with a beer belly- belly dancing.

Here's a picture of The Fellow in a limo that we took from Fisherman's Warf to Union Square. I'm not sure why the picture is so huge. I tried to resize it twice.



Here's a picture of the golden gate bridge in the fog:

[Duchess47]

Nice fellow :)

Picture of the bridge almost makes me homesick for California - almost...

[Beaker]

Roller coaster or city street? You decide:



A marina at fisherman's warf:



I will post more pictures tomorrow. I'm pretty beat right now.

[Beaker]

Nice fellow :)

Mmm... hmm.. and how. :-) All kidding aside, he is very good to me. I'm incredibly lucky.

[Duchess47]

I think he’s probably incredibly lucky too. :)

[HairOfTheDog]

Fun pictures! I’m glad you didn’t killed on the BART! Yikes!

Looking forward to hearing more of the trip.

Duchess... yes, we’re fine, it’s nice here. That high wind warning is for North Eastern Washington... Some kind of a weird trough they get down the back side of the mountains around this time of year... helps fuel the fires... ;~\

[Duchess47]

Glad to hear you’re okay - my geography outside of Nevada and California is obviously lacking. You all have fires up there too? The whole west coast is burning up.

[HairOfTheDog]

The east slopes of the Cascades are dry pine forest and scrub desert... looks a lot like Northern Arizona. They have fires every year. It’s normal. For them.

[Duchess47]

I’ve been praying for rain in California for a week now. I am so tired of the smoke and know people being evacuated. This has been a hellious year so far.

[HairOfTheDog]

This is outside Wenatchee.. East slope of the Cascades... Looks a lot like your country...

[FrogInABlender]

Great pics Beaker! TheFellow is a cutie! I’m assuming that’s not you sitting next to him.

The BART incident is scary! I’ve never had anything like that happen to me so I don’t know what I’d do, but I believe I’d at least have some pepper spray with me the next time I went out there. Check to make sure it’s legal to have out there first though. Some places it’s not. If I lived out there all the time I’d probably just get a tazer. There’s too many crazies in big cities.

So you didn’t get a chance to try the horseback riding or Alcatraz? Did you see a lot of seals laying around at Fisherman’s Wharf? There were tons of them when I went out there and they were quite dangerous. They would kind of take over the boat docks like armed thugs and dare anybody to mess with them.

I’ll look forward to more pics!

[FrogInABlender]

Your scuba diving comment just registered. Now THAT will be cool! Better get yourself a good thick wetsuit though. All I’ve got is a 5 mil and I’m sure that’d be WAY too thin for out there, but the only place I ever dive is in the Carribbean so it works well for that. I’d LOVE to see the kelp forests they have out there. It’s a TOTALLY different ecosystem than I’m used to.