Off to the races. So probably no further update until Monday. Looks like Hardcore
and I have some pretty formidable competition in our doubles race, but as long as
we're with the pack I'll be happy. I just hope we don't have to do heats-and-
finals, given that there are 6 entries, because my singles race is an hour
afterward. Almost all of the entries are lightweight, which is good in that we're
not racing a bunch of burly brutes, but bad in that we don't have a cakewalk to
the lightweight medal. Oh well, that's not what competition is for, anyway. My
singles race isn't quite as full, but all of this could change by the time of the
race. I hope it does, because there's only one other guy in Rudder's race at the
moment.
I am a little sore in unaccustomed places today. Yesterday we
had a company outing, in celebration of a hardware and software delivery, to a
local place called Rawhide. As the name would suggest, it's western themed --
there's some eating areas and a little Main Street where they have a few shops and
a few rides. They fed us well, along with a modicum of free beer, which may
possibly have influenced my next decision. I had been thinking riding the
mechanical bull a few days before a race might not be the best idea ever, in case
I hurt my back or something.
But the people I was walking around with
decided to go ride the little train, which sounded dead boring (don't tell them I
said so. I did want to go on the little deally where they put you in a harness
hanging from a couple of bungies and let you bounce and flip around for a while.
(I didn't especially want to go right after eating, but my wimpy stomach, so
easily upset by any kind or amount of food, doesn't particularly mind wild rides.)
That cost $4, but it was only $6 for a wristband that let you go on
everything! How could I pass up a deal like that??
A bit of a crowd
gathered by that point (I think someone got me on camera, dammit) and the boss was
trying to talk people into riding the bull. (He's from Texas.) All of the guys
wuz hemmin' and hawin' and makin' excuses, offerin' to buy rides for each other. I
just got plumb tired of it. So I marched me over to the bull man, held up my wrist
with the band on it, and said, "Gimme one 'a them helmets there". Cause, you know,
I make my living with my head, not my ridin' skills, and I didden want nothin' to
happen to it.
So the guy starts me off easy, then he gets the bull
buckin' and spinnin', then gone back the other way, and it gets wilder and wilder.
I think the bull even started snortin' in there somewhere. Eventually it became
clear to me that I was about to fall off soon, so I let it kick me off, you know
how you know, so the fall is a little controlled and you ain't flyin' off into the
dirt somewheres. They wuz a big crowd by then, and the boss hollers out, "Fifty-
four seconds!", meanin' that's how long I stayed on. Shee-it, if I'd knowed it'uz
that long, I'd'a gone for the full minute.
Never did get the boss-man
on that bull though. All talk, like so many men-folk.
Um, I think
everyone knows who I am now. I have a feeling those photos are destined for an
internal web page somewhere. And my thighs are remembering just how many years
it's been since I was on a horse.