(no subject)
Nov. 2nd, 2007 08:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickFriday updates, people.
The HoHI have one and one-half more pattern repeats before I'm going to give up and just 2x2 stripe the toe part like the sides and the sole. It'll be like the last inch and a half or something that will have stripes. Most of the top of the foot will be in pattern. Also, the stripes will come out even, I promise. My will be done, after all.
The riding lesson thing continued fine this week. Mostly, it was educational and contained items of interest that I'm going to go out this weekend and try on the IRH, who is a pretty willing guinea pig. In the not-so-fun department, riding instructor lady took it upon herself to inform me (again) that it was cruel and inhumane for me to continue riding the IRH as I was clearly too big for her. Mmm-hmm. On this topic, I've moved into nod-n-smile territory. My lack of argument does not mean that she has convinced me to buy a bigger horse. It means that I would like to learn other things from her that are unrelated to her views on the size of horse I should be riding. Discussing the IRH's lack-o-suitability with the riding instructor lady detracts from my learning time and it's not worth pursuing.
I spent part of Thursday underneath the trailer at 629. I'd like to give a great big shout out to the makers of the Sharkbite fittings. They're like magic. You cut your pipe and shove the pipe into the fitting and voila, it works. No tool is required. You can also release and re-apply the fitting over and over again. It's pretty slick. They work with copper and PVC and whatnot, no worries. I am not kidding about how damn idiot-proof they are.
The Sharkbites are useful for the trailer because the trailer is plumbed with Quest, a polybutylene pipe that degrades over time and develops leaks. No matter how much you fix it, next year it's going to break again, in a different spot. (I keep trying to throw away the trailer, but people keep renting the fucking thing before I can get Willie up there to tear it up and throw it away. This is why we have not replumbed the entire trailer -- we would LIKE to replace it with a newer, better trailer.) Underneath the trailer, there is not a lot of room to work. It's dark and (invariably) muddy. The pipes don't have any slack in them because they've been repaired about a dozen times already. The old fittings, you cut off the pipe where it went into the fitting (and lost half an inch) and stuffed a new fitting on the end of the pipe (and lost half an inch) and then tried to make it meet the old connector (but you can't yank because the pipe is brittle and will start to leak in new places if you yank) and then had to snug it up with a wrench and a pair of channel locks... with about as much working room as you'd have if you were curled up inside a washing machine drum.
The Sharkbite fittings, you jam the pipe pieces into the fitting and turn the water on and you're done. They're like magic, for real. If you have a plumbing issue, you might try these. They'd also work for fixing split-by-freezing pipes and for installing hot water heaters, especially if you're not a fan of compression fittings.
Also, while repairing faucets in the aforementioned trailer, Bill allowed as how I was "as clumsy as a bear cub jerking off while wearing a pair of boxing gloves." (Actual quote.) *sigh* We cannot all be models of athletic grace and skill, there, bub. Some of us are bear cubs jerking off while wearing a pair of boxing gloves.
The HoHI have one and one-half more pattern repeats before I'm going to give up and just 2x2 stripe the toe part like the sides and the sole. It'll be like the last inch and a half or something that will have stripes. Most of the top of the foot will be in pattern. Also, the stripes will come out even, I promise. My will be done, after all.
The riding lesson thing continued fine this week. Mostly, it was educational and contained items of interest that I'm going to go out this weekend and try on the IRH, who is a pretty willing guinea pig. In the not-so-fun department, riding instructor lady took it upon herself to inform me (again) that it was cruel and inhumane for me to continue riding the IRH as I was clearly too big for her. Mmm-hmm. On this topic, I've moved into nod-n-smile territory. My lack of argument does not mean that she has convinced me to buy a bigger horse. It means that I would like to learn other things from her that are unrelated to her views on the size of horse I should be riding. Discussing the IRH's lack-o-suitability with the riding instructor lady detracts from my learning time and it's not worth pursuing.
I spent part of Thursday underneath the trailer at 629. I'd like to give a great big shout out to the makers of the Sharkbite fittings. They're like magic. You cut your pipe and shove the pipe into the fitting and voila, it works. No tool is required. You can also release and re-apply the fitting over and over again. It's pretty slick. They work with copper and PVC and whatnot, no worries. I am not kidding about how damn idiot-proof they are.
The Sharkbites are useful for the trailer because the trailer is plumbed with Quest, a polybutylene pipe that degrades over time and develops leaks. No matter how much you fix it, next year it's going to break again, in a different spot. (I keep trying to throw away the trailer, but people keep renting the fucking thing before I can get Willie up there to tear it up and throw it away. This is why we have not replumbed the entire trailer -- we would LIKE to replace it with a newer, better trailer.) Underneath the trailer, there is not a lot of room to work. It's dark and (invariably) muddy. The pipes don't have any slack in them because they've been repaired about a dozen times already. The old fittings, you cut off the pipe where it went into the fitting (and lost half an inch) and stuffed a new fitting on the end of the pipe (and lost half an inch) and then tried to make it meet the old connector (but you can't yank because the pipe is brittle and will start to leak in new places if you yank) and then had to snug it up with a wrench and a pair of channel locks... with about as much working room as you'd have if you were curled up inside a washing machine drum.
The Sharkbite fittings, you jam the pipe pieces into the fitting and turn the water on and you're done. They're like magic, for real. If you have a plumbing issue, you might try these. They'd also work for fixing split-by-freezing pipes and for installing hot water heaters, especially if you're not a fan of compression fittings.
Also, while repairing faucets in the aforementioned trailer, Bill allowed as how I was "as clumsy as a bear cub jerking off while wearing a pair of boxing gloves." (Actual quote.) *sigh* We cannot all be models of athletic grace and skill, there, bub. Some of us are bear cubs jerking off while wearing a pair of boxing gloves.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Bill
Date: 2007-11-03 03:15 am (UTC)"Your Honor, Trooper K******* was as clumsy as a bear cub jerking off with boxing gloves when he handled the evidence in this case..."
It would not go well.
no subject
Date: 2007-11-03 09:39 am (UTC)I ask not out of mere nosiness, she does have a point about it being harder to ride a nag that's not standardwise a conformational fit for your own, but it ain't impossibe. I made a living, and a good one, for 10 years or so riding chunky massive warmbloods 17HH and up, and I'm five one (just) and only about 100 - 115 lbs at my heaviest. So yanno, height ain't what I measure on.
Objectively, what you need to look at is her conformation, your weight and her bone structure below the knee.
You need approximate stats on your weight and an accurate measuring of the circumference of the bone below Nick's knees. Not sure if you've ever posted a full pic of her? That'd help. T'anyways, given those things, you can work out a fairly accurate estimates of her weight carrying ability which is what counts, and then tell the instructor lady to STFU, if not in so many words.
no subject
Date: 2007-11-03 01:13 pm (UTC)Nick is a narrow, weedy arab, light in bone (bad for weight-carrying) and kind of long-backed (bad for weight-carrying). (I add the notes for the non-horsey who read this, not for you.) Don't get me wrong -- I really like her -- but that doesn't mean I'm blinded by emotion to where I think she's a good example of the breed. She's not. On the plus side, she has a halfway decent shoulder, solid pasterns, and large enough feet for her size (O on the front and OO on the back). She stands 13.3 5/8 hh without shoes.
Picture (http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=1841774032&context=photostream&size=l) from fair this year, horse in pretty decent shape.
Picture (http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=1841310671&context=photostream&size=l) from 2003, horse was five, totally not in shape.
I don't have a below-the-knee measurement for her but I'd be surprised if it were over 8" -- as I said, she's weedy and light-boned. As for me, I weigh a hundred and sixty pounds as of this morning. I'm 5'7" tall and rather a lot of that is leg. Yes, I should go get a bigger horse. (What do I do with this one? Throw her away? But I *like* her. Also, I am not unhappy with her. It is other people having problems, here, not me having a problem and not my horse having a problem.)
But, yes, the riding instructor lady is right. I should be riding some damn sixteen hand monstrosity or, at the very least, something that's about 14.2 and over a thousand pounds, a right sturdy cob. *sigh* This would be why I moved to nod-n-smile territory. I can't argue with her. She's right and every bit of official horse knowledge in the world backs her up.
Nod.
Smile.