gonzai: (Dr Who)
Yup. That time of year again. I skipped last year due to foot injuries/broken ankle, but back at it this year. Normally I go on a weekday, but today was 'Maryland Volunteer Day' and one of my organizations, Pets On Wheels, was one of the organizations that had a ton of reduced price passes for today. Encountered some of my fellow volunteers, including a PoW team I worked with a few months ago, and a bunch of service dogs in training. At least one of which was taking a break.



It seemed to me I was out of place at the Fair this year: apparently it was a legal requirement to bring a stroller. And take said strollers into areas clearly marked "No Strollers". Also had to go through a thorough bag search, pat down & wanding to come in. That was new. And annoying. They're car keys, people.

Mostly I just do the animals at the fair, you couldn't pay me to get on the rides and I'm lousy at most games, although I did ace GEICO's match the image game snd got myself a little stuffed gecko for my efforts. He's cute. As for the food, well...





And then the critters:

gonzai: (How Nice)
'twas a fine day at the fair, if underattended. Only little kids, and the only people between 15 and 60 were the parents of said little ones. Also grandparents with little ones, and a lot of seniors and special needs adults. I was decidedly an oddball at the fair.

At any rate, I met a lot of critters and gave a lot of nose pats (and in a couple cases, neck massages), which made me many new friends. I saw a piglet being born, and many baby goats were in attendance. I want one! Despite being sneezed on by a few, my glasses and shorts are now well coated with goat snot. Stopped in the Exhibition Hall to raid the candy store (bad me) and stopped to chat with the Obama campaign folks. Got a bumpersticker and this time I really mean to put it on the car. Also bought a pit lamb sandwich for Mom, and a Fair t-shirt, but I was most tempted by a shirt with the World's Most Interesting Man on it, which read "I rarely Hate, but when I do, I hate the Pittsburgh Steelers." Awesome.

But it's the pictures you want, right?

Photos! )
gonzai: (Crews)
I took the day off. Mom is babysitting. The plan is to go to the State Fair and get my fill of animals. No horse racing tomorrow, but several horse exhibitions, lots of goats, and maybe alpacas. Then to the store to treat myself to the DVDs of Homeland. And home to watch whatever I darn well feel like, because Mom isn't home. And I seem to have picked the right day - forecast is for 82 degrees, mostly sunny, low humidity.

So hopefully I'm back tomorrow with lots of piccies!
gonzai: (Otter)
Between the crabs and the fair, I left out the rest of the weekend. So, in short sharp shock format:

Hurt my shoulders some more hauling furniture to the crab feast, which then didn't get used. The left shoulder is getting extreme now (hurts all the way to the elbow) and I didn't sleep worth a darn Saturday night. Also, my back really hates this whole sleeping on it thing.

After the fair, I was working on the computer and my foot bumped the stand. Five minutes later I happen to look down and there's blood everywhere. ?!? Seems that little bump was just enough to split the nail on my left big toe, right down the middle, almost the whole way. Keeping it completely bandaged and making the switch back to proper shoes a month early, but otherwise I don't know what to do with it.

Speaking of a month early, it's September 6th in Baltimore and I had to wear a freakin' jacket this morning. WTF? 

While WTFing, a co-worker has been in the office for 3 hours so far today. She has used the facilities 8 times in those 3 hours. (And refused to refill the TP because she's an attorney and such things are beneath her, of course.)

Dumbass of the week was at the crab feast. Guy decided to join a group of people at a table, and appropos of nothing announced "I'm one of the first tea partiers. I'm not a racist. None of us are racists. We just don't want a black President." If his intent was to clear the table, it worked. And I gave him a wide berth the rest of the day. Moron.

Did some movie watching, category 'Weird combinations'. In order of viewing: Temple Grandin, All Quiet on the Western Front (1930 edition), Blade Runner (director's cut), Milk, and the Seven Year Itch. Scary what happens when I try to clear space on the DVR...



gonzai: (Dr Who)
So yesterday when posting about the State Fair, I was griping about memory cards. The reason being that for the first time ever, I ran out of memory before I ran out of battery in the camera and I forgot to bring an extra card. The reason I needed/wanted another card? Ben & Jerry.

No really, this makes sense.

This is a 3 year old Jersey cow. She had a rough day yesterday.

She was on display at the State Fair because they figured (correctly) that she was going to give birth imminently. What they didn't know was that her calf was going to be a breech birth, or that he wasn't alone. They had to call in a vet, who shoved the baby back into his mama, then grabbed both legs and yanked him out. How rude.
Babies! )
gonzai: (Checking In)
That's the longstanding tagline for the Maryland State Fair. I haven't been there since 1987, I think. Last time I'm sure that I went, anyway. I have no interest whatsoever in games or rides or deep-fried whatever, but I do like my critters. So I finally went back. Wasn't the best day for it - hot, humid, no one was allowed into the horse area, the only goats/llamas/alpacas were in the petting zoo, it was pretty much dairy cows or bust. But I did land a winner in that category - sort of. See, I only brought one memory card with me. And it filled up right quick. Clearly I could either take pictures, or have my one short film. The movie had to go. Just pictures. You'll see...

ETA Maybe you'll see. LJ is giving me fits over images. On the netbook it wouldn't let me scroll down far enough to see the 'Upload' or 'OK' buttons, on the main computer it's only letting me put up one photo. Period. WTF? We'll go with the one for now.

ETA ETA - if I save the entry, then edit it, it lets me keep adding photos. Eesh.

Bad hair day...

More photos behind the cut )

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