All's Fair....................."

Good Morning;

So just to catch up briefly since Saturday...

The friend I was hoping to meet had to postpone, (she's an ER nurse and it was a night of craziness, multiple injury trauma, and mandatory overtime), but serendipity took over and I ran into an old, old, unrequited,'secret love'. We talked and laughed, (especially when she told me she thought that I had been gay because I never asked her out, and that she would have willingly done so!!!), and cried, (see previous .......LOL!!!!), and caught up on the past 20+ years of life,loves, and lousy timing. we ended up sitting out back of the Starbucks until nearly 1:00 am. when I had to catch the last bus that would let me make the very last bus I could catch to get back to the shed. The romantic angle is not an option anymore, but it felt really good to finally clear the air, and a better late than never ego boost knowing that if I hadn't been so damn passive and shy...( yeah shy, around certain people anyway.....and this was way before the anxiety and panic attacks started to occur).

Anyway, I had a rough night sleeping again on Saturday night, ankles and back hurting, and i could not and did not get up on Sunday until after 1:00 pm. when I had to catch the bus to get to Jenn's to watch the grandkids. I spent the night on the couch and aggravated the back issues because I could not get the jury rigged padding to stay in the right places.

On Monday morning I talked with Rachel and her mother and made arrangements to be picked up and dropped off at the Light Rail around 1:00 pm. We arrived at the Maryland State Fair around 2:00 pm and as we walked in the gate, had our pictures taken, (watch for them soon, as I am going to replace last years Fair pics at the upper left with this years as soon as they are posted on the Front Gate photo website), and headed into the cow barns. Rachel was able to milk a cow and we wandered around looking at the live stock exhibits. She saw chicks pecking their way out and hatching from eggs, and got to touch hour and day old chicks. We saw newborn piglets and kittens, which I could not pull her away from....lol.

Then, after standing in line, (the bane of any Fair, carnival, or amusement park), seemingly forever, we purchased $20.00 'all-you-can-ride wristbands....and we hit the rides!...Oh my aching back.....!! The first ride is always the carousel, but the next was the 'Super Shot'..... Oy Vey!! There are 12 seats spaced 3 on a side around a square column that rises 100 feet in the air....then Drrooooopppppsssssss! Check it out at the link below. It is a blast!!!

www.deggeller.com/deggeller/attractions/attractions_list.asp?cat=spectacular (click on Super Shot picture for full view)

Then (mercifully) back to the kiddie rides where...as we were waiting in line for the 'TeaCups' I said she may have to go on it alone, as Daddy was too big...the couple behind us said that there little girl wanted to ride it also, (and her Daddy was not thrilled about folding, bending, and mutilating himself to fit either....lol!), and did they want to ride it together?

Well from that point on for the next hour and a half these 2 little girls were joined at the hand as they rode every ride together. Her name was Marisa and they were from Havre De Grace where her dad is a DVM. at an animal hospital, who, it turns out went to Milford Mill, and the same junior high and elementary schools 2 years ahead of me, and lived near childhood friends of mine....small world! The girls had a great time and they both wanted to ride the 'Starship 4000', so you know who went with them! (click link above and go to Thrill Rides) This is a enclosed spinning upside down truncated cone where you stand/lean back against inclined boards that are on rollers and which suddenly slide up and back as the whole ride spins faster and faster, with enough speed that you can feel your face distort from the 'g' forces produced by the centrifugal force! Think astronauts in the centrifuge!!

Brad and I took turns standing in line as place keepers while the girls rode the rides. We went our separate ways when the old folks..US!.. needed to sit down and rest out of the sun...(and I now have a slight sunburn on the top of my head due to leaving my hat behind and a buzz cut haircut...lol.). After a $5.00 Mountain Dew...(what a gold mine these concessions must be)...

Rachel and I went to the race track to see the horses and she got to pet one of the Track Marshall's thoroughbreds on the muzzle...these horses really are humongous, as Rachel said!!

We bet a few dollars on the last 2 races, 2 horses on the 9th race, which we watched right at the fence at the winning post. Seeing these beautiful animals running full out and straining with all their might from only a couple feet away is such a thrill; the noise, the power, the dust, the excitement!!! well worth the $4.00 we lost...lol.

The 10th race we watched from the stands, again right above the finish line, but high enough to see the whole racetrack. She was able to see the horses break form the starting gate and head down the back stretch and around the turn and all the way down the homestretch..cheering our 3 horses on. We had a winner this time, the favorite, #2---BluBoy, which Rachel picked because of the name, which paid us $3.80 on a $2.00 bet.....so we were only down $6.20 for the day, but it was well worth the money to watch her experience her first race and develop a memory that we will be able to share.

It was back to the Fairgrounds and another set of rides, then a walk through the Farm Building to look at all the prize winning veggies and fruits, etc. Rachel charmed the young lady who was the 'Honey Bee Queen' and was promoting and handing out samples of all sorts of local honey, so completely and thoroughly that I was the beneficiary of some residual flirting from her....lol.

We then hit the Midway for a bit, where she "won" a stuffed black panther with blue eyes at the 'Fish Pond', (which she named "Eda Tika Parkenstine...?????!!!....LOL!!, and went through the house of mirrors and the funhouse. After that we ate at the Maryland Foods Pavilion, again..what a racket!!!.., and finished up with a final ride on the carousel. There were these 'Relaxing Foot Massage' devices scattered throughout the Fairgrounds, put in a quarter and sit on the seat placing your feet on a metal plate and it vibrates enough to shake your fillings out, I could have saved alot of money by letting her 'ride' these all day and night, she loved them.LOL!! We stopped and saw the animals in the pens by the Md. Foods Pav. on the way out, and across the way is the 'Deep Fried Treats' stand, the last, (or first) thing you see as you head out, (or in), last year we got the Battered And Deep Fried Oreos, and they were outrageously delicious. This year we got the combo with a couple Nutter Butter cookies also....and to be nice about it...they were...okay at best, but not gooey enough and the dough was too chewy. A bit of a let down really.

After the train back to Mt. Washington her mother picked us up and dropped me off at the gas station, where I washed off some of the dust and sweat and then hit the shed, which was reasonably cool. Yesterday, Tuesday, I was supposed to stop by Prologue and get some school supplies they have donated for Rachel, but I had REAL BAD night Monday night, in such pain that I could not get to sleep until morning. Enough that Even the 'bupes', and my muscle relaxer prescription barely took the edge off it. I got up and went to Jenn's because I was out of clothes and needed to wash and shower. I left there about 6:30 pm. and came here to the library. When I got up to leave , my left side and lower bcak had frozen up so that I could hardly walk. I limped down to the shed and crawled in and lay down about 10:00 pm.

I had found a long heavy duty extension cord lying by the side of the road a few night ago which I snatched up on, and which I strung across to the outlet on the building next to the shed last night. Iused it for the small electric fan I acquired a while ago.

Times up gotta go.

later................Dave