It's a good day... join in

[silk]

It's quiet and I'm posting something. Feel free to chip in with your own stories.

I have had a crap week but today is a good day.

I finally got my permanent contract on Monday. It came with a super low salary (increase, but not much above what I'm on now), and the wrong position description. I queried the latter and it's being fixed. I arranged a meeting with my 'big' boss on Wednesday to discuss the salary. It was a pleasant but uneventful meeting (ie I don't think they will change anything to address my salary concerns). Thursday I had goal setting for the year ahead with my direct line manager, which went well, but is a bit hollow in the sense that I will end up moving on in the next 6-12 months due to the salary (way below market value, and *my* value). So, we'll see what the corrected contract comes back with... I'm not hopeful!

On the positive side, we have a long weekend coming up (3-day holiday weekend) - thanks Queenie, even though it's not yer real birthday A friend is turning 30 so invited a group of friends out for dinner. Last night I was a bit flat thanks to job stuff, my boyfriend suggested he come down a day earlier than planned (he lives ~100 miles away so I only see him weekends) and join us. Awesome. I got to work today and my manager suggests we're all leaving at 3 (I normally work 7-3.30/4). Win! The weather forecast for the weekend is awesome - first really crisp, clear, cold morning (-2 deg. C on my drive to work) but no rain (we had 29 rain days in May!).
We've got a huge bonfire pile to burn so I've invited a few people around tomorrow, but have no other commitments besides taking bf and his friend for a 'pony ride' and probably trimming the other mare and my foal at some point (easy).

How are you all doing this week?

[Chisamba]

It was a good day here. I finally managed to get all the soil turned and weeds removed from my gardens, and put is some annual flowers, and my veggies. Got a bit of sunburn, but it's not bad.

It was a beaut of an evening.

[Chisamba]

Silk, it's horrid to have to fight about salary

[khall]

Was a good day here, vet visit for IRAP for my 21 yr old Han X mare. She has been stalled for the last 10 months after foundering last June and came back pretty lame LH from her OCD lesions bilateral stifles (mild and have known about them for years, was sound before laminitis on oral supplement) thankfully sound from laminitis now. So decided to do IRAP on her and today was 2nd injection. Cannot do typical steroid IA injections due to foundering from dex, so had to go expensive route. She deserves it though, she is a wonderful teacher very tolerant of students who are learning yet very insistent on them being correct in their riding. Had one rider who rode her for 2 yrs was getting HI right and kept blaming the horse. Yeah not!! Rider was crooked and was asking for HI, very humbling to rider. She is the dam of my two riding horses and just a good girl. Will bring her back lightly once IRAP is done, so she can do some lessons and be my bareback fun riding horse. Long trip but worth it, went smoothly. Took my foster dog Sage for road trip, she loves riding in the truck and meeting new people. She got lots of attention from vet clinic staff and at the feed store we stopped in at. Good training opportunity as well. All in all a good day and tomorrow go with a friend horse shopping, looking at nice Appendix QH.

[Rhianon]

It was a good day here. Found out that the paperwork for the refugee family we're sponsoring might take only 5 months, not 8, to get through. We can do nothing to help them from this end. We have to get them here. They are in a seriously precarious situation, so every day is a bonus.

[Flight]

Apparently we are in for a whole weekend (and I think we have a long one too - I never know due to being a shift worker and now a working student) of rain.
I don't think I've seen 3 days on full rain on our forecast! We've had it so dry for so long.

So, I'm in for a boring weekend, BUT I rode both my horses this arvo and they were GREAT! So, I'm starting a wet weekend happy

[PaulaO]

It was a good day because the weather was perfect and nothing annoyed me? Sometimes the lack of bad is what makes it good.

[Rosie B]

It's been a good week for me... the weather has been lovely, I feel great, and have been having super rides and enjoying time with my family and my horse.

And my toddler pooped on the lawn last night... which is better than in his pants I suppose but sometimes I wonder if I am raising a little boy or a little animal. It still made me smile though, especially since he was so proud of himself. (I live in the boonies and house is back from the road so it's not like we're in the middle of a subdivision!)

[Chancellor]

I'm STILL waiting to hear about a job. I went for my second interview last week and they said the end of this week. When I emailed them yesterday, they said it MIGHT be early NEXT week.....I don't like living on pins and needles. Of course, the good news is that I still have my current job (IE the company isn't out of money yet)

[kande50]

And my toddler pooped on the lawn last night... which is better than in his pants I suppose but sometimes I wonder if I am raising a little boy or a little animal. It still made me smile though, especially since he was so proud of himself. (I live in the boonies and house is back from the road so it's not like we're in the middle of a subdivision!)

Ours did that for 2 summers, which frustrated the heck out of us because it made it so obvious that he could have been toilet trained if he'd been willing to cooperate. He'd go out behind the car, which blocked the view from the house but was in full view of the road.

Yesterday was a good day because I felt like riding, which is always fun. Today I haven't gotten the urge yet, so probably won't ride even though it's a beautiful day for it (not too warm). Finally got all the horses out to pasture though, which took me forever this year because some of them started getting cow flops so I didn't dare increase their time on pasture until their manure firmed up again.

[Kelo]

We got some desperately-needed rain in the past week (yay!), but thankfully not the flooding that other areas in the state are suffering. Yesterday I got to ride in a freshly groomed, fluffed and watered-by-nature arena!

[PaulaO]

Oooh, lovely arena. I always love riding in a soft rain.

[Racetrackreject]

Even though it's flooding everywhere around me, I have not been flooded out and our town is not flooded, nor is the community where I have Basco. Yay for that! lol

I finally have water back on at my house. It seems I had a leak somewhere that was ongoing for about a week before I realized it (no actual water, just water sound), and even then no one could find it. Finally the guys just rerouted the whole water line to the house and that seems to have stopped the leak. Now I'm just waiting for that $2k water bill that I have bad feeling is coming.

[Sue B]

Rosie, probably tmi, but my son used to run out to the bushes to poo when he was getting "housebroken". Country kids, gotta love em.

Been a busy week driving folks to various appointments etc. in addition to work. I guess that can be fun, right?

[Moutaineer]

It was a good day here. The guys dug out and replaced my frost-free faucet out by the barn, which had sprung a dramatic leak way down at the bottom, created a swamp, and has probably contaminated the well, so I need to shock that tomorrow.

I had requested one with a longer stanchion than the one I had, which in bad winters got buried and I had to dig down to get to it.

however, I wasn't quite expecting it to be 5ft tall...

[Anne]

It's a good day here, though I'm missing my partner, horses and dogs. I'm in the final stages of a project which has had me away from home for over a month. Just booked my flight out for Tuesday so here is hoping the rest of the weekend goes smoothly (work wise). I'm visiting the DDBB often, for my horsey 'fix'.

Love the photo Kelo - I'm curious, is the browband on your bridle designed to sit over the cheekpiece only, or do you 'thread' it like that? I ask because I often do that with my bridles: the 'standard' browband often seems a shade too short, so that is my way of lengthening it, and keeping it off the base of the ears. Anyway, just wondering!

[M&M]

Chance, is your present company looking like it's going under? I assumed you were looking just because.

Meanwhile, it's Saturday morning, an hour before I need to go anywhere or do anything, the weather is absolutely perfect, and I'm on my porch drinking coffee, and checking in on my peeps on FB and DDBB.

[StraightForward]

Good day - dropped DH off at the airport, went to the barn and had a productive schooling session with Miss Pickle. Just enjoyed a great brunch featuring homegrown eggs, and I'm about to go out and organize my trailer tack room, hit the gym, then possibly binge-watch Mr. Selfridge all evening. Yes, I like having the house to myself.

[Imperini]

Today has been a good day, went for a lesson on the spotted super pony and did some jumping .. weeeeee I used to be scared of even cantering ground poles so this is really big for me, and I am actually having a lot of fun with it. Change is good, plus the shorter stirrups are better for my hips. Then to top it off I came home to find DH cleaning the house

[silk]

Silk, it's horrid to have to fight about salary

Yes, it is. I don't think there's room to negotiate. I think they ought to have made a case for a significant increase, but they've treated me like someone who was already staff and getting a yearly review (my increase is in line with what other people have got). Anywho, life goes on, they will lose me as they haven't given me a reason to stay. I am not looking forward to the job-hunting.

Another bit of good news is we think we've decided who's going to design and build our new house. We got initial concepts back early this week and they're pretty close to meeting our requirements.

The pony ride went well. The bonfires (we had two large piles) were great... a couple of friends came round, we drank a lot! It was a very cold night but the fires kept us plenty warm Today was a lot colder (very sunny but icy), I went on a 1.5 hour hack with friends after my boyfriend and his friend went home. I have one client horse to trim tomorrow, will ride as well, and drop a heap of house items around to a friend who's just moved into her own place.

[Kelo]

Love the photo Kelo - I'm curious, is the browband on your bridle designed to sit over the cheekpiece only, or do you 'thread' it like that? I ask because I often do that with my bridles: the 'standard' browband often seems a shade too short, so that is my way of lengthening it, and keeping it off the base of the ears. Anyway, just wondering!

Same reason - his head is too wide, so that helps make it fit a little better and not pinch his ears.

[silk]

Today, I'm struggling. I hate job searching. It's soul destroying. And I haven't even got to the application stage yet.... I'm still updating my CV.

SIGH.

[boots-aregard]

No, no, today has to be a good day again! Have something luscious for dinner.

[bailey]

Good day here. Dad neuro exam normal, son got a job interview, horse with swollen sheath now resolving! Yes, all is right in my world.

[silk]

I had a really flat day yesterday. I still haven't got my revised contract back (I won't chase it).

I've sent my CV to my bf (who works in recruitment, albeit for a different industry) and a friend (who works in science/research/academia as opposed to "corporate") for comments/suggestions. Once that's sorted, I'll update my CL (which I will tailor to each job ad anyway, but I like to have a good 'base' to start from).

Once I actually start job hunting I'll feel a bit better about the whole thing... for now there's a ton up in the air, that might lead to significant 'life' changes (location, house, horses, cat, etc).

[goldhorse]

Good days so far. Horsie got his shoe back on after 10 days of soaking to relieve a bruise. He's sounder now but I think it was his yearly laminitic episode. (Insert curse words here). And only 4 weeks left until I get my friggin knee replacement surgery so I can do all the stuff that I want to do! Going bionic baby!
I am healthy. DH is good. DDs are doing great. Life is good!

[Canyon]

My favorite instructor is back giving lessons every month in my area. I had a great ride on my young horse yesterday; I finally feel like he may become a decent dressage horse!

[StraightForward]

Love the photo Kelo - I'm curious, is the browband on your bridle designed to sit over the cheekpiece only, or do you 'thread' it like that? I ask because I often do that with my bridles: the 'standard' browband often seems a shade too short, so that is my way of lengthening it, and keeping it off the base of the ears. Anyway, just wondering!

Same reason - his head is too wide, so that helps make it fit a little better and not pinch his ears.

That is brilliant. I hate tight nosebands.

Have a late flight for work travel tonight, so I took the morning off to go for a run, take care of the garden and go out to the barn. Happy to get all this done before leaving town, and earlier in the day, as it's supposed to hit 100 today.

Won't talk about the potential that I'll be getting stranded at the Denver airport tonight...

[Minz]

Feeling strong enough that once my part boarder gets home and has ridden my mare a few times, I am going to try getting back in the saddle again. I also just free leased (possibly to buy) a neighbours Newfoundland pony that I am going to try driving with in case the riding doesn't work out for me. (I had 2 pathological fractures in the fall from my Myeloma (sternum and clavicle) and they have taken a long time to heal. Cancer sucks). But.... Cute pony pictures to come!!

[silk]

Got my contract with correct position description today. Still need to push for salary as that didn't change.

World blood donation day today! I made an appointment at noon and just got home from their last appointment of the day. I feel good - been 15 months since my last donation (you can go every three assuming no complications or issues) - but, as I was concussed in October and had surgery to fix the resulting face gash, they would likely have refused me for 6 months after that.

Lemon cookies just finishing baking in the oven so the kitchen smells heavenly <3

[Flight]

Minz, I hope you get to ride again.

Our weather has turned nice! We've had a couple of those perfect winter days, where it's cold in the mornings (-2 C) but blue skies and no wind. I love them!

ridewinter.jpg (79.91 KiB) Viewed 31399 times

[Shirrine]

Great day for me, I am home. Looking forward to my next good day, the day I am back in the saddle.

Shirrine

[silk]

Well, well, well....!!!

Life has done a complete 360, or something. Maybe more like a triple backflip with a twist?

It took a long (LONG) time to sort my perm contract. I finally got a second, small salary increase after a 2.5 month wait for an answer on the salary negotiation, and it was still wrong ("back dated" to Aug 1st, I got it Aug 17th, and the process started way back in June... a BIT on the nose!).
The very next day I got a call about a job I had applied for. Within two working days I had been interviewed and they were talking checking references and making an offer. That took a week. Meanwhile I received my properly backdated perm contract. Pushed that for another week while I negotiated the new offer..... they came back with just enough money to make an inter-city move worthwhile. My current company were not able to counter beyond the number they'd already come back with.

So, I'm moving! SCARY but very exciting. I signed my new contract Monday and handed in my notice yesterday. I start my new job on 25 Oct. It's the biggest pay rise of my life. Unfortunately most of the increase will be sucked up with increased costs of living away from home, boarding the horses, etc. It's a fantastic move for career progression and I am leaving my current job on good terms which is super important to me (I work with an incredible bunch of people who have taught me volumes in the past 15 months).

[Canyon]

Congrats on your new job, silk. A change of scenery and more money are great things!

What city are you moving to?

Best of luck with your upcoming move!

[PaulaO]

Silk, how very exciting for you! Will you have to board the horses?

It's a good day because summer is FINALLY winding down, along with the heat and humidity. Tonight I will see Miss A. Haven't been to the barn since Friday, and the thought of visiting her makes me so happy that I cry.....

[Rockabilly]

Oh, good for you,silk.

It's a good day because the baby ducks in the barn loft hatched. Four of them fell out of the loft and the mother left them and took the six others to the pond. It's a good day because the four remaining babies were running all around Leo's feet. Leo stood perfectly still then took a step forward careful not to step on the cheeping babies. Leo is a different horse these days, but that is another story. I picked the babies up by hand and one did not want to be caught. I guess it was scared to death. I captured him or her finally and took them to the fancy duck house my husband made them. Later that day my husband captured the other six and now they are all safe in the duck house. I have raised 46 baby ducks this summer.

[silk]

Congrats on your new job, silk. A change of scenery and more money are great things!

What city are you moving to?

Best of luck with your upcoming move!

Thank you!

I'm in Hamilton now, will be about an hour and a half away in Auckland soon (a bit less than 100 miles). It doesn't sound far, but definitely too far to commute on a daily basis.
I haven't quite worked out what's happening with the horses... Heck, I haven't even worked out where I'll live!
Horses will stay at home with mum on the farm while I get settled and I'll head home weekends to ride, do their feet, etc. I trim 10 client horses and have to be back every month for them as well (I was *told* that I would be continuing to trim for them all, haha! I love my clients).

Mum and I are still forging ahead with our plans to subdivide the 10ac "farm" and build a new house. Mum doesn't want to wait until she's 80+ to realise value in the property; she won't be around to spend if it she waits too long! It's also the best opportunity for me to get onto the property ladder [without having to buy a crappy do-up and then a slightly nicer do-up and then a slightly nicer house and then maybe eventually some land] at the same time as releasing some of her invested capital so she can enjoy it.
We'll sell three empty 1 1/4 ac sections plus the old house on 1 1/4 ac; I'm buying into the remaining 5ac and new house.

I am treating this city move as a short-ish term thing... maybe 5 years? There's no way I can afford to buy in Auckland (average house price just hit 1mil!!!!!!! http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news ... d=11704482 ). I've gotta do the career thing for a bit, make a bit of money, move up the ladder. And I'll have something to come back to whenever I need/want it.

[Chisamba]

its a very good day because tonight i get to sleep, and in my bed. I worked at a show on Saturday,( good thing, my students got champion or reserve champion in each division) then overnight Sat night, rushed straight to the hunter pace on Sunday morning, seven and a half miles. Then i worked one and a half shifts Sunday night, no sleep. Had to rush my son to College Monday morning,( that is a good thing, he is excited about his College classes) and then rode at the barn, taught lessons, etc. I did manage to get a good three hour nap on Monday afternoon, worked Monday night. I slept an hour on Tuesday morning, then taught a lesson to my friend recovering from open heart surgery, so that was a good thing. Worked last night, overworked really, my co worker was pulled to a critical shift at another program so i was solo. Then DS to college again, to the barn again, to a work meeting, back to the barn, and finally I am home, had a perfectly normal dinner, and ready for an early night in actual bed to actually sleep.

It is very very good.

[Anne]

Congrats on the new job Silk, though I don't envy you living/working in Auckland.... great that you can keep the horses with your mum while you get everything sorted.

Wow Chisamba, that is a heck of a stint working, I hope you will feel refreshed after a long sleep tonight.

It is a good day here because I got a couple of beautiful walk to canter transitions and good canter to walk with my partner's big irish boy. And it's spring, and the grass is growing!

[exploding pony]

It's a good day because yesterday I took the boys for lessons, we all worked hard, so this morning was stretchy, forward, soft and then take a long trail ride as the sun was coming up. I was riding my new horse, trainer on SNK as we did laps around the ranch in the perfectly warm but not hot sunshine before I headed off to work.

[bailey]

Wow, lots of good days! Congrats silk on new job, and on all the good health reports. Minz can't wait to see pony pics.
Good day for me, I got a job offer too, and it's 8 minutes from my house. No more 1 hour plus commute, I can use this time to ride, exercise or chill here. I start Sept 26th and can't wait.

[silk]

Bumping this up, because it is another good day. Life has been SUPER busy: I am working full time, studying (doing 3 papers, which is 3/4 of a full time load), trimming (about 3 days a month - now 11 client horses, as I managed to get one owner trimming her own horse again last month, plus my 2 girls), AND commuting between home and work (I live in Auckland during the week, and spend most weekends in Hamilton). I think it all adds up to 250% commitment Oh, plus I got a motorbike this year, which I'm absolutely loving!

My new job started off a bit strangely, as I was sent out to a site-based project doing tasks I had no familiarity with. Not satisfying at all! I came back to the office a day or two each week from February until that project ended in May, starting on one and then a second other project in my 'spare' time. Project Controls (jnr proj. mgmt., finances, programming, etc) for those two projects fill up my whole week, plus document control on a third fast-tracked 'Bid' project which is an hour or two each day. I've been snapped up by a different business unit, officially transferring next week. Annual reviews have just been completed, and though I have only been here 8 months (boy, time flies!) I am getting a raise, which is not connected to the transfer but coincides with the same timing.

Tomorrow is our mid-winter function, so I will get all glammed up in a pretty dress. I bought nail polish for the first time in *I can't remember how long... possibly forever* and am getting my hair and makeup done.

It is a *good* day

[Mirabella]

I am in Vienna. Most of the Lippizans are on vacation but a few are here. I will do a stable tour to see them on Sunday so that will be a good day!

[Chisamba]

Today i achieved everything i wanted to. I set up the new round pen, i took all the recycling in, i rode all the horses i wanted to ride, the lessons i taught , my students really "got" it, and my hubby will be home for a long weekend. I was able to ride outside before the thunderstorms, and my body aches, but its a good, got worked/get strong tired kind of ache

[kande50]

I used to make a fair amount of pottery, but then decided that I hated the marketing part so wasn't going to do that anymore, so stopped making pots and got into riding more. But then my niece asked me to make some pots for the centerpieces for her wedding next year, so I got some new clay and got started throwing again.

And yesterday, I threw the best bowl I've ever thrown, which made my day.

Now it remains to be seen whether I can throw another one just like it.

[Borrowed Freedom]

Ok so joining in. Will leave in a bit to go work my horse, she's been going brilliantly the past few weeks. First official day of a 3 week holiday as I work at a school and yesterday was the last day of the term. I do ballroom and latin dancing, got told Thursday by my dance instructor that I am going to be doing my Bronze 4 exams in August in all of my dances . That is 16 dances in one go, last time I did exams in everything all at once was with my previous instructor at Bronze 1. I've managed to get through 4 levels in less than two years, most people take 3-4 years to get that right Bronze 4 is the longest I've spent at a level. Excited as it means I get to move up into silver and I've watched the silver group class with eagerness since I started dancing. Now first I need to get through matchdance in Tango and Mambo and a contemporary exhibition dance end of July, but looking forward to that. My exhibition is going to look awesome, just need to keep up with the speed and survive lifts

[silk]

I went to bed at 7.30pm yesterday and my alarm went off at 6am for work. It was a good sleep (haha!)