Friday, January 20, 2012

Stupid Tetris garage

OK I'm off to kingdom come tomorrow to see a bunch of young Arabians.
I hope this isn't gonna be a wasted weekend, but I have to try. (Sorry - for some reason blogger won't accept the return key tonight and this is gonna be hard to read.) This farm has all these sale horses they get from another farm...they didn't say, but I found out with some googling skills. All the horses I will look at this weekend are from Michalow Stud in Poland. The offspring of horses such as Drabant and Enzo. I am surprised they are so affordable, and really curious what is going on here. Perhaps they are the rejects, the worst, and sent to Germany where they can at least get a little more money. They update their saleslist constantly and I saw a new horse on there tonight.
I'm not fond of white markings but he's one of the few in my range. ***
I had a really bad night as the inevitable happened, our electronic, car-stacking garage at work broke with all our cars inside. It was bound to happen, since it happens so often before we park. This time we faced the reality of being stuck in downtown Cologne, and I have to drive across Germany tomorrow, and I need my car. I could take the Yaris but the navi is in the Prius and I really need a navi when I travel alone. Our company was having a ping-pong championship (really) and there was a nice buffet and champagne and koelsch (Cologne's signature beer) and I was sooooo grouchy sitting there wondering if I'd be able to make my trip tomorrow. My man was on the way to get me, but there was still the chance the mechanics would arrive and we'd be freed. This just does not happen if you have a normal garage. Of course, as soon as my man was on his way, the mechanics said they could get us out. I tried calling for an hour, no answer. My man does not answer the cell phone while driving. So he made an unnecessary trip to Cologne tonight, (after an unnecessary trip to work today because the children assumed he was still sick and they did not show up for their test he'd prepared!!), my poor husband, two trips in opposite directions today, and he's really still sick. His voice is so messed up I told him he'd do a great job singing "Everybody Knows" by Leonard Cohen and then showed him the song on YouTube (great song). (Anyone remember that Christian Slater movie with this song?) I asked the mechanics, "Is it typical for these tetris-garages to break so often, or is ours something special?" The mechanic said, "I'm only the emergency tech, I don't know much about this garage, but I can say this is an very old model." OK then. We stood there in the rain until finally, one by one, we were freed from the horrible, awful trap of a garage and I parked down the street (in that record-making crappy public garage that I like cuz the attendant is nice to me). Finally my man came and I said, "OK off to the geocaching event you wanted to attend in Cologne tonight!" and he said, "Tired." Yah, he's really been sick all week and today was even worse. Sick enough to not want to attend our buddy's geocaching event tonight. We both drove home and as I got closer and closer I started driving over white stuff and then more white stuff - snow! I said, "WTFRAK" and drove very very slowly, and then realized he was right behind me. I didn't know for sure it was him, but I knew whoever it was was really annoyed with my Seattle driving ability. Creeping along in the white stuff. So here we are tonight together at our laptops showing each other Internet stuff having finished a nice healthy dinner of stir-fry. I oiled my half chaps and put my helmet by the door. I hope and hope for tomorrow.

13 comments:

Dan and Betty said...

Nice looking horse. I hope everything comes together tomorrow and you can make the trip.

Dan

Funder said...

Can't wait to hear about the trip!!

Christian Slater was so dreamy. And always a bad boy - I think I loved Heathers even more than Pump up the Volume. Neither one was on Netflix Instant last time I looked! :(

Is champagne ping pong like beer pong for large wallets?? So sorry you and your man had such a bad day. Hugs!

Dreaming said...

How frustrating about the garage. When you first described it, and explained that sometimes it doesn't work and you have to park elsewhere, I never thought about the fact that it could strand you in the city.
Good luck! That is one nice looking fellow!

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

Frustrating about the garage. It's a shame that's the only parking that your job provides. Is the other garage pricier? Will your job refund what you spend to park there instead?
At least you were able to get out so you can have your car tomorrow, and you were able to spend a nice evening with your man....but don't mention the "s" word anymore. bah! We still have it in hard packed frozen patches in shady areas...and lots of mud everywhere else.

I hope you're able to make it on your horse shopping trip in the morning.

~Lisa

Michelle Canfield said...

Crazy! I hope your trip goes well, though I have to admit, I'll be a little let down when you finally buy a new horse- I'm enjoying the journey!

Reddunappy said...

OMG how absolutely frustrating!!!

That little red guy is cute, looks like a baby. His neck looks short, or is the saddle way to forward??lol

lytha said...

Dan, thank you.

Funder, I loved Heathers, I'd forgotten about it.

The ping pong tournament had these really nice crystal plaque trophies, they really went all out and they'd been doing the "finals" the last 2 weeks. I think it's cool that even total beginners were invited (me too) and there was such a difference watching the girls play vs. the guys. The girls gently tapped it back and forth, politely. The guys were the opposite. I don't know what beer pong is, I'll have to look it up.

Dreaming, I know - I've just been waiting for the day. Funny, last night the boss's wife showed up and I heard her out my window expressing her exasperation when someone yelled down, "Garage Defekt" and I thought, "Oh, she's upset that she can't get IN!? What about those who cannot leave!"

Lisa, the other garage, the alternative when ours is broken, charges 130Euros per month. Our Tetris garage is free for employees, which is simply amazing for downtown Cologne. It is a real blessing and I am really grateful to have free parking, albeit really really inconvenient parking sometimes! I think the reason it's free for us is because so few of us own cars. Out of 100 employees, 90% take the streetcars or walk to work. Our garage has 16 slots I believe, so you can see how few of us drive.

Michelle, I'll be thinking of your comment all weekend *LOL*

Reddunappy, I hate this huge saddle on tiny horse thing, oh, let's shove it as far forward as it will go so it looks less huge..come on people!

cdncowgirl said...

Pump Up the Volume -- I LOVED that movie!!

Funny, all the chrome on that chestnut is what makes him eye catching to me (and I'm not sure why but it makes him look more "Western" to me too lol)

Oh that's crappy about the Tetris garage.

Hope you have a safe trip and maybe make some progress in your horse shopping. And I hope your hubby feels better soon too!

Formerly known as Frau said...

what a pain in the neck to garage is I hope it doesn't happen again. Hoping your hubby is feeling better and you have a successful look for your horse today! Have a wonderful weekend!

Fantastyk Voyager said...

I had a little Arabian gelding who looked very similar- white blaze, four white stockings, and bright red coat. He was stunning!! However, he was as fire-y as his coat color. At first glance, everyone thought he was a little stud. I nicknamed him Barry for Barishnikov, the ballet dancer, because of his "light" feet. Hopefully, this guy you are going to look at is more grounded even though he looks like my Barry.

I agree with Michelle, it's been fun going along with you on your search. But, hopefully, you will find the perfect one soon.

Dom said...

Car... stacking... garage??? I'm intrigued!

I rather like the markings on that horse.

White Horse Pilgrim said...

Eastern European studs have much lower running costs than in the West and often quite respectable horses so you may find a bargain. I expect that the top quality horses will be sold individually (the stud will have contacts) whilst there will be an arrangement with a middleman to sell the more ordinary horses in Germany. My experience is that such stud horses may be quite green, having lived in a herd then had some basic training prior to sale. Good luck, anyway.

Unknown said...

The tetris garage must be FED! Bwaa haa haa!

Sorry, couldn't help myself.

I do hope you found a lovely horse on your trip. Looking forward to hearing all about it.

I'm terrible at ping pong. I have the eye hand coordination of a gelding on a whole crate of sedatives.