Last Updated Tuesday, June 14, 2011
PROLOGUE
Friday,
May 13: I generally start this blog the Saturday before the opening, and try to let folks know what's going on as far as set up, where/how people are training, etc. But this year, since the Invitational webmaster has linked to me way earlier than I expected, I supose I should put in a little something regarding the run-up to the event.
So, I was thinking, what does an MHR cost? As luck would have it, in my case I can actually come up with a fairly accurate figure, having just spent the last 5 weeks getting one for the puppy. The answer in my case is $2,800. More brutal than I would have imagined, but my situation is a bit skewed, and most of you will pull it off for considerably less. First of all,we needed 5 passes, not just 4 since we had crashed and burned in our rather abortive Intermediate career last fall, going 0 for 3 and not even coming close. We also only had a total of 5 tests within a 6 hour drive, so if we blew one or more we'd have to do some more serious traveling to make up for it.
Our little saga started out the second weekend in April at the Southwest Pennsylvania HRC where we ran a single senior and passed. The following weekend it was one of my home clubs, Northern Piedmont, where we ran a double senior and went 1 for 2 (clearly, Tom Moore hates me, although he is always pleasant to my face). A weekend off for Easter, then it was down to Virginia's Old Dominion RC, my other home club, for a double senior where we got both. Finally, the first weekend in May (and close of the qualifying period) our choices were a double senior at Lake Champlain or Four Points in Minnesota for their triple senior, starting Friday. I opted to go with the law of averages and drove out to Minnesota Wednesday after work, getting there Thursday evening. Only had to run the Friday Senior at Four Points, so was able to get home in time for Mother's Day, MHR and Invitational qualifying in hand. Three of the passes were under past or current Invitational judges, so even though we passed some of them by the slimmest of margins, I'll take 'em all!
But, looking at the finances, it was not a pretty picture:
3,300 miles at IRS' .50 per mile . . . . . . . . . $1,650
8 test entries (even tho we only ran 6). . . . . . . .500
8 hotel nights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .600
Tolls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50
TOTAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$2,800
Most of you will never be stupid enough to drive over 2,200 miles for a weekend test, but I really wanted to get the young one qualified, particularly because The Goon is still on Injured Reserve and may not be able to run in June. The thought of not having a dog in the fight is just not something I want to deal with, so I was going to do everything possible to get Bry in. I have only modest expectations on how either one will do, but at least we're going to the line in the first series, and taking our best shot. As I've said in earlier editions, one of the best feelings that you have when you're out there is knowing that every other dog and handler there is pretty damn accomplished as well, and has put in the same time and effort you did - it's just a nice group to be associated with.
Next post in June!
INTRODUCTION
Saturday, June 4:
When I started this blog in 2006, my target audience was a few blood relatives and my friends at Northern Piedmont. That’s why there was no blog in 2007 – NPRC was the host club and most of my audience was there with me. But over the years many more people have been reading my mindless ramblings, and it is to the point that many of you don’t know me from Adam. While that’s fine, and doesn’t bother me nearly as much as those people who DO know me and refuse to admit it, it does mean that many of you don’t know how to take some of the things that I write. So for those of you in that group, please familiarize yourselves with the concepts of sarcasm, irony and hyperbole. Thus equipped, your blood pressure may be more stable than it otherwise might be!
We're spending the night in Bloomington, Illinois. As usual, the least friendly person in the mid-west is generally far more personable than the nicest person back east. The clerk at the hotel waived the dog fee, and our waiter at the Olive Garden gave me a free iced tea for the road after I'd already paid the check. The sad thing is that by the time I slow down and start expecting everyone to be polite, I'll be back home in Baltimore and will get eaten alive until I re-adjust.
We ran into Dave and Ann Melender at a rest stop someplace in Indiana and will catch up with them again Sunday afternoon to do a little training. So far it's been as hot as Hades with equivalent humidity, so I doubt if we're going to be doing much.
Sunday, June 5:
Arrived on in town around 12:30 this afternoon, soon joined by the Mellenders, Snows and Mike Tome. Harry and Nora have been here for a few days, and we were able to catch up with them for dinner. The hotel let us check in early, and it looks like a very nice place. We got the king suite, and while I’m not excited by the hot tub in the living area, in all other respects it’s just fine.
Did a little light exploration of the area, and interupted a local policeman in the midst of running a speed trap in downtown Colfax and he gave me a suggestion for training grounds on some NRCS property down the road a bit. Then we met everyone over at the test grounds, and ran into the judges in the midst of setting up their test. Unsurprisingly, they all looked very relaxed. Also unsurprisingly, they declined my generous offer to assist in the set up process. Oh well, I had to try. We ran a few blinds waiting for folks to gather, and then had a long discussion about shooting flyers in training. Apparently it is preferable to do that on private land, and not so much on public land. So I set off in search of a kindly farmer that would let us train on his property.
It actually only took about 45 minutes to come up with a place. I saw a guy with what I thought was a 1939 Ford 9N tractor and stopped by to chat him up, first about his tractor (I have a 1948 Ford 8N, so I can talk old ford tractors with anybody) and then segued into anybody he knew that might be able to help me out. Now you could tell that he really didn’t feel all that comfortable inflicting me on any of his neighbors, but on the other hand, I clearly was going to continue to inflict myself on him until he did. So eventually he caved and gave me the name of a farmer a mile up the road that had a pond that might let us train. So up the road I went, and to make a long story somewhat bearable, I got us permission to do the full training regimen on his gorgeous 2+ acre pond, surrounded by trees and just as private as all get out. So we are going to meet at test HQ at 9AM tomorrow and get our birds and go train. Weather so far has been as hot and humid as I feared. Will try to post a few pictures tomorrow.
Monday, June 6:
Monday is when things start to pick up, and you get the feeling that you’re actually involved in something. People are arriving in dribs and drabs all day, and trying to catch up with each other and figure out what’s going on. Training groups are forming, and the only serious training you’re likely to get is today – tomorrow it’s too crowded with too much going on to do anything except some light confidence building stuff.
So my group of the Snows, Mellenders, Harry, Carl Strebe and Mike Tome met at the test HQ, picked up our birds and went off to our little pond by 10 AM. We did a shot flyer poison bird coupled with a fairly straight-forward blind that all the dogs did pretty well on, and then we did an upland with flush to finish up the day. Got done around 1 PM and went back to HQ to see what was going on. The judges and committee were setting up the tables and chairs in the long house for tomorrow morning’s festivities, and since I didn’t want to feel guilty at not doing any work myseIf, I left to head back to the hotel and a nap. Which was rudely interrupted by Jeff Riebling’s phone call letting me know he was in town.
The judges seem to be getting along well, and are a pretty constant presence every time I’m at the test site. It appears that they have set up their tests, and although I don’t have any details, I have been told that we’ll be able to see our dogs the whole time, which is always a good thing, and that we’ll be able to see any decoys that might be a part of the scenario, also a good thing. And I’m pretty sure we’re gonna be seeing a bunch of decoys.
Now, I have to say a few words about SE Regional Director, Mike Tome. Mike is a government worker, as am I, and so it stands to reason that both of us have a fairly keen awareness of which posterior to kiss and when. But to tell you the truth, I’ve always felt that my pucker technique was superior to his. Apparently, however, I was mistaken. My boy Tome has far surpassed me, as, out of nowhere, he managed to give a ride out here to Judge Tom Johnston, and is now actually rooming with him! I stand in awe. I mean, really, how is he possibly going to fail if Judge Johnston knows that Duece’s failure is going to result in a ride home on Greyhound? To paraphrase the immortal words of Bob Riggs, “Well done my man, well done!”
And finally, a picture. This is our own Sue Snow running our training blind this morning. The poison bird came out from right to left as shown by the white line, and the blind was run to the left up a small opening between some brush as depicted by the yellow line. Probably 75-80 yards, and pretty simple if not for the flyer. Pretty good pond find for not knowing a soul in the state if I do say so myself!
Tomorrow morning we’ll meet at HQ for the handlers’ meeting and some other festivities, and then I’m probably just gonna hang out the rest of the day. Maybe do a trail or two but not much else. The banquet is tomorrow night, and that’s always a festive event because, just like opening day for the Orioles, all of us are still in first place. It’ll grim up for some of us on Wednesday.
Tuesday, June 7:
Today is when things start in earnest . Everyone has rolled in by now, and the first official event, the preliminary handlers meeting, takes place. The day started early, as I met most of the east coast contingent at 7 AM for a brief training session. A simple double and a few blinds, and then later on after the handlers meeting, some of us did a few trails. Nothing major; it’s too late for that. What I found particularly amazing was that when I first drove up to where the group was training, the previously mentioned Mike Tome was running Deuce, and he had one of the judges throwing marks for him! I swear, I wish we had a calcutta going, cuz I think at this point he's a mortal lock.
Here we have Chris Giardina running Rain on our little double. The only real purpose was to get the dogs to swim by a visible mark. As I said, nothing too strenuous.
The handlers’ meeting took place in the blessedly air conditioned long house, and was fairly brief. The committee introduced themselves, and the judges said a few words. We then retired to the blazing sun for the group picture. Actually it was about 10 group pictures, as we took one in front of each sponsor’s banner. But nobody minded, and we are all grateful for the sponsorships. Next up was a ceremony new to this year’s invitational, the honorary flyers for all of the 1000 point dogs present. In turn, each dog and handler took a spot on a mound behind the long house, and a flyer was shot for the dog to retrieve. The dogs clearly enjoyed it, and it was a very classy move on the part of the committee to put it on the program. Good job Fritz!
When you first entered the long house to check in, you were greeted by this smiling crew: Chris Riggs, Kathy Ofstedal, Shawn Piotter and Troy Callanan. All four of these folks have done great work to help get the test going. Chris and Kathy just for keeping herd on Bob and Rick, Shawn for handling the money (and also allowing me to qualify last month!) and Troy for doing an apparently flawless job as test secretary. Oh yeah, on the far right is President Plewa, sporting a very natty blue outfit for the occasion.
As I said, the opening remarks were fairly brief and on point. But, nonetheless, it was apparently too much for Minnesota’s own Troy Tilleraas to keep up with Bob Riggs’ presentation.
These are a few of the honorary flyer dogs – Dan Hove and Belle (with Judge Tom Johnston supervising), Jeff Riebling and Kali, and Jim Tracey with The Goon’s sister Maggie. Kali and Maggie are both going to be running tomorrow.
Tonight is the banquet, and if I have time I'll try to post a couple of pictures tonight, but if not I'll catch up tomorrow evening.
Tuesday, June 7, 11PM CDT:
It’s late, I’m running first tomorrow so I’m just gonna throw up a couple of pictures of the banquet and call it a night.
A very nice affair, as expected. Stellar auction, with two items going for in excess of $2k, and a few others close to 4 figures. Dean Downer and friends did a superb job, that’s for sure. Great prime rib for dinner and seconds available it you needed them.
The banquet crowd.
The judges. Arlon Woodlee and Terry Plagman did well at the auction – TJ less so. I made a critical unforced error when I found myself bidding against Judge Plagman for the entry to the 2012 Invitational. The bid was up to over $250 when I turned around to see who I was bidding against, and to my horror it was Terry. Rookie mistake for which I have no excuse.
Dan Hove was given a special award for his contributions to the organization. Dan has been front and center in working with sponsors and moving us forward in that area, and the award is richly deserved.
All of the officers and regional directors present at the event. From left, Dan Tongen, Harry Williams, Mike Tome, Ted Givens, Tom Johnston, Frank Plewa, Dan Hove hiding behind Kody Bull, and Bob Riggs.
I actually did very well with the raffle items, to the extent that I’m now very worried I may have used up most of my good luck. I won the video camera in the first raffle, and won a crapload of stuff in the general raffle – dog bed, a dozen duck decoys, a couple of shirts and a few other items that don’t immediately come to mind. The last time I did this well was at Four Points in 2008, and that ended badly, so between all the winning and almost jobbing a judge out of the 2012 entry I’ve got some karma concerns. Now most people would just shrug that off as utter nonsense, but, having lived my life under the theory that it is always better to be lucky than good, I don’t know how long the streak can last. Hopefully through Friday.
Last item and then I’m outta here for the the night: Earlier today, Judge Johnston informed the group of two momentous occasions that have already taken place before the event has officially started. First, Ted and Char Givens are celebrating their 42nd anniversary this very day. Congratulations to them, especially to Ted for being able to hang on to Char all those years - no doubt she could have done better. And as Tom mentioned, on the other end of the spectrum, NPRC member Tony Carlo proposed to his lovely paramour, Marcie Tellier, and in a very puzzling move, she accepted! Congratulations to both. Nice to see that a guy like Tony can marry up. I didn’t get all the details on the actual proposal, but apparently it involved a waterfall and a message on a bumper, so it was a very NAHRA event. Way cool. Back tomorrow.
Wednesday, June 8:
First, the call backs. The Goon and Bry are both still in. Goon had a handle, Bry was clean; both had nice blinds. The rest of the NPRC contingent is also doing well.
And the test itself.
Out of order flyer was first bird, thrown from the left at 90 yards. Middle bird was next at 80 yards, with the go bird on the right at 50 yards. Picked up the marks and ran a blind behind the right hand gunner and the water. Marks and blind were run from on top of a small mound. Following the blind, the working dog moved to the right side of the mound to honor. Nice, straight-forward test. Lost two dogs that picked up a fifth bird on the honor, and one other that I believe had serious problems with the middle bird.
The dogs that had problems invariably had them on the middle mark. Quite a few handles, including The Goon running first. He stepped all over it but just couldn’t come up with it and I had to handle when he got a whiff of the flyer and started to switch. I don’t think I’ll get dinged too badly since he clearly marked the bird.
This shows the layout of the working and honor dogs. In this case we have DaKota Tilleraas, the youngest handler by far that has run an Invitational in my experience, gently adjusting Izzie’s position on the mound with her foot, while honor dog Darby and Travis Lund look on.
There were quite a few fashion statements being made at the test today. Here we have Chris G. sporting a natty pair of what look like women’s dishwashing gloves, coupled with a training bumper lodged firmly in his back pocket. He got called back, so I guess it worked for him.
This troubling photo shows that Mike Tome’s luck may have run out, as it looks for all the world as if he is having significant points deducted by Judge Johnston for the critical fashion faux pas of wearing white socks and shorts. A bad look for anyone.
I’m not even going to conjecture about what’s going on here.
I’m not going to identify the handler shown here keeping his dog steady with the always effective “hand on the tail” technique, but I have to say he did it with maximum discretion. And to be truthful, it might have taken place when he was running bye dog. But good technique is good technique no matter where you see it!
This is Faith Thoman, who stepped in from Pennsylvania to help work the line, and function as our own Vegas Ring Girl as she held up a sign with the dog number as each dog came to the line to let the photographer stationed out in the field know who was up.
Today's weather was in the upper 90's with high humidity. Tomorrow and Friday the temps are going to be in the 70's, but with showers and thunderstorms most of each day. Trail first, and then right into the upland. Water on Friday. More tomorrow.
Thursday, June 9:
A very quick update. The weather has completely changed, and now we are plagued with very cool weather and major thunderstorms blowing by. The upland and trail have been interrupted numerous times, and as of 11:30 CDT we'd only gotten through 6 dogs. Gonna be a long day. A couple of pictures courtesy of Troy Tilleraas:
Troy Callanan and Dick O drying off chukars that got wet in the crates. PETA would be ever so proud.
A close up of a banded mosquito that was shot by mistake when it flushed along with a chukar! They appear to grow them big out here.
Thursday, June 9, 9PM CDT:
As always, first, the call backs. The judges didn’t drop any more dogs, and based on the work I saw that was appropriate. There were some close calls on very close falls on the upland portion, but in all cases the dogs were either brought under control or a quick “dog” call from the judge saved the day. The Goon had one of those, with the bird landing no more than 2’ in front of him. All the dogs trailed satisfactorily, so we go to water tomorrow with 39 dogs.
Because of a terrible weather situation and a certain level of indolence on my part, I don’t have any pictures of the tests, but they were typical of what you’d expect bird hunting in Iowa. The dogs quartered your standard CRP field to a flush, and then you continued on until the judges felt they’d seen enough and you were released. Depending on how long the judges had you quarter, you maybe did up to 200 yards up and back. The trail was your standard down and out, maybe 40-50 yards a leg.
The day started at 5:30 AM when the boys requested their early morning constitutional, following a night of violent thunderstorms and a tornado warning. It wasn’t raining at 5:30, but the lightning display to the south was quite impressive. Arrived at the test site around 7:45, since I knew I was running late in the order (The Goon about 30th and Bry last) and the lightning was still putting on a show. We eastern sissyies were more concerned about the situation than the locals, who assured us that the lightning was 30 miles away and nothing to worry about. We still worried.
The initial scenario had the dog and handler running a trail, and then immediately going right into their upland quarter and flush. As referenced earlier, we got through about 6 dogs before the skies opened up and we had to take a long halt. When we resumed testing, the scenario was changed to just have all the dogs get through their upland, and then the trail was set up as a separate scenario. That seemed to work well, although the testing was again interrupted by a downpour. The Goon did an acceptable upland and trail, and Bry did better. The thing I was most worried about with Bry was his trail, especially since he was abysmally bad in training this week, but when it really counted he did a very nice one.
This picture shows the best weather we had all day. The lightning stopped around 9-10 AM, but the rain was off and on all day. It was good for the dogs, but hell on the workers and judges, who are to be mega commended for performing flawlessly all day. Thank you to Anne Mellender for supplying the picture.
This is Dan Hove and Travis Lund (does his left hand look at all familiar??) breasting out the chukars as they came in from the field. At the time I took this picture, I assumed we’d be seeing them on the menu later tonight. Perhaps I was wrong.
My first indication that I was wrong about the chukars was the previously mentioned Mr. Hove diving in to a large plate of Iowa sushi. I guess it’s an acquired taste.
As you may recall from an earlier post, the latest NAHRA engagement was our own Tony Carlo and Marci Teadlier (there is virtually no chance I’ve spelled Marci’s last name correctly, so if someone will give me the correct spelling and put me out of my misery that would be helpful.) But in any event, this photo from Mike Tome shows the happy couple.
Another two photos courtesy of Mike Tome. Here we have Frank Plewa and either Carbon or Radar - all those black dogs look alike to me.
Bry and I coming back after finishing up our upland. You can tell from Bry's stride that he knows he did well.
This is a Sue Snow picture from training on Monday. Clearly the boys feel they deserve to ride in the front.
You've seen this picture before, from the banquet Tuesday, but I wanted to put it up again to say a few words about the back drop. Dan is standing in front of a quilt that was made by Cathy Downer, using teeshirts sent in from NAHRA clubs acoss the country. It is a beautiful work of art, and will henceforth be a traveling item at future Invitationals. And the reason it is going to travel is because a few members pooled their resources to pay over $2,000 to keep it in the family so to speak. Thanks guys, well done all the way around. I'd name names, but I don't know all the players and I don't want to slight someone by mistake.
I think that's it for now. Water tomorrow morning, and as is usually the case, it will tell the final story on who passes and who doesn't. The Goon runs 16th and I think Bry is about 28th. I know Bry is in good shape, The Goon less so with his handle on land and an upland that might have been a little disjointed. But the mere fact that he made it to the end keeps our record intact of always making it through the whole test, even if we didn't always pass, so I'm okay with whatever happens tomorrow. As I write this at almost 11PM, it is pouring down rain with more on tap for tomorrow, so it will be an interesting day.
Friday, June 10, 9:45PM CDT:
Today was way more interesting than I could have imagined. After dropping only three dogs the first two days, a whole bunch fell by the wayside today, including, unfortunately, The Goon. But he went down fighting and I'm as proud of him as I am of Bry, who hammered the whole test. NPRC did well, with The Goon the only dog not to qualify. Dave Mellender from ODRDC qualified as well, so it was a good test for both of my clubs. First, the qualifiers:
4
5
6
11
12
14
15
18
20
21
24
25
26
27
29
30
32
34
35
37
38
41
43
17
33
17 and 33 were inadvertently passed over during the ribbon ceremony, so I left them last on my list too! Sorry I don't have a jpg of the board - you can scroll up to see who is who.
I'm just too tired to put up pix and do much narrative tonight, but briefly, the test was a straight up triple and blind with no frills. Right bird at 80 yards, short bird on the left at 25 yards, and a flyer straight down the middle at about 95 yards. Blind by invitation to the right of the right hand bird. Clearly defined corridor with suction to the left from the previous mark, and the opportunity to go out of sight in the high grass to the right.
Dogs that were dropped, for the most part, had problems with the right hand bird (Goon) or got dropped for line issues - vocalization, lack of control, etc. It was a surprise to me that so much emphasis was placed on line manners, but I don't have a problem with it. If weekend judges paid more attention to them, the overall level would rise and that is a good thing
Saturday, June 11:
I'm going to put up a couple of pictures and then hit the road for two days to get back home. Check back later in the week for the wrap up.
Tuesday, June 14:
Appears that everyone made it home safely. Vik and I and the boys spent Saturday night outside Cleveland and got home around 5 on Sunday. Thank goodness, as I would have hated to miss King James' standard three quarters of stellar basketball that evening.
A few rambling thoughts and pictures:
I continue to feel very sorry for NAHRA president Frank Plewa. I've been watching the guy run dogs for over a dozen years now,and, as God is my witness, I've never seen him not pass a test. Heck, I've only even seen him close once. I figure the mind-numbing consistency must be pretty boring, or the stress to not break the streak must be enormous. Either way, most of us will never know what it's like. He is an incredible trainer, and a major reason that NPRC puts out great dogs year after year. Even though I'm a collar guy and he's not, I still depend on him to help me through problems, give me encouragement, or point out a pitfall in a scenario that I otherwise wouldn't have seen. Thanks Frank, all of us owe you big time.
This Sue Snow(or Mike Tome,not sure who should get credit) picture shows me working my way through the judge line up on a hug fest to Bry's ribbon. Terry looks relieved to be done with me, Tom is very anxious to have it over with, and Arlon has picked up a weapon which he subsequently used to keep me off of him. Bob Riggs and Troy Callanan await their turn. Bob later said he was glad to see me go back home - this may be why!
This is a pretty cool picture taken by the official photographer, Brittany Wood. It shows The Goon watching the water marks go down, while judge Johnston keeps a sharp eye on things. Goon hosed up the mark that he's looking at here, and we were done. But he didn't have a clue he was out; all he knew is that he got every bird I sent him for, and he seems to be smiling in pretty much every picture, so even when the judges told us we were done, I was okay with it.
This is another shot by Brittany, and it shows Bry on the way to one of the water marks. He really had a great test, much better than I ever could have hoped for. His upland and trail have been pretty weak, and I was really dreading Thursday, but he came out of it with a pair of 9's or thereabouts, and he stepped on all 6 marks. I was guilty of a bit of overhandling on the water blind, but at that point as long as he didn't drown we likely would have passed, and so it was.
This is Canadian rep Sue Snow returning after finishing her water series with Gee. Sue worked really hard to get Gee qualified, and then did a great job running the test and passing.
Our little training group from Monday fared pretty well. Sue Snow, Dave Mellender and Mike Tome each qualified their dog. Harry Williams qualified both of his, and Carl Strebe and I each qualified one of two. Seven out of nine isn't too bad at all, and I appreciated all the help we tried to give to one another. Sue was great about texting me updates on scheduling, especially since I'm a luddite when it comes to cell phones and gave her some pretty nonsensical replies.
DaKota Tilleraas just kicked butt all week. Best of all, she can take a punch and dish it right back. I can't wait to see her run again next year in Arizona.
In looking back at the test itself, I think what I'm going to take away from this year is that line manners apparently do still count in NAHRA. That was a surprise to a few folks, and the fault there lies with the weekend judges (and I'm probably as guilty as anyone) that are letting folks get away with too much. I'm not going to venture an opinion on how line manners were judged this week - I didn't see every dog run, and it wouldn't be appropriate for me to do so. But what I am going to do is pay more attention to them the next time I judge, and I hope everyone else does too. We do handlers no favor by passing unacceptable work.
One of the most valuable lessons I was ever taught was at a senior test many years ago judged by Jim Vandergiessen. I thought we were sailing through the test just fine, and when all that was left was the trail, the marshall told me we were out, because The Goon dropped too many birds. To say I was pissed would be a major understatement. But later, after I calmed down, I realized that he litterally dropped every bird at the line, and then picked them up. I figured all was fine because he picked them up, but obviously that is unacceptable work. So I apoligized to Jim for being an allhose, and we went to work and fixed the problem.
If our standard is to be upgraded to what it was years ago when I first started, all of our judges have to address it. If only a few judges pay attention to line manners, they are just going to get tagged as being too picky and eventually won't be asked to judge anymore. And while there are plenty of reasons to black list a judge, trying to uphold a REASONABLE standard for line manners isn't one of them.
Well, that's pretty much it for this year. As always, it was a great experience and I've already made my hotel reservations for next year in Arizona. If there is any way you can make it, you should try. Trust me, it's not like a weekend test only far away!
If you have enjoyed reading this blog, do me a favor. The next time you enter a test, enclose an extra $5 for the club. Or send Rosemary a check for $5. You piss away more than that all the time and don't even notice, so give up a couple bucks for the cause. See you next year. Thanks for the use of the hall.