Month: July 2008

Turn Signals: Cheating, or a Good Idea?

Dear lady who almost drove into me with her silver Camry this morning. I know that Camrys have one hell of a blind spot for the driver, but you better figure that out before you total that pretty new car. Fortunately I was able to brake so we didn’t collide when you switched lanes without signaling, but you will increase your long-term odds of surviving if you start using your turn signals.

Sticker shock

As Jack and I were driving to work this morning, I saw the first McCain bumper sticker. I’ve seen lots of Obama stickers the past few weeks. This discrepancy is especially surprising considering El Paso county consistently votes Republican. The kicker: the bumper sticker was on a car with Virginia license plates. I think McCain has a problem. (Of course, this observation is totally bogus due to selection bias, but I see lots of Bush/Cheney stickers still.)

Clever Lily

Last weekend, I went into the paddock to put a halter on Lily so I could lead her out. She was standing too close to the feeder for me to reach her head without stretching from where I was standing by her shoulder. Before I could raise my hand to touch her chest (the signal I give her when I want her to back) she took a step backward so she was in the correct position for me to halter her. I was taken aback: Lily is one of the brighter horses I’ve handled, but it seemed a bit much for her to realize that I couldn’t get to her head easily so she had to help me out.

Back in the early 20th century, Clever Hans was a horse that was purported to do arithmetic and other intellectual tasks. After an investigation, psychologist Oskar Pfungst demonstrated that the horse was actually reacting to the involuntary cues of his trainer, which were not perceptible by human observers. Even more interesting: Pfungst could not suppress the cues when he was handling the horse himself.

So I think what actually happened when I thought about asking Lily to back, I gave her a cue without realizing it, caught by her peripheral vision. Which is rather amazing in and of itself. But then there was a time when I had a hard time remembering the correct aids for the canter when I rode any horse but Hap. Hap didn’t need no stinking canter aids: I thought “canter,” and he cantered.

Ice Cream for Supper

My root canal procedure this morning seems to have been more painful than the general run of such things. (Or else I am just a total wuss.) I did go to work for thirty minutes afterward, then gave it up since I was unable to concentrate and came home. (On the way to work, I kept telling myself to suck it up: people have these things all the time without it being the end of the world.) Fortunately, the Tylenol plus codeine the dentist prescribed took the edge off the pain, and left me nicely fuzzy. Jack brought me home ice cream for supper: I figured I might as well get SOME pleasure from not wanting to open my mouth.

This is the first one I have had, and if I ever need one again, I think they are going to have to sedate me.