I backed out. The offer I referred to earlier? Too many red flags, and people saying I should wait. I guess it's like marrying the first boy who proposes...Oops. Well, this is different! haha.
In all honesty, I was not sure. I sure don't want to make a big-dollar mistake!
I'm on the prowl again, and this time I'm willing to take my time.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
Offer insulting?
I'm currently horse-shopping, as you may know. I put an offer in on a horse, who I thought may be a tad overpriced at $5000, they originally wanted $6500 and the horse didn't move for a year!
I offered $3500 and am waiting for an answer. This horse isn't a make-or-break, but I am pretty excited.
Now the general consensus seems to be that that kind of offer isn't insulting, but do some people think it is? I feel that owners are always free to say no, or counter-offer with a price of their choosing. It is a two-way thing, a back and forth conversation. I don't want to rip anyone off but at the same time, I can easily walk away from this one without a second glance. If I was the owner, I'd really consider my offer! (easy for me to say) haha.
Also this was one of the better horses I tried. Let's just say photos, owners and videos can be extremely misleading... I got the 'beginner-safe' horses with mouths of iron, can't stop, can't go in a straight line, and they want $5000?? Yikes.
No thank you!
If this one doesn't work out, c'est la vie. There are more fish in the sea, and horses for sale on the internet.
I offered $3500 and am waiting for an answer. This horse isn't a make-or-break, but I am pretty excited.
Now the general consensus seems to be that that kind of offer isn't insulting, but do some people think it is? I feel that owners are always free to say no, or counter-offer with a price of their choosing. It is a two-way thing, a back and forth conversation. I don't want to rip anyone off but at the same time, I can easily walk away from this one without a second glance. If I was the owner, I'd really consider my offer! (easy for me to say) haha.
Also this was one of the better horses I tried. Let's just say photos, owners and videos can be extremely misleading... I got the 'beginner-safe' horses with mouths of iron, can't stop, can't go in a straight line, and they want $5000?? Yikes.
No thank you!
If this one doesn't work out, c'est la vie. There are more fish in the sea, and horses for sale on the internet.
Portland & More
Yes, it has been awhile, hasn't it?
I have a good excuse. I have travelled to Vancouver, Skagway, Vancouver, Portland and Vancouver again in the past 3 weeks. I have also worked on homework, writing articles, work and contract work. Yike!
Portland was really cool. It is quite the indie/hip city, with record shops, charcuterie platters, artisan cheeses, indie ground coffee and microbrews galore. It also rained a lot. And was freezing. I was rather unprepared for that, as it was +18 in frosty ol' Whitehorse so I figured if it is warm here, it must be warm everywhere else! Not so...
We stayed at the Ace hotel: www.acehotel.com/portland
And it was very hip. Very cool. I loved it! You do have to be pretty intimate with your travel buddy/room share person, as our room's shower was right in the room. The toilet, mercifully, was in a room of it's own.
We ate at so many restaurants, I wanted to eat everywhere! They had the coolest food (popcorn with pimentio appys? Roasted almonds with olives? Paninis with proscuitto and apple? yes please!)
The beer was good too, and you can't miss Powell's books, it takes up an entire city block!! We also visited the zoo, where my allergies went absolutely insane and I was overcome with pounding sinus pain (stupid rhododendrons), and it was freezing and raining. The zoo was quaint, small but nice. The animals were rambunctions, we saw a tortoise attempt to snatch at broccoli without moving it's body, and an elephant ponderously back itself into it's elephant cave. hahaha.
The train is a good way to go but takes forever (6+hrs) and the customs agents are serious pain in the asses--we had to go through customs TWICE leaving Vancouver, we were also 30 mins late leaving Van b/c of the incredible ineptitute of pretty much everyone there. JEebus.
Train is also cheap ($100 return).
Go, enjoy Portland! City of roses, good food and good beer. Stay at the ACE hotel, you won't regret it! Good shopping too, but we didn't have much time for that.
I have a good excuse. I have travelled to Vancouver, Skagway, Vancouver, Portland and Vancouver again in the past 3 weeks. I have also worked on homework, writing articles, work and contract work. Yike!
Portland was really cool. It is quite the indie/hip city, with record shops, charcuterie platters, artisan cheeses, indie ground coffee and microbrews galore. It also rained a lot. And was freezing. I was rather unprepared for that, as it was +18 in frosty ol' Whitehorse so I figured if it is warm here, it must be warm everywhere else! Not so...
We stayed at the Ace hotel: www.acehotel.com/portland
And it was very hip. Very cool. I loved it! You do have to be pretty intimate with your travel buddy/room share person, as our room's shower was right in the room. The toilet, mercifully, was in a room of it's own.
We ate at so many restaurants, I wanted to eat everywhere! They had the coolest food (popcorn with pimentio appys? Roasted almonds with olives? Paninis with proscuitto and apple? yes please!)
The beer was good too, and you can't miss Powell's books, it takes up an entire city block!! We also visited the zoo, where my allergies went absolutely insane and I was overcome with pounding sinus pain (stupid rhododendrons), and it was freezing and raining. The zoo was quaint, small but nice. The animals were rambunctions, we saw a tortoise attempt to snatch at broccoli without moving it's body, and an elephant ponderously back itself into it's elephant cave. hahaha.
The train is a good way to go but takes forever (6+hrs) and the customs agents are serious pain in the asses--we had to go through customs TWICE leaving Vancouver, we were also 30 mins late leaving Van b/c of the incredible ineptitute of pretty much everyone there. JEebus.
Train is also cheap ($100 return).
Go, enjoy Portland! City of roses, good food and good beer. Stay at the ACE hotel, you won't regret it! Good shopping too, but we didn't have much time for that.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Chocolate Mousse!
I made the most interesting dessert yesterday--vegan chocolate mousse. How did I make it? Well, I had 3 little avocados going funny on my windowsill, the result of buying the sack of 5 rock-hard ones and then getting sick of them after eating two...
So, I looked online and found a vegan recipe for making avocado chocolate mousse! I made it, it's pretty simple. Just look for recipes that don't have bizarre or ridiculous demands, or substitute your own for those silly ones that ask for 'vanilla pods' or 'pure organic maple syrup and carob'...
All you need are 2 or 3 very ripe avocados, some vanilla extract, 1/4 cup of cocoa, water and 100 mls of maple syrup. Blend and voila! Dark bittersweet chocolate mousse. There is a hint of avocado and the texture is fluffy with a bit of grain to it, but it's quite nice. It is extremely filling, trust me, so you don't need to eat a lot to feel very full. I ate mine with sliced strawberries. Keep it chilled in the fridge and enjoy with fruit of your choice~ a healthy dessert!
So, I looked online and found a vegan recipe for making avocado chocolate mousse! I made it, it's pretty simple. Just look for recipes that don't have bizarre or ridiculous demands, or substitute your own for those silly ones that ask for 'vanilla pods' or 'pure organic maple syrup and carob'...
All you need are 2 or 3 very ripe avocados, some vanilla extract, 1/4 cup of cocoa, water and 100 mls of maple syrup. Blend and voila! Dark bittersweet chocolate mousse. There is a hint of avocado and the texture is fluffy with a bit of grain to it, but it's quite nice. It is extremely filling, trust me, so you don't need to eat a lot to feel very full. I ate mine with sliced strawberries. Keep it chilled in the fridge and enjoy with fruit of your choice~ a healthy dessert!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Horse-shopping results
I haven't found 'the one' quite yet. It's ok, I am in the early stages of looking. I'm just a bit surprised by what passes for broke these days, and I am wondering if I should re-negotiate my budget... Oh, it's so tempting to say 'what the hell' and buy the $12,000 do-everything-but-tie your shoes horse. Of course, I don't have that kind of budget anyways, but hey pipe dreams and all!
Some surprises: Ads can be extremely misleading, and although none of the horses were seriously misrepresented, there were definitely some surprising moments. Even more surprising was what happened with a horse I tried out. I tried the horse out, he was gorgeous. Petite, fine-boned and so shiny. A real beauty. His trainer rode him beautifully, and I was itching to get on. I rode him and he was a bit of a tough ride, not a horse you could get on and 'just ride' he was a thinking ride. I had to be aware of how my legs were, my seat, if my shoulders were tipping, getting tense, breathing, eyes up, etc etc. A bit of work, all in all. He shot off at the canter, which was a bit alarming.
My friend got on, a bit more of a novice rider but not inexperienced by any means. She trotted for a bit and the horse took off with her, she circled around and managed to get under control. We regrouped, she trotted off again, and the horse ran off with her like a bat out of hell. It was incredibly frightening, they whipped around the corners of the arena almost falling over and she bailed in the corner. The horse continued galloping and smashed into the metal gate at the end of the arena. If my friend has stayed on, that might have been her running full-tilt into the gate. I shudder to think of it. You could tell the horse had no brain in his head at all. He looked crazed and scared out of his freaking mind.
She was fine, the horse was fine. My mind, however, was not. I was not getting this horse, no way.
The trainer was stunned. She had never seen this kind of reaction with this horse, and with horses, unfortunately, there is a first time for everything.
We moved on, and I tried another horse. This horse had a great advertisement, was beautiful in person with no obvious issues. A really flashy animal, I had dreams of us showing up in the hunter ring. My trainer tried the horse and had some issues, and she is quite talented. I got on and man.... Let's just say I'm super glad I don't buy sight-unseen.
The horse rode like a drunk giraffe. I couldn't keep him between my legs and hands, iron-mouth, no stop, weaving all over the place. Safe as heck but riding was an exercise in serious frustration. The horse was not as trained as I was led to believe, and man, it was just a ridiculous ride. Forget it!
Fingers crossed I find something I like! I did try a pony that I quite enjoyed, it jumped nicely, was incredibly fat and out of shape though. It hadn't had a lot of miles out of the home ground, which is a red flag, and has been for sale for at least a year. Jury's still out on that one.
Some surprises: Ads can be extremely misleading, and although none of the horses were seriously misrepresented, there were definitely some surprising moments. Even more surprising was what happened with a horse I tried out. I tried the horse out, he was gorgeous. Petite, fine-boned and so shiny. A real beauty. His trainer rode him beautifully, and I was itching to get on. I rode him and he was a bit of a tough ride, not a horse you could get on and 'just ride' he was a thinking ride. I had to be aware of how my legs were, my seat, if my shoulders were tipping, getting tense, breathing, eyes up, etc etc. A bit of work, all in all. He shot off at the canter, which was a bit alarming.
My friend got on, a bit more of a novice rider but not inexperienced by any means. She trotted for a bit and the horse took off with her, she circled around and managed to get under control. We regrouped, she trotted off again, and the horse ran off with her like a bat out of hell. It was incredibly frightening, they whipped around the corners of the arena almost falling over and she bailed in the corner. The horse continued galloping and smashed into the metal gate at the end of the arena. If my friend has stayed on, that might have been her running full-tilt into the gate. I shudder to think of it. You could tell the horse had no brain in his head at all. He looked crazed and scared out of his freaking mind.
She was fine, the horse was fine. My mind, however, was not. I was not getting this horse, no way.
The trainer was stunned. She had never seen this kind of reaction with this horse, and with horses, unfortunately, there is a first time for everything.
We moved on, and I tried another horse. This horse had a great advertisement, was beautiful in person with no obvious issues. A really flashy animal, I had dreams of us showing up in the hunter ring. My trainer tried the horse and had some issues, and she is quite talented. I got on and man.... Let's just say I'm super glad I don't buy sight-unseen.
The horse rode like a drunk giraffe. I couldn't keep him between my legs and hands, iron-mouth, no stop, weaving all over the place. Safe as heck but riding was an exercise in serious frustration. The horse was not as trained as I was led to believe, and man, it was just a ridiculous ride. Forget it!
Fingers crossed I find something I like! I did try a pony that I quite enjoyed, it jumped nicely, was incredibly fat and out of shape though. It hadn't had a lot of miles out of the home ground, which is a red flag, and has been for sale for at least a year. Jury's still out on that one.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Hair in my food restaurants
I just got back from a weekend of extremely disappointing dining out (almost wrote 'dinging' yes that would be the right word for it).
Tokyo Sushi on Main Street, YT. I had lunch there this past Friday and found a lush, thick black hair stretched luxuriously across my bed of gyozas. Those gyozas cost $6.50 pls tax, and I got a paltry six of them. The hair was absolutely disgusting.
I noticed it right away and had the poor over-worked server take it away, and replace it with was probably the original six gyozas, I figured. Oh well. I then had the misfortune to forget my wallet and have someone else pay, and then I paid them back later. That little hairy lunch (gyozas, special roll of the day and tuna roll, paltry four each in the roll) cost me a cool $20! WTF? Ok, am I the only one thinking a hair in one's meal should result in a comp or a free drink or something?
It's ok, that's in the past.
Today however, is not the past. I went to Copper Ridge's newest pub, The Ridge. I have enjoyed drafts there and had a meal there once that was acceptable, not great but not bad either. I ordered a chicken club and a beer, hold the mayo. My order came with yet another thick black hair resting insolently against my bed of fries. YUCK/
I got the server to take it back, and had some of my friend's fries, where were good but salty. The order came back sans hair, and had MAYO. I am allergic.
I picked it up after asking the server if it did indeed have mayo, and did this look like mayo to you? She shrugged and asked if I thought it looked like mayo. Hmm...well, YES.
Order #2 goes back.
Finally my order attempt #3 happens, w/o hair and w/o mayo. It is ok, fries are good, club sandwich is ok too. I finished the beer, ate the sandwich and some fries. Of course, by that time the friends I had dinner with were finished with their meals, by a long shot and were sitting around waiting for me. ARGH
And when the bill came, was my meal or drink comped or a percentage taken off? Why, of course not this is cheap ass Whitehorse we're talking about. No knowledge of social niceties at all!
So, I did what was natural. I tipped a healthy $0.00 and wrote: no tip because my order went back twice and no offer to comp or a drink comped was made. Bite it!
So yeah, I have had terrible service and hair in my food twice in three days. I am officially boycotting Whitehorse shit restaurants.
(I did have Boston Pizza yesterday and it was great. I have also eaten out at too many restaurants lately for my own good!)
Tokyo Sushi on Main Street, YT. I had lunch there this past Friday and found a lush, thick black hair stretched luxuriously across my bed of gyozas. Those gyozas cost $6.50 pls tax, and I got a paltry six of them. The hair was absolutely disgusting.
I noticed it right away and had the poor over-worked server take it away, and replace it with was probably the original six gyozas, I figured. Oh well. I then had the misfortune to forget my wallet and have someone else pay, and then I paid them back later. That little hairy lunch (gyozas, special roll of the day and tuna roll, paltry four each in the roll) cost me a cool $20! WTF? Ok, am I the only one thinking a hair in one's meal should result in a comp or a free drink or something?
It's ok, that's in the past.
Today however, is not the past. I went to Copper Ridge's newest pub, The Ridge. I have enjoyed drafts there and had a meal there once that was acceptable, not great but not bad either. I ordered a chicken club and a beer, hold the mayo. My order came with yet another thick black hair resting insolently against my bed of fries. YUCK/
I got the server to take it back, and had some of my friend's fries, where were good but salty. The order came back sans hair, and had MAYO. I am allergic.
I picked it up after asking the server if it did indeed have mayo, and did this look like mayo to you? She shrugged and asked if I thought it looked like mayo. Hmm...well, YES.
Order #2 goes back.
Finally my order attempt #3 happens, w/o hair and w/o mayo. It is ok, fries are good, club sandwich is ok too. I finished the beer, ate the sandwich and some fries. Of course, by that time the friends I had dinner with were finished with their meals, by a long shot and were sitting around waiting for me. ARGH
And when the bill came, was my meal or drink comped or a percentage taken off? Why, of course not this is cheap ass Whitehorse we're talking about. No knowledge of social niceties at all!
So, I did what was natural. I tipped a healthy $0.00 and wrote: no tip because my order went back twice and no offer to comp or a drink comped was made. Bite it!
So yeah, I have had terrible service and hair in my food twice in three days. I am officially boycotting Whitehorse shit restaurants.
(I did have Boston Pizza yesterday and it was great. I have also eaten out at too many restaurants lately for my own good!)
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