To the West Coast and Back
Dec. 12th, 2011 08:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kybearfuzzMy trip to Sacramento was a good one, though I didn't really get much time to see the city. By the time our training class let out for the day, the sun was usually going down and the temperatures along with them. I did get to see my buddies Johnny and Chris for dinner again before I flew out on Friday.
Wednesday was fun. The class was about drug residues in cattle, so as part of the course, I got to visit an auction house and a dairy farm. Sadly I don't have any pics of the cattle auction because they didn't allow any photos. It's not like I would have taken pics of the cows, but the blue collar farmers! Oh wow... the jeans, the cowboy hats, the facial hair -- so many good things to see.
A cattle auction is an interesting thing to say the least. A truck with a trailer pulls up, lets a group of cows or calves out, each getting a tag, and then moves on. The auction part is entertaining. A cow comes out, they post her tag number and weight on a board, then the auctioneer rambles incoherently with his head moving back and forth amongst the bidder like a tennis fan with Tourette's Syndrome. The cow runs back and forth in the pen with a sexy cowboy who shoos her back through another gate with a long rattle on a stick. I likened it to a beauty contest. The cow comes out, struts her stuff in front of the judges, she gets a final score in terms of bids (X dollars per 100 lbs), and then exits. I kept singing "Fat Bottom Girls" in my head when they came out for some reason. Some cows didn't seem to mind the attention while others seem pissed to be on display. One poor bony cow only got $10/100 lbs. I felt sorry for her.
The dairy farm was entertaining. The lady who owns the place really cares for her animals. I'm surprised how easily these cows just walk into place, get the udder hook up and just sit still until done. The calves are adorable. Each one gets her own "room" in a pen until she's a few weeks old and then into a large pen with the others. Each one is on her way to becoming a dairy cow like dear old mom.
My group had a case study project to present on Friday morning. It was fun, but we got a bit of rave reviews thanks to a scroll of cartoons of people we "interviewed" I drew. The odd part was the fact I drew it with a Sharpie on a roll of paper towels. Necessity is the mother of invention.
As fun as Sacramento was, I admit I was happy to head home. It took literally all day, thanks to a delay on my connection in Salt Lake City. I pulled into my driveway at 2 AM. I've spent most of the weekend in recovery mode. I took today off to get a few things done.
Two weeks until Christmas. Happy ... er.. Monday...
Wednesday was fun. The class was about drug residues in cattle, so as part of the course, I got to visit an auction house and a dairy farm. Sadly I don't have any pics of the cattle auction because they didn't allow any photos. It's not like I would have taken pics of the cows, but the blue collar farmers! Oh wow... the jeans, the cowboy hats, the facial hair -- so many good things to see.
A cattle auction is an interesting thing to say the least. A truck with a trailer pulls up, lets a group of cows or calves out, each getting a tag, and then moves on. The auction part is entertaining. A cow comes out, they post her tag number and weight on a board, then the auctioneer rambles incoherently with his head moving back and forth amongst the bidder like a tennis fan with Tourette's Syndrome. The cow runs back and forth in the pen with a sexy cowboy who shoos her back through another gate with a long rattle on a stick. I likened it to a beauty contest. The cow comes out, struts her stuff in front of the judges, she gets a final score in terms of bids (X dollars per 100 lbs), and then exits. I kept singing "Fat Bottom Girls" in my head when they came out for some reason. Some cows didn't seem to mind the attention while others seem pissed to be on display. One poor bony cow only got $10/100 lbs. I felt sorry for her.
The dairy farm was entertaining. The lady who owns the place really cares for her animals. I'm surprised how easily these cows just walk into place, get the udder hook up and just sit still until done. The calves are adorable. Each one gets her own "room" in a pen until she's a few weeks old and then into a large pen with the others. Each one is on her way to becoming a dairy cow like dear old mom.My group had a case study project to present on Friday morning. It was fun, but we got a bit of rave reviews thanks to a scroll of cartoons of people we "interviewed" I drew. The odd part was the fact I drew it with a Sharpie on a roll of paper towels. Necessity is the mother of invention.
As fun as Sacramento was, I admit I was happy to head home. It took literally all day, thanks to a delay on my connection in Salt Lake City. I pulled into my driveway at 2 AM. I've spent most of the weekend in recovery mode. I took today off to get a few things done.
Two weeks until Christmas. Happy ... er.. Monday...
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2011-12-12 02:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-12 07:15 pm (UTC)so funny to come to CA and go to a cattle auction, it's like we're Texas or something.
no subject
Date: 2011-12-13 12:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-12 08:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-14 05:20 am (UTC)