The Great Kern County Fair 2012

So we have our booth at the Fair again this year and it is always really just a great time.   Seeing old friends....meeting new people...selling a bit of furniture :) and handing out those coupons that are good in the store until the next Fair date rolls around.   I admittedly tend to shop a bit too much in all of the booths and buildings..but what the heck... it only happens once a year right :)
Here's a couple of pics from last night....my Nephew Larry...hubby Mike and I did the night shift.   We are of course a small family business and we have to get some what of a schedule figured out in advance because we still have to have the stores open during many of the same hours as well.   A bit tiring at times...but definitely worth it.  If you're from Bako and reading this....be sure to stop by and say hi...we are in building # 2 :=)

 

Okie Bowl Hardtops at Bakersfield Speedway Sept 22 2012 and Grandpa Larry Hood

SOOOO all in all........A super fun week where a lot of stuff like this has been posted and talked about on the radio and shared here in Bakersfield Cali.....my home LOL

Lee Jensen shared Lee Jensen's photo.

September 18

With the announcement that "Grandpa" Larry Hood will be running an Okie Bowl Hardtops this weekend, I figured I'd put up a couple pictures we have. This one is from an old program we have. Maybe the family could chime in and say maybe what year this was. He sure looks a lot like Kevin Hood to me here.^^^^^^

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So this is my mom and pops....in the 1960's....

flash forward-----

and tonight in 2012....some awesome peeps----

they got this "race thing" together tonight for my dad to come out to the speedway and race in the "hardtops"....(because it would make 4 generations having been out there racing this 2012 season.....)

My dad...has already survived what the docs called "aggressive prostrate" cancer.....he had the first operation a couple of years ago...and at that time the Docs  told him they were lucky and got it all....and yep..as life will have it.....it came back last year...and so as a family...we had to "go at it again"...Pops  went thru a series of radiation treatments that made him very weak of course....but he came out of that doing quite well and he took off on another fishing trip......

I always EVEN to this day tell my dad that he still is in better shape than all of his kiddos :)

anywho...dad is back in town now...and the race tonight and seeing him out there was such a blast....super duper blast....I honestly can remember when I was about 4 years old...and watching him race out there at the Bako Speedway.....

This is me and older bro and "Zippy the clown" at Bakersfield Speedway..way back then LOL!

And here are the pics I took tonight out there....we had a lot of fun....but the car dad and my baby bro Mikie ended up driving  was IMO seriously a tank of a turd that couldn't turn left and be fast at the same time ever...LOL! Okay so here are some pics from the  "4 generations celebration" tonight---and we had a nice celebration indeed :)....(thanks so much to Mike Mosier and Steve Hughes as well....your announcing about my family... and giving Pops his props.....was so awesome! I love Bako!)

 This is how we roll.   I  am thankful every day of my life that I still have my Pops in it.  My only wish is that Momma could have been there showing us all the "Shake and Bake" leg thingie that she had mastered so well in her life time. :)....But tonight I was happy for him that he has Martha there now.....so loud and proud in his corner....and knowing that My Momma had a seat way way way up there in the stands tonight watching her family and smiling down on us!    Icing icing icing...shake and bake baby :)

 

your day

Saw this on Pinterest............so true :=)

Experience....can we count on it.....mehbeeee NoT LOL!

Okay...so in my previous post I alluded to an incident I recently had at my last trip to the hospital.
And this really made me re-think my way of thinking that "Experience" is paramount in all of life's situations.
So my little story is about my "nurse"....her name starts with a "G"...so I'm just gonna refer to her from here on out as Gee------------
I meet Gee after being in the cubicle for over 2 hours-------
Gee pulls back the curtain and introduces herself as my "personal care nurse".....she comes in with a nice little smile.....and I tell myself I like her....I mean it was instant.   And I later had to tell myself that even though I am super big on first impressions........in this case......I FAILED BIG TIME LOL!
Okay..so I ask her "How long have you been working here?"  And she says "I have been here almost 10 years but I have been a nurse for almost 40 years".   And I say "Fantastic!   Not only can I understand you when you speak...but also...you have a ton of experience.....gosh Gee..this is my lucky day Whoo Hooo thank you Jesus!" (Hexed mahhhselfff...yes-ir-eeee on that one)
So as we are getting into the questions......(because of the fact that I am still having a menstrual cycle although somewhat sporadic and with a mind of it's own these days heh-heh)......they still have to perform a blood test and draw blood with the IV---- to make sure that I am not preggers............
So Gee starts with the needle......she pokes it into my left hand.......
now...I am a pretty strong person......I am not a baby.......I can handle a little pain every now and then..
okay....but this "Poke" immediately makes me cringe.......Gee starts twisting the needle and turning it and gyrating it around and around.....my freaking toes are curling up to the ceiling....I grab my hair...and finally say...."Did you miss a vein or something??????"........ I mean I have never had a problem before with anyone drawing blood or IV's for that matter
So then Gee says  "Oh I am so sorry......this should never ever hurt like this"....and I tell her "No worries.....maybe it is just because I am dehydrated since I haven't had anything to drink since 12 A.m."   I mean...this is just me....but when I am in a situation where you are depending on someone else to take care of you and you have absolutely no control over the situation.....you can't be rude.....you can't be an ass........you simply have to buck up and keep it NICE.....
So she yanks it out of my left hand and pokes into my right hand.....and "Hello Houston.....we have found an actual vein where blood will indeed come out P.T.L!!!!!" 
My freaking left hand at this point was throbbing...my toes were still curled.....but the tears in my eyes were almost dry....and at the base of where my hand meets my wrist....there was this HUGE bump that had cropped up.....I could only assume this was from Gee twisting and turning that needle.....but hey....the IV in my right hand was on point.  Whoo Hooo!
So she tells me..."Don't worry about all of the bubbles in the line....this is typical when the flow is high....I guess I could turn it down to stop that".   Uhmmm......okay......I wasn't worried until you brought that up Gee.....LOL!
So next she was having a lot of problems with the computer and entering the information.  And I told her that I was just there 3 weeks ago when the hospital had just switched over to a new system and the nurses were frantic and I was actually left in a room for 3 extra hours because I was not showing up on the proper screen.........and she affirmed what a night mare it had been.....and I tell her that I am old school and finally finally getting around to this "tech age" instead of logging everything on paper.....so I know how she feels......
Then what happens?   My surgeon comes and he is ready for me but damn.....Gee has sent my blood test to the lab in the wrong page or section or whatever it was.....and now my surgery is delayed until someone can come and help Gee straighten this out.
Finally a young nurse comes in and shows her how to delete the wrong entry and to send it to the right place and I am kind of joking about "Do I have a bun in MY oven dilemma"......the young nurse asks Gee....."Did you place her compression socks?"  Or something like that.....and Gee says "Yes"..and I say....."Do you mean these blue socks with the grips on the feet?".....The young nurse pulls back the sheets and Gee then says " I could have sworn I put those on her".
She scrambles out of the curtain to go get those compression socks...and I see that when she brings them back...she walks by my "cubicle" #5....and I hear her walk into "cubicle" # 4 and she says....."Excuse me I'm sorry".......then she comes into me @ #5 and puts the gosh durn things on me.....
young nurse leaves...I tell her "Thank you from the bottom of my heart LOl!".....Gee then finishes up the "questions"  and gets to the question of "Do you have any wounds or open sores on your body?"   I say "Not that I am aware of".....When she leaves the cubicle I tell my hubby........"Damn....I started to tell her 'Other than the wound you created on my left hand...nope none'....."
and hubby says....."I was thinking the same thing" LOL!
So I am left with this......after this situation.....
I guess that sometimes experience and time spent at a job doesn't mean poo diddly caaaarp.   Maybe Gee who is ten years older than me was simply having a bad day......and then again...maybe Gee has been a crappy nurse every day of her career.   So much for experience.......
but hey! I survived LOL.....I rolled on out of there....and in the end...that is really all that matters :=)

A Lazy Lucky Sunday

So Cookie and I were feeling a bit lazy this morning and we slept in and then went out on the porch to hang out with the other dogs and watch hubby do a bit of yard work. :=)  I get a kick out of watching her kick back in the sun....she just enjoys it so much.....it really makes me smile. (I'm not sure if it shows up in the pics much because of the bright light.....but my hand is still pretty jacked up and bruised from where my "nurse with 40 years experience" screwed up my IV and after twisting and turning and making my toes curl she decided she needed to use my right hand...but that's a different story LOL!)

 Muffin is the wild little thang and she usually doesn't "lap sit" for extended periods of time but this morning she was pretty content to have me holding her.  

 Brownie is of course the instigator of the pack...always sniffing and looking for something good to mess with LOL.
So hubby asks if I feel like going to Bingo and it was running a bit late but I figured what the heck we haven't been in a while .    So long story short...we went and I won one game for $250 , I then split another game for $84, and then I won one of the specials for $1199.
So all in all it was a great lazy lucky day.  And I really believe in timing...our last minute decision to go to Bingo ended up paying off.  Whoo hooo!  We got home a while ago and I think there's more time to go catch a few more rays of sunshine out on the porch :=).  Hope ya'll have a great week!

The Hood's get er done tonight Whoo hooo!

So yes...I have been pretty sick for awhile....but today...2 days after returning to work after my latest procedure....I told my hubby that  I wanted to go out to Bako tonight  and be there....big time...(dad just got back from Trinidad...championship points deal going on etc.etc.)-----then what happens?  A super busy day at work...I get home this eve and hubby gives me a hand to "pull my arse" up the steps....no energy left whatsoever...and I tell him I am not feeling so good but yet..am feeling better than I have in a long long time....and yet at the same time...wanted to be out there and didn't get to see it happen in person.....

but dang.......

my older bro-----he has been dealing with some personal and medical issues....and still----helllzzzz yahhhh....gassed er up and won tonight even tho he only had to start the race to win the points championship....I was really worried about how he would do tonight after the problems with his legs and feet and the reaction involving the meds he is taking and what is going on with him....and what those dang chiggers added to his plate in Boone :)

my nephew Kyle Hood started from the back and took 2nd place tonight...and the best part of my BUSY day was when a customer of mine bought something today....I never met them..they shook my hand...and told me that my younger bro Mikie...works on their nephew's engines out at Bako:) and how much they think of him :)....

then the icing on top of the cake.....my nephew Larry Hood winning 3 in a row....Hollah!  And then....also makes me smile.....his C-stas hubby...Lee Jensen....who finished 2nd...and to hear that the 2 of them drove a hell-uv-a-race.....
crappppppppp.....I wish I would have been there.....

but I am getting back to feeling better....and I guarangoshdarnteeya.....that I will be out there next year....I think and hope I can and will be out there to see it happen!!!!

So proud of ya'll..................

HOLLAH...and wish wish wish...I could have felt like being out there hollering.....but my heart smiles to know that you know my heart is there with you always :)

Larry Hood wins third IMCA feature at Speedway

BY MIKE GRIFFITH Californian staff writer mgriffith@bakersfield.com

It took Larry Hood eight laps to edge past leader Lee Jensen in a dramatic side-by-side duel Saturday night at Bakersfield Speedway, but once he did there was no catching him.
After putting his bumper ahead of Jensen to start the 16th lap, Hood sailed clear on the following lap and pulled away for his third IMCA feature of the year.

Related Photos

Darrell Hood, Sports Mod driver at Bakersfield Speedway.

"First of all, Terry Henry -- what an awesome race car he put under me tonight," Hood said of the man who prepares his car. "I think me and Lee Jenson put on a heck of a race."
That they did in the 25-lap event.
Jensen, making his third start, took the lead on the third lap and had the car glued to the bottom of the track. Hood quickly moved into second, but did so using the high groove.
It took Hood a few laps to catch Jensen then the eight laps to get past him.
"I think the car is a little faster than I am at this point," said Jensen who finished second. "But we had a heck of a race with Larry."
Points leader Brad Pounds finished third, followed by Robby Sawyer and Kyle Heckman.
Right after the Modified feature, Lee Jensen jumped into a Hobby Stock, led most of the way, then had to settle for another runner-up finish.
Defending track champion Steven Johnson caught Jensen, who had led from the outset, with five laps to, tired then high side, then moved in right behind Jensen.
Johnson then gave Jensen a couple of bumps, which moved Jenson off the bottom groove and opened the door for Johnson to take the lead with three laps left in the 25-lap race.
Jensen battled back on the next lap, briefly moved inside Johnson, but slipped back and had to settle for second.
"He was fast," Johnson said of Jensen. "I tried the high side, it didn't work, so I moved down behind him. I tried to race him as clean as I could."
Chad Johnson finished third, Eric Cimental was fourth and Dylan Hagar fifth.
Darrel Hood had the IMCA Sports Mod championship locked up when the 25-lap feature started.
But he wanted to go out with a win.
He did just that, going past a spinning Joe Baker in turn three on the final lap for his fourth win. Baker led more than 24 ½ laps.
"It's time to celebrate," said Hood, father of Larry. "This is a great class."
Eric Brust was second and Nick Spainhoward fourth.
Dylan Baker led all 20 laps en route to his first Mini Stock feature win. Baker led by more than a full straight at one point and was never challenged.
Kyle Hood finished second, just holding off four-time winner Doug Shepherd, who moved into the points lead, four points ahead of Darren Sherman who placed sixth.
One race remains to decide the championship.
Andrew Orlando extended his points lead by driving to his second victory in the Junior Mini Dwarf feature. Orlando holds a commanding 16-point lead (eight positions on the track) with one race remaining. In Senior Mini Dwarf action, Anthony Balcazar raced to his series-leading sixth victory

Learning to hunt :) ...Chloe's first Easter,,,Oh Happy Day.....

This one made me smile bigger than big LOL!...It is of course from last Easter old..but new smiles for me here LOL!