Three @ MindSay

It was a hot summer night in the city. It was Weds June 25th, 2008 when myself and three friends traveled north to see and interact with (gamble on) live thoroughbred horse racing at the Woodbine Racetrack. 

 

At 6:30 pm we entered the racetrack and hurried upstairs to the popular Champions patio - we were desperate to get what we assumed would be the last available outdoor seating... only to discover the well appointed patio was completely deserted. My group sat together quietly making bets and perusing the menu in the final minutes before the first race.

Lately I've been playing a horse race game on the computer, and I've been dreaming about visiting the track again - you see I think I've developed this sport's perfect betting strategy.

I pick a good horse (good odds) with an average jockey (good win rate) then i pick a slower horse (weaker odds) with a great jockey (very high win rate). Let's call these horses #1 and #2.  When I stand at the betting window I say, '...one dollar exactor box bet, horse #1 and #2'. This means that it doesn't matter which horse comes in first or second (its essentially two bets) and because its a $1 bet I only pay $2.00 total. The value here is the exactor combination is always difficult to win and therefore pays large $$. The $1 box bet exactor is a cheap ticket to a big payout.

 

It was somewhat deflating to find the racetrack deserted. After interacting with the strange cast of characters on the Get Sulky.com harness racing fan site, I was looking forward to meeting some of the real folks who frequent these Ontario racetracks.

 

 
The Ontario Harness Horse Association was formed on the first day of February 1961 to represent Ontario harness horsemen and horsewomen in negotiations of purses, racing conditions. They handle all matters affecting the racing industry with the tracks, Standardbred Canada, the Ontario Racing Commission, and the Provincial and Federal governments. Here's the Ontario Harness Racing lens on Squidoo.

 

Harness Racing is the third largest agricultural sector in Ontario, in terms of expenditure. This agriculture based industry helps to increase and diversify tourism. Horse racing generates well over $1 billion dollars annually in the province. On a per dollar basis, every dollar of expenditure results in $1.22 in wages, interest, rent and profits. Ontario's horse racing industry generates over 17,000 jobs, many of which are in rural areas.

 

 

Stolen from myclette

THREE NAMES YOU GO BY:
1. Nahdene (Nay-deen)
2. Dee

3. Mommy

THREE SCREEN NAMES YOU HAVE HAD:
1. mistress_night85
2. ldy_death69
3. SilverFire85

THREE PARTS OF YOUR ETHNIC HERITAGE:
1. Danish
2. Scotch-Irish
3. German

THREE THINGS THAT SCARE YOU:
1. Heights
2. Spiders
3. Growing up.  :Þ

THREE OF YOUR EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS:
1. Food

2. something to drink

3. brush

THREE THINGS YOU ARE WEARING RIGHT NOW:
1. pentacle necklace
2. purple jammie pants 

3. Undies

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE BANDS OR MUSICAL ARTISTS (at the moment):
1. Linkin Park
2. The Prom Kings
3. Three Days Grace

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE SONGS (at the moment):
1. Down In Mexico by the Coasters

2. Alone by The Prom Kings
3. Given Up by Linkin Park

THREE NEW THINGS YOU WANT TO TRY IN THE NEXT 5 MONTHS:
1. fitting my ass into my size 12s again

2. Making more money

3. archery

THREE THINGS YOU WANT IN A RELATIONSHIP:
1. Honesty
2. Humor
3. Intimacy

TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE
1. I've been in jail
2. I can dance

3. I've been in the hospital overnight 

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS ABOUT THE OPPOSITE SEX (or same) THAT APPEAL TO YOU:
Opposite sex.
1. Nice eyes

2. Nice butt. 
3. Nice smile.


THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE HOBBIES:
1. Singing

2. Reading

3. Crocheting

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO REALLY BADLY RIGHT NOW:
1. Make some new friends

2. Travel (anywhere but here)

3. Win the lottery

THREE CAREERS YOU'RE CONSIDERING:
1. Photographer
2. Veterinarian
3. Writer

 

THREE PLACES YOU WANT TO GO ON VACATION:
1. Japan
2. Hawaii

3. Colorado

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE:
1. Write a book.

2. Travel the world
3. Tryst with Milla Jovovich

THREE KIDS' NAMES:
Other than my daughter's name:
1. Kestra 

2. Phaedrin
3. Taea

THREE WAYS I AM STEREOTYPICALLY A BOY:
1. I spit
2. I like action movies and comic books.
3. I don't like to relinqish the remote control

THREE WAYS I AM STEREOTYPICALLY A CHICK:
1. I like make-up
2. I like to look pretty
3. I like jewlery

THREE CELEB CRUSHES:

Listed in the style in which Jelli listed them.

1. Milla Jovovich
2. John Barrowman
3. Timothy Olyphant

One foot, two feet, three feet, four.
Iambic, trochaic
What's all that for?

Scribble, erase, write, write, write.
Over and over
every darn night.

Month of torture, month of sweat
It's only day three!
One tenth the contract met.

Why did I do this to me?

Here's the deal:

I want everyone who reads this to ask me 3 questions, no more no less. Ask me anything you want. Really. I'll answer anything. I may opt to MindSay Forum Private Messaging, the answers to particularly sensitive questions, however. Then I want you to go to your journal, copy and paste this allowing your friends (including myself) to ask you anything.

Here's the twist:

Of the three questions you ask, I will answer two of them absolutely truthfully. As for the other question -- I'll lie like fox. (Well, not a real fox, obviously. The clever type of fox.) I will not reveal which two answers are truthful and which one is the lie.

3 cheers to the following people that have cheered me up today:
Abby for cheering my up when I was down down down.
Josh for laughing at all of my "punny" jokes and just being funny.
Ginny for...uh...being her. Wink wink.
So there are the people that rock my world, except for Ginny...she just kind of adds *coughweirdnesscough* "spice".
3 cheers for them! Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!