Getting the hairy eyeball from coworkers... and other embarassments

[FindersKeepers]

It's not secret in the office that I'm "the horse girl". I have pictures of the "kids" in my cubicle and have had enough horse-related days off of work... but anyway.

As anyone in the north half of the country (and apparently the whole east coast) knows, it's freaking freezing out. It's a balmy 5* here in Pittsburgh, and going down to -20* tonight...

My office is freezing, and I was sitting here shivering, and then I remembered...I have a fresh, clean, straight out of the dryer cooler in my car!! So I now have a wool cooler over my lap and I'm getting the hairy eyeball. There are people here with normal blankets on their laps, and they don't get funny looks... but since mine has some tie straps on it and "Finders Keepers" embroidered on the side...

So what is your recent equine related hairy eyeball story??

[EventFan]

Let's just say that I no longer recommend Corona ointment when my friends have a boo boo. Trying to explain how to find it at COOP or TSC and, um, no it's not sold in CVS drugstore....lol.:eek:

[trubandloki]

I used to clean stalls at my trainer's barn after work. So I would wear my NEOs into work (who wants to put their feet into cold NEOs, certainly not me) and put them on when I went to leave.

I used to get some way weird looks because they are not the average boot and they sat here in my cubby all day.

[Trakehner]

I'm a gov't worker luckily not working in Wash. DC...a woman I work with who's located downtown knows I have a mule...we were walking with a bunch of her coworkers and she said, "Did you know he's got a cute ass?". The women gave a big "Did she really say that?" look. I smiled and said, "Yep, I do...wanna' see the photo?" and I showed them the screensaver of my long-ear on my cell phone.

I loved the looks they gave her...and then I corrected my friend, "I'm actually half-assed...his mom was a horse".

[jengersnap]

Tuesday started off a nice 32 degrees and dropped to near single digits when I was ready to leave work. Silly me, I just wore a normal blouse and some slip on office shoes. I was going to freeze digging the truck out of the accumulated snow. Then my SLT order arrived. With my insulated dublin tall boots. Whoo hoo! I had a meeting at the end of the day and an appt to rush off to, so I was shoving my nylon covered feet into those bad babies as fast as I could at the end of the meeting, explaining all the way for my odd behavior and odd footwear. But my toes were toasty cleaning off the truck! :yes:

[monstrpony]

I did leave blankets on the boys this morning, but now I'm wishing I'd thought to bring one to work for myself!

[FindersKeepers]

This story is not related to the office, or the current cold...but will make you all laugh. I've shared this before, but...

When I was in college, my sophomore year, I lived in the athletic dorm. Why? I don't know, but I was put there. So there was me and my roomate amongst the Basketball players and football players...

Anyway, I was scrambling into the dorm building on a winter night after lessons, carrying my chaps, helmet, a saddle pad, and a bag from the tack shop. I had bought my mare a wormer, and they had a 2 for 1 special, so I got 2 tubes. Awesome! Well, while I was trying to get to my ID to swipe in, things shifted, but I didn't notice dropping anything. I was trying to move quick as the football team was returning from evening practice, and I didn't really want to be caught in the elevator with them... I am waiting for the elevator and hear someone say:

"um...excuse me..." and I turned around to see a red faced football player holding a tube of wormer...

"you droped your...enema"

I vaguely remember mumbling something about my horse and deciding to take the stairs...

[Come Shine]

"um...excuse me..." and I turned around to see a red faced football player holding a tube of wormer...

"you droped your...enema"

I vaguely remember mumbling something about my horse and deciding to take the stairs...

lmao!!!!!

[Frank B]

...working in Wash. DC...
That's one of my favorite oxymorons! :lol:

[equusus]

My office is freezing, and I was sitting here shivering, and then I remembered...I have a fresh, clean, straight out of the dryer cooler in my car!! So I now have a wool cooler over my lap and I'm getting the hairy eyeball. There are people here with normal blankets on their laps, and they don't get funny looks... but since mine has some tie straps on it and "Finders Keepers" embroidered on the side...

So what is your recent equine related hairy eyeball story??

If your office is that cold, maybe a pair of Carhartt Bibs would be more appropriate?:lol:

[ValleyMiss]

As anyone in the north half of the country (and apparently the whole east coast) knows, it's freaking freezing out. It's a balmy 5* here in Pittsburgh, and going down to -20* tonight...




Sadly that 5* is the temp, factor in the wind chill and it was below zero when I was waiting to catch a connecting bus in downtown Pittsburgh this morning. When I got to the office I was getting some funny looks about my pants. And I had to explain that I was wearing my fleecy lined breeches under my dress pants. That's why I looked so...lumpy. They were clean, didn't smell too much like horse.

FindersKeepers: side note, where do you go to school? I have lots of stories about the funny looks I got going to the dorms at Pitt with horsey things.

[FindersKeepers]

I went to Pitt also, valley. And I work downtown too hahahaha... well I'm down by the west end actually, not in town per se...

smart taking the bus today...the roads were rather dicey.

[GreyHunterHorse]

This fall, I decided to change into my breeches for my lesson at work instead of at the barn as I have a looooong commute (1 hour 45 minutes) on days I go to the barn from work and I was tight on time.

When I came out of the bathroom in my purple TS and pink and purple boot socks, I think half the office wet themselves laughing. I suppose I could have worn more traditional colored breeches, but hey I bought them for at home use only and I wanted to wear them. Plus, my trainers face when I put my gelding in matching polos is really priceless :lol:

[CB/TB]

Years ago I worked at A Gov exchange garden shop on a CG base. There was a saddle club on base, so we boarded there as well as lived on base. Dress code was VERY casual as we were selling bales of peat moss, fertilizer, etc- garden supplies and plants. We'd run to the stable, do chores, turnout , then go to work. My friend, also a horsey person and co worker boarded there , too. We wore duck boots, pretty much all winter and often times forgot to bring a change of shoes for work. Pretty chilly in the shop so we usually had a little heater going behind the counter. As things heated up, the earthy aroma of eau de barn wafted through the room. We 'd tell customers it was all "ambience" to get them in the gardening state of mind. Some of them didn't believe us- go figure>?

[caradino]

i went to a horsey college, but freshman football boys lack a certain maturity when it comes to girls in riding britches.

i was walking back to my dorm after a lesson, britches, tall boots, whip et al., and i hear someone shout from the top window of a residence building:

"you can ride MY pony, baby!"

my mortified freshman self then scurried very, VERY quickly back to the safety of the all-girls dorm.

[SmartAlex]

Since it got really cold and snowy, I have often opted to wear my tall green barn boots with heavy LL Bean socks everywhere I go. They're new and shiney. I even wore them to the grocery store Christmas Eve. My sister was horrified "You DID NOT!" Did too. Am I the only one who has noticed that they still occassionally show up in fashion magazines? :confused:

[marta]

i'm an attorney and on one of the coldest days in december i had a deposition scheduled in brooklyn (i'm in nj). i put on my silk long johns, my slacks, my suit jacket and then couldn't figure out how to keep my feet warm and comfortable on what was going to be a 2 hour commute each way by train and subway. so i decided to put my jodhpur style muck company boots on instead and carried the flats w/ me in a bag with an intention to put them on once i got into the office building. well once i got there, the setting turned out to be less than posh so i opted to leave the boots on. and so i sat around in a room full of attorneys with my muck boots on. i don't think they smelled...;)

[seeuatx]

I've been wearing my OnCourse winter riding boots when I go dig out my car.

When I was in college, a few guy friends came and sat down at a lunch table while one of my friends and I were discussing an assignment for a class on Equine Conformation. The assignment was to take measurement of the foreleg and take weight, and then compare the bone measurement to the weight. Right after the guys sit down I say "I measured and G has 9.5" bone"... then I hear the snickering from the guys. It took me a minute before I figured out what they were laughing about... and then stammered my way through some sort of explanation. My face has never been so red before in my life.

[Carnelian]

A guy I worked with had hip problems, and a horse liniment was recommended by one of his friends. He asked me if it would stick up his sheets. I told him I didn't go to bed with my horse so I wouldn't know.:winkgrin:

[BuddyRoo]

Is it sad then that my coworkers don't bat an eye at ANYTHING anymore? Not my coveralls, not my muck boots, breeches, tall boots, halter and lead in my office, dancing around with my new deliveries like the shiny pair of nippers, or that they are now in the habit of checking my hair for hay before a big presentation?

LOL

[Paige777]

I'm in college right now, and I haul my saddle, girth, chaps, helmet, etc back and forth from the barn. It always makes for an interesting walk in from the parking lot, especially when I have to pass people on the narrow stairwell with a saddle in my arms and a duffel bag slung around my shoulder.

[Bluehorsesjp]

I do stalls in the morning before coming in to work.
I have been known to come into the office in full winter barn girl regalia, big winter boots, carhart overalls, work gloves the whole shabang.
My boss doesn't like it that much and told me that once we move into the new offices I will have to shower before coming in. :lol:
I think he was smelling that sweet smell of manure from my boots.
And honestly I don't smell it at all anymore.

[2DogsFarm]

I get the H.E. treatment when coworkers start whining about how early they had to get up in the morning.

My 5A is the Handsdown Winner every time.

By the time most of them show up for work around 9A I've been up & at 'em for 4 hours.

Ditto for complaints about how cold it's been and how hard it was to get ready in the morning. If I mention that I was up feeding and doing barn chores at 6A, then had to get ready to go to work.... :rolleyes:

This got me especially nasty looks when we had a weekend power outage and I still managed to get to work on time Monday.

[MunchkinsMom]

I telecommute from my farm for work, and they all marvel at the fact that before I log on, that I have shoveled approximately 150 lbs of manure every morning! I tell them it is just a warm up for all the "crap" I will have to shovel all day at work!

[BlueEyedSorrel]

My lab has a weekly meeting in which grad students, post-docs and junior faculty present updates on their research. To entice us into coming, the department provides a plate of cookies from the university catering service (grad students are easily bribed:lol:). For some unknown reason the cookie platter has individually wrapped starlight mints:winkgrin::D :eek:scattered around on top of the cookies.

Pixie loffs mints. For her, mints are horsey crack--heck, I wish I could get that blissed out expression simply from eating a peppermint candy! Most of my labmates don't care for them, however. So, every Tuesday, at the end of the meeting, I collect all the left over mints, often 10-20:D, and try not to drop any as I go from the conference room back to lab. I have gotten many questions from my coworkers about what I'm doing, and even stranger looks when I explain that it's for my horse. A few nice people have actually started warning others to be sure to leave some for BES's horse!:lol:

On the other hand, I haven't had to actually buy mints for Pixie for over a year.

BES

[Holly Jeanne]

When I was trying to get my mare in foal one year, I took the morning off and drove to Lexington to pick up some fresh semen. I didn't want to leave it in the car as it was hot and my farm is well beyond my office. Vet was coming out in the evening so I took the container into the office with me. One co-worker spotted me when I can in and asked "is that equine manhood you have in there?" :lol::lol: Well, as a matter of fact...

[Sue from Auckland]

i went to a horsey college, but freshman football boys lack a certain maturity when it comes to girls in riding britches.

i was walking back to my dorm after a lesson, britches, tall boots, whip et al., and i hear someone shout from the top window of a residence building:

"you can ride MY pony, baby!"

my mortified freshman self then scurried very, VERY quickly back to the safety of the all-girls dorm. I suppose it wouldn't really have been appropriate to reply "no, I only ride stallions" :)

[jackalini]

i went to a horsey college, but freshman football boys lack a certain maturity when it comes to girls in riding britches.

i was walking back to my dorm after a lesson, britches, tall boots, whip et al., and i hear someone shout from the top window of a residence building:

"you can ride MY pony, baby!"

my mortified freshman self then scurried very, VERY quickly back to the safety of the all-girls dorm.

A possible reply: "Sorry, but I only ride REAL stallions, and you, sir, are definitely not one."

Ok, haha, just posted after Sue, but we share the same sentiment!

[SarahandSam]

In the winter I wear my muck boots all the time... they're all I have that's really completely waterproof and warm. I get a lot of funny looks from students when I'm going into school in teacher pants and blouse/sweater, a big fluffy fake fur coat, and big black clumpy muck boots that squeak on the floors...

I also wear my newer Middleburg tall boots all the time now when going out and running errands... wore them all last week at my grad school residency (MFA program). It was interesting in the poetry master class, where they did one of my poems--it was submitted anonymously, but was titled "Riding Lessons, 6th Grade," and I saw every head in the room turn to eye my boots as I sunk into my chair...

[2 tbs]

Well. I don't get too many looks when it's wicked cold. I get laughed at more than anything. Especially right now. My trainer is out of town so I'm farm sitting/house sitting which means I have to feed the horses M-F and go to work dressed for the farm. I feed at another barn every Monday so this is a normal Monday routine but not a M-F one.

Let's just say today I looked like the little brother from the movie A Christmas Story and tomorrow I intend to look like 2 of him :lol: Thankfully I get to work before most everyone else so only a few people get the chance to laugh.

The worst is when it's muddy and I trek mud all through the bldg :cool:. I have to go in, swipe my time card, drop all my crap off at my desk, then go change. In the meantime my boots that were caked with half the farm due to the mud have left muddy prints and loose globs down the aisle. I usually feel like I've just walked the dog - when I'm done changing I get some paper towels and walk my path picking up the globs. That usually gets me the hairy eyeball :uhoh::p

[DressageGeek "Ribbon Ho"]

My lab has a weekly meeting in which grad students, post-docs and junior faculty present updates on their research. To entice us into coming, the department provides a plate of cookies from the university catering service (grad students are easily bribed:lol:). For some unknown reason the cookie platter has individually wrapped starlight mints:winkgrin::D :eek:scattered around on top of the cookies.

Pixie loffs mints. For her, mints are horsey crack--heck, I wish I could get that blissed out expression simply from eating a peppermint candy! Most of my labmates don't care for them, however. So, every Tuesday, at the end of the meeting, I collect all the left over mints, often 10-20:D, and try not to drop any as I go from the conference room back to lab. I have gotten many questions from my coworkers about what I'm doing, and even stranger looks when I explain that it's for my horse. A few nice people have actually started warning others to be sure to leave some for BES's horse!:lol:

On the other hand, I haven't had to actually buy mints for Pixie for over a year.

BES

Nicole - twin daughters of different mothers!!!

At one hotel where we used to have National Institutes of Health Study Section (grant review panels) they would have those mints in big glass cups around the tables, and people would generally only take one or two. And I would take a bag, and empty them, for Ted and his buddies, every time, once panel had wrapped up. Um, sure, I guess I could buy them. But once a grad student, always a grad student in outlook...and these were free!

I also take the baby carrots every time there's a veggie plate at a meeting or seminar reception...the secretaries are now trained to put them in a baggie in my mailbox if I don't get to it first.

[Gray Horse H/J]

I got some looks at Target last night. I had to pick up some things on my way home from the barn, and since it's below zero outside I'm sure you can imagine what my barn gear looked like. I didn't realize quite what an odd sight I must have been 'till I walked past a bunch of mirrors - my coat was REALLY dirty and my boots, not riding boots but black fur-lined winter boots that I wear to the barn when I'm not riding, were really REALLY dirty. I had walked through the snow and then through the indoor ring, and my boots were half-covered in ring dirt. :lol: Normally I don't like going out in public looking like a total slob, but at -10* I just stopped caring.

Another time, I am sure my co-workers were judging me horribly. :lol: I had ordered lunch from Pizza Hut down the street from our office, and two co-workers wanted to go with me to pick it up. I said ok, but warned them that one person would have to smush themselves in the back with all the junk. So we walk to my car and I tell them to hang on a second while I clear a spot in the backseat. So I'm busy moving armloads of saddle pads, a cooler, a mid-weight blanket I never bothered to remove from the car, paddock boots, jeans, winter boots, etc etc. They both just stared at me with a mixture of shock and horror on their faces. :lol:

I am very bad about accumulating stuff in my car. I spend a lot of time driving from place to place and need different clothes for everything it seems, so stuff just piles up.