4 posts tagged “general”

This weekend was the 1st Shining Star Motorcycle Rally in Fort Stockton. Named after a Texas YES! designation the city received, the rally hoped to raise money for various community groups. The group that organized the rally wanted to incorporate the honor of being a Shining Star city into the theme of the rally. The Hardworking Rural Community Award Program annually spotlights Texas communities for economic prosperity and innovation, with the highest award being the Shining Star. Last year, Fort Stockton was singled out as the first recipient of the Trailblazer Hall of Fame Award for scoring at the top for the past three years.

Being the first year, attendance was a little low, and some more vendors would have been great. But they more than made up for it by having my favorite band in the whole world headline the event: the Thumpin’ Puppies. They played all Friday night, and closed out the event on Saturday night.

Here are a few photos from the concert, ride, and rally. Click on thumbnails to view larger photos.
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I have slept for 2-3 hours per night, each night, all week. Because of some persistent server problems, which I couldn’t be reassured that they would not keep happening as they had for the past few weeks, I moved all of my sites and clients to new servers.

All 34 of them.

All of them this week.

I’m tired, brain-mushy, and not just a little irritated that I couldn’t just leave them where they were. I had been with that hosting company for many years, and all they had to do was reassure me that the problem WAS fixed. But since they couldn’t, now I have to keep my fingers crossed that I made a good choice in the replacement company. Only time will tell that.

But, it is now early Friday afternoon, and the last of the sites is now live on the new server. Email seems to be working, I didn’t screw up any of my databases in the process (that was my biggest worry!), and my phone has not rung since 8 am this morning.

For those of you haven’t read any of my previous posts regarding telephones - I HATE PHONES.

So the silence is such a blessing after this week from hell, that I think I’ll go take a nap, then fire up the bike this evening. The Thumpin’ Puppies are playing the Shining Star Motorcycle Rally, and that’s where I plan to be for most of the night.

Thanks for bearing with me while the site was up-and-down  for the past 2 weeks. I hope it’ll be steady here on out….

My host is experiencing some server problems, and as you have noticed, the site has been unavailable off and on for quite some time. I am hoping to have this resolved very very soon, so PLEASE bear with me. The host is hoping to have all reliability restored. I’ve been with them for many years now, and this is the first serious issue I’ve had. I know it is frustrating, but I promise it will be better than ever very soon now! Well, at least I HOPE it will be! In the meantime, because of these issues, please use this email address to contact me instead of my westxdesign address:

renee.gaylor[at]gmail[dot]com

Thanks again for your patience!!!

No longer taboo or a mark of deviancy (or motorcycle ownership), tattoos have become a regular part of our modern culture.

Most of us get our tattoos to either memorialize events or people, or to identity a part of ourselves that are usaully within us in a way for everyone around to see. Tell your tattoo story… Here are mine:

I got my first tattoo in May of 2004. I felt like I had lived an entire lifetime, and was beginning a whole second life. A failed marriage, raising 2 kids alone, working 3 jobs to make ends meet while trying to get my education. Fighting for security, both financial and emotional, for myself and my children. Then in 2003, things began to turn around. I had been promoted at my primary job and no longer needed to work more than 1 job, I was getting closer to earning my degree, and coming to terms with the scars left on my family. Then I met Brian, and from that day on, things got better and better. 2 days before receiving my degree, I went with Brian to his regular tattoo artist, and decided it was time. I chose a design that for me meant strength, hanging on, and beauty. Not knowing what to expect, I also made sure it was simple. While some people find the experience of getting a tattoo painful, I wouldn’t call it pain - just an uncomfortable feeling at times, and not much at the rest. This one is on my right calf.

The symbol of the dragon evolved between myself and Brian as sort of “our” theme. Honest, brave, tenacious, strong, protective. That was our relationship. He was my dragon, and I was his. We brought out the best in each other, and filled in the weaknesses we had. When we married, we used entwined dragons as our theme.

I finally got my second tattoo just this year (March). I took the image that been drawn for our wedding invitations, and added tribal markings and color to create an original tattoo. It is another symbol for my relationship with Brian, and after celebrating our second anniversary, it was my way of saying I meant ‘forever’. This one is on my left upper arm.

Use the comments to tell the story of your tattoos, or what you would get if you don’t have one. If you have pictures, email them to me and I’ll add them to this post so we can see what you’re talking about!