I Want Candy

Not happy. Nothing model horse related about it - just a combination of nonsense going on at work over scheduling (they’re trying to put me on a team I’ve told them, repeatedly, that I do not want to be on), some family issues (best left unsaid), and a "surprise" dental appointment. (I lost the appointment card, missed the first phone call, and all the usual notices I get via e-mail went straight to the spam folder.)

A massive application of candy might have relieved the unhappiness a bit, but as I’ve given that up for the duration of Lent, you can see my dilemma. For the time being, I can only imagine decimating a one pound bag of Skittles.

(Any flavor will do. I’m not a picky eater.)

So, yeah, not having the bestest time right now.

Everything with the horses is going just hunky-dory. Won a Paddy - yay! Though there’s a possibility I’ll have to toss him up for sale to help cover the dental expenses; like everyone else, I’ll have to wait and see who’s actually in the box before I make my decision.

I kind of want to avoid selling any horsey stuff right now. I really don’t have the time for the kind of follow through that requires. (Not saying it’s a bad thing, just a thing I can’t deal with now.)

Since I have to head to bed here momentarily, I will cut to the chase and present y’all with a picture of one of my favorite Test Colors, the actual (I think) test piece for the original Phar Lap, done on the Traditional Man o’ War mold:


Isn’t he beautiful? I can’t believe nobody else saw him the Bentley Sales dump boxes at Model Horse Congress way back in 1986. I saw his head poking out of one of the "six dollar" dumps, noticed his star was different, yanked him out and saw the two little socks he was sporting - score!

(Yeah, six bucks for a Test Color. Now you know why I'm such a cheapskate about those sort of things.)

I don’t know the actual circumstances of his creation, other than the assumption that the Phar Lap mold was likely not available when he was made. He could have been a sample made as a proposal prior to the mold being commissioned in the first place, or he could have been made for a sales presentation or meeting while the mold was still in the process of being made.

Or it could be something else entirely (painters goofing off at the factory, a mold mix-up, etc.) All I know is that he did come straight out of the factory - as did all of the assorted goodies in those Bentley Sales dump boxes - and that I think he’s beautiful.

True, he’s not quite as tasty as a bag of Skittles, but he does come with fewer calories. And thinking about him makes me happier, if in a slightly different way.