How Many Show Entries Does it Take?

(Back to teeth tomorrow ... this just couldn't wait.)

Well, let's count.  I decided to take the leap this show season and go for a two-day show, or maybe two.  The Santa Barbara Show at the end of March was to be the one.  I completed the entry, which was entry # 1, stuck it in an envelope, and emailed another rider to confirm stabling arrangements.  Hmmmm ... those riders had decided to do the show in Burbank instead.  Okay, that sounds good, so I tossed the Santa Barbara entry in the trash and completed entry #2.  

Except I made a mistake.  After entering all of my information, I moved on to Speedy's part.  As I was nearly finished, I realized that in the spots where his USEF, USDF, and CDS numbers were to be written, I had entered mine instead.  Doh!  I reprinted the paper work and completed entry # 3.  I stuck it in the envelope and then forgot to drop it in the morning mail.  Show management had promised to strictly enforce the late entry policy so in a panic, I drove to Bakersfield's main post office that afternoon to ensure that it went out with that day's mail.  It had three days to make the journey.  

On Friday morning, I started to panic and decided to prepare a faxed entry in case it hadn't made it by mid-day. That was entry #4.  At my lunch break, I put in the call to the show management and was relieved to hear that my entry had indeed arrived and the faxed copy wouldn't be necessary.  The bad news was that the entries weren't coming in fast enough so the show management was considering making it a one day show instead.  I decided that while that was a bummer, I could still make it an overnight trip and save some money in the process.  The Santa Barbara Show's entry had to be posted by Saturday so it was too late to change my mind. It was Burbank or nothing.

Yesterday, hubby tossed me the mail, and I found an envelope from the Burbank show.  Inside was my show entry!  And there's entry #5.  There was no note, no explanation, just my entry and a check.  Not one to give up, I quickly dialed the show manager for the Santa Barbara Show and asked if was too late to get in an entry.  I explained the returned entry from Burbank and she confirmed the show's cancellation.  Sure, I could still submit an entry, but it would cost me the $25 late fee.  And could I fax/email the entry ASAP?  And so I filled out entry # 6, and made a copy, entry #7.  I then scanned the copy, entry #8, and emailed it.

My one job this morning is to drop entry #6 in the mail.  And since I already paid the $25 late fee, I am not rushing it to the post office.  The mail carrier can pick it up from my work office!