I HATE Round-up week!
Its Friday morning, along with thousands of other idiots, we are at the Westward Ho Parade. A parade known for the novelty of being entirely non-motorized. That means thousands of horses, mules and oxen pulling wagons and carrying rodeo/fair queens and the occasional politician (this being a non-election year there weren’t very many). This parade has many more spectators than the one last week because its ‘novel’ and because there are so many people in town for the rodeo and tomorrows finals.
The necessary evil to this parade (aside from the mountain of manure on the street) is the throngs of people trying to either get home, or to the rodeo. The parade is over about 90-minutes before the Friday rodeo begins at 1pm. I would have been happy, in fact I suggested that we just walk down to the parade. But no, I had to pick-up the newspapers the kids are selling and deliver them to the booth my wife is operating, less than 2-blocks from the Round-Up Grounds. As you could imagine, due to the topography of the hole Pendleton is build in and the traffic getting away from the parade and the traffic coming into the rodeo, it took me over 30 minutes to go the 12 blocks from the paper to where my wife was.
My plan was to cut over 2 blocks to the street heading out to the freeway (Emigrant) and just take the freeway to the next exit (my house), rather than fight the traffic. Another 15 minutes later, I had traveled 2.5 blocks. 
The traffic was at a standstill, I found myself sitting on a railroad crossing. Two lanes of one-way traffic setting straddle 2 sets of tracks. The city truck in front of me couldn’t move either, and the Escalade behind me wouldn’t let me back off, I was stuck. I sat there for 32 seconds, I know, the Union Pacific Railroad Cop told me.
Out of the four vehicles that were in a similar situation that I was in, this prick gave me a $242 ticket and its accompanying summons to appear in Umatilla County Court at 8am on October 4th. Just me, not the 3 others, not the city workers, not the 9 other cars (I counted) that got stuck on the tracks while I was waiting for Buford T. Justice to write my ticket. And not the 3 cars that had to back off the tracks when the train came through! What the hell?
I HATE ROUND-UP! I can’t wait till these fargin’ bastages leave on Sunday!
Dude, I’m just sorry about the whole ticket thing. I didn’t even know the RR HAD cops to do that kind of stuff.
Did I mention I’m blissfully free of Round-Up headaches? I don’t say that to rub it in, but it’s just amazing how normal the second week of September is over the rest of the planet. Remember, this is the same institution that decided to go on with festivities as planned immediately following 9/11. Every other major sporting event in the nation was canceled. We couldn’t let a little thing like a national tragedy get in the way of opening up the Let ‘Er Buck Room.
Go to court date, don’t pay it. Call bullshit on him if he even bothers to show up for the court date. Hints from the one who’s gotten out of more speeding tickets by the cop not showing up than he’d like to admit.
Rick… I’ll try not to notice that this is the 2nd comment you have left pointing out that the REST of the world is operating normally. Actually, I didn’t know the RR had cops either. Maybe its left over from the days of Jesse James.
Chris… Are you available to be in Pendleton on 10/4?
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[...] My day in court Posted on 11 October 2007 by John I forgot to post the results of my brush with Barney Fife during Round-Up week. [...]