1. A decade-and-a-half ago, when I was slightly younger and much more unemployed, I attended a horse race for the first time, the Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Track. My friend Mike worked there, and if there’s one thing you should know about Mike, it’s that the “E” in his name is actually silent.
At Saratoga they have a little area where the horses come out and walk around before they head out to the gates (I’m sure there’s a name for it but I don’t know what it is). I was hanging out there that day because I had never seen a big horse up-close and horses are neat!