Again I find myself well past due for a blog update, so here goes.
Thanksgiving is such a humbling time of the year. It reminds us all to reflect on the many blessings we share, and reminds us that the glass is half full. Most of all, it centers our focus on the importance of family, something we oft take for granted. It is great to be home again this year to spend time with family, and of course to enjoy a good meal. I certainly love a good meal, and anxiously dreamed of succulent turkey, real mashed potatoes with gravy, and a mound of delicious stuffing. Not to mention the assortment of desserts! The day started out with a trip to Monica's new apartment here in Franklin. I was going to help carry some furniture in that was being delivered, but my Donna Delphi (my GPS) insisted we take the scenic route. I was a bit late as all the furniture was inside and Todd and his father were fitting a slipcover onto a loveseat. We headed for Greenfield shortly after, Monica along for the ride.
When I arrived at my mothers house, she was in the kitchen preparing the feast. I got a sneak peek and a few photos with my new Canon Rebel XSi. Allison got her camera and we were the photographers of the days events. Grandma and Grandpa Stair were down from Lafayette, and it was nice to see them as it had been a while. We lounged, relaxed, and talked while the food was cooking and filling the air with a mouth-watering aroma. Before we knew it we were chomping away at some excellent homemade cuisine. Afterwards, we did some preparation and planning for Black Friday shopping, and I set off for home to catch a nap before the shopping frenzy.
Well the plan was to meet at my house at 11pm, which came before my nap did. We headed down to Taylorsville outlet mall for the midnight madness sales. We made a lap around the whole compound, stopping in stores that perked our interest. There was a lot of folks there, but reportedly not as many as last year. We really didn't find anything we were looking for, or at least any deals worth sticking it out in the line for, so we walked back over to Max & Erma's where the Subaru was parked. We decided to go inside for a bite to eat, but mostly to burn some time as it was only a little after 1am and the other stores don't open until 4am. Monica and I had the breakfast bar that they had set up solely for shoppers, while Mom went with soup and a sandwich. We headed back to my place to warm up and take another power nap before the second round of shopping. Again, my nap didn't come. I sat reveiwing all the deals online, noticing that many, if not all, of the things on my list were best purchased online. If they weren't cheaper, it wasn't worth waiting in line for the difference. Needless to say, once 4am came, I decided I'd stay home and snatch up the Christmas gifts on my list rather than take another nerve-racking tour under the fluorescent lights. Mom headed on to Target to get an in-store only deal, and Monica decided she had better stay home and get some sleep before work at 9am. I just don't enjoy black friday shopping, contrary to what some might think. I do get very excited for Black Friday, and even make a sport of it. However, the atmosphere of a retail store packed to the gills of card-swiping consumerists is an environment that I'm not comfortable at all in.
See, I had a real tough day one Black Friday. It was 2004, and I was in Kabul Afghanistan. I'll spare the details, but long story short, I jokingly said at the end of that day "I'd rather be black friday shopping that go through another day like today." A year passed by, and when I heard mention of Black Friday that year, I instantly recalled my horrendous day just a year before. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, humbling and centering oneself, I decided to put myself through the hell that is Black Friday to a guy like me. And I've continued to do so every year that I'm home in the US. Now I look forward to it, as I'm often in need of re-centering each year, and it puts a smile on my face to have this annual reminder that there are FAR worse places to be than a crowded department store at 4 in the morning.
Anywho, enjoy the pictures, as they are taken with my new Canon DSLR camera! It takes some fabulous shots!
Until next time...
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Saturday, November 28, 2009
Monday, September 7, 2009
(31) 2009 Indianaplis Moto GP
I scored some free tickets to the 2009 Indianapolis Moto GP. This is the 2nd running of this race here in Indianapolis. Moto GP is a motorcycle racing circuit that is heavily popular in Europe. They only come to the United States for two races each season, one being Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Last year the race was conducted under inclement weather. I've heard mixed opinions by those who attended. Anyhow, this year I am home to attend and the weather is looking promising. I wake up about 7am and load up the car. I pick up my buddy Jamie and my Dad and we stop by Long's Bakery in Southport for some fresh donuts. After getting our fill, we head north for the speedway.
Last year the race was conducted under inclement weather. I've heard mixed opinions by those who attended. Anyhow, this year I am home to attend and the weather is looking promising. I wake up about 7am and load up the car. I pick up my buddy Jamie and my Dad and we stop by Long's Bakery in Southport for some fresh donuts. After getting our fill, we head north for the speedway.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
(30) Symphony on the Prarie
Took a trip to Connor Prarie with Mom, Todd, Mandy, Allison, and Amber to see the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra perform with a Queen tribute band. It was quite a show, and a great relaxing way to spend an evening. There were thousands in attendance. We set up our lawn chairs and cooler and had a tasty fried chicken dinner from Kopper Kettle. The band's performance was very impressive. I'll let the video here do the rest of the talking.
If you're looking for a nice family fun activity some weekend, be sure to make a trip out to Connor Prarie and support the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. They have different theme bands to choose from. You will have a blast!
If you're looking for a nice family fun activity some weekend, be sure to make a trip out to Connor Prarie and support the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. They have different theme bands to choose from. You will have a blast!
Sunday, August 23, 2009
(29) Hershey's Chocolate Trap and Gettysburg
Sunday morning we woke up from our slumber at the Quality Inn in Burnham, PA. We packed up the bikes, chugged down some complimentary coffee, and drove on for Hershey, Pennsylvania. We had decided to make the 2 hour ride to Hershey to scope out the Hershey Chocolate Factory. We arrived around 1030am and parked the bikes. The Hershey factory was overlooking us atop a huge hill, with 'Welcome to Hershey' spelled out on the front lawn.
Unfortunately, we weren't going to be able to go to this huge factory, because they no longer give tours of the factory. Now tourists are directed to a Hershey Chocolate Theme Park. They have rollercoasters and the whole shebang. I was pretty disappointed because I was looking forward to a history lesson and to experience the factory myself. Instead I was looking at walking candy bars, and gazillions of ways to blow your money. It was just a tourist trap. We did go into the main building which was mostly a gift shop, but it did have a free 'mock' factory tour. It was playing some hideously annoying music (like it's a small world after all annoying). That was barely enjoyable, but was probably the highlight of our visit. The wives paid to go on a chocolate tasting adventure while us boys looked around the huge gift shop, then headed for the Kit Kat snack bar to sit down and get out of the mobs of tourists for a while. This is where I was introduced to the Hershey build-your-own-sundae buffet. I decided I'd go for a vanilla & reeses ice cream topped with kit kat chunks, reeces pieces, and chocolate syrup. It was delightful. After the girls were done with the taste testing adventure, we high tailed it outta there.
We rode on towards Gettysburg Pennsylvania to get a look at the battlegrounds, museum, and cemetery there. There were thousands of soldiers buried there, many who died at the Battle of Gettysburg. I also got to stand right where President Abraham Lincoln stood when he presented his Gettysburg Address. It was a very humbling experience, but was short lived. After wasting the better part of the day at the Hershey chocolate trap, we had little time to experience all that Gettysburg had to offer. I'm going to have to make another weekend trip for Gettysburg alone.
Anyhow, after a couple hours of Gettysburg, we rode west towards Pittsburgh and decided to stop for the night at the Quality Inn in Somerset, PA. After resting up, we rode all the way back home Sunday. I made it home about 5:30pm. What a weekend!! It was definately a great time, and so liberating just hitting the open road on the motorcycle and discovering what America is hiding in each of its states. Enjoy the pictures!
Until next time...
Unfortunately, we weren't going to be able to go to this huge factory, because they no longer give tours of the factory. Now tourists are directed to a Hershey Chocolate Theme Park. They have rollercoasters and the whole shebang. I was pretty disappointed because I was looking forward to a history lesson and to experience the factory myself. Instead I was looking at walking candy bars, and gazillions of ways to blow your money. It was just a tourist trap. We did go into the main building which was mostly a gift shop, but it did have a free 'mock' factory tour. It was playing some hideously annoying music (like it's a small world after all annoying). That was barely enjoyable, but was probably the highlight of our visit. The wives paid to go on a chocolate tasting adventure while us boys looked around the huge gift shop, then headed for the Kit Kat snack bar to sit down and get out of the mobs of tourists for a while. This is where I was introduced to the Hershey build-your-own-sundae buffet. I decided I'd go for a vanilla & reeses ice cream topped with kit kat chunks, reeces pieces, and chocolate syrup. It was delightful. After the girls were done with the taste testing adventure, we high tailed it outta there.
We rode on towards Gettysburg Pennsylvania to get a look at the battlegrounds, museum, and cemetery there. There were thousands of soldiers buried there, many who died at the Battle of Gettysburg. I also got to stand right where President Abraham Lincoln stood when he presented his Gettysburg Address. It was a very humbling experience, but was short lived. After wasting the better part of the day at the Hershey chocolate trap, we had little time to experience all that Gettysburg had to offer. I'm going to have to make another weekend trip for Gettysburg alone.
Anyhow, after a couple hours of Gettysburg, we rode west towards Pittsburgh and decided to stop for the night at the Quality Inn in Somerset, PA. After resting up, we rode all the way back home Sunday. I made it home about 5:30pm. What a weekend!! It was definately a great time, and so liberating just hitting the open road on the motorcycle and discovering what America is hiding in each of its states. Enjoy the pictures!
Until next time...
Friday, August 21, 2009
(28) Dubois Harley Davidson & Denny's Beer Barrel Pub
Let me start this story with a little precursory information. One day while in Iraq, my platoon sergeant (and good friend) Rich Little was doing his normal morning internet routine of reading the Yahoo homepage from top to bottom. This particular day he notices a headline 'Man eats 15 pound burger'. He is amazed at this and reads the entire story, learning that this feat was achieved at a place called Denny's Beer Barrel Pub in Clearfield Pennsylvania. We are intrigued by this place for some odd reason and decide to check out their website. They have a very impressive and tasty normal menu (or so it seemed in Iraq), but they also have a whole slew of monster burger ranging from 2 pounder challenge to the 125+ pound charity burger. We're stunned by this place, and decide that someday we're going to ride our motorcycles over to this place and take a stab at a monster burger challenge.
Enter August 21st 2009:
Today is my day off so I prepare for the 4 day 3 night motorcycle journey. I pack up my saddlebags, strap on my tailbag, and rig up my camera bag to the bike. Everything is ready to go. Rich's buddy is coming along with his wife, but they have to work which sets our departure time to about 6:30pm. They meet me at the Franklin exit off I65 and we fuel up. We rode through about 20 minutes of rain right before Richmond Indiana. After it got dark out we decided to turn into the Hampton Inn in Dayton Ohio to rejuvenate. We ate at a Texas Steakhouse next door and hit the hay.
Saturday morning we wake up and meet in the lobby for breakfast at 0800. We eat a light breakfast and set out on I80 eastbound for Pennsylvania. Going on some advice from a fellow motorcycle traveler we met at the hotel, we decided to stop in Dubois PA to scope out a Harley-Davidson dealership that was built atop an old city street. It was very cool, but I'll let the pictures do the talking. We then continued on highway 322 to Clearfield PA to finally meet the infamous Denny's Beer Barrel Pub.
We park the bikes outside, snap some pictures on our way in, and get a seat back in the corner on the bottom level. We order some drinks and order our 2 pound cheeseburger challenges. We are then given a briefing on how this 2 pound challenge works. You get 2 pounds of cooked meat on a huge bun with toppings on both sides of the meat including cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, relish, banana peppers, pickles, ketchup, mustard, and mayo. You are allowed to deduct only one of these toppings from the sandwich. Rich picked tomatoes, Coop picked onions, and I picked banana peppers. We sat at our table and chatted for about 30 minutes until the burgers came. And boy did those burgers make an entrance. They commanded attention from everyone in the room as two waitresses walked around the maze of crowded tables and chairs, with the burgers held up high in the air like parade floats. They were HUGE, comically HUGE. They were twice the size I anticipated them to be, which made it more hilarious than intimidating.
She sat the burgers down in front of us 3 fellas, faces red in laughter and embarassment as the entire room watched us begin our journey to the bottom of the plate. We had 1 full hour to devour these mammoth burgers. Coop only made it about 15 minutes and decided he wasn't going to make himself sick trying to eat the burger, so he waved his napkin in the air as a white flag of surrender. Rich and I, having dreamed of this day since being in Iraq, continued to stuff our faces with cheeseburger. Rich made it down to the meat and about halfway through the meat before he dropped out of the race at the 30 minute mark. I had a plan all my own.
At first I took a look at this burger and realized there was no we to possibly eat it like a burger. It was going to have to be completely unorthodox. I began by picking at the bun a couple times and realized this was not a good approach. I then decided to make a sandwich by folding the top bun in half and putting all the upper toppings in the bun. It turned out more like a topping taco. I mowed it down pretty quickly, even the waitress was amazed when she saw that I had the top part of the burger gone in the first 10 minutes. Next, I made a 'pizza' with my 2lb burger patty, placing cheese and a layer of tomatoes on top. I made it about half way through the burger when I was starting to struggle. The burger, even with the cheese and tomato, was just so dry and rough. It really didn't taste all that great. I decided I'd take a break from the burger and make a taco out of the bottom bun and leftover toppings. I folded it up and took a bite. OH MY DISGUSTING!!! All I had in this thing was a thin layer of lettuce, TONS of RELISH and ONIONS! The bread was half soaked with relish and onion juice. I fought hard to eat about half of this onion & relish burger before I decided to switch back to the hamburger pizza. My throat was burning from the acidity of the relish/onion combo. I miserably munched on the dry hamburger, but it was getting difficult to swallow. I started to put a little beer in my mouth with each bite to help it slide down. This worked wonderfully, and it masked the bad taste! I ate all but about a half pound of the meat before I worked up the guts to go back at the relish & onion sandwich. The beer was a blessing at masking the taste, but I was still getting more and more repulsed by the remaining food on my plate. Finally, with 10 minutes remaining, I came to the realization that I was not going to be able to shove down the last bit of burger. In a bit of shame, and relief, I erected a white flag onto the remaining burger and surrendered. I did not make the challenge.
We had a great time anyhow, and picked up some shirts in the gift shop. Perhaps someday I'll be back to reclaim my dignity and crude manhood.
Until next time...
Enter August 21st 2009:
Today is my day off so I prepare for the 4 day 3 night motorcycle journey. I pack up my saddlebags, strap on my tailbag, and rig up my camera bag to the bike. Everything is ready to go. Rich's buddy is coming along with his wife, but they have to work which sets our departure time to about 6:30pm. They meet me at the Franklin exit off I65 and we fuel up. We rode through about 20 minutes of rain right before Richmond Indiana. After it got dark out we decided to turn into the Hampton Inn in Dayton Ohio to rejuvenate. We ate at a Texas Steakhouse next door and hit the hay.
Saturday morning we wake up and meet in the lobby for breakfast at 0800. We eat a light breakfast and set out on I80 eastbound for Pennsylvania. Going on some advice from a fellow motorcycle traveler we met at the hotel, we decided to stop in Dubois PA to scope out a Harley-Davidson dealership that was built atop an old city street. It was very cool, but I'll let the pictures do the talking. We then continued on highway 322 to Clearfield PA to finally meet the infamous Denny's Beer Barrel Pub.
We park the bikes outside, snap some pictures on our way in, and get a seat back in the corner on the bottom level. We order some drinks and order our 2 pound cheeseburger challenges. We are then given a briefing on how this 2 pound challenge works. You get 2 pounds of cooked meat on a huge bun with toppings on both sides of the meat including cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, relish, banana peppers, pickles, ketchup, mustard, and mayo. You are allowed to deduct only one of these toppings from the sandwich. Rich picked tomatoes, Coop picked onions, and I picked banana peppers. We sat at our table and chatted for about 30 minutes until the burgers came. And boy did those burgers make an entrance. They commanded attention from everyone in the room as two waitresses walked around the maze of crowded tables and chairs, with the burgers held up high in the air like parade floats. They were HUGE, comically HUGE. They were twice the size I anticipated them to be, which made it more hilarious than intimidating.
She sat the burgers down in front of us 3 fellas, faces red in laughter and embarassment as the entire room watched us begin our journey to the bottom of the plate. We had 1 full hour to devour these mammoth burgers. Coop only made it about 15 minutes and decided he wasn't going to make himself sick trying to eat the burger, so he waved his napkin in the air as a white flag of surrender. Rich and I, having dreamed of this day since being in Iraq, continued to stuff our faces with cheeseburger. Rich made it down to the meat and about halfway through the meat before he dropped out of the race at the 30 minute mark. I had a plan all my own.
At first I took a look at this burger and realized there was no we to possibly eat it like a burger. It was going to have to be completely unorthodox. I began by picking at the bun a couple times and realized this was not a good approach. I then decided to make a sandwich by folding the top bun in half and putting all the upper toppings in the bun. It turned out more like a topping taco. I mowed it down pretty quickly, even the waitress was amazed when she saw that I had the top part of the burger gone in the first 10 minutes. Next, I made a 'pizza' with my 2lb burger patty, placing cheese and a layer of tomatoes on top. I made it about half way through the burger when I was starting to struggle. The burger, even with the cheese and tomato, was just so dry and rough. It really didn't taste all that great. I decided I'd take a break from the burger and make a taco out of the bottom bun and leftover toppings. I folded it up and took a bite. OH MY DISGUSTING!!! All I had in this thing was a thin layer of lettuce, TONS of RELISH and ONIONS! The bread was half soaked with relish and onion juice. I fought hard to eat about half of this onion & relish burger before I decided to switch back to the hamburger pizza. My throat was burning from the acidity of the relish/onion combo. I miserably munched on the dry hamburger, but it was getting difficult to swallow. I started to put a little beer in my mouth with each bite to help it slide down. This worked wonderfully, and it masked the bad taste! I ate all but about a half pound of the meat before I worked up the guts to go back at the relish & onion sandwich. The beer was a blessing at masking the taste, but I was still getting more and more repulsed by the remaining food on my plate. Finally, with 10 minutes remaining, I came to the realization that I was not going to be able to shove down the last bit of burger. In a bit of shame, and relief, I erected a white flag onto the remaining burger and surrendered. I did not make the challenge.
We had a great time anyhow, and picked up some shirts in the gift shop. Perhaps someday I'll be back to reclaim my dignity and crude manhood.
Until next time...
Thursday, August 20, 2009
(27) Colts Preseason Game 2
So I get a call today from a friend of mine, Rich Little, and we talk about the plans for our upcoming motorcycle trip the next day. He tells me he's got an extra ticket to the Colts game and asks me if I'd like to go. I'll never pass up a free Colts game, even if it is preseason.
They were coming up from Bedford IN, and were running a little late. I met them at the intersection of County Line Rd and SR 37. We head downtown and find a parking spot a few blocks from the stadium in a parking garage. We decide to grab some food since we were all hungry and walked straight into the Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant right next to the parking garage. We scarf down some wings and beer and head for the stadium about 10 minutes to kickoff.
The place is still being bombarded with fans showing up for the game. We passed a whole slew of beggars, peddlers, and street entertainers on the way. We decide to skip the line for the escalator and take the ramps up to our seats. We were in the highest balcony right in the center of the field. The game had already started, and the Colts had scored their first touchdown by the time we made it to our seats.
We got settled in, and I finally got to take a good look at the new stadium. They had the roof opened up, as well as the side window. The view of the Indianapolis cityscape at dusk through that windowpane looked like a work of art. It was a sight to behold in person, but the picture I got won't disappoint either. The place is outright huge. I felt like I climbed one of the great pyramids to get to my seat.
The game went pretty well. The Colts led the entire game. I'm not going to go too much into game detail because if you cared enough you'd have watched it, and if you don't care then I'm sure you have no interest in reading a play-by-play. After the game we walked back through the circus of t-shirt peddlers, street musicians, and whooping Colts fans. We were anxious to head home and get some rest, for tomorrow kicks off the big weekend trip.
Until next time...
They were coming up from Bedford IN, and were running a little late. I met them at the intersection of County Line Rd and SR 37. We head downtown and find a parking spot a few blocks from the stadium in a parking garage. We decide to grab some food since we were all hungry and walked straight into the Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant right next to the parking garage. We scarf down some wings and beer and head for the stadium about 10 minutes to kickoff.
The place is still being bombarded with fans showing up for the game. We passed a whole slew of beggars, peddlers, and street entertainers on the way. We decide to skip the line for the escalator and take the ramps up to our seats. We were in the highest balcony right in the center of the field. The game had already started, and the Colts had scored their first touchdown by the time we made it to our seats.
We got settled in, and I finally got to take a good look at the new stadium. They had the roof opened up, as well as the side window. The view of the Indianapolis cityscape at dusk through that windowpane looked like a work of art. It was a sight to behold in person, but the picture I got won't disappoint either. The place is outright huge. I felt like I climbed one of the great pyramids to get to my seat.
The game went pretty well. The Colts led the entire game. I'm not going to go too much into game detail because if you cared enough you'd have watched it, and if you don't care then I'm sure you have no interest in reading a play-by-play. After the game we walked back through the circus of t-shirt peddlers, street musicians, and whooping Colts fans. We were anxious to head home and get some rest, for tomorrow kicks off the big weekend trip.
Until next time...
(26) Baby's first cavity at 27 years of age...
It looks like my days of bragging on never having a cavity has come to an end. A couple weeks ago I went to Cedar Lane Dentistry for a checkup and they said they found a cavity between two molars in the far back of my lower right jaw. Fast forward to August 19th, and I'm sitting in the dentist chair wishing I had taken my elders' advice on flossing. I'm about to embark on a new experience in life, having the dentist drill into my teeth.
I was actually not really nervous at all until I got done with my cleaning and had about 30 minutes in the chair before the dentist came. I started wondering what all was involved in getting a filling. Well, all my questions were shortly answered. The dentist came out and picked up a nice big needle to numb my jaw. He wedged the needle between my teeth, jammed it in my gum, and worked it around as he injected the numbing serum into my jaw. I'd like to think I've got a pretty good tolerance for pain, but this particular feeling was such a piercing pain and it felt like someone was trying to pry my teeth apart. I think nearly every muscle in my body contracted as I absorbed the pain of the shot. It really only lasted about 5 seconds. When we finished I let out a 'whew!', and he asked me how it went. I said 'that was a hell of a prick!'. I sat there for about 20 minutes until he returned and asked if my bottom lip was numb. It sure wasn't, so guess what that means: another shot! The second one was slightly less painful as I was fairly numb, but the pressure and piercing were still there.
Next, a dental assistant (I guess thats what they are called) came in to perform the drilling. She packed my mouth with the cotton cheetos to soak up saliva and prepared the drill. At this point, I'm assuming the rest of this procedure is going to hurt worse than the needle. She gets to drilling, and luckily it really wasn't that painful at all. It was just awkward to sit there trying to keep my mouth still as she drilled away. It was very hard not to swallow, and the smell of the powdered tooth smoke bellowing out of my mouth was strange. After she got it all drilled out, she rinsed and vacuumed my mouth out and began to fill them.
I opted for the 'upgraded' resin fillings that are white to match my teeth. She fitted the resin into the holes and used an ultraviolet light in my mouth to harden the resin. Next was to grind down the excess resin so that it did not protrude past my teeth. I had to bite and grind my teeth on some carbon paper which was to mark any resin that was still protruding. After the final grinds, she rinsed me out again and I was on my way. Thanks to United Concordia I only had to pay $46 for the whole shebang. Unfortunately my days of bragging about never having a cavity are over, and you'll find me in the bathroom every morning flossing my teeth in defeat.
Until next time...
I was actually not really nervous at all until I got done with my cleaning and had about 30 minutes in the chair before the dentist came. I started wondering what all was involved in getting a filling. Well, all my questions were shortly answered. The dentist came out and picked up a nice big needle to numb my jaw. He wedged the needle between my teeth, jammed it in my gum, and worked it around as he injected the numbing serum into my jaw. I'd like to think I've got a pretty good tolerance for pain, but this particular feeling was such a piercing pain and it felt like someone was trying to pry my teeth apart. I think nearly every muscle in my body contracted as I absorbed the pain of the shot. It really only lasted about 5 seconds. When we finished I let out a 'whew!', and he asked me how it went. I said 'that was a hell of a prick!'. I sat there for about 20 minutes until he returned and asked if my bottom lip was numb. It sure wasn't, so guess what that means: another shot! The second one was slightly less painful as I was fairly numb, but the pressure and piercing were still there.
Next, a dental assistant (I guess thats what they are called) came in to perform the drilling. She packed my mouth with the cotton cheetos to soak up saliva and prepared the drill. At this point, I'm assuming the rest of this procedure is going to hurt worse than the needle. She gets to drilling, and luckily it really wasn't that painful at all. It was just awkward to sit there trying to keep my mouth still as she drilled away. It was very hard not to swallow, and the smell of the powdered tooth smoke bellowing out of my mouth was strange. After she got it all drilled out, she rinsed and vacuumed my mouth out and began to fill them.
I opted for the 'upgraded' resin fillings that are white to match my teeth. She fitted the resin into the holes and used an ultraviolet light in my mouth to harden the resin. Next was to grind down the excess resin so that it did not protrude past my teeth. I had to bite and grind my teeth on some carbon paper which was to mark any resin that was still protruding. After the final grinds, she rinsed me out again and I was on my way. Thanks to United Concordia I only had to pay $46 for the whole shebang. Unfortunately my days of bragging about never having a cavity are over, and you'll find me in the bathroom every morning flossing my teeth in defeat.
Until next time...
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
(25) Playing catch up....
It has been getting increasingly more difficult to blog regularly. I can't attribute it solely to lack of time, as I'm sure I could be making the time had I the determination. It has been hectic and I've been taking each dull moment to just sit back and relax. Anyhow, I'm not giving up on the blogging, just going to have to pace myself.
College: I've enrolled in classes through Grantham University to continue towards my bachelors degree in Computer Engineering Technology. I'm halfway through my first set of classes which are Student Success (requirement for new students at Grantham), American Government GP210, and Engineering & Ethics EE100. So far I've got 100% in student success and american government, and a 98% in Engineering & Ethics. Things are looking good, but it has taken a big chunk of my free time.
Career: On August 3rd I will start a new job. I took a higher position at the electronics shop I used to work at. I took a wage grade 11 position as a digital computer repairman. It will be nice to work in air conditioning again, working at a bench, and not getting oily and greasy every day. Of course the pay increase will be nice as well. The downside of this is that I will be driving to the west side of Indy every day instead of Camp Atterbury, so I will have to make special trips if I want to keep up to date with Ben Franklin's wardrobe changes, as the statue is no longer on my route to work.
Racing: I had my 2nd autocross of the season, which was the CSCC driving school and autocross race. My buddy Jamie went with me. It was a good time, but not without a hitch. Saturday morning I got up early to get everything in order for the day at the driving school. I readied the Subaru and attached the tow dolly. I fired up the Neon and put it on the tow dolly and strapped it all down. When I went back into the garage I noticed a decent puddle of oil about six inches in diameter where the Neon had been sitting. I go back out to the Neon and pop the hood and realize that the new valve cover I had put on was not sealed properly. I didn't have time to fix it then, but would have maybe an hour or two to fix it when we got to Walesboro. I've got tools in the Subaru so it shouldn't be a big deal to fix it. Jamie and I convoy down to Walesboro. We park and head over to the registration trailer to get signed up. I raise the hood on the Neon and begin to remove the valve cover to diagnose the leak. I come to the conclusion that the new valvecover is not as thick as the old valvecover and that my shoulder bolts are bottoming out before the valvecover gets a tight seal. I'm out of commission unless I can get some washers to raise the shoulder bolts. The school begins as I'm trying to figure out options. The tech inspector and Jay Nogan tell me there is a Menards just up the road.
Jamie goes on to the school activities while I unhook the trailer from the Subaru and head up to Columbus for some washers. I get my washers, drive back to the airstrip, and get to work fixing my leak. I get the car finished, fire it up, no leaks. I pull her off the trailer and walk over to see if I can still jump in on the action. They students are making their runs through tomorrows race course already. Jay gives me the go ahead to jump in and make some runs. I run back and get the car and pull into the staging lanes.
I make my first run and things are pretty hairy as the car is still pretty new to me after all the modifications I did after returning from Iraq. I started noticing some sporratic hesitation and surges in the power and was having trouble accelerating smoothly. On one of the tight turns the car comes around on my and I slide through about 8 cones. I was a bit embarrassed to have made such a mess of cones on the course, but these things happen. I got the car back on course and finished the run at 68.xxx with 11 cones knocked down total. Just as I was going full throttle through the finishing gates I looked in my rearview mirror and saw a huge cloud of white smoke trail behind the car. This is not a good sign at all.
I drive the car straight back to the pits and park her. I look underneath and there is oil spewing out. I'm fairly certain that the headgasket decided it had enough. Disappointed to be done for the day, I head back over to the staging area to meet up with Jamie and ride along and coach him through a few runs.
Here are the videos from Jamie's runs:
After the school was over, we loaded the Neon back up on the trailer and headed back to my house. We decided it wouldn't be any fun for Jamie to race by himself on Sunday, so we were going to pull a late nighter and do a headgasket job on my Neon that evening. I started tearing into the Neon around 5:30pm and we finished up and fired her up about 10:45pm. We made good time, but stopped for about a half hour to enjoy some Papa John's pizza that Amber had ordered.
Sunday morning we got up early again. I loaded up the Subaru, hitched up the Neon, and met up with Jamie. Amber came along this time to take pictures and videos of the event. We convoyed down to Walesboro, parked the cars, and started getting the cars prepped for the race. After the cars were ready and got their tech inspection, we registered and headed to the course for a walk through. We strategically walked the course, taking mental notes of how to negotiate the obstacles. Before we knew it, it was time to get to racing.
Since Jamie and I were running in the Street Modified class, we were in the 2nd heat of the day. This means we had to work first. I picked up a walkie talkie from the scoring trailer, and we were assigned a station to man. I was going to handle the radio transmissions and Jamie was eager to shag some cones. We got another guy to help us out to who had brought a Shelby Cobro kit car to race. It was about 2.5 hours or so of racing to get 6 runs in for the first heat, then we changed over and got our cars moved into the staging lanes to race.
Here are the videos from the race:
We had a great time at the races. Jamie got hooked to autocross, and he did some fantastic driving for his first time out. I barely outran him.
Its getting late and I've got to get some sleep. I will amend this with more details at a later date. The race results can be seen here.
Be sure to check out the slideshow!
Until next time....
College: I've enrolled in classes through Grantham University to continue towards my bachelors degree in Computer Engineering Technology. I'm halfway through my first set of classes which are Student Success (requirement for new students at Grantham), American Government GP210, and Engineering & Ethics EE100. So far I've got 100% in student success and american government, and a 98% in Engineering & Ethics. Things are looking good, but it has taken a big chunk of my free time.
Career: On August 3rd I will start a new job. I took a higher position at the electronics shop I used to work at. I took a wage grade 11 position as a digital computer repairman. It will be nice to work in air conditioning again, working at a bench, and not getting oily and greasy every day. Of course the pay increase will be nice as well. The downside of this is that I will be driving to the west side of Indy every day instead of Camp Atterbury, so I will have to make special trips if I want to keep up to date with Ben Franklin's wardrobe changes, as the statue is no longer on my route to work.
Racing: I had my 2nd autocross of the season, which was the CSCC driving school and autocross race. My buddy Jamie went with me. It was a good time, but not without a hitch. Saturday morning I got up early to get everything in order for the day at the driving school. I readied the Subaru and attached the tow dolly. I fired up the Neon and put it on the tow dolly and strapped it all down. When I went back into the garage I noticed a decent puddle of oil about six inches in diameter where the Neon had been sitting. I go back out to the Neon and pop the hood and realize that the new valve cover I had put on was not sealed properly. I didn't have time to fix it then, but would have maybe an hour or two to fix it when we got to Walesboro. I've got tools in the Subaru so it shouldn't be a big deal to fix it. Jamie and I convoy down to Walesboro. We park and head over to the registration trailer to get signed up. I raise the hood on the Neon and begin to remove the valve cover to diagnose the leak. I come to the conclusion that the new valvecover is not as thick as the old valvecover and that my shoulder bolts are bottoming out before the valvecover gets a tight seal. I'm out of commission unless I can get some washers to raise the shoulder bolts. The school begins as I'm trying to figure out options. The tech inspector and Jay Nogan tell me there is a Menards just up the road.
Jamie goes on to the school activities while I unhook the trailer from the Subaru and head up to Columbus for some washers. I get my washers, drive back to the airstrip, and get to work fixing my leak. I get the car finished, fire it up, no leaks. I pull her off the trailer and walk over to see if I can still jump in on the action. They students are making their runs through tomorrows race course already. Jay gives me the go ahead to jump in and make some runs. I run back and get the car and pull into the staging lanes.
I make my first run and things are pretty hairy as the car is still pretty new to me after all the modifications I did after returning from Iraq. I started noticing some sporratic hesitation and surges in the power and was having trouble accelerating smoothly. On one of the tight turns the car comes around on my and I slide through about 8 cones. I was a bit embarrassed to have made such a mess of cones on the course, but these things happen. I got the car back on course and finished the run at 68.xxx with 11 cones knocked down total. Just as I was going full throttle through the finishing gates I looked in my rearview mirror and saw a huge cloud of white smoke trail behind the car. This is not a good sign at all.
I drive the car straight back to the pits and park her. I look underneath and there is oil spewing out. I'm fairly certain that the headgasket decided it had enough. Disappointed to be done for the day, I head back over to the staging area to meet up with Jamie and ride along and coach him through a few runs.
Here are the videos from Jamie's runs:
After the school was over, we loaded the Neon back up on the trailer and headed back to my house. We decided it wouldn't be any fun for Jamie to race by himself on Sunday, so we were going to pull a late nighter and do a headgasket job on my Neon that evening. I started tearing into the Neon around 5:30pm and we finished up and fired her up about 10:45pm. We made good time, but stopped for about a half hour to enjoy some Papa John's pizza that Amber had ordered.
Sunday morning we got up early again. I loaded up the Subaru, hitched up the Neon, and met up with Jamie. Amber came along this time to take pictures and videos of the event. We convoyed down to Walesboro, parked the cars, and started getting the cars prepped for the race. After the cars were ready and got their tech inspection, we registered and headed to the course for a walk through. We strategically walked the course, taking mental notes of how to negotiate the obstacles. Before we knew it, it was time to get to racing.
Since Jamie and I were running in the Street Modified class, we were in the 2nd heat of the day. This means we had to work first. I picked up a walkie talkie from the scoring trailer, and we were assigned a station to man. I was going to handle the radio transmissions and Jamie was eager to shag some cones. We got another guy to help us out to who had brought a Shelby Cobro kit car to race. It was about 2.5 hours or so of racing to get 6 runs in for the first heat, then we changed over and got our cars moved into the staging lanes to race.
Here are the videos from the race:
We had a great time at the races. Jamie got hooked to autocross, and he did some fantastic driving for his first time out. I barely outran him.
Its getting late and I've got to get some sleep. I will amend this with more details at a later date. The race results can be seen here.
Be sure to check out the slideshow!
Until next time....
Sunday, June 21, 2009
(24) N2K9 Day 4 & 5 - Neon Drag Racing Tournament & Convoy Home
Well I'm finally getting caught up on documenting our vacation to Illinois. This will be the last article of the N2K9 series.
Saturday was the day many of us, including myself, had been looking forward most to: Drag Racing. We got up fairly early and headed to the lobby for a continental cup of coffee and bagels. It was raining outside, which might put a tragic halt to our drag racing plans. Other Neon folks start waking and milling around the hotel, discussing the weather forecast. We make some phone calls to Byron Dragway to see what their plans were. They let us know that the rain had just cleared up there in Byron and they were starting to dry the track for a day of drag racing. We were all excited and saddled up in our Neons and headed for Byron. I pulled the Neon on the trailer in preparation of any breakdowns at the track. We first drove the the wrong place, as we had gotten a bad address online. But after a couple phone calls and new address the GPS took us right to the track. Most of the Neons had beaten us there. I parked the Subaru in the pit area and offloaded the Neon. There was a big Subaru Shootout event with 100+ Subarus in attendance, so I was well equipped for both crowds having a Neon and a Subaru. We watched the track crew clean, dry, and prep the track surface for a good hour and a half before any racing began. We filed over to the tech inspection area to have our cars inspected and certified by the track officials, then parked them in the staging lanes in preparation for some racing.
There were 4 groups arranged for racing. The first group to go through the lights was the junior dragsters. they are miniature rail dragsters with souped up Briggs & Stratton engines with kids age 7-12 at the wheel. They only race the 1/8th mile, but run around 8 seconds flat at 75-80 miles per hour. That's pretty darn fast for a 7 year old! Anyhow, the second group to race were the local group who were there for test 'n tune. There was a wide variety of vehicles from 9 second old school muscle cars to jacked up diesel trucks. The Subaru group was next to race, and they were a hoot to watch. They had some pretty fast cars in attendance, and watching an all-wheel-drive car come tearing off the start is impressive.
Finally we come to the Neons. We had set up a bracket tournament. It goes like this:
You get 2 passes down the track to get an idea of what time your car runs.
After the 2 'time trial' passes, you mark your car window with a 'dial in' time, or what you are going to try to match for the races.
My first time trial run was very interesting as it was my first time taking the car down the 1/4 mile track since it was near stock. I really didn't know what to expect. I was racing one of the local guys with a lightly modded 1995 Nitro Yellow Green Coupe that has been gutted of most of its interior. We stage the cars, the lights drop the green.... And I launch the car about 3500 RPM which turned out to be a bit too much as I spun all the way through first gear. Shifted to second and mashed the gas only to spin some more, then I finally get out of the throttle to regain traction and move on down the track. It was pretty embarrassing, and I got beat, but it was undoubtedly a horrible run. I ran a 16.607 @ 90.79 MPH.
Second time trial run was not much better. I was lined up against a black R/T sedan Neon. I was a little more reserved on the launch as to avoid smoking the tires and possibly breaking something. I took off real slow and didn't even chirp a tire, accelerated moderately to 15mph, then shifted to second and nailed the throttle. It felt a little faster, but I knew it wasn't going to be too great. I finished at 16.241 @ 91.89 MPH. These trap speeds should have me in the high 14 second range, so something is definately not right here.
Now for the first race of the tournament: I decided to put a dial in time of 15.75 seconds, expecting to get a little faster this run. The idea here is, whoever runs closest to their time without going faster is the winner. (Reaction time is calculated into total ET as well) I was more concerned with figuring out why the car is running so slow than winning races. I was getting tired of putting up embarrassing mid 16 second times. This time I was racing a blue 1st gen Neon with a 35hp shot of nitrous. After consulting with my opponent who has a very similar engine setup as me, I decide to do a little camshaft tweaking by retarding my exhaust cam 3 degrees to decrease overlap and increase cam separation angle. We stage the cars, and the race begins. I get a fairly decent launch this time, not too slow but not too much spinning, The car pulls pretty hard in the higher RPMs. I barely cross the finish line just in front of the opponent, but my slow reaction time cost me the race. So I'm out of the bracket racing tournament in the first round. I did get faster though, running a 16.023 @ 89.10 MPH.
I got notified that I was one of the 'Top 8 Fastest Neons' (I was 7th fastest), and was eligible to compete in the head to head shootout. I know I had no chance, but it would be fun anyways! I was paired up against a modified SRT-4 Neon with a big turbo upgrade. He has been running solid 12 second passes all day, so I'm hoping he jumps the light! I'm still more concerned about tuning than racing though, as I've now got a passenger with me. He's Jamie, one of the Indiana folks, and he's going to be watching my Air/Fuel Ratio gauge as I go down the track so I can see where I need to add or pull fuel. We stage, lights drop, and we're off. The orange SRT-4 blows my doors off, but I did get a bit faster still with a 15.690 @ 90.71 MPH. So I'm officially out of the Neon competitions.
I go sit in the grandstands with Amber and the other Neon folks and watch a good hour or so of racing. I realize that I can still run if I jump in the test & tune line. I grab Jamie for some more assistance. We drop the tire pressure from 50 psi to 23 psi so we can get more traction out of the hole, and we make some initial fuel adjustments from our last run's readings. We line up against another Neon, stage, and take off. Its definately feeling faster, and the time ticket says 15.667 @ 90.52, a minor improvement. We did get some more good fuel data on this run though.
We roll to the staging lanes, make fuel adjustments, let the car cool down, and go at it again. This time I was racing against a Subaru. I run a 15.414 @ 91.62.
We make some more adjustments as we drive down the return road to the staging area. It's starting to get dark, so we may not get to run again. Luckily they allowed us to make 1 more pass. Jamie jumped out and let Amber in for my last pass, and we finished the night with a 15.222 @ 91.30 MPH. Still didn't make it into the 14's, but we were steadily making our way there. No doubt we would have dipped well into the 14's with more adjustments. Didn't get this one on camera since Amber was riding, but there is a picture of the timeslip in the slideshow.
We load up the car on the trailer and head back for the hotel. We have an Indiana meeting and decide on plans to head back home. We're all pretty tired from a long day in the sun, so we decide to get some sleep and sneak out at 5am Sunday morning.
The drive home was much nicer, as we told Donna Delphi (GPS) that tollroads were 'forbidden'. It didn't take us any longer to get home, in fact it was faster, smoother, and cheaper! The Subaru got 21.6 MPG towing the Neon home. We stopped at a Cracker Barrel as soon as we got in Indiana and had some breakfast. Then it was smooth sailing, with only a couple stops for the bathroom and to adjust wheel straps on the Neon. I did jinx myself though when we pulled up to the house. I said 'Well we made it home safe and sound with no problems!' Then as I offloaded the Neon from the dolly the front bumper snags and pops off the driver side of the car. Oh well, it won't be tough to fix. We unpack and get ready to go back to work Monday.
Enjoy the videos and pictures!
Until next time...
Saturday was the day many of us, including myself, had been looking forward most to: Drag Racing. We got up fairly early and headed to the lobby for a continental cup of coffee and bagels. It was raining outside, which might put a tragic halt to our drag racing plans. Other Neon folks start waking and milling around the hotel, discussing the weather forecast. We make some phone calls to Byron Dragway to see what their plans were. They let us know that the rain had just cleared up there in Byron and they were starting to dry the track for a day of drag racing. We were all excited and saddled up in our Neons and headed for Byron. I pulled the Neon on the trailer in preparation of any breakdowns at the track. We first drove the the wrong place, as we had gotten a bad address online. But after a couple phone calls and new address the GPS took us right to the track. Most of the Neons had beaten us there. I parked the Subaru in the pit area and offloaded the Neon. There was a big Subaru Shootout event with 100+ Subarus in attendance, so I was well equipped for both crowds having a Neon and a Subaru. We watched the track crew clean, dry, and prep the track surface for a good hour and a half before any racing began. We filed over to the tech inspection area to have our cars inspected and certified by the track officials, then parked them in the staging lanes in preparation for some racing.
There were 4 groups arranged for racing. The first group to go through the lights was the junior dragsters. they are miniature rail dragsters with souped up Briggs & Stratton engines with kids age 7-12 at the wheel. They only race the 1/8th mile, but run around 8 seconds flat at 75-80 miles per hour. That's pretty darn fast for a 7 year old! Anyhow, the second group to race were the local group who were there for test 'n tune. There was a wide variety of vehicles from 9 second old school muscle cars to jacked up diesel trucks. The Subaru group was next to race, and they were a hoot to watch. They had some pretty fast cars in attendance, and watching an all-wheel-drive car come tearing off the start is impressive.
Finally we come to the Neons. We had set up a bracket tournament. It goes like this:
You get 2 passes down the track to get an idea of what time your car runs.
After the 2 'time trial' passes, you mark your car window with a 'dial in' time, or what you are going to try to match for the races.
My first time trial run was very interesting as it was my first time taking the car down the 1/4 mile track since it was near stock. I really didn't know what to expect. I was racing one of the local guys with a lightly modded 1995 Nitro Yellow Green Coupe that has been gutted of most of its interior. We stage the cars, the lights drop the green.... And I launch the car about 3500 RPM which turned out to be a bit too much as I spun all the way through first gear. Shifted to second and mashed the gas only to spin some more, then I finally get out of the throttle to regain traction and move on down the track. It was pretty embarrassing, and I got beat, but it was undoubtedly a horrible run. I ran a 16.607 @ 90.79 MPH.
Second time trial run was not much better. I was lined up against a black R/T sedan Neon. I was a little more reserved on the launch as to avoid smoking the tires and possibly breaking something. I took off real slow and didn't even chirp a tire, accelerated moderately to 15mph, then shifted to second and nailed the throttle. It felt a little faster, but I knew it wasn't going to be too great. I finished at 16.241 @ 91.89 MPH. These trap speeds should have me in the high 14 second range, so something is definately not right here.
Now for the first race of the tournament: I decided to put a dial in time of 15.75 seconds, expecting to get a little faster this run. The idea here is, whoever runs closest to their time without going faster is the winner. (Reaction time is calculated into total ET as well) I was more concerned with figuring out why the car is running so slow than winning races. I was getting tired of putting up embarrassing mid 16 second times. This time I was racing a blue 1st gen Neon with a 35hp shot of nitrous. After consulting with my opponent who has a very similar engine setup as me, I decide to do a little camshaft tweaking by retarding my exhaust cam 3 degrees to decrease overlap and increase cam separation angle. We stage the cars, and the race begins. I get a fairly decent launch this time, not too slow but not too much spinning, The car pulls pretty hard in the higher RPMs. I barely cross the finish line just in front of the opponent, but my slow reaction time cost me the race. So I'm out of the bracket racing tournament in the first round. I did get faster though, running a 16.023 @ 89.10 MPH.
I got notified that I was one of the 'Top 8 Fastest Neons' (I was 7th fastest), and was eligible to compete in the head to head shootout. I know I had no chance, but it would be fun anyways! I was paired up against a modified SRT-4 Neon with a big turbo upgrade. He has been running solid 12 second passes all day, so I'm hoping he jumps the light! I'm still more concerned about tuning than racing though, as I've now got a passenger with me. He's Jamie, one of the Indiana folks, and he's going to be watching my Air/Fuel Ratio gauge as I go down the track so I can see where I need to add or pull fuel. We stage, lights drop, and we're off. The orange SRT-4 blows my doors off, but I did get a bit faster still with a 15.690 @ 90.71 MPH. So I'm officially out of the Neon competitions.
I go sit in the grandstands with Amber and the other Neon folks and watch a good hour or so of racing. I realize that I can still run if I jump in the test & tune line. I grab Jamie for some more assistance. We drop the tire pressure from 50 psi to 23 psi so we can get more traction out of the hole, and we make some initial fuel adjustments from our last run's readings. We line up against another Neon, stage, and take off. Its definately feeling faster, and the time ticket says 15.667 @ 90.52, a minor improvement. We did get some more good fuel data on this run though.
We roll to the staging lanes, make fuel adjustments, let the car cool down, and go at it again. This time I was racing against a Subaru. I run a 15.414 @ 91.62.
We make some more adjustments as we drive down the return road to the staging area. It's starting to get dark, so we may not get to run again. Luckily they allowed us to make 1 more pass. Jamie jumped out and let Amber in for my last pass, and we finished the night with a 15.222 @ 91.30 MPH. Still didn't make it into the 14's, but we were steadily making our way there. No doubt we would have dipped well into the 14's with more adjustments. Didn't get this one on camera since Amber was riding, but there is a picture of the timeslip in the slideshow.
We load up the car on the trailer and head back for the hotel. We have an Indiana meeting and decide on plans to head back home. We're all pretty tired from a long day in the sun, so we decide to get some sleep and sneak out at 5am Sunday morning.
The drive home was much nicer, as we told Donna Delphi (GPS) that tollroads were 'forbidden'. It didn't take us any longer to get home, in fact it was faster, smoother, and cheaper! The Subaru got 21.6 MPG towing the Neon home. We stopped at a Cracker Barrel as soon as we got in Indiana and had some breakfast. Then it was smooth sailing, with only a couple stops for the bathroom and to adjust wheel straps on the Neon. I did jinx myself though when we pulled up to the house. I said 'Well we made it home safe and sound with no problems!' Then as I offloaded the Neon from the dolly the front bumper snags and pops off the driver side of the car. Oh well, it won't be tough to fix. We unpack and get ready to go back to work Monday.
Enjoy the videos and pictures!
Until next time...
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
(23) N2K9 Day 3 - Rockford Sightseeing, Car Show & Group Picture, Parking Lot Alignment
Here's a breakdown of Day 3's activities...
On the docket for the day was a car show competition again at the 'cottonwood park' in Belvidere at noon. The Indiana crew, being the tight knit group that we are, decided to squeeze more activities in today to get more bang for our vacation bucks.
It all started out with breakfast at Kegel's Harley Davidson Dealership & Diner. This diner is built right into the Harley dealer there in Rockford. Amber and I had scoped it out the day before, and it was really cool looking! We had a group of 8 head out for breakfast. I had the 'panhead breakfast' which really hit the spot.
After breakfast, the 8 of us headed across town for the Anderson Japanese Gardens, proudly acclaimed as the #1 Japanese garden in the USA. It definitely lived up to its name. It was astounding with lots of greenery, stone statues, waterfalls, and bamboo structures. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking, as they are the best way to describe a place like this.
After a couple hours checking out the gardens, 6 of us decided to go check out the Discovery Museum in Rockford. It turned out to be more of a children's museum, but we had a great time nonetheless. There was a mock 'crime scene' where you had to study evidence in different methods that the investigators use, and try to solve the mystery. There were also several exhibits related to physics, electricity, light, sound, and more. It was both educational and enjoyable.
It was about time to get headed back to Belvidere for the car show, but we decided to stop by Applebee's for a quick lunch. Once we got to the hotel, we jumped in our Neons and took them across the street for a quick car wash. Then on to the park to park em with the group and walk around and look at cars. There were some very nicely built cars there. Much cleaner than the Indiana cars, but ours are either daily drivers or well seasoned race machines. After a couple hours, they gave out the awards and trophies for the best cars in the show. I'm fairly certain I had the 'best in show' for tow dollies, except they didn't have a class for tow dollies. No trophies for me.
We headed back to the hotel and parked the cars in the parking lot. I decided I'd fix my alignment issue before I put the Neon on the trailer for the morning march to the drag stip. There was a good size group of Neon pals standing by to give me a hand, which was quite nice. I had to borrow a few tools to get the job done as well, as I'd only brought along a basic socket set. It only took about 30 minutes to get everything fixed back up, and it looks pretty good for an 'eyeball' alignment. We did have an alignment pro on hand to perform the 'eyeball' measurements.
Enjoy the pictures of all the events covered today! They are good!
Until next time...
On the docket for the day was a car show competition again at the 'cottonwood park' in Belvidere at noon. The Indiana crew, being the tight knit group that we are, decided to squeeze more activities in today to get more bang for our vacation bucks.
It all started out with breakfast at Kegel's Harley Davidson Dealership & Diner. This diner is built right into the Harley dealer there in Rockford. Amber and I had scoped it out the day before, and it was really cool looking! We had a group of 8 head out for breakfast. I had the 'panhead breakfast' which really hit the spot.
After breakfast, the 8 of us headed across town for the Anderson Japanese Gardens, proudly acclaimed as the #1 Japanese garden in the USA. It definitely lived up to its name. It was astounding with lots of greenery, stone statues, waterfalls, and bamboo structures. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking, as they are the best way to describe a place like this.
After a couple hours checking out the gardens, 6 of us decided to go check out the Discovery Museum in Rockford. It turned out to be more of a children's museum, but we had a great time nonetheless. There was a mock 'crime scene' where you had to study evidence in different methods that the investigators use, and try to solve the mystery. There were also several exhibits related to physics, electricity, light, sound, and more. It was both educational and enjoyable.
It was about time to get headed back to Belvidere for the car show, but we decided to stop by Applebee's for a quick lunch. Once we got to the hotel, we jumped in our Neons and took them across the street for a quick car wash. Then on to the park to park em with the group and walk around and look at cars. There were some very nicely built cars there. Much cleaner than the Indiana cars, but ours are either daily drivers or well seasoned race machines. After a couple hours, they gave out the awards and trophies for the best cars in the show. I'm fairly certain I had the 'best in show' for tow dollies, except they didn't have a class for tow dollies. No trophies for me.
We headed back to the hotel and parked the cars in the parking lot. I decided I'd fix my alignment issue before I put the Neon on the trailer for the morning march to the drag stip. There was a good size group of Neon pals standing by to give me a hand, which was quite nice. I had to borrow a few tools to get the job done as well, as I'd only brought along a basic socket set. It only took about 30 minutes to get everything fixed back up, and it looks pretty good for an 'eyeball' alignment. We did have an alignment pro on hand to perform the 'eyeball' measurements.
Enjoy the pictures of all the events covered today! They are good!
Until next time...
Thursday, June 11, 2009
(22) N2K9 Days 1 & 2
Ahhh... Now to enjoy my vacation. It all started Wednesday morning...
I was awoken by a nice thunderstorm about 5:30am, a good hour before the alarm was set to go off. I opened the blind on the bedroom window to expose a good lightning storm and solid rain. I just knew I should have followed my instict last night to go ahead and put the Neon on the tow dolly and hook it up to the Subaru, all ready to pull out of the driveway. I decided to wait until morning since I don't like leaving the race car outside the security of the garage unsupervised. This came at a price this time, as I was looking at a good soaking while I hook up the rig. I jumped on the computer to check out the weather forecast, and noticed a predicted lull in the the rain for a 30 minute window between 6:30 and 7:00 am. I woke up Amber and had her get ready to help me load everything up while the rain was stopped or died down. We managed to get it done with minimal saturation.
At 0800 hours we were set to meet up with a fellow Neon enthusiast from Greenwood to start our convoy to Belvidere Illinois for Neon Bash 2009. The rain was intense for the first half hour of driving, but then progressively lightened up and finally stopped at the north side of Indianapolis. It was smooth sailing after that. The Subaru was doing a great job pulling the Neon, but I was taking my time and being cautious the entire trip. We met up another couple of Neon enthusiasts in Lafayette, a husband and wife both in flame red coupes like mine. We convoyed with the Subaru leading and 4 Neons behind all the way to Belvidere. It took just over 5 hours start to finish with 2 bathroom stops along the way. We arrived at the America's Best Value Inn and checked in about 1:30pm. I unloaded the Neon from the trailer and noticed that my driver side rear wheel had been knocked out of alignment by the horrendous toll roads through Chicago. Not only did it cost me $15 in tolls to drive across Chicago, but it also cost me my custom racing alignment. There were a couple Neons in the parking lot when we got there, but most were out scavenging the local junkyards. We stayed at the hotel. Slowly but surely more and more Neons started rolling in, and we spent most of the day chatting with fellow Neon owners and watching repairs and upgrades taking place right in the parking lot. Us Indiana folk grilled out bratwurst for dinner.
Thursday was scheduled for a cookout at the park along with a swap meet. We woke up about 8:30am and got showered and ready to hit the day. We met up with the Indiana crew and headed for the local McDonalds for some good breakfast, as the continental breakfast just wasn't going to cut it. After breakfast we had some time to burn so we stopped at the local Chevrolet dealership to get a glimpse of the new 2010 Camaro, but there were none in stock. We decided to head back to the hotel. More people were up and milling around again in the parking lot, so we did some more socializing in the parking lot for a bit, then headed to the park for the cookout and swap meet. There were probably 30-35 cars that showed up with parts to sell or donate to other needy Neon owners. The cookout started off a little rocky, as there was only 1 package of hot dog buns, and no hamburger buns. We had already pitched in 4 bags of Doritos, but we made a quick trip in the Neon to Aldi's to pick up buns and condiments. Another Neon guy footed the bill, I just did the driving.
After a while we decided we'd go back to the hotel and find something to do in Rockford. We were getting a little burnt out on standing in parking lots. Amber and I jumped in the Subaru, cranked on the air conditioning, and headed for Rockford to scope out things to do. We found the 'Anderson Japanese Gardens', which is an authentic Japanese pond-strolling garden with a Sukiya guest house, tea house, waterfalls, and more. We caught them 15 minutes before they close, so we're going to make a full tour tomorrow. We're also planning tomorrow's breakfast at the Rockford Harley-Davidson dealership that has a cool diner right in the dealership! Definately will have pictures later on for that. After we got done with the Rockford recon, we headed back to the hotel and linked up with the other Indiana folk to grab some dinner at a BBQ joint down the street. It was packed when we got there, and for good reason. The food was incredible! Best pork & beans I think I've ever had. Now we're back at the hotel and winding down for the evening. Can't wait for tomorrow's breakfast, Japanese garden, and car show!
Until Next Time...
I was awoken by a nice thunderstorm about 5:30am, a good hour before the alarm was set to go off. I opened the blind on the bedroom window to expose a good lightning storm and solid rain. I just knew I should have followed my instict last night to go ahead and put the Neon on the tow dolly and hook it up to the Subaru, all ready to pull out of the driveway. I decided to wait until morning since I don't like leaving the race car outside the security of the garage unsupervised. This came at a price this time, as I was looking at a good soaking while I hook up the rig. I jumped on the computer to check out the weather forecast, and noticed a predicted lull in the the rain for a 30 minute window between 6:30 and 7:00 am. I woke up Amber and had her get ready to help me load everything up while the rain was stopped or died down. We managed to get it done with minimal saturation.
At 0800 hours we were set to meet up with a fellow Neon enthusiast from Greenwood to start our convoy to Belvidere Illinois for Neon Bash 2009. The rain was intense for the first half hour of driving, but then progressively lightened up and finally stopped at the north side of Indianapolis. It was smooth sailing after that. The Subaru was doing a great job pulling the Neon, but I was taking my time and being cautious the entire trip. We met up another couple of Neon enthusiasts in Lafayette, a husband and wife both in flame red coupes like mine. We convoyed with the Subaru leading and 4 Neons behind all the way to Belvidere. It took just over 5 hours start to finish with 2 bathroom stops along the way. We arrived at the America's Best Value Inn and checked in about 1:30pm. I unloaded the Neon from the trailer and noticed that my driver side rear wheel had been knocked out of alignment by the horrendous toll roads through Chicago. Not only did it cost me $15 in tolls to drive across Chicago, but it also cost me my custom racing alignment. There were a couple Neons in the parking lot when we got there, but most were out scavenging the local junkyards. We stayed at the hotel. Slowly but surely more and more Neons started rolling in, and we spent most of the day chatting with fellow Neon owners and watching repairs and upgrades taking place right in the parking lot. Us Indiana folk grilled out bratwurst for dinner.
Thursday was scheduled for a cookout at the park along with a swap meet. We woke up about 8:30am and got showered and ready to hit the day. We met up with the Indiana crew and headed for the local McDonalds for some good breakfast, as the continental breakfast just wasn't going to cut it. After breakfast we had some time to burn so we stopped at the local Chevrolet dealership to get a glimpse of the new 2010 Camaro, but there were none in stock. We decided to head back to the hotel. More people were up and milling around again in the parking lot, so we did some more socializing in the parking lot for a bit, then headed to the park for the cookout and swap meet. There were probably 30-35 cars that showed up with parts to sell or donate to other needy Neon owners. The cookout started off a little rocky, as there was only 1 package of hot dog buns, and no hamburger buns. We had already pitched in 4 bags of Doritos, but we made a quick trip in the Neon to Aldi's to pick up buns and condiments. Another Neon guy footed the bill, I just did the driving.
After a while we decided we'd go back to the hotel and find something to do in Rockford. We were getting a little burnt out on standing in parking lots. Amber and I jumped in the Subaru, cranked on the air conditioning, and headed for Rockford to scope out things to do. We found the 'Anderson Japanese Gardens', which is an authentic Japanese pond-strolling garden with a Sukiya guest house, tea house, waterfalls, and more. We caught them 15 minutes before they close, so we're going to make a full tour tomorrow. We're also planning tomorrow's breakfast at the Rockford Harley-Davidson dealership that has a cool diner right in the dealership! Definately will have pictures later on for that. After we got done with the Rockford recon, we headed back to the hotel and linked up with the other Indiana folk to grab some dinner at a BBQ joint down the street. It was packed when we got there, and for good reason. The food was incredible! Best pork & beans I think I've ever had. Now we're back at the hotel and winding down for the evening. Can't wait for tomorrow's breakfast, Japanese garden, and car show!
Until Next Time...
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
(21) Endangered Veterans Monument, Benjamin Report, Tow Dolly Restoration
I got a disturbing email today from the VFW. The liberal whackos in California are crying about a 65+ year old Veteran's Monument that was erected in the middle of the desert following World War I. It's a load of coohockey, so I'm asking friends and family and fellow veterans to go to the site and sign the petition to the US Supreme Court. Look at the 'Don't Tear Me Down' widget thingy to the right under today's pictures.
Now for the Benjamin Report: This last Saturday the Indianapolis Colts visited Franklin to practice at Franklin College's football field. Mr. Benjamin Franklin was the first to greet the team as the bus drove by him. He was almost mistaken for a member of the team! Check out the picture!
Now, on to today's activities...
I'm on vacation this week, and am preparing for a 5 day trip to Belvidere Illinois, home of the only US Chrysler plant that manufactured the Dodge/Plymouth Neon. (The other was Toluca, Mexico) Every year a national rally is held in Belvidere for Neon owners and enthusiasts nationwide. Having owned and toyed with my Neon since 2000, I have always wanted to make the pilgrimage to this Mopar Mecca. Whether it be lack of money, scheduling conflicts, military deployments, or the Neon being broken down, I have yet to make it to this annual event. Well finally the moons aligned or something, and I'm leaving Wednesday for Neons 2009, dubbed N2K9.
I am going to be towing the Neon there, as I don't want to be stranded if the car has any issues or breaks during the racing events. I've been scouring the internet and local classifieds for the last few weeks hoping to score a good deal on a tow dolly. I wasn't having much luck finding a dolly with electric brakes for much of a bargain. Finally yesterday I found a dolly with brakes, but it was pretty rusty from sitting outside. Everything mechanically was sound, and the brakes had not ever been used. Also included was a toolbox and electric winch for pulling a non-running car onto the dolly. This dolly new without the winch and toolbox sells for over $1200, and the guy was asking $775 for it. I offered him $600, and he said he'd take $625. Done deal. I pulled it home and put it on jackstands in the garage. I completely disassembled the entire dolly, knocked off all the rust with my angle grinder and sanding discs, repainted all the components, inspected and cleaned the brakes, repacked and relubed the wheel bearings, rewired a bit of the electrical system, and reassembled the whole thing in 2 days. It was a good workout, and I got completely filthy both days, but she sure is looking nice now! Not to mention she's sporting the 'Po Boy Motorsports' colors of red and black. Should look real nice hauling the Neon to Illinois. Now I'm looking at one hell of a mess to clean up in the garage!
Enjoy the pictures while I sweep the floor and clean up.
Until Next Time...
Now for the Benjamin Report: This last Saturday the Indianapolis Colts visited Franklin to practice at Franklin College's football field. Mr. Benjamin Franklin was the first to greet the team as the bus drove by him. He was almost mistaken for a member of the team! Check out the picture!
Now, on to today's activities...
I'm on vacation this week, and am preparing for a 5 day trip to Belvidere Illinois, home of the only US Chrysler plant that manufactured the Dodge/Plymouth Neon. (The other was Toluca, Mexico) Every year a national rally is held in Belvidere for Neon owners and enthusiasts nationwide. Having owned and toyed with my Neon since 2000, I have always wanted to make the pilgrimage to this Mopar Mecca. Whether it be lack of money, scheduling conflicts, military deployments, or the Neon being broken down, I have yet to make it to this annual event. Well finally the moons aligned or something, and I'm leaving Wednesday for Neons 2009, dubbed N2K9.
I am going to be towing the Neon there, as I don't want to be stranded if the car has any issues or breaks during the racing events. I've been scouring the internet and local classifieds for the last few weeks hoping to score a good deal on a tow dolly. I wasn't having much luck finding a dolly with electric brakes for much of a bargain. Finally yesterday I found a dolly with brakes, but it was pretty rusty from sitting outside. Everything mechanically was sound, and the brakes had not ever been used. Also included was a toolbox and electric winch for pulling a non-running car onto the dolly. This dolly new without the winch and toolbox sells for over $1200, and the guy was asking $775 for it. I offered him $600, and he said he'd take $625. Done deal. I pulled it home and put it on jackstands in the garage. I completely disassembled the entire dolly, knocked off all the rust with my angle grinder and sanding discs, repainted all the components, inspected and cleaned the brakes, repacked and relubed the wheel bearings, rewired a bit of the electrical system, and reassembled the whole thing in 2 days. It was a good workout, and I got completely filthy both days, but she sure is looking nice now! Not to mention she's sporting the 'Po Boy Motorsports' colors of red and black. Should look real nice hauling the Neon to Illinois. Now I'm looking at one hell of a mess to clean up in the garage!
Enjoy the pictures while I sweep the floor and clean up.
Until Next Time...
(20) Lunch at Province Park and the Benjamin Report
Well on Sunday the weather was so beautiful I decided to take Amber out for lunch in Province Park. We stopped first at the new Rally's that just opened up in Franklin and picked up some food. We snapped some pictures of the courthouse and statue of Ben Franklin at the Franklin College campus on the way to the park. Now for a sidebar:
Let me tell you a little about this Benjamin Franklin shrine that sits right on the southeast corner of Monroe and East State Streets. It has been a long running tradition for the students of Franklin College to paint 'ole Benny boy up for special occasions, only to be repainted 'monument grey' again by the university, usually within 48 hours. I drive by Mr. Franklin every day going to and from work, and have seen many different costumes on him. I got a 'baseline' picture of him for you all to see, and will start posting wardrobe updates as 'The Benjamin Repot'. I think it's great stuff!
Now, to get back on track. We made it to the park and found a nice picnic table in the shade to enjoy our famous Rally's fries and sandwiches. After we were done eating we strolled through the park to check it all out. There is a river that runs through the park, and a few people were fishing in it. Kids were playing on swingsets and jungle gyms. Several people were riding their bikes or casually walking and enjoying the scenery. It was a peaceful and relaxing trip. Next time you get a nice day, take a lunch at your local park!
When we got home Amber put a 'Support Our Troops' stepping stone in the flowerbed in front of the house, right next to the American flag. It looks real nice.
Until next time...
Let me tell you a little about this Benjamin Franklin shrine that sits right on the southeast corner of Monroe and East State Streets. It has been a long running tradition for the students of Franklin College to paint 'ole Benny boy up for special occasions, only to be repainted 'monument grey' again by the university, usually within 48 hours. I drive by Mr. Franklin every day going to and from work, and have seen many different costumes on him. I got a 'baseline' picture of him for you all to see, and will start posting wardrobe updates as 'The Benjamin Repot'. I think it's great stuff!
Now, to get back on track. We made it to the park and found a nice picnic table in the shade to enjoy our famous Rally's fries and sandwiches. After we were done eating we strolled through the park to check it all out. There is a river that runs through the park, and a few people were fishing in it. Kids were playing on swingsets and jungle gyms. Several people were riding their bikes or casually walking and enjoying the scenery. It was a peaceful and relaxing trip. Next time you get a nice day, take a lunch at your local park!
When we got home Amber put a 'Support Our Troops' stepping stone in the flowerbed in front of the house, right next to the American flag. It looks real nice.
Until next time...
Friday, May 29, 2009
(19) 2009 Indianapolis 500 Mile Race
Last Sunday was the 97th running of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race, on the 100th anniversary of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. With a 30 percent chance of isolated thundershowers, we were hoping for the best as we loaded up in the Subaru sunday morning. Traffic was abnormally backed up compared to other races I've attended. It took over an hour to get from the interstate offramp to a $5 parking spot about 5 blocks from the track.
We made our way through the herd of people and got through the main gates and into our seats. We made it just barely in time for the starting ceremonies. The race was shortly underway, and we watched as we listened to the radio broadcast on 97.1 Hank FM. The racing action wasn't as exhilirating as previous years, although there were a few good wrecks. Unfortunately there was no 3-wide racing incidents as the pack pretty much stayed single file. Another major bummer was the addition of new mufflers for the 2009 season. The cars were not nearly as loud as they used to be. I really miss the roaring of the engines that you could feel throughout your body. I had come prepared with earmuff style hearing protection, as I've learned from the past there was no way one could hear their headphones with the loud cars, even with the volume turned up all the way. Well that was not the case this year. The earmuffs were not even used, and I could hear my radio just fine at a normal volume level. That is plain boring! The cars are just too quiet in my opinion.
We had a good time watching the race, and the weather kept nice for a full 200 laps. Can't wait to go again next year, but I'm a little disheartened that its just not quite as exhilirating as it used to be. Congrats to Helio Castroneves for his 3rd Indy 500 win.
Be sure to check out the slideshow to the right, and this cool video below.
Until next time...
We made our way through the herd of people and got through the main gates and into our seats. We made it just barely in time for the starting ceremonies. The race was shortly underway, and we watched as we listened to the radio broadcast on 97.1 Hank FM. The racing action wasn't as exhilirating as previous years, although there were a few good wrecks. Unfortunately there was no 3-wide racing incidents as the pack pretty much stayed single file. Another major bummer was the addition of new mufflers for the 2009 season. The cars were not nearly as loud as they used to be. I really miss the roaring of the engines that you could feel throughout your body. I had come prepared with earmuff style hearing protection, as I've learned from the past there was no way one could hear their headphones with the loud cars, even with the volume turned up all the way. Well that was not the case this year. The earmuffs were not even used, and I could hear my radio just fine at a normal volume level. That is plain boring! The cars are just too quiet in my opinion.
We had a good time watching the race, and the weather kept nice for a full 200 laps. Can't wait to go again next year, but I'm a little disheartened that its just not quite as exhilirating as it used to be. Congrats to Helio Castroneves for his 3rd Indy 500 win.
Be sure to check out the slideshow to the right, and this cool video below.
Until next time...
Saturday, May 9, 2009
(18) Wedding Day, Birthday, Lanscaping, and the Historic Artcraft Theatre
Whoa Nellie! Have I got some updating to do here! I've been busy as all get out, and have had some great experiences to share with you folks. Here we go:
April 25th 2009 was a huge day for the family, as little sister Amanda recited her vows and sealed the deal to a Mr. Eric Smith. Eric is an Ensign in the US Navy, and met Mandy at the ROTC program at Purdue University. I got the day off from drill to be in Mandy's wedding. It was a close call as to whether I was even going to be able to attend, as we are still undergoing our 'Yellow Ribbon Reintegration' training from our Iraq deployment, which is a series of mandatory briefings and activities. Fortunately, I was able to spend Saturday with the family at the wedding, and perform my brotherly duties as usher. The wedding was lovely, held at St. James Lutheran Church in Greenfield, Indiana. The reception was held at the Greenfield National Guard Armory. The bride and groom were chauffeured from the church to the reception in a highly polished 2009 Subaru Forester 2.5X Premium courtesy of yours truly. We had a good meal catered by Kopper Kettle of Morristown, IN. Lots of pictures were taken, great music and dancing, and a good showing of family for the festivities. Eric and Mandy got spoiled a bit from big bubby, as I funded a honeymoon trip to Chicago for the newlyweds. Unfortunately, I had to leave early to get home and sleep for a very busy Sunday drilling in Fort Wayne. Wake up was at 0200, with departure for Fort Wayne at 0300 and first formation at 0550. Check out the wedding picture slideshow to the right.
April 29th was Amber's 26th birthday, and we went out for a birthday dinner on May 1st at the Oaken Barrel Brewery in Greenwood, IN. They have great food, great home-brewed beverages, and great atmosphere. A couple of my Army buddies that I hadn't seen in a long time showed up to visit as well as Amber's best friend Jeana and her husband Andrew. Amber made out like a bandit with a whole slew of new shirts and sandals from Jeana and Andrew. I got her a tailored birthday book and an oak collectible spoon display case. We had a great meal followed by some birthday cake. I've got a few pictures in a slideshow to the right.
Now to fast forward to today, May 9th 2009! It was a pretty normal Saturday with nothing planned. Its pretty disappointing how my 'normal' weekend has nothing planned, but it has been a continuing trend for all my desired activities to fall on one weekend of the month, all to be stomped out by having guard drill that same weekend. I swear one of these months I will get to attend a race that I paid a whole season membership for! Anyhow, I digress. This particular Saturday kicked off about 8:30am when I rolled out of bed and did my normal routine of walking outside to get a feel for the weather and starting to ponder what I would like to do for the day. As I walked through the garage I caught sight of a Cherokee Princess Dogwood tree and a couple Goldfinger Cinquefoil shrubs that I had picked up at Lowes to replace some dead plants in the yard. The weather was a little windy and chilly, but it wasn't raining. The grass was just getting tall enough to warrant another pass with the Troy-Bilt pushmower. I threw on a sweatshirt, plugged in my Zune MP3 player, and fired up the mower. I mowed the entire yard nice and professional like with the offset lines, all-the-while educating myself with PC Magazine tech podcasts. It was actually quite relaxing. Once the mowing was finished and the grass was all bagged up, I headed back to the garage to trade the gas mower for my 18-volt cordless Black & Decker Bushmaster Weedeater. I trimmed around the house, flowerbeds, mailbox, and other random poles and such in the yard. While Amber was cleaning out the flowerbeds on the side of the house I sprayed the front and side yard with some Weed-B-Gone to kill off the remaining pesky dandelions.
While I was in Iraq one of my trees died. It was some sort of pine or fur tree with needles. Mom had someone tear it out. So I decided I'd replace it with something a little more visually appealing, and less messy. So I dug a hole and made it home to a 6 foot Cherokee Princess Dogwood tree that will someday be 15-20 feet tall and loaded with beautiful white flowers. I also tore out some dead shrubs in the front flowerbed and planted a couple Goldfinger Cinquefoil bushes that will bloom some nice yellow 'Support Our Troops' flowers as I like to call them. All the hard work payed off, as the yard is looking immaculate. I took a few before and after pictures for you to see located just to the right.
After a long hard day's work in the yard, Amber and I treated ourselves to a trip to the Historic Artcraft Theatre here in Franklin, IN. It has been a stronghold in old downtown Franklin since it was built in 1922. For decades folks have been going to the Artcraft Theatre to witness the fine entertainment that was once called the pictureshow. It is still operated today as a historic tribute to Hollywood's past feature films and filmreel culture. Tonight's feature was a 1962 box office hit called 'The Music Man'. We arrived just in time to get our tickets from the gentleman in the box office window. We were escorted to our seats first-class style by the ushers in the theatre. There were about 60-80 people in attendance ranging from young kids to senior citizens. The theater was quite large and had a nostalgic feel. I love this kinda stuff, plus they have a special rate of $4 for military personnel (regular price is only $5). Before the show they had a little skit put on by the Franklin Historical Society that was themed on the feature film for the night. They even had a raffle for prizes based on your movie ticket number! My favorite part was a quartet of older gentlemen wearing patriotic American flag shirts who sang an old-timey tune while harmonizing. They were damn good, and about had me choked up as they sang 'America The Beautiful'. Next everyone in the audience stood up and sang 'The Star Spangled Banner' along with music and words on the screen. Now that we've payed tribute to our great nation's history, it was time to dim the lights and enjoy some theatrical history. There was even an old 'Merry Melodies' cartoon short with Porky Pig and Bugs Bunny shown before the movie. The movie was pretty good as well, with an outstanding story and plenty of good humor despite being 47 years old. The show was over around 10:30pm, having been a 3 hour production. Now that's a value at $9 for a couple! If you ever get a lazy Saturday, check out the Historic Artcraft Theatre. It's a definate winner!
Click Here for the Artcraft Theatre Website
I've also included some pictures in a slideshow to the right of the screen.
Tomorrow is Mother's Day, so Happy Mother's day to all your mommas out there!
Until Next Time...
April 25th 2009 was a huge day for the family, as little sister Amanda recited her vows and sealed the deal to a Mr. Eric Smith. Eric is an Ensign in the US Navy, and met Mandy at the ROTC program at Purdue University. I got the day off from drill to be in Mandy's wedding. It was a close call as to whether I was even going to be able to attend, as we are still undergoing our 'Yellow Ribbon Reintegration' training from our Iraq deployment, which is a series of mandatory briefings and activities. Fortunately, I was able to spend Saturday with the family at the wedding, and perform my brotherly duties as usher. The wedding was lovely, held at St. James Lutheran Church in Greenfield, Indiana. The reception was held at the Greenfield National Guard Armory. The bride and groom were chauffeured from the church to the reception in a highly polished 2009 Subaru Forester 2.5X Premium courtesy of yours truly. We had a good meal catered by Kopper Kettle of Morristown, IN. Lots of pictures were taken, great music and dancing, and a good showing of family for the festivities. Eric and Mandy got spoiled a bit from big bubby, as I funded a honeymoon trip to Chicago for the newlyweds. Unfortunately, I had to leave early to get home and sleep for a very busy Sunday drilling in Fort Wayne. Wake up was at 0200, with departure for Fort Wayne at 0300 and first formation at 0550. Check out the wedding picture slideshow to the right.
April 29th was Amber's 26th birthday, and we went out for a birthday dinner on May 1st at the Oaken Barrel Brewery in Greenwood, IN. They have great food, great home-brewed beverages, and great atmosphere. A couple of my Army buddies that I hadn't seen in a long time showed up to visit as well as Amber's best friend Jeana and her husband Andrew. Amber made out like a bandit with a whole slew of new shirts and sandals from Jeana and Andrew. I got her a tailored birthday book and an oak collectible spoon display case. We had a great meal followed by some birthday cake. I've got a few pictures in a slideshow to the right.
Now to fast forward to today, May 9th 2009! It was a pretty normal Saturday with nothing planned. Its pretty disappointing how my 'normal' weekend has nothing planned, but it has been a continuing trend for all my desired activities to fall on one weekend of the month, all to be stomped out by having guard drill that same weekend. I swear one of these months I will get to attend a race that I paid a whole season membership for! Anyhow, I digress. This particular Saturday kicked off about 8:30am when I rolled out of bed and did my normal routine of walking outside to get a feel for the weather and starting to ponder what I would like to do for the day. As I walked through the garage I caught sight of a Cherokee Princess Dogwood tree and a couple Goldfinger Cinquefoil shrubs that I had picked up at Lowes to replace some dead plants in the yard. The weather was a little windy and chilly, but it wasn't raining. The grass was just getting tall enough to warrant another pass with the Troy-Bilt pushmower. I threw on a sweatshirt, plugged in my Zune MP3 player, and fired up the mower. I mowed the entire yard nice and professional like with the offset lines, all-the-while educating myself with PC Magazine tech podcasts. It was actually quite relaxing. Once the mowing was finished and the grass was all bagged up, I headed back to the garage to trade the gas mower for my 18-volt cordless Black & Decker Bushmaster Weedeater. I trimmed around the house, flowerbeds, mailbox, and other random poles and such in the yard. While Amber was cleaning out the flowerbeds on the side of the house I sprayed the front and side yard with some Weed-B-Gone to kill off the remaining pesky dandelions.
While I was in Iraq one of my trees died. It was some sort of pine or fur tree with needles. Mom had someone tear it out. So I decided I'd replace it with something a little more visually appealing, and less messy. So I dug a hole and made it home to a 6 foot Cherokee Princess Dogwood tree that will someday be 15-20 feet tall and loaded with beautiful white flowers. I also tore out some dead shrubs in the front flowerbed and planted a couple Goldfinger Cinquefoil bushes that will bloom some nice yellow 'Support Our Troops' flowers as I like to call them. All the hard work payed off, as the yard is looking immaculate. I took a few before and after pictures for you to see located just to the right.
After a long hard day's work in the yard, Amber and I treated ourselves to a trip to the Historic Artcraft Theatre here in Franklin, IN. It has been a stronghold in old downtown Franklin since it was built in 1922. For decades folks have been going to the Artcraft Theatre to witness the fine entertainment that was once called the pictureshow. It is still operated today as a historic tribute to Hollywood's past feature films and filmreel culture. Tonight's feature was a 1962 box office hit called 'The Music Man'. We arrived just in time to get our tickets from the gentleman in the box office window. We were escorted to our seats first-class style by the ushers in the theatre. There were about 60-80 people in attendance ranging from young kids to senior citizens. The theater was quite large and had a nostalgic feel. I love this kinda stuff, plus they have a special rate of $4 for military personnel (regular price is only $5). Before the show they had a little skit put on by the Franklin Historical Society that was themed on the feature film for the night. They even had a raffle for prizes based on your movie ticket number! My favorite part was a quartet of older gentlemen wearing patriotic American flag shirts who sang an old-timey tune while harmonizing. They were damn good, and about had me choked up as they sang 'America The Beautiful'. Next everyone in the audience stood up and sang 'The Star Spangled Banner' along with music and words on the screen. Now that we've payed tribute to our great nation's history, it was time to dim the lights and enjoy some theatrical history. There was even an old 'Merry Melodies' cartoon short with Porky Pig and Bugs Bunny shown before the movie. The movie was pretty good as well, with an outstanding story and plenty of good humor despite being 47 years old. The show was over around 10:30pm, having been a 3 hour production. Now that's a value at $9 for a couple! If you ever get a lazy Saturday, check out the Historic Artcraft Theatre. It's a definate winner!
Click Here for the Artcraft Theatre Website
I've also included some pictures in a slideshow to the right of the screen.
Tomorrow is Mother's Day, so Happy Mother's day to all your mommas out there!
Until Next Time...
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
(17) Happy belated Easter!
Hello everyone! Again I must admit that I have been keeping very busy, and have finally made myself stop and get the blog caught up. Here is the scoop on how my Easter festivities went!
Saturday evening Amber and I colored a dozen eggs with the snazzy camouflage egg coloring kit from Walmart. We had a fun time, and discovered Amber hadn't colored an egg since she was a kid! I can't recall the last time I colored eggs either. We had quite an assortment of eggs, many of which were dedicated to new 2009 acquisitions. We had an egg dedicated to our fish, one for the new Subaru, one for the new Nintendo Wii, and one to commemorate my overseas deployments of course. We did a few abstract art with the camo stickers, and a commemorative 2009 Lucas & Amber egg. I'll showcase a few of the eggs in the slideshow.
Sunday we woke up around 8:30 and exchanged Easter baskets. Amber got me a a big chocolate bunny (the exact same one I got for her oddly enough), some Reese's peanut butter eggs, and some toy cars in little plastic eggs. Amber's blue furry basket basket had recycled paper from my paper shredder for grass. I had picked up this budget tip on the news a few mornings back. I covered it pretty well with a big chocolate bunny, some blue peeps, and some Reese's mini eggs. We were both pleased to indulge the sweet tooth on a Sunday morning.
Next was the family events. Amber had to meet with her family in Shelbyville, while I was heading up to Lafayette for a family Easter Lahrman style. The weather was fairly nice so I decided to ride my motorcycle. After doing some recon of the Post residence, I had determined that I was too early as there were no cars in sight. I then continued on and made my first stop at the Plaspohl residence, where Uncle Jeff, Aunt Sharla, and the triplet cousins were about to load the car up with food and head for the party. Cousin Elizabeth wanted to ride on a motorcycle for the first time, so I had her put on my helmet and jump on back for the 2 mile cruise back to the Post residence.
Once we arrived, there were a good amount of cars there. The best part was the kitchen, teeming with homemade gourmet cuisine. It smelled great, and I was ready to test the tensile strength of my stomach linings. We chatted for a bit in the living room while the little ones (scary how few can be classified as little anymore) made their plates. After making my rounds to visit with everyone and take some pictures, I moved to strike on my prey. The first victim was a large dish of meatballs made by Aunt Sharla, followed by Aunt Shirley's competition chicken noodle soup, Uncle John's deviled eggs, and some taco salad that just looked fantastic. A big cup of sweet tea and I was ready to find a comfortable place to gorge myself. Well, the mission was accomplished. I ate the best meal I've had in months, without any concern for my health or cholesterol. Isn't that what family gatherings are about anyhow? (If not, don't bother to ruin it for me!) We talked for a couple more hours until our bellies stopped hurting, and we all headed back for home. It was a bit chilly on the way home, but not too bad. Overall it was a great time, and it was a blessing to get to see family that I don't get to see as often as I'd like. Such busy lives we all have nowadays.
Until next time...
Saturday evening Amber and I colored a dozen eggs with the snazzy camouflage egg coloring kit from Walmart. We had a fun time, and discovered Amber hadn't colored an egg since she was a kid! I can't recall the last time I colored eggs either. We had quite an assortment of eggs, many of which were dedicated to new 2009 acquisitions. We had an egg dedicated to our fish, one for the new Subaru, one for the new Nintendo Wii, and one to commemorate my overseas deployments of course. We did a few abstract art with the camo stickers, and a commemorative 2009 Lucas & Amber egg. I'll showcase a few of the eggs in the slideshow.
Sunday we woke up around 8:30 and exchanged Easter baskets. Amber got me a a big chocolate bunny (the exact same one I got for her oddly enough), some Reese's peanut butter eggs, and some toy cars in little plastic eggs. Amber's blue furry basket basket had recycled paper from my paper shredder for grass. I had picked up this budget tip on the news a few mornings back. I covered it pretty well with a big chocolate bunny, some blue peeps, and some Reese's mini eggs. We were both pleased to indulge the sweet tooth on a Sunday morning.
Next was the family events. Amber had to meet with her family in Shelbyville, while I was heading up to Lafayette for a family Easter Lahrman style. The weather was fairly nice so I decided to ride my motorcycle. After doing some recon of the Post residence, I had determined that I was too early as there were no cars in sight. I then continued on and made my first stop at the Plaspohl residence, where Uncle Jeff, Aunt Sharla, and the triplet cousins were about to load the car up with food and head for the party. Cousin Elizabeth wanted to ride on a motorcycle for the first time, so I had her put on my helmet and jump on back for the 2 mile cruise back to the Post residence.
Once we arrived, there were a good amount of cars there. The best part was the kitchen, teeming with homemade gourmet cuisine. It smelled great, and I was ready to test the tensile strength of my stomach linings. We chatted for a bit in the living room while the little ones (scary how few can be classified as little anymore) made their plates. After making my rounds to visit with everyone and take some pictures, I moved to strike on my prey. The first victim was a large dish of meatballs made by Aunt Sharla, followed by Aunt Shirley's competition chicken noodle soup, Uncle John's deviled eggs, and some taco salad that just looked fantastic. A big cup of sweet tea and I was ready to find a comfortable place to gorge myself. Well, the mission was accomplished. I ate the best meal I've had in months, without any concern for my health or cholesterol. Isn't that what family gatherings are about anyhow? (If not, don't bother to ruin it for me!) We talked for a couple more hours until our bellies stopped hurting, and we all headed back for home. It was a bit chilly on the way home, but not too bad. Overall it was a great time, and it was a blessing to get to see family that I don't get to see as often as I'd like. Such busy lives we all have nowadays.
Until next time...
Friday, April 10, 2009
(16) A fond farewell to the M1A1 Abrams
Hello all! I bet you were starting to wonder if I had abandoned my blog. Not so, but I have been keeping busy enough that I've not had much time to blog. I'll make an honest effort to make time to blog, as I've gotten the hint from Google Analytics that my blog visitor activity has been suffering.
Today I want to let you in on what's been happening at my job. As you may or may not know, I am an Electronics Mechanic at the Unit Training Equipment Site (UTES) maintenance shop at Camp Atterbury. We house and maintain hundreds of military vehicles ranging from John Deere backhoes to the almighty M1 Abrams tank. Most of the equipment belongs to the Indiana Army National Guard, and a good bit from Ohio National Guard and other areas.
Ohio Army National Guard is sending their 27 M1A1 Abrams tanks down to Alabama for complete overhaul and reconditioning. Our job this week has been to move them from our compound to rail cars at the nearby railyard. There is a good bit of risk and danger involved in a move this big, requiring a great amount of coordination and caution. These tanks have not been serviced in 2 years due to the funding being cut off in anticipation of the rebuild, and the lack of use by Ohio as they underwent a reorganization of combat structure.
Monday and tuesday were spent inspecting and performing minor repairs to the tanks in preparation for the move. We had to produce as many driveable tanks as possible, and identify any tanks that would have to be towed. After figuring these numbers, we assigned a number of drivers for the mission, ground guides, towbar crew, hazmat response team, communications coordination team, and worked with the post military police for escort and security throughout the movement.
Wednesday was the execution of the mission for the first 17 tanks. It was a bit chilly in the morning with a temp of 37, requiring us to jumpstart several of the tanks. We staged the vehicles, met up with our escorts and moved them out. The movement went smoothly, but we ran into an issue at the gate to the railyard. The gate was supposed to have been open for us, but it was still chained and locked. We contacted the Department of Natural Resources to have it unlocked, but they apparently did not have the correct key. After about 30 minutes of waiting, we were concerned that the M1 tanks on the side of the road idling may run out of fuel. We had someone from our shop bring us the master key, also known as bolt cutters. Once we had cut the locks off, we were in business. We then began to load the tanks onto the rail cars. This was a very difficult task, as the tank tracks overlapped the width of the car by about 6 inches on each side, so we had to slowly and precisely move them onto the cars. The ground guides took great care inching the tanks along the cars, one at a time. We got them all loaded, and the tow bar crew recovered the tow bars and hardware from the tanks that were towed.
Thursday was a repeat of Wednesday for the final 10 tanks. Things went a bit smoother, as there was no hold up at the gate. No catastrophic breakdowns, but we did have one tank that was losing track link components early in the trip. We were a bit concerned that it might throw the track off completely, but luckily it did not.
We got the final 10 tanks loaded on the rail cars, and our mission was successfully complete. Best wishes to these Desert Storm Veteran tanks as they are rejuvinated and sent on for another many years serving our country. The M1 Abrams is such a fascinating fighting vehicle, and a real force to be reckoned with.
Until next time...
Today I want to let you in on what's been happening at my job. As you may or may not know, I am an Electronics Mechanic at the Unit Training Equipment Site (UTES) maintenance shop at Camp Atterbury. We house and maintain hundreds of military vehicles ranging from John Deere backhoes to the almighty M1 Abrams tank. Most of the equipment belongs to the Indiana Army National Guard, and a good bit from Ohio National Guard and other areas.
Ohio Army National Guard is sending their 27 M1A1 Abrams tanks down to Alabama for complete overhaul and reconditioning. Our job this week has been to move them from our compound to rail cars at the nearby railyard. There is a good bit of risk and danger involved in a move this big, requiring a great amount of coordination and caution. These tanks have not been serviced in 2 years due to the funding being cut off in anticipation of the rebuild, and the lack of use by Ohio as they underwent a reorganization of combat structure.
Monday and tuesday were spent inspecting and performing minor repairs to the tanks in preparation for the move. We had to produce as many driveable tanks as possible, and identify any tanks that would have to be towed. After figuring these numbers, we assigned a number of drivers for the mission, ground guides, towbar crew, hazmat response team, communications coordination team, and worked with the post military police for escort and security throughout the movement.
Wednesday was the execution of the mission for the first 17 tanks. It was a bit chilly in the morning with a temp of 37, requiring us to jumpstart several of the tanks. We staged the vehicles, met up with our escorts and moved them out. The movement went smoothly, but we ran into an issue at the gate to the railyard. The gate was supposed to have been open for us, but it was still chained and locked. We contacted the Department of Natural Resources to have it unlocked, but they apparently did not have the correct key. After about 30 minutes of waiting, we were concerned that the M1 tanks on the side of the road idling may run out of fuel. We had someone from our shop bring us the master key, also known as bolt cutters. Once we had cut the locks off, we were in business. We then began to load the tanks onto the rail cars. This was a very difficult task, as the tank tracks overlapped the width of the car by about 6 inches on each side, so we had to slowly and precisely move them onto the cars. The ground guides took great care inching the tanks along the cars, one at a time. We got them all loaded, and the tow bar crew recovered the tow bars and hardware from the tanks that were towed.
Thursday was a repeat of Wednesday for the final 10 tanks. Things went a bit smoother, as there was no hold up at the gate. No catastrophic breakdowns, but we did have one tank that was losing track link components early in the trip. We were a bit concerned that it might throw the track off completely, but luckily it did not.
We got the final 10 tanks loaded on the rail cars, and our mission was successfully complete. Best wishes to these Desert Storm Veteran tanks as they are rejuvinated and sent on for another many years serving our country. The M1 Abrams is such a fascinating fighting vehicle, and a real force to be reckoned with.
Until next time...
Sunday, March 22, 2009
(15) Spring Cleaning, and a sickly Mickey
Another free Sunday with no plans. The weather started out a little chilly, but eventually warmed up into the low 60's around noon. Amber spent the morning in Shelbyville visiting some out-of-state relatives that were in town. I played with the thought of heading across the street for a game of golf or time at the driving range, but I couldn't get a hold of anyone to play with. Probably the biggest reason in dispatching the golf idea was the fact that my garage was looking pretty pitiful. It was bothering me quite a bit so I threw open the garage doors, turned up the radio, and started my spring cleaning ritual. Was certainly a good time to do it since the Neon is at the shop, leaving extra room to sort things out. I changed the layout of my workbench and some shelving to make things a little easier to access when I'm working out in the garage, and to save space. I spent the about the whole day moving, vacuuming, cleaning, and fixing little things around the garage. It's definately looking a lot better, plus I pinned up an American flag on the wall above where the Neon parks.
After finishing up the garage I remembered that the new H3 halogen headlamp for the Firebolt came in the mail on Friday, so I decided I'd fix the burnt out bulb. It was a simple procedure, but one that had to be figured out manually as there is no mention of headlight replacement in the owners manual. What would probably have been a $150 donation to the local Harley dealer turned out to be a 20 minute $40 fix in my garage. It doesn't get much better than that!
Amber and I noticed that one of our Mickey Mouse Platies in the aquarium was acting a bit strange, hiding in the corners of the tank and being pretty inactive. Ironically, it was the same fish that had established dominance of the group when I first brought them home. I named him Mickey since he's the leader of the pack, just like Mickey Mouse is the top icon for Disney. It looks like the other 4 fish must have gotten tired of his crap and finally laid a beating on him. It must have been one good fight, because Mickey seems terrified and would always hide in the corner of the tank behind the filter tubes. I netted him out of the community tank and put him in the quarantine tank to give him a chance to heal without further injury. His tail fin has been nipped off at the top, and his eyes are a bit glazed over. Let's hope for the best for Mickey, and that they can all get along one he's put back in the community tank. Otherwise I'll have to get some bigger fish in there to calm those Platies down. They are getting a little too spoiled being in that huge tank by themselves!
Until next time...
After finishing up the garage I remembered that the new H3 halogen headlamp for the Firebolt came in the mail on Friday, so I decided I'd fix the burnt out bulb. It was a simple procedure, but one that had to be figured out manually as there is no mention of headlight replacement in the owners manual. What would probably have been a $150 donation to the local Harley dealer turned out to be a 20 minute $40 fix in my garage. It doesn't get much better than that!
Amber and I noticed that one of our Mickey Mouse Platies in the aquarium was acting a bit strange, hiding in the corners of the tank and being pretty inactive. Ironically, it was the same fish that had established dominance of the group when I first brought them home. I named him Mickey since he's the leader of the pack, just like Mickey Mouse is the top icon for Disney. It looks like the other 4 fish must have gotten tired of his crap and finally laid a beating on him. It must have been one good fight, because Mickey seems terrified and would always hide in the corner of the tank behind the filter tubes. I netted him out of the community tank and put him in the quarantine tank to give him a chance to heal without further injury. His tail fin has been nipped off at the top, and his eyes are a bit glazed over. Let's hope for the best for Mickey, and that they can all get along one he's put back in the community tank. Otherwise I'll have to get some bigger fish in there to calm those Platies down. They are getting a little too spoiled being in that huge tank by themselves!
Until next time...
Saturday, March 21, 2009
(14) SCCA Inspection, Indianapolis Youth Hockey City Championship, and a retirement party...
Today was one heck of a busy day! The Indianapolis region of the 'Sports Car Club of America' (SCCA) is holding their annual Technical Inspection for members before the racing season begins. I had been spending quite some time in the garage preparing for this. I did some upgrading to the suspension, fixed my muffler issue from the last race, and fabricated a better method of securing my battery and battery box to the car. I had a lot of headaches with wheel clearance on the back of the car that had me working all the way into last night to get the car capable of driving to Indy. The hard work paid off, as I had the car ready by 8pm last night, and was able to take Amber to the VFW for a couple celebratory cold ones.
We got up around 6:30 this morning and got cleaned up and ready for the day's events. I did a final check on the Neon, and we set out for Performance Driven in Indianapolis for the tech inspection. We arrived a bit early around 8am, but I guess the activities were not going to be kicking off until 9am. Amber and I just milled about their showroom and looked at their inventory and munched on some donuts. The two fellas who run the shop, Brian and Dave, are both avid racers and very involved in the racing community. They are also both very knowledgeable about Dodge Neons, as they both race the Neons in SCCA and NASA autocross and road racing events. Brian was previously an engineer for Arvin Suspension, and was on the design team for the Neon's suspension and exhaust.
The tech inspection went wonderfully, as my car was found to be within the regulations for my class. They put the sticker in my windshield, and I parked the car on the lift. I'm leaving the car at Performance Driven so that they can align the suspension and perform corner weighting adjustments to balance the car's handling. It should be ready to bring home around Tuesday, and I'm looking forward to driving it with a good alignment, as the trip up today was a bit uneasy with the alignment out of whack.
Around 10:00 we headed to the Pepsi Coliseum for CW's hockey game. It was quite a hassle finding a parking spot since the 'Garden & Patio Show' and 'Gun and Knife Show' were at full swing. After winning a game on wednesday night in Carmel, CW's team went on to the final city championship game today. His team is the Perry Stars, and the opponent is the other Perry team. It was quite a thrilling game, as the Stars got a lead of 2-0 in the first period, but was tied up 2-2 at the end of the first period. The second period was quite shaky as the opponents scored 2 more goals, leaving the Stars behind 4-2. The Stars picked up the pace and were able to score 4 more goals, ending the game victorious with a score of 6-4. There was a scare in the 2nd period as one of the opposing players fell on the ice and slid head first into the wall, knocking him unconscious. Medical personnel on-site evaluated him on the ice, and he eventually was able to get up and skate off the ice. He should be OK for the most part, perhaps a minor concussion, as he did have on a helmet. I've had some experience in the head trauma field, as I sustained a very similar injury (only without a helmet).
After the game ended we waited for CW to come out of the locker room for pictures and a congratulations. We trekked back to the car and headed to Morristown, IN for the retirement party of Amber's Grandfather. It was held at the American Legion and had quite a good turnout. I had a big plate of veggies & dip, cheeseball & crackers, and a couple scoops of yummy crockpot meatballs. We stayed until 4pm and decided we should head home before our fully bellies got the best of our energy resources.
What will happen tomorrow? Who knows! It's going to be another surprise day!
Until next time...
We got up around 6:30 this morning and got cleaned up and ready for the day's events. I did a final check on the Neon, and we set out for Performance Driven in Indianapolis for the tech inspection. We arrived a bit early around 8am, but I guess the activities were not going to be kicking off until 9am. Amber and I just milled about their showroom and looked at their inventory and munched on some donuts. The two fellas who run the shop, Brian and Dave, are both avid racers and very involved in the racing community. They are also both very knowledgeable about Dodge Neons, as they both race the Neons in SCCA and NASA autocross and road racing events. Brian was previously an engineer for Arvin Suspension, and was on the design team for the Neon's suspension and exhaust.
The tech inspection went wonderfully, as my car was found to be within the regulations for my class. They put the sticker in my windshield, and I parked the car on the lift. I'm leaving the car at Performance Driven so that they can align the suspension and perform corner weighting adjustments to balance the car's handling. It should be ready to bring home around Tuesday, and I'm looking forward to driving it with a good alignment, as the trip up today was a bit uneasy with the alignment out of whack.
Around 10:00 we headed to the Pepsi Coliseum for CW's hockey game. It was quite a hassle finding a parking spot since the 'Garden & Patio Show' and 'Gun and Knife Show' were at full swing. After winning a game on wednesday night in Carmel, CW's team went on to the final city championship game today. His team is the Perry Stars, and the opponent is the other Perry team. It was quite a thrilling game, as the Stars got a lead of 2-0 in the first period, but was tied up 2-2 at the end of the first period. The second period was quite shaky as the opponents scored 2 more goals, leaving the Stars behind 4-2. The Stars picked up the pace and were able to score 4 more goals, ending the game victorious with a score of 6-4. There was a scare in the 2nd period as one of the opposing players fell on the ice and slid head first into the wall, knocking him unconscious. Medical personnel on-site evaluated him on the ice, and he eventually was able to get up and skate off the ice. He should be OK for the most part, perhaps a minor concussion, as he did have on a helmet. I've had some experience in the head trauma field, as I sustained a very similar injury (only without a helmet).
After the game ended we waited for CW to come out of the locker room for pictures and a congratulations. We trekked back to the car and headed to Morristown, IN for the retirement party of Amber's Grandfather. It was held at the American Legion and had quite a good turnout. I had a big plate of veggies & dip, cheeseball & crackers, and a couple scoops of yummy crockpot meatballs. We stayed until 4pm and decided we should head home before our fully bellies got the best of our energy resources.
What will happen tomorrow? Who knows! It's going to be another surprise day!
Until next time...
Sunday, March 15, 2009
(13) Birthday Cookout, Motorcycles, and an update on the aquarium...
This weekend started with no plans at all, which can often lead to some of the most entertaining and exciting weekends. Not to say that this weekend was a thrill ride, but it was fun taking things as they came and riding the waves.
Saturday:
We started off with a trip to Indianapolis for the Harbor Freight sidewalk sale event. Harbor Freight is a dangerous place for a fix-it-yourself kinda guy. It is loaded to the gills with budget tools from a simple hammer to full machining tools. Anything and everything a guy could ever need can be found at Harbor Freight, and usually for a great price! Of course, some products are of inferior quality versus big name tool brands. I had purchased a wall-mountable 50ft retractable electrical extension cord that had stopped reeling itself back in. I decided today I would return it since they were having the annual sidewalk sale. The return was fairly quick and simple despite long lines at the registers due to the event. Amber and I made a trip around the store and checked everything out, but there just wasn't anything I really needed. This is mostly because I've got my garage well stocked in Harbor Freight products. There's not much more I could ever need, so we decided to head back down to Greenwood to scour the pet stores for deals on tropical fish for the aquarium.
We stopped by PetSmart first, and I noticed that they had the Cardinal Tetras that I like, but for $3.99 each! That's highway robbery! Our next stop was Uncle Bill's Pet Store. They had a nice selection of fish in well maintained tanks, but no deals on the fish we were looking for. We did notice some fish that had been 'tatooed' (dyed) with numbers on their sides for the NASCAR fans. I'm not much into NASCAR, but perhaps I should get a fish tatooed with my Autocross number '98'! We'll see I guess, as I should probably wait and figure out which of my fish is the fastest, and award him with my beloved racing number.
It was a little after 3pm, and we had an invitation to a birthday cookout for one of Amber's friends and coworker. The weather was nice, around 53 and sunny, so we headed home to get the Buell Firebolt and ride to the party in Shelbyville. Halfway to Shelbyville the clouds roll in and block the warm sunlight and bring in some cool breezes. It was a bit nippy as we made it into Shelbyville. We hung out at the party for about 45 minutes, and I decided to split and get the motorcycle home before it got unbearably cold. I rode home shivering, jumped in the Subaru, cranked on the heated seat, and headed back to the party. We sat around the campfire socializing and munching on BBQ beef brisket, crackers and cheeseball, and drinking beer. Mine of course was the root beer type since I was driving. We stayed until around 7:30 and headed home. I was digging the campfire so much that I decided to get a fire going in my fireplace and relax with an ice cold glass of Captain Morgan and Coca Cola, and read the new Maximum PC magazine that came in the mail. I got a call from my Dad, who asked me if I could take a look at his Saturn L200 that had developed a shimmy in the steering. He brought the Saturn over and took my Subaru home, so that I could get an early start on the car Sunday morning.
Sunday:
I woke up feeling pretty chipper around 8:15 this morning, so I got up and threw on some garage workin' clothes. I started a pot of coffee and set out to dissect this sickly Saturn L200 in my garage. I got the front end up on jackstands and proceeded to apply the old side-to-side and top-to-bottom shake tests on the tires in hopes of finding a bad tie rod component, or failing wheel bearing. To my surprise, the steering was tight as could be, and there was no signs of bearing failure. I pulled off the wheels to inspect the brakes for perhaps a warped rotor or damaged half-shaft. No problems whatsoever. I decide I had better take a closer look at those wheels and tires that I just pulled of, thinking perhaps a counterweight had fallen off and thrown a wheel out of balance. All the weights were in place, but I took notice that the tires were badly warped and swelling. It looks like I've found the culprit in the case of the steering wheel shimmy. Lucky enough for Dad, as a bad steering component or wheel bearing would have cost a bit of money, and required a new alignment after repair. Luckily he only needs to get new tires mounted and balanced. We found him a good deal on tires for Monday.
It was only about 10:30 am, and the weather outside was lovely, so we decided we'd saddle up on our iron horses and go for a motorcycle ride. I spent about an hour cleaning up the Firebolt while Dad drove his Saturn home to get his motorcycle. About a dozen Armor-All cleaning wipes and some shop towels had the bike looking nice and clean. We rode down State Road 135 south, took State Road 58 west to Interstate 65, which we followed north to US 31 back home. It was about a 3 hour ride, and we traded bikes once we hit SR 58. The trees are still bare, but the grass is starting to get some green coloring. It should be a breathtaking ride in a couple months.
After we got home, Amber cooked up a special hamburger recipe from the 'Taste of Home' magazine. I snapped some new pictures of the aquarium to share with you guys. Its pretty much completely decorated, and is now home to five 'Mickey Mouse' Platie Fish! They get their name from the Mickey Mouse head shape on their tailfin. They are some active fish, a real hoot to watch!
Hope you enjoy the pictures!
Until next time...
Saturday:
We started off with a trip to Indianapolis for the Harbor Freight sidewalk sale event. Harbor Freight is a dangerous place for a fix-it-yourself kinda guy. It is loaded to the gills with budget tools from a simple hammer to full machining tools. Anything and everything a guy could ever need can be found at Harbor Freight, and usually for a great price! Of course, some products are of inferior quality versus big name tool brands. I had purchased a wall-mountable 50ft retractable electrical extension cord that had stopped reeling itself back in. I decided today I would return it since they were having the annual sidewalk sale. The return was fairly quick and simple despite long lines at the registers due to the event. Amber and I made a trip around the store and checked everything out, but there just wasn't anything I really needed. This is mostly because I've got my garage well stocked in Harbor Freight products. There's not much more I could ever need, so we decided to head back down to Greenwood to scour the pet stores for deals on tropical fish for the aquarium.
We stopped by PetSmart first, and I noticed that they had the Cardinal Tetras that I like, but for $3.99 each! That's highway robbery! Our next stop was Uncle Bill's Pet Store. They had a nice selection of fish in well maintained tanks, but no deals on the fish we were looking for. We did notice some fish that had been 'tatooed' (dyed) with numbers on their sides for the NASCAR fans. I'm not much into NASCAR, but perhaps I should get a fish tatooed with my Autocross number '98'! We'll see I guess, as I should probably wait and figure out which of my fish is the fastest, and award him with my beloved racing number.
It was a little after 3pm, and we had an invitation to a birthday cookout for one of Amber's friends and coworker. The weather was nice, around 53 and sunny, so we headed home to get the Buell Firebolt and ride to the party in Shelbyville. Halfway to Shelbyville the clouds roll in and block the warm sunlight and bring in some cool breezes. It was a bit nippy as we made it into Shelbyville. We hung out at the party for about 45 minutes, and I decided to split and get the motorcycle home before it got unbearably cold. I rode home shivering, jumped in the Subaru, cranked on the heated seat, and headed back to the party. We sat around the campfire socializing and munching on BBQ beef brisket, crackers and cheeseball, and drinking beer. Mine of course was the root beer type since I was driving. We stayed until around 7:30 and headed home. I was digging the campfire so much that I decided to get a fire going in my fireplace and relax with an ice cold glass of Captain Morgan and Coca Cola, and read the new Maximum PC magazine that came in the mail. I got a call from my Dad, who asked me if I could take a look at his Saturn L200 that had developed a shimmy in the steering. He brought the Saturn over and took my Subaru home, so that I could get an early start on the car Sunday morning.
Sunday:
I woke up feeling pretty chipper around 8:15 this morning, so I got up and threw on some garage workin' clothes. I started a pot of coffee and set out to dissect this sickly Saturn L200 in my garage. I got the front end up on jackstands and proceeded to apply the old side-to-side and top-to-bottom shake tests on the tires in hopes of finding a bad tie rod component, or failing wheel bearing. To my surprise, the steering was tight as could be, and there was no signs of bearing failure. I pulled off the wheels to inspect the brakes for perhaps a warped rotor or damaged half-shaft. No problems whatsoever. I decide I had better take a closer look at those wheels and tires that I just pulled of, thinking perhaps a counterweight had fallen off and thrown a wheel out of balance. All the weights were in place, but I took notice that the tires were badly warped and swelling. It looks like I've found the culprit in the case of the steering wheel shimmy. Lucky enough for Dad, as a bad steering component or wheel bearing would have cost a bit of money, and required a new alignment after repair. Luckily he only needs to get new tires mounted and balanced. We found him a good deal on tires for Monday.
It was only about 10:30 am, and the weather outside was lovely, so we decided we'd saddle up on our iron horses and go for a motorcycle ride. I spent about an hour cleaning up the Firebolt while Dad drove his Saturn home to get his motorcycle. About a dozen Armor-All cleaning wipes and some shop towels had the bike looking nice and clean. We rode down State Road 135 south, took State Road 58 west to Interstate 65, which we followed north to US 31 back home. It was about a 3 hour ride, and we traded bikes once we hit SR 58. The trees are still bare, but the grass is starting to get some green coloring. It should be a breathtaking ride in a couple months.
After we got home, Amber cooked up a special hamburger recipe from the 'Taste of Home' magazine. I snapped some new pictures of the aquarium to share with you guys. Its pretty much completely decorated, and is now home to five 'Mickey Mouse' Platie Fish! They get their name from the Mickey Mouse head shape on their tailfin. They are some active fish, a real hoot to watch!
Hope you enjoy the pictures!
Until next time...
Sunday, March 8, 2009
(12) Great Garage Weather
First off, I'd like to take a moment to celebrate the passing of a very cold February. I'm already beginning to like March with more moderate temperatures, and especially, for this weekend of temps in the mid 60's!
Friday after work, I drove home in the Subaru with the sunroof open! It was refreshing. I pulled into the driveway and opened the garage door. As the door raises, my eyes are drawn straight to the bright yellow Buell Firebolt motorcycle, almost as if it were purposely seducing me. I ask Amber if she'd like to go for a little ride, and she was up for it. We suited up in our safety gear and let the Harley V-Twin engine sing. We rode around Franklin a little bit, and then I decided I'd take one of my favorite routes, state road 44 to Martinsville. We rode about 15 miles towards Martinsville on SR44, enjoying the view and curvy road until we noticed some daunting clouds rolling in. We decided to turn around and head back for home. We still got a good hour of riding in, and it makes me very anxious for more good weather, and some leaves on the trees!
Saturday was such a beautiful day. I got up around 8am and went straight to the garage and opened the garage door. It was a perfect balance of temperature and humidity. I had nothing planned for the day, and decided I'd spend the day cleaning up the garage and tending to some automotive chores. I started by pulling all the vehicles out into the driveway. Then with the push-broom I swept up all the loose dirt and leaves. Some cat litter to soak up oil the famous Chrysler oil spots under the Neon, and the floor is now ready for a scrubbin'. With the hose hooked up to my utility sink, I presoaked the floors, and then added the orange degreasing soap. Every inch of the floor got scrubbed down, and then rinsed out the doors. Finally a squeegee finishes off the floor, pushing the excess water outside. About 30 minutes later, the floor is dry and the vehicles come back inside.
I decided I'd break this clean floor in by replacing the suspension on the race car. It still has the factory struts with about 80,000 miles on them, and a set of Mopar High Rate performance coilsprings that have been in use for about 20,000 miles. The suspension is still holding up pretty well, but being that the Neon was still a daily driver I had went with a balance between performance and comfort. Now that the Neon is primarily just a weekend racer, it's time to get a little more serious towards the performance end. I got in on a group buy back in 2005 on a set of KSport fully adjustable coilovers. This suspension is much more tailored for the track, as the spring rates are almost 3 times as stiff as the Mopar springs, and the shocks are 36-way rebound and dampening adjustable, as well as the ride height being fully adjustable by about 4 inches. Not to mention the weight savings of about 12 pounds per unit. This allows for much finer tuning of the suspension on the racetrack, and to adjust for different conditions.
Also being upgraded is the rear sway bar, from the stock 15mm bar to a 19mm bar from Eibach. I also have a 24mm bar for when I need even more control in the back end, but for now I'm going to start with the Eibach. I am also installing front and rear strut tower braces from Megan Racing to prevent chassis flexing under hard corning conditions.
I started by putting the entire car on jackstands to get the suspension up to a comfortable working level. The air impact gun made quick work of removing the lugnuts, and the wheels were off in no time. I started with the front suspension, removing the old strut/springs and bolting in the coilovers. I also fitted and installed the strut tower brace. Then on to the rears for the same process, and then replacing the rear sway bar and end link hardware with sturdier aluminum pieces. Finally, I reattached the brake line brackets and tested the steering travel to make sure there were no interference issues. Overall it was a fairly simple procedure, with only a few snags with some rusted and broken bolts. I took my sweet time and finished just in time to come in and get cleaned up for dinner.
We had dinner with another couple that we went to school with at the Hooters restaraunt in Greenwood. The gal's name is Jeana, and has been Amber's best friend for years. Her husband, Andrew, went to school with me, in the same class. I haven't seen him since high school. It was nice to see them again and enjoy some friendly conversation over Hooters chicken wings. Afterwards, Amber and I walked to the PetCo just across the parking lot to look at fishies and aquarium supplies. We got some ideas on a few things, but noticed that its much cheaper to order online, so the only thing I purchased was an 'Animal Planet' book on freshwater aquariums.
Sunday was just a relaxing day of sleeping in, grocery shopping, getting a haircut, and running some errands. We had a bargain lunch at Steak & Shake courtesy of some coupons I got in the mail. I picked up a small 1.5 gallon fish tank at Walmart for $20 that came with a filter, heater, air pump, light, food, and water treatment. After reading the book I got last night, I learned that it is essential to have a small tank for quarantining new fish and sick fish. This allows you to keep new fish separate for a couple weeks as they grow strong, and to identify any sickly or diseased fish before you add them to your community tank and infect your whole collection. It is also used for treating a sick fish from your community tank. I also picked up 10 Tetra fish to get started in the new tank, but all but one died. I should have known better than to get fish from Walmart. Maybe they were in shock from the change in atmosphere, or perhaps the city water in Franklin isn't fish friendly (although I treated it). Oh well, I bet the one that lasted is enjoying the pool all to himself!
Update on the big 75 gallon tank: I got most of my supplies in from PetCo, and got the gravel in, along with several fake plants and a phony coral rock. I lined the front of the tank with 3" foreground vegetation, and put the 18" plants on one side of the tank. The book says some fish like plantlife, while others like caves and toys, so I figured I'd go half and half. Plants on one side, and a jungle gym on the other. I found a really cool castle at PetCo, but ordered it online to save $10. Hopefully by next weekend I'll be ready to add some fish! Stay tuned!
Hope you enjoy the pictures that go along with the story, and remember to click on the slideshow to view the pictures much larger!
Until next time...
Friday after work, I drove home in the Subaru with the sunroof open! It was refreshing. I pulled into the driveway and opened the garage door. As the door raises, my eyes are drawn straight to the bright yellow Buell Firebolt motorcycle, almost as if it were purposely seducing me. I ask Amber if she'd like to go for a little ride, and she was up for it. We suited up in our safety gear and let the Harley V-Twin engine sing. We rode around Franklin a little bit, and then I decided I'd take one of my favorite routes, state road 44 to Martinsville. We rode about 15 miles towards Martinsville on SR44, enjoying the view and curvy road until we noticed some daunting clouds rolling in. We decided to turn around and head back for home. We still got a good hour of riding in, and it makes me very anxious for more good weather, and some leaves on the trees!
Saturday was such a beautiful day. I got up around 8am and went straight to the garage and opened the garage door. It was a perfect balance of temperature and humidity. I had nothing planned for the day, and decided I'd spend the day cleaning up the garage and tending to some automotive chores. I started by pulling all the vehicles out into the driveway. Then with the push-broom I swept up all the loose dirt and leaves. Some cat litter to soak up oil the famous Chrysler oil spots under the Neon, and the floor is now ready for a scrubbin'. With the hose hooked up to my utility sink, I presoaked the floors, and then added the orange degreasing soap. Every inch of the floor got scrubbed down, and then rinsed out the doors. Finally a squeegee finishes off the floor, pushing the excess water outside. About 30 minutes later, the floor is dry and the vehicles come back inside.
I decided I'd break this clean floor in by replacing the suspension on the race car. It still has the factory struts with about 80,000 miles on them, and a set of Mopar High Rate performance coilsprings that have been in use for about 20,000 miles. The suspension is still holding up pretty well, but being that the Neon was still a daily driver I had went with a balance between performance and comfort. Now that the Neon is primarily just a weekend racer, it's time to get a little more serious towards the performance end. I got in on a group buy back in 2005 on a set of KSport fully adjustable coilovers. This suspension is much more tailored for the track, as the spring rates are almost 3 times as stiff as the Mopar springs, and the shocks are 36-way rebound and dampening adjustable, as well as the ride height being fully adjustable by about 4 inches. Not to mention the weight savings of about 12 pounds per unit. This allows for much finer tuning of the suspension on the racetrack, and to adjust for different conditions.
Also being upgraded is the rear sway bar, from the stock 15mm bar to a 19mm bar from Eibach. I also have a 24mm bar for when I need even more control in the back end, but for now I'm going to start with the Eibach. I am also installing front and rear strut tower braces from Megan Racing to prevent chassis flexing under hard corning conditions.
I started by putting the entire car on jackstands to get the suspension up to a comfortable working level. The air impact gun made quick work of removing the lugnuts, and the wheels were off in no time. I started with the front suspension, removing the old strut/springs and bolting in the coilovers. I also fitted and installed the strut tower brace. Then on to the rears for the same process, and then replacing the rear sway bar and end link hardware with sturdier aluminum pieces. Finally, I reattached the brake line brackets and tested the steering travel to make sure there were no interference issues. Overall it was a fairly simple procedure, with only a few snags with some rusted and broken bolts. I took my sweet time and finished just in time to come in and get cleaned up for dinner.
We had dinner with another couple that we went to school with at the Hooters restaraunt in Greenwood. The gal's name is Jeana, and has been Amber's best friend for years. Her husband, Andrew, went to school with me, in the same class. I haven't seen him since high school. It was nice to see them again and enjoy some friendly conversation over Hooters chicken wings. Afterwards, Amber and I walked to the PetCo just across the parking lot to look at fishies and aquarium supplies. We got some ideas on a few things, but noticed that its much cheaper to order online, so the only thing I purchased was an 'Animal Planet' book on freshwater aquariums.
Sunday was just a relaxing day of sleeping in, grocery shopping, getting a haircut, and running some errands. We had a bargain lunch at Steak & Shake courtesy of some coupons I got in the mail. I picked up a small 1.5 gallon fish tank at Walmart for $20 that came with a filter, heater, air pump, light, food, and water treatment. After reading the book I got last night, I learned that it is essential to have a small tank for quarantining new fish and sick fish. This allows you to keep new fish separate for a couple weeks as they grow strong, and to identify any sickly or diseased fish before you add them to your community tank and infect your whole collection. It is also used for treating a sick fish from your community tank. I also picked up 10 Tetra fish to get started in the new tank, but all but one died. I should have known better than to get fish from Walmart. Maybe they were in shock from the change in atmosphere, or perhaps the city water in Franklin isn't fish friendly (although I treated it). Oh well, I bet the one that lasted is enjoying the pool all to himself!
Update on the big 75 gallon tank: I got most of my supplies in from PetCo, and got the gravel in, along with several fake plants and a phony coral rock. I lined the front of the tank with 3" foreground vegetation, and put the 18" plants on one side of the tank. The book says some fish like plantlife, while others like caves and toys, so I figured I'd go half and half. Plants on one side, and a jungle gym on the other. I found a really cool castle at PetCo, but ordered it online to save $10. Hopefully by next weekend I'll be ready to add some fish! Stay tuned!
Hope you enjoy the pictures that go along with the story, and remember to click on the slideshow to view the pictures much larger!
Until next time...
Sunday, March 1, 2009
(11) Downtown Indianapolis treats, and a visit with Uncle Bill...
Hey folks! It's another weekend, and another bunch of exciting escapades.
Friday: After work Amber and I stopped by Arby's for a low-budget dinner, using some coupons I had gotten in the mail. Even better was that the young fella running the cash register had gotten confused over the coupons, and forgot to charge us for one of our milkshakes, so we got that on the house. We both ate a nice dinner for just over 7 bucks total. Leaving Arby's, I noticed that the new Goodwill store they had been building next door was finally open for business. We stepped in to see if we could find any hidden treasures, but we didn't. We went on to Kroger to do my weekly grocery shopping. The evening was finished off with a movie on the big screen, which was the flick '14:08'. Its a pretty creepy film.
Saturday: Today started off with a trip into Shelbyville to check on Amber's mother's kitty cat. Amber restocked the food and water bowls and we entertained him for about a half hour. I decided we'd stop by and visit Grandma Cole while we were in town. We visited for about an hour, and I gave her a box of 'Thin Mint' Girl Scout cookies that I had brought from home. We decided to go out for a late lunch at the Chicken Inn. I had a full plate with 3 chicken breasts, mashed potatoes & gravy, and green beans. It was a belly buster. We headed back to grandma's to relax for a bit and let the food settle in our bellies. I had read online earlier that the Indiana Ice hockey team was having their annual 'Pack the House' game at Conseco Fieldhouse tonight, so I called up my dad and little brother to ask them if they'd like to go. They were all for it, so we had to get moving, as it was approaching 6pm, and the game started at 7:30. Grandma had asked if I could hook up a new TV for her, so I got that done in a flash right before we left to pick up my dad, CW, and Ryan (my step-sister's husband).
It turned into a boys night out at the hockey game, but Amber didn't mind tagging along. We all piled into the Subaru and headed north for Conseco Fieldhouse. It took a little driving around to find a parking garage with vacancies, but we finally managed to find a place to park to the tune of $10, but it was only about a block and a half from the fieldhouse. We scurried to Conseco, and I walked straight up to the ticket counter to purchase the tickets. Unfortunately, the only seats available were in the balcony, which is about as high as you can get. We made our way to our seats and the game had just began. It was quite a thrilling game, but the Ice lost 2-1 to the Cedar Rapids 'Rough Riders' from Iowa. The game was over around 9:30, and we dropped the guys back off at Dad's house. Amber and I decided to stop by Walmart on the way home to pick up a couple things left on the shopping list, and I wanted to look for a movie called 'Zack and Miri' that was highly recommended by Bob and Tom on a radio show during my morning commute. We made it home and watched the movie, and it was a flop. Oh well.
Sunday: I had gotten a couple free tickets to the Indiana Home and Garden show at the Indiana Convention Center being held this weekend. I checked online to see what they had to offer, and noticed that they had garage organization products. I've been eyeing different options for my garage and thought this might be a good opportunity to see what is available, and see it in person. We drove up to downtown Indianapolis again, and had a much better time finding a garage to park in, although it was still $10 for event parking. We make a brisk walk across the street to the convention center, and hunt down the Home and Garden Show in the maze of hallways and conference rooms. We finally get to the show, and make a trip down all the isles checking out the different vendors. There was a whole slew of vendors selling windows, patios, decks, sheds, gutter guards, water softeners, humidifiers, and more. Hell, we even saw the ShamWow demonstration again. What we couldn't find, however, was a single booth that had anything to do with garages. No overhead door companies, no shelving companies, no floor sealers, or cabinets. I was a little perturbed after walking through the whole show, not finding a single thing I was looking for.
We decided to skip that joint and take the skywalk to the Circle Center Mall. We perused the mall a bit, and stopped by Johnny Rockets for a burger and fries 50's style. My mind drifted on to thinking about how I miss the warm weather in Florida and the water and the fish. I guess I can blame this on Grandpa Lahrman, who had just sent me a couple envelopes in the mail with pictures from our vacation in Florida. I got to remembering my old aquarium I had back in the day, and kinda thought I'd like to get another aquarium going. They are so colorful and lively, and a great way to bring a little of Florida to my home. So, we decided we've had enough of downtown Indianapolis for one weekend, and headed south to Greenwood to visit a place called 'Uncle Bill's Pet Center'. I've been in there a few times before checking out big aquariums, and they seemed to have some pretty nice deals. We walked around the store a bit, scoping out the many varieties of aquariums. I came across a special they were having on a 75 gallon aquarium, with a lighted hood and cabinet stand for $399. It seemed to be quite a deal, and was about perfect size for my living room. We got everything loaded into the Subaru and headed home. Everything was pretty much preassembled, which was nice. Amber helped me stack the pieces together, and clean up the glass. I did some more online shopping at PetCo for a filtration system, aeration system, cleaning supplies, rock, and plants. PetCo was having a good sale as well, up to 40% off. The filtration system I chose was $229 at Bill's, but I snagged it up for $169 at PetCo. All the fixins for my 'paradise' shrine came to $370. Its a bet of a blow to the wallet, but this tank will not only look great, but it will damn near take care of itself. That is the biggest selling point for me, as my terrible memory and busy schedule is a sure formula for dead fish. So I won't have to tend to it much more than tossing in some food. I also wanted to make sure that everything was compatible with both fresh and salt water applications, in case I want to change things up down the road for some more exotic salt-water fish. Maybe some sheephead, snook, or mullet! Ha! Anyhow, it'll take a bit of time before its a standalone work of art. For now, we'll wait on our shipment from PetCo.
Until next time...
Friday: After work Amber and I stopped by Arby's for a low-budget dinner, using some coupons I had gotten in the mail. Even better was that the young fella running the cash register had gotten confused over the coupons, and forgot to charge us for one of our milkshakes, so we got that on the house. We both ate a nice dinner for just over 7 bucks total. Leaving Arby's, I noticed that the new Goodwill store they had been building next door was finally open for business. We stepped in to see if we could find any hidden treasures, but we didn't. We went on to Kroger to do my weekly grocery shopping. The evening was finished off with a movie on the big screen, which was the flick '14:08'. Its a pretty creepy film.
Saturday: Today started off with a trip into Shelbyville to check on Amber's mother's kitty cat. Amber restocked the food and water bowls and we entertained him for about a half hour. I decided we'd stop by and visit Grandma Cole while we were in town. We visited for about an hour, and I gave her a box of 'Thin Mint' Girl Scout cookies that I had brought from home. We decided to go out for a late lunch at the Chicken Inn. I had a full plate with 3 chicken breasts, mashed potatoes & gravy, and green beans. It was a belly buster. We headed back to grandma's to relax for a bit and let the food settle in our bellies. I had read online earlier that the Indiana Ice hockey team was having their annual 'Pack the House' game at Conseco Fieldhouse tonight, so I called up my dad and little brother to ask them if they'd like to go. They were all for it, so we had to get moving, as it was approaching 6pm, and the game started at 7:30. Grandma had asked if I could hook up a new TV for her, so I got that done in a flash right before we left to pick up my dad, CW, and Ryan (my step-sister's husband).
It turned into a boys night out at the hockey game, but Amber didn't mind tagging along. We all piled into the Subaru and headed north for Conseco Fieldhouse. It took a little driving around to find a parking garage with vacancies, but we finally managed to find a place to park to the tune of $10, but it was only about a block and a half from the fieldhouse. We scurried to Conseco, and I walked straight up to the ticket counter to purchase the tickets. Unfortunately, the only seats available were in the balcony, which is about as high as you can get. We made our way to our seats and the game had just began. It was quite a thrilling game, but the Ice lost 2-1 to the Cedar Rapids 'Rough Riders' from Iowa. The game was over around 9:30, and we dropped the guys back off at Dad's house. Amber and I decided to stop by Walmart on the way home to pick up a couple things left on the shopping list, and I wanted to look for a movie called 'Zack and Miri' that was highly recommended by Bob and Tom on a radio show during my morning commute. We made it home and watched the movie, and it was a flop. Oh well.
Sunday: I had gotten a couple free tickets to the Indiana Home and Garden show at the Indiana Convention Center being held this weekend. I checked online to see what they had to offer, and noticed that they had garage organization products. I've been eyeing different options for my garage and thought this might be a good opportunity to see what is available, and see it in person. We drove up to downtown Indianapolis again, and had a much better time finding a garage to park in, although it was still $10 for event parking. We make a brisk walk across the street to the convention center, and hunt down the Home and Garden Show in the maze of hallways and conference rooms. We finally get to the show, and make a trip down all the isles checking out the different vendors. There was a whole slew of vendors selling windows, patios, decks, sheds, gutter guards, water softeners, humidifiers, and more. Hell, we even saw the ShamWow demonstration again. What we couldn't find, however, was a single booth that had anything to do with garages. No overhead door companies, no shelving companies, no floor sealers, or cabinets. I was a little perturbed after walking through the whole show, not finding a single thing I was looking for.
We decided to skip that joint and take the skywalk to the Circle Center Mall. We perused the mall a bit, and stopped by Johnny Rockets for a burger and fries 50's style. My mind drifted on to thinking about how I miss the warm weather in Florida and the water and the fish. I guess I can blame this on Grandpa Lahrman, who had just sent me a couple envelopes in the mail with pictures from our vacation in Florida. I got to remembering my old aquarium I had back in the day, and kinda thought I'd like to get another aquarium going. They are so colorful and lively, and a great way to bring a little of Florida to my home. So, we decided we've had enough of downtown Indianapolis for one weekend, and headed south to Greenwood to visit a place called 'Uncle Bill's Pet Center'. I've been in there a few times before checking out big aquariums, and they seemed to have some pretty nice deals. We walked around the store a bit, scoping out the many varieties of aquariums. I came across a special they were having on a 75 gallon aquarium, with a lighted hood and cabinet stand for $399. It seemed to be quite a deal, and was about perfect size for my living room. We got everything loaded into the Subaru and headed home. Everything was pretty much preassembled, which was nice. Amber helped me stack the pieces together, and clean up the glass. I did some more online shopping at PetCo for a filtration system, aeration system, cleaning supplies, rock, and plants. PetCo was having a good sale as well, up to 40% off. The filtration system I chose was $229 at Bill's, but I snagged it up for $169 at PetCo. All the fixins for my 'paradise' shrine came to $370. Its a bet of a blow to the wallet, but this tank will not only look great, but it will damn near take care of itself. That is the biggest selling point for me, as my terrible memory and busy schedule is a sure formula for dead fish. So I won't have to tend to it much more than tossing in some food. I also wanted to make sure that everything was compatible with both fresh and salt water applications, in case I want to change things up down the road for some more exotic salt-water fish. Maybe some sheephead, snook, or mullet! Ha! Anyhow, it'll take a bit of time before its a standalone work of art. For now, we'll wait on our shipment from PetCo.
Until next time...
Sunday, February 22, 2009
(10) CSCC-SCCA Autocross Fun Event
Well now that my crappy saturday consisting of 5 hours driving and 8 hours of briefings in Fort Wayne is over, it's time for the main event of the weekend. The first Autocross event of the year! Hosted by the Columbus Sports Car Club, a chapter of the Sports Car Club of America, the Solo2 Autocross events are a way for normal folks to get out and race competitively, or for their own leisure. Anyone 18+ with a valid drivers license, a maintained car, and $35 is welcome to participate. Today's event was a 'fun event', meaning it does not count for points in the annual points standings. Despite freezing weather and a morning snow dusting, a good 40 or so drivers showed up for a day of cone dodging. Amber came along with me, but drove separately so she would have a place to warm up, and we would have a ride home if the Neon decides to break.
We left Franklin around 0815 this morning and convoyed south towards Walesboro, IN. About 5 miles on Interstate 65 doing 70mph with high winds, the magnetic number sign on my passenger side decided to dive off the car and into the median. We went to the next exit and turned around and searched the side of the road all the way back to Franklin, but could not locate it. It was snowing and probably got covered up pretty quickly, so we decided to just cut our losses and continue for Walesboro. What a bummer, as I had just ordered those signs and this was the first time showing them off.
We arrived at the old airstrip just in time to walk the course prior to registration. Amber and I walked the course, and I made mental notes so that I could negotiate it later in the Neon. Theres nothing scarier and more dangerous than pulling up to the starting gate with no clue of the course configuration. We then headed back to the registration trailer so I could get signed up. My annual SCCA membership ($40 for military) saves me $15 at each race, so I only had to pay $20 for registration. I submitted my car information, car number 98SM, and signed the insurance form. The SM after my car number indicates that my car is in the 'Street Modified' class. This class is quite open for modifications to the engine, transmission, power adders, suspension, and brakes. It is typically one of the fastest classes, which in short means I am typically the slowest in the class. My car isn't purposely built for competitive racing in Street Modified, rather I just build my car how I like and happened to fall under this class due to my internal engine work. I am by far the lowest powered car in the class, which consisted of several turbocharged Subaru WRX STIs, an Audi sports car, and a souped up Caprice Wagon. I'm only making a measly 170 horsepower. Nonetheless, my goal has never been to compete with the other cars, but to compete with myself. I try to improve my driving to get faster, and improve the Neon to get faster.
My first run of the day I took nice and easy to familiarize myself with the course, and to get comfortable with the Neon. This is the first time I've raced her with the new camshafts, exhaust, and manual transmission. I completed the run in 75.131 seconds, with no cones knocked over.
My second run I pushed a little harder, but quickly identified some flaws in my driving and also got a little mixed up on the course. It was an ugly run, but still faster than the first. I completed the run in 68.615 seconds with 1 cone knocked over.
My third run I was starting to get more comfortable, but then I came out of a gate too fast and wasn't able to make a turn. I ran right over cone and it broke off one of my exhaust hangers, dropping my muffler to the ground. I didn't notice this on the track, as my car is much too loud to hear a dragging muffler. I finished the run with my mufler dragging the ground in 70.561 seconds with one cone knocked down and one muffler knocked loose.
This was the end of the first heat of 3 runs, so I drove the car back to the pits and got out to see what the damage was. I layed under the rear of the car and noticed that an exhaust hanger had broken. It was a simple enough fix, as I just unbolted the quick-disconnect clamp from the muffler and removed it. Now I'm down to just the Magnaflow catalytic converter and a Moroso spiral-flow resonator. Once I get everything back in order, I fire up the car and she is LOUD! Not a big deal on the racetrack as mufflers are not required in SM, but the drive home is going to be hellish.
Now it was my turn to work the track while the other group runs their first heat. I partner up with a fella who was driving the Volkswagen Golf GTI behind me in line. We head out to station 3. We watch the cars run their laps, and I chased down the knocked over cones and set them back up while the other guy calls in the penalty. It was cold out there, but the running helped keep me warm.
Now for our second heat and final 3 runs, and now I have Amber riding shotgun to experience the thrill of autocross. My 4th run was looking better. I was starting to get more acquainted with the track, and my driving skills were starting to get warmed up, but I took it a little easy as the muffler ordeal had me a little worried. I completed the run in 69.352 seconds with 1 cone knocked over, and the car had no problems.
The fifth run I was ready to make a real stab at a fast time. I was confident that the car was going to run good and hold together, Amber wasn't scared to death, and I was getting more comfortable driving the Neon. I let her rip and finished in 66.459 seconds with no cones knocked over. A lot of pressure to try and top that run!
The sixth run I gave her all I got, posting my fastest time of 66.368. Marginally faster than my 5th run, but still faster!
I had a great time, but I don't think Amber cared much for the cold. I'm sure she'll enjoy it more on a warm day when the expensive cars show up and she can take rides in more exotic cars. We made it home safely, and I spotted my number panel in the median on the way home. I started to stop to get it, but I decided it wasn't worth the hassle, as I can get another for about 8 bucks. It could have been ran over torn for all I could tell, and Saturday traffic isn't the best for playing Frogger.
Until next time...
We left Franklin around 0815 this morning and convoyed south towards Walesboro, IN. About 5 miles on Interstate 65 doing 70mph with high winds, the magnetic number sign on my passenger side decided to dive off the car and into the median. We went to the next exit and turned around and searched the side of the road all the way back to Franklin, but could not locate it. It was snowing and probably got covered up pretty quickly, so we decided to just cut our losses and continue for Walesboro. What a bummer, as I had just ordered those signs and this was the first time showing them off.
We arrived at the old airstrip just in time to walk the course prior to registration. Amber and I walked the course, and I made mental notes so that I could negotiate it later in the Neon. Theres nothing scarier and more dangerous than pulling up to the starting gate with no clue of the course configuration. We then headed back to the registration trailer so I could get signed up. My annual SCCA membership ($40 for military) saves me $15 at each race, so I only had to pay $20 for registration. I submitted my car information, car number 98SM, and signed the insurance form. The SM after my car number indicates that my car is in the 'Street Modified' class. This class is quite open for modifications to the engine, transmission, power adders, suspension, and brakes. It is typically one of the fastest classes, which in short means I am typically the slowest in the class. My car isn't purposely built for competitive racing in Street Modified, rather I just build my car how I like and happened to fall under this class due to my internal engine work. I am by far the lowest powered car in the class, which consisted of several turbocharged Subaru WRX STIs, an Audi sports car, and a souped up Caprice Wagon. I'm only making a measly 170 horsepower. Nonetheless, my goal has never been to compete with the other cars, but to compete with myself. I try to improve my driving to get faster, and improve the Neon to get faster.
My first run of the day I took nice and easy to familiarize myself with the course, and to get comfortable with the Neon. This is the first time I've raced her with the new camshafts, exhaust, and manual transmission. I completed the run in 75.131 seconds, with no cones knocked over.
My second run I pushed a little harder, but quickly identified some flaws in my driving and also got a little mixed up on the course. It was an ugly run, but still faster than the first. I completed the run in 68.615 seconds with 1 cone knocked over.
My third run I was starting to get more comfortable, but then I came out of a gate too fast and wasn't able to make a turn. I ran right over cone and it broke off one of my exhaust hangers, dropping my muffler to the ground. I didn't notice this on the track, as my car is much too loud to hear a dragging muffler. I finished the run with my mufler dragging the ground in 70.561 seconds with one cone knocked down and one muffler knocked loose.
This was the end of the first heat of 3 runs, so I drove the car back to the pits and got out to see what the damage was. I layed under the rear of the car and noticed that an exhaust hanger had broken. It was a simple enough fix, as I just unbolted the quick-disconnect clamp from the muffler and removed it. Now I'm down to just the Magnaflow catalytic converter and a Moroso spiral-flow resonator. Once I get everything back in order, I fire up the car and she is LOUD! Not a big deal on the racetrack as mufflers are not required in SM, but the drive home is going to be hellish.
Now it was my turn to work the track while the other group runs their first heat. I partner up with a fella who was driving the Volkswagen Golf GTI behind me in line. We head out to station 3. We watch the cars run their laps, and I chased down the knocked over cones and set them back up while the other guy calls in the penalty. It was cold out there, but the running helped keep me warm.
Now for our second heat and final 3 runs, and now I have Amber riding shotgun to experience the thrill of autocross. My 4th run was looking better. I was starting to get more acquainted with the track, and my driving skills were starting to get warmed up, but I took it a little easy as the muffler ordeal had me a little worried. I completed the run in 69.352 seconds with 1 cone knocked over, and the car had no problems.
The fifth run I was ready to make a real stab at a fast time. I was confident that the car was going to run good and hold together, Amber wasn't scared to death, and I was getting more comfortable driving the Neon. I let her rip and finished in 66.459 seconds with no cones knocked over. A lot of pressure to try and top that run!
The sixth run I gave her all I got, posting my fastest time of 66.368. Marginally faster than my 5th run, but still faster!
I had a great time, but I don't think Amber cared much for the cold. I'm sure she'll enjoy it more on a warm day when the expensive cars show up and she can take rides in more exotic cars. We made it home safely, and I spotted my number panel in the median on the way home. I started to stop to get it, but I decided it wasn't worth the hassle, as I can get another for about 8 bucks. It could have been ran over torn for all I could tell, and Saturday traffic isn't the best for playing Frogger.
Until next time...
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