Wow...
I had no idea some much time had passed. Thing have been absolutely nuts with this move. I’m going clear across country and wrapping things up in one area and moving your life to another is a bigger hassles than I realized. Student loans, Shot records ( I had to go in and get new boosters for mumps, measles, diphtheria, whooping cough, etc. because it has been so long. I felt like I was eight. “Don’t I at least get a lollipop or something?” :( ), medical and vet records, all the moving and travel arrangements for me, my furry herd and my car (I orginally was going to drive across, but the time constraints of a semster starting Jan. 4th along with settlgin in just wasn't going to allow for that), trying to get everything wrapped up here at work. Next week I am flying out to the east coast to find a place to live. Mad craziness.
So I’m sorry about the hiatus.
So let see, what’s going on…
Congress stands up on it’s hind legs.
At last! I knew given enough rope the Administration would hang itself with it. They just got the bill from the piper. Thing is I would like the see the opposition do more than just take pot shots at the twitching body of the right, I would like to see them come up with a cohesive vision, a plan for the U.S. Been more than just “The opposition” but a whole party.
Right now there are two distinct visions of the “America” and ideas how to keep America safe and prosperous in the minds of Citizens of the U.S. I understand that everyone has their own opinions about the details of it, but from what I have seen on the internet, they can be simplified into two groups. The Right has their vision and proponents for it, though now they are beginning to see that they bet on the wrong horse and have been led astray. The Left needs leaders and politicians who have the some clear, detailed direction. They need to get proactive. Not to the extreme that the Neo-conservatives have taken the country, God knows this divisive-ness is reaching near hysterical levels. But they need to preset a clear alternative to those people.
Still. Good job Mr. Murtha and Mr. McCain.
You know, I always feared John McCain because of his environmental stance. But it’s not as bad as I thought. He’s sort of a Teddy Roosevelt environmentalist…which in this day and age is kinda weak. But he obviously is better than the current administration.
Congrats Smoke.
Tony Stewart captured his second Championship last Sunday by being conservative. Maybe not as much fun for him or us, but he got it. Good job Tony!
Phoenix.
I was lucky enough to get free tickets, with all the trimmings to the races at Phoenix a couple weeks ago. I meant to write out a detailed race report the way I always do, but time got away from me as it has so much in the last couple months.
Phoenix is a great track. I will definately be coming back. I’ve watched several races at it, and for some reason the TV doesn't relate how small it is. (Is it like weight on a person, the camera adds ½ a mile?) From our seats behind the flagstand we could see everything, including the nifty action in the dogleg on the backstretch. So it was a great race to watch. I like the garage set up two, with the walk over bridges that let people watchin what is happening in the garages without getting in the way. We also got tickets to the Party tent, where you get fed, watered (with alcohol if one choses) and entertained. Most of the time by a cover band that was pretty darn good, and for brief moments by drivers. Here is my account of Dale Jr.'s visit to the Busch race on Saturday:
“I was there, front and center.
We managed to be one of the first groups in the Busch Tent and grabbed the first available tables in front of the stage. Two rows of three tables had been reserved for employees of Busch Beer, but when less than a 1/3 of the seats were filled 15 minutes prior to Dale coming out, the organizers started inviting people up to the front tables. Including your truly and some DEI fan pals.
So we went up and everyone started to crowd the stage, though the organizers kept everyone back behind our tables in the front. And we waited...and waited...and waited.
He was 45 minutes late.
Now, I was a little irked, but my friends explained to me that they are never on time and indeed, the next day Kasey Khane and Kurt Busch were 1/2 hour late.
But things were starting to get a little ugly, squabbles over seats and such, so they must have grabbed Robby Gordon and Jimmy Spencer coming out of the Corporate tents to keep us fractious fans happy. Robby talks about his ride Sunday, using DEI Engines and working with the DEI team while "Menards figures out what their issues are"...and the Baja 1,000 from which he just got back from testing. He will be late to Homestead because he will be running that, someone else is going to have to qualify his car. And Jimmy Spencer came up and talked about the safety innovations in recent year brought about by Dale Sr.'s death. Very articulately for him. Someone in the audience challenged him about whether Dale would have worn the new equipment. First he said, we he would have had it been mandatory, and then he pointed out how he was frankly scared into wearing the equipment when he saw some of the films from wrecks and thought perhaps Dale would have done the same thing (we also have to remember that Dale was a huge proponent of the SAFER barriers "I would rather be picking styrofoam out of my car than me out of the wall".)
But about Dale…
Well...he wasn't happy. That much was obvious. He obviously was not fully awake and only had a few minutes before he had to rush off to qualifying. Stumbling over words, repeating himself. Not one of his best appearances. Joe (I think that is his name), his PR guy came on and without intro just asked the audience for questions. Before answering the first one, Dale looked at Joe and said "Good Morning. and then went into his answer." Perhaps I should have been more polite and said Good Morning before asking my question. *sheepish* But beyond screams to take his sunglasses off, and "I love you Junior!" and "will you sign this for me?" and questions he had answered a hundred times before like "Are you excited about working with Tony Jr. next year?" Answer: "Well Tony Jr. excited about it. I'm o.k. with it." (Which was probably sarcasm.) and two questions about doing commercials with Mike ("Will he?" "Yes." "How will he feel doing working with Mikey?" "Fine.") , he did get some good ones.
When asked if he was going to do anything behind the wheel outside his Busch and Cup rides next year, the answer was "Well, it's fun, and I have an open door at Corvette to come back and race, but it too much work getting the seat there and testing and my schedule is so heavy...etc. etc. etc." Short answer: No.
When asked if Martin is going into the #15 next year to take advantage of Owner points (that question threw him a bit), he answered that as an owner it was certainly something we would keep in mind, but as far as he knew, no. Bass Pro Shops was coming with him and he did not foresee any problems with Martin making the field for races.
When asked what he was doing during the off season: "Family, staying at home with the family, he has a new neice, hanging out with the Family...etc. Family, etc. Family, etc. Family" (He really, really did not want to be in Phoenix.) He also mentioned that he had a full schedule with commercials and "a TV show" and so on.
That's all I can remember. It was very short, I don't think he answered more than 7 questions before they hustled him off.
His style onstage was....disconcerting. For the first few questions he did not look at the audience. At all. He did not look at the person asking the question, when he first started answering he would make one general turn out and back in to look at his PR guy again. I would have been a little offended, but my friend says when he was younger Dale never looked at anyone if he could at all help it. He's very charming one-on-one but a very poor public speaker (ie. painfully shy) that took years to learn to make a connection with the audience which he did a couple questions in when he realized, "Oh hey I should be looking at these people..."
All in all, between the meet and his utter silence on the radio during the race (which I has never heard out of him), the impression I had was of a guy who just wanted to go home, not that I blame him given what these guys schedules were like.
But still, it was cool to see him. I still enjoyed the meet. I did get to ask one of my questions, so I am satisfied.”
Thinking about it all later, how burned out he was coupled with the news he was starting up his own production company to do historical documentaries of racing and narrating one for ESPN, I came to the conclusion that Dale jr. is a probably flake. He’s got so many irons in the fire that he is really interested in that it hard for him to devote himself utterly to one thing, unfortunately like driving. But while it is frustrating to me as a fan, as a person I understand completely.
I don’t know how it is for him, but I get bored if I’m doing the same thing day in and day out. I need to switch my challenges up to keep me interested. That’s one of the reasons why I chose Archeology. There are so many sciences and disciplines folded into it, it’s unlikely I will ever become bored with it. Plus flaky people are creative people; unconventional thinkers, idea men and women. There’s always something fresh in their heads because they have so many interests that intersect in their minds and their always growing because they aren’t static on a single path.
So bully for Flakey people! Yay us!
I also saw Kurt Busch speak in the tent just before the news hit of his driving incident. He hid it well Very smooth. He didn’t take questions from the audience but he talked about the opportunities at Penske for open wheel, which fully explains why he would leave a wildly successful operation like Roush. But… .017 BAC? You can get that reading by using Scope. I agree the guy was a major jerk, but reading the incident report on Smoking gun (the swiftness of that hitting being a clue in and of itself) I have to think that the arresting officer was also a jerk. Two jack*sses meeting on a dark road. What shouldn’t have amazed me but still did, was the level of rabid Busch bashing prevalent in the fan base. My god. The foaming at the mouth was shorting out motherboards left and right, I’m sure.
But I do have to admit the guys in the #97 stall did look terribly chipper, especially and the motor home across from them had posted the announcement taped up in their front window.
But the seasons is over, wrapped up. While Mark hung tough for year another year (and he has another shot at it again next year), it wasn’t the best for Dale or Elliott. Hopefully they could get some ducks in a row for 2006 and fully enjoy their holidays and time off. What little they get.
Though I understand Elliott flew straight from the track to go hunting.
*whistful* Hmmmmm...scruffy Sadler. ;)
Thanksgiving.
I love Thanksgiving. It’s the last major holiday that has not been corrupted by crass commercialism. No gifts, just one huge meal that the entire family gathers around and is just together. That rocks. I’m pretty lucky in that my family actually likes one another a great deal, we enjoy hanging out together and just talking like friends, not just because it’s the holiday and we have to.
So I am Thankful:
I’m thankful for the major step taken to living the life I want.
I’m thankful for my family.
For my furry family, both past and present.
For my friends.
For the lessons that I have had, even when they are hard and I'm b*tching the whole way through ;), that help me grow into a better person.
The lovely planet in which we live and the fortune that I have had to have a roof over my head and food on my table and in my pets bowls, not to mention living where I am and when I am as I am…because 200 years ago, I probably would have been locked up. :D
So Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Enjoy your holiday!
So I’m sorry about the hiatus.
So let see, what’s going on…
Congress stands up on it’s hind legs.
At last! I knew given enough rope the Administration would hang itself with it. They just got the bill from the piper. Thing is I would like the see the opposition do more than just take pot shots at the twitching body of the right, I would like to see them come up with a cohesive vision, a plan for the U.S. Been more than just “The opposition” but a whole party.
Right now there are two distinct visions of the “America” and ideas how to keep America safe and prosperous in the minds of Citizens of the U.S. I understand that everyone has their own opinions about the details of it, but from what I have seen on the internet, they can be simplified into two groups. The Right has their vision and proponents for it, though now they are beginning to see that they bet on the wrong horse and have been led astray. The Left needs leaders and politicians who have the some clear, detailed direction. They need to get proactive. Not to the extreme that the Neo-conservatives have taken the country, God knows this divisive-ness is reaching near hysterical levels. But they need to preset a clear alternative to those people.
Still. Good job Mr. Murtha and Mr. McCain.
You know, I always feared John McCain because of his environmental stance. But it’s not as bad as I thought. He’s sort of a Teddy Roosevelt environmentalist…which in this day and age is kinda weak. But he obviously is better than the current administration.
Congrats Smoke.
Tony Stewart captured his second Championship last Sunday by being conservative. Maybe not as much fun for him or us, but he got it. Good job Tony!
Phoenix.
I was lucky enough to get free tickets, with all the trimmings to the races at Phoenix a couple weeks ago. I meant to write out a detailed race report the way I always do, but time got away from me as it has so much in the last couple months.
Phoenix is a great track. I will definately be coming back. I’ve watched several races at it, and for some reason the TV doesn't relate how small it is. (Is it like weight on a person, the camera adds ½ a mile?) From our seats behind the flagstand we could see everything, including the nifty action in the dogleg on the backstretch. So it was a great race to watch. I like the garage set up two, with the walk over bridges that let people watchin what is happening in the garages without getting in the way. We also got tickets to the Party tent, where you get fed, watered (with alcohol if one choses) and entertained. Most of the time by a cover band that was pretty darn good, and for brief moments by drivers. Here is my account of Dale Jr.'s visit to the Busch race on Saturday:
“I was there, front and center.
We managed to be one of the first groups in the Busch Tent and grabbed the first available tables in front of the stage. Two rows of three tables had been reserved for employees of Busch Beer, but when less than a 1/3 of the seats were filled 15 minutes prior to Dale coming out, the organizers started inviting people up to the front tables. Including your truly and some DEI fan pals.
So we went up and everyone started to crowd the stage, though the organizers kept everyone back behind our tables in the front. And we waited...and waited...and waited.
He was 45 minutes late.
Now, I was a little irked, but my friends explained to me that they are never on time and indeed, the next day Kasey Khane and Kurt Busch were 1/2 hour late.
But things were starting to get a little ugly, squabbles over seats and such, so they must have grabbed Robby Gordon and Jimmy Spencer coming out of the Corporate tents to keep us fractious fans happy. Robby talks about his ride Sunday, using DEI Engines and working with the DEI team while "Menards figures out what their issues are"...and the Baja 1,000 from which he just got back from testing. He will be late to Homestead because he will be running that, someone else is going to have to qualify his car. And Jimmy Spencer came up and talked about the safety innovations in recent year brought about by Dale Sr.'s death. Very articulately for him. Someone in the audience challenged him about whether Dale would have worn the new equipment. First he said, we he would have had it been mandatory, and then he pointed out how he was frankly scared into wearing the equipment when he saw some of the films from wrecks and thought perhaps Dale would have done the same thing (we also have to remember that Dale was a huge proponent of the SAFER barriers "I would rather be picking styrofoam out of my car than me out of the wall".)
But about Dale…
Well...he wasn't happy. That much was obvious. He obviously was not fully awake and only had a few minutes before he had to rush off to qualifying. Stumbling over words, repeating himself. Not one of his best appearances. Joe (I think that is his name), his PR guy came on and without intro just asked the audience for questions. Before answering the first one, Dale looked at Joe and said "Good Morning. and then went into his answer." Perhaps I should have been more polite and said Good Morning before asking my question. *sheepish* But beyond screams to take his sunglasses off, and "I love you Junior!" and "will you sign this for me?" and questions he had answered a hundred times before like "Are you excited about working with Tony Jr. next year?" Answer: "Well Tony Jr. excited about it. I'm o.k. with it." (Which was probably sarcasm.) and two questions about doing commercials with Mike ("Will he?" "Yes." "How will he feel doing working with Mikey?" "Fine.") , he did get some good ones.
When asked if he was going to do anything behind the wheel outside his Busch and Cup rides next year, the answer was "Well, it's fun, and I have an open door at Corvette to come back and race, but it too much work getting the seat there and testing and my schedule is so heavy...etc. etc. etc." Short answer: No.
When asked if Martin is going into the #15 next year to take advantage of Owner points (that question threw him a bit), he answered that as an owner it was certainly something we would keep in mind, but as far as he knew, no. Bass Pro Shops was coming with him and he did not foresee any problems with Martin making the field for races.
When asked what he was doing during the off season: "Family, staying at home with the family, he has a new neice, hanging out with the Family...etc. Family, etc. Family, etc. Family" (He really, really did not want to be in Phoenix.) He also mentioned that he had a full schedule with commercials and "a TV show" and so on.
That's all I can remember. It was very short, I don't think he answered more than 7 questions before they hustled him off.
His style onstage was....disconcerting. For the first few questions he did not look at the audience. At all. He did not look at the person asking the question, when he first started answering he would make one general turn out and back in to look at his PR guy again. I would have been a little offended, but my friend says when he was younger Dale never looked at anyone if he could at all help it. He's very charming one-on-one but a very poor public speaker (ie. painfully shy) that took years to learn to make a connection with the audience which he did a couple questions in when he realized, "Oh hey I should be looking at these people..."
All in all, between the meet and his utter silence on the radio during the race (which I has never heard out of him), the impression I had was of a guy who just wanted to go home, not that I blame him given what these guys schedules were like.
But still, it was cool to see him. I still enjoyed the meet. I did get to ask one of my questions, so I am satisfied.”
Thinking about it all later, how burned out he was coupled with the news he was starting up his own production company to do historical documentaries of racing and narrating one for ESPN, I came to the conclusion that Dale jr. is a probably flake. He’s got so many irons in the fire that he is really interested in that it hard for him to devote himself utterly to one thing, unfortunately like driving. But while it is frustrating to me as a fan, as a person I understand completely.
I don’t know how it is for him, but I get bored if I’m doing the same thing day in and day out. I need to switch my challenges up to keep me interested. That’s one of the reasons why I chose Archeology. There are so many sciences and disciplines folded into it, it’s unlikely I will ever become bored with it. Plus flaky people are creative people; unconventional thinkers, idea men and women. There’s always something fresh in their heads because they have so many interests that intersect in their minds and their always growing because they aren’t static on a single path.
So bully for Flakey people! Yay us!
I also saw Kurt Busch speak in the tent just before the news hit of his driving incident. He hid it well Very smooth. He didn’t take questions from the audience but he talked about the opportunities at Penske for open wheel, which fully explains why he would leave a wildly successful operation like Roush. But… .017 BAC? You can get that reading by using Scope. I agree the guy was a major jerk, but reading the incident report on Smoking gun (the swiftness of that hitting being a clue in and of itself) I have to think that the arresting officer was also a jerk. Two jack*sses meeting on a dark road. What shouldn’t have amazed me but still did, was the level of rabid Busch bashing prevalent in the fan base. My god. The foaming at the mouth was shorting out motherboards left and right, I’m sure.
But I do have to admit the guys in the #97 stall did look terribly chipper, especially and the motor home across from them had posted the announcement taped up in their front window.
But the seasons is over, wrapped up. While Mark hung tough for year another year (and he has another shot at it again next year), it wasn’t the best for Dale or Elliott. Hopefully they could get some ducks in a row for 2006 and fully enjoy their holidays and time off. What little they get.
Though I understand Elliott flew straight from the track to go hunting.
*whistful* Hmmmmm...scruffy Sadler. ;)
Thanksgiving.
I love Thanksgiving. It’s the last major holiday that has not been corrupted by crass commercialism. No gifts, just one huge meal that the entire family gathers around and is just together. That rocks. I’m pretty lucky in that my family actually likes one another a great deal, we enjoy hanging out together and just talking like friends, not just because it’s the holiday and we have to.
So I am Thankful:
I’m thankful for the major step taken to living the life I want.
I’m thankful for my family.
For my furry family, both past and present.
For my friends.
For the lessons that I have had, even when they are hard and I'm b*tching the whole way through ;), that help me grow into a better person.
The lovely planet in which we live and the fortune that I have had to have a roof over my head and food on my table and in my pets bowls, not to mention living where I am and when I am as I am…because 200 years ago, I probably would have been locked up. :D
So Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Enjoy your holiday!
posted by KiplingKat | 12:46 AM
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