How Racing Changed My Life

As you probably noticed in my last post, damn near everything reminds me of racing and what I lost this year. Even if it's just that there is no racing on certain weekends when there had been for the past 12 years.

I had a rough time this weekend, because I should have been in Cleveland with a whole bunch of my racing friends. We would have gone out to eat on Thursday as a group, catching up on everything since we last got together and discussing the racing and how the season was going. Friday, Saturday and Sunday would be been spent at Burke Lakefront Airport from gates opening until after 6:00. My sunscreen always got a workout at Cleveland, which is why I ignore those reports that say SPF 30 is as high as you need. I get burned when I use SPF 30, but not when I use SPF 55. That's all the proof I need.

Friday would have been excellent because it's less crowded and that was the day we'd head into the paddock and the pits, after first visiting our friend Rick in the merchandise trailer and trading hugs and hellos and howareyous. I would have stalked Oriol until I got his autograph on some new item, as well as my Catalan flag. If it were last year and Katherine were still around (she's in DTM this year – go Katherine), we would have found her and her cute little dog and petted the dog and chatted with her about how things were going. We'd run into various people we run into at every race, hug, exchange pleasantries and then chat about this, that and the other – all technical racing terms.

Then we'd take our annual trip through the pits and watch qualifying from the pits, even though you couldn't see shit in them and would spend half the session in front of a team's big screen TV which showed drivers' times and speeds.

Saturday would have been a bit busier and while we would have gone to visit Rick (and spend more money on Champ Car gear), we wouldn't have gone into the pits. Depending on everybody's moods and the temperature, we might go into the paddock.

Sundays, however, were never paddock days (except for Mom, Roadrunner and me, as we'd run through the paddock after morning warm-up to get to Mass). Sundays were usually too stupid busy in the paddock and the pits, so we'd stay in our grandstand and hang with our friends for one last day until the next race, whichever and wherever that may have been.

2001 at Cleveland was slightly different for me, though. Friday at the fan forum I answered the question "Who won last year's race and for which team did he race?" correctly. My hand wasn't the first in the air, but the person's who was didn't know the answer, he just figured it was probably Juan Pablo Montoya as it seemed he had won every race that year. As soon as I heard his answer, my hand shot into the air and Scott Pruett picked me. I answered correctly, "Roberto Moreno driving for Pat Patrick." I wanted to say "My Pupo!" but decided not to do that. ;-) Anyway, I won the chance to be a "CART Fanatic" which I already was, really, but this meant that I got to be teamed with a driver (in Detroit that year, the Fanatics actually got to ride in the parade car with their driver, but they cheated the Cleveland Fanatics). The people running the forum handed me a bag and a kid who answered the other question another bag. My bag contained stuff for Paul Tracy, his had Alex (Sandro) Zanardi. (Do yourself a favor and watch those two clips of Alex on the Letterman show, it shows what an absolutely great guy he is, and just one reason why I loved CART/Champ Car, because most of the drivers were that unbelievable.) Now, if you know me in my racing form you know that I hate Paul Tracy and that I've called him PFT since the 1992 season. The other kid, on the other hand, was a huge PFT fan, so we traded bags.

As a CART Fanatic I got a t-shirt that declared me as such (I still wear it to this day), a lanyard of some sort, and I don't remember what else, but the big thing was that before the race, during the drivers announcements that I got to do what I called the "geek walk," which was walk across the podium stage with my driver. I was disappointed there was no driver parade which would have kicked butt, but Sandro was lovely. As they announced his name, I waited for him to mount the steps to the podium, but he was too much a gentleman, and insisted I go first. I was thinking, there's no way those people want to see me, they want to see Sandro!!! So, when I got to the top of the steps, I waited for him and let him walk across first. My mom has pictures and I'm pretty sure I look extremely embarrassed. As we walked off the stage, he said to me, "Well, that's it, short and sweet." He was talking about the driver introduction portion. After that, I got to go out on to the grid and stand by his car while he got into it and the usual pre-race stuff was done. When the PA guy announced that all unauthorized personnel had to leave the grid that did NOT mean me! Woohoo! I got to stand next to the car while the call was made "Gentlemen, start your engines." I think I was a little too worried about getting off the grid in time to appreciate being there and feeling the rumbling of the engines go through my body as 20 turbo-charged engines started at the same time. I'm pretty sure there were tears. I was able to get Sandro's autograph on my friend Patty's hat. She's a HUGE fan of his and while I loved him, he was HER driver and I was more than happy to get it for her.

Three short months later we almost lost Alex Zanardi in a horrific accident where he lost his legs. Honestly, I wouldn't recommend clicking on that link. I don't use "horrific" lightly. I would recommend clicking on this one however, where he finishes the 13 laps from the year when he lost his legs. I cry every time I see that video. The first two minutes are a little cheesy, musically, but it's worth watching because there is just something special about watching everybody in pit lane run to the pit wall when he drove past the first time...and then the picture of the crowd cheering for him. The cheesy music pops up again at 4:20 or so, but again the video is worth it - just hit the mute, unlike you enjoy Sheena Easton.

As summer continues and weekends that would normally see me leaving the state come around I'll probably be thinking more about this...and telling you what I'm missing. So be prepared. ;-)

Thanks for listening this time.

Sorry, it's taken me so long...

Happy May, everybody. I'm finally back to the daily grind of earning my paycheck which is fun and exciting. The cats are happy as clams at high tide to see me. They will not leave me alone. I sat down on the couch Tuesday and thought I might write out a pattern for Beth only to have Boris in my lap in a millisecond. Now, I have to confess that if it had been Igor, I probably would have moved him to one side since he is ALWAYS in my lap. Boris, however, doesn't even attempt to sit on my lap that often, so I let him be. Of course, once Igor, who up to that moment was perfectly content sitting on the couch back behind my head, sees Boris on my lap, he decides he needs to be on my lap as well. Oy vey. I have to protect Boris then because Igor will push Boris completely off and just take over. I tell them all the time to share, but they are little brats when it comes to that. ;-) And Boris is usually the pushover, which is why I protect him.

I wrote out the pattern for Beth last night and sent it to her, so that's done! ;-)

As requested: A GRANDMA UPDATE

Grandma is doing really well. I can't remember what I last told you, but she decided to pay the $300 a day to stay at the rehab place, but then she wasn't having physical or occupational therapy, which I'm pretty sure was the reason she decided to stay there (as opposed to paying $170 for assisted living), but when I talked to her Tuesday she said that the doctor had given her another prescription for the therapy so she should have been back at it yesterday. The good news is that Tuesday she went all the way to the dining room (she's in the last room in the hallway, so it's a heckuva an accomplishment) using the walker. And I think she said she can get out of bed and use the walker all by herself, too! She has been sounding absolutely great for the last week or so. And she thinks she's going to be out of rehab in a couple of weeks. I'm assuming they're going to teach her in therapy how to negotiate stairs since her condo doesn't have a bedroom or full bathroom on the ground floor. I do know that my California/West Coast aunts (there are four of them) are planning on coming out in shifts to stay with her as they all have Family Leave once she gets out of rehab and is back home.

She's been making friends all over the place and is rarely in her room anymore as she's always off gallivanting somewhere (okay, usually the dining room, although last Monday the rehab place loaded up 10 wheelchair-bound oldsters and took them to the race track for some horse racing). From all accounts, everybody had fun. Grandma's a little bummed because her buddies Norma and Pat have gone home, and Norma was just a fun person. I quite liked her myself. She's the one who told us about Grandma refusing to bake in OT because she had seven kids and did her baking back in the day.

The vacations were mostly good. The first weekend away was hard. Even though I knew in my heart that it was my last race, it was harder saying good-bye to people than I had thought. All of us (C&C, Roadrunner, HRH and me) arrived Wednesday (C&C in the morning, the rest of around 8:30 p.m.). Thursday we headed up to LA to go to the Petersen Automotive Museum. I had been wanting to go there since it opened, but have only been to LA once since then and my brother wanted to go to Disneyland that time. Turns out that the Petersen is not nearly as extensive or fascinating as the National Automobile Museum in Reno, so we went through the whole thing in a matter of a couple of hours. I spent an entire at the car museum in Reno.

I did see some very cool cars, and if I would have downloaded my pics by now, you could see them, too. They have a Steve McQueen Jaguar in BRG – nice. They also have two Ford GTs – one of the original ones (technically a GT40) which had been owned by the classical conductor Herbert von Karajan and never driven in the rain – GORGEOUS. And one of the new ones, which is beautiful, but I'm a purist. The old one is just too sweet for words. And they also have a Bugatti Veyron. Holy cow! As HRH pointed out, it's really not a beautiful car, but hell, if you're a Top Gear fan, you know how cool and fast that sucker is. If you have no clue what I'm talking about, go to youtube and type in Top Gear and Bugatti. Bloody amazing!

C of C&C really wanted to get to the Hollywood sign so that was next on the agenda. I have been to LA a fair number of times and have never made the foray to the sign – although I did go to a concert at the Hollywood Bowl, so I did see it from there. This time, though, the goal was to get as close to the sign as we could. We got some cool pictures and then bailed, in an extremely unsuccessful effort to avoid LA rush hour traffic. I think it took us close to a year to get to the freaking freeway. And I have to say that the middle position of the back seat of a Magnum station wagon is not comfortable for HOURS at a time. My back was killing me!

We had to stop in Long Beach on our way back to Huntington Beach (as close as we could get to Long Beach, which wasn't bad considering we didn't even plan the trip until late February/early March) to pick copies of the Long Beach Press Telegram as they had coupons for free admission to the track on Friday. The ALMS guys were on track when we got there, so I got to flip the bird to the Penske Porsches, and the Andretti & Fernandez Acuras whenever they'd go past. It was mature and satisfying.

We ate at this restaurant called Island Burgers which was supposed to be fabulous. The burgers made from beef might have been, but their version of a veggie burger sucked. Why can't restaurants just have Boca burgers in the freezer and not waste their time (and my taste buds) creating their own veggie pattie? They almost always are horrible. HRH wanted a bite and I told her no, I didn't want that nastiness coloring her opinion of veggie burgers. Even sautéed mushrooms and swiss cheese couldn't hide how awful it was.

We wandered a bit around the race track, figuring out where we were and where our seats were. After that we just headed back to HB as we knew we had an early morning scheduled and a long day at the race track. When we got back to our hotel, though, C&C brought out a present for all of us. They had had t-shirts made expressing our feelings toward the "merger" and gave one to each of us and had a few left for some other racing friends we would see at the track. Pictures will be downloaded soon.

And I'll finish telling you all about my two trips to CA soon...I promise!!

Do not call telemarketers back! Plus Good News on the Grandma Front

I'm really slacking of late – posting entries, reading blogs, etc., and I apologise.

Latest Grandma news is good news!!! Woohoo!!! At physical therapy this week, starting on Wednesday, they began bending her knee! She was a little scared at first, expecting it to hurt, but she said it didn't. Also, one of my CA aunts was in town for a few days and she got the Medicare/Blue Cross issue straightened out. From the sounds of things, both will pay for 20 days in rehab, but they both wanted to pay for the first 20 days, so Grandma was going to get kicked out after 20 days, even though she wasn't allowed to put any weight on her leg for 6 weeks. The social worker has told Grandma that she will not be kicked out until the end of April, although Grandma thinks there's a possibility she'll be able to stay longer than that, if need be. We shall see. I don’t have a lot of faith in the "healthcare system" in this country.

I still don't know what's up with her dermatologist appt. and the atypical cells, but I'm sure I'll see Mom tomorrow and she'll tell me what's up. The YS is home from Texas, and due to Grandma's fall decided to do her next rotation here in Michigan, so we're going to harass Grandma tomorrow and then go for sushi! Yay! It's been much too long since I had sushi.

I mentioned a while back that my work phone is one number off from a telemarketers, if you remember. Well, I finally got tired of being sworn at for something I didn't do, so I asked my boss if I could be a bit more blunt in my voicemail message. He said, Yes, so a few weeks ago, I changed my VM from the standard BS to "Hello. I AM NOT A TELEMARKETER and DID NOT CALL YOU. You have reached My Name at Big Faceless Corporation and can't answer your call right now. If you know me, please leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as possible." Or something very similar to that. One of my co-workers called me last week and was just laughing throughout his entire message to me. He asked if I had permission to do that. Yup.

It worked up until last night when I got someone saying "You lie, you did too call me." ARGH!!! Actually, I had THREE messages from people yelling at me once again about calling them. Today's message is even more blunt.

"Hello, you've reached My Name at Specific Department at Big Faceless Corporation. I am not a telemarketer and I did not call you. The last number is a zero, not an eight. If you are a supplier or a co-worker, please leave a message."

If you know me and my work #, give it a call and a listen…let me know what you think. I think my irritation shows through. I had said the next VM message was going to include information on how to get their phone # on the Do Not Call Registry, but I was too pissed this morning to do it. Maybe next time I need to get even more explicit. Yes, I could get a new phone #, but I've had this number since I started here almost 8 years ago. It's on every order I submit, it's the # everybody knows, etc. I don't want a new phone #!!! I want people to stop being stupid and not only calling telemarketers back, but too stupid to discern a zero from an eight!!!!

I'll keep you posted on well this works. Just hope the new big boss doesn't feel the need to call me when I'm not here. ;-)

One week from today I'll be at the street circuit in Long Beach for the last ever Champ Car race (even though technically it's an IRL [f*ckers] sanctioned race, it's my cars and engines and drivers, so we're considering it a Champ Car race). The LB is coming down from NorCal Friday night and hanging with us for two days. Figures we get him into Champ Car just in time for it go away. Last year in Vegas he came down to see us (he and HRH get along great because they're both so politically conservative). On Friday, he took the rental car to the Grand Canyon where they had just opened the tourist rip-off Lucite platform (you can't take a camera on it), and he was supposed to leave late afternoon on Saturday, but he joined us in the cool grandstand over the track and watched the cars coming at us and getting only a little airborne (since they fixed the massive bump overnight) and he looked at me and said, "Do you think I could get my ticket changed to tomorrow? Do you think Uncle Kevin will mind if I miss Easter Vigil?" "It can't hurt to try. Are you kidding? Uncle Kevin doesn't give a shit about stuff like that." (Note: Uncle Kevin married our aunt 20+ years ago – we're Catholic. He's been attending a Catholic church all these years, their kids all went to Catholic school, he just finally got around to converting officially last year – adult conversions are formally acknowledged/done during the Easter vigil which is a complete nightmare and can last up to three hours.) The LB was able to change his ticket leaving Sunday (as it was Easter) and he sat there watching cars and asked "Why is NASCAR more popular than this? This is so much more interesting." Ah, LB, you have asked the eternal question, which is even more pertinent now that my series is no more.

I need to post pics of the progress of Grandma's bed jacket, but first I need to download the images from my camera. Let's hope it doesn't take as long as my October trip. ;-)

Have a good weekend. I'm going to the Token Lounge tonight to see Ursa's hubby play with his old band. I'm pretty sure there will be some absolutely fabulous people-watching happening this evening, as it is a rock/metal concert. The funny thing is that I grew up not all that far from the Token and have never ever been in it. I've driven past it numerous times, but never stepped one foot inside. I shall now find out what I've been missing all these years!

Latest Grandma Update, Knitting, Long Beach

Sorry for my absence, but for the first time I can remember I think I'm suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder. I need warmth and sun…the warmth from the sun. I've never discounted SAD's existence before, but I never thought I suffered from it. This winter, though, has put me over the edge. I'm always tired, I don't feel like doing anything. I don't want to leave my apt. once I'm home. I don't feel like working when I'm at work. I don't feel like blogging or reading blogs. It's really pathetic. I need SUMMER!!!

I had Good Friday and Easter Monday off work which was nice. Grandma is doing quite well. She had surgery on the Tuesday before Easter, as you know, and the hospital released her on Good Friday. I slept in Friday but made it to church by a little after twelve noon (had to stop by the University to pick up hockey tickets from a friend) – they were on the second station of the cross when I got there. After the service was over (only day of the year when there is no Mass in a Catholic church – little trivia there for you – I won a bet on that once), I went to Target (not my usual one and it was stupid busy) and then Mom called to say Grandma was being moved right then, so I headed up to the rehab place. I beat her there as her ambulance driver didn't have a clue how to get to the place, so he decided to go up Greenfield from the hospital to 13 Mile Road and then west to Meadowbrook Road. Yes, theoretically it's direct, but it's not the fastest way to get there. When they finally arrived, Grandma said, "I think we came by way of Toledo." I was amused but I'm not sure the ambulance guys were.

We got Grandma settled in and stood and chatted for a while, until I decided the snow was coming down a little too hard for my peace of mind and I said my good-byes. It wasn't as white-knuckle driving as when I had to take the YS to the airport back in December, but it wasn't the best time ever, either. Thankfully, Saturday was warm-ish (low 40s?), so driving to Knitting Club that night wasn't a problem. The city where EGC lives has a snow rule, so one whole side of EGC's street is forbidden. I proved my parallel parking skills by getting into the tightest damn spot. I might have had a couple of inches on both ends of the car. I rock.

I started knitting a sweater/bed jacket for Grandma that night. Soyon brought me some patterns and I picked one that looked easy. You can see it here (third picture down in blue). It's not going to be that long, obviously, since it is a bed jacket and Grandma's only 4'7". I've already ripped the damn thing completely out as it was going to be way too long. I've started shaping the armholes for the back piece, and figured out it's still going to be too long, but hopefully only by an inch or so. I'm not ripping it out again.

I took a break from the bed jacket this weekend to knit a scarf as a housewarming gift. I had a housewarming party to attend on Saturday and wanted to knit something for the "lady of the house." I didn't finish it in time, and was hoping to finish it by today so I could give it to Katie this afternoon, but it didn't happen. I went to the Red Wings game on Sunday (they won in OT – woohoo) and that took up quite a few hours, and then yesterday I was visiting Grandma and this particular pattern needs my attention. I kept messing up and having to take rows out one stitch at time so that I wouldn't have to rip the entire thing out. I ended up working on the bed jacket so that I wasn't wasting time while visiting with Grandma. ARGH! I didn't get home until 9:30 which is bedtime, so it's not done. Darn it!!!

Grandma has only been in physical therapy for a week, but she's making great progress. They're teaching her how to use the walker to support herself as she hops to get from point A to point B. I met a lady with whom Grandma has PT and she told the OS and me that Grandma has progressed very quickly and that she was very impressed with Grandma's accomplishments. She gets out of bed with a minimum of help and is just doing really, really well. Even though she's making friends at the facility, she can't wait to get home and be on her own again. It's good to have a goal.

Grandma's not allowed to put any weight on her right leg for six weeks (I guess we're down to 4 weeks, now). She figured out yesterday that she's more than likely not going on our trip to CA in 3 weeks. She's bummed because she really wanted to surprise the LB for his b-day. I was really looking forward to it, too. I now need to call the airline or Travelocity and see if we can get a voucher for the ticket, so Grandma isn't out the money and can get to CA eventually.

I leave two weeks from tomorrow for Long Beach. While I'm looking forward to the trip, I'm also dreading it as that's when IT will really be over. Supposedly, the first Icky Racing League race of the season was this past weekend. I had a party to attend that night, not that I would have watched anyway, but HRH tried to watch it and she said it just brought it all home to her that our series is really over. It upset her so much she couldn't even sleep that night. A bigwig at work (who back when the takeover was announced argued with me that there would still be a race in Cleveland and all this other stuff, he simply refused to believe that someone who didn't wear a suit to work might actually know more about something) yesterday asked me "Did you watch the race?" I replied, "There wasn't a race." He just laughed. I didn't.

I know that at some point I will need to "get over it," but I'm not ready yet. HRH's trying to get me to go to Charlotte for the 600…I wouldn't bet money on it happening, but never say never, right?

I hope all is well with everybody. It'll probably take me a little while to catch up as I've been lax for the past couple of weeks, but I trust comments will be popping up around the blogging world.

Waiting for summer….

It's Done.

Thank you, CART/Champ Car. You brought much fun and excitement to my life over the past damn near 30 years. You have no idea how much you will be missed.

TFG sucks donkey balls.

The Demise of Champ Car & Vegas Trip

I finally ordered my external hard drive (or whatever the bloody hell I just bought actually is) which means I can finally get my music off my computer and download all of my pictures starting with last August's Road America trip through the Maine Vacation and ending with the Vegas trip.

I am utterly and completely depressed. And the thing is I know that nobody (except for Rick in CT) will understand when I tell you why. Martha asked yesterday what was wrong and I just couldn't tell her, because I know she wouldn't get it. I told her that I probably wouldn't be going to any races this year because there probably weren't going to be any races and she had this look on her face like "Okay, so what." I just couldn't go into it as I was going to cry.

It looks like the long-simmering American open wheel racing feud is close to an end. There's talk of a "merger," but it's no merger, it's my guys losing to hated and despised TFG (Tony F***ing George) totally and completely. Champ Car is the inanimate entity I love most in this world. The "merger" news broke last Friday when I was in Vegas. I got a text message from Jim B saying "Told ya Cleveland wouldn't happen. Just sux. Oh well." I immediately text him back saying "WHAT??? I'm in Vegas, no news." Response: "Merger is official. Only lb, surfers and edm added 2 irl schedule. All teams will use irl cars. No panoz." My heart sunk as I told HRH. She got impatient and said, "Call him, quit that damn text messaging." Turns out the merger wasn't official, but was "very close." Then there were subsequent articles quoting one of the owners of CCWS as being upset with the leaks and how it was going to hurt the merger, blah blah blah. It was all I could do that morning not to cry.

We left a little later than we had planned for Zion because this was just too important not to get as many details as possible. We stopped to get gas just outside Zion and HRH wandered through the convenience store and nothing was appealing to her. You have to understand that whenever we go to a race, HRH damn near buys out the store of snacks as she searches for things she can't get in Canada. First she looked at sunflower seeds, but said, "No, I want chocolate." But when we went to the chocolate aisle, she didn't want anything there either. I said, "You're too depressed." She looked at me with mild surprise, and said, "You're right. I don't want anything."

Going to races has been such a part of my life for the past damn near 20 years that I can't even begin to imagine what I'm going to do with my vacation time. I already submitted time off for the Cleveland and Road America races, but I won't be taking those days off if there are no races. How am I going to see my friends?

Trust me, I won't be going to any IRL/IndyCar races, and neither will my friends. No way in freaking hell. There's nothing about that series that appeals to me from their freaking traitor owners to the asshole who started it to their bitch of a female driver to their stupid "fly-into-the-air-for-no-apparent-reason" cars which have killed at least two drivers, seriously injured at least one, given a myriad of drivers lower back fractures and damn near killed Mario Andretti (stupid Michael).

There's nothing absolute yet as CCWS owners keep saying they will have races this year, but one car owner has already defected to the IRL and that's definitely not good as we only had 17 cars in the field with his two cars. 15 is definitely not acceptable. I got an e-mail from a friend who is also a CCWS pit official and he said that it's just a matter of time and that he's 90% certain there will be no CCWS this year. He's supposed to call me the second he hears anything definitive, but I'm preparing for the worst and trust me there is nothing worse than TFG winning. I hate him even more than I hate Dumbya.

Other than the crappy open wheel racing news, Vegas was fabulous. Actually, Vegas was Vegas, it was all our trips to nature that were fabulous. Friday was Zion (pictures next week) with HRH, LB and his GF. Saturday was hiking at Red Rock Canyon with LB & his GF. HRH doesn’t hike. At one point when we were hiking this narrow little trail over a stream and through picker bushes and brambles, I said to the lB, "HRH would have hated this." LB sarcastically said, "Oh really? I was going to name the trail after her." I saw a coyote less than five feet away from me. We both stopped dead and regarded each other warily. Sadly, neither the LB or GF were anywhere near me, so they didn't get to see it. And I didn't move quickly enough to get a picture. I tried to call the LB over, but I didn't want to yell and he didn't hear me stage-whispering his name. After I told him about it, he went to where I saw it and went searching, but it had probably been a good 3-4 minutes, so the coyote was long gone. On our way out of the area, we finally saw a couple of the wild burros. LB had seen a whole herd of them once before (in his six visits to RRC), but he had stated at the beginning of the day that he wanted to see wildlife, so he was happy to see the burros. They were very cute.

Sunday was the best day. All four of us took off for the Valley of Fire which is so incredibly beautiful that it's hard to describe and I'm positive that my pictures are not going to do it justice once I get them uploaded. LB, GF and I rock scrambled all over the place while HRH watched and got worried that we were going to fall. It was so unbelievably fabulous! The most amazing thing was that we actually had HRH walking through nature (she was under the mistaken belief that snakes would still be hibernating, but it was a warm, sunny day) until LB told her that no, the snakes could be out and about. Then she was done. She's so funny. Everybody declared that we had to go back again as there were lots of places we didn't have time to visit. I ran out of room on my camera which is just another reason we have to go back.

I got home super late on Monday night and spent Tuesday in a fog. I went to bed at 8:00 p.m. Tuesday night and was awake three hours later, which actually had been the theme of the weekend, because HRH just could not sleep more than 3 hours at a time. I didn't sleep particularly well in Vegas either, so I'm hoping to catch up on my sleep this weekend. Nobody, but nobody, better call me Saturday before noon!

Ah, Saturday. One of my friends asked me to go with her to see Linkin Park on Saturday night. She's being an ultra-sweet Mom and is taking her two daughters to see them and asked me to go with her, so she's not sitting alone. She got them tickets in Row 11 and we're in Row 13 right behind them. I borrowed a CD from a work friend so that I have a clue what I'm going to hear on Saturday. It's okay stuff, although I'm not sure I'd buy a CD of theirs. I just hope it's not so loud that the music is distorted and stupid. I have no problem with loud (it is a concert, after all), but there's no reason to be stupid about it. I'll let you know how it goes.

The One Thing (Saturday Night in the City)

Beth over at the Gardening Knitter came up with some questions that she wanted her readers to answer. It's harder than it first appeared.

The One Thing


1. If you could recommend only one book for others to read, what would it be and why?

I always say that my favorite book is The Eight by Katharine Neville, and while I always recommend it, it doesn't seem deep enough for this question, mainly because the "why" response would be because "I really liked it." And that's kind of lame.

Stealing Jesus: How Fundamentalism Betrays Christianity by Bruce Bawer. I chose this book because there are so many anti-Christians out there (and I don't mean simply being agnostic or atheist or even another religion) who think that the Religious Right is what Christianity is all about and I disagree completely. I wanted to mail this book to my BAB anonymously, but he would never read it because it's written by a gay man. And we all know how the Religious Right feels about "the gay."

2. What is your one favorite song? Why?

Atmosphere by Joy Division. It used to be Madam Butterfly by Malcolm McLaren, but as much as I love that song, I have decided that I couldn't listen to it over and over and over and over which I can definitely do with Atmosphere.

3. What is the one thing that is the biggest time saver in your life?

Oy, this is hard. I have no time savers, really. I don't have a dishwasher or a garbage disposal. I don't even have curbside garbage pick-up. I'm going to show myself to be a true Detroiter with this answer: my car. I like to walk to locations which is why I live where I live. I can walk to the fruit market, the pharmacy, Michael's (in case I'm desperate for yarn), the beer store, the bar, even the grocery store as long as I'm not buying the place out as it's a bit more than a mile, but if I'm in a hurry I will jump in the car.

4. What is one gadget you couldn't live without and why?

My alarm clock. Whereas I usually wake up before the alarm goes off, I won't get up until the alarm actually goes off. I'm generally quite able to go back to sleep.

5. If you could recommend one film for others to see, what would it be and why?

To Live - I remember this film as portraying China as it is, and not as it wishes to be portrayed. The director Zhang Yimou (also responsible for Red Sorghum, Raise the Red Lantern, Ju Dou, The Story of Qiu Ju, The Shanghai Triad and The Road Home) was banned from making movies for a number of years after this one (although Shanghai Triad had been released in that timeframe because it was already done) because of its truism. He also did Hero with Jet Li and The House of Flying Daggers but I haven't seen those. The link above has a great review of it – much better than I could write.

6. What is the one cure or preventative measure you believe in and for what ailment?

Gargling with salt water for a sore throat. Until my doctor recommended it with the correct proportions I always hated doing it because I used too much salt. You're only supposed to use a ¼ t of salt per one cup of warm water.

7. What is the best advice you've ever received and from whom?

"When you get older, you'll vote Republican." From the Former Father when he was disgusted that I was such a liberal. That is enough to keep me from ever voting Republican. ;-)

8. If you could introduce the entire world to just one band/musical artist, who would it be and why?

Joy Division, of course. They are my favorite band of all time and I have read every book I can find on them. I own every CD (I have never collected vinyl, otherwise I'm sure I'd be in serious trouble – money and space wise) that they have ever put out, including the boxset. I remember the first book I read about Joy Division and it used a word I didn't recognize to describe the music, so I looked it up. The word was dyspeptic, which means "gloomy." The funny thing is that I didn't find the music depressing or gloomy at all. One day after work when I worked at the University, I was hanging around the radio station because I didn't feel like going home as I had a headache and was just depressed (this was probably 1990 or 91 after I had broken up with the cheating ex-). I remember MVK playing a Joy Division song which made me smile. Just hearing a JD song played by someone other than me makes me happy. I know they're not everybody's cup of tea, but I think everybody should at least give them a try, if they've never heard them.

9. If you could convince others you meet or know of one thing, what would it be?

This one is easy!! I want to convince everybody that Champ Car is the best racing series in the world and that the IRL and TFG (Tony George) are evil. I can tell you the entire history of CART/Champ Car vs the IRL and TFG, but I won't bore the ever-living crap out of you here, because more than likely your eyes will glaze over and you'll not read the rest of my post. If anybody wants to know, I will gladly tell all, however.

10. What do you believe is one of the greatest ways of wasting money and how do you combat it?

I have to agree with Beth on this one. Commercial cleaning products. I have major issue with chemical smells, so I don't buy most of these products. I clean my bathroom with rubbing alcohol (kills germs), a toothbrush, and Zud (when I have rust stains – which is pretty often considering the color of the water in my apt. can be pretty orange). Beth has a lot more homemade recipes, so go and see her (it was a number of months back, but maybe she'll link for us).

So What (Live)

I think I’m officially old. I’m taking on everybody and everything which are annoying me. Yesterday I wrote a letter to Champ Car (I sent it to their general counsel since I sat next to him on the plane to Edmonton last year and had his e-mail address) regarding The Budweiser Stage at the Cleveland Grand Prix this past weekend (Here is an Ode to the Budweiser Stage which I'm sure you'll all enjoy immensely).

Ode to the Budweiser Stage at the Cleveland Grand Prix Presented by Lasalle Bank

How do I hate thee, O Budweiser Stage!
Let me count the ways!

One, you play rap-slash-hip-hop music
Two, you play rap-slash-hip-hop music at ear deafening levels
Three, you play rap-slash-hip-hop music at ear deafening levels to the point where I can't hear really loud race cars going past me less than 20 feet away while you're a good 300 feet away. (Not part of the Ode – I suck at guessing/estimating distances.)
Four, you play rap-slash-hip-hop music at ear deafening levels to the point where I can't hear really loud race cars going past me less then 20 feet away which is really bad since I'm here for the race cars.
Five, you hold beauty contests with women in evening dress while dirt and dust flies everywhere and oh, yeah, play more crappy, excessively loud music, and have an emcee making suggestive comments even though there are kids in the audience.
Six, you are the centerpiece to a "car show" where the most interesting car had very shiny chrome on the underside of his hood.
Seven, you are the centerpiece to a "car show" where a bright orange H2 Hummer shows up with 30 minute left in the Champ Car race and proceeds to show off his stereo system which rivaled your sound system.
Eight, you have questionable events which include half-naked women feeding bananas to men without using their hands.
Nine, you play rap-slash-hip-hop music at ear deafening levels to the point where I can't stand it anymore and I decide to go home instead of watching the Star Mazda race which was the last race of the weekend, and would have been a good one.
Ten, you play rap-slash-hip-hop music at ear deafening levels through the Invocation (you would have played through the national anthem, but my nephew ran down to tell you to shut if off, which amazingly you did), and then the post-race interviews and the winner's country's national anthem.

And that, O Budweiser Stage, is how much I hate you and hope you do not return next year.

I asked for and received the name of the person to whom to complain about the remote control boats that run in the lake/pond across the street from my apartment. I've told you about that, right? These fuckers (ha, gotta keep up my NC-17 rating) run every single fucking (NC-17) day starting around 3:00 p.m. and going until dark (close to 10:00 p.m. these days in southeastern Michigan), except weekends when they are there all fucking (NC-17) day. Can you tell these boats annoy me?

I had talked to one of the new tenants Sunday night and she mentioned that she had called the police over the weekend but was told they can do nothing about it because it's private property. Since I work for the company to which the lake/pond belongs, I was able to get a name. I wrote an e-mail to the guy on Monday and he called immediately which I thought was pretty nice of him. No, I didn't use my NC-17 language in the e-mail. It was well-written and polite. I had ended the e-mail with the statement that I was not looking forward to my forced vacation next week as I figured those fuckers (NC-17) were going to be there all day every day. He had good news for me. Oh yeah, it's actually a model boat club, not just random idiots out there, and they have a lease (or if you use the model boat club's spelling of the word – leese) to run there through October, but they're hoping to renew it. I expressed my hope to the guy who called me that it would not be renewed as the building where the lake is located is actually closed and there won't be any support on-site (whatever that means, but heck, I was willing to use it). Oh yeah, the good news. The model boat club has been told that they are not allowed to run there next week at all. And the guy told me that he actually gets to work next week (i.e., not forced to take vacation time like me) and to take his cell phone number and call if they show up. Oh, I will! I was a total tattletale too and told the guy that when the boats die on the lake (as is inevitable, apparently), they send a kid out in a rowboat to retrieve and that I couldn't believe that the company would want that kind of liability.

I'm pulling out all the stops here. Next up, Crave!!! They had their second party this past Sunday, but with my fan on I couldn't hear anything, and I had given most of the neighbors in the building the phone number to the night commander's desk, so if they were bothered they had the information needed.

Well, there you go. My adventures into Old Lady-hood with the requisite bitching about noise and making the appropriate phone calls or writing the appropriate e-mails.