BLOGS FOR FEBRUARY 2007

BLOG HOME

WEEK 1 | WEEK 2 | WEEK 3 | WEEK 4

Week ending February 25th, 2007
If last week was good, this week was great! It started off with me heading in to the new job on Monday after busy weekend at WSMC. It's a very long drive but when I take my truck I have plenty of time to listen to the radio. When I ride my bike I miss a lot of traffic and have lots of time to think and reflect as well as plan my day. I got a lot of stuff done and for the next couple of months I will basically be living in the lab learning how to develop high end storage area network solutions. I know the job is new and fresh, but so far I am really enjoying the challenge.

Tuesday my friends took me to K1 in Irvine to go cart racing. I had a blast. It was the first time I had tried the electric carts out. They are just as fast as the gas ones. Unlike the gas ones the electric ones have reverse -- and I got to use it a lot because they do tend to spin out rather easily.

I was asked on a date for my birthday on Wednesday. That was fun! It was very cool of her to take me anywhere I wanted to go and you guessed it, I chose a really great Indian restaurant. I love Indian food and this place has the best I have tried in OC. On Thursday a friend came down and took me to dinner at Dave and Busters in the Irvine Spectrum. They have really good food and lots of great games to play. After that we went to the book store where I picked up some books for work and a really good Christian book entitled: "101 Most Powerful Prayers in the Bible." I figure it can't hurt to have those memorized.

This weekend I bought a bunch of new clothes for work (and myself!) and a new monitor for my PC since the one I had went caput. Well, I'd love to say it exploded into a ball of smoke and flames (as that would sound much more interesting) but the sad truth is it just kind of fizzled out. So I got a 20" ViewSonic flat screen. Wow, who knew the internet had so much color and graphics?! I'm finally no longer "out dated" - until something bigger and better comes along, haha.

I also installed my new Brembo radial master cylinder on the RR. Much, much better. The brakes on the bike have never made me comfortable and now with the brembos on I feel like I can go deeper into the corners and brake harder without having that wooden/faded feeling you get from outdated brakes. I'm looking forward to testing them during the ARC class at next month's WSMC races.

I also finished up the work on Troy's SV650 (as I write this, Troy is currently on a plane to France) and am just waiting for the parts to complete John's engine rebuild for his motard. Then I'll finally have some room in my garage for my next project: Turning my bike trailer into a something more than just a trailer. Pics will come on that project as it progresses.

As usual, any updates will be posted on the main page as they occur.


Week ending February 18th, 2007
What a week! Last Weds, Valentine's Day none-the-less, was the last day at my firm. I wasn't as sad as I thought I would be. I had been planning this for at least a year. To be honest, it was really hard to keep from smiling. This all really started in early December 2006 when I phoned up a friend who is in the industry I wanted to make a change to. It just so happened when I called he said that he had an opening and would be happy to have me on his team.

Two months later and I start my first day -- tomorrow. I'll be able to work remotely from home some days and drive others. It's a long drive but it's ok, this will work until I can figure out the logistics to move as soon as possible. Ideally I'd like to move sooner rather than later. I can't think of any reason to stick around OC (other than my Church and friends) and I am looking forward to new places and new faces. The plan is to stick this out for at least a year or two and then possibly relocate out of California. Going back home to Florida (yes Lisa, I know you want me to come home!) is an option I've been thinking about.

As I've said time and time again, God has a plan for me and I welcome it with open arms. His timing couldn't have been more perfect for allowing all this to happen. It just goes to show that if you maintain your faith in Him, He will maintain His promises to you. It's taken all the worry out of my life knowing that He has everything planned out for me and those things are good. :)

Friday night I packed everything up and headed to the track. I left kind of late (8pm) thinking I would miss traffic but no such luck. I rolled into Lancaster at 11:00pm and decided to stay there in a hotel. I finally fell asleep at 12:30am and got up at 6:00am sharp and headed to the track. There's more info on the racing page on the track particulars if you're interested in reading it. Anyway, the first thing I did on Saturday morning after tech inspection was to change back to the Michelins. I just feel more comfortable with them and now that you can flip them, they last twice as long at Willow so I was happy with the switch. Dave Moss was around so I gave him my take offs (which had exactly 1/2 a track day and one big crash on them).

My best lap time on Saturday was still slow. I started at 1:42 and slowly whittled it down to 1:36 by the end of the day. Still 3 seconds off my fastest pace (1:33) and still not comfortable. Especially from turn 5 through turn 7 (where I crashed and broke my collar bone). I am getting smoked through those turns and I just have to relax. The bike feels GREAT and is handling fine. Even through turn 8, sixth gear and leaned over like crazy, it soaks up everything and gives me good feedback. No wobbles, skipping, bouncing, shudders or even the slightest hint of a tank slapper. Bottom line: My lap time problems are in my head and have nothing to do with the bike or the tires.

Saturday night I decided to stay at the Devonshire in Rosamond since they had room and it was close. That allowed me to crash (err SLEEP!) early (9pm) and get to the track by 6:30am. I got to chat with Dave Moss, Jason Curtis and Jeff Tigert a bit. They are all really cool, down to earth guys. Jeff happily gave me some pointers (ie: Stop shifting to third in turn 1 and just roll through carrying your momentum in 4th, which worked out a lot better). I got my two practice sessions in, flipped the tires and looked at my grid. D'oh! 28th (out of 37 riders). Well, I had no points for the year so that's what I get. Though it was a disappointment, no big deal until I realized I would be starting in the "second wave." That meant I'd have no chance of placing (and really with my lap times, I'd be lucky to get a top 15 finish). Zero chance of catching anyone in the first group.

The rest of the racing story can be found on my racing page. Bottom line is I had a great time and didn't crash. I scored my two points for the day which means as long as I keep that up and work on my lap times, sooner or later I'll get a much better grid spot. Didn't help that we had a guy running 1:29s in the novice group. haha. Always a sandbagger in the bunch!

I have some money saved and I am hoovering over the "process enrollment" button at www.freddiespencer.com. $2,295.00 for two days of racing instruction from my childhood hero. Do I dare do it?????

Pics from the track day will come soon as will updates on the new job and move. Stay tuned!


Week ending February 11th, 2007
Things are heating up for the class reunion as I have bumped into people I haven't talked to in years online. It will be good to see everyone and reminisce about the good times we had. I haven't been home since my mom died and obviously the situation at the time didn't call for visiting with friends or "hanging out." That was definitely one of the lowest times in my life. Credit God for preparing my family and I for the worst and leading us through.

We had another scare this weekend when relatives found my Grandmother unresponsive (but still breathing) and had to rush her to the hospital. After several hours on an IV and many, many test she finally came to. They don't know what happened but she was severely dehydrated and unconscious. I'm just glad that she is going to be OK and hope she can return home soon.

Church was great as always on Saturday. I'm going to miss Saddleback and my friends there, especially Pastor Clayton and Pastor Derek. This weekend's service was about faith and boy was it an eye-opener. I never realized how little faith I had until I had it spelled out for me. My entire life has been spent not trusting God. I've always tried to control the outcome of every situation in my life when really what I should have done was just relax and let it go. Maybe that is why I haven't been worried about this move or career change. Maybe, just maybe, I'm finally learning to trust God. So far He hasn't let me down, even when in my mind I thought he did. As I am learning, just be patient and He'll work out the details for me. I like that. It makes living "stress free" a lot easier. And I admit, life is good right now...

Sunday I spent some time hanging out with John and tearing down his Motard (or as I like to call 'em - "reeeeetards!" - no offense, haha! Dirt bikes on the street!? Oooook!). It was a mess with the connecting rod pin worn and the rings wearing so hard into the cylinder the groove was letting oil spew into the combustion chamber. Can you say "smokin' like a siv?" I can. Don't worry, John, we'll get 'er running better than ever when the new parts come in. My garage does look like a bike shop though with five bikes parked in there.

As for my move, I am thinking about getting rid of my furniture (if you can call it that). I've had it forever and now seems like a good time to go buy new stuff. That way I don't have to cart a bunch of old stuff that looks like it belongs on the set of "That 70's Show" with me. I was thinking of having a yard sale but figured I may just donate it all to charity. Someone out there could make good use of it. I plan on keeping very little save for my personal stuff and yes, most of what is in the garage (my "den" as I like to call it, haha.)

I've been trying to decide if I should upload some of the cover songs I have been working on (I have not quit playing music all-together). What do you think? Yes/no/maybe? You can hear the other songs I have covered on the music page. I even have a couple original songs but I don't think the public will ever get to hear them. That's probably a good thing...

That's it for now. Have a good week. As always if there is anything pertinent to add during the week I'll post it on the front page. Talk to you all later! :)


Week ending February 4th, 2007
The good news came late on Friday so I got to celebrate a little over the weekend, hence the late update. I passed the DoD security screen and have been granted a secret clearance. I will still have to interview with the FBI over the next 6-12 months. It's just to dig in a little deeper and to make sure I am squeaky clean (I am, haha). So now that the biggest hurdle has been cleared I can give notice to my business partner and think about sub-leasing my apartment -- unless they somehow let me out of the lease sooner. I hope to move soon, maybe by the end of this month depending on how things work with the lease. I'm really excited about this opportunity! As I've said many times before, God always takes care of our needs. He knew all along that I needed a change and waited for the right time to make it happen in my life. God's timing is always perfect!

I received an email this week about my web site asking why I had a blog and what the site was for. Interesting question. The site was originally put up for my music endeavors but since then my goals and direction in life have changed and the site has become an opportune way for me to update my family and very close friends on what's new. In Church this week we learned there are people who just get by, some who live for success and and yet some who live to make a difference. That's what I hope to do when I leave this planet is to make an impact, a difference, in at least one person's life. If I can do that then God's purpose for my life will be fulfilled. Maybe by having the site up I can help a lost soul find a relationship with the Lord. To me, that would be the greatest thing I could do in this world.

I will update the site during the week if there is any news. I still plan on coming home in June for my High School reunion (my new job comes with three weeks vacation a year!). Spark up the grill, we're going to have one heck of a BBQ when I get there! :)