BLOGS FOR FEBRUARY 2008

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Week ending February 24th, 2008
Well this was kind of an odd week. It was short as I took Friday off and the initial plan was to go snowboarding in Big Bear but there were a few changes to the plans and I didn't get back until late last night. I awoke this morning to my cell phone ringing.

"Hello?"
"Is this Brian?"
"Yes, can I help you?"
"Umm, we had a break in here last night at the storage facility and your trailer was broken into. We need you to come down here and asses the damage."

Great. LOL. Just how I wanted to spend my Sunday. So I get myself cleaned up and head over to the storage place. Now, I'm no dummy. I know where the trailer is parked so it comes as no surprise to me that the place had been broken into. In fact, this was the third such occasion in the last six months only the first two times nobody informed me.

When I get there, the trailer door is open (it's raining, mind you), some of the chocks are on the ground as well as both of my locks which were opened via large bolt cutters by the appearance. I peeked in and boy, what a mess. I have a large box of mostly straps and other junk. That was laid all over the floor. They went through the cabinets and stole my canopy, cot and a few other things that are cheap and easy to replace. No big deal. Not sure what they are going to do with either. I spent about $350.00 on that stuff but really, I don't use it that often preferring to lounge in the trailer and not having to worry about setting up a canopy. They left my chair and my mechanics seat.

I guess it was extremely important for them to have a cot and a canopy. May it bring them years of enjoyment...or at least a few bucks at the local pawn shop, lol. Not even going to bother reporting this to the insurance company because it's doubtful they will replace it and even then it's not worth much (or the increase in rates).

The good thing is no tools were there or my bikes (I store them in a safe place, obviously). I think they took my cooler too. LOL. It's funny the stuff people will take from you which they deem much more important to have. I never got that but meh, whatever. I hope they are homeless at least and that's why they took the canopy and cot. At least then I'll be OK with that. Better to be used by someone in need. So basically I just replaced the locks, I don't care about the cot or canopy and I'll be on my way.

Everything else is going awesome and I have zero complaints. Been working on the music a tad. Vocals mostly but also trying to keep my guitar chops up since I hadn't been playing in a long time. I'm also looking very forward to MotoGP, World Superbike and the AMA races starting up here again soon. I've been jonesing for some good racing since I've sort of hung up my racing boots for now.

Besides, I have a lot of plans and so many good things happening that racing and motorcycling in general was consuming far too much of my time. There's such a thing as life balance. I love being on my bikes, I love the track and I love racing but they don't rule my life. And it's a good thing too because if I did I'd be running myself broke trying to finish on the podium. Not that it's a bad thing to want to go out and try and win. Just keep things in perspective.

Well that's about it for this week. Had to get on my soapbox a tad. I'll chat with you guys next week.

PS: Thanks again to God for the great friends I have in my life. You guys RULE!

Week ending February 17th, 2008
What a great week! Not a single complaint from me, no way. Work as always has been great with my days getting more busy and I am learning a ton of great things. What I do like is if I don't know something someone can help but usually it's better to look it up myself and figure it out, which I've been doing a lot. I've been zoning LUNs with both Brocade and Cisco switches. This is the sort of high level stuff I was looking forward to and why I took the job.

Nothing out of the normal this week and I suppose that is a good thing. I did have Sushi after the service on Saturday night. I really like the place I stop off at as I can just plant my rear at the Sushi bar and pig out as much as I like. Sometimes it's a good things and sometimes bad as I can put down the raw fish, lol.

Oh yeah! My new guitar is here! CLICK HERE to see it. It's a 1984 Gibson Explorer reissue that comes from the factory with EMG 60 and 81 pickups. This is the same setup that I used to have on my Flying V (which I sold) and it sounds even better. I wasn't really all that enamored with the setup that came from the factory. It took me about an hour of fiddling with the neck and bridge to get it somewhat close to what I like when I play. It's brand new and has that "new guitar" smell, haha. It's definitely motivated me to start playing again and I have been. Mostly practicing scales again and working on some solos (Like the one from "Crazy Train" which I can play decently now). I don't have any plans at the moment to start another band but you never know.

Another interesting thing on the music side is my friend Cristina came over last weekend to finish up her vocals on that cover song I am doing. Now I just need to redo my main and backing vocals and then I'll have to spend about a week or two mixing it on the computer. It's easier to do it that way but I definitely understand why the pro bands' albums cost so much. There's a lot of mixing and engineering going on in those songs to make them sound so great. If you've ever seen a band live that you've only heard on the radio you'll understand what I mean.

The weather is warming up nicely after all this rain. I am really thinking about dusting off the RR and hitting the track soon. I was thinking of going to Vegas and hitting the track downtown (Not Pahrump though I do like that track a lot). There are a lot of tracks I haven't been to that I'd like to take a few runs at.

That's about it for the week. Hope you have a great week and if you don't hear from me next weekend, I'm at Mammoth (Bet you wish you were there too, haha!)

Later!

Week ending February 10th, 2008
Interesting week, haha. All the head honchos were in from out of town including our boss. I like my boss. He's pretty easy going but also demanding in the good sense of the word. Not demanding what we can not produce but trying to squeeze the most out of us. He really expects us to know our stuff and I don't blame him.

On Wednesday we went to a NetApp after-work dinner thing. It was pretty fun and everyone had a great time as far as I could tell. It was at the Hard Rock Hotel in SD. Of course, "Your's Truly" here didn't know there was a Hard Rock Hotel AND a Hard Rock Cafe. So I went to the Cafe and everyone was at the Hotel. No biggie. It was only a 5 block walk and I passed some people I knew on the way :)

Oh yeah! My Birthday Present got here a little early but I won't post pictures until my actual birthday as to not spoil the surprise. Usually when I buy things I want and don't need I tend to get a little buyer's remorse but this time it's all good. I've been wanting one of these for a while.

Church was great on Saturday as always! Our Pastor even mentioned the Pastor from my old Church (Saddleback) at a dinner they went to with the President this past week. And yes, the message was great (and right from The Word, as always).

As I write this my friend is here from OC. She's finishing up the vocals from the song that I am covering. I am glad she's lending her talents. She's got a great voice and really should be out there singing more often.

That's it for this week. It's been real quiet and that's a good thing. Oh yeah I did want to mention one thing: "Cheaters Never Win." In life and sports as well. Congrats to the Giants for beating the Patriots when it counted the most. I'm glad because we all know the Patriots cheated during the season (and no doubt in the past). I think everyone gets their comeuppance eventually. Sports teams and people who treat others badly. God deals with them all :)

Have a great week!

Week ending February 3rd, 2008
Great week this week at work. I got the good news that I am going to get a big project to work on. This one involves "tiered storage" which is something I am excited about. It will also give me a lot of visibility as well. I guess all the hard work to this point has paid off so they're putting more and more responsibility on my shoulders. I look forward to the challenge.

The week was pretty quiet overall. The super bowl is on as I am writing this and it's not quite as exciting as I thought it would be. I got invited to several parties but if you know me at all you know I am not much of a "party" guy anymore.

Church was really good this week. We had a guest speaker who put a lot of things in perspective, especially in regards to how I view myself. Sometimes we need that sort of refresher to keep us morally grounded in God's image. Though I will say I've been tested a few times, especially this week and have not quite passed with the sort of expectations I've been having for myself. The good thing is I have stuck to the word and have kept on reading The Word daily so that has also helped to keep me grounded.

Other than that, I've spent most of this week recovering from Mammoth. I had such a great time and look forward to going back again soon. This winter has been very wet and the snow up there has been terrific. I am so glad that I bought a 4WD :) Makes life a lot easier in the snow.

Speaking of wet winters, I haven't gotten to any track days recently. I really don't like going in the winter due to the possibility of rain and the difficulty race tires have of gripping when it's cold. I really enjoy the spring and fall when there's less of a chance of rain, the temperatures are around 70 degrees and the tires stick like glue.

I don't anticipate racing anymore this year or at all for that matter. I've accomplished what I wanted to do (race professionally) and never finished last :) Given that I don't have any sponsorship and I don't want to put off buying a house, racing has to go. But it's ok. I love bikes but they just aren't my reason for existing. Some of my friends, that's all they talk about and that's great. I encourage them to invest their time in things they love. Just keep life in perspective!

So my birthday is coming up and my present is on it's way. I am very excited as it's been a while since I purchased one of these new. It's a replacement for something I let go of a while ago that I regret now. The best part is it's even better than the one I had. Hopefully it's with me for the rest of my life and I can pass it on to my kids when I leave this earth.

That's it for the week. Hope you had a great week as well. Gotta finish up the laundry (oooh exciting) and talk to a person I have donated my refrigerator and washer/dryer to. I know his family needs them.

Cheers and ride safe!