BLOGS FOR MARCH 2008

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Week ending March 30th, 2008
Another long work week. A couple of 12 hour days and I've gotten many of my projects out the door and on their way to certification. In the process though, my boss is leaving. He accepted a promotion. In a little over a year at my new job, I'm soon to be on my third boss. I wonder if I should start taking this personal - LOL. Nah, I am happy for my boss that he's moving up the Corporate ladder. I really enjoy what I do and feel like I'll be on this level for some time and that suits me just fine. I like the lab a lot!

Last year at Chris McAuley's funeral the Pastor made a comment that didn't sit right with me. It was a knock on Rick Warren and "A Purpose Driven Life". I made it a point after the service to track the Pastor down at his office and politely/respectfully let him know that I didn't think his comments were Godly or appropriate -- especially at a funeral. My friend's funeral.

Now, I really like my new Church. But this weekend we had an "Associate Pastor" giving the message and once again, there was a knock on Rick Warren. I wasn't able to get to the Pastor so I wrote him an email, again using tact and professionalism, that his comments weren't necessary. We're all on God's side here. If I wasn't for Rick Warren, "A Purpose Driven Life" and Saddleback Church, I would not be a Christian today and definitely not as strong in my faith. That's how much of a positive influence Rick has had on my life. Heck, I was Baptized at Saddleback. Saddleback is an excellent Church for new believers and that is where I was at during the time I was a member. But as my heart yearned to grow closer to God, I needed a Church that really dug into God's word and that's what I have now.

As Christians, we need to remember to stick together, that God has a plan for us all, and to not be afraid to stand up for God's word -- whenever -- wherever.

Other than that, I've been really busy and learning a lot. A new paint job for the RR will happen whenever I get the time to take the bodywork off and can find a local, reputable painter. I think I'll just stick to track days since I still have a ton of fun and can do it at my leisure.

I'll check back in with you guys next week. Oh yeah, congrats Bro on the new job!

Week ending March 23rd, 2008
So this week started off kind of weird. I had a Doctor's appointment on Sat and to my surprise he removed the stitches (only 5 of them but still!) Then I had to do some tap dancing to get him agree to let me do the track day on Monday. After promising to ride in the street group he said I could go. "Just take it easy and don't ride too hard." I agreed.

I drove up to Streets (Rosamond) on Sunday. On the way there I stopped in OC and had dinner with my friend Alex and his family. That was fun. At around 7:30 I hit the road, making it to the hotel and in bed by 10pm. Monday morning I woke up early and headed to the track, parked, ate some breakfast, gulped down some coffee (which I am not supposed to be drinking -- ssssh!) and waited for the my first track day since my last race in August.

It was really cold so I didn't want to hit the first session. Since I was under orders, I followed them and signed up for the Street group. That was kind of a humbling experience since I've been a racer (now retired, lol) but something I needed to do. I couldn't lean off the bike too far so that limited my traction in the corners. I only got in one session before lunchtime. The Sport and Race groups had several crashes so that slowed things up.

Ok now the funny story. My bike was parked in front of my trailer on the rear stand, which has a big red handle. A BIG RED HANDLE. There was about 40 feet of room behind the bike for people to walk or ride their bikes to the starting grid. Keep that in mind. FOURTY FEET. Around 1:30, after my second session, the guy in the space next to me is walking from his trailer to the somewhere up front and TRIPS over my bike stand. He goes tumbling down and my bike soon follows him. Now the left side of my bike had some damage from being T-Boned last year and the right has damage from today's incident (much worse) to go along with it. So I have scratched and broken up bodywork on my bike and I'm not the one who caused any of it (haha). As I watched the bike fall (no way I could rush up and reach it in time given my condition) all I could say was "DUDE, COME ON MAN!!!!!" - LOL.

In his defense, he was very apologetic and offered to pay for the damage but I just told him "It's ok, don't worry about it." Yes, I was visibly angry (he had plenty of space to walk, why he chose to walk so close to my bike I'll never know) but I did not vent my anger AT him. I just kept quiet, picked the bike up and parked it in the trailer. I had one more session for the day so I wanted to test the bike to make sure there wasn't any mechanical damage -- and it ran flawlessly. It's a Honda, come on :) I guess it's time to pony up for another paint job. Maybe now I'll finally pay someone else to do it. He didn't mean to do it, so I can't really be angry. Stuff happens...

I did get to hang out with a few friends for the day and help them with some issues with their bikes so that was good. I always like passing on the knowledge I have learned when it comes to bikes hoping to give riders the freedom to do their own maintenence and hopefully help them to understand how to make the bike suit their riding style.

This week at work has been rather hectic. I pulled late nights almost every night as I had a super important project due. Kind of weird to leave the office after 12am (can you say 16 hour work days!?). Security actually turned the lights off around 10pm and I had to coerce them to turn them back on. They did not, however, shut off the A/C, which I don't understand. It was already cold in there. The good news is I got the project completed and I have one more to do as far as priority deliverables right now for the year. My plate is full at work and that's good as I really, really like what I do and the people I work with.

This weekend was Easter. I hope if you never go to Church you at least made some effort this weekend. Our Pastor's message was great as always. Like I said last week, his messages are always direct, to the point and right from the word.

That's about it for this weekend. I plan on taking off the race plastics on the RR soon and sending them in to be repainted in the same scheme. Not even sure I am going to use my racing number since I don't plan on racing anymore. Maybe just for sentimental reasons.

Enjoy the rest of your East Sunday and as I always say: "Keep 'er shiny side up!"

Week ending March 16th, 2008
WOOT!!!

:) Went to the doctor yesterday and he took out 'me stitches and said "I'll see you in three weeks for a checkup." I said "Wait a sec, Doc. I want to know if I can go to the track on Monday" and he said "No, absolutely not. I don't want you bouncing around on a dirt bike and risking injury." Realizing he didn't know what "kind" of track I was talking about I said "Well wait. I mean street riding on my track bike. It's not dirt, it's just going around a racetrack ummm, kinda fast." He said "Ok that is fine but no racing." When I explained the groups he said that he wanted me in the "street" group so I wouldn't go crazy and do something stupid. I promised him I would and I intend to keep that promise.

So I am free and clear for tomorrow and excited. I haven't been to the track in almost 8 months and have never actually ridden "Streets" (the smaller track at Willow Springs). So this will be a fun an interesting experience. I just know to take it easy. In fact I don't even think I am taking the tire warmers or generator because I don't want to be tempted to go full bore. I am stopping by Alex's tonight on the way there and helping him with his suspension so I'll tell him then that I am not taking the generator. haha.

Oh man, last night was Palm Sunday service (well, a day early) and my Pastor had a great message that really spoke to me as a follower of Jesus. He said you have to stop "trying" to follow Jesus and start "dying" to follow Him. It really opened my eyes because we often say "I am trying to stop this..." or "I am trying to stop that..." but in reality we never do. It's because we try but don't commit. When you are dying to do something, the you put in 100% effort, no less. And dying to follow Him is the same as dying to one's self. Great message. My friend thinks my Pastor is too "Preachy" but he is exactly the kind of Pastor I wanted and needed. I'm glad to have found him.

Other than that, things are going SPLENDID, thank you. I am still having water heater problems here. Think "flood" one day and "cold shower" the next. We're trying to get this thing fixed but the homeowner's insurance doesn't want to replace it. It was replaced 4 years ago (with a really cheap one) and I think that is why this one isn't lasting. It's totally on it's last leg and I think sooner rather than later this thing is gonna pop and take the washer/dryer with it. Suicide by machine, who'da thunk it?? haha.

Hope you guys are doing fantastic and talk to you soon. Might have some pictures up from the track sometime next week so check back when you can.

Au revois.

Week ending March 9th, 2008
This was a very quiet week. Nothing too much out of the ordinary. Actually that's far, far from the truth :)

I'm actually doing some work for a presentation tomorrow (Monday) that I have do while waiting for the MotoGP races to start on Speed. So I have "Tora, Tora, Tora" on the TV. Let me check when it's on. D'oh! I just now looked and the race starts on Speed at 7pm! I don't ever remember them waiting this long to show the race. Maybe because it was run at night in Qatar??

So really I am laid up at the moment (and a little dizzy). Not going to go into any details but suffice to say I am fine and recovering. It reminded me a lot of when I crashed at Willow a couple years ago and broke my collar bone. There was a lot of "fuzzy-ness" mixed in with passing out, lol. I can't remember much from Friday around 2pm to Saturday AM when I woke up. No, I didn't have an accident, in case you are wondering. But given the meds, haha, it's best I not write too much right now.

That's about all I want to write at the moment. I'll fill in more next week. Have a good one and keep 'er shiny side up!

Week ending March 2nd, 2008
This was a great week, work and personal wise :) At work I managed to get three projects done and complete an install of some software I had been trying to install for six months after many, many delays. It feels good to finally get those projects off my shelf and to push forward with other solutions. I have some very important projects coming up that are imperative to the infrastructure so I need all the time I have to burn on them.

This week is going to be busy as I am taking a half day off on Friday for personal reasons so I'll have to stave off the gym for a few days. Speaking of which the workouts are really helping. I am almost back to my maximum weight without gaining any fat. I look better now than I did a year ago and way better than I did when I got out of boot camp. All the hard work over the years has really paid off. So many people quit when they don't see instant results but I knew for me at least that it would take some time for the results I wanted. I'm really glad I stuck it out.

The MotoGP starts next weekend. We've also started the WSBK races and I think AMA Racing is starting soon so I'll have plenty of racing to watch in between snowboarding and golfing trips, haha. I've also put the new guitar to good use and have been working on my chops again. I literally stopped playing for a couple years and didn't realize how far out of playing shape I had gotten. But now I can play most of the songs I used to be able to play and am adding a few more to my repertoire. I don't think I have another band in my future but you never know. It's always fun to go jam with friends or keep company entertained. You haven't laughed until you've done some home impromptu shows, haha.

Speaking of racing I think I am done, though I will be hitting the track here soon. I haven't even seen a track since August of last year, which is a long time for me. But I've been riding the Bandit to work whenever the weather allows and lately it's been awesome. So while racing may not be in my future there will always be track days and lots of rubber to lay down on the track.

Church was great as always. I got myself signed up to do a two day missionary trip to Mexico to build houses. I've been wanting to do that for a long time. Since I'm not racing it's another good way to do the Lord's work and to reach out to others. They know that I have a truck, lots of tools and a trailer to carry all the materials and supplies we'll need.

Speaking of Church, I have some friends from Saddleback in the area today and they are on their way over so I need to be going soon. They want to check out the new place and see how close I live to the beach (literally it's about a mile walk to a really nice beach with lots of surfing opportunities).

So with that, I'll wrap up this week's blog. Hope you are all having a great weekend and I'll be sure to check in soon. There's pictures coming so don't go too far now, ya' hear?

Keep 'er shiny side up!