Cross post from Facebook - Max - Thunder

Thought for the evening. Why do we say "I heard thunder" instead of "I heard lightning?" Why do we need a separate word for the sound of lightning? Thunder is a dumb word. We saw the flash of lightning in our skylight and heard the sound of lightning because we don't need a different word to describe it.

10/8/2015 Family Update

Hello again!  It's updatin' time.  

Late in August Susan started having a sharp pain in one of her back teeth.  A visit to the dentist determined she needed a root canal and a filling.  Soon she got her temporary crown but due to scheduling issues the permanent crown wasn’t “installed” until after Labor Day.  It was around this time that one of my crowns popped off due to me chewing on Mentos.  I luckily didn’t swallow it and the crown was reattached a couple of days later with little drama. 

On August 30 we raced at a rallycross event down at the US Truck Driving School (USTDS) south of Colorado Springs in Fountain, CO.  Normally the parking lot that acts as our course is flat and stable but the unusual and almost daily summer rains had caused many ruts and other unsafe areas.  Fortunately there was still plenty of space to race on safely and we had a grand ole’ time on the low-traction course.  It was a very close finish with me missing 1^st place by a whisker over a tenth of a second (0.107) and Susan coming in 5^th out of 13 drivers.  USTDS is always hard on tires so we used our older rally tires which took quite a beating during the event. 

We had originally planned on camping at Chatfield Reservoir over Labor Day with our neighbors, Gregg and Sandra Tiedeman, but ended up just hanging out with them on Saturday instead.  In the almost seven years we’ve lived five minutes from Chatfield we’ve not yet visited there.  While Susan had been there before as a kid I’ve never gone.  You might think I would have been excited to go over Labor Day but not really.  Despite my poor attitude we packed up our Subaru with camping chairs, coolers of water and wine, umbrellas, and fishing poles and headed over to the Tiedeman’s campsite.  They recently acquired a pop-up camper which they have utilized several times already and it was in attendance again.  I don’t know that I’d ever want to own one but I see the allure.  We hung out and talked with them for awhile and then drove to one of the fishing areas. 

Susan was the sole fisher from our home as I decided to sulk nap in a camping chair under an umbrella.  Susan and Sandra fished and I slept.  Susan seemed to hoard all the luck along the shoreline and caught four fish while we were there (those around us averaged far less than one catch per person).  I woke periodically when she reeled them in and we deemed two big enough to eat.  We headed back to the campsite to cook her spoils. 

Susan did eat most of her fish though she said they were mostly tasteless.  I settled on a hot dog and some oddly prepared sides.  Their son Tristan came by later to hang out.  They started a fire and we played a couple of rounds of Exploding Kittens as the sun went down.  For some reason (probably a diabolical one) the wind and smoke colluded to make sure my eyes were constantly watery and my throat dry until we left.  Though it may not sound like it I did have a good time.  Luckily for Susan she had a better time. 

The weekend of September 19-20 was a busy one with racing and Colorado Pug Rescue’s annual Pugs in the Park.  That Saturday had us rallycrossing at Colorado Off-Road Extreme (CORE).  There are two available areas to use for rallycross and we were in the lower one.  The courses were set up to be faster than normal and I had to shift into second gear many times throughout the day (shifting out of first gear while racing is rarely necessary in our car).  I was putting down times that no one could touch when I had a run where just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong.  I managed to get the back tires off in the fluff on one sweeping turn which caused such a large cloud of dust that I blinded myself two turns later and had to come to a complete stop while I waited for it to clear.  Once I got going again I overcooked a turn bad enough that I went off-course (almost hitting a shovel of all things) and had to back up to get going again (I also managed to hit a few cones).  Despite that miserable run I fought on and finished in 2^nd place less than four seconds from 1^st with Susan right behind me in 3^rd out of 12 drivers (her highest finish of the season in our very competitive class!).  We took our sweet time packing up after the event and were the last to leave.  It was as we were pulling onto the highway that I noticed the car’s clutch was slipping badly.  The sky might have darkened and maybe some lightning flashed overhead at the same moment I felt the car not accelerate when I pushed down on the gas pedal, I guess I don’t really recall clearly.  I’m sure something foreboding occurred though.  On the way home we stopped at Applebee’s for dinner with the Miller’s (another racing couple that live in our neighborhood).  Good times indeed.

The next day we packed up the Subaru with our small PA system, chairs, and umbrellas and headed for Central Park for Pugs in the Park.  As we did last year we provided the PA system used for announcements and volunteered under the foster tent.  We got there early enough that we were able to help set up the multiple pop-up tents and tables used at the event.  After things were more-or-less in order we convened under the foster tent.  Volunteering at the foster tent entails managing the young volunteer pug-walkers (a disappearing kid+pug last year prompted Susan to make a sign out sheet which was mostly used) and answering questions from prospective adopters and potential future foster parents.  All of the available foster pugs were in high demand and I think most had more than one person applying for them by the end of the day. 

Some of the other activities at the event include a pug-licking contest, pug-racing, a hotdog (hotpug?) eating contest, a pug-drop (a pug poops on a grid and people buy “land rights” to the squares within; the person who owns the newly fertilized spot wins actual money), and a pug-costume contest.  There were also many different vendors selling various wares, a food truck, and a frozen-ice truck (a neighbor of ours).  As we were primarily the only adults at the foster tent we didn’t venture out much but did make a journey to see the vendors and bought a couple of plots for the pug-drop (the poop-gods did not look favorably upon our offering and someone else won the poo-prize). 

It was very busy with hundreds people attending and/or passing through (it was the best-attended in years which may have had something to do with the fact that the event wasn’t on the same day as a Broncos game which it has been in previous years).  After the event was officially over we helped pack up and went home to hang out with our own pillage of pugs (not the correct term for multiple pugs but, really, it should be). 

Knowing the next race was only three weeks away and that I’m a mediocre (at best) and untrained mechanic I began the process of replacing the clutch on the rally car the Tuesday after the event at CORE.  I started by asking a couple of fellow-racers who own auto shops how much they’d charge to do the work.  The first guy literally laughed at me and said our particular car’s clutch was one of the worst to change out and he didn’t want to mess with it (the official dealer-specified time to complete the job is almost 11 hours).  The second guy gave me a quote but it was high enough that I decided to tackle the project myself.  No need to go into too much detail but I did work on the car almost every weeknight and weekend day since and I just finished up over two weeks later.  It was indeed a painful experience (both physically and mentally) but very much worth it.  I learned a few lessons throughout (like my long hair soaks up gear oil like a sponge) and know and respect the car more than I did before.  I also hope the clutch never goes out again.  Ever.  4/10, I might do it again. 

Alvin and Kari bought some property on Deer Creek Road and are going to build a house in the next year (hopefully).  They had a BBQ to show off their land on the last Sunday of September to which several racers and old friends were invited.  We brought “Max Sticks” (cheese sticks wrapped in roast beef and, yes, I did name them) and some salad.  Everyone got a tour of their basic plans and we hung out and talked with friends for hours.  By the time we left there was only one Max Stick remaining to which I was proud.  We are very jealous proud of Alvin and Kari on their purchase and future plans.

In other news the pugs are doing alright.  We’re pretty sure that Sophie is now completely blind and we have to help her get from place to place.  It’s sad but she’s a trooper.  Bella is crazy for ice cubes and Tweetie has done her best to get in on the chilly treats (though she still seems confused when she does get one, like she’s thinking, “what’s the big deal?”).  Satchel has decided she’s too good to use the training pads if any of the other pugs have made prior “deposits” and, after several mistakes, we’re much more proactive in putting new pads down for her (slowly but surely Satchel is training us to be the perfect pug-parents).  She’s almost completely deaf now but still gets around alright, albeit with a limp.  We also have a cat-faced orb weaver spider that has been hanging out on our back porch light for the past month or so.  Susan has grown fond of him/her and sometimes leaves the light on to help bugs get attracted to its web.  Oh how people change. 

Susan is extremely busy with work right now and has been putting in overtime along with working at home in the evenings and weekends.  The timing has actually been pretty good since her work getting hectic began around the time I started working on the rally car’s clutch (it’s less of a bummer when both of us are busy).  Quarter-end just occurred last week so my busy time is ramping up at my reporting job which is fine by me. 

Susan knits from time to time and I play my guitar from time to time.  We are looking forward to Barbara visiting us in early November (both for her company and the excellent excuse it provides to clean the house).  Susan’s grandmother Norita just had her 91^st birthday on September 28^th and is still going strong! 

We hope this finds you happy and healthy!

Max and Susan

The bad run - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUgx_GRV1G8 

10/7/2015 Family Update

Hello again!

Late in August Susan started having a sharp pain in one of her back teeth.  A visit to the dentist determined she needed a root canal and a filling.  Soon she got her temporary crown but due to scheduling issues the permanent crown wasn’t “installed” until after Labor Day.  It was around this time that one of my crowns popped off due to me chewing on Mentos.  I luckily didn’t swallow it and the crown was reattached a couple of days later with little drama. 

On August 30 we raced at a rallycross event down at the US Truck Driving School (USTDS) south of Colorado Springs in Fountain, CO.  Normally the parking lot that acts as our course is flat and stable but the unusual and almost daily summer rains had caused many ruts and other unsafe areas.  Fortunately there was still plenty of space to race on safely and we had a grand ole’ time on the low-traction course.  It was a very close finish with me missing 1^st place by a whisker over a tenth of a second (0.107) and Susan coming in 5^th out of 13 drivers.  USTDS is always hard on tires so we used our older rally tires which took quite a beating during the event. 

We had originally planned on camping at Chatfield Reservoir over Labor Day with our neighbors, Gregg and Sandra Tiedeman, but ended up just hanging out with them on Saturday instead.  In the almost seven years we’ve lived five minutes from Chatfield we’ve not yet visited there.  While Susan had been there before as a kid I’ve never gone.  You might think I would have been excited to go over Labor Day but not really.  Despite my poor attitude we packed up our Subaru with camping chairs, coolers of water and wine, umbrellas, and fishing poles and headed over to the Tiedeman’s campsite.  They recently acquired a pop-up camper which they have utilized several times already and it was in attendance again.  I don’t know that I’d ever want to own one but I see the allure.  We hung out and talked with them for awhile and then drove to one of the fishing areas. 

Susan was the sole fisher from our home as I decided to sulk nap in a camping chair under an umbrella.  Susan and Sandra fished and I slept.  Susan seemed to hoard all the luck along the shoreline and caught four fish while we were there (those around us averaged far less than one catch per person).  I woke periodically when she reeled them in and we deemed two big enough to eat.  We headed back to the campsite to cook her spoils. 

Susan did eat most of her fish though she said they were mostly tasteless.  I settled on a hot dog and some oddly prepared sides.  Their son Tristan came by later to hang out.  They started a fire and we played a couple of rounds of Exploding Kittens as the sun went down.  For some reason (probably a diabolical one) the wind and smoke colluded to make sure my eyes were constantly watery and my throat dry until we left.  Though it may not sound like it I did have a good time.  Luckily for Susan she had a better time. 

The weekend of September 19-20 was a busy one with racing and Colorado Pug Rescue’s annual Pugs in the Park.  That Saturday had us rallycrossing at Colorado Off-Road Extreme (CORE).  There are two available areas to use for rallycross and we were in the lower one.  The courses were set up to be faster than normal and I had to shift into second gear many times throughout the day (shifting out of first gear while racing is rarely necessary in our car).  I was putting down times that no one could touch when I had a run where just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong.  I managed to get the back tires off in the fluff on one sweeping turn which caused such a large cloud of dust that I blinded myself two turns later and had to come to a complete stop while I waited for it to clear.  Once I got going again I overcooked a turn bad enough that I went off-course (almost hitting a shovel of all things) and had to back up to get going again (I also managed to hit a few cones).  Despite that miserable run I fought on and finished in 2^nd place less than four seconds from 1^st with Susan right behind me in 3^rd out of 12 drivers (her highest finish of the season in our very competitive class!).  We took our sweet time packing up after the event and were the last to leave.  It was as we were pulling onto the highway that I noticed the car’s clutch was slipping badly.  The sky might have darkened and maybe some lightning flashed overhead at the same moment I felt the car not accelerate when I pushed down on the gas pedal, I guess I don’t really recall clearly.  I’m sure something foreboding occurred though.  On the way home we stopped at Applebee’s for dinner with the Miller’s (another racing couple that live in our neighborhood).  Good times indeed.

The next day we packed up the Subaru with our small PA system, chairs, and umbrellas and headed for Central Park for Pugs in the Park.  As we did last year we provided the PA system used for announcements and volunteered under the foster tent.  We got there early enough that we were able to help set up the multiple pop-up tents and tables used at the event.  After things were more-or-less in order we convened under the foster tent.  Volunteering at the foster tent entails managing the young volunteer pug-walkers (a disappearing kid+pug last year prompted Susan to make a sign out sheet which was mostly used) and answering questions from prospective adopters and potential future foster parents.  All of the available foster pugs were in high demand and I think most had more than one person applying for them by the end of the day. 

Some of the other activities at the event include a pug-licking contest, pug-racing, a hotdog (hotpug?) eating contest, a pug-drop (a pug poops on a grid and people buy “land rights” to the squares within; the person who owns the fertilized spot wins actual money), and a pug-costume contest.  There were also many different venders selling various wares, a food truck, and a frozen-ice truck (a neighbor of ours).  As we were primarily the only adults at the foster tent we didn’t venture out much but did make a journey to see the vendors and bought a couple of plots for the pug-drop (the poop-gods did not look favorably upon our offering and someone else won the poo-prize). 

It was very busy with hundreds people attending and/or passing through (it was the best-attended in years which may have had something to do with the fact that the event wasn’t on the same day as a Broncos game which it has been in previous years).  After the event was officially over we helped pack up and went home to hang out with our own pillage of pugs (not the correct term for multiple pugs but, really, it should be). 

Knowing the next race was only three weeks away and that I’m a mediocre (at best) and untrained mechanic I began the process of replacing the clutch on the rally car the Tuesday after the event at CORE.  I started by asking a couple of fellow-racers who own auto shops how much they’d charge to do the work.  The first guy literally laughed at me and said our particular car’s clutch was one of the worst to change out and he didn’t want to mess with it (the official dealer-specified time to complete the job is almost 11 hours).  The second guy gave me a quote but it was high enough that I decided to tackle the project myself.  No need to go into too much detail but I did work on the car almost every weeknight and weekend day since and I just finished up over two weeks later.  It was indeed a painful experience (both physically and mentally) but very much worth it.  I learned a few lessons throughout (like my long hair soaks up gear oil like a sponge) and know and respect the car more than I did before.  I also hope the clutch never goes out again.  Ever.  4/10, I might do it again. 

Alvin and Kari bought some property on Deer Creek Road and are going to build a house in the next year (hopefully).  They had a BBQ to show off their land on the last Sunday of September to which several racers and old friends were invited.  We brought “Max Sticks” (cheese sticks wrapped in roast beef and, yes, I did name them) and some salad.  Everyone got a tour of their basic plans and we hung out and talked with friends for hours.  By the time we left there was only one Max Stick remaining to which I was proud.  We are very jealous proud of Alvin and Kari on their purchase and future plans.

In other news the pugs are doing alright.  We’re pretty sure that Sophie is now completely blind and we have to help her get from place to place.  It’s sad but she’s a trooper.  Bella is crazy for ice cubes and Tweetie has done her best to get in on the chilly treats (though she still seems confused when she does get one, like she’s thinking, “what’s the big deal?”).  Satchel has decided she’s too good to use the training pads if any of the other pugs have made prior “deposits” and, after several mistakes, we’re much more proactive in putting new pads down for her (slowly but surely Satchel is training us to be the perfect pug-parents).  She’s almost completely deaf now but still gets around alright, albeit with a limp. 

Susan is extremely busy with work right now and has been putting in overtime along with working at home in the evenings and weekends.  The timing has actually been pretty good since her work getting hectic began around the time I started working on the rally car’s clutch (it’s less of a bummer when both of us are busy).  Quarter-end just occurred last week so my busy time is ramping up at my reporting job which is fine by me. 

Susan knits from time to time and I play my guitar from time to time.  We are looking forward to Barbara visiting us in early November (both for her company and the excellent excuse it provides to clean the house).  Susan’s grandmother Norita just had her 91^st birthday on September 28^th and is still going strong! 

We hope this finds you happy and healthy!

Max and Susan