August 2016

-August 1 – we celebrated our 13^th wedding anniversary at our favorite restaurant Vesta Dipping Grill in downtown Denver.  The food was great as always (Susan got prawns and I went with steak) and we really had a nice time.  We always sit at the same table next to the window so we can watch people walk by. 

-Now we’re in the process of putting the engine back together Jeff noted that I unnecessarily took a few things completely apart which were painful to reassemble.  Whoops!  The engine is finally coming together.  At this rate I’m hoping to have the car running sometime in November. 

-August 5-7 – National challenge at CORE – this went really well.  Heavy rain was forecasted for the whole weekend so we were a bit apprehensive it would turn into a mud event.  Friday we got to the site around 11:00.  Susan helped run the practice course at the lower area and I helped set up the courses in the upper area.  I didn’t put on sun block and, while my face was protected via my hat, my neck and arms were pink by the end of the day (this despite overcast skies most of the day).  We eventually had our car tech’d and checked in for the event.

Several people camped on the site all weekend but we went home to shower and take care of the pugs.  Saturday was the first day racing and the courses were short and fast.  I got out into the lead on the first run and never got close to losing it for the rest of the weekend.  Susan ended the day just out of the trophies.  We ended up getting 11 runs on Saturday which was great.  Sunday’s course was a bit longer and we got to race around it 5 times.  The sun finally decided to come out in full force which had me hiding under an umbrella most of the day.  I neglected to put sun block on my legs since they hadn’t burned at all on Friday or Saturday without any protection which, of course, meant that they were nicely torched on Sunday.  There were several people who came from out of state to race with us and generally our local competitors did well which was nice.  In the end I won our class by quite a bit and Susan held on to her spot just outside the trophies.

The car ran great and we had a good time.  I was finally going to use the video camera for the event but forgot to get it out of the Suburban.  Oh well!  The forecasters were proven incorrect as the predicted rain never materialized though the weekend was cooler than most this time of year.  Exhausted as we were after being in the sun for three days we took the following Monday off to relax and reset. 

-August 12 – Susan’s Miata was merged into on her way in to work.  Luckily Susan was alright and the damage was minimal.

It was a company work truck so insurance is going to take care of it.  This is the second Miata we’ve owned that was merged into by a large vehicle.  Ah, the joys of driving tiny cars! 

-August 13-14 – We finally got the engine back in the WRX and it is running.  Our friend Jeff came over to make sure nothing was too amiss after I’d dropped the engine in.  So far so good.  I’ll be driving/babying it for 100 miles before the first oil change and then another 900 or so before the new engine is broken in.  It’s been almost four months since we bought the car. 

-One of Susan’s teeth really started hurting over the weekend and she gets to have a root canal on Tuesday.  No bueno.  Her poor face got swollen from an infection and she was on pretty strong pain killers and antibiotics. 

-August 20 – Matt and Jana’s baby’s birthday bash.  In the morning we picked up the WRX from getting an alignment and took it to an exhaust shop to adjust the exhaust (it was melting into the rear bumper).  After that we headed up to Matt and Jana’s.  There were 20+ people in attendance, half of which were little kids.  Canin and Elle were the stars of the show and were cute in all the ways tiny children are.  They provided bratwursts and homemade ice cream which was delicious.  We had a nice time hanging out with old friends. 

-August 21 – rallycross at USTDS.  Another low turnout event with only 36 competing.  We made it work and ended up having one of the smoother events I can remember.  Because there were fewer competitors we had more runs which was nice and everyone worked to keep things moving.  We got lots of seat time (more than the two day national challenge) and the courses were fun.  Susan had an amazing day and only just coned away winning our class outright and being the fastest competitor overall.  I snuck into first place in the afternoon and it was our first 1-2 finish ever.  It was a great time!

-August 26 – throwing a 21^st birthday party at our place for our neighbor’s son Tristan.  We had a small group of friends come over and we ate and played Cabo.  I set up a taco bar and we all were stuffed.  Lots of fun. 

-August 27 – painting with Susan, Kari, and Karen.  This time we tried our luck at painting a humming bird over a colorful background.  I decided to paint a pug with butterfly wings instead.  I probably should have done the humming bird.  Karen made us a tasty lunch and we stayed up there most of the day. 

-August 30 – Susan and Kari got matching anchor tattoos.  The Primitive Soul (a tattoo parlor we’ve frequented in the past) is offering free tattoos by their apprentices.  Susan and Kari have been talking about/threatening to get anchor tattoos for a long time (their grandfather had one on his forearm) and one of the available free tattoos happened to be an anchor.  Both got the tattoo on the same left ankle although one opted for the inside (Kari) while the other got hers on the outside (Susan).  They were both champs and the tattoos came out great! 

-August 31 – Susan got a haircut, it looks very nice.