December 2017

December 2 weekend – The weekend really started on Friday as both Susan and I stayed home from work sick.  My sinus infection which started Thanksgiving week had progressed in a bad way and Susan had a fever and various respiratory ailments.  We were a sad lot and I spent much of our time on the couch while Susan spent mostly sleeping.  I had bought a PS4 earlier in the week so at least I had something to occupy my time. 

Saturday was our 19^th anniversary of going out.  I wish I could say we spent a lot of effort in celebrating but we were still pretty miserable and our script was mostly the same as the day before.  We did go out to a nice dinner at the Parker Garage which was great.  My steak was amazing and Susan’s salmon tasty and enormous and we shared a bottle of wine.  Susan wanted to get some shopping done afterwards but I was just not feeling it so we went home instead. 

Sunday I woke at 4:00 and didn’t go back to bed (this has been a regular occurrence since I got sick as I would wake up coughing and whatnot).  I was planning to get Susan up at 7:00 to finally do our shopping but she snoozed me until 8:00.  We drove to Wal-Mart to buy food stuffs and Christmas lights and then Home Depot for butt splices.  It was an early day as we were to meet Jeff at Great Beginnings for a late breakfast at 10:30.  The place was packed but we only had to wait a few minutes to be seated.  Jeff arrived a bit late but not overly so.  We drank coffee, ate tasty food, and talked about cars, video games, and politics.  Eventually we made our way to our garage to work on the Miata.  We were very close to finishing up the engine swap before Thanksgiving and were confident the car would run on Sunday.  Jeff and I set to it while Susan worked on putting up some Christmas lights.  When we finally had the engine completely back together Jeff started the car and which seemed to be running poorly.  I was a bit freaked out by the prospect that the used engine was a dud but Jeff discovered that two of the coils on the coil-on-plug setup weren’t firing.  This setup was a custom deal with us originally pulling the coils off of a Toyota Prius and Jeff wiring it up.  Jeff and I hopped in the WRX and headed to Littleton Pull and Pay to find better coils.  We were successful and, once installed, the Miata ran beautifully.  In fact it ran better than expected as, upon initial inspection, we knew the head could use some work I was not willing to deal with at the time.  Jeff exited stage left at this point and I remained to finish swapping out the front struts.  This took a couple of hours as I had to do some alignment tweaks to one side and I’m not exactly quick at this type of work.  I was in a daze as I mounted the wheels back on the car and took it off the jack stands.  I can hardly believe the car is running again and am excited to drive it around!  I finally figured out what to name the car.  It is called “Scrappy” as its heart (engine) is from the scrap/junk yard.  We spent the remainder of the evening watching Netflix and Amazon Prime shows with Bella on the couch. 

December 9 weekend – The big deal this weekend was a Black Rhino party we were hosting.  This was the second year we threw this specific shebang and we were to have a large crowd.  Prepping the house was a monumental task and we working on it off and on over the preceding week.  Susan did much of the cleaning in the house and I spent much of my time organizing the garage.  Saturday morning we got up and immediately went about finishing up.  Susan swept, dusted, and then washed the floors while I wiled away in the garage.  Late in the morning we finished up our areas and took a break to drop off Scrappy at Tires Plus for an alignment.  After stopping to pick up ice I cleaned the guest bathroom and we both showered.  Around 5:00 I began cutting veggies and we laid out the food.  The meal was an extensive taco bar with shredded beef, shredded pork, shredded chicken, and fajita-style chicken as the meats and a variety of sides and extras for guests to make their perfect taco/burrito.  Jeff was the first to show up around 5:30 which was early enough I was still in the throes of preparing food.  Others began arriving after the official start time of 6:00.  The meat was slow to warm up but once it was adequately heated food was served.  In all we had around 21 folks in our house eating, chatting, and drinking adult beverages.  I believe this is the maximum our home can abide if everyone stays inside (though if the weather was nice out we could have accommodated many more in the garage like at our housewarming party).  The gift-exchange was to occur at 9:00 but everyone was present and accounted for at 8:00 so we started then.  This portion of the Black Rhino rules is the same as any White Elephant with everyone picking a number and opening presents in that order.  There were two steals per item and the person who picked the number 1 was able to swap with someone else after everything was opened.  The gifts were great overall and there were many “ooo’s” and “aw’s”.  The sole exception was Jeff’s gift which was several nested boxes wrapped in duct tape and zip ties.  The joke was that the smallest box contained a written note to check the inside side of the largest box for $50 in cash.  The whole experience took around 10 minutes and required the use of scissors, dikes, and much consternation.  I believe the gift exchange portion of the night went on for over an hour.  Soon after most guests left for home while the few remaining (mostly my work peeps) stayed to play Cabo.  We had fun playing through an entire game after which Susan and I finally were left alone (around 2:00 in the AM).  Bella was doted upon quite a bit throughout the evening and was exhausted from the attention.  We were pretty tired ourselves when we finally lay down in bed to sleep. 

Sunday was unfortunately an early one for us.  We had a CO-RX meeting scheduled on the north side of Denver for 9:00 and had to be up by 7:30.  We ended up barely getting out of the house with enough lead time to arrive at Valerie’s office on-time.  As I’m now the RX Director I got to direct our meeting which felt productive and lasted until after 11:00.  After the meeting we dropped off Pitt at Todd’s shop for some odds and ends to be fixed.  Then on the way home we stopped at Tires Plus to pick up Scrappy.   Unfortunately no alignment was performed as they wanted to repack the front bearings and tighten the axle nut first and needed my authorization.  As my phone doesn’t currently inform me of missed calls if a message is left (also, it doesn’t tell me I received a voice message) I didn’t know they’d already reached out to me.  In the end it didn’t matter as I would have told them not to do anything anyways.  Once home I jacked up Scrappy and pulled off a wheel to take a look before deciding to not delve deeper at the moment.  I ordered two new wheel hubs and had to wait for them to arrive before accomplishing more.  Our plan for the afternoon was to nap and generally relax on the couch but I felt antsy and directed my energy to our car port.  The prior owners had used the car port as a horse stall and left it uncleaned and essentially full of horse manure.  I had cut out the wire fencing some time ago but left the gate post and door.  After removing the gate door from the post Susan had the idea of jacking up the post using a floor jack and large bolt.  Unfortunately the post was rotted and simply split around the bolt.  She then suggested I wail away at it with our largest sledge hammer.  I did so and found the wood broke better than expected under my onslaught.  I managed to break and smash the wood below ground-level which was awesome.  Not satisfied I used a rake and flat shovel to muck the remaining refuse as best I could.  I filled around eight wheel barrow-loads worth of stuff which I dumped behind the car port.  Fortunately after six months this muck was dry and only smelled like hay.  Susan was concerned about where I piled the stuff and there’s a possibility I’ll have to move it again but, for now, its location is fine.  This effort took some time and when I was done I declared the car port open to porting a car.  I will likely have rock delivered to cover the floor and keep mud at bay but my work was done for the day.  We spent the remainder of the afternoon and evening hanging with Bella on the couch.  Such a great weekend! 

December 16 weekend – This busy weekend began on Friday afternoon for me as I took the tow rig and picked up two large tool boxes from Lowes.  Each weighed 250 lbs and fit together nicely on the front end of the car trailer.  Purchasing and loading the boxes wasn’t bad but the traffic to the stores (no location had more than one tool box so I had to make two separate purchases at two different Lowes stores) and home was miserable.  I believe I spent around three hours driving to and from.  Once home Susan supervised offloading the boxes and helped remove the cardboard and install the casters.  It was 7:00 and cold by the time we finished so we called it a night without loading anything into the new tool boxes. 

Saturday we didn’t get out of bed until 9:00.  I brewed us tasty coffee and we made a list of things to accomplish over the weekend.  It was a mighty long list but I was confident in our listing abilities.  I headed out to install new front hubs on Scrappy while Susan Swiffer’d the house.  Around 10:00 roughly four tons of recycled concrete was delivered via a big ol’ truck.  The rock wasn’t exactly what we had in mind but we agreed it would suit our purpose just fine.  After the rock was dropped in a pile close to the car port and the guy left I went back to working on Scrappy while Susan replaced a fuse in the one of the strings of lights adorning a small tree on the west side of the house.  Susan soon had to leave to take Bella to the vet for a booster shot and I stayed to finish the hubs and start shoveling rock into the car port.  Susan then took Bella to Pets Mart for a Christmas toy and afterwards met me at Tires Plus for a second attempt at getting Scrappy aligned.  Once back home I shoveled furiously and Susan continued cleaning up the house.  After a time I was satisfied with the rock in and around the car port and Susan helped with the final touches before backing Tia inside for a picture.  My lower back was stiff from the effort but we were happy with the results.  It was around this time Tires Plus called to let me know they were finished with Scrappy.  On the way there we stopped for a late lunch at Chili’s (we were both very hungry).  Susan ended up piloting Scrappy home while I made a quick solo trip to a packed Costco for wine and meat for the next week.  It was soooo busy.  After we unloaded my bounty from the car Susan helped me back the tow rig in its spot at the far corner of the lower 40.  We were both spent at this point and called it a day.  The remainder of the late afternoon and evening consisted of us hanging on the couch with a happy Bella. 

Sunday had me up and out of bed before the sun was up (I think I got too much sleep the night before).  I used this time to play video games while Susan slept on.  Around 9:30 I bugged Susan out of bed and made us coffee again.  We had more shopping to do and decided to tackle it before anything else.  Thus we went to the Lone Tree Wal-Mart for food stuffs and Christmas gifts.  On the way back we decided to burn through some old gift cards at Texas Roadhouse so I drove us down to Parker.  Somehow between me knocking over my water and having a new waitress we enjoyed yummy steak.  Through some luck Susan’s order was partially wrong so she got to bring home ribs to eat at dinner.  So much win!  We had to make one more stop at Safeway to acquire gift cards and then we were finally home.  We needed to figure out rallycross trophies so I hauled the large plastic bin containing all of the smaller donation trophies into the garage.  We had received several dozen small and large trophies months ago with the intent we were to repurpose them for rallycross.  We spent the next couple of hours disassembling trophies into piles of trophy components.  After a few more trips to the freezer for a couple of the larger trophies to cannibalize we felt confident we could generally make due for the 2017 awards with what we had.  We were also very cold at this point.  Susan hopped online and ordered cool tops for all the trophies and some new bases.  The existing bases she soaked in the sink and then scrubbed to remove excess glue from old name plates.  Susan also cleaned some of the other components on the couch.  While she was productive I spent my precious hours surfing the web and then playing video games.  Such is how things go in our house on occasion.  Looking over the original to-do list was satisfying as we’d crossed off most everything on it.  I feel like it wasn’t very long ago that our weekends largely consisted of us hanging out on the couch.  This particular weekend was both productive and satisfying. 

Christmas weekend began early for us as both Susan and I took Thursday and Friday off from work.  Thursday I was up early and played games while Susan slept in.  Eventually I coaxed her out of bed with the promise of coffee late in the morning.  The only plan for the day was to see Star Wars at Alamo Drafthouse at 1:00.  We arrived a few minutes early and ordered food and wine (we love this theater).  We both enjoyed the movie and Susan’s burger was the bee’s knees.  Susan suggested we make the trek down to see the Dawn house afterwards and I acquiesced.  I had to make a quick stop at the Roxborough Safeway for headache medicine as I had a whopper of one.  We then crept through the old neighborhood and verified our rental house still stood and not much had apparently changed since we lived there (except at Safeway where they finally had installed self-checkouts).  The evening was spent on the couch with a content Bella. 

I thought Friday was completely free and told Susan this when she finally rolled out of bed late in the morning.  Such was not to be as I’d forgotten about a Christmas party our racing friends the Rickli’s were hosting that evening at their home.  This didn’t change most of what I’d intended to accomplish during the day (nothing much) besides that I now had to take a shower.  We ordered Jimmy Johns for dinner before heading out to Neil and Carol’s just in case their food was iffy.  Their home was welcoming and they had a nicely adorned Christmas tree.  There was a large variety of finger-foods and a large supply of wine (yay!).  Susan wore a Christmas shirt along with battery-powered Christmas lights and looked adorable.  We chatted with the Ricki’s as well as other friends we don’t see very often while we wined and dined.  It was a nice time and we stayed later than I’d imagined we would.  We finally ventured home after 10:00 to a relieved Bella who seemed to have caught a brief bout of the crazies as soon as we walked in the door. 

Saturday began relatively early considering the late night before.  We were to meet Jeff for brunch at Great Beginnings.  As per usual there was a wait for seating but it wasn’t long.  Also as per usual the food and coffee was yummy.  We decided to spend some time working on Jeff’s Miata in our garage so Jeff went to his home to get his Miata and we went to ours to wait for him.  I spent a few minutes doing one or two things to Scrappy before backing it out of the garage.  I’d installed new brakes all around and rotors and sway bar in the front earlier in the week.  Jeff’s work was of the solo-variety so I spent the time moving tools from the old tool box to one of the new tool boxes while Susan worked on cleaning and then assembling trophies.  Eventually we made a trip to pick up additional tools from Home Depot (I had a gift card to burn), hamburger stuffs at King Soopers, and car stuffs at Advance Autoparts.  It was getting pretty chili and we didn’t spend a whole lot more time in the garage before I grilled hamburgers and we went into the house to eat.  After dinner we watched Grand Tour with Jeff which was fun for all of us.  Afterwards Jeff headed home and we finished the evening with Bella on the couch.  Twas a nice Saturday. 

We actually got up somewhat early on Sunday to make a Christmas shopping trip to Walmart (evidently now spelled without a hyphen).  Our list of food stuffs was long and we came home with many bags of groceries (I believe we bought something like 66 items, a large number for us).  We’d picked up rotisserie chicken for lunch and ate as soon as the bags were unpacked.  At this point I ventured into my room to figure out some Christmas songs to play and record for Stewart and Lee.  Susan decided to spend what was left of the morning preparing for our Christmas day meal.  After a time I came out to the living room to record.  It took surprisingly long to find, practice, and finally record the songs.  Susan gave constructive feedback through rolled eyes and corrected some of the lyrics.  I even got her to sing along on one song while holding Bella who licked Susan throughout essentially the entire time (so cute).  It was late afternoon when I finally finished recording my last song.  Susan baked an apple dessert and brownies for the next day which came out looking great.  She also whipped up orange jello which we dutifully traded off stirring every ten minutes so the fruit would be evenly distributed.  Our slow internet made uploading the songs a chore as it literally took several hours to get them onto YouTube (it’s not like I had to hand-crank anything but it was still a bit annoying).  It was totally worth the effort and I was only mildly chagrined with my performances (Susan made up by being very embarrassed for me).  We spent the last of the evening watching classic movies (Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile) with Bella. 

Christmas morning was another early one for us as we had to prep and start the turkey cooking.  This was a joint effort as I rinsed the bird in the sink while Susan prepared the bag and rub.  We successfully had the turkey in the roaster and cooking by 9:00 which was perfect time-wise.  Then followed a time of cleaning and preparation of various other food stuffs.  Karen and John arrived right on time at noon followed soon after by Kari and Alvin.  Karen had brought stuffing to bake and Kari potatoes to boil and mash into mashed potatoes.  We set about to preparing the last of the food and talked about this and that.  The plan was to eat at 1:00 and I believe we were happily munching away at around that time.  We agreed everything was tasty and we stuffed ourselves on the bounteous delights.  A period of digestion followed where certain members of the family napped on the couch while Susan and I cleaned up.  We chitted and chatted about this and that and watched the songs I’d recorded the day before before sitting down for a game of Cabo.  John and Karen hadn’t played in quite a while but had the hang of the game again in no time.  Alvin vaulted himself into last place immediately before devastating everyone by successfully pulling off a kamikaze which put him firmly into first place which he held onto for the remainder of the game.  After John crossed over 100 we ate a bunch of dessert before heading back to the living room for more visiting.  Soon I was divvying up leftovers and Susan and I were left alone with Bella.  We had a wonderful Christmas!  I should also note that Kari and Alvin’s doggo Ringo was present.  He was largely a good dog throughout the day. 

New Year’s weekend

Saturday – we slept in late (especially Susan).  It’s so nice Bella lets us do this.  When Satchel and Tweetie were young they would get us up very early in the morning.  I was up before Susan and, after spending some time playing video games, went out to the garage to putter around.  Susan came out shortly thereafter and helped here and there as we worked to organize the garage and put up some shelves.  Soon we decided to disassemble the remainder of the donated trophies and set to it.  This took some time and we sat outside in the sunlight to help Susan keep from freezing.  Finally we finished and loaded up a couple of plastic bins and boxes with the components we wanted to keep and stored them all in the freezer.  After we were done we set about to taking down the Christmas lights on the house.  I was on the ladder plucking them off while Susan managed the freed strands.  This didn’t take long as we’d employed specialized clips throughout and soon we had two more boxes for the freezer.  We decided to leave up the lights on the one live tree and also brought around the two plastic trees to accompany it for a time.  We’ll get those taken care of eventually.  At this point we went out to eat dinner and to do some shopping.  Chili’s was the chosen restaurant and the food was fine.  It seems we’re often sat next to the kitchen entrance at this location.  Not sure why but perhaps we look like we wouldn’t care.  I believe next time I’ll ask for another table.  We were going to stop by Walmart but settled on Target as it was right down the road.  We bought New Year’s food stuffs before heading home for an evening on the couch with Bella. 

Sunday we (surprise) slept in a bit.  Well, Susan was able to stay in bed while I was up early again with my weird insomnia.  Eventually I made us coffee and Susan eggs before we decided to take a shopping trip.  We went to the Harbor Freight over by Santa Fe on Hampden for their New Year’s sale.  We LOVE Harbor Freight.  It’s like a toy store for adults.  We hit the Walmart practically next door before stopping at Qdoba for a late lunch.  Once home we spent some time preparing for our small New Year’s gathering and entertained ourselves playing games and watching TV with Bella.  Dinner was to be at the Saltgrass Steakhouse in Parker with Kari, Alvin, and Jeff at 7:30.  I wanted an earlier reservation but they weren’t able to accommodate.  We ordered a shrimp enclosed in jalapeno popper appetizer which we all agreed was yummy.  To a person we ate fillet steaks which were fantastic.  None had ever been to Saltgrass and we all agreed it was a nice place.  Good food and a quiet atmosphere.  We do wish the service was quicker but I suspect it was intentional as part of their planned experience.  We finally got back to our home right around 9:00 and set about to imbibing adult beverages.  Alvin brought his Raspberry Pie game emulator thing he’d received from our Black Rhino and he and Jeff spent some time figuring out how to get it to work.  Eventually we were swapping a game controller around and playing retro games, many of which were from the 80s.  It was surprisingly fun for all including those just watching the action.  Right before midnight we tromped outside to make a racket and for me to pop a Champaign cork to 2017.  It wasn’t long after that Susan and I were alone with Bella who had been so cute all evening.  Susan was inspired to pull out her Nintendo Classic console and played Mario Brothers until later in the morning.  Twas a great New Year’s! 

The first day of 2018 (and the last day I’m writing an update about for 2017) was largely spent relaxing on the couch with Bella.  There was more sleeping in followed by late coffee around 11:00 (first time making French vanilla which we both enjoyed).  We ate leftovers and unfrozened chicken wings and did some light cleaning from the night before.  It was a wonderfully calming day and a great way to finish the long weekend. 

2017 was an interesting year for us and marks the sixth year I’ve been keeping this journal of sorts.  There were so many ups and downs and laughs and tears though I do believe the good times vastly outnumbered the bad.  We both are looking forward to what 2018 will bring.  

November 2017

November 4^th weekend – Saturday was a busy day.  It started with me getting up before Susan to play video games while she snoozed on.  Around 9:30 Susan showered and got ready for the day while I remained on the couch.  Finally around 15 minutes before we were to be at her eye-appointment at Icon Lasik she reminded me of said appointment and I quickly got dressed so we could arrive there on-time.  We made it just in time but the appointment itself took almost an hour with Susan sitting in one of the offices for most of the time.  Lame!  Susan needs touchups on both her eyes which she’ll hopefully get in the upcoming months.  From the Lasik place we drove straight up to White Fence Farms to join many older folks in celebrating Jan and Wayne’s 50^th wedding anniversary and Jan’s 70^th birthday. 

We were driving Tia which turned out to be a mistake as the road there was incredibly bumpy.  The poor car’s underside made hard contact with the pavement in two bone-jarring impacts.  These weren’t potholes, just bumpy sections of road.  Nuts.  After some confusion on which room was reserved we sat down with John, Karen, and Kari to chat before the food was figured out and the guests of honor arrived.  It was supposed to be a surprise for Jan and they arrived a bit late while the food was being served.  I don’t think Jan was too surprised but she seemed happy everyone was there (there were something like 40+ people in attendance).  We stayed for a couple of hours talking and eating before heading outside to see the on-site animals (part of the experience I suppose).  These animals consisted of a three ravenous goats, a chicken, and a peacock.  The goats were slow to care about our presence until they figured out that food was to be had (Susan came bearing food pellets bought from a 25 cent dispenser next to their pen).  Eventually a couple of wiry-coated goats were eating from her hand, much to her delight.  We finally got home around 4:30 just to gather up wine and dip to leave again.

Dinner was at the Tiedeman’s new house in the Southwest Plaza area.  They had moved in a few weeks before and this was our first chance to check out the new digs.  The house was extensively remodeled as part of their contract and everything looked nice and new.  They are in a cul-de-sac and their backyard is large for suburban-living (the lot is .5 acres).  They served hand-crafted hamburgers (yum) and we talked at-length about this and that.  We stayed until around 9:00 before heading home.  It was a nice visit. 

Sunday was to be another busy day, this time due to the NB Miata in the garage.  The plan was to fix up the new-used engine and get it in the car.  Various delays made this goal impossible but much work was done.  Jeff came by around 9:30 to lend his aid and Tristan around 10:30.  I was already in the garage working on the suspension before they arrived.  We pulled off the intake manifold and timing components before discovering the engine gasket kit I bought was for the wrong car.  The problem was Amazon listed it as for our model car but not having it impeded our progress.  We called and then drove to three car-part stores in a fruitless search for the parts before grabbing lunch at Chili’s.  Jeff remembered he had a gasket kit at this point and we drove to his folk’s house to pick it up.  I knew something was wrong when he hopped back in the car.  The kit number was the same as mine.  Sure enough, his kit was also wrong.  We went back home to do what we could and decided to press on using old gaskets where necessary.  After some time we asked Susan to pick up some emery cloth while we toiled away.  This proved to be daunting as the several stores thought they had some when only one actually did.  Eventually we had the majority of the motor back together and Tristan went home.  Jeff stayed for a chili dinner and conversation.  We had a great time talking about lots of stuff before Jeff went his way around 9:00.  It was a busy and great weekend. 

November 11^th weekend – Saturday was spent getting ready for Sunday and working on the NB Miata.  We rolled out of bed around 8:30 and I made coffee.  As the next day was a rallycross we swapped out the RS’s street tires for rally tires and loaded it onto the trailer (the evo still has a bad clutch).  Jeff rolled up as we were finishing and we proceeded to begin the final assembly steps on the NB engine.  He came bearing OE gaskets and a rear main seal and the latter was installed along with a new clutch and machined flywheel (the gaskets will go on if there are issues).  At this point we took a break for lunch at Chili’s.  We were going to go to Texas Roadhouse but it was Veterans Day and the joint was packed.  Our meal was good and we went home to try to put the engine in the Miata.  It took some doing but eventually the motor was and mostly bolted up.  Wiring issues and some bellhousing bolts in difficult places slowed things down quite a bit.  In the end we got the engine to turn over and idle without the exhaust headers or much of the other accompanying stuff which was a success.  Jeff took off at this point and Susan and I went to King Soopers to get dinner and lunch stuffs for the next day.  Back home we parked ourselves on the couch with Bella.  Bella had a dental and a couple of bumps removed (eye lid and elbow) on Tuesday and has had to suffer the indignity of wearing a cone since. 

Sunday was an early start for us as the alarms went off at 4:30 in the AM.  As this was not only the final event of the season but also the final event at CORE there was extra to do.  In fact Kubo designed a monster-course which required much more time to lay out.  Thus Susan and I were onsite before 7:00 and unloading the RS.  By the time Eric Adams and then Kubo arrived I was ready to help out and we headed out to scope out the terrain.  After two passes in the bus the cones were roughly dropped along the course and Eric and Kubo went forth to set them up again while I attended to setting up the rally bus.  It was pointed out early on that the sole port-a-john was located half a mile up the access road which simply would not do.  With help from Neil Rickli and a CORE peep we finagled the port-a-john on our car trailer and deposited next to the paddock much to the relief of the many competitors.  Time was a-passing and the course wasn’t yet finished so I asked Dan Quiet to begin setting up the course from the finish back.  I actually closed the course for walking around 9:00 as it took roughly 30 minutes to get around on foot.  I ran a novice meeting for the 20 or so newer drivers and then a full-on drivers meeting for the 80+ folks waiting for something to happen.  As we had a mega-course with a large turnout we ran the event differently than normal.  This time we split the group equally with one half running all morning and one half running all afternoon.  This saved literal hours of time we would have spent transitioning between run groups as the walk to the corners was sometimes so far away.  We elected our class to run in the afternoon which was done on purpose as we wanted to see how the course/event held up before passing the reigns to others.  The morning drivers each got five chances to battle the dirt in part because each run lasted 20-30 minutes.  Lunch was a brief 30 minutes and, amazingly, the workers and drivers were mostly on time getting back.  We drove in the afternoon and had a good time trying to go quick in the RS (spoiler – we didn’t).  I experienced my first ever debead which occurred close to the finish line.  I came into a bumpy turn that looked smooth and off went the tire.  Luckily Eric Adams was hanging out by his car and let us use one of his wheels/tires for the remainder of the day.  We had fun and there were no real incidents to mar the day.  After the racing was done and Susan compiled the results I read them to the masses.  We ended up driving away from CORE for the final time right at 5:00.  We were tired and went straight home for leftover chili and to spend time with Bella on the couch.  Such a great weekend!

Thanksgiving week – We flew out to Georgia on Thursday evening with Bella in tow.  Instead of keeping Bella confined in her small kennel Susan walked her on a leash all the way through DIA from security to our gate.  She was super-good the whole time and a few people felt the urge to show Susan pictures of their pups on their phones.  I don’t believe we’ve ever flown out so late and we arrived in Atlanta around 11:00 local time.  Mom was there to pick us up at the airport and we chatted all the way to her home.  It was a somewhat long drive due to construction traffic and she pulled into the garage at around 1:00 in the morning.  Susan and I made our way to our room and soon were asleep. 

Friday we woke relatively early and went shopping at Wal-Mart.  We bought various food stuffs and coffee.  We drove to LongHorn Steakhouse for lunch and the food was marvelous.  I felt the urge to exercise and found a local gym to try.  It was supposed to be $10 per day but the girl womanning the counter didn’t seem to notice I was there and I had no issue in working out for free.  Later we hung out in the kitchen and Mom put frozen chicken in one of her slow cookers for later.  Eventually we all headed downstairs to watch some Netflix and chat before bed. 

Saturday had us up and making a long shopping list for the next week.  The menu for Thanksgiving was to be long and varied.  Mom also made us eggs for breakfast while we drank our coffee.  This eating sequence was to be repeated almost every morning for the rest of the week (her eggs were amazing).  We went to Costco to whittle down the shopping list.  Costco was absolutely slammed and cars roamed the parking lot watching for spots to open (there were literally none available).  We were hungry after we finished there and settled on lunch at Bahama Breeze.  The food was yummy and soon we made our way back home.  I once again decided to exercise but found the gym I went to the previous day to be closed.  After striking out at another Google-Map-driven search I finally found Firehouse Gym where I settled on for the next few days.  There they actually did charge me the $10/day but I didn’t mind as they were open when I needed them to be.  Dinner was a group-affair as Grandma Sauder, Uncle Randy, Uncle Greg, and Aunt Janice joined us for tacos and a game of Hand and Foot.  Hand and Foot is a lot like Dirty Books but there are far fewer rules to keep track of.  The food was yummy and the game fun.  Grandma and Randy left somewhat early as they were to be on the road up to Michigan in the wee hours the next day. 

We rolled out of bed relatively early on Sunday for no particularly good reason.  I hit the gym while Susan worked on a puzzle we had purchased at Costco.  Mom went to church and I helped Susan with the puzzle after I was showered.  When Mom returned we were still sorting the pieces.  That puzzle was a task we toiled over for the entirety of the day.  Janice came by at some point to knit and visit and left at some point later.  Lunch and dinner consisted of leftover taco stuffs.  The puzzle was all-encompassing and we weren’t sure we were going to finish the puzzle that day.  It was after dark when the final piece was placed and we felt some satisfaction.  It was a great Sunday. 

Monday Mom and I went out while Susan slept on.  Mom dropped me off at the gym where I worked out while she shopped at Wal-Mart.  After we got back I woke Susan up and we soon were out of the house on our way to Atlanta.  The plan was to visit the Georgia Aquarium in the afternoon and then meet up with Diane and her boyfriend Scott for dinner.  We worried the traffic might be bad but our drive was swift with no delays.  We lucked into a good spot in the Coke Cola museum parking garage which was right next to the aquarium.  The line to get in wasn’t very deep but it took us longer than we expected to buy tickets and get inside (everyone had to be checked for weapons and go through a metal detector).  Once inside we did our normal thing by turning right and visiting each exhibit in a counter-clockwise fashion.  It was very busy at first but it seemed that everyone spread out after a while which we appreciated.   We oo’d and awed at the fishies and generally enjoyed ourselves.  The Georgia Aquarium was the largest until recently and has some amazing exhibits.  Towards the end of our visit we happened to walk into the dolphin show right before it was to begin.  This was super-duper lucky as it was the last show we would have been able to see and the joint was mostly packed.  We found seats and watched as trainers rode dolphins around and the dolphins performed various acts of flinging themselves out of the water.  I have to admit that I was exhausted at this point and may have slept through most of the show.  Susan did enjoy the performance and I felt rested when it was over.  After one more exhibit we tried again to get a commemorative squished penny (the first time the crank machine did a poor job).  Success!  Susan was the proud owner of a seahorse-impressed penny.  We walked out of the aquarium at 4:00 which left us in a time-bind of sorts.  Dinner was to be at 5:30 which didn’t leave much time to do much in the interim.  Looming over Olympic Park (right next to the aquarium) is a huge Ferris wheel and we made our way in its direction.  The ride’s price and timing was right and we rode that wheel.  Exciting isn’t the word I’d use for the experience but we did enjoy ourselves.  Eventually we walked back to Mom’s minivan and drove across town to Folk Art for dinner.  As is our normal we arrived early and walked up and down the hipstery-street to burn some time before settling down in one of the restaurant’s booths to wait for Diane and Scott.  We’d already had a glass of wine by the time they sat down and we soon ordered food.  Susan had chosen this particular restaurant as it was featured on Guy Ferrettipoo’s Food Network show.  I ordered the hamburger from the show (it was labeled specifically) and the others got various other stuffs from the menu.  We enjoyed our conversations with Diane and Scott as well as the food.  Scott is a car-guy and we spent much of our time talking car-stuff.  Diane is now managing a Melting Pot restaurant and sounds very busy with that.  Eventually we all left and Susan and I drove back to Mom’s house.  Our poor pug Bella was waiting impatiently for us and showered both of us with urgent licks. 

We decided to go to some antique stores as part of our Tuesday plans.  I believe we visited three or four in the course of the morning before stopping at Applebee’s for lunch.  We dropped by Hobby Lobby to buy painting supplies for a family activity and went back to Mom’s house.  Mark, Jesse, and their kids were to arrive that evening and the main course for dinner was to be a chili I planned on concocting.  We had cooked the beef days before and had most of the ingredients on hand (Susan and I did make a quick trip to get green enchilada sauce at one point).  Much of the afternoon was spent working on another puzzle and then prepping the food for dinner (I also squeezed in another workout).  With little fanfare but many hugs Mark, Jesse, Julia, Evan, and Jonah arrived.  Janice and Greg also came by for dinner and to see the family.  The chili was a hit I believe everyone enjoyed.  Most of the remainder of the evening had Mark, Susan, and I talking about this and that in the kitchen while Jesse and the kids settled in.  They brought a little mixed-breed dog named Lucy who was hilariously cute and precocious.  Lucy and Bella got along alright after it became clear that Bella didn’t really mind her presence. 

Wednesday had Susan and me out of bed somewhat early.  Mom was already preparing lunch which was to be chicken casserole and garlic bread.  I volunteered to make the garlic bread and set about to it.   The food came out excellent (especially the casserole).  After lunch we proceeded to set out tarps, tables, chairs, easels, canvas, paint, paint brushes, etc for our family painting activity.  Greg and Janice came by around this time and were apprehensive about our plans (they did both eventually acquiesce to joining us) which were for Susan and myself to direct everyone to painting two pictures we’d previously picked out and Mom had printed off in color.  There was grumbling and hitches abounded but after a few hours everyone had completed their paintings and the general consensus was the experience was enjoyable.  I honestly can’t remember what dinner was but I am sure we all ate something.  We showed the kids how to play Cabo and played a few rounds into the evening. 

Thursday morning was busy with Mom doing most of the final preparations for the Thanksgiving lunch.  I’d set a beef roast in the slow cooker the night before and Susan had made her orange jello with Mom.  Janice and Greg eventually arrived bearing even more food which was all laid out for our feasting.  The kids set the table and, after a blessing was said, we attacked with plates and utensils in hand.  The variety of delectable was almost overwhelming and everyone had trouble fitting a small portion of each thing on their plate (I’m actually pretty certain no one succeeded in this endeavor).  After lunch was dessert although most of us were too stuffed to eat much.  Janice and Greg eventually left to visit Diane’s Thanksgiving and we finished our Cabo game from the night before.  Much of the afternoon was spent hanging out and we also played through a game of hand and foot.  Eventually Janice and Greg made a triumphant return and we put our current puzzle aside (yes, we started a new one) to play one last full game of Cabo.  I believe it was at this point I finally felt empty enough to enjoy some dessert and all was right in the world.  After the game was over we bid our goodbyes to most everyone as Susan and I were to fly back home the next morning.  Thanksgiving was excellent this year! 

Friday morning we got up early and Mom made us her wonderful eggs one final time.  Packing was simple and the minivan was loaded up in no time.  Mark volunteered to join us on the drive to the airport and sat shotgun as I piloted Mom’s Honda.  During the drive we engaged in pleasant conversations about this and that.  The airport was busy and cars were backed up by the passenger drop-off.  We finally arrived and hopped out to make our quick good-byes before Susan, Bella, and I walked into the airport.  Our return trip went without much fuss and our plane landed early in Denver.  Once again Bella got to walk for most of the way through both airports and was a very good girl.  When we got home we were happy to be back but sad too as the trip seemed to fly by so quickly.  It was an amazing vacation for us as we really needed a break from our regular lives.  We loved visiting with the family and eating the rich food on Thanksgiving Day.  The games, the painting, the dogs, the welcoming house… it was an all-around great time.  The remainder of the weekend was mostly blah for Susan and myself as I was feeling miserable due to a sinus infection I’d been inflicted with earlier in the week. 

Other November stuffs – Bella had a dental and two bumps removed, one from her eyelid and the other from her elbow.  The procedure occurred close enough to Thanksgiving that she had to wear shirts to bed and a cone when we left her at Mom’s house.  She suffered through and had the last stitch removed from her eye after we got home.  Bella was fantastic on the trip and we loved having her along.  I got a chance to talk to Evan and Jonah while we wiled away at a puzzle.  It was fun to talk about this and that.  They combined their efforts to put together a huge Lego rocket thing which had almost 2,000 pieces.  On November 30 I turned 37.  We went to dinner at Texas roadhouse which was nice and tasty.  Both of us are feeling under the weather but we enjoyed the time out.  November has been a busy and fun month!

October 2017

October 1 – Rallycross day!  We slunk into the Suburban early in the morning to head out.  I stopped to get coffee, donuts, and gas on the way but otherwise we went straight to CORE.  We arrived at 7:30 and, with little debate, decided to race on the new (to us) upper-upper area.  I was not wanting to design the course but as the only other guy available (Kubo) didn’t really have much experience I helped out.  The ground was mercifully dry and we were able to utilize new areas which was cool.  I felt like we were behind all morning but we got the first car off at the normal 10:00.  When we finally drove we found white oily-smelling smoke emanating from around the evo’s engine after I finished my first run.  We decided it was not worth chancing a major mechanical issue and parked the car.  We then finished the morning in Kubo’s RS (it was super-nice of him to offer us the car to use).  I allowed a long lunch to give everyone time to do their lunch-thing while Kubo and myself changed the course up for the afternoon.  The ground held up pretty well after some initial fixes and all the drivers had fun.  I opted to not drive in the afternoon (I really didn’t want to break Kubo’s car) and instead worked as starter (my favorite job).  We finished early despite everyone getting 11 runs total.  Right before we left we helped a fellow driver take down his pop-up.  It was lucky for him that we did stick around as torrential wind coincidentally decided to pick up right then and it was a struggle just to keep the thing from flying away.  Once on the road the wind had towing a bit sketchy but we made it home alright.  We were tired and settled on Jimmy John’s delivery for dinner.  I got their largest sandwich and thought it would be good with even more meat.  It was tasty but I could barely finish (no, I didn’t have to eat the whole thing but my pride was on the line).  We finished the evening with Bella watching a movie and our Sunday night shows. 

Susan flew to San Francisco, California on Monday October 2^nd for work.  While there she walked on the Golden Gate Bridge, toured a mechanical museum, ate at the Fisherman’s Wharf, and subsequently got food poisoning later that night.  Tuesday was meetings and a flight to Los Angeles.  Her hotel wasn’t in the best part of the city so she didn’t venture out.  Wednesday was more meetings and a flight back to Denver.  This was Susan’s first work trip ever and was mostly a success.  Bella and I missed her terribly.  I brought Bella with me to the airport to pick up Susan and she was so excited! 

While Susan was gone I pulled the turbo oil return line off the evo as it clearly was leaking again.  It looked like the exhaust shop’s weld on the return line didn’t hold so the whole thing needed to be replaced.  This isn’t a common part and there was no way to order one by the next event so, out of desperation, I reached out to the evo community on Facebook.  Amazingly someone immediately offered a new one for $10 and to meet me at the airport the same night I was to pick up Susan.  This was super-lucky and I was able to get the return line while I waiting for Susan’s flight to arrive.  Unfortunately the two gaskets and small washers were not so easy to obtain and I had to have the parts overnighted from Utah at a high price ($10 in parts cost $50 in shipping).  Such is I suppose.  While I was under the car I had also noticed the radiator was leaking - luckily I was able to order a new one on Amazon.  On Thursday night I installed the oil return line.  It took far longer than I’d anticipated as the space was cramped and evening rain had dirty water dripping in my eyes, mouth, and everywhere else.  With Susan’s help I did manage to finish that evening.  On Friday the radiator came and Susan and I had it installed in a couple of hours.  With that we loaded the evo on the car trailer for the upcoming weekend’s event. 

October 7^th weekend – Saturday we attended and aided in the running of an intermediate rallycross school.  Our pal Kubo did much of the work though we helped where we could.  Usually I am an instructor but I opted to mostly just help with logistical stuff and fill roles as they were required.  Susan and I got an early start out to CORE as we didn’t need to stop for gas or coffee (I made some at home).  Once we arrived I helped set up the practice course and Susan set up the timing computers.  I put on a brief drivers meeting and we started the school by putting down two timed runs.  I quickly found that oily smoke was pouring from under the evo’s hood again.  When the group finished the timed runs I stayed to remove the skid guard and tighten some bolts which fixed the leak.  We then headed up to the upper area where features were set up and the instruction was already going on.  There was a large figure eight and long slalom.  The surface was great and held together despite literally hours of abuse.  The features were effective enough that we used them again in the afternoon after lunch.  We eventually connected them and let drivers attack the whole thing like a mini-course.  Around 2:30 we finally headed down to the practice course again to do more timed runs.  Kubo led a guided course-walk and we tagged along.  We didn’t agree that his instruction necessarily applied to us but it was meaningful to the other attendees.  Then we let the drivers drive the practice course again.  Susan ran timing and I manned the start line while the drivers put down many runs.  We ended the school around 4:30 as we were collectively tired.  We left the trailer and evo and just drove the Suburban back home.  Susan and I were going to stop at Chili’s for dinner but opted to simply pick up wine and for me to cook something instead.  I made Susan a hamburger while I ate a ground beef concoction which was tasty. 

Sunday was the eleventh series event of the 2017 season.  We slept in slightly but were able to get to CORE by around 7:30.  I immediately reinstalled the skid guard I had removed the day before and went about setting up the course.  I used much of the practice course from the day before which held up amazingly well.  The event went well for us until my final run of the morning when I braked too late before a turn and smacked the front of the evo hard into a small ridge.  I was able to finish my run but found that skid guard was bent backwards at the front and several engine components were damaged.  Miraculously no fluids were leaking so Susan finished her final run.  At lunch I jacked up the evo and we took a closer look.  From what we could see the intercooler was dented and pushed up along with the radiator.  This caused the hood latch-point to also rise which made the hood look like it was open when it was secured shut.  The piping into the intercooler was smashed badly and would likely need to be replaced.  The new radiator crushed against the engine and had damage in several places (it really should have been leaking).  All in all my mistake caused some serious damage to our car.  Since the car seemed to be running alright we decided to try driving it for the remainder of the day.  The afternoon’s course was fast and fun and the evo made it just fine.  I even ended up getting 1^st place in our class which I felt pretty good about.  Susan came in 6^th but only because she hit a lot of cones (her driving was phenomenal).  It was a really fun event despite the evo’s damage.  The students from the day before showed amazing improvement in their driving which was nice to see.  On our way home (we were the last to leave) we saw several rallycrossers pulled over on the side of the interstate.  I almost stopped but they were waiving us to continue on.  Word eventually came to us that one driver didn’t torque his lug nuts enough and lost a wheel.  Whoops!  Everyone (including those in the temporarily-three-wheeled car) ended up making it home alright.  Once we were home and the evo unloaded I jacked up the car and tried pounding on the skid guard with a small sledge hammer.  That thing is way too thick for my small tools and will likely need to be cut off.  As nationals is in a week and a half and the car is running alright we decided to leave it be and fix it afterwards.  This made for a stressful end to the weekend for which I can only blame myself.  We spent the rest of the evening with Bella on the couch. 

Monday – we were planning on doing some work at the Dawn house after work but ended up chatting with Kubo after he dropped off the rally bus until it was dark and we’d lost our motivation. 

Tuesday – I stopped by rally.build to have some new rally tires mounted for nationals and have the skid guard looked at.  In the end the tires were ignored and the whole evening was spent on the skid guard.  I originally asked that the portion bent down be cut off and that the rest be left alone but the guy working on it did his own thing which included removing the entire skid guard and spending the next few hours trying to straighten it out.  Several rally people showed up to help and the point of what I’d asked to be done was lost to an almost mob mentality of “must unbend the metal”.  Unfortunately the skid guard is 3/16” of relatively high grade aluminum and was resistant to change using the tools the shop had.  There were many “hold my beer moments” where I was relatively certain someone was going to get hurt.  My patience was close to its end after a couple of fruitless hours and I interjected with some ideas to finish up what I really wanted accomplished.  Amazingly progress began to be made and, ultimately, what I wanted done was done and I left the shop somewhat placated around 11:30.  The forgotten tires were to be mounted the following Saturday. 

Wednesday – Susan and I went to the Dawn house to do tend to some final issues, clean, and take home more of our stuff.  We installed smoke detectors in the upstairs bedrooms, cleaned out more of the garage (including the loft), and swept and removed the last of Susan’s darkroom stuff from the basement.  We ended up having to leave some stuff behind in the garage to pick up the following night as the Suburban was packed full. 

October 14 weekend – I had almost ordered a new OEM intercooler pipe from Mitsubishi but Susan found one available locally for essentially nothing.  Dave Kern races evos and offered to let us use a spare he had for the cost of replacing it at some point.  On Saturday morning Susan and I drove up to Sterling’s shop (Sterling is Dave’s rally mechanic) to pick up the intercooler piping we needed.  As expected we spent an hour hanging out and chatting about racing and whatnot.  Afterwards we headed to rally.build to pick up our newly mounted rally tires/wheels.  As expected the tires weren’t yet mounted but we didn’t mind a bit as we hung out with Ryan McLaughlin (one of the owners) who we’ve known for years while the tire work was done.  It was a fun time and a reminder of how cool many of the people are in our chosen hobby.  After loading up our newly mounted tires and old worn tires we were on our way.  Since we were out on that side of town we stopped at Costco and went to Chili’s for a tasty lunch.  When we finally got home I set about swapping out the crushed intercooler piping while Susan briefly napped.  The install didn’t go as smoothly as I’d anticipated and Susan was up and hanging with me outside when I finally finished.  We drove the evo around to make sure there were no obvious boost leaks and called it good.  Dinner was chili I whipped up and it was yummy.  We spend the remainder of the evening on the couch with Bella.

Saturday we woke with an alarm (again) and drove up to Arvada to pick up an intercooler that a guy was giving away.  It may or may not hold boost so we’ll look to try it in the offseason.  The intercooler on the evo now is squished and bent but we know it holds boost.  We dropped by a Harbor Freight to attempt to exchange a busted car jack but were declined.  Apparently we just missed the warranty deadline.  Such is and we bought a new jack anyways.  On the way back around C470 we met Jeff at Applebee’s for lunch.  We jawed about this and that before we left.  Good times as always.  After that we stopped by the Tires Plus we often frequent for alignments to drop off the old worn rally tires that were dismounted from Saturday and then went to Lowes to buy new wood for the Suburban ramps (they go under them to prevent the ramps from sinking in soft soil).  Once home I proceeded to change the oil in the Suburban.  That thing takes a lot of oil but wasn’t difficult to manage.  To give me time to perform needed car work Susan went out by herself to purchase some needed clothes.  I also put the newly mounted rally wheels on the evo including spacers on the front (no more grinding at full-lock, yay!).  Susan got home around this point and helped me change the oil in Tia.  It was still light when we finished but we elected to call it a day as we’d accomplished a lot.  We watched TV on the couch with Bella for the rest of the evening - a nice end to a busy and productive weekend. 

October 19-23 weekend – Nationals

Thursday – We woke up around 7:00 and loaded up the last things into the Suburban for the trip.  Susan put a non-slip thing on the center console followed by a dog bed.  Bella was to stay there for the majority of the trip (such a great idea!).  We left our driveway about 8:00.  The drive was relatively uneventful besides some wind and we listened to podcasts for much of it (something we haven’t done in years).  We only stopped for gas and got to our hotel in Topeka around 5:00 where we unloaded some things and set out for the site where we were to race.  On the way we stopped at a car wash to vacuum and wash the evo and the Suburban’s gross windshield.  We found the site to be rather empty and Susan picked the perfect spot to drop off the trailer and evo.  We were to meet with some other rallycrossers for dinner at 7:00 but were running late as we still had Bella and had to swing by the hotel to drop her off.  Dinner was at the Blind Tiger which seemed to specialize in BBQ and steaks.  We walked around and found two open seats at a table full of rallycrossers from the east coast.  The food was excellent as was the company and we talked about rallycrossing.  We were tired when we finally got back to the hotel but managed to drink a bit more wine before falling asleep. 

Friday – I woke up early and decided to shower and eat breakfast before getting Susan out of bed.  Once she was up and about we gathered Bella and drove to Wal-Mart where I purchased ice and a pen and notepad.  This time when we got to the site there were many competitors present.  We walked to the tech trailer and picked up the necessary event stickers.  Then we spent the next 20 minutes sticking them on the evo (Susan did most of the work as she has more patience and cares more).  We hung out with some other Colorado competitors who were paddocked nearby before driving to the timing trailer to check in and get event info.  Then we went to the practice course to get a feel of the terrain.  It was on my second run when I discovered the clutch was starting to slip.  Uh oh.  We managed to get some decent practice in but the countdown clock on the clutch failing had begun. 

We were the first ones to get our practice runs in and were free for the next few hours so we picked up Bella and mingled with other drivers while watching them also utilize the practice course.  At 4:30 we drove the evo to its grid spot for class inspection.  At 5:00 we popped the hood so everyone could see our dirty engine.  For the modified class the class inspection is really just a time to get to know one’s competitors and their cars as there isn’t much to protest.  After it was over we drove back to our paddock spot to chat with friends and wait for dinner.  The SCCA handled the meal and a mix-up with the large tent caused a significant delay for which there was much grumbling (it was the vendor’s fault).  All was forgiven (at least to us) as the food was tasty and we were able to sit with fellow Coloradans.  After the meal was through there was a town hall where a couple of relevant questions were asked followed by some commentary - both good and lame.  The mostly cordial town hall was blessedly short and we were freed to go to our hotel to drink our wine before falling asleep. 

Saturday – We woke up with the alarm at 6:00 and I showered and ate breakfast before we leashed Bella and headed back to the event site at 7:30.  We were to work first so we left Bella in the Suburban, parked the evo in its grid spot, and then Susan checked in with the chief of workers.  We’re not sure whose Jimmies Susan rustled but somehow she was busted down from chief of timing last year to chasing cones this year.  Susan wasn’t happy but ultimately only had to fetch a single cone during the entire the event.  Once again I was to write an article for the Sportscar magazine so I used my recently acquired pen and notepad to take some notes while the stock class cars did their thing.  They were fun to watch and I spent much of the time chatting with other competitors who didn’t have anything else to do.  Finally we got to drive ourselves.  We were only going to get three runs and we tried to make the best of them.  I was two seconds faster than everyone on my first run but then coned on my second and ultimately was sitting barely out of first place after the third run.  Susan did alright but struggled to get her times down.  The slipping clutch was slipping more and more each run.  There was one serious issue with the site itself which was that it didn’t hold up at all to the cars.  There were literally changes made after each run which delayed the event significantly.  This plus a broken car that blocked the course for 20 minutes and timing system issues were frustrating.  It didn’t help that a massive storm front was threatening all day. 

It was shortly after our first run on the afternoon course that the weather arrived with pounding rain and bright lightning.  It was something to behold as course workers scrambled to their cars and we hastily packed up our race supplies.  The remaining day’s event was cancelled and rescheduled to the next morning.  We and some of the other Colorado rallycross “leaders” had planned on meeting over dinner to discuss our local program but many others wanted to eat together as well so we shelved our plans and went to the Blind Tiger with our large group of racers.  It took some time before we could get seated and we ended up in an upstairs storage room all by our lonesomes (all 20 of us or so).  We ate, drank, chatted, laughed, and even managed to talk a bit about our plans for Colorado rallycross.  It was a great time and we stayed until around 9:00 before heading back to the hotel for (you guessed it) some wine and sleep. 

Sunday – We, again, woke up at 6:00, I showed and ate breakfast, and we grabbed Bella and got to the event site at 7:30.  The rain proved to be devastating to the course and most of the M2 drivers struggled to get through the mud.  I knew I was hosed when I made my slow way around the course.  By the time our class finished our one run it became clear who was running mud tires and who wasn’t (us along with many from Colorado).  In the past mud tires weren’t generally utilized but this year many of the competitors were using them and it turned the results upside-down (at least in our class).  It was frustrating but nothing could be done.  It could have been worse as we watched one competitor get stuck for several minutes at the start line (he drove a Mustang shoed in evidently poor tires).  After us the prepared drivers got a crack at the course.  While it was a bit better they still struggled to put down good times and, once again, those with mud tires pulled ahead.  Once the prepared drivers put in their two runs the final course was set up while we waited.  Susan had to work the course again and I watched as the stock drivers did their thing.  I had a slight chance to snag the last trophy and drove hard but only managed to make up a little time and the clutch was slipping badly.  On our final runs we both struggled to accelerate above 4,000 RPM and I actually slowed down. 

Now done racing we limped the evo back to the paddock and loaded it onto our trailer.  We packed up most everything we needed to and then watched the prepared drivers drive the course with Bella.  After the racing was over we hung out for the trophy presentations to show our support.  We then got together for our traditional group picture of Colorado folks (plus some adopted racers) before splitting up for the drive home.  Hilariously a full-sized tracker trailer got stuck in the mud blocking the sole entrance to the paddock as we were about to leave.  Undeterred we drove back out to the practice course where there was a somewhat gentle egress to the paved road.  Susan got out to make sure traffic was clear and the Suburban made it through the shallow ditch with little fuss and we were on our way.  We stopped at Wal-Mart so we could get some food which we ate as we sat in the parking lot. 

The plan was that we would stop on our way home to visit Susan’s grandmother and the timing worked out great.  We got to her nursing home around 9:15 and stayed until 10:00 when the doors were to be locked.  It was a nice visit and hard to leave.  Norita is 93 years old and I know she wishes she lived closer to her family.  When we got back to our rig we found a few people mingling about it.  It turned out a couple of folks recognized the evo for what it is (an amazing piece of racing machinery) and we chatted with them before getting back on the road.  Susan wisely convinced me we should get a hotel for the night and we stayed at the Days Inn in Hays (the same one we’d stopped in back when we brought home furniture from Georgia two years ago).  I was soooo tired and fell asleep soon after we arrived. 

Monday – We woke up at 7:00 and I ate a quick breakfast in the hotel lobby.  After packing up we were on the road at 8:00 for home.  Susan quickly took to napping with Bella on her lap (Bella also slept).  We only stopped one more time for gas and Susan didn’t stir much until we were a couple of hours from home.  Once home we unpacked most everything save the evo from the trailer and went to Costco and Wal-Mart for food stuffs.  Because “why not?” I started a big chunk of beef in the slow-cooker when we got back.  The rest of the afternoon and evening had us on the couch while I edited and uploaded race videos and Susan caught up with game shows we missed while we traveled.  We both fell asleep on the couch and I woke at 10:30 to Susan going to bed.  I followed her soon after as I waited for the final video to finish uploading at 11:00 (our internet is soooo slow) and I put the fully-slow-cooked beef in the refrigerator. 

While neither of us did particularly well at nationals the weekend was a lot of fun overall.  There’s something special about traveling to another state to race and hanging out with competitors we only see once a year.  Bella was so good on the trip!  Instead of a burden she was a buddy and we were glad to have her with us.  Next year’s event will be back in Iowa (best site evar) and we’ll be coming prepared with mud tires and a new clutch. 

October 28 weekend – Saturday morning we got up with the alarm as our furnace was scheduled to be serviced between 8 and 10:00.  We didn’t think the guy would be on time but he ended up being a few minutes early.  I was barely out of bed and Susan had to throw on some clothes real quick.  It was the same guy who sold us the A/C and he remembered Bella.  Susan mentioned that the heat wasn’t as hot as expected (it came up on the house inspection) so he checked and found that the furnace was set up for natural gas as opposed to propane.  Once he adjusted the burners the temperature came out hotter and we were happy.  After he left we went to Kohl’s for Susan to use some Kohl’s cash that was about to expire.  Afterwards Susan noticed one of the rear tires on the RS was very low.  We filled the tire at a gas station and found the other rear tire was also low.  We figured there was a nail in one or both of them so picked up a puncture repair kit at Wal-Mart and went home to check.  It turned out there were no punctures but the tires were leaking slowly out from their beads.  I called Discount Tire and they said they could unmount, clean the bead, and remount the tires for us so we dropped them off.  We were scheduled to meet with some Colorado rallycrossers at HPR to check out a potential new rallycross site at 2:00 and arrived on time.  The track guy said we should be able to drive our own cars to the area and we did indeed make it, although our bumper was cracked pretty badly on the way.  The area we toured was ideal for running a rallycross if used in conjunction with a water truck (and after much land preparation).  Pretty neat.  After much discussion we drove back (cracked the bumper again on the other side) and talked about this and that before heading home.  On the way we stopped and picked up the remounted tires from Discount.  I went to put them back on the RS and discovered one was mounted backwards (they were directional tires) so had to go back to Discount for the tire to be remounted again.  Fortunately it only took a few minutes for the correction to be made and I was soon at home and had the tires back on the RS.  The rest of the evening was spent with Bella on the couch. 

Sunday was busier than we expected it to be.  Susan was up before me and cajoled me out of bed at 8:30 with the prospect of having breakfast with Jeff.  Jeff was in New Mexico with Alvin looking at a car so I made coffee instead.  It happened to be that this was the last weekend of Parker’s farmers market so we got dressed and headed over to walk around and buy spice packets to make tasty dips.  Afterwards we stopped by Wal-Mart to buy food stuffs for dinner (Jeff was going to come by later but him and Alvin got lost and didn’t get back in time).  We made a quick stop at home to drop off the food and went out again to Old Navy in pursuit of pug-themed pajamas which Susan did indeed find.  There was a long line at checkout and outside we found a rabbit hanging around the RS.  We briefly speculated that the rabbit was actually from our house and merely hitched a ride to Old Navy.  We both laughed but made sure the rabbit was still there when I pulled out of the spot (he was).  Once home I changed into PJs as we weren’t planning to do anything else for the day.  Then we were talking about used Miata engines and looking at craigslist.  Smack-cut to us unloading the evo and driving up to a commercial area to buy an engine.  We did make a stop at Harbor Freight to return a jack and buy some measuring tools that I couldn’t get to work properly (I wanted to check the crank end-play).  We did buy the engine as the guy was willing to come down in price and it looked alright.  Susan made sure it was securely tied down to the trailer and we made it home without issue.  With her help we had the engine on the hoist and in the garage.  Hopefully we’ll have the engine in the NB Miata and the car out of the garage very soon.  Once back inside the house I promptly changed back into my PJs for the remainder of the afternoon and evening which we spent on the couch with Bella.  So much for lazy Sunday! 

October was so darn busy for us.  Hopefully things slow down a bit with the end of the rallycross season and the holidays.  Then again, the evo needs a lot of work and we usually are busy during the holidays.  Such is!  

September 2017

September 2 weekend – This year’s Labor Day weekend was heavily weighed down with rallycross.  There were separate events on Saturday and Sunday both at CORE.  There was some real concern that we wouldn’t have enough competitors to run one or both of them and we made a big push for participants during the preceding week. 

Saturday we got an early start, leaving the house for the event around 6:00.  Janis was to design the morning course and was there before we arrived.  The rally bus wasn’t there yet so no designing could occur so we took the time to unload the evo.  Finally the bus showed up and I drove it around per Janis’ course map while he and Jonathon (another competitor) threw cones out the back.  I was satisfied with not participating further with the course setup and helped Susan get the bus ready for the day.  This included setting up our PA so we could do announcements as the old amp was not functioning from its fall back in August.  Our PA turned out to be the little PA that could and actually did rather well despite its small stature and low wattage.  The area we used for the course was largely neglected for the past month or so and much of the previous ruts and whatnot were obscured by new grass and weeds.  I’ll use that as an excuse as to why the course was so bumpy and a bit crazy.  By request our class ran first and there were a couple of places where there was likely a bit of air between our tires and the ground which is highly unusual and generally a no-no.  It’s possible this is what caused a crack in the top of our radiator to manifest itself halfway through the morning runs though it’s hard to know for sure.  While bumpy and a little crazy the morning course was fun and the afternoon course proved to be great too.  I pushed for maximum runs and seat-time and, in the end, even the fastest drivers had over 10 minutes of racing.  I finished the day second and Susan fifth in our class.  My coworker Connie came out to take some rides in the afternoon and she rode with us as well as several other drivers as we did our thang.  Our original plan was to leave the evo overnight on-site but we ended up trailer it home to replace the radiator with one we luckily already had.  So when we got home we rushed the evo off the trailer and immediately worked to swap the radiator out.  This went alright and by 8:30 we loaded the evo back up for the next day. 

Sunday was another early day.  When we arrived I was saddened to see the course was not already set up for the day (I had asked one of the other chiefs if he would take care of it right after the event the previous day) so set about helping to get it done (I wasn’t mad though as Saturday was a long day for everyone).  Sunday’s course used the same area as Saturday’s but had a very different layout.  As we knew the turnout was lower we designed the course to be shorter as well.  At first I worked the course while Susan handled the timing but that didn’t last long as people bugging her led to issues.  I jumped into the bus to help as I’m not as nice to those who annoy as she is.  The course was bumpy again but not nearly as much as the day before.  With the evo’s new larger radiator we were hoping its overheating problems were in the past but found we still had to spray off the radiator after each run to cool it off.  To be fair to the aftermarket radiator temperatures were over 100 degrees on Sunday which didn’t help.  Due to some course-related issues we didn’t quite get the runs in that I originally wanted but much fun was still had in the dirt.  I ended up finishing first in our class with Susan taking fifth place again (a few too many pesky cones kept her out of fourth).  After picking up the cones, loading up the rally bus, and packing up our racing stuff we left for home.  We did stop at Chili’s for dinner on the way home which was nice.  I was much too exhausted to unload the evo when we got home and we spent the remainder of the evening on the couch with Bella. 

Monday – We were actually up and about around 9:00 which felt mighty-early after racing two days in a row.  Our day’s plan was to drop off the WRX to get its niggling issues addressed by the Subie Doctor, drive up to Greeley to buy some cheap slightly-used rally tires, and be home by 3:00 so as to facilitate Ken picking up some racing supplies we brought home for him the day before as well as his Corn Hole setup we lent us for our housewarming party.  Dropping off the WRX went fine and then we headed up to Greeley to check out the rally tires.  The shop was one I hadn’t heard of before (O.D.D.) which was a bit nuts as we’ve never seen so many professionally prepped rally cars in one place.  There were at least a dozen race cars on site in various stages of repair.  The person managing the sale of the used rally tires was a friend of our friend Jeff and his name was Ronnie.  He was very talkative and we hung out after I purchased tires while he gave us a tour and told us many a story.  In some ways it felt like we already knew Ronnie and we had a nice time.  We found that we had spent perhaps too much time at the shop so only made one quick stop on the way home to get BBQ stuffs.  Susan was famished and I finally BBQ’d some burgers for us around 2:30.  Ken showed up right on time at 3:00 and we helped load up his Subaru Impreza wagon (almost exactly like the one we just sold).  Ken had rallycrossed both previous days in his beat up Ford Escort which was great as he hadn’t been out all season.  After Ken left Susan and I talked about possibly doing some other productive things but I made the declaration that I was essentially ruined from the previous days’ activities and made my way to the couch.  The only real interruption from our couch-time came when I got up to make beef stroganoff for dinner.  What a weekend!

On Wednesday night (September 6^th) we bought a 2000 Mazda Miata.  Since we sold Jay I’ve been itching to buy another car and specifically another Miata to rallycross (Susan put the kibosh on rallycrossing Tia).  I saw the ad on craigslist late in the morning and reached out not really expecting an answer as it was low-priced and looked in decent shape (such Miatas are generally snatched up fairly quickly).  He got back to me and after further exchanges and emails with Susan we decided to meet at an Olive Garden relatively close to our home.  This was great as the guy (Ray) lives 23 miles south of Byers which is over an hour from where we live.  We drove Tia and Ray was a pleasant fellow.  The car came with some history and had a relatively newer engine swapped in last year.  The test drive went well and I actually paid him his asking price without even trying to work him down (it was truly already very low).  Hilariously (to me anyway) I noticed a significant vibration begin in the car at above 65 MPH on our way home.  My guess is that the drive shaft needs replacing.  Luckily for us I don’t mind doing such a simple job myself (they are pretty inexpensive too).  After we got home we went to a car wash at Susan’s behest to give the car a quick rinse and to take pictures under better lighting conditions.  The car is as of yet unnamed but we’re furiously thinking of something as I type. 

September 9 weekend – It really began on Friday night when Jeff came by to check out the new Miata and eat BBQ’d burgers.  He took it for a ride which was alright and we put it up on jack stands when we got back to take a closer look at the car.  There were various issues with the suspension and obvious ones with the motor.  Due to the several oil leaks and that it needed the timing done we decided we’d pull the motor on Sunday.  The remainder of the evening was spent hanging out and chatting. 

We had a couple of things scheduled on Saturday.  The first was to pick up the WRX from the shop that was doing some work for us.  They fixed the misfire issue it was having, replaced some power steering lines, and installed a kill-switch (this makes it more difficult to steal the car).  The power steering pump was shot (again) but luckily it had a warranty so after we got home I pulled it to exchange for a new pump.  Susan had stopped at Ikea to pick up a present for the housewarming party we were to attend later in the day and got home just as I was leaving to exchange the pump.  She ended up heading back out to a thrift store while I did my water-pump-thing.  Even though I’ve now replaced a few power steering pumps I managed to crack one part that one can’t really buy.  *Sigh*  Frustrated I stewed on the couch until Susan got home.  It was around 5:00 when we left to attend Dan and Alina’s housewarming party.  They had a variety of different foods and drinks for consumption and gave us a tour.  They have plans to make serious improvements to the basement which were pretty cool.  Their dog Pixel has grown up and is a wild-child.  Many of the guests were new faces to us and we mingled with a few of them.  We had a nice time and headed home around 10:00. 

Sunday I woke at 8:00 and eventually dragged Susan out of bed around 9:00.  Jeff was to come over at 9:30 to aid us in pulling the Miata’s motor.  He ended up showing up after 10:00 which was fine as I got a jump-start on the project.  Over the next few hours we removed a lot of components above and below the motor.  Eventually we hooked up the engine to the engine hoist Jeff brought with him and pulled the engine out.  We didn’t have the right bolts to connect the motor to the engine stand so made a quick trip to Murdock’s to get them.  After we were back and the engine was attached to its stand we again left, this time to a junk yard to look for the power steering part I broke the previous day.  We went to our favorite lot (Littleton Pull and Pay) but were unsuccessful in our searching.  We did end up getting some coil packs off a Toyota Camry to eventually use on the new Miata (it will be an upgrade over the OE setup).  It was hot and after some Susan-cajoling we stopped at Cold Stone for ice cream.  It has been many years since we’ve gone but we managed to all get something tasty.  Once we were home again we pulled off the oil pan, head, and other internals from the engine to get a better idea of what work would possibly need to be done.  We found the block and much of the internals to be in good shape but the cylinder walls and crank would need some work done.  Susan kept track of the list of potential things we’d need to buy and places to contact to get started.  It was getting later in the day and Jeff took off to finish his evening at his home while Susan and I headed for the couch.  Poor Bella had been by herself for most of the day and missed Susan terribly.  It wasn’t all bad for Bella as she did get to join us at Murdock’s where she relieved herself on their floor.  Bella is a good dog most of the time.  We ordered pizza for dinner and watched TV before heading to bed early as we were tired from our busy weekend. 

September 16 weekend – The weekend began on Friday night when Susan and I brought dinner up to Karen and John’s house.  I prepped chicken casserole immediately after work and was just finishing up when Susan got home.  I only had to cut and butter/garlic some Italian bread and we were off to the mountains.  Unfortunately for us the traffic was horrible and the drive took a long time.  We finally arrived at our destination and popped the casserole in the oven immediately before heading to the living room for chit chat time.  We were very hungry by the time the food was ready and all agreed it was tasty.  Back to the living room we went as per the normal dinner schedule.  We talked for a couple of hours before deciding to forgo the dessert we brought up with us as we were still full.  Susan and I left around 10:00 for a drama-free drive home. 

We slept in a little on Saturday morning.  I was up around 7:00 and Susan 9:00.  The plan for the day was to do some work at the Dawn house.  I wanted to bring the Suburban so we had to finally unload the evo from the car trailer.  We towed the evo to a parking lot close to our local car wash to get the evo off the trailer.  We did this because a bunch of Goat Head stickers/seeds were still stuck in the tires of the evo from the last event and we didn’t want any to plant themselves around our house.  After the evo was free of the trailer we went to the car wash to vacuum out the evo’s interior before we went home.  Most of the goat heads were flung off on the drive back and Susan plans on plucking the rest at some point in the future with pliers.  We unhitched the trailer and loaded the PA from the Suburban to the WRX before finally making our way to the Dawn house.  We stopped at Village Inn for a late breakfast but found the joint packed so we moved on.  We settled on WichWich for Susan and Garbonzos for me (they are next to each other on Highlands Ranch Parkway).  We then stopped at Home Depot to pick up new mini-blinds for the kitchen.  Once at the Dawn house we mounted a couple of doors and I attempted to install the blinds.  Unfortunately the blinds we bought were too short (my bad) so we went back to Home Depot to exchange them.  Fortunately the guy working the returns counter was sympathetic so we left with what we needed.  After a quick trip to the Dawn house to install the right-sized blinds we went home to the Dogwood Estate.  It wasn’t late or anything but I decided I was finished being productive for the day.  Susan was still rearing to go so she went to a couple of thrift stores looking for overalls.  Dinner was leftovers and we hung out with Bella on the couch. 

Sunday was Colorado Pug Rescue’s annual Pugs in the Park fundraiser.  We packed up the rest of the items we’d need in the WRX and leashed up Bella.  We stopped at Lora’s Donuts & Bakery Shop for coffee and a donut for Susan (I ate before we left home).  The drive to Central Park where the event was held was uneventful and, upon arrival, jumped to helping where we could.  I set up the PA we brought (we always loan ours to CPR for the event) while Susan helped get the Rescue Tent/area prepared.  The event itself went well to my limited view of it.  There were too few foster pugs in attendance but that is essentially a normal thing.  The pugs there were cute and many people were interested in adopting them.  Bella quickly ran out of energy and spent much of the day on Susan’s camping chair resting.  She was very popular and received a lot of attention.  The standard pug-activities went on without much drama (beyond the pug-related kind) which was good.  Susan and Bella would have won first place in the kissing contest but it was decided to award it to a non-volunteer pug duo.  It was all very cute.  Rain rolled in around 3:00 and we packed up around that time.  Susan and I stuck around until most everything was loaded in the volunteer’s trucks and trailers before heading home.  Only one food truck showed up and we didn’t take the time to get anything so were fairly hungry at this point.  Susan was cool eating a BBQ’d hamburger so I grilled when we got home.  Later we finished off leftover pizza.  I was exhausted and went to bed early.  It was a great weekend!

-September 23 weekend – The weekend began with buying a snow blower and duvet on Friday night.  We ate a quick meal at Qdoba on the way to Bed Bath & Beyond which was tasty.  At BB&B we purchased a new king-sized heavy comforter.  It was only really noteworthy as I felt we were treated as ignorant poor folks.  There was perhaps a little too much emphasis put on keeping the receipt in case we needed to return it and making sure we understood how much it was going to cost.  I didn’t realize I was sensitive to such things (and it’s entirely possible I felt something that wasn’t happening).  Weird.  Afterwards we headed to Lowes where we bought the snow blower we’d picked out online earlier in the day.  As it is early in the fall it took some doing to find the model we wanted but in the end we loaded up our prize on the back of the car trailer for the drive home. 

Saturday morning began around 9:00 when I finally got up and fed Bella.  Around 10:00 and I was bugging Susan to get out of bed.  The plan was to catch breakfast on the way to the Dawn house and we ate at Great Beginnings.  As we were there late in the morning there was a short wait time before we were seated.  The food and coffee were excellent and we were soon on our way to the Dawn house.  We proceeded to load up the WRX with photo chemicals and various supplies from Susan’s old darkroom.  We also finally cleaned out and swept the garage.  We’re really hoping to rent out the Dawn house soon.  On the way home we stopped at Wal-Mart and then Costco for some needed things.  There was to be a rallycross on Sunday which was relocated from USTDS to CORE.  This location change was decided on Friday so Saturday afternoon I swapped out the rally tires from our super-worn set to a newer set and we loaded up the Suburban for the event.  In the evening we left for the Cherry Creek Canvas and Cocktails to paint.  We arrived early despite the rainy weather and me missing a turn and hitting a curb in my efforts to flip a u-turn (I’m pretty sure the car is fine).  The class began a little late but we were alright with it.  The instructor was originally from South Africa and had a cool accent.  She did a fine job instructing and entertaining the room and by the end of the night we all had achieved some degree of success.  Our paintings came out well and we enjoyed the experience despite the crappy brushes provided.  We went home where we found that the next day’s race was cancelled due to the rainy weather.  We also found that our furnace wasn’t functioning.  After some consternation we discovered the gas line was shut off and, after a quick “re-boot”, the heat began blowing. 

Sunday ended up being a lazy-day.  It was cold and rainy out and we opted to not leave the house.  Susan spent the day watching Netflix shows on the TV with Bella and I watched YouTube videos on my computer (Bella pretty much stayed with Susan all day as is her prerogative).  I managed to BBQ us lunch and whip up some chili for dinner and even got in an hour or so of guitar playing.  Saturday night was the first night we slept under the new comforter and I found the experience very hot.  I woke up early Sunday morning sweating a lot and I couldn’t cool off.  Perhaps it’s good the BB&B lady made sure we kept our receipt in the end.  We felt like we really needed a lazy-Sunday and made the most of it.  It was another great weekend for us! 

During the next week I thought it time to release my guitar instruction guide I’d written on the world of r/guitar (it’s a Reddit thing).  I was gratified with the majority of the feedback.  I figured out how to play guitar in a way that I’ve never seen anyone else do in quite the same way so wrote up my guide/instruction book.  As I love playing and believe firmly in the benefits I experienced due to my particular way of going about it I just hope some enterprising guitarist can find some benefit in it. 

Saturday, September 30 – we slept in until around 9:00.  Both of us were up and playing on our devices in bed with Bella when Jeff messaged that he was on his way over.  He was coming over to look again at the new Miata’s motor again to give a final opinion on what we should do.  Susan and I levered ourselves out of bed and got dressed.  Jeff delivered his advice and we decided breakfast would be nice.  We jumped in the wrx and I drove us to Great Beginnings.  It was busy but we were able to get a table right away.  The food was excellent and we ended up staying there for over two hours talking/debating about this and that.  Back at the Dogwood Estate we hung out for a bit longer before Jeff made his escape.  Susan and I hung out with Bella for a time and I got in a few minutes of guitar practice before we left to an end-of-summer celebration with our rallycross friends Todd and Valerie Briley.  I got to drive the rallybus while Susan followed in the RS.  I drove the bus as the person driving it to the next day’s rallycross was going to pick it up at the Briley’s party.  The rallybus really was pretty easy to manage and the trip was uneventful.  Their house is new, huge, and beautiful (entering felt like walking into one of the amazing homes on HGTV).  The Brileys are a recently married couple who both have been married and had children before and thus brought a lot to their relationship.  They had lots of food and beverages and we indulged in both.  The conversations were light and most were related to rallycross.  We left around 6:30 to hang out with Bella at home.  We probably stayed up too late which isn’t usually a good idea the night before a rallycross. 

September seemed to fly by and it’s hard to believe it’s over.  The weather has been a constant variable this month with hot days followed by rainy cooler days followed by more hot days.  Bella has been a doll and it so fun to play with.  We got our propane tank filled for the winter while prices were low and hopefully will have enough to make it until next spring.  October will be another busy-busy month that we’re both looking forward to.