February 2020

February 1^st weekend – Saturday began earlyish with me getting up before the alarm to feed the pups.  Soon Susan was up and coffee was brewed.  It was to be another open lapping day at HPR so soon we were in the suburban and on the way to the track.  We arrived during the drivers meeting and had to wait to check in and receive our season pass cards. 

We had parked next to an old rallycross friend Janis and chatted about race stuff throughout the day.  He and his pal were there testing their E36 and Janis wasn’t actually driving. 

The day went well for us as Scrappy drove well and we had no issues.  It was a light crowd which is always nice.  We tried out our new camera which captured some cool footage.  This camera is different than our old one as it overlays GPS data on the video.  Cool stuff. 

We left the track around 3:30 and went straight home to our earnest doggies.  They were happy to be fed and petted.  We ate leftovers and hung out on the couch for the remainder of the evening. 

Sunday I woke up much too early with a sore throat.  Unbelievably I somehow managed to acquire another sinus infection.  Ugh.  I spent my awake time editing video from the day before.

Eventually I coaxed Susan out of bed for coffee and hangout-time before we left to go to Costco and then drove up to Arvada.  Alvin had alerted me to a Facebook post regarding used race tires and I was lucky enough to be the first one to respond.  Thus we picked up the barely used tires for a fantastic price.  The seller had several interesting cars including an imported Japanese K-car and a micro van.  Neat stuff. 

Our next stop was at Longhorn Steakhouse by Park Meadows Mall for our annual Superbowl steak dinner (or lunch in this case).  The restaurant was mostly empty which is just how we like them.  The food was good though my steak was seriously over-salted.  Oh well. 

After stuffing ourselves we stopped at Walmart to buy a bunch of food and miscellaneous stuffs.  Once home and unpacked Susan took Oliver for another walk while I rested by my sick-self on the couch.  Susan took many cute pictures of Oliver being a cat while I relaxed. 

Eventually Susan came inside and kept the dogs company as I napped on the couch.  Dinner was leftovers once again but we didn’t mind.  Another great weekend for sure. 

February 7^th weekend – after work on Friday Susan and I drove up to Kari and Alvin’s house for dinner and some games.  The weather was terrible but in Flo we made the trip without incident.  I had actually gotten high-centered and stuck just inside our driveway when I got home from work in my low Miata.  I struggled in vain until Susan got home and could take the wheel while I pushed. 

Kari and Alvin were slaving away preparing food when we arrived at their home.  The main course was to be two different kinds of Stromboli – one traditional and one with chicken.  Once the contents were stacked Kari rolled the Stromboli into football shapes and cut vent holes.  They were large enough that each got their own pan and they looked like deflated footballs.  Cooking them through while not burning the outside proved to be a challenge.  We all enjoyed them despite the touch of char on their undersides. 

One of their neighbors, Grace, and her friend, Christa/Christina/Chris, came by join us.  Grace brought Password which is a game in a similar vein as Taboo.  The instructions were for two teams but the number of participants had us fielding three teams.  We changed the rules to compensate and had a great time.  Somehow Susan and I massacred the other teams though I think lax scorekeeping was mostly the cause. 

We woke Saturday to find the world covered in snow.  I was initially going to use our snow blower on the driveway but the forecasted warm temperatures had me waiting to see if it would be necessary.  We had enough food and entertainment on hand so decided to stay in for the day and hang out with the pups.  The warmer weather did indeed melt the snow enough that I didn’t need to use the snow blower. 

Sunday we woke midmorning to feed the pups, drink our coffee, and discuss the day.  We decided to catch lunch on our way to Walmart to buy food stuffs and then take Mel to a groomer.  The first part of the plan went without a hitch and we were soon back home from the store and unloading our groceries. 

A package was due to arrive that required a signature so I elected to stay home while Susan took Mel to her groomer.  While Mel was getting her groom on Susan went to a book store to buy her co-worker an adult coloring book for her birthday.  The package didn’t show up while Susan was away (of course) so I cooked and did some chores. 

Dinner was baked chicken which was yummy.  We spent the remainder of the evening with the pups on the couch, entertaining ourselves via our personal preferences.  It was a nice and relaxing weekend. 

February 14^th weekend – Saturday was rough.  I woke up to the worst migraine I can remember and I stayed in bed until after 4:00 in the afternoon.  At least Susan was able to get up and hang out with the pups properly on the couch.  Sunday was a very relaxing day where virtually nothing was accomplished.  Some weekends are like this. 

February 22^nd weekend – I was up with an alarm to take Scrappy’s new wheels and used tires to get mounted at Discount Tire.  Unfortunately the wheel/tire sizes were outside of what Discount would do so I tried Walmart’s TLE.  They had no issues mounting the tires so I left them there and went back home where I woke up Susan.

We had our coffee and then I had to leave again to buy big bolts to attach Scrappy’s donor engine to an engine stand.  Susan was going to go to a home and garden show downtown with Kari and I saw Kari coming towards our house as I was driving to the hardware store.  I found what I needed and came home to find they had left to do their thang downtown. 

I toiled in the garage while they were gone.  I removed Scrappy’s bumper, engine, and exhaust.  Susan got home around this point.  Evidently they had fun although they saw some folks there they didn’t want to see while at the show.  Such is I suppose. 

I finished up what I was doing, brushed my hair into reasonable compliance, and Susan and I left to do some shopping.  We went to Harbor Freight to purchase another engine stand and then Walmart to pick up the freshly mounted wheels and to buy some stuffs.  Once home we had leftovers for dinner and hung out for the rest of the evening. 

Sunday I was up to play video games while Susan slept on.  Eventually I got Susan up for coffee around noon.  The weather outside was snowy which put a damper on my productivity goals for the day.  Mostly we just hung out.  I did open a few boxes of car parts which was fun.  It was a nice weekend for sure. 

February 28 weekend - the weekend began after work on Friday when we met some friends at Painting With a Twist to celebrate Susan’s birthday.  I had to work late and didn’t leave the office until 7:15 when the event started at 7:30.  Luckily these sort of things often don’t start on time and I arrived before the brushes hit the canvas.  2.5 other couples attended: Gregg and Sandra, Liz and Drew, and Dan (his significant other, Alina, was at home sick).  We had a grand old time and our paintings came out recognizable. 

Saturday started early as we had the day scheduled as a track-day.  Since Scrappy is down for its engine swap we took Tia in the enclosed trailer.  We weren’t going to go to the track at all but we wanted to look at a built Miata racecar that we were interested in and to deliver some wheels we were selling.  Susan was apprehensive about bringing Tia to the track but changed her mind which turned out well. 

After attending the end of the drivers meeting we spent some time talking with the Miata racecar’s owner about the car.  It was very nice and turnkey ready to go.  He was there testing a newly built engine so we saw him between his stints.  While the car was nice there were enough idiosyncrasies about car that I lost interest.  If I didn’t already have a Miata that I’d spent a lot of time and money preparing for the track I probably would have snapped this one up. 

After talking with the Miata-guy we met with David (a fellow Miata Lemon’s driver) to sell him some wheels.  Tia is usually shod in decent all-season tires which really have no place at the track.  We had brought two sets of wheels that we were looking to get rid of and after he picked his favorites we mounted the remaining wheels on Tia. 

Susan and I both drove Tia around the track and had a blast.  The biggest difference between driving Tia and Scrappy was the seats.  Scrappy has a race seat with bolstering and a five-point harness that leaves no room for the driver to wiggle about.  Tia has its original factory seat with virtually no bolstering and just a shoulder belt that, while fine for daily driving, was ridiculous on the track with sticky tires.  Our hands, shoulders, and torsos were exhausted from having to hold ourselves against the G-forces.  It was a good time but a tiring experience. 

Sunday we didn’t do anything productive.  It would have been a good day to be in the garage messing with Scrappy but I just wasn’t feeling it.  Luckily Susan was ok hanging out on the couch with me.  It was another nice weekend. 

February was an interesting month.  Both of us had been so busy at work that our brains felt drained by the time we got home.  We got in some time at the track which was fun and spent more time hanging out with the dogs which was nice.  The days are getting longer and daylight savings time switches on over the first weekend of March which will be great.