Already 1 year down.

Today marks one of those shifts in my life. A year ago today, I bought my 1st Corvette. Those of you that know me, know that this has been a LONG time coming and that I've taken full advantage of having the car in my garage.







This picture was the day after I brought it home....


And this is one a few weeks ago....

So, in the past year, the car has been all over the country with me... As far west as Nebraska, and south as Tennessee. I've had it to the Corvette Museum and to the plant where it was made. I've driven it all over and enjoyed every second in the car and it's been part of some of the best memories I've made over this year.
I've joined the local Corvette club, I've hung out with some very cool and interesting people, and even made some new lasting friendships with it.

Here's to many more years of enjoyment

And now for something completely different

I've kinda had a one track mind lately, and for that I apologize.

So, in that theme, I'll add something I've not done for a while. I'm passionate about a few things and yes, cars are one of them. Something else is music. Now, my music doesn't really fit in with alot of popular opinions and tastes, and most of my friends can't take it. I've always listened to different things and these days it's kinda been on a more quiet note.
That's not to say it's easy listening, but compared to some of the stuff I listen to, it's quite tame.

My latest CD purchase ( you kids remember what those are right? ) is from a band I've been listening to for some time now. A band called Porcupine Tree. They really aren't able to be locked into one style or the other, as each CD is a bit different than the last.
Their music is built around haunting, sometimes very graphic lyrics, sweeping changes of music rangin from atmospheric mood setting music to hard rock/metal riffs and Zappa style time signature changes.
With this new release "The Incident", the band took more of a 'concept' approach and while sometimes the songs could've been delvoped further, they fit the piece and set the tone for the next part.
Dead center in the CD is probably one of the most relevant pieces for me that I've heard in years, called Time Flies. Without quoting the words, it's basically ( from my view at least ) all about looking back on your life and realizing that you rush so fast to grow up and get on with life, that when you're an adult, you find yourself looking back more and more at your youth ( or various points in your life ) and it feels like in a blink of an eye, you've spent the better part of your life waiting for something to happen. Waiting for things to come to you instead of going out and making life happen for you.
As we get older, we live with regret. We live with denial of those regrets ( sometimes ) and hope that if we ignore those things, that they'll go away, or not bother us.
Not taking that risk for that job that you wanted, but were afraid to fail.
Not telling that person what you really thought in fear of them being mad, sad, etc...
Letting good things in your life slip away due to insecurities, fear, pride or the worst thing... thinking that if you wait longer, something better might come along.

I think that in the grand scheme of things, I've gotten better at making life happen for myself. I've got a great job, a beautiful girlfriend that treats me far better than I feel I deserve, and I have a hobby that has opened my life up to so many new experiences, people, places and opportunities.

I need to get better, and time is short for us all.

Nationals Final update

Hi all,

I was asked to do a write-up on my experience @ the 2009 SCCA Solo National Championships for my Corvette Club.

So, in it I have provided some pictures and links to video, as well as a little story.
http://www.ccwp.org/pages/events_motorsports.shtml

Enjoy!

Nationals Wrapping up

Just got in from a night of watching the football game and hanging out with some local autocrossers.

We will be leaving sometime tomorrow afternoon, and should have a little write up later in the beginning of the week about the trip.

It's been alot of fun and made soem new friends and got to see some people I only get to see once or twice a year.
Hard to believe it's done already

The updates keep coming...

Well, day #2 of my runs didn't go very swimmingly. Actually, they DID, as there was rain on our run group and there was alot of water on the course.... so much so that we had our hands full just to keep the car from becoming an off shore boat.

My co-driver was one of the few that got one decently dry run, and his was still not bone dry. Each car going out lost 1 second each... By the time the 2nd drivers came to the line it was very wet. I had one clean run out of the 3 ( which totaled ONE run of 6 for the whole event ) and that made my times slower and dropped to next-to-last. My co-driver jumped up 10 spaces to the bottom section of mid-pack.

So, the awards banquet was tonight and while that was fun, it wasn't as much fun as if we'd have both driven as good as we could and known that the weather decided many of our fates, not just ours. So...

Tomorrow and Friday is just days of relaxing and helping out some other local drivers if they get rained on. Heading back home Friday night/Saturday morning. Should be back on Saturday night to start back to work on Monday.

The wi-fi here is a bit slow, or I would have a few vids up by now. Maybe once I get back.

2009 Nats update

It's been a long day, so I've not had the energy to update right now... pics, vids and text entries will be done tomorrow night once I get more time and energy.

Hope you all understand

Nationals 2009 - Day 2

Today's main focus was just walking. And more walking.
And more walking.

we walked for hours around the courses and got ideas and game plans for what we need/want to do for the event. Later in the day we did a seminar that one of the driving schools put on. Got some great feedback on what we thought we knew about the courses and also some tidbits we never thought of.

Also, we had a driver's welcome party that was incredible. The party itself wasn't much to write about, but the location was incredible for a car guy/gal. It was a huge autmotive museum that was cars, bikes, auto memorabilia and toys and anything esle related to it.

http://www.museumofamericanspeed.com/index.shtml

3 floors of history that was immense. Too much to see in a short time and to much to take in. I was greatly impressed. If you're in Lincoln Nebraska and like cars... this is a must see.

Tomorrow's day #1 of competition. It's an early day for us and we think it's going to be a great day... no matter the outcome.

More to come.

2009 Nationals Diary - Day #1

http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm308/AverageVetteNut/2009%20Nationals/

Above is a link of some pics that Ryan and I took yesterday during the practice sessions, and also the Pro-Solo finale.
We are in Lincoln Nebraska competing in the SCCA Solo National CHampionships. For those of you wanting to follow the action as it happens, there's a semi-live link on SCCA's site. THat link will be posted below.

http://www.scca.com/event.aspx?hub=3&event=13555

Just find the link for EVENT RESULTS and "SS" class is at the top. #s 85 and 185 ss ( Super Stock ) is our cars.

Today is just a day of walking the courses and figuring out where to go fast. Tomorrow and Wednesday, is our competition days. That night, we'll know how we stack up to the nation's best and know where we need to work on things.

more pictures, videos and stories to follow.

Big updates to come

Stay tuned here all week as I'm going to be not only posting up why I've been so bad about writing here, but also what I'm up to this week.
My summer's been a busy one here, but here's the cliffnotes :)

Monday thru Thursday... work

Friday thru Sunday... Either a) Racing b) Visiting Kim c) Kim visiting me.

Rinse and repeat... always rinse and repeat.

It's been a fantastic summer here. Kim and I haven't gotten to see each other as much as either of us liked, but we made it work. She's made this summer the best I've had as far back as I can recall.

I've been all over the eastern and mid-west part of the country autocrossing ( I'm in Lincoln, Nebraska as I type this ), and while the results have been mixed, the car is finally clicking with me and I'm hoping the results this week will reflect that.

Kim and I have been to some really great spots this summer both around her place, around mine, and in between. I showed her around a big corvette show/party last weekend, and to Gettysburg, PA as well. I think we're going back to there in a month.

Like I said... more to come. More pics, stories and thoughts.