Bill Engvall for those of you who might not have heard of him (I don't know how and I am not judging you) is a comedian and has a bunch of videos, cds (Blue Collar Comedy Tour) and even had his own tv show - The Bill Engvall Show on TBS from July 2007 to September 2009. I never watched it so I won't comment but it survived for two years. It must not have been terrible (If more people in the country (as in the sticks) had access to cable it probably would still be on). His most famous comedy bit is "Here's Your Sign" - (I am not providing a link, google Engvall, Here's Your Sign and you can pick which one you want to watch. I can't do everything for you). Enough with the biography and on to the parenting lesson.
Since one of the functions of this blog is to provide parenting advise and tips. I am starting a new feature - Parenting Lesson - Here's Your Sign.
When you go to the drive thru window at a fast food establishment (pick your favorite and insert) and when you get your bag of food regardless what you have ordered and your child or toddler's reply is "I want a french fry" - Here's Your Sign - maybe you are eating out too much.
What do you do? Leave the kids at home eating veggies and fruit. You are not going to stop eating McDonald's french fries (or anybody else's for that matter - this blog ranks them in this order (Frozen Category) - 1. Mickey D's, 2.Bojangles, 3.Chick-Fil-A / (Homemade Category) - Five Guys, Firewater, P Dog's are all are equal, I haven't found anyone yet to mess up homemade french fries/potato chips. If you find a place, I would suggest that you ask for the check and leave before going any further in the meal.)
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Vacation Update
As I remember, things from vacation I will post them.
Medieval Times
Not sure how they advertised the job opening but I am pretty sure they made it sound a lot more glamorous and exciting than it really was. I am sure they called the job Production Assistant. They should have called the job - Turd Wrangler. One of your jobs all night is to clean up the droppings from the horses in the arena using a hand crafted shovel that is more like a big sifter (a couple of shakes and the sand goes back on the ground and you have your prize). I am sure the description was something like - need a team player, hard worker, don't mind getting your hands dirty, advancement opportunities. I am sure they didn't mention the starting out on the bottom part. I admire the guys doing that (I know never say you will never do that and it's better than a lot of other jobs that I saw on Dirty Jobs that I can say I will never do.) and I hope one day they get to be the star Knight on the horse that wins the battle because they are paying the price and putting in the time.
Medieval Times
Not sure how they advertised the job opening but I am pretty sure they made it sound a lot more glamorous and exciting than it really was. I am sure they called the job Production Assistant. They should have called the job - Turd Wrangler. One of your jobs all night is to clean up the droppings from the horses in the arena using a hand crafted shovel that is more like a big sifter (a couple of shakes and the sand goes back on the ground and you have your prize). I am sure the description was something like - need a team player, hard worker, don't mind getting your hands dirty, advancement opportunities. I am sure they didn't mention the starting out on the bottom part. I admire the guys doing that (I know never say you will never do that and it's better than a lot of other jobs that I saw on Dirty Jobs that I can say I will never do.) and I hope one day they get to be the star Knight on the horse that wins the battle because they are paying the price and putting in the time.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Updates - It's been two weeks
BLOG FORMAT
I have changed the format and lost Aubrey's fish. Since it was why a couple of readers read this blog, I am working to get it restored. ***UPDATE*** I found her fish tank. No fishes were killed in the redesign of the blog.
POTTY TRAINING
WIP - Work In Progress
We have moments of joy - "Yea, Aubrey" (she actually tells us that when she pp and p and it is priceless) and moments of frustration "AUBREY! You have to tell mommy and daddy when you need to go potty." She also tells us "PAPER" and if you don't watch her she will unroll the whole roll - we give her one square. It reminds me of the Seinfeld episode when Elaine is in the bathroom and ask the person in the stall beside her "To spare a square". Aubrey is not going to spare a square.
We have had a couple of days of complete success and days of multiple failures. We are learning the signals but sometimes she is sneaky. Getting her to tell us seems to be the hardest part of this process.
We are seeing progress but as I said earlier - WIP
VACATION
I will give you the summary version...
Moving Van
Pretty sure we moved our entire house from Summerville to Surfside Beach. I think the best vacation involves a plane where you have to pay for luggage or limited to two bags.
Ocean Lakes Campground
If you've got beach front property, we need to talk about opening a campground. We visited some friends at Ocean Lakes campground - 2200 camper/motor home spots at $70 per night; houses - hundreds of them (don't own the property - pay a yearly lease fee); ice cream shop; restaurants; putt putt; golf cart rental @ $50/day...and the money keeps coming in...I always wondered what was going on inside there because every Saturday the line to get it in is very, very, very long. It was crazy during the day and I understand at night (I didn't think it was safe to be in there after dark. - ha!ha!) it is quite a show with golf carts cruising the streets - like the strip in Myrtle Beach that is bogged down with teenagers cruising and checking everything out. It was a little "red" in there. Okay, it was a lot "red" in there. If you don't have a pimped out golf cart, you might want to find somewhere else to stay. I saw the first ever golf cart with a shotgun rack...not really but I wouldn't put it past someone. I had driven pasted this place for over 20 years and wondered what happened beyond the gates and now I know. I had a hard time taking everything in because all I could see was dollar signs the whole time. The owners are toning it.
The Temperature
Hot, Hot, and Hotter...later in the stay, we got some breeze but the humidity was through the roof...I am not one to dwell on the heat index because I actually remember growing up triple digit days before weathermen had to invent the heat index to keep there jobs interesting in the summer. They had wind chill in the winter to make us feel colder and had to have something in the summer to make us feel hotter. It also reminded me of what Jesus did on the cross for you and me so we don't have to experience Hell. I got a long way to go but I am motivated.
The Beach
It is a lot of work to take both of our kids to the beach. Since Aubrey still needs an afternoon nap, I am not sure the 1.5 hours at the beach is worth the effort and then you add in the sand and saltwater and you have a bunch of reasons to stay in the a/c and play at the house.
The sand - it is everywhere and gets everywhere - not something I am fond of. Aubrey loves it so much she is still eating sand. I don't understand that part. We feed her good stuff and she tells us "I don't like" but she goes to the beach and eats shells and sand. I can say that everything we have tried to get Aubrey to eat was better than shells and sand. Anybody got an explanation??? I'm listening.
The saltwater - not something I am fond of. In case it wasn't in the Post and Courier, it made the Sun News (Myrtle Beach area paper and just an FYI be thankful for the P&C because it is like the NY Post compared to the Sun News) where the volume of ocean water has decreased because of Aubrey drinking it.
Medieval Times
Mesmerizing...She didn't eat anything because she was watching what was happening. She was entertained for over 2 hours of the show. She got squirmy the last 30 minutes. She loved the horses and then she put on a dance show with Madison. I will try to post the video.
WORLD CUP
Watched the first match and after about 2 minutes of no talking, I turned the channel. I thought they were having problems with the audio feed - all I heard was a buzzing noise. I found out later what it was. This story is true - LA was sleeping in the chair and I was watching another match and the noise actually woke her up and she looked at me and said "What is that noise, turn the channel?".
I am not a huge soccer fan but do find myself somewhat interested in the World Cup. I will be the first to say that the highlights are much more exciting and I often find myself channel surfing while watching and inevitably turning the channel back to find out a goal has been scored that is frustrating. I probably don't know enough to comment but if you are a soccer lover don't hate me. I want to love the game like you do but can I offer up a couple of suggestions that might help a causal viewer in the US become as excited as you - do away with offside, start the game and second half with penalty kicks, extra points for a header goal, fewer defenders than offense. I would say a bigger goal but it appears that has been done.
The USA was robbed of a victory but I am not going to whine about it. They shouldn't have gone down 2 goals. Nice come back which showed guts and if your goalie cowers when a ball is kicked at him, you might need a new goalie - watch the Landon Donavon goal (glad we scored but the goalie has to be willing to take the shot and try to stop the ball.)
The trophy seems a little small for the alleged significance - THE KING of FUTBOL. If this is the biggest and most important soccer tournament in the world and soccer/futbol is the largest sport in the world then the trophy needs be something like the Stanley Cup - that's a trophy. It's big, manly and screams "Champion". If the Stanley Cup could talk the stories it could tell. I am pretty sure you would blush. It is legendary. As my friend Greg says "I'm just sayin".
I have changed the format and lost Aubrey's fish. Since it was why a couple of readers read this blog, I am working to get it restored. ***UPDATE*** I found her fish tank. No fishes were killed in the redesign of the blog.
POTTY TRAINING
WIP - Work In Progress
We have moments of joy - "Yea, Aubrey" (she actually tells us that when she pp and p and it is priceless) and moments of frustration "AUBREY! You have to tell mommy and daddy when you need to go potty." She also tells us "PAPER" and if you don't watch her she will unroll the whole roll - we give her one square. It reminds me of the Seinfeld episode when Elaine is in the bathroom and ask the person in the stall beside her "To spare a square". Aubrey is not going to spare a square.
We have had a couple of days of complete success and days of multiple failures. We are learning the signals but sometimes she is sneaky. Getting her to tell us seems to be the hardest part of this process.
We are seeing progress but as I said earlier - WIP
VACATION
I will give you the summary version...
Moving Van
Pretty sure we moved our entire house from Summerville to Surfside Beach. I think the best vacation involves a plane where you have to pay for luggage or limited to two bags.
Ocean Lakes Campground
If you've got beach front property, we need to talk about opening a campground. We visited some friends at Ocean Lakes campground - 2200 camper/motor home spots at $70 per night; houses - hundreds of them (don't own the property - pay a yearly lease fee); ice cream shop; restaurants; putt putt; golf cart rental @ $50/day...and the money keeps coming in...I always wondered what was going on inside there because every Saturday the line to get it in is very, very, very long. It was crazy during the day and I understand at night (I didn't think it was safe to be in there after dark. - ha!ha!) it is quite a show with golf carts cruising the streets - like the strip in Myrtle Beach that is bogged down with teenagers cruising and checking everything out. It was a little "red" in there. Okay, it was a lot "red" in there. If you don't have a pimped out golf cart, you might want to find somewhere else to stay. I saw the first ever golf cart with a shotgun rack...not really but I wouldn't put it past someone. I had driven pasted this place for over 20 years and wondered what happened beyond the gates and now I know. I had a hard time taking everything in because all I could see was dollar signs the whole time. The owners are toning it.
The Temperature
Hot, Hot, and Hotter...later in the stay, we got some breeze but the humidity was through the roof...I am not one to dwell on the heat index because I actually remember growing up triple digit days before weathermen had to invent the heat index to keep there jobs interesting in the summer. They had wind chill in the winter to make us feel colder and had to have something in the summer to make us feel hotter. It also reminded me of what Jesus did on the cross for you and me so we don't have to experience Hell. I got a long way to go but I am motivated.
The Beach
It is a lot of work to take both of our kids to the beach. Since Aubrey still needs an afternoon nap, I am not sure the 1.5 hours at the beach is worth the effort and then you add in the sand and saltwater and you have a bunch of reasons to stay in the a/c and play at the house.
The sand - it is everywhere and gets everywhere - not something I am fond of. Aubrey loves it so much she is still eating sand. I don't understand that part. We feed her good stuff and she tells us "I don't like" but she goes to the beach and eats shells and sand. I can say that everything we have tried to get Aubrey to eat was better than shells and sand. Anybody got an explanation??? I'm listening.
The saltwater - not something I am fond of. In case it wasn't in the Post and Courier, it made the Sun News (Myrtle Beach area paper and just an FYI be thankful for the P&C because it is like the NY Post compared to the Sun News) where the volume of ocean water has decreased because of Aubrey drinking it.
Medieval Times
Mesmerizing...She didn't eat anything because she was watching what was happening. She was entertained for over 2 hours of the show. She got squirmy the last 30 minutes. She loved the horses and then she put on a dance show with Madison. I will try to post the video.
WORLD CUP
Watched the first match and after about 2 minutes of no talking, I turned the channel. I thought they were having problems with the audio feed - all I heard was a buzzing noise. I found out later what it was. This story is true - LA was sleeping in the chair and I was watching another match and the noise actually woke her up and she looked at me and said "What is that noise, turn the channel?".
I am not a huge soccer fan but do find myself somewhat interested in the World Cup. I will be the first to say that the highlights are much more exciting and I often find myself channel surfing while watching and inevitably turning the channel back to find out a goal has been scored that is frustrating. I probably don't know enough to comment but if you are a soccer lover don't hate me. I want to love the game like you do but can I offer up a couple of suggestions that might help a causal viewer in the US become as excited as you - do away with offside, start the game and second half with penalty kicks, extra points for a header goal, fewer defenders than offense. I would say a bigger goal but it appears that has been done.
The USA was robbed of a victory but I am not going to whine about it. They shouldn't have gone down 2 goals. Nice come back which showed guts and if your goalie cowers when a ball is kicked at him, you might need a new goalie - watch the Landon Donavon goal (glad we scored but the goalie has to be willing to take the shot and try to stop the ball.)
The trophy seems a little small for the alleged significance - THE KING of FUTBOL. If this is the biggest and most important soccer tournament in the world and soccer/futbol is the largest sport in the world then the trophy needs be something like the Stanley Cup - that's a trophy. It's big, manly and screams "Champion". If the Stanley Cup could talk the stories it could tell. I am pretty sure you would blush. It is legendary. As my friend Greg says "I'm just sayin".
Friday, June 4, 2010
Potting Training Day - Updated 6/4
06/03/10
Aubrey went 13 for 15 (.870) and two wet diapers. As you can tell we increased the frequency of potty trips on day two. One of her "accidents", she tricked mommy by pp in the potty before LA got in the shower and while LA was in the shower she finished up with a p. She has not p in the potty yet. Overall she has a potty average of .720 after two days...improving.
I will go ahead an admit there is no better sound and her reaction when it happens is priceless.
Aubrey went 13 for 15 (.870) and two wet diapers. As you can tell we increased the frequency of potty trips on day two. One of her "accidents", she tricked mommy by pp in the potty before LA got in the shower and while LA was in the shower she finished up with a p. She has not p in the potty yet. Overall she has a potty average of .720 after two days...improving.
I will go ahead an admit there is no better sound and her reaction when it happens is priceless.
Hospital Bills
We got our first bill yesterday from the only hospital in Summerville from when LA had Wyatt. You can figure it out and I won't call them by name until they make me mad because I don't have much to complain about.
I would like to make a few observations. We were in the hospital for less than 36 hours and boy is it expensive - in excess of 10K - about $300/hour (almost as much as a lawyer charges by the hour, ha!ha!). The "contractual adjustment" with our insurance carrier makes it more reasonable - 5.1K. The $1 million dollar question for the medical industry is that why does it appear to cost $10.8K for services provided but you are willing to accept 49% of those charges for the services you provided. What is the real cost to operate the hospital for labor and delivery - $10.8K or 5.1K? Are the real costs marked up, knowing that they will be discounted by the insurance company? I guess that is the system that has been created. My issue is if the hospital is going to "adjust" the bill for the insurance company by 51% why is there still an account balance of $240 due from patient. Evidently, writing off the additional 2% is going to send the hospital into bankruptcy. Writing off 5.5K was the breaking point, the line in the sand. So, $240 is all that stands between me being a delighted customer and a satisfied customer. The fixed cost to send the bill has got to be close that number. At what point is it more cost effective to write off the bill and have a delighted customer or send the bill - evidently less than $240. I am going to research this with the insurance company because I have heard that if your insurance carrier has a contract amount for services with the hospital they can not charge you anything additional. I might be wrong (I always seem to be wrong) but it will be worth one phone call. Probably not worth a big fight because our time is so valuable but it never hurt to ask. If we save the $240 we can go out and stimulate the economy some more.
Here's a breakdown on Labor and Delivery charges for one child:
Labor and Delivery Room - 5.9K
Post Delivery Room - 1.1K
Lab - 1.9k
Meds - .4k
Sterile Supplies/Med Surg Supplies - .95k
IV Solutions - .6k
I am glad we have insurance but even if we didn't I would pay 10.8K or 5.1K or whatever the amount because Wyatt and Aubrey are worth every penny even $240.
I would like to make a few observations. We were in the hospital for less than 36 hours and boy is it expensive - in excess of 10K - about $300/hour (almost as much as a lawyer charges by the hour, ha!ha!). The "contractual adjustment" with our insurance carrier makes it more reasonable - 5.1K. The $1 million dollar question for the medical industry is that why does it appear to cost $10.8K for services provided but you are willing to accept 49% of those charges for the services you provided. What is the real cost to operate the hospital for labor and delivery - $10.8K or 5.1K? Are the real costs marked up, knowing that they will be discounted by the insurance company? I guess that is the system that has been created. My issue is if the hospital is going to "adjust" the bill for the insurance company by 51% why is there still an account balance of $240 due from patient. Evidently, writing off the additional 2% is going to send the hospital into bankruptcy. Writing off 5.5K was the breaking point, the line in the sand. So, $240 is all that stands between me being a delighted customer and a satisfied customer. The fixed cost to send the bill has got to be close that number. At what point is it more cost effective to write off the bill and have a delighted customer or send the bill - evidently less than $240. I am going to research this with the insurance company because I have heard that if your insurance carrier has a contract amount for services with the hospital they can not charge you anything additional. I might be wrong (I always seem to be wrong) but it will be worth one phone call. Probably not worth a big fight because our time is so valuable but it never hurt to ask. If we save the $240 we can go out and stimulate the economy some more.
Here's a breakdown on Labor and Delivery charges for one child:
Labor and Delivery Room - 5.9K
Post Delivery Room - 1.1K
Lab - 1.9k
Meds - .4k
Sterile Supplies/Med Surg Supplies - .95k
IV Solutions - .6k
I am glad we have insurance but even if we didn't I would pay 10.8K or 5.1K or whatever the amount because Wyatt and Aubrey are worth every penny even $240.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Potting Training Day 1
06/02/10
Tuesday was LA's last day of school and thus begins the potty training for Aubrey and the cleaning up of double P's for mommy and daddy (mainly mommy since I will not be at home during the day).
She went 2 for 6 (.340 potty average, well above the Mendoza Line) yesterday with two wet diapers (she is only wearing diapers at nap time and night time, you can't count that against her). Not a bad start but considering we have to get to 100%, there's still considerable work to do. Anything less than 100% and your are not going to make it in this world, unless you are going to school or work each day with a bunch of clothes and even then everybody is going to wonder "What in the world is wrong with her? Her parents didn't teach her to use the potty?".
Since I brought up the Mendoza Line, I have often thought that baseball is a unique sport in that you are basically a failure but get paid like a rock star (those that make it to THE SHOW get paid, those in the minor league are paid like a high school drop out but they are doing something that is fun and they love and the last time I checked they could quit whenever they wanted but why quit until they let you go. Playing in the minor leagues and getting paid is better than any 8 to 5 job and as long as you playing, there is always the chance your name will be called for THE SHOW). You can bat .280 and if you can field the ball, you can have a pretty long career. I know there are other "new" indicators slugging percentage, on base percentage and OPS (on base plus slugging) to determine your success and value to your team but I am old school. For our purposes on this blog and in our house, we will be sticking with the potting average formula - number of attempts and number of times she's successful and .280 isn't going to cut it. Until she's at 100%, it's a failure on her, mommy and daddy's part.
Hopefully, this will not take too long. I hope she is a quick learner. She seems to responding when we drag her nose back through the "accident" and then sit her on the potty. If you come over to visit, don't assume the water on the floor is from an ice cube - proceed with caution.
PS - If you are a baseball fanatic and disagree with my comments about batting averages, that is fine. Don't be offended, it was a high level overview and used to make a point about my daughter not being a failure at pp and p in the potty. I haven't watched a professional baseball game since A Rod signed for 850 gagillion dollars with the Rangers that was the beginning of the end of me really caring about professional sports. I do watch baseball highlights, since SportsCenter uses them as filler during the football and basketball off season. I will even say that something needs to be done to correct the perfect game thrown last night by the Detroit Tigers pitcher. He earned it...fix it.
PSS - I was just kidding about dragging her nose back through the "accident" but it is a proven method for dogs and if this process "drags" along we might have to resort to extreme measures.
Tuesday was LA's last day of school and thus begins the potty training for Aubrey and the cleaning up of double P's for mommy and daddy (mainly mommy since I will not be at home during the day).
She went 2 for 6 (.340 potty average, well above the Mendoza Line) yesterday with two wet diapers (she is only wearing diapers at nap time and night time, you can't count that against her). Not a bad start but considering we have to get to 100%, there's still considerable work to do. Anything less than 100% and your are not going to make it in this world, unless you are going to school or work each day with a bunch of clothes and even then everybody is going to wonder "What in the world is wrong with her? Her parents didn't teach her to use the potty?".
Since I brought up the Mendoza Line, I have often thought that baseball is a unique sport in that you are basically a failure but get paid like a rock star (those that make it to THE SHOW get paid, those in the minor league are paid like a high school drop out but they are doing something that is fun and they love and the last time I checked they could quit whenever they wanted but why quit until they let you go. Playing in the minor leagues and getting paid is better than any 8 to 5 job and as long as you playing, there is always the chance your name will be called for THE SHOW). You can bat .280 and if you can field the ball, you can have a pretty long career. I know there are other "new" indicators slugging percentage, on base percentage and OPS (on base plus slugging) to determine your success and value to your team but I am old school. For our purposes on this blog and in our house, we will be sticking with the potting average formula - number of attempts and number of times she's successful and .280 isn't going to cut it. Until she's at 100%, it's a failure on her, mommy and daddy's part.
Hopefully, this will not take too long. I hope she is a quick learner. She seems to responding when we drag her nose back through the "accident" and then sit her on the potty. If you come over to visit, don't assume the water on the floor is from an ice cube - proceed with caution.
PS - If you are a baseball fanatic and disagree with my comments about batting averages, that is fine. Don't be offended, it was a high level overview and used to make a point about my daughter not being a failure at pp and p in the potty. I haven't watched a professional baseball game since A Rod signed for 850 gagillion dollars with the Rangers that was the beginning of the end of me really caring about professional sports. I do watch baseball highlights, since SportsCenter uses them as filler during the football and basketball off season. I will even say that something needs to be done to correct the perfect game thrown last night by the Detroit Tigers pitcher. He earned it...fix it.
PSS - I was just kidding about dragging her nose back through the "accident" but it is a proven method for dogs and if this process "drags" along we might have to resort to extreme measures.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Race Day
Memorial Day weekend for me growing up was the official start of summer and the end of me caring about school and upcoming exams. Alice Cooper had it right with his song "School's Out For Summer". For the younger generation that reads this blog seeking to gain insight into my generation click the link or do what you do best - buy the song on iTunes or just Google it. I also remember it being an important weekend for racing - NASCAR and Indy car (open wheel).
As a result of my declaring school officially over, to celebrate Sunday was and still is the highlight of my Memorial Day weekend. Why? The Indianapolis 500 (The Super Bowl of open wheel racing) and Coke-Cola 600 (The longest NASCAR race of the season - really, just a reason to sell another hour worth of advertising), that's 1100 miles of racing and a couple of good naps.
Racing is much easier to watch these days with the invention of the DVR and live recording. I used to watch both races and not be able to fast forward (There was a time when you couldn't pause the TV to go to the bathroom or just hit the fast forward button. We did have VCR but you had to wait until the race was over to watch it. I know you are wondering how I survived. Trust me it was difficult and what made it more difficult was that we were the last house in Summerville to get cable. All my friends had the "fixed" cable boxes long before we had cable or a box - as a matter of fact, I am pretty sure by time we got cable you didn't need a cable box. It wasn't that my father wouldn't allow us to have it but because of the distance of our house from the road, the signal wasn't strong enough for the long run...finally, we did get cable - how did I survive without it for so long?). Now, I will watch some of the racing live and some off the DVR. To be honest, I am not nearly as big a fan as I used to of NASCAR (see earlier posts on turning 43) and the only race that matters in open wheel racing is the Indy 500. The only other reason to watch open wheel racing is the crashes because they are usually pretty intense. Instead of watching all of the boring race, you can catch the crashes on the local news (only sometimes because our local sports coverage is lets say less than desirable), Sports Center (but you have to watch an hour to catch the 3 minute story, if you missed it the first time around) or the Internet (quick, fast and you get right to the crash without all the other talk). It is amazing to me that you can hit a wall going in excess of 200mph feet first, you can fly through the air, potentially landing upside down and sliding down the track on your helmet and walk away with no injuries or minor injuries. In case you missed it, the trifecta happened at Indy near the end of the race - a driver drove over the rear wheels of another car, flew over that car, hit the catch fence (as it the fence caught the car and kept him from flying into the stands), disintegrated and fell back onto the track, didn't get hit by another car and he only had a broken leg. Trust me you need to see this because you can't describe it with words. Check out the still photos and video here.
Since, he missed church last Sunday, I am pretty sure he will be in church this Sunday and I am pretty sure he will need a new drivers suit.
As a result of my declaring school officially over, to celebrate Sunday was and still is the highlight of my Memorial Day weekend. Why? The Indianapolis 500 (The Super Bowl of open wheel racing) and Coke-Cola 600 (The longest NASCAR race of the season - really, just a reason to sell another hour worth of advertising), that's 1100 miles of racing and a couple of good naps.
Racing is much easier to watch these days with the invention of the DVR and live recording. I used to watch both races and not be able to fast forward (There was a time when you couldn't pause the TV to go to the bathroom or just hit the fast forward button. We did have VCR but you had to wait until the race was over to watch it. I know you are wondering how I survived. Trust me it was difficult and what made it more difficult was that we were the last house in Summerville to get cable. All my friends had the "fixed" cable boxes long before we had cable or a box - as a matter of fact, I am pretty sure by time we got cable you didn't need a cable box. It wasn't that my father wouldn't allow us to have it but because of the distance of our house from the road, the signal wasn't strong enough for the long run...finally, we did get cable - how did I survive without it for so long?). Now, I will watch some of the racing live and some off the DVR. To be honest, I am not nearly as big a fan as I used to of NASCAR (see earlier posts on turning 43) and the only race that matters in open wheel racing is the Indy 500. The only other reason to watch open wheel racing is the crashes because they are usually pretty intense. Instead of watching all of the boring race, you can catch the crashes on the local news (only sometimes because our local sports coverage is lets say less than desirable), Sports Center (but you have to watch an hour to catch the 3 minute story, if you missed it the first time around) or the Internet (quick, fast and you get right to the crash without all the other talk). It is amazing to me that you can hit a wall going in excess of 200mph feet first, you can fly through the air, potentially landing upside down and sliding down the track on your helmet and walk away with no injuries or minor injuries. In case you missed it, the trifecta happened at Indy near the end of the race - a driver drove over the rear wheels of another car, flew over that car, hit the catch fence (as it the fence caught the car and kept him from flying into the stands), disintegrated and fell back onto the track, didn't get hit by another car and he only had a broken leg. Trust me you need to see this because you can't describe it with words. Check out the still photos and video here.
Since, he missed church last Sunday, I am pretty sure he will be in church this Sunday and I am pretty sure he will need a new drivers suit.
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