Burnerblog

I’ve been busy. So busy, in fact, that I’ve neglected ol’ Burnerblog once again.

Here is the kind of post I hate to read on other people’s’s’s’s’s blogs.

I’ve been playing bass in two bands, playing Age of Conan online with friends, racing in NCNASCAR (and winning some races!), having friends over from out of town, reading neat websites with cool ideas, and many other things.

Next up for me is making a compost pile, organizing one corner of the garage, and waxing my car.

And maybe keeping this place a little more up-to-date than I have been.

I was so set on writing at least one post a day, yet I didn’t count on life getting busy. Oh well. I’ve done the cliche “I’ve been bad, I’ll post more” so I’ll spare you the pixels.

BUT… BUT… BUT…

Tomorrow is going to be a hella busy day for me. I’ve got to get my user guide (work project) out for a production review by the editors, go get my car into the shop for it’s first 5k service (yay!), take Gelli’s camera in for LCD replacement (she dropped it and broke it), go get some money back from Best Buy due to the 30 day money-back price guarantee, and then pay my car note. While I’m at it, I may take a look at a Fender Jazz Bass I’ve had my eye on for a few days since finding one at a GREAT price, but that’ll depend on how much I spend getting the car serviced and how the budget holds up. Oh yeah… I’m supposed to pick up some Monster Mats for the car tomorrow, too. I may not get that Jazz Bass just yet afterall.

Oh, I went and saw Southern Culture on the Skids with Sherry, Stevie, Anita, and Lawrence at The Continental Club on Saturday night. It was a lot of fun, but I had a stomach ache and some nausea from something I ate at The Spaghetti Warehouse. Coupled with the tall asshat who thought nothing of standing right in front of us (while he could have moved three feet to the right and blocked no-one’s view), it made for not the best evening. The band was great… music was great… but the stomach and the inconsiderate asswipes kind of made it not as awesome as it otherwise would have been. So how did I take care of my stomach? By agreeing to go to Waffle House with the crew. Eggs, hash browns, and sausage. Does the stomach good.

My stomach hurt almost the entire next day while I watched the NASCAR race, but was better by the time we went over to Stevie and Anita’s for beans and corn bread.

This has been a heck of a week for NASCAR. It’s been better than anything I could have imagined in my wildest dreams! First, there’s the incident between Tony Stewart and the moron Kurt Busch. Stewart bumped Busch while Busche was trying to pinch him as Stewart tried to pass, and Busch’s car hit the wall, wrecking the right front. As all cars were headed into the pits due to the caution flag being out, Busch makes a bee-line for Stewart’s car and rams it not once, not twice, but THREE TIMES!!! What a baby! Anyway, the story is that once they were behind closed doors and being talked to by NASCAR, Tony Stewart landed a punch on Busch’s face. SWEET! The cool part was that on the track, Stewart maintained his cool and stayed above it all. He took it where you’re supposed to take a disagreement; behind closed doors. Stay classy, Kurt Busch! lol

Then, there was the Budweiser Shootout on Saturday night where I got to watch Dale Jr. dominate the race with the help of his teammates. It was cool to listen to the radio communications where Junior was worried about his teammates and didn’t want to commit to a low-line until he was sure that his teammates could follow him there safely. COOL! The best was saved for last when Junior won the race with Stewart in second! How very cool that the VERY FIRST RACE that Junior was in with a Hendrick’s car and he wins. Take that, Theresa!

Finally, there was qualifying yesterday morning where Stevie and I got to watch Michael Waltrip qualify on the outside pole (that’s 2nd place) and he’s locked into the race. The other drivers locked into the race were Dave Blaney and David Reutiman, both also Toyota drivers. Reutiman is also on Waltrip’s team, so it makes it 2/3 of the cars in on time with Dale Jarrett in on his past champion provisional.

All in all, a great weekend for Stevie and I. I’m a big Dale Jr. fan, and I’m also a fan of Waltrip’s, and Stevie is a rabid Waltrip fan, so it was a weekend filled with happiness, joy, and lots of whootin’ and hollarin’!!!

I miss it dearly. I never thought I’d be a fan of left turning race cars, but I was bitten by the bug two years ago, and it’s an addiction that hasn’t let up a bit.

I love NASCAR.

Yeah, somehow, I feel dirty admitting it, especially after being a “racing snob” for so many years having grown up a fan of F1. However, recent rulings and “goings on” in the world of F1 have made me a non-fan, as the organizing committee of F1 clearly doesn’t care about the fans, the teams, or the drivers. Some would argue that NASCAR is the same, but somehow, they strive to keep the heartbeat of racing alive and they work toward sustaining traditions and legends. F1 does neither.

I’ve also been involved in online NASCAR-like racing, having joined the ASRL and raced in numerous race, racking up five wins. I really enjoyed it, and I am looking at possibly running again this year if my schedule allows it. I’ve been spending a lot more time with the wife and kids lately, and frankly, I enjoy that. Add to that the fact that I’m in two bands, managing the burgeoning music career of my daughter, and of course, the time I spend with my friends on the weekends are all very important to me.

Back to NASCAR: the biggest thing I will have to get used to this season is Dale Jr. driving a car that is not the number 8, and not Budweiser sponsored. I know that before becoming a fan of NASCAR, understanding Dale Earnhardt and Dale Sr. was something I thought I knew about, but was sorely not only mistaken, but misinformed. The more I read and watched, the more I learned about the men behind the legends/myths, and the more I understood why they were so important to the sport of racing. More importantly, I came to understand how Dale Jr. has made a name for himself, and has done much to become his own man while always respecting the memory of his father who he obviously holds in the highest of esteem and love (as a good son should). I was a Dale Jr. fan from the first time I saw him and did a little research on him, wondering what all the “hype” was about. I wondered if he was popular solely because of the name. In fact, he’s NASCAR royalty, so to speak, yet he has carved out his own identity against all odds, and has even become known as one of the most respectful and friendly drivers out there. Quite the opposite of his father, known as “The Intimidator.” Sure, there are Dale Jr. detractors, but most of those didn’t like his father and feel that Dale Jr. is famous only because he’s an Earnhardt. To be fair, being a third generation driver does bring a certain amount of notoriety and fame without having had to have driven an inch on the track, but I think Dale Jr. has shown he’s capable. If only his equipment would have held last year.

Anyway, I can’t wait for the beginning of the 2008 NASCAR season, and a return to weekend racing. I’m sure the drivers and their families are enjoying the short off-season, but for the rest of us fans, weekends without racing are just days off without a reason to watch TV.

I’ve been remiss in keeping this place up-to-date over the past six days because of the flurry of activity that had befallen our household. To sum things up:

• Saturday morning we took my car in for its 90k service and then went to Spec’s to pick up some goodies to take to my grandparents in Florida. Sherry and I had a wonderful crepe breakfast at Coco in mid-town. Most of the day was spent doing this or that.
• Saturday night, Gelli was asked to come on stage by the band playing. She sang her songs and received great feedback from the audience.
• Sunday during the day we went out to Sealy to visit with my mom after which I watched the last NASCAR race of the season. I also had to deal with Sprint in replacing my phone (it went tits-up earlier in the day).
• Sunday night I met with a new band and will be playing bass for them on a regular basis.
• Monday night Gelli performed her songs again on stage. It was unscheduled and unanticipated, but it was a lot of fun.
• Tuesday was spent working and then the evening was spent packing up the car and getting ready to depart on our trip to Florida. After packing was complete, we dropped our dog Cookie off at Steve and Anita’s and then took off.
• 3:00 a.m. Wednesday morning, we stopped at a Red Roof Inn outside of Mobile Alabama for some rest. We then woke up at around 9:00 a.m., filled up the tank, and continued on towards West Palm Beach.
• Wednesday evening, I dodged no fewer than three accidents. Two of these were very close calls, all due to people braking incredibly hard in front of me. We saw two accidents, one minor and one major. The major accident had bodies and body parts strewn all over the place. It was sobering.
• Wednesday night we arrived at my grandparents’ place where a wonderful Hungarian dinner was waiting for us.
• Thursday was spent on the beach and around the dinner table with my grandmother. My grandfather sleeps a lot, but he’s allowed; he’s 93 and in great health otherwise. He’s sort of forgetful (early Alzheimers), but he’s clear as a bell every once in a while. I can see in his eyes when he’s “there.”
• Today has been a day of helping out and doing little things here and there for the grandparents. We’re about to head out to Best Buy to pick up a satellite radio for my grandmother so that she can listen to all the classical radio she wants to. She’s really excited about the prospect of choices in classical radio.

So, that’s where we are. It’s afternoon, and I have to get going so that I can maintain the pace of the day. I will try to update more tonight if I get a chance. I love the broadband I get using my phone! PDANet rocks!!!

Once again, today was another Lazy Sunday. Those are my favorite kinds of Sundays. We did some clean-up of the house after Friday and Saturday nights wrecked the place, but afterwards, we sat around for a bit (I watched the NASCAR race while Sherry did some scrap booking) before heading out for a nice dinner at Thep Thai, a local Thai restaurant we enjoy. Then, it was off to the Woodlands Mall for some Christmas shopping for some friends and family. Then, back home where we listened to Gelli practice for tomorrow night’s “show.” Now, I’m just doing some reading online about the Asus eeePC, a really tiny UMPC that is getting rave reviews and is fast becoming one of the hottest “must-have” tech toys for computer hobbyists. Of course, I want (and have already ordered) one, and mine should be here sometime in within the next three weeks (they’re back-ordered).

Quite a bit happened this weekend. Friday night Sherry, Stevie, Lawrence and I went out for dinner at Steak and Ale and had a really REALLY good pork dish that I forget the name of (but it’s something like “bruised pork”). It was YUMMY! Sherry had something with shrimp, but the three of us guys all had the pork, and it was amazingly delicious and tender!

Saturday was a day for shopping. Sherry and I bought Brendon’s Christmas presents and also one for ourselves: a new TiVo HD. We drove straight from the Best Buy we bought it at to the Comcast office where I picked up two cablecards (I found out later I only needed one of them since they were m-cards) and Comcast had the m-card working perfectly within 24 hours. We now have two TiVos in the house; a Series 2, and the HD. The Series 2 was in our bedroom, but we’ve decided to put it upstairs so the kids can record their own shows and leave the HD TiVo alone! Then, Steve and Anita came over with the girls and they helped Sherry with decorating for the party. I was a bit too preoccupied with the new TiVo HD, so I was worthless as far as helping was concerned. This was to be a theme for the weekend.

Sunday, I got up early to do another paid gig photographing a bridal shower. It was a lot of fun, and I may possibly be looking at some more photo work on a few more weddings based on this one. I like the fact that I’ve been getting extra work here and there via word of mouth. I don’t want to do it full-time, but it’s nice to do on my terms when I have the free time. I’ve still got two scheduled “gigs” this year, one of which is a really important corporate client. I am hoping to dazzle them this year so that I can make it an annual event. After the shower, I came home and changed out a few light switches that were left undone from when we painted the house and swapped out our light switches for the larger toggle switches. Aside from that, I took a nap, watched the NASCAR race at Martinsville (and watched Dale Jr. blow up engine #7 this season!), and did some more TiVo playing.

On an unrelated note, I installed Ubuntu (Linux) on two of the computers here in the house, and I have to say that it was the easiest install process I’ve ever had for any OS EVER. EVER! I think this is finally the OS that has a true chance of unseating MS and Apple’s stranglehold on desktop operating systems. Now if some games would come out for Linux like they have on Windows, they’d REALLY have the OS to go to! As it stands, Ubuntu has everything you need to make your computer productive FOR FREE, and INCLUDED. It’s very well done, and having installed everything from Red Hat to Debian to Slax, I was expecting at least a little bit of my Linux knowledge to be tested. NOT SO! Ubuntu really was so easy my kids could have installed it. My son actually wants me to install it on his systems (he has a desktop and a notebook), and my daughter wants it on her notebook, too. That’d be five Ubuntu desktops in the house. I’m also looking at setting up an Ubuntu server to see how it operates, and to possibly switch over from my W2k server.

So… that’s the weekend. Both productive and slacker. Just the way I like it!

This weekend was pretty nice and laid back. We had a really nice BBQ on Saturday with my mom, my mother-in-law, Stevie and his family, and Lawrence. My mom made her “BBQ ala Nena” and two salads and Anita brought her famous pasta salad (which I love!). Mom’s food, as always, was great, and it was a good time followed by a viewing of the movie “Love Stinks.” What a funny flick! Every time I see it, I crack up.

Saturday evening was spent watching the Bush Series NASCAR race for a while, and then playing some online games.

Sunday was the typical “Lazy Sunday” with one variation: we went shopping for clothes for the kids. We found Steve and Barry’s, a new store here in Houston, and went wild buying the kids just about anything they wanted. Why? ‘Cause it was CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP. The quality is decent, but the price makes the value amazing. I even got a few t-shirts (my favorite being my Speed Racer shirt)! Then, I watched the Cup Series NASCAR race with Sherry.

Monday was pretty much the least eventful of the three days off spent watching the amazing storms that passed through the area followed by a nice meal at Le Madeleine. I love Napoleons!!!

What a great Sunday. It started the way all Sundays should start off; with me sleeping in. I awoke to have some cinnamon rolls and coffee, and then watched the NASCAR race at Watkins Glen. It was a good race, with some great racing and lots of drama in the last 5 laps of the race. Then, we sat down to dinner with Steve and Anita who made the most incredible meatloaf. I’m dead serious: I love meatloaf to begin with (the singer’s okay, but I love the food more), but Anita’s meatloaf is incredible! It’s so good, I asked to have meatloaf as a Christmas present. Seriously. As in give me a frozen solid slab of meatloaf so that I can have it in the freezer and I can take a slice when I want to. It’s THAT good!!!

After dinner, we had some port wine that was very sweet and yummy along with some chocolate cake. It was a really nice evening with great people and great food.

It was cute: while we were eating dinner, I sat next to Stevie’s youngest daughter who told me, “Ahh, isn’t this great? I love it when the whole family is here for dinner!” For a five year old, she sometimes says the most grown-up things… and I agreed with her.

Over the past year and a half, I’ve become a NASCAR fan. As a kid, I was always interested in the way that young boys are interested in fast cars, but it’s not something I followed closely. It wasn’t until 1978 that NASCAR races were on TV in their entirety (I was 11 then, and very much a bookworm), and by then, I had other interests (flying line-control planes, music, and reading). As a boy, you always sort of knew who the big names were, as from time to time on a rainy Saturday you might catch a NASCAR race and watch it, but I wasn’t “hooked.” Well, that’s all changed now.

For the past few years, Stevie’s been racing online using a game called NASCAR 2003. I used to give him a hard time about it when I would call him to talk and he couldn’t because he was “making left turns.” When he came out to Texas on a vacation before moving here, I tried the game out and found it wasn’t quite so easy. On top of that, it was challenging and fun. So I started driving in the game, and that translated into an interest for watching the real thing.

When Stevie finally moved out here, the first weekend he was here and a NASCAR race was on TV, he came over and we watched the whole thing. He explained lots of stuff to us, who each driver was, and a little about their history. I think we were about 30 minutes into watching the race and we were hooked. When I say “we,” I mean to say my wife and I. The big surprise was that she was hooked to the technical part and to the strategy. Of course, Kasey Kahne and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are soft on the eyes, according to her, but the funny thing is now that she keeps track of the races at least as much as I do, if not more. She always seems to know the schedule, who is doing well and who isn’t, and what the off-track gossip is.

Today, Stevie came over to watch a race for the first time in a while. We’ve all been so busy this summer that we haven’t had time to just sit down and watch a race together in far too long. It was a good time, and Stevie even fixed one of the computers in the house that the kids had somehow disabled. I made some props for the South Pacific production we’re going to be in, and we watched my favorite driver come in second today at Pocono.