Friday was a good day. Stayed busy at work for the most part. Bill got moved out of the office into the next one and it looks my new officemate Tom will be moving in over the weekend or on Monday. We’ll see how that all works out. I take extreme care to be as inoffensive as possible to others - use EFFECTIVE deodorant, no bad breath, no excess gasses emitted, etc. and I trust others to do the same. Again, we’ll see how all this works out.

On the way home, I swung by the church to pick up my audio gear since I had mentioned I was going to use a minimal setup there until some upgrades to the main PA happened. That stuff’s heavy.

Hooked up with Kyle that evening to shoot some pool at The Brick. Ran into David, Bernie’s manager eating dinner with his family and a friend of his daughters. Seemed like a nice group of folks. After $6 worth of pool (Kyle might have some video on his bLog) we stopped back over at my place so he could check out the episode of Friends where Ross and Monica’s cousin Cassie stops by to visit. Very funny stuff there.

I spent Saturday cleaning up my office. I’m still not done with that yet though. I also put all the sound gear I picked up yesterday away, neatly putting everything in their respective cases/zipper bags and winding up cords so I don’t end up having to untangle a huge mess the next time I need to use them.

Got started on my personal website as well. That’s going to take a bit of work but hopefully the end result will be worth it. It’s been a long time since I’ve worked on web stuff so I’m looking forward to getting back into it again. I’ll post a link to it as I get more of it done.

Sunday had a rainy start. Packed up my gear and headed to church. I got my mics set up the way I wanted and got them plugged in. I also relocated my IEM transmitter to the back of the room and got it all plugged in and working. In my mix, everything sounded pretty good! Music went pretty well this morning although I felt my kick drum work in “Refuge in You” left a little to be desired. I’ve got to work on that. Kevin did a good job with the message filling in for Dave who just got back from vacation.

Went over to Logan’s for lunch. As usual of late, had another malfunction that resulted in me getting my 9 oz. filet for free. I think we’re going to take Logan’s off the rotation for a little while till they get their act together. When we were all done eating, we all parted ways, some of us to take naps, others to… whatever.
Met back up with same group at The B’s later for an evening of pizza, Mario Kart, Colin McRae Rallly racing and Monkey Ball golf (which I won by the way). I’m back home and it’s time for bed. Tomorrow begins another week of fun.

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I’ve had an extremely busy week so far at work. Whew, can’t wait till the weekend to get my mind of the office again for 48 hours.

The other day I talked to Sandy, the manager of the cleaners I use to make sure she could press the Renault shirt I picked up in Indy. It has a lot of embroidery on it making it incredibly difficult to iron by hand. It was best left to a commercial pressing operation for sure. I picked it up today and was pleased with the results. It’s nice to have a friend in the cleaning business for sure!

Band practice was last night - Kevin thought it went well although I wasn’t too happy with my drumming. I’m going to have to bear down and get my playing back to where it needs to be. Also on the drumming front, Kyle and I will be heading up to Nashville next week for a drum clinic by Thomas Lang, a very talented Austrian drummer. That should be good. It will also give me a boost I think. I’m in a bit of a lull at the moment and could use some inspiration to get me out of it.

Sound issues - I was kind of disappointed to find that all the drum channels were off, both on my mixer and the main mixer which pretty much tells me that all the trouble and expense I went to so that the drums could sound decent in our building was a waste. I’m going to pull the majority of my equipment and only use a kick mic, overhead mic and my IEM system. It’s not like it’s going to matter anyway, they’re never turned up so no one will notice a difference. Again, the PA *cannot* currently get louder than the acoustic volume of the drums. You can at least turn the drums mics up to add some of the attack to the toms and sizzle of the cymbals since the shield cust most of that out. Without the added mic inputs, there is no high end on the drums making them sound dull and lifeless. I guess that’s what they want to hear - so be it. That’s what you’re gonna get.

Shifting gears again, I’m trying to get together some photos from Indy. Hopefully I’ll have some to post on here soon. But for now, it’s time for bed.

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Headed to the track after eating breakfast. We made our way to our assigned seats over in section J. Let the cooking begin! Fortunately, I covered myself with sunblock to avoid any additional issues with my already dark parts.

The race was spectacular from our vantage point. Most of the action took place right in front of us. I got some great pictures. Ralph Schumacker from the Williams/BMW team had a scary accident on the front stretch. We later found out that he wasn’t seriouly injured but all were really concerned there for a while. Congrats to the Ferrari’s and to B.A.R. Honda’s Takuma Sato for his first podium finish!

Bernie and I hustled back to the corral to take care of some last minute things then said bye to everyone as we hopped back into the car and headed south. There were some traffic snafus on the way home, but other than that, it was a fairly uneventful ride. Cleaned up and crashed when I got home. I can’t wait till next year.

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WOW! What a great few days in Indy! So much happened, but I’ll do my best to recap all the high points. As you can imagine, bloggin wasn’t high on my list of priorites while on vacation so this roll-up will have to do.

Woke up early Friday morning and ate some breakfast at the hotel then headed to the BMW Corral. Once we got there, I picked up my car plackard that would allow me through the police barriers on race day. Also, Bernie and I got our armbands/nametags/meal tickets so that we could take part in all the corral stuff - food, drinks, facilites, etc. Got to the track and positioned ourselves on the stands next to the pit row exit so we could see the cars take off and also watch them practice their starts. Got some excellent photos there! Took some video also that I can’t wait to pull off the camcorder. Got to hear the glorious sounds of the F1 V10’s running wide-open! Between practice sessions, we moved over to a different set of stands to watch. Also, I stayed true to my plan - I would do my souvenir shopping on Friday while they had my size in stock. Picked up BAR Honda shirt first. Next on my list was to get a tobacco Renault shirt; Bernie spotted one and was joking about the price. I think I surprised him when my face lit up and I bought it. I also got a couple of hats and a Mercedes shirt as well. I pretty much got everything I was looking for.

We stopped at the plaza to have lunch and met up with three older guys from San Diego. Tom was an ex-drag car racer. This other guy was a current formula Ford racer and the oldest of the group raced in the past but now apparently collected cars. They seemed like a fun bunch especially after hearing about their strip-club escapades the previous night. After all the F1 events were over on Friday, we headed back to the corral for dinner. Met up with some F1 fans from Missouri - Ron and his son Randy. Great guys! Randy had just traded in his BMW M5 for a mini-Cooper Sport which they drove in. Ironically, the guy who bought his M5 ALSO drove in which was a tremendous coincidence! That guy would be Ken, an architect. After a fun time, BH and I headed for the hotel. It was still early so we ended up going to go see the latest Harry Potter movie. It was pretty good. I got lost a little in the story but BH had read the books so he filled me in on everything.

Saturday morning was an even earlier start. Headed to the corral for some food then met up with Ron and Randy. Made our way to the track to watch the practice and qualifying. Did a little more shopping between sessions then decided to take in the events from the covered stands at turn 13, the area where the cars have left the twisty infield and were flying down the front straight. FROZE OUR BUTTS OFF!

After that was all over with it was nice to get back into the sun! Went back to the corral for a late lunch. Spent the rest of the day there and had dinner then a raffle followed by an auction. I got a hat in the raffle and Bernie got a bag of goodies… including a very pink shirt. Heh. Left the auction early and it was back to the hotel to crash.

Sunday morning was a little easier. Loaded up the car and headed for the track. As expected, our pass got us through the police barricades so we got to our parking space in just a few minutes.

More in a bit.

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Got up this morning at my usual time and wrapped up my last minute packing. Played some video games to kill the time till Bernie showed up. Hit the road and headed north. First stop was for a bathroom break in Franklin, TN at Best Buy. Mmmmm… big tv’s GOOD! Next was Macaroni Grill. Followed a cute waitress that was coming into work then was pleasantly surprised when it turned out she was going to be our waitress. Had a sumptuous meal then hit the road again. Finally got into Indy and checked into the hotel then headed back out again to swing by the speedway and drop by the BMW corral to make sure all our arrangements are in place - hospitality stuff and the all-important car placard that will permit us to pass through the police barriers on raceday. The BMW folks were busy setting things up for Friday so we made our way back towards the hotel. Dropped in at Red Lobter for another delicious meal. I’m back at the hotel now and getting ready to crash. Going to try getting up early in the AM to make it to the first F1 practice.

A BIG thanks to Kyle for loaning me some video equipment. Thanks buddy.

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Today I mainly tried to stay below the radar but still also accomplish a few things to make my absence for work for a couple of days less noticable. Hopefully all will go off without a hitch.

Bernie and I ran over to the airport to pick up a rental car for the Indy trip. We’ll be in a Chevy “Classic”. It’s basically a 1 seater Malibu. Seriously though, it’s small for what the rental company calls a “mid-size” car but it’s new and it only has 6k miles on it.

Spent the evening packing up all my crap. Swung by band practice to check it out for a few and also pick up a camcorder Kyle was graciously loaning me. Popped over to Wal-Mart to get some other small items then met back up with some of the band for dinner at Logan’s. Gonna pack a little more then hit the sack then finish up in the morning.

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The answer to that question would be - Kevin.

Work was bizzy, bizzy, bizzy Monday. I was glad when 5:00 finally rolled around. Ran a few errands on the way home then headed for Guadalaja Grill to meet up with the others. Ended up being me, the B’s, and the Kyle. Carlos was there so we naturally had excellent service.

Did our usual walk down the mall. Kev picked up a new game while I looked around to see if there was anything I couldn’t live without. Suprisingly, I didn’t buy anything.

Went over to the B’s afterwards to play video games. There were 4 of us so Super Mario Kart was a blast. Kevin was the bananna peel bandit. If he was in front, you can guarantee that he’d be flingin peels everywhere. Peels are bad by the way… they make your kart slide and you lose time. Next, we played a classic - Gauntlet. Kevin was the Warrior, I was the Wizard, Stacey was Valkrie and Kyle was the Elf. Man, that brought back some good memories. The copyright date on that game was 1985. I would have been a junior in high school. We played through 18 or 19 levels I think. There was a LOT of yelling going on! It was hilarious. 10:30 rolled around and I had to head out. 5:50AM comes early in the morning if you don’t get enough sleep.

It’s a rainy Tuesday morning. Only one more day at the office before I leave for Indy. W00T.

On another note, passed Heavy E on my morning flight into the office. That was unusual. He’s usually already at work by the time I roll out of bed. Wonder what he’s up to?

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Saturday I spent most of working on my drums at home. After I got them sounding the way I wanted, I think I played everything I knew how to. Whew! That was a lot of drumming! Did some other mundane things as well, laundry, dishes, played with my dog, etc. I also watched qualifying for the Canadian GP. Also on TV was coverage of the 24 hours of LeMans. That was interesting to watch for sure.

Around dinnertime, I got a jingle for the B’s asking what my eating plans were. They came and picked me up and we went to eat bird parts at KFC. It the usual scene… Kevin & Stacey then me holding Kailyn. I thought to myself that this must be what being an “Au Pair” is like (and I do NOT know what that means). After that, we stopped at Goody’s coz I was needing to pick up a few extra pairs of shorts for my Indy trip. I got what I was looking for but as expected, the B’s didn’t sit idly by… they picked up several things as well. On the way home, Kevin came to the intersection where you normally would turn right to go towards my house - and went straight. Sigh. So, he drives around another way to get back to my street. Once heading the correct direction, we pass my house - and keep going. I sigh then ask “what the $#*% you doing?”. We’re all laughing as it seems that alzheimers is settling in a bit early for him.

Got up for church early Sunday morning and set the VCR up so that I wouldn’t miss any of the F1 race today. It would start while I was still at church. Got all my paraphenalia set up and we eased into warm up while some technological drama played out back at the control table. Eventually, we got rolling and everything worked out nicely. Good to see several guests this morning! My buddy Kerry and his family were there. He later told me he enjoyed our rendition of “Ancient of Days” as the only version he had heard was the “choired up” one that apparently wasn’t nearly as rockin. Right as we were getting ready to play the first song, I got a cramp in my left pec. THAT was special… Erik and Kevin were laughing at me as I tried working it out to keep it from getting worse. (must need some potassium). At any rate, all the music sounded good from what I could tell. I had one hiccup in the last song where I evidently couldn’t count and was too short on one fill. No biggie though, I just adjusted when I came back in and it sounded normal.

After church, I packed up and trucked it out the door so I could get to my race. Got home and realized it had started earlier that I had expected but luckily I had my VCR taping it. I’ll have to go back and watch the beginning.

Took a short nap and now I’m getting ready to head over to the B’s place for our usual Sunday night get together. Woot.

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Another stellar day at the office… Got a lot accomplished though, the main thing being the billing for last month. After that, I’ve still got one report to do that hompefully I’ll get done with on Monday. I also got the next project I’ll be working on - moving each of a client’s 320 sites from one WAN carrier to another. I can feel the love.

Got home and took a short nap as I was drained from work. It’s like Kryptonite to Superman. Gave Cameron a call when I got moving again as we had planned to get out and about a bit this evening. We took his week old Lexus SC430 out… WOW, what a nice automobile. Headed to the Hard Dock first for some food and drink. I saw Donny working back in the kitchen. There seemed to be a lot of action going on back there that kept him too busy to come out to say hey. Ran into Vickey, the wife of James (who I met up with in Tunica for the billiards thing in Feb.). Ended up sitting with her till James could join us. He was driving in from Tennessee. Ran into Kathy, a friend of mine from a church I used to attend. Also, our waitress used to be the operations manager for Princeton’s - I helped her out a LONG time ago when their order system (computerized) went down the tubes. They called me at home freaking out asking for help. About 2 hours later, I got them fixed. I had free food there for quite some time. Now that I think about it, I missed that.

After realizing that the crowd at the Hard Dock was a bit older and that I may be one of the few people in there still sporting my own teeth, we decided to make our way to The Station over in Madison. My buddy Danny owns that place. It was a pleasant surprise to find Scott’s band, Blackeyed Susan playing. SAid hey to him briefly then spent the rest of the evening people watching. Talked to a few folks then decided to call it a night.

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Work has been hectic lately. Pretty much every day so far this week has been jam packed from start to finish with stuff.On the home front, band practice got moved to Thursday night this week leaving me free Wednesday evening. Kerry, a buddy of mine that drums at another church in town came by to check out my “supa-fly” drums at the house. Had a good time getting together and swapping fills and song intro ideas. I definitely have to get into more of that with others. It’ll speed up the learning process considerably. Afterwards checked out some drum videos of mine. I practiced a bit then hit the sack shortly thereafter.

Picked up Kevin’s other wireless rig today at FedEx for him. He’s set now… wireless IEM, wireless mic and then the option to do either another wireless mic or use it as a wireless guitar transmitter. He’s gonna have to school any other vocalist he loans the extra mic to as to the fact dropping the unit is *not* an option. Replacing *any* of the wireless gear will cost some serious $$$ so as long as that’s understood, he won’t have to worry. Other than that, the mics sound flat out AWESOME with their Beta 87 heads. I am really pleased with all our Shure gear. Excellent stuff.

Practice went well… (Kev: naive) Things sounded good so we’re ready to go for Sunday I think. Headed to Applebee’s for some food and drink afterwards. Kyle met us up there and Wendy showed up as well. Had a great time reminiscing about old video games. Spent most of the time making video game sounds.

On the way home I put $27 of gas in the tank. SHEESH.

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