Long time, no post...

So it has been a crazy couple of weeks -- I'll try and pickup where I left off mid-September...

It took a while, but I got all the work done on my car and it passed emissions. Needless to say, that made me VERY happy; now that I have valid tags my car will pass tech inspection at the dragstrip. :) SO... Wednesday 9/21 I met up with RMCGP (the local Grand Prix club) at Bandimere Speedway and had a *REAL* good time. I got to run 4 times (mostly because I spent so much time BS'ing with my friends and not in line). My best time on the 21st was 14.021 @ 101.14MPH. This is compared with my best time in 2004 which was 13.834 @ 101.71MPH. I'm not doing too bad this year, but there is definately room for improvement!

I am heading back to Bandimere tonight in pursuit of at least one 13.xxx run -- I know I can do it if everything falls into place. I didn't really put my car into "street trim" after the 21st so there isn't a whole lot to do to get ready -- mostly I need to get rid of as much weight as I can (remove rear seat) and pump the 91 octane fuel out of the gas tank. I need to put race gas in and then do a bit of driving so that the PCM will learn the higher octane fuel and advance my timing. It will be a good time -- no doubt in my mind (even if I don't come home with a 13second slip).

Work has kept me busy; the software management offer that my team is supporting domestically is going to be offered internationally in '06; we've all been working long (and strange) hours trying to coordinate service delivery with our conterparts around the globe. It's been a lot of work, but it's been a great experience and I might get some international travel out of it (got my fingers crossed!).

I've been doing a lot of reading recently -- more than I have in quite some time. I finished the DarkSword trilogy and really loved the series. After that I read The Boys in the Brownstone by Kevin Scott -- I can't believe I actually made it through the book; I just had a hard time following the story as it seemed to jump around a lot. This last weekend I finished reading "The Brothers Bishop" (by Bart Yates) which is about two brothers, their lives, family and coming to terms with the past. I really loved the book, but it was pretty depressing.

I think next on my reading list is The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand, but I've had a hard time picking that volume up. I received it in August while I was at my friend's funeral -- she was a big fan of Ayn Rand; I remember her carrying around Atlas Shrugged in high school. It's been almost two months and I still can't believe that she's not here anymore. I was cleaning out a couple of old computers last weekend and came across a bunch of e-mails we'd exchanged; plans for our 10 year high school reunion(back in 2001) -- talking about the 15year (next year, if there is one) and already looking forward to 20; talking about life and jobs and a lot of little things. I don't know why it is, but this last week has been tougher for me than any other week since her death. It seems like every time I turn around I'm confronted with a memory from the past; songs I hear on the radio send me back in time to high school and it seems like it was just yesterday that she greeted me with her smile and sparkling blue eyes. I miss her lots, more than I'd imagined possible.

Wanda & Girlzoot, I'll post some pictures (and maybe even a movie) for you soon. I just have to figure out how it works. :)

Mitch