Author Archives: Captain Blowdri

Faster Than A Speeding Bulllet….!

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(Captain Blowdri file photo)

Faster than a speeding bullet.…….

More powerful than a speeding locomotive…….

For those of us over 55 years old we are well aware of where those two phrases originated from……Superman.

But after my woeful Tuesday evening spent preparing for my early Wednesday morning colonoscopy, those two phrases took on a whole new meaning!

For those of you who may not have had to undergo this procedure for the over 50 gang, either because you are somewhat opposed to having an instrument “violating the sacred one way street” known as you rectum, or because you are not at the magic age of 50 yet, or flatly just because!  Whatever your particular reasoning is behind keeping your behind sacred, I will still try to give you all an insight into my fourth such experience that was a personal violation of my “backdoor policy”!

After having my doctor consult, going over my medical history, advising him of the changes since my colonoscopy three years ago, I scheduled the date with the office.  In return they gave me an information packet containing those valuable instructions and procedures.  Along with the instructions was the prescription for the 4 liter/1 gallon of the gut wrenching bowel cleaner, that foul tasting liquid that will clean out your innards cleaner than any spit and polish thing that you have ever seen, Golytley. (Surely that name is an oxymoron……more about Golytely a little later!)

Now, this was not my first rodeo.  I have had three colonoscopies in the last 10 years, so I knew just what I was in for, in the way of the preparation.  The directions state, 24 hours prior to the procedure put the packet of Golytely in this huge jug, and fill it up to the line with water and the icky lemon-lime flavoring, and refrigerate.  Filling this gigantic container, and knowing that you must consume this huge container of fluid was already turning my stomach.

On the day before my colonoscopy, at precisely 6pm, I am instructed to begin my “pre-op poop-shoot cleaning process”, by drinking half of this concoction in less than two hours.  The instructions stated that I must drink an 8 ounce glass of this putrid liquid every 15 minutes, so that the 2 liters/ one-half gallon is consumed in the two-hour time limit.

As I have previously stated, this was not my first rodeo.  I learned after the first go-around with this horribly convulsive mixture will also gag you and make you throw-up!  So if you want to be successful at getting this liquid down so that it will make you crap your brains out, you have to design a system whereby you can actually get this crap into your stomach so that it will get rid of your crap!!

From my previous colonoscopies, and several attempts of trying not to vomit while I was drinking my Golytely, I found out that if you keep a couple wintergreen life savers in your mouth at all times it would help somewhat to mask that horrible taste.  Well, I got a couple of those wintergreen lifesavers in my mouth and waited till I got good and wintergreened in my mouth.  I wanted to make sure that there was not any chance of getting any hint of the real foul taste of Golytely in my mouth.

Once both of those two wintergreen lifesavers were melted and gone, I threw two more in my mouth for extra precaution.  Now I was ready to make my first attempt at my 2 liters of Golytely for my first round of “cleaner”!  I poured my Golytely into a large cup, about 16 ounces, and added a straw to suck that gawd awful liquid down my throat.  I took a great big ol pull and swallowed it!

Within just a second or two, I started to “get the ooks”!  You know the routine, looking for your “Buick”, calling your buddies, “Ralph and Ernie”, or worshiping the porcelain bowl!  All of the sudden that Golytely went into reverse and desperately wanted to travel back up my esophagus and out of my mouth!  I clenched my mouth closed tightly and did my best not to allow “the reverse action” to commence.

Now my mind was starting to race.  How in the heck am I going to get this 2 liters down.  I had remembered that the last time that I had to drink this “poisonous concoction” it seemed to be a lot easier to do with the wintergreen lifesavers in my mouth.  Was I kidding myself, or do I have some form of dementia?  I have only taken one drink and I am quite certain that I will not be able to down the full 2 liters!  Man, I am in deep trouble because I am now committed to do this tonight!

I had to take a deep breath and start talking to myself in a very positive manner in order to try to get this fiasco over within the allotted 2 hours.  I reloaded the wintergreen lifesavers in my mouth, took my second swallow, and once again that concoction caused my gag reflexes to start to repeat itself!  I took a deep breath and took another big draw on the straw.  This time the gag reflex was far less severe.  I reloaded the lifesavers and took another drink.  After three or four drinks I had to take a break, all the while being borderline “ookie”!

And so this is how the pattern went for the first thirty minutes of this ridiculous drinking exercise, lifesavers, drink, lifesavers, drink, etc.

Caution: Stay close to the restroom!

Now I find it somewhat comical that when reading all of the material associated with this prescription, there was this one caution at the bottom of all the instructions.  Now, I find it to be fairly obvious that if you are taking something that is designed to absolutely remove every living thing out of you stomach, large intestines, as well as the small intestines, you really shouldn’t venture very far from the porcelain throne!

It read: caution stay close to the restroom.

Are you kidding me?  I am not that stupid to drink this stuff and wander off to some place that doesn’t have a clean, private toilet!

C’mon man!

As I remember from my previous “pooper preps”, once that Golytely starts to activate, and I use that term with great respect, the sphincter muscle, or I should say my sphincter is not strong enough to keep the back door closed long enough to walk very far to the can!  Therefore, once that Golytely begins to gather up strength, and begins to rock and roll and heading downhill, you had better be “in position”, because you are now along for the ride of your life!

Now keep in mind that I have not quite drank a third of my allotted 1/2 gallon of Golytley for the night.  The mixture is now adding the necessary combustion in my lower G.I. and all HELL is now breaking loose.  Nevertheless, I still have to continue drinking this mess while I am making a mess!  Did I mention that this drink still makes me want to throw up?

So now I am “in the position”, another phrase for sitting on the can, drinking the solution, and wondering how long I can keep doing this…. Well I found out that if you drink 2 liters of this magical concoction within the two-hour time limit, you will be sitting on the can for about 3:30 minutes.

I was completely worn out! I was tired of drinking and swallowing, however, I was really tired of sitting on the can!  When I stood up I could see the ring of the toilet seat carved into my non existent buttocks.  It was a very pretty red ring that was left there!

It was 9:45pm and time to go to bed.  I had to get up at 3:10 am to repeat this process all over again to finish the “flush out”!  That’s right I still had another 2 liters of the “gut flush” to drink and further clean out my already clean “pooper”, prior to my 7:45 am colonoscopy procedure.

To say that the second part of the old “backdoor cleaning process” was any easier or smoother than the first, I would be lying to you.  In fact, to save my fingers from typing the same words all over again, just reread the last 11 paragraphs.  In fact, my gag reflexes were even more sensitive and more repulsive at 3:15 am than they were at 6pm!

All total I am not sure just how many wintergreen lifesavers I consumed during those two Golytley periods.  I possibly might be a very large stockholder in that company from my consumption of lifesavers.

By the time that the early morning gag, drink, wintergreen lifesavers, repeat, was wrapped up there were a few things that I noticed.  The first thing is that I really do not ever want to see any of those wintergreen lifesavers again.  Just thinking about putting one in my mouth gives me nightmares!

Secondly, just thinking about Golytely turns my stomach.

Lastly, there has to be some softer toilet paper on the market.  Charmin is advertised as being oh so soft, yeah right!  Remember how your nose feels when you have a cold and you are always blowing it and wiping it?  You nose gets irritated, beet red, and really sensitive.
What do you think that your buttocks feels like after you have blown everything from you stomach out your rectal orifice?

Do you get my drift there?  Let’s just say that sitting down was a little bit touch and go!

Now for those of you who might still be wondering about the how the title of this article,the contents of this article, and how the picture that I selected all fit together, I will try to explain.

Once the Golytely gets to rocking and rolling in your stomach, it gathers up speed and starts racing towards your rectal orifice faster that a speeding bullet!  It is also more powerful than a speeding locomotive, and you can’t stop it once it decides to try to make the great escape!  Ok, that explains the two quotes from Superman.

The picture is of an F-5, a derivative of the T-38 that I flew in pilot training.  It is a supersonic fighter that is also faster than a speeding bullet and more powerful than a locomotive!  However when flying the F-5 you do not need to be close to a toilet, unless, you are scaring the crap out of yourself!  Ok,I will admit that during my time flying the T-38 there were a few times that I wished that I had a toilet really close by!

Just remember a clean colon is a happy colon!

TIL NEXT TIME, ROGER, WILCO, OVER, AND OUT!

My Daytona 500 Moments

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Trevor Bayne

(Trevor Bayne,WOMR file photo)

For those of us who follow racing, whether you’re a hard-core addict or a casual race fan, we know that winning the Daytona 500 is a true life changing event.  If you are not totally convinced just ask young Trevor Bayne, the 2011 Daytona 500 champion, just how much his life changed following his “dark-horse, come from nowhere” upset victory!

If Bayne never has any more success in his fledgling young racing career, he will always be remembered as the extremely young, 20-year-old, wet-behind-the-ears, break-through driver, and 2011 Daytona 500 winner.  He was piloting the legendary Wood Brothers #21 Ford Fusion with a throw-back, David Pearson paint scheme.

It is exactly that kind of life-changing event that I am talking about, when I mention a “Daytona 500″ type of life changing moment!  This “Daytona 500 moment” is THE single most life changing event in your life, the pivotal point in your life from where things in your life changed dramatically.

A “Daytona 500 moment” might consist of you getting married, or divorced.  Either of which can and will drastically create change in you life!  Becoming a parent is also very life changing, and has two phases.  The immediate short-term version of no sleep, is life altering.  Realizing that your children, like it or not, will “be on the payroll forever”!

As you age, the addition to the family with grandchildren is unquestionably is a “Daytona 500 moment”!  Oh the pleasures of being around your grandchildren is so much better than being a parent!  You get to spoil them and not worry about all the other “parental” responsibilities!

Along the road of life there are some other, not so pleasant, experiences that will impact your life.

In addition to the pleasant life altering events that almost all of us get the chance to experience, marriage (some of us have experienced that event on more than one occasion!), parenthood, being a grand-parent, etc., we, unfortunately, also must confront the less desirable parts of life.  Quite frankly, the joyful and pleasant experiences are not the ones that truly are the defining cornerstones in one’s life.

However, it is those less desirable parts of life that usually mold our character.  Those gut-wrenching experiences that test our faith, our courage, and our moral fiber, are the experiences that define who we are as a person.

I could list all the great experiences that I was fortunate enough to be a part of for the last 61 years.  Most of those things, being an Air Force pilot, being an airline pilot, and a few other cool experiences did have a lasting effect on my life.  However, those experiences do not, and did not, define who I am as a person. Being a pilot described what I did for a living, not who I was as a person.

It is our parents, and those “formative” years, that is the basis of our moral character.  With that being said, what really defines the person is the “life journey” that we all must take, and how we cope with those “Daytona 500 moments” that come and visit us.  It is life’s tragedies, how they affect us, and how we deal and cope with them, that really mold, and define our character.

After giving much thought on this theme, I have concluded that there are four such “Daytona 500 moments” that I have experienced so far in my life.

The first life changing event happened during the month of April, back in 1975.  You all might remember a military exercise known as “The Saigon Evacuation”.  This was a massive airlift operation that President Ford ordered after one of our C-5′s crashed bringing out Vietnamese orphans.  As a very young 24-year-old USAF 2Lt., this two-week ordeal was a very hair-raising, and dangerous military operation.  (Getting shot at by Viet Cong 37mm anti-aircraft artillery was not my idea of a leisurely day in the office!)

Another “Daytona 500 moment” happened back in July of 2005.  On this particular hot Fresno afternoon, my son and daughter-in-law, Jeremy and Stephanie, had to deal with their set of twins coming into this world extremely premature, and totally unprepared for survival in this world.  It was the second time in less than ten years that I was forced to deal with an untimely death of a family member, and once again deal with my own mortality.  Even though these two little girls didn’t survive 24 hours, their presence left a very profound effect on many people’s life, particularly their grandfather.

Still another of my “Daytona 500 moments” occurred on May 16, 2010, at 36,000 feet.  I had just taken off from JFK airport in New York and was on my way back to LAX.  Suddenly my cockpit had erupted into flames!  For those of you have not read my description of that eventful evening, click on the link that will describe this life and health changing event, “An Enlightening Experience”!

When death stares you directly in the face, and you realize that your fate is in your own hands, and that quite possibly this latest turn of events may cost you your life, there is no doubt that the way that you look at life, and for that matter, the way you view life in general, will change forever!  That qualifies as a “Daytona 500 moment”!

Having written about the three previous pivotal moments in my life, this next turning point is without a question the biggest, and the singularly most important “Daytona 500 moment” in my life.  This occurred around 10:15 pm on December 30, 1995.  That was the exact moment when my whole life would change forever.  That was the time and the day that my father left this Earth.

From that point, December 30, 1995, I began to realize all the lessons that I had learned from a man who “only had a sixth grade education”! I came to realize that he was “wiser” than just a sixth grade education.  He was a very street wise farm-boy, and much wiser than, as a teenager, I ever gave him credit to be.

From that point, December 30, 1995, I would find myself, when confronted by a tough decision, saying “what would Dad do”?  From that point I began to realize that even in death my Dad was a role model for me.  It was from that point that I realized that, whether I liked it or not, I am a role model to either my two sons, or much later, to my grandchildren.

Life would never be the same for me after December 30, 1995!  That is and was my biggest “Daytona 500 moment”!

What is/are your “Daytona 500 moment/s”?

TIL NEXT TIME, ROGER, WILCO, OVER, AND OUT!

This song was written by Blake Shelton.  It reflects losing his brother as a teenager, and song by his wife, Miranda Lambert.  Listen to the lyrics of this song.  It mirrors how I feel regarding my biggest “Daytona 500 moment”.

 

 

New Year’s Resolutions?

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Now that 2012 is in full swing, the college bowl games are in high gear, and those of you who had a “rough” New Year’s Eve have recovered enough to return to work, normalcy has somewhat returned in our lives.

Traditionally, as the New Year ushers in new and fresh opportunities, the New Year also brings with it the customary “New Year’s Resolutions”.  Americans seem to have this, sometimes flawed, idea that each year you must complete a self inventory.  Once that you have completed this self inventory, then it is customary to figure out how you are going to remedy all those deficiencies that were noted in that self inventory.  Therein lies the idea that since this is now the new year, I can/should make some changes in my life to make the forthcoming year a better year, ie., my “New Year’s Resolutions”.

In my almost 61 years, I have heard literally hundreds of “New Year’s Resolutions” that friends, family, and yes, even my self have made.  Those resolutions have run the gamut from losing weight, to becoming more productive, to treating my significant other with more respect, to being a better parent/grand-parent, to being more organized, to stop or reduce the amount of alcohol consumption, and how about this one for all you smokers, to quit smoking!  If you can think of a personal fault or a short-coming, then someone has decided to change that via their “New Year’s Resolution”!

Now let’s all be honest with ourselves, change in our lives really only comes when we convince ourselves, our brains, that I am ready, willing, and able to make myself change!

Conversely, if you are not ready, willing, and able to make those changes, then failure is most certainly in your future.  That is to say, if you have not firmly convinced yourself that on a specific date and time you are going to make a concerted effort to change, whatever behavior that is in question, you will not be successful at the noted change!

In fact, research has shown that 85% of all “New Year’s Resolutions” fail!  That is an overwhelming huge failure rate!  Why is this failure rate so high for the “New Year’s Resolutions”?

Could it be that the “New Year’s Resolutions” people make, are made without sincerity, without conviction, are somewhat frivolous, and thus, are doomed to fail from the very beginning?   You be the judge.

Whatever the reasoning is behind the astronomically high 85% failure rate, the obvious fact is that people are not very serious about succeeding when it comes to their “New Year’s Resolutions”!  So for all who have made their 2012 “New Year’s Resolutions” known to friends and family, my suggestion is that we all go out and buy a big old black crow at your favorite crow store!

Why buy crow you ask?

Simply put, before very long we will all fail to accomplish part or all of our “New Year’s Resolutions” made just a few days ago!  Therefore the logic follows, if you have already bought your crow, you can avoid the rush, and the extremely long lines at “the crow store”.  By avoiding the long lines to purchase your crow at “the crow store”, you can save time by simply whipping out your crow.  Once you have whipped out the old crow, you can sit down at the dinner table, tear off a big ol piece of your favorite part of that bird, and “eat a big old bunch of crow”!!  YUM!

In fact why delay?  If you are not extremely serious about fulfilling your “New Year’s Resolutions”, fire up the grill immediately so that you can eat your crow right away and be done with it!  That will put you far ahead of the other losers who will fail to accomplish their “New Year’s Resolutions” tomorrow, next week, or next month!

PS  From past experience, it has been observed that marinating your crow for at least 48 hours, in either some Pappy’s or Montreal Steak Seasoning, will help.  However, the crow will not be any better tasting, only just a little bit more palatable, and less toxic!

ROGER, WILCO, OVER, AND OUT!

Christmas In Fresno: A Reflection

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I have just returned from my annual Christmas trek to Fresno to be with my family for the holidays.  These days the Christmas holiday season is such a bittersweet time of the year for me.

I had great fun shopping for some toys for Cole and Hannah with my youngest son, Jeremy.  Even though the actual shopping was hectic, as I have written about. That event, “Santa” Christmas shopping for Cole and Hannah, put the Christmas spirit back into my soul!  It was re-invigorating, and I might add, it also was an opportunity to have some all important one-on-one time with Jeremy!

The most exciting part of Christmas was watching Cole and Hannah open up their respective Christmas gifts.  The sheer joy and exhilaration that came over each of their faces as they opened up all their gifts really gives this old grandfather joy! Additionally, getting gifts from Cold and Hannah that they made for me was very special!

The Christmas holiday also comes with food, lots of food.  After the grandkids opened up their gifts, Stephanie cooked a little breakfast to begin the Christmas day eating fest.  After the breakfast at Jeremy and Stephanie’s, I had to hightail it over to my sister’s house for a “brunch” with my Mom, sister, nieces and nephews.  It was also a time to deliver Mom’s Christmas gift for her to open.  The morning-time also provided some quality time visiting with, and celebrating Christmas with my mother, as well.

The early afternoon found me back on the road again to Jeremy’s house for their Christmas dinner.  Also there for dinner was Jason and his girlfriend, Jana.  As is mostly the case, Jason, in all his creativeness, made everyone a Christmas gift.  And as usual, he did not fully accomplish the task for everyone!  Surprise, surprise, it was just Jason being Jason!!  Notwithstanding that fact, I always look forward to what his creativeness produced!

I was privy to know what he was creating for Cole and Hannah.  He and Jana were trying their hand at tie-dying.  Now for those who are familiar with Jason, know that tie-dye t-shirts and Jason are one and the same.  Hmmmmm, that’s kind of like me and NASCAR/sprint car t-shirts!!!  But I digress.  The finished product, the tie-dye t-shirts, were really cool looking for their first attempt at that process!  This could turn into a financial thing for them in the future!

Now I digress once again, but I must do so to explain the gift I received from Jason.  Last year Jason wanted a painting set for Christmas.  So I agreed to purchase this for his Christmas gift with one caveat.  I requested that he paint something for me.  Well, that is what I received from him for Christmas this year.  Not bad, it only took twelve months for my request to be honored!!!

Nevertheless, I am now the very proud owner of a Jason Hammack original abstract!!

This part of the Christmas holidays, the family gatherings, the grandchildren opening their presents, the excitement in their eyes as the unwrap those gifts, is the bright spot and the joyous part that thoroughly thrills my being.  The older I get, the more that I realize that it is truly better to give than to receive.  Additionally, the feeling of giving someone something that they really need or want is really heart-warming!

Therein lies my reasoning for the “sweet” part of “the bitter-sweet” feelings that I have surrounding the Christmas holidays.

The other feeling that I have associated with this holiday, that “bitter” part of the previously mentioned bittersweet feelings, stems from an incident that occurred on December 30, 1995.  At approximately 10pm on December 30, 1995, I lost  my best friend, and my hero!  That evening my father passed away, leaving a legacy of honesty, humility, and honor.  As the youngest of five children, those are very big shoes to try to fill!  I am finding that, after 16 years and with all of my efforts, I am hard-pressed to succeed in filling those shoes!

I miss you, Pop!

Therein lies my reasons for viewing the Christmas holidays with a bittersweet tone!

May all your New Year wishes come true!

Christmas Shopping In Fresno 2011

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Once again I am fortunate to be able to make the Christmas trek back to my hometown of Fresno, CA.  With most all of my Christmas shopping accomplished a few months again Yuma, I felt somewhat leery about tackling what little shopping that was left for my grandkids.

Nevertheless, there was just a small portion of my Christmas shopping that was left, intentionally I might add, to be completed when I arrived in Fresno.  As it worked out, I was able to complete the toy portion of the shopping for Cole and Hannah with my son, Jeremy.  That, in and of itself, was lots of fun,and it served and enormous purpose!  I figured that who would know better what my two grandkids wanted for Christmas than their Mom or Dad?

I had scored a huge advantage!

As we entered into the “Kids Magic Kingdom”, better known as Toys R Us, the holiday shopper came out in both Jeremy and myself!  As we grabbed the ol shopping basket, it was obvious to me that we both needed to get tough and immerse our selves into the “holiday shopper/survivor” mode for this particular chore!

There were hundreds of carts trying to navigate the crowded lanes that encircle the rows of toys all stacked in their places.  The shopping carts were all jockeying to try to get the lead so that they could land one of their prized toys.

In actuality, watching the shoppers wheeling their shopping basket around the store resembled one of my favorite things to watch, Daytona or Talladega!  It was like a pack of race cars drafting each other until they reached the destination of their sought after toys!  Then there would be a sling-shot move to get into the lead, and grab that coveted toy before the other shoppers could have their chance!  Once we got into “the race spirit”, you could feel the adrenaline rushing through your veins!

I told Jeremy that I needed to be in control of the basket.  My reasoning for assuming control of the shopping basket comes from my past experiences.  I spent 2 1/2 years living in NYC back in the early 1980′s.  That experience of navigating through the sidewalks of New York City, walking shoulder-to-shoulder in that sea of humanity known as Manhattan, the experience of challenging the taxi cabs, as well as all the other car traffic in NYC at the intersections and cross-walks, I felt would give us an advantage navigating through Toys R Us!

Additionally, I thought that my knowledge of NASCAR, the bump drafting, the two car tango, and the knowledge of pulling off a sling-shot pass in a timely fashion would allow us to survive, grab our most coveted toys, thus allowing us to conquer the madhouse and even become a premier Toys R Us shopper!

Sports fans, it was game on!

With those thoughts in place, away Jeremy and I went, shopping cart, and shopping list in hand.  Initially I tried to be somewhat polite.  However, within just a few minutes of trying to navigate within the store, it was obvious that I must don my worst acquired NYC attitude, couple that with my NASCAR two car tango, and bump drafting techniques, it was time for full blown toy shopping!

Yes folks, we took no prisoners in our tour through the store.  As we aggressively steered the buggy on our shopping circuit. Occasionally we would bounce the cart off the rows of toys, other buggies, and now and then a few feet and toes that  had gotten in our way.  Nevertheless, never loosing our momentum!  Sorry about that!

Reflecting back on that shopping experience, it brings to mind the NASCAR commercial where the four businessmen bring back their rental car, badly wrecked with the side view mirror dangling.  The driver, in great NASCAR driver/crew chief form stated that, “overall he had a great car”.  ”However, the front end was pushing in the turns”!  At that point, their boss slides his car to a screeching halt only after impacting their car.  His car, too, looked like it had been racing at Bristol Speedway, really bent, beaten, and crumpled up!

That my friends is what it was like shopping this week at Toys R Us for the last minute Christmas toys for the grandkids!  Overall, we had a great shopping cart!  However, at times it would be pushing through the turns, consequently, causing me to hit toys, other shopping carts, and run over a few legs, feet, and toes!

Maybe the other shoppers need to check into getting an Aflac or a Nationwide insurance policy!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

 

The Las Vegas Indy Car Weekend After Thoughts

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(Jim, Jeremy, and Captain Blowdri @ Las Vegas Motor Speedway)

It was billed as the IndyCar World Championship weekend on the IndyCar race schedule.  I thought that it would be a great getaway for my youngest son, Jeremy, to be able to experience a cool race weekend in Las Vegas.  Joining Jeremy and myself was one of my older brothers, Jim.

It was going to be a great boys family weekend in Las Vegas!  Jeremy had not been to a big NASCAR or IndyCar race weekend in almost twenty years.  It was going to be a time for the three of us to hang out in the RV’s, enjoy some great racing, and for Jeremy and I to have some good, longtime coming, Father/Son time together.

The trip from Fresno to Las Vegas was a 7 hour road trip with Jeremy in my RV.  This was a first for him in many ways.  It was his first road trip in the RV, his first trip to see the Camping World Trucks, the first time to see the Indy Cars in 20 years, and his first time to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

For all of the seven hours driving to Las Vegas, Jeremy and I talked.  We talked about the great time that we both were anticipating it would be, once we were at the race track.  We talked about how our relationship had its ups and downs over the years, and where it stands these days.  We talked about what LIFE has dealt each of us.  We talked about the raising of his son, my grandson, Cole.  But mostly we just talked about LIFE!

Through all of the conversations, I tried to depart some “fatherly” wisdom to my youngest son, doing so very carefully.

The next morning, Friday, Jeremy and I went over to the race track.  As part of our weekend race tickets we purchased weekend Neon Garage/Paddock passes that gave us free reign to all of the pit road, garage, and any other area in the infield area.  During that day we walked throughout both the Trucks and Indy car garage areas, pit road, as well as the technical inspection areas.

While walking down along the pit wall we encountered several of the race car drivers.  Some of the drivers included, former Indy Car driver Mario Andretti, Camping World Truck driver Todd Bodine, X Games participant Travis Pastrana, and the 2011 Indy 500 winner, Dan Wheldon.  All of the above drivers were captured in photos with Jeremy.

Of those four individuals, the one that stood out in my mind was the jovial Dan Wheldon.  On Friday, when Jeremy was talking to Dan Wheldon, he was very upbeat, very positive.  He was very sure that he was going to win the $5 million dollar bonus that was posted for the non Indy car regular that could come from the pack of the pack to win the race.

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(Jeremy and Dan Wheldon @ LVMS)

On Sunday the IndyCars were the headline.  From the drop of the green flag to the eleventh lap, the 34 car field looked like pack of angry bumble bees, running two and three wide all the way around the race track!

Then the unthinkable happened! 

One driver made a very small mistake that turned 15 race cars into a pile rubble, three cars blazing on fire, and one very popular, likable British driver, Dan Wheldon, lost his chance to win that $ 5 million dollar bounty by losing his life in that fiery crash in turns 1 and 2 on lap 11of the IZOD IndyCar World Championship race.

Wheldon, 33 years old, left his mark on the race car world by winning the Indy 500 twice, most recently the 2011 race.  He was also a past Indy Car Series champion.  Today the news was announce that IndyCar Series is naming the newly designed race chassis that will appear next year after Wheldon in his honor.

For the last four days I have been pondering and trying to digest the events of last weekend, all the while trying to make sense out of it.  But all that kept popping up in my head is what my Father told me many years ago. My Dad said that, it is not what you take with you when you are gone that is important.  However, it is what you leave on Earth when you are gone that is important!

Wheldon will be greatly missed by all who had come into contact with him in his brief stay on this Earth!  With just that short conversation with Dan Wheldon along pit road, Jeremy and I had felt like, after the events of Sunday afternoon, we had lost a new friend that day.

Go rest high on that mountain, Dan Wheldon, your work on Earth is now done!

TIL NEXT TIME: ROGER, WILCO, OVER, AND OUT!

My First Summer In Retirement Has Concluded

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046(captainblowdri file photo)

Well gang, my first summer in full fledged retirement has officially come to an end.  What a cool summer vacation I had!  As it turned out the maximum temperatures that I had to deal with was 81 degrees!  So it was literally a very cool summer!!

I headed out of Yuma back on June 8th in my 38′ Fleetwood Expedition on a summer tour of the Pacific Northwest with my traveling companions, my brother Jimmy and his wife Edie, in their 40′ Fleetwood Revolution.

The first stop on the agenda was a week long stop in Fresno,CA to celebrate a milestone for our Mom.  Back in June, specifically June 13th, we celebrated her 93rd birthday.  There was a large gathering at my sister’s house of family for the celebration.  In addition to my sister were all three of my brothers, my two sons, one wife and one girlfriend, and my two grandchildren, a few of my nephews and their families, as well as my cousin and his wife from Vallejo.  It was a joyous celebration of life!

My nephew, Scott, made a very cool video of Mom’s life.  For me it was very touching and emotional.  The video incorporated some really old family pictures of all of us kids, my Dad and Mom, all the while accompanied with some really appropriate music for the video.

It was a celebration of life, longevity, of our heritage, and of our extremely humble beginnings!

Additionally while in Fresno, I met with my old college buddy of a thousand years, Steve Detjan, well honestly it was not really that long ago!  However, I have known Steve since that extremely hot day in the gym during college registration in the summer 1969.  It happened that Steve had knee replacement surgery on June 13th.  So I got to visit him a couple of times, once the day of the surgery, and the next day during his recovery, as well.

From Fresno I headed northwest to a place called Duncan’s Mills, CA.  This very small hamlet is located on the Russian River about 8 miles west of Guerneville, a northern extension of the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco, and about 8 miles east of Bodega Bay.  While hanging out in this area for a week, I visited two wineries, did a little wine tasting, and, oh yes, purchased a few bottles of wine from the Sabastapol area!  The two wineries that took some of my money were; the Russian River Winery and Dutton Estates.

From Duncan’s Mills I headed up  the California coast on US 101. Within a very short time I was driving my motorhome right up through the Giant  Redwoods of northern California.  The view was awesome, and awe inspiring to say the least!

The next landing place was Klamath, CA, in a little RV park right on the Klamath River.  Klamath is about 20 miles south of Crescent City, CA.  It was very quiet and peaceful along side the river.  The highlight of the seven day stay was the last three days of that visit.  Early one morning Jim and Edie called me to tell me to look out the front of my RV and just observe.  Quite to my dismay, there was a Momma and young baby gray whale that had found their way into the river from the Pacific Ocean!  Both were just frolicking in the river fro the last three days of my stay there.

From Klamath my summer journey continued north to Gold Beach, OR.  This neat little hamlet is located at the juncture of the Rouge River and the Pacific Ocean.  The highlight of the weeks stay here, and for that matter my whole summer, was the 104 mile Rogue River jet boat tour.  That is 52 miles up the river and 52 miles back down river!  The tour launched from the dock at 8am and returned at 3:30 pm, with a 90 min lunch break on the return down the river at a riverfront place called Agnes.

This stay encompassed the July 4th weekend.  That weekend there were many neat and fun things to see and do.  There was a hydroplane boat race on the river that was really cool to watch.

Additionally, I got my first glimpse of “Outlaw Go Kart” racing. These were not your regular little go karts, with lawn mower engines running slowly on a small dirt track!
See what I mean!

The July 4th weekend culminated with a really cool display of fireworks that was much bigger than I was expecting!

From Gold Beach I continued northward on US 101 all the way up to the northern coast of Oregon, to a little town called Rockaway Beach, OR.  Rockaway Beach is about 75 miles west of Portland.OR.  There wasn’t too much at Rockaway Beach.  However, there were two very fine eating establishments in that coastal town, Beach Bites at Rockaway, and Upper Crust Pizza!

Additionally, the Tillamook Cheese Factory was only 21 miles back down south on US 101.  The tour of the Tillamook Cheese Factory was a really fun experience.  The cheese is to die for!!  But their ice cream was totally phenomenal!!  Therefore, on that day I decided that I was not a diabetic!!!!!  Did I say that their ice cream was fantastic?

After Rockaway Beach, I headed on up into the Washington coast, at Ocean Shores.  That week was totally forgettable!  It rained every day, all day long for 6 days! (there is an old Washington adage that goes something like this:  If you can’t see Mt. Rainier, it is raining.  If you can see Mt. Rainier, it is getting ready to rain!)  I couldn’t see Mt. Rainier for six days!!

So it was time to pull up stakes, fire up the ol RV, and head to central eastern Oregon for some good weather.  The spot in central Oregon chosen was La Pine, Oregon.  It is a very small town just 24 miles south of Bend.  I spent a 10 day period at La Pine where the day time temperature was in the mid 70′s and the nights were in the mid 30′s!  Man, you just gotta love summer weather like that!!

At the end of the ten days at La Pine, I packed up the ol RV and headed back over to the coast of Oregon once again.  This time I spent two weeks in an RV park at Lakeside,OR.  Lakeside is about 15 miles north of Coos Bay.  The weather there was simply magnificent with daytime highs in the low 70′s and nights in the mid 50′s.

While at Osprey Point RV Park at Lakeside I made a Saturday trip over to Cottage Grove for a night of sprint car, midgets, and late model races.

On the subsequent Saturday night I hit the local Coos Bay race track for some outstanding races, as well.

After my two week visit in Lakeside, I returned to La Pine, OR for another 3 week stay that lasted until Labor Day.

On Labor Day I packed up the ol RV and started my southerly trek back towards Yuma, AZ.  However, I made a couple of pit stops along the way.  The first pit stop was in Chico, CA.  My week stay in Chico served two purposes.  First and foremost, I went there to really, really work on my redneck!  It just so happens that every year around Labor Day the Silver Dollar Speedway, located on property of the Butte County Fairgrounds puts on one whale of a four day sprint car show known as The Gold Cup Race of Champions.

In addition to watching some high caliber racing, one of my old Eastern Airlines/United Air Lines buddies lives in Chico.  So I got to spend some quality time with both Tim Donohue and his wife Dorothy.  We go way back!  I first met Tim in 1980 when we both lived in this old two story commuter apartment in Woodhaven, NY.  Oh the stories that surrounded this place!  Someday I will have to write about the adventures of Woodhaven!

Also, I was hooking up at the race track with two very dear racing friends from the Bay Area, Dan and Bernie Clapp.  So the visit to Chico served a multitude of purposes!  The camaraderie with both Tim and Dorothy, as well as Dan and Bernie made Chico a great week!

The culmination of the event was the two day World of Outlaws show.  It was fast and it was furious!

The last stop on the way home to Yuma was Fresno,CA.  I pulled into my old home town for a four day visit with my Mom, my kids, my grandkids, and of course my old college buddy, Steve Detjan.  Additionally, I had to pay a visit to my cardiologist as well.

On September 15th, a little over three months after I loaded up the ol RV for my northerly excursion, I rolled back into Yuma, AZ., I had come full circle!!

My first summer vacation in retirement has concluded!

It was good to be back home!

FOR NOW THIS IS YOUR CAPTAIN SIGNING OFF: ROGER, WILCO, OVER, AND OUT!

9/11: Ten Years Later

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Tuesday , September 11, 2001, 8:46 am EDT.

Where were you when the world stopped turning?

I remember, do you?

I have elected to keep this salute/tribute to all who lost their lives in the 9/11 attack upon the United States of America, very simplistic!

This is your humble captain reflecting on the Paul Simon song from 1966, “Sounds of Silence”, it says it all!  Give this song and video a chance.

 

Gold Cup Day Three: The World of Outlaws

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It was Friday night, day three of the Gold Cup Race of Champions at Chico, CA.  So far, the action on the race track has mimicked the local temperature.  On Friday the local temperature was more than twenty degress hotter than, Monday,  the day that I arrived in this small northern California hamlet.  The afternoon temperature soared on up into the triple digits, around 102!

Notwithstanding the fact that I have been able to spend some good quality time with an old Eastern Air Lines/United Airlines buddy, Tim Donohue, I have also been the loyal sidekick of two very good racing friends, Dan and Bernie Clapp.  However, my main objective in Chico was to observe, enjoy, and inhale some very close, fast, competitive sprint car racing.

Day number three of the 2011 Gold Cup Race of Champions has given me a glimpse of just what I have been waiting to see in Chico.  After a brief delay, while the grounds crew rearranged and re-groomed the racing surface, the action began.

Paul McMahan had lady luck on his side as he picked up his fourth victory of the 2011 season at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif. With a challenging racing surface, the Elk Grove, Calif. native made the best of his pole position starting spot to lead all 25 laps, wall -to-wall. The starting spot was by virtue of his win in the night’s dash. McMahan started the dash thanks to a drawing of six, which placed him on the front row.

“To get a win here in front of (team co-owners) Dennis and Teresa Roth is huge for this team,” said McMahan. “The dash draw really helped us and it meant we got to start up front which was key. The track started taking rubber early on (in the night) and they worked it a little bit after time trials. For the feature, it still had a lot of rubber so I was trying to be patient as I worked my way around here. I knew Jason (Meyers) would give me a run for my money near the end and I had to keep him at bay. Great win tonight but we want to be golden tomorrow night.”

Here is the results from Friday night’s  feature:

A-Main – (25 Laps)

1. 83-Paul McMahan[1][$8,000]; 2. 14-Jason Meyers[4][$4,000]; 3. 121-Shane Golobic[2][$2,500]; 4. 63-Chad Kemenah[3][$2,200]; 5. O-Jonathan Allard[10][$2,100]; 6. 57-Jac Haudenschild[8][$2,000]; 7. 11-Steve Kinser[9][$1,800]; 8. 99-Kyle Larson[5][$1,600]; 9. 1-Sammy Swindell[15][$1,500]; 10. 5H-Mason Moore[14][$1,300]; 11. 55-Trey Starks[18][$1,200]; 12. 5W-Lucas Wolfe[11][$1,100]; 13. 83JR-Tim Kaeding[17][$1,000]; 14. 33E-Evan Suggs[22][$700]; 15. 7S-Jason Sides[19][$600]; 16. 25-Jason York[20][$600]; 17. 6-Kraig Kinser[24][$600]; 18. 9-Brad Sweet[6][$600]; 19. 1X-Andy Gregg[16][$600]; 20. 44W-Austen Wheatley[21][$600]; 21. 7-Craig Dollansky[13][$600]; 22. 2-Kyle Hirst[23][$600]; 23. 17-Justin Sanders[7][$600]; 24. 15-Donny Schatz[12][$600]

Listed below are the results of the heat races:

Heat 1 – (10 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)

1. 11-Steve Kinser[1] ; 2. 83-Paul McMahan[2] ; 3. 17-Justin Sanders[4] ; 4. 2-Kyle Hirst[7] ; 5. 19-Tyler Wolf[9] ; 6. 29-Justyn Cox[8] ; 7. 11VS-John Michael Bunch[10] ; 8. OO-Jason Statler[5] ; 9. 5H-Mason Moore[3] ; 10. 15X-Pat Harvey Jr.[11] ; 11. 24C-Colby Copeland[6]

Heat 2 – (10 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)

1. 57-Jac Haudenschild[2] ; 2. 14-Jason Meyers[4] ; 3. 6-Kraig Kinser[7] ; 4. 1-Sammy Swindell[3] ; 5. 89-Rico Abreu[8] ; 6. 2F-Brad Furr[9] ; 7. 26M-Sean McMahan[11] ; 8. 21-Mike Henry[1] ; 9. 92-Kerry Madsen[6] ; 10. 7Y-Clayton Snow[10] ; 11. 44W-Austen Wheatley[5]

Heat 3 – (10 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)

1. 9-Brad Sweet[4] ; 2. 121-Shane Golobic[3] ; 3. 55-Trey Starks[2] ; 4. 25-Jason York[1] ; 5. 28-Ian Madsen[7] ; 6. 21M-Peter Murphy[9] ; 7. 25M-Bobby McMahan[8] ; 8. 88-Brad Bumgarner[5] ; 9. 3F-Geoff Ensign[6] ; 10. 28X-Billy Strange[11] ; 11. 11MD-Mathew Davis[10]

Heat 4 – (10 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)

1. 15-Donny Schatz[1] ; 2. 5W-Lucas Wolfe[5] ; 3. 63-Chad Kemenah[4] ; 4. 1X-Andy Gregg[3] ; 5. 11C-Roger Crockett[8] ; 6. 5D-Jason Solwold[7] ; 7. 7S-Jason Sides[2] ; 8. 3C-Cody Lamar[6] ; 9. 6C-Jeff Paraday[10] ; 10. 92N-Andy Forsburg[9]

Heat 5 – (10 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)

1. O-Jonathan Allard[1] ; 2. 99-Kyle Larson[2] ; 3. 83JR-Tim Kaeding[3] ; 4. 33E-Evan Suggs[6] ; 5. 91-Cody Darrah[5] ; 6. 19B-Bud Kaeding[8] ; 7. 7-Craig Dollansky[4] ; 8. 82-Robbie Whitchurch[10] ; 9. 6R-Bill Rose[9] ; 10. 64-Steve Tatterson[7]

With the end of the first night of action packed racing, the excitement builds for final night of the World of Outlaws, and the crowning of the Gold Cup Race of Champions!

THIS IS YOUR CAPTAIN SIGNING OFF: ROGER,WILCO, OVER, AND OUT!

 

Gold Cup: Night Two

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Last night was the second night of this four day racing event, called The Gold Cup.  The event was billed as “The Tiner Family Classic”.  Last night’s program consisted of  the USAC/CRA wingless 410 sprint cars, as well as, the Western States/BCRA “mighty midgets”.

There were 50 sprint cars and 24 midgets that showed up for the race.

Thursday turned out to be a very exciting, action filled evening of racing.  There was a rolling power outage in the greater Chico area that caused some delays prior to the green flag, temperatures hovering around the century mark, and a few spectacular crashes spread throughout the evening.  Early in the very first heat race of the evening, one of the sprint car drivers drove it very deep into turn one, launched himself over the berm, got on his head, then, began rolling with the race rapidly increasing in revolution speed, landing in the catchfence that protects the pit area from the racing action .

Nevertheless, the true entertaining portion of the night was not the wrecks, it was the hot, fast, keenly competitive races that unfolded as the night payed out.

The first two days of this four day event has given me plenty opportunity to work on my redneck!

So for now:

THIS IS YOUR CAPTAIN SIGNING OFF; ROGER, WILCO, OVER, AND OUT!