Showing posts with label Daytona 500. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Daytona 500. Show all posts
Monday, February 19, 2018
A busy and disappointing weekend...
The Stars lost again in spectacular fashion on Sunday. They gave up five goals in the 1st period and only came back to grab two of their own during the rest of the game. It's like someone flicked a switch and turned their talent off. Ugh.
In other sports news, DH and I watched the Daytona 500 yesterday, which was fine. There were a couple of major wrecks, but as I haven't really picked a driver to follow they weren't as devastating to me as they could have been. :0) It's been a while since I followed NASCAR and the driver landscape has changed a lot. I'm not planning on getting super into the sport again, but most fans have a driver or two to pin their weekly hopes on. I've got my eye on a handful, including the guy who won yesterday, but will watch a few more races and narrow it down to 2 or 3.
Going to my writers group meeting on Saturday was the boost I'd hoped for, but that meant a lot of work for me yesterday. Our group is putting together a collection of short stories to celebrate our 35th anniversary. Guess who's in charge? Yes, me. Although I'd wanted to be in charge of it since the 30th anniversary, so it's fine. Anyway, I thought I was going to be able to parse out the proofreading, but a couple of my helpers sorta bailed, so I spent yesterday proofreading a handful of short (3500 words or less) stories. Then I remembered I had to like put together some specialness for the celebration, which is next month. Like ordering the memento, planning table decorations if any, starting a power point presentation for a thing I'm planning, and sending out emails as needed to accomplish all of the above.
On another note, I got my hind-end back to the gym starting yesterday. Went again today. I stopped going because of the super-cold temps that early in the morning and also because working the contest takes a good hour, so that's when I'd work on it. But the contest is running smoother, so I don't need as much time. Anyway, I was feeling the adverse effects of not going and now that it's warmed up, I had no more excuses and every reason to go. So...yeah. Back at it.
The next thing to get after is writing book 7. I just need to park my behind somewhere, fit on the noise-canceling headphones, and write.
How was your weekend?
Monday, February 22, 2016
Boogity, Boogity, Boogity
Now if you're familiar with that phrase, you probably know that Darryl Waltrip hollers it at the start of each race he broadcasts... I've been waiting for this day since we added actual TV to our Internet package back in November...NASCAR!!
Many moons ago I really got into NASCAR. I know it's not a sport for everyone, but I enjoyed it tons. DH and I were able to attend two races back in 2001--the spring race here at Texas Motor Speedway and the race in Phoenix in October. DH even scored pit and garage passes. That was a fantastic trip!
We watched it for several more years, but the kids got into high school and other things needed focus--and we got rid of cable which meant our only way to watch NASCAR was gone.
Since Sonshine left for bootcamp, I've had a hankerin' to start watching NASCAR again, but without basic TV channels, it was difficult to say the least. But now we have it, and DH and I had been looking forward to the Daytona 500 for a year--since our aborted attempt to live stream it last year.
I bought race-day treats and we sat and enjoyed hours of left turns! My favorite driver, Sterling Marlin, retired many years ago and so I'm in the market for a new driver to root for. I think I'm going to need to catch a few more races before someone really tickles my fancy.
Are you a NASCAR fan? If so, who's your favorite driver?
Monday, February 25, 2013
Not New, Not Improved
So there's this billboard I passed over the course of the last few days taking the Brown Eyed Girl to work.
It's for Shiner Bock, and it says: NOT New, NOT Improved.
And I loved it. If I drank beer, I might have switched. I never understood the philosophy of fixing something that isn't broken or improving something that tastes or works just fine. I get why they do it, but it's still bothersome.
The first thing I remember is the cereal, Special K. I used to eat it many years ago. And then they changed it. And I stopped eating it. Same with Grape Nuts. :(
More recently, a large organization to which I belong revamped their website. First, it was all back-end stuff, it looked the same mostly, though they'd added features. Now, I've been on PCs and the Internet a long time and I'm fairly savvy, but I hate hate hated the changes they made. The site was no longer user friendly. I could never find the same file or the same section twice. And if I did, it was never by following the same path. Ugh. Very frustrating. And then they decided to change the color scheme, the look and feel of the site. In general, I'm not opposed to the colors they chose, BUT this organization represents something and in my small insignificant opinion, the new color scheme does not represent that thing quite as well anymore. I'm not the only one. When the color changes were implemented, there was a lot of grumbling. And maybe it's more about the change rather than the changes themselves, because a lot of people resist change. Me included. But when something seems less friendly, less easy to use, or doesn't taste as good as it used to, there's something to be said for leaving well enough alone.
One last example is iTunes. Most people either love it or hate it. I'm mostly in the love it camp. The last upgrade brought significant changes to the user interface. A lot of folks were upset over that. And I'm not really sure what the purpose was. As of this post, I have not upgraded, although I'm sure there will be a point at which I have to otherwise things may stop working as well or altogether.
Is there a product that you wish had not been subjected to improvement??
NASCAR update: Danica Patrick started 1st, placed 8th. Not bad at all, considering there are 43 drivers.
Friday, February 22, 2013
NASCAR
I may have to start watching NASCAR again. :) If you've known me for very long, you'll know I went through a stint where I loved NASCAR. I watched it on Sundays, I discussed the races with people, I had driver stickers on my car, and I still have my fair share of collectibles. DH and I even attended two races; one here in Texas at Texas Motor Speedway and one in Arizona at the Phoenix International Raceway.
My favorite driver, back in the day, was Sterling Marlin.
I was NOT a Jeff Gordon fan.
One thing we learned about race tracks was that they have their own personalities, if you will. Texas Motor Speedway was a total party track. We could hardly get to sleep for all the noise and chatter and laughter going on late into the night. For our trip to Phoenix, we bought a pop-up trailer. A good choice, though not because of any sort of noise. In fact, PIR was the complete opposite of TMS. This was the rich/old person's track--they all had motor homes! And it was quiet as heck in the camping area.
The reason I may have to take up NASCAR again is because, for the first time ever, a woman will start the Daytona 500 from the pole position (that's first in the line-up, on the inside nearest nearest the flag pole if there are two lines). Last Sunday, Danica Patrick drove the fastest qualifying lap, giving her the pole.
It's hard enough to win a race even if you're a man, and there are or have been scant few women in the sport, though it's one of the few were gender really isn't an issue in terms of needing brawn over brains. You need endurance, a good engine, and a lot of luck.
I'm not really a women's libber, but it's good to see Danica taking a giant leap for woman-kind and showing girls and young women that with a lot of hard work and perseverance, you really can do anything you want in this world.
(borrowed from autoweek.com)
Are you a fan of auto-racing? Any particular kind?
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