tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68763153628368010492012-01-26T11:48:34.668-08:00A journey through the thoughts and revelations that fuel my never ending bout with insomnia.Mnoreply@blogger.comBlogger461100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-49629744770617898092012-01-19T11:46:00.000-08:002012-01-26T11:48:34.678-08:00

Don't get me wrong.  I absolutely love to travel.  And I've always said that I'd be perfectly in my element if I was living out of a suitcase.  But right now I have to say that I am so glad to finally be home enjoying something that resembles normalcy in my life.I just finished up the trade show season that comes to the racing industry this time every year.  Hundreds of manufacturers,

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-92219626028913965492011-10-11T11:19:00.001-07:002011-10-12T12:13:11.387-07:00

Old habits die hard.  And going fast in anything shows no signs of mortality in my book.  Not for now anyways.After a ten year stint in the SCCA racing Formula Fords, I put down the driving gloves and hung up the helmet for what I thought would be for good.  That was almost nineteen years ago and today I find myself just as fast, just as talented, and just as good looking as I... Alright already!

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-20061632823275178032011-09-21T08:36:00.000-07:002011-09-21T11:49:38.850-07:00

In this day and age it appears that we've all come to accept a hectic lifestyle as the norm.  It's almost as if we feel worthless or lost if we're not constantly involved in something.  I find it hard to understand how our country leads the world in obesity when a fair percentage of us can't sit still for even ten minutes!To say my life has been busy lately is quite the understatement.Between my

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-56455417255096434832011-03-30T11:00:00.000-07:002011-03-30T11:52:03.115-07:00

So I'm in the restroom staring at the back of my jeans and like it's some sort of surprise to me I see 34/30 on the tag and I wince.  Christ! if you split me open like a vanilla bean and laid me out on a counter I'd be wider than I am long!  For me, this and many other reminders of my fleeting past have become all too common in my life lately.I just got my first pair of prescription eye glasses

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-84121529666351329842011-02-10T12:19:00.000-08:002011-02-10T12:25:42.197-08:00

Just a little something I threw together for my wife. I love you dear, have a Happy Valentines Day.Click on Lou to see for yourself.

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-24623246241545824042011-01-07T13:14:00.000-08:002011-01-07T14:56:36.854-08:00

Racing.  It's something that I've always been involved in since I was young.  Whether by foot or wheel, I've always had a passion for competing and I still continue on in this tradition today.But sixteen years ago that changed for me when my first born arrived.  Then it wasn't so much about what daddy wanted as much as it was about the child.  And I subscribed to this new paradigm lock, stock,

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-60439798669340546502010-11-05T12:59:00.001-07:002010-11-09T11:39:59.961-08:00

How many of you can relate to this?Your tween, or teen, arrives home from school and you lovingly greet them and ask how their day was.  an array of inaudible grunts bellow from them or worse yet, in their most irritated look they ask why is it that you have to ask so many questions.Dinner has just finished and while everyone is doing their part in cleaning up you simply ask if anyone has

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-7472225658480491472010-08-17T12:46:00.000-07:002010-08-17T12:54:31.853-07:00

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.You gotta go to this site if you're like me and you have about a billion pictures stored on your computer.  It's simple and it's free (if you keep it to 30 seconds)and you can choose from several backgrounds and music overlays.

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-47106184617866237032010-08-16T07:15:00.000-07:002010-08-16T12:05:26.977-07:00

First, I'd like to apologize for taking as much time off as I have from 3AM with Gus.  Busy is an understatement when it comes to what has been on the family agenda this year but it took something like the horrible off-road crash that happened in the Mojave desert this past weekend to wake me up and get me going again.What has and always will aggravate the hell out of me is stupid people.  For

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-79486438988701102202010-01-11T09:15:00.000-08:002010-01-18T07:53:03.515-08:00

I used to think that one day I would follow Buddhism more closely.  I can honestly say that I could adhere to the five precepts but after receiving a bit of information on a past archenemy of mine, that idea looks like it's about to get shot straight to hell!Practice the training of mindful speech, refrain from harmful speech.  This would be precept number four and one that since I consider

Mnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-59390103819026677702009-12-21T12:13:00.000-08:002009-12-28T08:20:40.181-08:00

The dictionary defines fortunate as having good fortune; receiving good from uncertain or unexpected sources; lucky.  After this past year I would think that to say I'm fortunate would be an understatement.With winter setting in and the holidays approaching it's once again time to reflect on our past, ponder the future, and celebrate everything that we have.  And for those of you who know me and

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-42424677564585773802009-11-19T13:59:00.000-08:002009-12-03T12:19:08.699-08:00

Over thirteen years ago I clipped and saved a short article written by Cory Farley of Autoweek magazine (March 4, 1996, The Plight of the Navigator). It was a story of his trials and tribulations in training his own son to drive.  Back then, my oldest hadn't even reached his second birthday but knowing that this day would find us quicker than I could probably imagine I decided to hang on to it. 

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-62109168954930084562009-09-11T14:32:00.000-07:002009-09-14T10:08:14.067-07:00

Eight years ago this great country of ours came under attack and like most of us I still can't totally believe what happened on that beautiful fall morning.  The enormous amount of innocent lives lost, and for the survivors, the lost feeling of ever being safe here at home again.  These cowards delivered a sucker punch that left us still reeling all these years later but they didn't win.  We

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-20553427798385909292009-09-09T11:07:00.000-07:002009-09-11T14:31:08.596-07:00

We bit it a month ago when my family and I decided that the big city was going to be this year's destination for our annual getaway.  And I'm pleased to say we liked it!  Some more than others, but all in all it was definitely something to see.Up until this year I was the only one in the family who had ever been there.  About thirty years ago to be exact, but some of that trip was still in my

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-56748288745290846332009-06-10T07:45:00.000-07:002009-07-22T14:52:02.221-07:00

My heart has always been in road racing but my soul belongs to the NHRA.  Long before I ever strapped myself into a race car I was at the local dragstrip watching the grudge matches, or a few blocks off of highway 100 doing some runs of my own.  This past weekend my family and I got to take in the circus otherwise known as the Full Throttle NHRA Nationals in Joliet Illinois.  Three days of tire

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-28521960217737955972009-06-01T08:55:00.000-07:002009-06-10T06:54:12.061-07:00

Ah the old double standard.  Do as I say, not as I do.  I've heard adults say this all of my life and it never really sank in until recently. Now that I'm an adult and a parent, I realize that we don't exactly know everything either. I'm beginning to see that I'm a bit of a hypocrite myself when I talk to my kids lately.  They're at the age now when questions like "did you ever smoke", "did you

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-31850859934779968892009-03-12T11:35:00.001-07:002009-03-12T11:37:40.878-07:00

Man, they make this stuff so easy even a technologically challenged buffoon like myself can look good.Check it out and then go to Animoto.com and make one yourself.

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-89589070581135076312009-02-16T07:41:00.001-08:002009-03-04T06:57:11.909-08:00

This past weekend a band of twelve brothers gathered to do battle in downtown Milwaukee and even though the outcome wasn't what I had hoped for, I couldn't be prouder to have been amongst them.Unlike other occasions when our objectives would be to fight fires, help rescue someone from a frozen pond, or assist one another with whatever mother nature threw our way, we would face a formidable foe

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-88070535122279287182009-01-29T13:08:00.001-08:002009-02-09T09:51:09.511-08:00

Three weeks ago I visited my family doctor for a routine physical.  For most of my adult life I stuck to a strict schedule of making sure I would get myself checked out every year, but this time I realized that it had been over two years since my last visit.  No worries though, as I felt about as good as I can remember myself ever feeling and I wasn't expecting anything out of the

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-59174235882046893432009-01-06T10:16:00.000-08:002009-01-07T14:00:06.027-08:00

I wish I could say that it was me who coined that phrase but I'd be lying.  It was found in the words of John Baxter who writes for Food and Wine magazine and I have to say I totally agree with him.The article outlines his younger years growing up in Australia and the foods that were prepared not only by his family but those in which he found on his travels to Europe.  My history isn't nearly as

Mnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-42788729871181187492008-11-07T13:05:00.000-08:002008-12-31T09:11:20.064-08:00

So much for the next four years of my life. I'm disappointed in the recent elections, I'll admit it.  But I can sit around and endlessly complain about things or I can hope that our new chosen leader will do what's right for all of us.  Black, white, wealthy, or poor.  In about two months it will be time for the rubber to meet the road and I can only hope that he does make change happen. Our

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-22835881405986960852008-10-21T10:46:00.000-07:002008-12-04T06:50:09.678-08:00

What is fair?  Fair by definition is being free from bias, dishonesty, or injustice. Who is fair?  Not a whole hell of a lot of people any more.Being fair was more predominant in our grandparent's day and age.  Or so I've been told.  People took better care of one another back then.  You worked your tail off for fifty years with one company and you were awarded a pension.  Back then the top

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-51633032431020893062008-10-14T06:51:00.000-07:002008-10-15T14:00:47.126-07:00

I did it again. In my never ending quest to find out if I can still pilot SOMETHING at speed, I competed in the annual Backwards Enduro at the Badger Kart Club this past weekend. The results were less than expected.Rewind one weekend ago and you'll find me attempting to actually enter a race in a class that I would belong to had I had a kart of my own. HPV Senior. The name alone conjures up

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-66971647859407393182008-10-10T10:01:00.000-07:002008-10-20T08:10:57.107-07:00

A while back my wife had just finished reading a short salutation that I wrote on my blog (So long 2007! -Dec. 31st 2007) when she quipped "That doesn't sound like you at all". I'll admit the words weren't something that one would hear me actually say on a regular basis, but nonetheless it was something I truly felt at the time and had to convey in my message.The thing is when you write, you can

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-1102744467171255512008-09-30T10:59:00.000-07:002008-10-10T14:57:10.432-07:00

How did that old song go? All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth? Well at the rate that this economy is going I'm going to need that as well as a Federal bailout plan for myself.It sounds kind of silly doesn't it? A bailout plan for little ol' me. But why should I be any different? Just like these mega-corporations today who are going under, I've made some bad financial decisions in my

Mnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-801264834631399892008-09-04T11:58:00.000-07:002008-09-18T14:29:27.889-07:00

So I'm asking myself, "Why did I sign on for this?"It's hot and I'm already tired. I can't see all that well, and frankly at this time of the night I want nothing more than to be fast asleep at home in my nice warm bed. At least there I'm in a familiar environment among my loved ones. And about the only hostile situation that I could find myself in is if my wife finally loses her patience with my

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-66069940437893645132008-08-19T12:58:00.001-07:002008-08-25T07:17:25.279-07:00

Sixteen my lily white Polish rear end!It's one thing to corner the market with your substandard manufacturing of just about everything we consume, but to flat out lie about the age of your athletes? It just goes to show how far people will go at times to win.A few hundred years ago your country used to be thick with honor and tradition and now it's looking more like it's made up of liars and

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-3289893793449964552008-08-14T10:32:00.000-07:002008-08-19T12:43:25.701-07:00

If this is so, I can assure you that I didn't get the memo!Honestly, I am beginning to see this more clearly though as my family and I embarked on our second annual trek up north for a week of camping, fishing, and overall relaxation. Every now and then it is nice to take the trailer out and know that I'm not going to have a ton of work expected of me in back. And thankless work I might add. My

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-73875023570713176032008-06-25T10:36:00.000-07:002008-06-25T11:10:40.709-07:00

Not much of a story needed here is there? Only that I'm dipping into my kid's college fund just to afford fuel to get to mid Wisconsin for the weekend. Pathetic isn't it?

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-21156998862808039752008-05-27T13:49:00.000-07:002008-06-19T13:20:26.527-07:00

So here I am in a neighbor's backyard enjoying a family get together this past holiday when grown men and women begin to dance drunk on tables, stumble all over the place, and in most cases make complete fools of themselves. My inability to comprehend what is wrong with these people is quickly trumped by the even bigger question of just what the hell happened to me?Not too long ago nor in a

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-21654783842610143492008-01-25T12:12:00.000-08:002008-07-29T08:18:33.365-07:00

Lately I'm finding that I'm becoming less tolerant of ignorant people, exorbitant prices on everything I buy, the lack of talent in the music industry, and traffic. Oh there's plenty of other things that get to me but these few are probably the things that concern me most. Before I go any further I have to ask that you not mistake this thread as just another negatively charged whine fest. I

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-84455041169230612312007-12-31T13:31:00.000-08:002007-12-31T13:58:26.205-08:00

It's that time of the year again, and it comes quicker and quicker it seems.As in years past this is the time when we reflect on all that we've accomplished, failed to do, or brushed under the rug until next time. It's a time for resolutions, and in most cases very high expectations of ourselves in the upcoming year. Whether it's to call a friend after losing touch or losing weight after gaining

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-63150002075785846352007-12-20T07:26:00.000-08:002007-12-21T12:03:07.128-08:00

Everybody knows how frustrating it is today when you have to visit the doctor's office or an emergency room. It comes as no surprise to anyone when the staff would rather have you bleed all over the floor to make certain that all the insurance forms are filled out properly rather than get you immediate attention. And then regardless of the discomfort you're in, outside of full blown cardiac

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-31422514568768929492007-11-08T10:49:00.000-08:002007-11-11T05:03:32.141-08:00

Ten people on every street corner waiving nude photos of women that I can have in my hotel room in twenty minutes.(With most of these cards and flyers finding their way to the ground by midnight) Annoying individuals at every casino trying to sell me a timeshare. And prices for just about everything being so high you almost have to win big just to eat, drink, and sleep here.If you haven't figured

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-86879977342914297582007-11-06T13:24:00.000-08:002007-11-06T14:09:47.284-08:00

All year I wrench on my son's kart and envy him for having the opportunity to do this at his age. Ever since I can remember I wanted to have something to do with racing. And when an uncle of mine purchased a kart and began competing with it back in the 70's I knew where I wanted to be. So I pestered my father and saved my money but nothing ever came of it. Whether it was a lack of money, a lack

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-27928979028022472007-10-03T10:41:00.001-07:002007-10-03T10:46:14.288-07:00

In supporting my son's site over at Sam's Race Page and more importantly the online store that subsidizes some of our racing expenses, I bring you this shameless plug.Just in time for Christmas and for 2008. We've now added a calendar to our online store with team photos spanning our first three years in this sport. Check it out at the Inch-Hi Motorsports Online Store.

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-43316486969489212022007-09-20T09:06:00.000-07:002007-11-28T18:02:07.393-08:00

While watching a Formula One race a while back a breaking news story came across the screen about a former World Rally Champion being killed in a helicopter crash in Europe. Details were sketchy at the time but we were promised more information as it became available. None was given during the allotted time slot for the race so I thought I'd eventually read it in the paper on the following day.

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-27306180654188728142007-09-06T11:32:00.000-07:002007-10-02T11:07:15.536-07:00

As exulted by the late great Freddie Mercury of Queen, I think everyone should do it. Turn back the clock about 25 years and you would see that I used to be a distance runner in my younger days. I remember when I'd put in at least 5-10 miles before I even made it to work in the morning. Then, if some of my fellow runners were up for it, we'd put in at least the same distance after quitting time.

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-66775402290622693072007-08-22T10:13:00.000-07:002008-03-05T14:06:15.284-08:00

I read this once and thought to myself how fitting of a saying considering where it was so predominantly displayed.Everybody knows people who operate this way in their day to day activities. Self proclaimed gods of their craft who feel that no one in their profession is as good as themselves. They don't have to necessarily come out and actually say this but the "world pales in comparison to me"

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-37106297390950106782007-08-16T12:36:00.000-07:002007-10-18T07:20:01.006-07:00

Every day I get news updates and e-mails from a favorite website that I subscribe to. And more than I care to hear, there are stories about line of duty deaths involving police officers and firefighters and yet another family fighting an uphill battle with the Department of Justice to receive death benefits for the loss of their loved one. Back in 2003 the Hometown Heroes Act was introduced to

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-79986580009640284082007-08-01T13:38:00.000-07:002007-08-01T14:22:59.130-07:00

I couldn't believe what he was saying. "What are those people doing in the parking lot of the stadium?" asked my son. "That's Tailgating" I replied. "Tail-whating?" he said.I assumed everyone from birth naturally knew what this form of pre game ceremony was. And being from Wisconsin, I'm pretty darn sure we invented it. I don't think there are many cities that put such an emphasis on this

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-5659490607781376022007-07-31T08:19:00.000-07:002007-07-31T10:40:41.706-07:00

No real story here other than the fact that this crazy feline of ours has Attention Deficit Disorder. He can't sit still for 2 seconds regardless of the situation, and just watching him wears me out.Uh-oh! I feel a tangent coming on here. Could be gas but.. No, it's definitely a tangent. You know, come to think of it everyone must have ADD. At least that's what the medical society is trying to

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-59115728167341697432007-07-24T11:23:00.000-07:002007-08-15T14:22:52.355-07:00

For several days now I've been listening to a local radio station that's been playing a chronological of rock music spanning the past three decades. Today they're on 1978 and man have I forgotten how good music was back then!My personal collection includes Big Band, Classical, Blues, Jazz, Rock. And I find myself equally at home listening to New Wave, Punk, Disco, and Old School R&B. I'm pretty

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-92085553300441699422007-07-18T08:01:00.001-07:002007-07-23T08:04:45.511-07:00

The other day my family and I were in a restaurant where another foursome with much younger children was seated next to us. I watched as the mother went up to the buffet table to get her food and a dish for her 4 year old daughter in tow. Dad was back at the table trying to feed a very cranky toddler when it hit me that we were that very same family not long ago. I remember many times when our

Mnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-26976486831429953602007-07-10T14:18:00.000-07:002008-03-13T10:58:13.209-07:00

On a recent trip back from a race in Shawano, my family and I stopped for dinner at a truck stop on Hwy 41 in Fond Du Lac called The Stretch.When I was a kid my family and I would stop there from time to time to grab a bite to eat when driving up to Omro to visit my grandparents. My grandfather always said it was the half way point between Milwaukee and Oshkosh, and I remember my father always

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6876315362836801049.post-40535597661049070672007-06-23T10:59:00.000-07:002007-07-11T09:48:48.708-07:00

This new Blog, 3AM with Gus, was conceived to lessen some of the rants that I've been famous for writing about on my son's site over at Sam's Race Page. I would hijack it from time to time to voice my opinions and broadcast my beliefs and interests on a variety of things not always race related. To stay true to what that site was intended to be, while providing my very own conduit to the world, I

Mnoreply@blogger.com0