Hard-Copy Journal for 6 May, 2013

Rob's introduction to the project.

Michael texted my that he had a surprise for me at his place and that I should come when convenient.  School conflicted, but I blew off a study session anyway to see what he had for me.  Showed up at about 1:30 PM to find a 1971 Opel GT for use at LeMons.  Exciting Times.  He spent $300 for the car.  It has enough parts that can be sold or traded to bring the LeMons budget down to $0 I believe.  Also has some parts that I can use on my Opel.  Lot of work to do, but no expectations on racing until 2014.  He thinks June, but I think September because of locations. June is Buttonwillow race and that is far away.  September is Thunderhill which is closer and at least I have some knowledge of that track.  It was located at the side of his house.  We didn't work on it today, but we did move it to the main driveway and placed it on tire stands to elevate it a bit. I had to get back to school for D.E. class.

COSTS SO FAR:
=========================
LeMons Budgeted Items:
     1971 Opel GT
          $300
     Total Expenses
          $300
     Budget Remaining
          $200
=========================
Off Budget Items:
     None
     Total Expenses
          $0
=========================
     Misc. Items
     None
     Total Expenses
          $0
=========================
     Grand Total Expense:
           $300


SAMPLE PHOTOS FROM TODAY:

My first view of the 1971 Opel GT.

Interior with extra bits.

Rear Quarter view of Car.

Background for LeMons.

For those who don't know, the 24 Hours of LeMons is a "crap cans" race league for endurance racing with super cheap cars.  The name is an obvious play on the name 24 Hours of Le Mans which is a world famous endurance race that takes place in France every year along with the word "Lemon" which is, of course, a term for a crappy car.  The official website for this race league can be found here.

In a nutshell, the specifications for this race are as follows:
You cannot spend more than $500 on a race car.  This budget includes the cost of the car, the costs to get it running and driving, and the cost of decorating it.  However, there is a limitless budget on required safety equipment such as a roll-cage, racing seat, fire suppression systems, wheels, tires, brakes, etc. 

There are several races which take place across the country.  Most of these races take place over a weekend with two 12 hour endurance races.  A very small number of these races are true 24 hour long single races, but I doubt we'll do one of those.

This racing league has grown in popularity since its inception with races now having often more than 150 cars on the track at any given race.   I still haven't been to one, but I'll be helping a part of the pit crew for another team (Team TinyVette) in September at The Thunderhill Raceway in Willows Ca.  I hope to gain some much needed experience in this race series before we enter our car next year.

I'm back!

I simply lost interest in posting on this Blog because I really had nothing to write about that I was particularly proud of. Three years, eh? I can't say that nothing has happened, but I don't know where to begin. I'm still in school. I'm still madly in love with my wife, Rebecca. I still love cars. I still enjoy riding motorcycles. I've lost contact with pretty much all of my friends of the past. I've made a few new friends through school. I've been depressed. I've been happy. I've moved two times. I've bought two motorcycles and sold the first one. I've bought a classic car. Both of my grandmothers have passed on. I've learned a great deal about math and physics. I still don't talk with my family nearly as often as I should. I still play the Movie Quote Game. I still play video games. I don't like Michael Crichton as an author as much as I used to. I have a new appreciation for great science fiction...

And a great many other things are the same.
And a great many other things are different.

That being said, I believe the purpose of this weblog is one of those things in my life that is due for a change. This has been primarily a place to share my thoughts, feelings, and experiences of anything and everything that happens in my life for those who care to read them. However, as with all of my journals I've ever started, my interest waned and I stopped all together. Therefore, I'm just going to focus on one aspect of my life and try to stick only to that.  With that kind of specific goal, I hope to be more consistent with this journal.

As all of my family knows I would love nothing more than to be a super famous racing driver. I finally have a chance to race on an extremely amateur level. I'm co-owner of a car that will race in the 24 Hours of LeMons. The other owner, in fact the individual that bought the car and gave me co-ownership as an awesome birthday present, is my good friend Michael Pendley. The story of that car, the transformation thereof, and the race(s) it does will be what this weblog is about from now on. I have a hard-copy journal with a few entries and I'll be placing each of those entries in this on-line journal. I'll also include any pictures/video that I take of this project.

This project is moving slowly, so don't have high hopes of a regular update schedule.  What I write in my hard copy journal will end up here.  I hope you all enjoy.

-Rob

Been a while.

So I see it’s been like 8 months since I’ve written one word in my web log. The crazy part is that I’ve had all sorts of stuff to write about. I’ve had no less than three life changing events happen to me these months. First of all, I got married. Second, I started going back to school. Lastly I’ve received my motorcycle license. Each of those points will be getting their own post in the coming week or so, but for now I’m just going to fill you in by telling you what’s happening with my life right now.

I’m still unemployed. People are still not building, so fire sprinkler companies are still not hiring. There’s a little over a half dozen fire sprinkler companies around the Sacramento area and I’ve been keeping my feelers out with periodic phone calls and such, but to no avail. As it stands now, I think that by next semester I’m going to go to school full time using the financial aid, and get myself a part time job in whatever I can find. Hopefully I can find a part time design job, but I think I’ll have to take a retail job.

I’m still kind of active in my R/C Drift Club. Since I’ve been spending my money on other things though, my Drift Car has been non-operational for a couple of months. I still show up to some of the meets, hang out with the guys, and generally have a good time. The club’s size is dwindling, our influence is growing. We’ve made sort of an alliance with another drift club from San Jose, and we’ve had a couple of competitions with them. There is a good possibility that our club will be featured in an R/C magazine in a couple of months, it’s still in the planning process so it might not happen, but if it does, I’ll be sure to post the article.

Outside of those few things, and the other main ones that I touched on in the beginning of this post are what I’m about lately. Going on a 8 month vacation may sound awesome, but I’m getting more than a little stir-crazy. I cannot wait until I can become a contributing member of the community again.

Anyway, until my next post,
-Rob

New chapter.

Well, as my family knows, my job has come to an end. This is not very fun and I was nervous about being able to stay in contact with everyone, but it seems like that won't be too much of a problem. I just got a new phone (916) 601-2348 and it's very nice and shiny. It's an iPhone so it has all the Internet access things I'll need. My updates should be a bit more frequent, but they'll also be a bit shorter I think.

This is a fairly exciting new chapter in my life. I haven't liked my job for the past few years (anyone can see this by reading through some of my older posts) and I don't really know what's coming next. While talking with Rilla, I was able to realize that the whole world has been opened up to me. Perhaps I'll get a job on the east coast! Maybe I'll become a super famous racing driver in Germany (not too hopeful on that one though). All I know for certain is that I'll no longer need to put up with my old bosses. I'm looking forward to whatever comes in the future.

One last thing I need to tell you all before I finish this up and that is about my email. My old work email is obviously not being used any more so you'll have to use my new one: robsracing@gmail.com

Now that I am not working, I'll be spending a lot of time planning the wedding and I'll be sure to post small updates about that as they arise.

Good night all.

This week can't end fast enough.

Wednesday night some jack-ass broke my passenger window, grabbed my CD's, Registration & Proof of insurance, and my small folding kite. All I got to say about that is "Why?" I can understand wanting to steal someone's CD's. But my Regristration and proof of insurance?! What the hell can that DO for someone who isn't me? I really hope I can find this punk ass kid... I had like 80 CD's and at about $15 a pop, that comes to like $1,200 worth of music. That's a goddamn felony. Can you imagine it! Getting a strike on your record and losing your right to vote because you stole some CD's. I'm absolutely fuming about this. I actually feel vengeful. I don't want justice, I want revenge.

Anyway, I was also gonna write about the wedding plans today, but something happened there that made my blood boil too, and before I write something that I regret writing, I'm going to give a few more days to let myself cool off. I just want this thrice damned week to end.

Here's that video of my RC Drift car goin' 'round some fireworks.


Another easy quote today, but I thought it was apt.

"Y'know, it woulda' been worth him keyin' my car if I coula' caught him doin' it."

(Sorry... I'm not sure if that is the direct quote... it might be a little off. It's been a while since I've seen this movie.)

Some Stuff.

Rilla really wanted to see the pictures of my new Drift Shell. I posted them on Face Book, but I can't tell if she's seen them or not, and I'm certain that Dad hasn't, so I'm also going to place them here. Check it out.

These are the concept sketches that I used to see what I wanted to do.





These are the final product of all my labors.




Here are some pictures of the lights in action.



It was a monumental undertaking for me. I spent around 10 hours on the buckets to hold the lights alone, and another 4 hours learning how to wire them up properly. I think that I spent about 35 hours in total getting this project complete. It looked good on TV though. One of the people that was on camera with us TIVOed the segment and burned it to DVD. Once I get a hold of that DVD I'll be sure to upload the video and show everyone. It wasn't as much air time as we had hoped, only one 4 minute segment (we were told that there would be 3 or 4 4 minute segments) but there was some breaking news of some sort... no idea what it was though... probably budget crap (a little off topic, but I'm not going to vote for a single incumbent the next time 'round). It was fun none-the-less.

I'll hit y'all up later with video and other stories.

Very easy quote today, but I saw it recently and it made me laugh.

"There is no doubt that our attractions will drive children out of their minds."
"What are those?"
"Small versions of adults, honey."