In Preparation...

I am having a difficult time wrapping myself around the reality that another Texas Mile is upon us. The last one, although we had high hopes of 200 mph runs down the track, did not turn out so well. There are two of them a year and March's Mile was a bit more than I could handle ( Turbo Busa Tumble - April 07). I will add October's upcoming Mile to the list of things currently keeping me awake at night!

This time 'we've' done things a bit different. I say 'we' like I actually have anything to do with it...I have NOTHING to do with it. I do nothing except fret!

We took the turbo Hayabusa to Johnny Cheese in Round Rock, Texas - yes, that really is his name - who worked for quite some time to tune the bike, producing a Texas Mile 'map' that he says will get us the mph we need for the Mile. Okay, I really don't know exactly what all this means, after all who needs a map to get down a straight one mile track anyway! I mean, there is already a GPS on that thing...we need a map too?! I can tell you one thing - turbo tuning is VERY loud.

Johnny Cheese tunes the Turbo Busa

We took the grandpup, Chance, along with us to Mr. Cheese's shop (he was a big hit, as always), and he knew exactly what to do - he put on ear protection!

Chance attends most all of our racing events - he is quite the traveler - and I often wonder what he thinks about his life. He makes friends wherever he goes and usually he just lays there and enjoys the attention.

Chance and his Papa take a nap at the track.

Chance cools off with some damp cloths at a hot race in Houston.

Jen and Chance inspect the damage on 'Rustman's' crashed bike at a Texas Mile. This bike went through the speed trap at 209 mph before taking it's tumble.

Grandboy AJ gets a seat in one of the 'fast' Texas Mile cars! I know it won't be long before AJ gets his turn at the mile - but I am pretty certain he will be on 4 wheels :)

Another landspeed racer ready for a run on the Texas Mile.

One of my very favorite pictures taken on the Mile. Jenn in the background and a man on his 'barstool' pit-cruiser.

Oh, I suppose I will survive once again - and when it is over, I am just certain I will have amazing pictures and wonderful memories as with all of our great adventures!

A Great Dane Sized Hole!

After living with his Grammy and Papa for more than a year and a half, Chance has officially 'left the building' ~ he has moved to Center Point to live with his mommy, Jenn.

I loaded up the little Mazda 3 with the final load of Jenn's 'stuff'...including her Dane, our Grandpup Chance. All morning he'd known something was up, and was excited and anxious. He'd seen the loads of familiar items go out the door for 2 weekends in a row. But this time was different and he knew it.

Papa had gone to Fermin's for tacos that morning and, as usual, returned with an extra for Chance. Chance knew the routine and obediently sat at his Papa's feet. Before we could locate his 'slobber rag,' drool began to stream from his huge jowls and land in noisy pools on the dining room floor. Papa looked at him sincerely, held the taco at the very tip of Chance's nose and explained how his life was about to change, and how this was probably his last breakfast taco for a very long time. In a swoop and a gulp the taco was gone - Chance looked around hungrily for more, but it was gone.

Several hours later we all arrived at Chance's new home. After a thorough inspection, a tour of each and every room in the house and of the backyard, Chance seemed to understand what had happened. Then we took a short ride to the river park where Chance made some new friends and played in the water. "Hey, this is great," he seemed to say.

We spent one night with Chance in his new home and left early this morning; he wined and cried a bit and wanted to go with us. His mommy had to hold him back at the gate. But as we drove away I could clearly see that he'd already found other things to occupy himself as he galloped down the long fence line in the opposite direction, barking at nothing in particular.

Several hours later we arrived back at our very quiet Corpus Christi house, unlocked the door and, even though we knew he was gone, half way expected the large Dane to greet us at the door.

Chance, you really know how to rip a 'Great Dane sized hole' in your Grammy's heart!

Noodles for Papa and Chance

You know those 'noodles' they use at the beach and in swimming pools? They work great! They are useful for other things also - you can cut a slit all the way down one of them and place a brightly colored 'noodle' on a hauler cable to keep innocent race fans from accidentally running into a cable. We purchased two of them to use on our motorcycle hauler - bright green (I wanted pink, but considering that Jenn and I have already inundated Roger with pink everywhere, thought I'd give him a break and get bright green.

Chance always greets us at the front door when we get home from anywhere and today was no different. Roger carried the two green 'noodles' through the front door and instead of just putting them away, he began to entice Chance, who immediately took the bait. Then instead of the normal command, "Chance, DROP!" Roger fell to the floor and began to wrestle the monster Dane! Before I knew it the two of them had that big green 'noodle' in shreds all over the living room floor! What a waste of a green 'noodle!'

On the other hand, I suppose it was worth the $1.50 just to watch a 56 year old grandpa roll around on the floor with his humongous shinning black Grandpup.

Friends? at last!

Grandpup 'Chance' the Regal Dane has lived with us for just over a year, while long time cat and family member 'Adagio' has been around for 12 years or so.

Adagio basically owned the place. He walked around the house anywhere he pleased - the refrigerator, washer, dryer, top of the sofa, between the legs... Then one day literally out of the blue (on an airplane from the Hawaiian island of Oahu) Grandpup Chance arrived. Yikes! What a 150 pound shock to our 9 pound fuzzball, Adagio!

Their first encounter sounded something like the attack of the Venetian wildcats on the massive Martian horse-dogs; and the result was a trip to the minor medical clinic for me! Adagio had lost his freedom. He could not accept this huge noisy, shinning, black monster who had moved into his territory.

Then, one year and 2 months later, as Jenn and I sat at the dining room table and Chance sat on the kitchen floor drooling over our eats, Adagio nonchalantly walked up to Chance and gave him a kiss on the face. As Chance drool swiped across Adagio's face, Adagio continued to be overly affectionate toward Chance. Can this be? Has Adagio forgiven Chance for moving into his home?

Only time will tell...