Dear Friends and Family,
Round seven of the Formula One Grand Prix season - the United States Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway - marks the second of my two favorite weekends of the summer, Montreal being my favorite. Sigh, back to races on TV.
We slept on the roof Friday night and woke to the sun Saturday morning. Nice! And, after some hurried packing, we hit the road for the drive down to Indianapolis. The plan was to go straight to the track for qualifying, check into our hotel, scope out dinner, get some shut eye, check out Sunday morning, go to the race, and drive back home.
We got to the track with about forty minutes to spare and rented a Kangaroo TV for the race. We saw a demo in Montreal and were really jazzed to try it out. I have to say, I'm in love. It's a small hand held device that broadcasts the TV feed, the drivers' in car camera feeds and several screens of stats along with the TV audio feed AND any snippets on the drivers' radio feeds. The screen is super clear, the audio is loud enough for the track, and the user interface is simple simple simple. Definitely a nice add that enhances the race experience. Our only gripe? They need more than one pick-up/drop-off point at the track.
Qualifying went without a hitch and Lewis Hamilton snagged his second pole position. Kimi Räikkönen started from fourth on the grid. My only gripe? The weather. It was a stinking, sweltering, suffocating, scorching, sadistic 97° outside - with a thick layer of sunscreen on, you sweat a sticky layer of goo that just makes you feel miserable. Yuck!
Checked in at the hotel. And, Mr. mouse found an excellent place for dinner, reading on his favorite foodie website, chowhound. It hasn't failed us yet. If you need a food recommendation, it's a great place to find the real deal on where the locals eat. Got back to the hotel by 9-ish and did a little bit of work before turning in for the night.
Sunday was another blistering day. We spent the morning at the track, in the shade, watching the races on the Kangaroo TV. Just the thought of six hours in the bleachers with the sun beating down on you was enough to persuade us to conserve our energy and prioritize. Mr. mouse also had a nice nap before we headed to our seats for the race. Hamilton won, handily, and Kimi came in fourth, after a bad start and lots of work to regain his two lost positions.
And, because we're such dorks, we left the speedway, and instead of heading home, we headed to the local Walgreen's to pick up a Sharpie and we headed to the airport. We ran into two drivers and several teams of engineers resulting in lots of photographs and three autographs. One of the drivers was REALLY cool about it. I have to say, now, I'm going to have to follow him more closely. The other driver was a little more clinical about it. But, I'm not complaining. It's gotta get old for them. The third was one of the team directors, Mr. mouse asked for his signature. Fun fun fun.
Last but not least, there are a couple of oddball topics I didn't cover that deserve an honorable mention. We hit the groceries Saturday night to pick up some supplies. And, the layout of the store was really innovative. You enter into the store and the first thing in front of you are the fruits and vegetables. And, in spokes are various other sections - deli, meats, health and beauty, processed foods, bakery, etc. You can either go down the spokes/vignettes you want to hit or there's an outer ring if you want to do the whole store. I love it. You can explore the areas you want in depth (and avoid the bad temptations) or you can do the whole store. If we had one here, I'd be a regular in a heart beat. It's so much cooler than standard row after row after row of food.
I've hit a new level of understanding about my sister. We didn't meet up with her this weekend although she and I discussed it beforehand so I was okay with how it all played out. There's a story in, of all places, the Bible - The Prodigal Son. For those of you who aren't familiar with the story, here's a rough summary. A man has two sons, one who is the model son and the other is the textbook loser son. The loser son asks his dad for his share of the inheritance while he's young enough to enjoy it. He squanders it on vice and then returns home wanting to return to the fold. The dad throws a huge celebration to mark the return of his son. And, the good son asks, essentially, WTF? And, the dad replies, something along the lines, your brother was lost and now he's found. I guess that's how I feel about my sister. I won't go kill a fatted calf or two or throw any huge celebrations, but I will forgive her many incidents, because, she is The Prodigal Sister. Maybe one day the straw really will break the camel's back.
After planning for and allocating points for some killer trigger foods this weekend, I ended up not partaking in any of them. No hot dog at the baseball game. No Italian sausage at the race. And, no White Castle on the drive home. Somehow, we ended up eating decently the whole weekend. And, I'm okay with that. Saturday night, it was tough to hold myself to half my pizza and half my ice cream. But, I did. And, in the end, it turned out to fine. I had my other pizza half at the track, and although it wasn't as good as when it was fresh and hot from the oven, it was still good. And, Mr. mouse had the other half of my ice cream. It was really good.
And, last but not least, I called my mom from the car, to wish my Dad a Happy Father's Day. And she told me she might lose the store in six months. Her block was sold to a developer who is anxious to build anew on the property. She's had a good twenty years. But, she's anxious to figure out what's next on the agenda. And, I need to give some thought to what my obligations are to her and my dad. They might need some financial support if the store closes. Stuff to ponder.
To end on a positive note, despite the weather, we had an excellent weekend at the race. And, next weekend? We have a weekend of absolute nothing planned. I can't wait.
Cheers!
mouse
Round seven of the Formula One Grand Prix season - the United States Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway - marks the second of my two favorite weekends of the summer, Montreal being my favorite. Sigh, back to races on TV.
We slept on the roof Friday night and woke to the sun Saturday morning. Nice! And, after some hurried packing, we hit the road for the drive down to Indianapolis. The plan was to go straight to the track for qualifying, check into our hotel, scope out dinner, get some shut eye, check out Sunday morning, go to the race, and drive back home.
We got to the track with about forty minutes to spare and rented a Kangaroo TV for the race. We saw a demo in Montreal and were really jazzed to try it out. I have to say, I'm in love. It's a small hand held device that broadcasts the TV feed, the drivers' in car camera feeds and several screens of stats along with the TV audio feed AND any snippets on the drivers' radio feeds. The screen is super clear, the audio is loud enough for the track, and the user interface is simple simple simple. Definitely a nice add that enhances the race experience. Our only gripe? They need more than one pick-up/drop-off point at the track.
Qualifying went without a hitch and Lewis Hamilton snagged his second pole position. Kimi Räikkönen started from fourth on the grid. My only gripe? The weather. It was a stinking, sweltering, suffocating, scorching, sadistic 97° outside - with a thick layer of sunscreen on, you sweat a sticky layer of goo that just makes you feel miserable. Yuck!
Checked in at the hotel. And, Mr. mouse found an excellent place for dinner, reading on his favorite foodie website, chowhound. It hasn't failed us yet. If you need a food recommendation, it's a great place to find the real deal on where the locals eat. Got back to the hotel by 9-ish and did a little bit of work before turning in for the night.
Sunday was another blistering day. We spent the morning at the track, in the shade, watching the races on the Kangaroo TV. Just the thought of six hours in the bleachers with the sun beating down on you was enough to persuade us to conserve our energy and prioritize. Mr. mouse also had a nice nap before we headed to our seats for the race. Hamilton won, handily, and Kimi came in fourth, after a bad start and lots of work to regain his two lost positions.
And, because we're such dorks, we left the speedway, and instead of heading home, we headed to the local Walgreen's to pick up a Sharpie and we headed to the airport. We ran into two drivers and several teams of engineers resulting in lots of photographs and three autographs. One of the drivers was REALLY cool about it. I have to say, now, I'm going to have to follow him more closely. The other driver was a little more clinical about it. But, I'm not complaining. It's gotta get old for them. The third was one of the team directors, Mr. mouse asked for his signature. Fun fun fun.
Last but not least, there are a couple of oddball topics I didn't cover that deserve an honorable mention. We hit the groceries Saturday night to pick up some supplies. And, the layout of the store was really innovative. You enter into the store and the first thing in front of you are the fruits and vegetables. And, in spokes are various other sections - deli, meats, health and beauty, processed foods, bakery, etc. You can either go down the spokes/vignettes you want to hit or there's an outer ring if you want to do the whole store. I love it. You can explore the areas you want in depth (and avoid the bad temptations) or you can do the whole store. If we had one here, I'd be a regular in a heart beat. It's so much cooler than standard row after row after row of food.
I've hit a new level of understanding about my sister. We didn't meet up with her this weekend although she and I discussed it beforehand so I was okay with how it all played out. There's a story in, of all places, the Bible - The Prodigal Son. For those of you who aren't familiar with the story, here's a rough summary. A man has two sons, one who is the model son and the other is the textbook loser son. The loser son asks his dad for his share of the inheritance while he's young enough to enjoy it. He squanders it on vice and then returns home wanting to return to the fold. The dad throws a huge celebration to mark the return of his son. And, the good son asks, essentially, WTF? And, the dad replies, something along the lines, your brother was lost and now he's found. I guess that's how I feel about my sister. I won't go kill a fatted calf or two or throw any huge celebrations, but I will forgive her many incidents, because, she is The Prodigal Sister. Maybe one day the straw really will break the camel's back.
After planning for and allocating points for some killer trigger foods this weekend, I ended up not partaking in any of them. No hot dog at the baseball game. No Italian sausage at the race. And, no White Castle on the drive home. Somehow, we ended up eating decently the whole weekend. And, I'm okay with that. Saturday night, it was tough to hold myself to half my pizza and half my ice cream. But, I did. And, in the end, it turned out to fine. I had my other pizza half at the track, and although it wasn't as good as when it was fresh and hot from the oven, it was still good. And, Mr. mouse had the other half of my ice cream. It was really good.
And, last but not least, I called my mom from the car, to wish my Dad a Happy Father's Day. And she told me she might lose the store in six months. Her block was sold to a developer who is anxious to build anew on the property. She's had a good twenty years. But, she's anxious to figure out what's next on the agenda. And, I need to give some thought to what my obligations are to her and my dad. They might need some financial support if the store closes. Stuff to ponder.
To end on a positive note, despite the weather, we had an excellent weekend at the race. And, next weekend? We have a weekend of absolute nothing planned. I can't wait.
Cheers!
mouse
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