Racin'
& Internet Stuff:
By Tom Avenengo
03/31/2011
First:
Not racing related, but this really could suck:
I
found this on Yahoo! this past Sunday night:
“Millions of retired and
disabled people in the
The government is
projecting a slight cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security benefits next
year, the first increase since 2009. But for most beneficiaries, rising
Medicare premiums threaten to wipe out any increase in payments, leaving them
without a raise for a third straight year.”
“David
Certner of AARP estimates that as many as
three-fourths of beneficiaries will have their entire Social Security increase
swallowed by rising Medicare premiums next year.”
“Medicare premiums
are absorbing a growing share of Social Security benefits, leaving retired and
disabled people with less money for other expenses, according to a report by
the Congressional Research Service.”
“Consumer prices
dropped, but Social Security benefits didn't drop, Biggs said. At the same
time, health care costs went up, but Part B premiums stayed the same for most
beneficiaries.”
Note: Huh?
When did consumer prices drop?
Not in my area over these last few years.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110327/ap_on_bi_ge/us_social_security_cola
Second:
Some coming up items:
OCFS:
http://www.orangecountyfairspeedway.net/index2.html
April
6th OPEN
PRACTICE All Divisions - 5pm to 9pm
(Rain Date - April 8th 5pm-9pm)
Note: Long range weather forecast, as of Tuesday,
3/29, for 4/6 for OCFS is 60% chance of showers, with a 50% chance of showers
on 4/5
April
9th - OPENING NIGHT
Accord:
http://www.accordspeedway.com/
April 1-Open Practice & Safety Inspection rain date 4/2
Note: Forecast for Accord -
as of 3/29 is:
Tomorrow: Snow showers
becoming mixed with rain later. High near 40F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precip
70%.
Tomorrow night: Rain and snow
in the evening turning to all snow late. Low 32F.
Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precip 80%. 3 to 5
inches of snow expected.
Friday: Windy. Snow
during the morning will mix with rain at times during the afternoon. High 39F. Winds NW at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of precip 80%. Snow accumulating 1 to 3
inches.
Saturday: Windy with a
mix of rain and snow. Highs in the upper 30s and lows in the
low 30s.
April 8 – Open practice with rain date of April 9th, if
needed.
April 15th: Opening night.
Note: For you Brett Hearn fans, I see that he is
scheduled to race at Accord on the 15th, and now on the 22nd,
also. And, I’ve also read that Danny
Johnson will not be running at the Accord Speedway this year – at least on a
steady basis, I should add. That’s
sad. Danny always puts on a good show at
the “Big A”.
The
21st annual Vintage Open Wheel Race Car meet will be on May 17, 18
& 19 – Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday – the usual days. This meet is one of, if not the biggest
Vintage Open Wheel Race car meet in the country.
From
their website:
“From Tuesday, May 17, to Sunday, May 22,
history will come alive as legendary racing machines from around the world
gather to compete in the 21st Annual Vintage Racing Celebration.
Beginning Tuesday, May 17, through Thursday, May 19 some of
the world’s best vintage midgets, sprint cars, champ cars, roadsters and NASCAR
stock cars will race on the speedway’s 1.058-mile oval.
From Friday, May 20, through Sunday, May 22, New Hampshire
Motor Speedway’s tricky 1.6-mile road course will challenge vintage road racers
from around the world. Classic car enthusiasts can see vintage sports cars, formula cars and motorcycles compete for bragging
rights on the 12- turn NHMS course.
Join us on Saturday, May 21 and Sunday, May 22 for the
Classic and Custom Car Show along with an Automotive Flea Market. If you love
cars, this event is for you!
Gates open each day at 9:00 a.m.”
Info for the Open
Wheel portion of the show can be found here:
http://www.vintagecelebration.com/accomodations.htm
Practice
this Saturday for Karts and Slingshots – weather permitting. First point race is scheduled for April 8th.
As of
1:00 PM on Tuesday, it wasn’t all that promising, weather wise:
Friday: Snow. Highs in the low 40s and lows in the low 30s.
Saturday: Rain and snow
showers. Highs in the low 40s and lows in the low 30s.
Third:
Do you watch NASCAR races on TV? If so, then surely you’ve seen the drivers get interviewed, and as soon as the camera goes on them, up goes the bottle of Coke or Pepsi or what ever – more than likely to satisfy a sponsor, right? Have you also noticed that in most cases, those bottles are FULL?
Oh
and congrats to those that remove their sunglasses
when interviewed, too.
Fourth:
Question: Why does
NASCAR wave a black flag and a red flag to show the end of practice? Wouldn’t a checkered flag do the exact same
thing?
Fifth:
Question: Why in major league racing, like NASCAR and Indycar, do they hide “
OOPS! Spoke too soon! Out in
Sixth:
Prior to the Indycar race this past Sunday; I posted this on the Track
Forum:
“So, what are the
odds of them making it through the first turn, at the start, with no problems?
What are the odds of them making it through the first lap with no problems?
Slim to none?”
Guess what
happened? Uh huh – 1st
turn, 1st lap.
Seventh:
A couple of 7’s.
It was said, during the Cup race from
When I
looked at the starting lineup for the Indycar race at
Eighth:
Watching the start of the Cup race from
Ninth:
Not too many race fans were happy with the “demo derby” Indycar race last Sunday, as you would see if you go to this particular thread over on the Track Forum:
http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?147962-St.-Pete-Race-Thread!!!
Tenth:
One of the forums/message boards that I frequent had this as a topic:
“I
almost wouldn't mind gas prices...”
With
theses comments:
“...if the quality was any
good!! I live in Pa and everyone is bitchin but how
their mileage has gone in the toilet. Anyone else feel this way?”
“its all this wonderful, green burning ethanol they're mixing in our fuel. sure it burns cleaner but does it really in the long run with how much more we have to burn?”
“yes I feel same way. My 88 Chevy Beretta I was getting
around 30-35 mpg. Now I'm down to 23-25 if I'm lucky. I did find this gas
station in
“My
99 F250 started bucking a few weeks ago. Took it to my mechanic and he said to
do an injector cleaner. He sees this every day since the intro of ethanol in
the gas. He also told me to use a fuel stabilizer and it will help with the
adverse effects of E10.”
“I
went from being able to drive 400 miles on a tank..to about 330ish.
But im assuming that it’s because of winter”
“Its the ethanol more than the winter, definintely. My car has a miss in it at 50 mph. Ethanol
sucks. Just more tree huggin' hippie crap from the
environmentalists. Costs more in the long run for all of us
to run that junk. It's not saving anybody anything.”
Eleventh:
Believe it or not, I found a link to what’s below on Facebook!
“OCALA, Fla. — World of
Outlaw Late Model Series stalwart Tim Fuller told NSSN prior to Friday
night’s Sunshine 50 that the three-race Southern Swing would mark the end of
his tenure with car owner John Wight.
“John wants
nothing to do with World Racing Group anymore,” explained the New Yorker
succinctly. “My Gypsum Express deal is all done.”
Fuller is the
apparent victim of a WRG vs. Wight feud revolving around Wight’s two speedways
— Brewerton and Fulton which recently dropped their DIRTcar
sanction for 2011.
The dispute began
over Wight’s desire to advertise Sunoco’s
This led to a
Super DIRT Week scheduling battle, with Brewerton losing its satellite
small-block event, Rolling Wheels moving its Friday night DIRT event, with the WoO LMs added to Brewerton’s
traditional Thursday night date and Friday afternoon’s
With Wight
talking of running against both weeknight DIRT programs, the dispute is far
from settled.
Also affected
are Wight’s other race teams, with DIRT ace Billy Decker reportedly not running
the DIRTcar tour this season and Wight’s son, Larry,
committed to the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. The third Gypsum Express
team, with driver Pat Ward, has not run the DIRT tour for a number of years,
instead concentrating on the Race of Champions tour and independent events.
As for
Fuller, he will continue to run modified events for the Knoth/Hastings
No. 74 team and says, “I’m working on a lot of things, including with the late
model series. I’ll know for sure this week.”
http://www.nationalspeedsportnews.com/opinion/columns/hedger-turmoil-in-the-northeast/
Found on Jayski’s website:
Smaller
restrictor plate for Dega: Sirius NASCAR Radio's
Sirius Speedway with Dave Moody has learned that NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams
have been notified that they will be using a 7/8 inch diameter restrictor plate
in next month's event at
Bryan Keith had a rather interesting article about the Cup race from
And:
Knowing race fans
want convenience when they attend NASCAR events, Americrown
and Michigan International Speedway officials have announced credit card
systems will be installed at most of the track's concessions stands in time for
the 2011 season. Concession stands will accept credit cards at most locations
including the Coca-Cola Champions Grill at the base of the center grandstand
tower near the start-finish line, inside the MIS Champions Club and at the
permanent infield stand just off the Pit Patio, to name a few. All major credit
cards including Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover will be
accepted. Stands that accept credit cards will be marked.(MIS)(3-28-2011)
Former
Down at the New Egypt Speedway, this past Saturday night,
they had a couple of RoC races – one for the Sportsman and one for the
Modifieds.
Sportsman:
Mike Mammana had a 3rd in his heat and a 22nd
in the feature. Anthony Perrego had an 8th
in his heat and is not
listed for a consi. Brad
Szulewski had a 9th in his heat, a first in his consi and was 8th
in the feature – that after breaking a RR shock on the 7th lap.
Modifieds:
Johnny Guarino broke a transmission in hot laps and was done for
the day. Danny Creeden
had a 7th in his heat and is not listed in any consi. Mike Mammana had a
6th in his heat and a 6th in his consi.
Note: Did you know that Tom Hager is the uncle of
Mike Mammana?
Going back, in time – in
racing history:
Note: Most of the following information was found
here:
http://www.wheelsofspeed.com/history.html
Covering
the days of April 1st to April 7th.
April 1
1976
David Gilliland ... Born ...
NASCAR driver
1981
Harlan Fengler
... Died ... AAA driver from 1923 to 1927. Fengler
acted as Chief Steward of the
1993
Alan Kulwicki...
Died ... NASCAR Winston Cup racecar driver. He arrived
at the highest and most expensive level of stock car racing in the
April 2
1926
Jack Brabham...
Born ... An Australian racing driver who was Formula One
champion in 1959, 1960 and 1966. He ran the Indy 500 four times with a
best finish of 9th in 1961.
1939
Henry Guerand...
Died ... AAA driver from the 1930's. He died in a horrifying
accident witnessed by 6500 spectators during the third midget event of 1939 at
1963
Fabrizio Barbazza... Born
... USAC / CART driver from the 1980's and 90's.
1972
Alfred "Speedy"
Thompson... Died ... A NASCAR pioneer and driver in the Grand National (now Cup ) series from 1950 to 1971, capturing 20 wins along the
way. During a late model race on April 2, 1972 at Metrolina
Fairgrounds in Charlotte, where he started the race despite reporting he was
not feeling well, Thompson suffered a suspected heart attack during the race
and crashed his car, breaking his neck as well. He died on the way to the
hospital, one day before his 46th birthday.
1975
Mark Light... Died ... Mark
Light drove Sprint Cars, Stock Cars and Midgets at tracks mostly around
April 3
1923
Edgar Elder... Born ... AAA driver from the early 1950's.
Chuck Weyant...
Born ... AAA / USAC driver from the 1940's to the early
1970's.
1926
Alfred "Speedy"
Thompson... Born ... A NASCAR pioneer and driver in the Grand National (now Cup ) series from 1950 to 1971, capturing 20 wins along the
way.
1959
Fermin Velez... Born ... He was a two-time winner of the 12 Hours
of Sebring. He was also a driver in the Indy Racing League, racing in the
1996-1997 seasons with 6 career starts, including 2 at the
2005
Walter H. "Curly"
Boyd... Died ... AAA / USAC driver from the 1950's and 60's.
April 4
1915
Bob Burman
won a match race at Ascot in
1924
Bob Christie ... Born ...
Christie raced in the USAC Championship Car series in the 1956-1963 seasons,
with 15 career starts, including every Indianapolis 500 race in that span. He
finished in the top ten 5 times, with his best finish in 3rd position in 1959
at Daytona.
1928
Bud Tingelstad...
Born ... USAC driver from 1957 to 1972 in the Midget, Sprint,
Stock Car and Championship Car series. In the Championship Cars he raced
in the 1960-1971 seasons with 120 starts, including the
1933
William
1949
John Force ... Born ... 14 time NHRA Funny Car Champion.
1957
Chet Fillip... Born ... A former driver in the CART Championship Car series.
He raced in the 1982-1985 seasons, with 9[1] career starts, and started in the
1958
Christian Danner... Born ... A Formula One racer from 1985 to 1989 who also raced on
the road courses in the CART series from 1992 to 1997.
1959
George Amick...
Died ... AAA / USAC driver 1954 to 1959. He was killed
in a crash in a USAC 100-mile Indy car race at Daytona International
Jim Rathmann
won the 100 mile USAC Championship race at Daytona International Speedway,
averaging 170.261 mph. As Rathmann took the
checkered, George Amick died in a crash on the
backstretch, possibly from the nose of the car lifting off the track. USAC
immediately cancelled a 300 mile race scheduled for July 4th due to safety
concerns. Amick was the fastest qualifier with a
speed of 176.887, a speed not exceeded by an Indy Car for another nine years.
1966
Jimmy Daywalt
... Died ... Jimmy drove AAA sprint cars and in the AAA and USAC Championship
Car series, racing in the 1950, 1953-1957, 1959, and 1961-1962 seasons with 20
starts. He finished in the top ten 3 times. His best finish was in the 1953
1993
Mario Andretti achieved his
last CART victory with a win at
2000
John W. Rollins... Died ... One
of the founders of
April 5
1922
Andy Linden... Born ... AAA driver from the1940's and 1950's. Ran in 7 Indy 500's with a best finish of 4th in 1951.
1965
Mike Bliss... Born ... Started driving USAC in 1993 and NASCAR in 1995.
1976
Hall of Fame Museum at the
2000
Lee Petty... Died ... Was an
American stock car driver in the 1950s and 60s. He was one of the pioneers of
NASCAR, and one of its first superstars. He is the father of Richard Petty, who
would become NASCAR's all-time race winner. With sons Richard and Maurice, he
founded Petty Enterprises, which became NASCAR's most successful racing team.
He was the grandfather of Kyle Petty, and great grandfather of Adam Petty. In
1990, Lee Petty was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.
He was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of
April 6
1885
Jules Goux...
Born ... AAA driver from 1913 to 1923. He was a Grand
Prix racing champion and the first Frenchman to win the
1898
Pete DePaolo...
Born ... AAA driver from 1922 to 1934. He won the 1925
1912
Tommy Hinnershitz...
Born ... Eastern AAA driver from 1932 to 1960. Also known as "The Flying
Dutchman", Hinnershitz ran in the Indy 500 three
times with a best finish of 9th in 1948. He captured seven Eastern sprint-car
championships and posted 103 feature victories during his 30-year racing
career. While he first gained success and popularity near his
1923
Dick Linder... Born ... In the
late 1940's and early 1950's, the Linder name was one of the biggest in racing
in the entire country. Dick Linder's career was cut short in a USAC "big
car" event at
Herb Thomas... Born ... A
NASCAR pioneer who won the Grand National Racing (now
Winston Cup) championship in 1951 and 1953; ranks 12th on the career victory
list with 48 wins in 230 starts; won Southern 500 three times in the 1950s;
inducted in International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1994.
1941
Don "The Snake" Prudhomme... Born ... Funny Car and Top Fuel racer.
1968
Affonso Giaffone... Born
... IRL driver 1996-1998.
1975
A.J. Foyt
scored a milestone victory, earning his 50th career USAC Champ Car win in the
200 mile race at
2008
Shane Hammond ... Died ...
Shane was a NEMA midget driver that died as a result of crash at the Thompson
International Speedway , Thompson, CT.
April 7
1941
Roger West... Born ... USAC
driver from the 1960's
1966
Bert Dingley...
Died ... AAA driver from the early 1900's.
Walt Hansgen...
Died ... A driver from the
Loy Allen Jr.
... Born ... NASCAR stockcar driver.
1968
Jim (or Jimmy)
News from the
AARN:
From
their March 22nd issue:
Issue
# 14, due out on April 5th, is the issue that will have all the
schedules for all those tracks that send their schedules into the AARN. I did
notice that there was a $100.00 charge for that, so I imagine some tracks might
hold off sending.
“Big
Daddy” Mike Rivers will not open Big Daddy’s
With
Big Daddy’s closed, the
Wiscasset
Raceway, up in
On
a lighter side, there’s some talk about some drivers having a meeting last week
to see if the could get Whip City opened up for racing in 2011.
The
National Sprint Car Hall of Fame has announced the launching of the “Racers at
Rest” project to place markers on the unmarked graves of open-wheeled race
drivers who have perished in racing crashes.
Donations are being accepted.
More information is available from Tom Schmeh
at: tschmeh@sprintcar hof.com
Lebanon
Valley Speedway had their banquet and they paid out over $100,000.00 to their
top drivers from the 2010 racing season.
Note: I think one can see why Brett Hearn will be traveling up the NY Thruway to run at the Valley, instead of OCFS on Saturday nights. He was the track champion for both the Big Block and Small Block modifieds at the Valley last year. It’s said that he received $7,000.00. I’m not sure if that was for both titles or just the Small Block title since it’s shown that the Budget Sportsman champion, Jeff Watson got just over $3,400.00. I would think that the Small Block champion would get more than the Budget Sportsman champ, and if so, well, you can see where I’m heading, right?
At Port Royal Speedway, Keith Kauffman leads in feature wins with 128. He’s followed by Todd Shaffer with 94 and Lance Dewease with 92.
In a write-up about the OCFS car show, it more or less says the same thing about ESW as what was said in a PR I received about the OCFS 2011 season – pertaining to ESW. It says time trials on Friday, heats on Saturday – so I have to assume they’re just talking about the Big Block Modifieds, and that the Small Block Modifieds will still have their heat races on Friday.
I’m also attempting to get clarification about the Sportsman class at OC for ESW, too. Supposedly they are supposed to have two Sportsman events – one for the OCFS “Open” engined cars and one for the DIRTcar “Crate” engined cars – those events on two different days. At least that’s what promoter Mike Gurda had to say in an interview on Doug’s Dirt Diary a while back.
Five Mile Point Speedway handed out $70,000.00 in point fund monies. Also, new for 2011 is that those 17 and under can get into the stands free on Saturday nights.
Down at the Punta Gorda
Speedway, in
When they have opening night at OCFS on April 9th, the Pro Stock feature will be for 20 laps and the winner will get $400.00
Since 1950, there have been only 11 opening night winners at OCFS that have gone on to win the years track championship.
At Port Royal Speedway last week, both Lance Dewease and Daryn Pittman were clocked at over 128 MPH as they got to the end of the backstretch. The 358 Sprinters were hitting 115-116.
Bob Perran is the track
photographer at the Volusia Speedway down in
Vinnie Salerno expects to enter 30 – 35 races in 2011 with T-Mac driving for him. First race might very well be at Fonda on the 9th of April. Vinnie has two Big Blocks and one Small Block.
More
racin’ stuff:
MILLER:
There’s No Cure For Stupid
In
part:
“Big cars, Indy
cars, champ cars … whatever you want to term them have been doing flying starts
for over 100 years – roughly twice as long as NASCAR has existed. That
breathtaking moment when 33 cars stormed down the straightaway and into Turn 1
became the
For much of this period the start was the most exciting part of any race but,
during the past decade, it’s become more strung out, more single-file, more
predictable and a lot less exciting.
At most street shows or road courses, the start is about the only prayer of
improving one’s position because it quickly becomes follow-the-leader and it
can get boring in a heartbeat.
It’s amazing to think 24 midgets can gang up on each other at a quarter mile
dirt track like the Chili Bowl for 20 laps and not crash into each other. Or
the old Hut Hundred at Terre Haute when 11 rows of three managed to run four
and five wide at a half mile and not bring out a yellow for 25 laps.
Sure,
Indy cars are wider, faster and less maneuverable than midgets and sprint cars
and stock cars are a lot stouter along with having bumpers and much slower
acceleration.
But watch the start of the Indy 500 in the ‘50s or ‘60s when the entire field
was nose-to-tail and nary a wheel was fed to anybody
because they were respectful of each other and a permanent trip to Conkel’s Funeral Home was the consequence.
What seemed to get lost in the translation Sunday afternoon was
that the big accident happened on the original start – which has always been
two abreast (except for Indy, Pocono, Ontario MIS 500-milers which were three)
–not a restart.
And there have always been first-lap crashes at St. Pete with that long
straightaway and inviting braking zone going into Turn 1 so don’t try to
suddenly say this new procedure was the culprit.
More can be read if you go here:
http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/miller-theres-no-cure-for-stupid/P1
Other forums/message
boards and websites:
You might find some
interesting reading if you go to the links below.
Track Forum: - http://www.trackforum.com/forums/
Frontstretch.com: http://www.frontstretch.com/
Jayski: - http://www.jayski.com/
Open Wheel Racers3: http://www.openwheelracers3.com/
Race Pro Weekly: http://raceproweekly.com/
(Must register to
post)
Victory
Yahoo Race History
Group:
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/RacingHistory/ (when one posts something on an
e-mail to the group, they do have what is called the “Len Sutton rule” – you
put in your name and where you live. And, yes,
things are “policed” too.
Wheels of Speed: http://www.wheelsofspeed.com/
The
First Turn Pro: http://www.firstturnpro.com/
Vintage Sprint Car:
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=236178
Vintage Midget: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=337192
Briggs
Cunningham race team – history:
http://www.briggscunningham.com/race_history.html?YEAR=1955
Note: Disregard the “error” notice on top left.
Racing and
television:
Racing on TV - http://www.racefantv.com/USTV.htm
Is
these true?:
Got an e-mail the other night – Tuesday, to be precise. In it was this:
“Subject: Tyson Foods eliminates Labor Day in favor of Muslim
Holiday!”
“Tyson Food in
paid holiday in favor of the last day of Ramadan
because they have 700
Muslim employees. The fact that they have almost that many non-Muslim
employees is beside the point apparently!”
Then there was this:
verified http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/outrage.asp
Well, apparently it is true, per the link above. Check it out.
And:
“As the New
Yorker's former press critic, A.J. Liebling, famously
said, "Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one."
Perhaps that quotation is framed somewhere in a boardroom at the General
Electric Corp., which owns NBC News.
In spite of robust
profits of $14.2 billion worldwide, GE has calculated a corporate tax bill for
2010 that adds up to zero, via a creative series of tax referrals and revenue
shifts. (This was, indeed, the second
year running that the company—which has an
enormous, and famously nimble, 975-employee tax division, led by former
Treasury official John Samuels—paid nothing in U.S. taxes; indeed by claiming a
series of losses and deductions, GE came up with a negative tax of 10.5 percent
in the admittedly dismal business year of 2009, and realized a $1.5 billion
"tax benefit.")
The curious thing
about this year's tax story is that it turned up in many major news outlets,
with one key exception: NBC News. As the
Washington Post's Paul Farhi notes, the network's
"Nightly News" broadcast, hosted by Brian Williams, has not mentioned
anything about its corporate parent's resourceful accounting, even though the
story has been in wide circulation in the business and general-interest press
for nearly a week. "This was a straightforward news decision, the kind we
make daily around here" network spokeswoman Lauren Kapp
told the Post.
One press critic
who begs to differ: Daily
Show host Jon Stewart, who noted that the Nightly News found the time for a
dispatch on the inclusion of slang expressions in the Oxford English
Dictionary, such as "LOL" and "OMG." Of course, Comedy
Central's corporate parent, Viacom, is also no slouch when it comes to tax
strategy: Earlier this year it sold its struggling videogame unit Harmonix for $50—so that it could claim
a tax credit of $50 million.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thecutline/nightly-news-stays-mum-on-ges-0-tax-bill
Video time:
Hope ya
enjoy this one!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVwlMVYqMu4&feature=player_embedded#at=216
Closing with these:
Alas, where has all our innocence gone – part 1:
While I sat in the reception area of my doctor's office, a woman rolled an elderly man in a wheelchair into the room.
As she went to the receptionist's desk, the man
sat there, alone and silent. Just as I was thinking I should make small talk
with him, a little boy slipped off his mother's lap and
walked over to the wheelchair. Placing his hand on the man's, he said, I know how you feel. My mom
makes me ride in the stroller too..'
As I was nursing my baby, my cousin's six-year-old daughter, Krissy, came into the room. Never having seen anyone
breast feed before, she was intrigued and full of all kinds of questions about
what I was doing.
After mulling over my answers, she remarked, 'My mom has some of those, but I
don't think she knows how to use them..'
Out bicycling one day with my eight-year-old
granddaughter, Carolyn, I got a little wistful.
'In ten years,' I said, 'you'll want to be with
your friends and you won't go walking, biking, and swimming with me like
you do now. Carolyn shrugged. 'In ten years you'll be too old to do all
those things anyway.'
Working as a pediatric nurse, I had the difficult assignment of giving
immunization shots to children.. One day,
I entered the examining room to give four-year-old Lizzie her needle. 'No, no,
no!' she screamed. 'Lizzie,' scolded her
mother, 'that's not polite behavior.' With that, the girl yelled even louder, 'No, thank you! No, thank you!
More of these next week!
May “Guardian Angels” sit on the shoulders of all of our race drivers
and race fans, and guide them safely around the tracks!
Drive safe!
Until next week!
As usual, you can reach me
at: ygordad@yahoo.com