Thursday, May 29, 2008
Size Doesn't Matter
I was going through my photos when I came across this one that I had stored at the very beginning of my photo journey.
It made me want to post something about it. So here it is:
We have a Ford F-150 King Ranch 4-door truck. It's big. It has two separate gas tanks. If we let it get to near empty and fill it up, it will cost us around $100.00 give or take a few. (Prices in these parts are currently around $3.90/gallon.) So we don't let it get down that low. It's easier on the budget. We don't really have a budget though these days and the cost of gas isn't a major pain for us. It just looks and sounds better if we have to pay $55 rather than $100 at any given time. Granted, we have cut back on our trips and now we also schedule our shopping and appointments etc. to coincide with the area that they are all in. We no longer drive all over the countryside unless it is a pleasure trip to just get away from it all. And those are far and few between.
I have no idea how we would fare if we still had to go to our last jobs. Both of us traveled the same distance which took almost half an hour each way. Although we were making good money, it still would take quite a chunk out of our pays today. That is one of the perks of not having to do that anymore. Which makes me wonder how others are doing it these days with the price of everything going up with no end in sight, wondering all the time if it will ever stop.
The remarkable thing is, it doesn't seem as if people are really cutting back on the trips to the gas stations. So I can only think they are cutting back elsewhere in their budgets. Of course, there are some that don't even have to think about it and just go on their merry way not worrying about gas prices at all. Those are the people I would like to choke. Those that can afford it and think nothing of it.
And in the back of my mind, all I picture is Mel Gibson in Mad Max. Nothing but sand and people fighting for hoarded fuel to drive the few vehicles they have left.
At least we have my Mustang that we can use if things get really out of hand. It's far better on gas mileage than the truck. Oh, and then there is our Virago low rider motorcycle. But it's kind of hard to bring sacks of groceries home on that. What a visual that is...
posted by Cheyenne at 4:15 PM comment(s) made:
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Tuesday, May 27, 2008
First Career Win!
My daughter's BF scored his first career win on May 10th at Mountain Speedway in Northeast PA. Following is the write-up from their website:
(Bill Verwys, Sr. led the division to the drop of the green flag from the pole position. Before a single lap was scored, second place starter, Jeff Biegley, grabbed the top spot.
Verwys tucked into second and with five laps in the books, Eric Banashefski ran third, followed by Jake Oswald and Nikki Wachs.
Biegley wasn’t running away with the show by any means as the rest of the field proved throughout the event. Wachs and Oswald ran side-by side for fourth, then with Verwys for third. However, all of the drivers, including Banashefski in second place, began to reel in Biegley for a five-car battle.
Things got even more interesting and involved a three-wide battle between Biegley, Wachs and Verwys over the remaining three laps.
Biegley held on to score his first career win.)
This photo was taken at a different track last year:
And since then, he is currently second in the points. Stay tuned, we may have another Champion in our family.
posted by Cheyenne at 12:05 AM comment(s) made:
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Monday, May 26, 2008
Things I Am Thankful For
- Kyle Busch didn't win the Coca-Cola 600.
- A Toyota didn't win the Coca-Cola 600.
- Dale Jr. finished 5th by staying on the track when the leaders needed fuel.
- Dale Jr. remained 3rd in the points.
posted by Cheyenne at 12:34 AM comment(s) made:
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Saturday, May 24, 2008
Have A Great Holiday!
posted by Cheyenne at 1:35 AM comment(s) made:
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Tuesday, May 20, 2008
A Work In Progress #7 - Finally!
Therapy was over as of last week. The three-month checkup at his surgeon went well. In other words...progression for a re-do of a replacement knee is coming along as it should be.
My husband is pretty much on his own now. He is still using the cane, but that is to be expected. If this were the first time, the cane would have been gone weeks ago. But with a second replacement on the same knee, it takes a lot longer to heal. And that healing process is still going on in the knee and surrounding area.
In another two months he will have his five-month checkup. By then we are hoping all the pain will be gone. He's been off the potent pain pills for a few weeks, only because they stopped working. He can and does take Tylenol Extra Strength. We have switched that to Tylenol Arthritis which is stronger. His surgeon has approved of that decision. He can't take anything with aspirin in it due to severe reactions, thus the Tylenol.
We are also hoping the Tylenol Arthritis will curb the pain in his other knee. Before he has a replacement, there will also be two choices for that knee should it continue to be too painful. He can be injected with cortisone for up to 3 times, or be injected with another stronger solution that is only done once. Neither of us is ready for a replacement in such short order. And, by the way, you don't have to be elderly to suffer from arthritis. I have had it in my back for years now. My mother had rheumatoid arthritis that screwed up her fingers very badly. I just have the pesky kind. You know, the kind that hangs around just to be a daily pain in the ass. It's in my lower back and my right hand, particularly my middle finger. (Perhaps I should flip the bird more often ~ or maybe I flipped it too often.) I have lived so long with this pain, that I am used to it by now.
But getting back to my husband. He was constantly complaining of pain a few weeks prior to seeing his surgeon this last time. So much so, that I thought something must really be wrong or out of whack. When he told his doctor about the pain (read: whined), the doctor reassured him (and me) that what he was experiencing was very natural and there is nothing to worry about. They took X-rays of both knees. The replacement is where it should be and the other knee has the start of arthritis.
So for now I get to listen to two more months of moaning and complaining (whining). But at least now I know that what he is feeling is the knee healing inside and that everything looks excellent and that is good enough for me.
posted by Cheyenne at 6:45 PM comment(s) made:
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Sunday, May 18, 2008
Crooked Cars
Straighten them out, NASCAR to tell Cup teams
DAVID POOLE
The Charlotte Observer
Saturday, May. 17, 2008
CONCORD, N.C. - Expect NASCAR to tell Sprint Cup teams that they've gone far enough - and in some cases, too far - with making crooked cars.
Sprint Cup Series director John Darby said Saturday that teams will get a memo, likely this week, telling them to "clean up" the way they're turning their wheels to help the cars handle better.
"They need some of that, but there are some of them that have pushed it," Darby said.
The rear wheels on some of the cars were turned to the point that some were having difficulty being pushed onto the scales used in inspection
********************
As an added note...none of the Hendrick cars have used this method of having the cars run "doggy style." That's what we called it in our day, today it's called something else. Gnarly perhaps. And not in the rad sense either. More like rheumatoid arthritic fingers. Crooked. Yeah, that's the ticket...
Maybe now there will be a more even-playing field for all the cars.
posted by Cheyenne at 2:30 PM comment(s) made:
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Friday, May 16, 2008
Let's Go Racing Boys
Excitement is wrapping itself around me. Why? The All-Star race weekend is finally here and will be on TV Saturday evening. A lot of shows on SPEED will be leading up to it like a gigantic wave...and I will be watching every one of them.
I can't wait for all the glitz and glamour. Wait...that's another show on Sunday night. Something to do with country western music. Yes, I am a fan of that too.
Back to the All-Star race. I love non-points racing. Anything goes ~ and it usually does. Nothing, absolutely nothing, is held back by the drivers. Of course, I have to brag on Dale Jr. here because he is the only rookie ever to win it back in 2000. The night his father was never more proud of him and stayed in victory lane to help celebrate. The night I couldn't control my happiness because of what I had witnessed. The night I will never forget as it unfolded and Dale Jr. made history.
It is this race that I would love to see Dale take out his frustrations on one driver in particular. He shall not be named here. He has been given far too much publicity and is beginning to believe all of it. Believe me, he doesn't deserve it. He has a far, far way to go before he is considered a great race car driver. Right now he's just a punk kid trying to get even with the driver that he thinks took his job away. And it's not as if he hadn't brought that on himself either. His initials are KB and that is all I will reveal at this time.
I know, I hear ya, I should just let it rest. And I will. After the All-Star race. I promise I will not write anything more about that other driver. Honest.
posted by Cheyenne at 1:31 AM comment(s) made:
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Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Six Of One Half A Dozen Of Another
Last year as each week passed by it was Let's see if Dale Jr. can win this week. This year that has been replaced somewhat with Let's see if the race is going to be exciting. Some have been exciting, but for the most part the rest of them were either boring or the winner wasn't very likeable. And you know who I am talking about. Hint: he has won 3 races ~ and I don't mean Carl Edwards.
We are dealing with a whole new car that has changed tremendously all the way around. The drivers haven't changed...therefore, it must be the car's fault. The only driver happier than sh*t is the winner. You can see, hear and feel the frustration of the other 42 drivers. The losers.
I remember going through something like this years ago when Dale Sr. was alive. Both he and Jeff Gordon were the biggest complainers of the aero package given them by NASCAR. The car wouldn't perform, it plowed, they couldn't drive side by side, they couldn't pass and if one car got out front it would take off into the next zip code.
Sound familiar?
I'm all for safety of every driver on the track. Yes, even that one. But NASCAR needs to step up to the plate and make the car more competitive instead of playing follow the leader. I started watching races in the late 80's. And those were some races back then. We'll never see anything like that again. So I guess we just have to shut up and watch, huh?
I realize I will get backlash from this post. This is just my take on the car they race today. Even though racing was so much more exciting in the 80's and 90's, I realize it also was very dangerous. I will take the good with the bad. I also realize that I am contradicting myself so I'd better quit while I'm ahead. No wait, I'm not ahead either. OK, that's it, I'm finished.
posted by Cheyenne at 12:03 AM comment(s) made:
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Monday, May 12, 2008
Ain't This The Truth
This sign should have been posted at my last job. And the part about knifing friends in the back would be highlighted. Because that's how I lost that job. Some people just think they're better than others. And then one day they wake up only to realize that what they had done came back full circle and bit them on the rump. And people like me have the last laugh. And I have had a few laughs since then.
Yeah, I know, almost three years and I'm still not over it. But it's kinda hard to get over being betrayed by what you thought were your friends.
posted by Cheyenne at 12:19 AM comment(s) made:
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Thursday, May 08, 2008
JR Nation Fans Embarass Even Me
I'm a member of JR Nation...proud of it, too. I don't understand those fans of his that get all bent out of shape when things don't go their way where Junior is concerned. Why do they do that? Why are they so different from other drivers' fans? I fail to understand that. Sometimes it's just a small thing and they take up arms and go after whoever or whatever is attacking Dale Jr. I mean, they can get really crazy at times. And I don't like that they make the rest of us look like fools by the way they act and what they do or say.
Take this Kyle Busch incident that happened at Richmond last weekend. If Dale Jr. said he felt it was a racing incident, why couldn't those fans take his word for it and back off? No, instead they decided to e-mail every sponsor of Kyle's and they also decided to boycott their products. They even e-mailed the Gibbs organization to let them know their displeasure at what Kyle did to Dale Jr. People...get a grip! By the time Darlington rolls around and the activities start on Friday, it will have been forgotten for the most part, so why dwell on something you can't do anything about anyway?
And just so you know, I'm not giving Kyle Busch a free pass here. I still believe he is an egotistical smart-mouthed arrogant punk. I personally call him Sir-Wrecks-A-Lot. And it certainly fits him because he doesn't care who he runs over or who he takes out just to win a race. He is a menace on wheels who has a lot of growing up to do before I even consider him as a human being, let alone a race car driver. His brother straightened his act out, so I hope Kyle can do the same. Besides the fact that he is trying to prove to the world that Rick Hendrick was a fool to let him go,
he needs to have an attitude adjustment and it cannot come too soon for me.
If anyone thinks there will be retaliation by Dale Jr. sometime in the future, you can just forget about it. Our Junior doesn't roll that way.
posted by Cheyenne at 12:09 AM comment(s) made:
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Monday, May 05, 2008
5-5-8
Ten years ago on this date our house was entered illegally by a person who had been welcomed into it a few years prior. He was a young father who held his infant child while inquiring about an engine he needed for the family car. His wife was a friend of ours so we gave them a break on the sale.
After a few years passed by, that young couple divorced and each remarried. At the time he robbed us he had a new wife and infant. He also had been in and out of jail and was on probation at the time. By the time he got to our house he already had a few other hits under his belt. What we later learned from his ex-wife was that he was very comfortable robbing houses that he'd been inside in the past.
On the morning of the fifth as we went about our usual workday routine, he was just down the street a piece way watching and waiting for us to leave. After we left for work, he then pulled his minivan into our driveway, walked to the front door, jimmied the lock and walked in as if he lived here all his life.
He left no fingerprints and no destruction behind. The things he took weren't noticeable when I came home long before my husband did. What I did notice was some lights were on and a door was open that is always kept closed. I thought my husband was just careless because he left for work after I did.
When he came home I reprimanded him on his carelessness. He denied everything ~ so much so that he then started looking around. It was then we noticed things that weren't right...not to mention missing items.
To make a long story short (and it is a long story), we had the state police come out and check everything but we got nowhere with that. They did, however, keep the investigation open. There were no leads. Things looked dismal for us. At that point we felt we had just learned a very harsh lesson in life.
It was the guy's ex-wife that put us on his trail. She had become friendly with his wife at that time and that new wife had loose lips. One of the items taken was a new camcorder I had just bought my husband for Christmas. I had written our name on the manual. The new wife asked the ex-wife if she knew the name. Bingo! She called me at work. The state police took it from there after they located the guy with his wife and child just a few blocks away from the state police barracks where he was living in a motel.
He has been in and out of jail since then and recently was paroled. His probation runs through 2016. We're betting he will never last that long on the outside. His fingers are just too long to last till then. Oh, and then there is a little thing called a drug habit that he also has.
We did get some things back (they had to be kept as evidence till the trial was over) but not everything was found. Insurance paid for some of the missing items. He is responsible for the cash he took, but those checks from the prison are very sporadic. Insurance also covered some of the cash.
Shortly after that happened we had an alarm system installed. But believe me that still isn't enough to make me feel safe and secure. The world is getting crazier by the day and people are getting more desperate and daring.
posted by Cheyenne at 12:23 AM comment(s) made:
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Thursday, May 01, 2008
A Work In Progress #6 ~ Update
My husband's two-month checkup was this past Monday a week ago with his knee surgeon.
Although it's been well over eight weeks since the operation, he still cannot walk too far without the knee swelling up like a balloon. It happens mostly when we go shopping right after his therapy session. His doctor said because this was a replacement of a replacement within three years' time, his recovery would be twice as long. All of my husband's questions were answered to his satisfaction and he was reassured that he was coming along quite nicely, something he tends to forget once in awhile.
He was taken off one painkiller and put on another one that isn't as potent. He was told he can now resume all activities (within reason) as long as his knee doesn't swell too much. Then his friend the ice pack will help him. Also, his therapy sessions were cut from three times to twice a week. They aren't free, folks, we still have to pay a $15 co-pay on each session. And last but not least, the cane is going to be banished to the darkest corner of our house once again.
Meanwhile, I cannot plan on going anywhere that includes a lot of walking yet. It's been that way now for at least the last 4-5 years. I feel like a prisoner at times, and I should be used to it but I'm not. Hopefully in another month things will be better when he has his three-month checkup.
Meanwhile, I have a lot to take care of with my own body. I recently had a checkup and bloodwork done. Let's just say, for now, it's not a pretty picture. I was shocked and scared with the results. Between my cholesterol being all out of whack and my blood pressure spiking again (doc said that may have been from not taking my meds that morning), I am about ready to give up. But I can't do that. Let me just say here that this was a huge wake-up call for me.
And that means I have only one way to go: diet with healthy foods and exercise on my treadmill. I can add here that I have since started both of those programs immediately after coming home from my appointment. I also have to take double my normal dosage of the statin med for my cholesterol. What upsets me the most is I had everything under control, but somewhere along the line things just went haywire.
And if all that doesn't work to bring me back to being semi-normal within three months at my next checkup (and more bloodwork), then I truly am in big trouble.
posted by Cheyenne at 2:43 PM comment(s) made:
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