Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Jail and Racing
Usually those two words together are not good but when you live in the heart of the racing community (for NASCAR anyway) it's not a bad thing. I had the opportunity to go to the second annual Jail and Bail event on October 14th and then the last race at Lowe's Motor Speedway on October 17th (the track will have a new name next year).
Wednesday, October 14th I went to the Jail and Bail. The Jail and Bail event is actually pretty cool in my opinion. The event is a fundraiser for scholarship money for girls (like me) that want to go into mechanics and want to attent UTI or NTI. As far as I know I don't qualify for it since I am already attending school but I'm going to look into it and find out for sure. At the event they have a bunch of different drivers that they put in "jail" and you can either donate money to get them out of jail or donate money to increase their bail amount. There is a judge there that sets the bail amount for each driver and they also do an auction as well. The drivers will take money from you there so I gave some money to Kevin Harvick because he is Robyn's driver. My driver wasn't there but he did donate money to one of the people in jail to get her out (she is an announcer on the Speed channel). I gave money to Kevin pretty much to make Robybn jealous. That's pretty much my goal while I am out here...do everything I can that Robyn would like to do then send her pictures. :) At the fundraiser they also had the country music artist Tracy Atkins (I could totally be spelling his name wrong too) and that was pretty cool. It was misting that day so there wasn't a huge turn out for the event as far as I could tell but they did raise a lot of money and it was more up close and personal than I ever expected it to be.
Saturday, October 17th I went to the race. Yes, I went by myself and yes, it was very scary to do by myself. Sometimes you just want someone to do stuff with but I don't really have anyone that I hang out with too much yet. I hang out with a girl named Ashley but she was working that day so she couldn't go. The only thing I regret about the race is the fact that I did not dress warm enough. I froze my butt off. It was nice to go to a different track since I have only been to the one in Phoenix so far and I did notice a difference. Biggest difference to me was that this race track didn't seem as loud to me. Don't get me wrong, it was plenty loud but it either wasn't as loud as Phoenix or my memory of Phoenix made is wrong. Either one is a possiblity.
Today I had the day off from work so I went to Kevin Harvick, Inc. pretty much just to make Robyn jealous. A lot of the racing facilities aren't open to the public on the weekend so I don't get to check them out like I would like to. Kevin's facility was the farthest away that I'd found so I figured I'd get it today and maybe hit some of the closer ones next Wednesday. I've posted pictures from that trip so I hope you enjoy them. I'm working on the slideshow of the rest of the stuff I have done over the last few weeks so I'll try to get that posted tonight too.
I am currently taking my third class which is manual drivetrain (aka manual transmission plus mroe). I'm getting a good grade but I don't feel like I've learned that much. It's not that they aren't teaching it; I'm just not retaining it like I would like to. I've had to do more studying for this class than I have for the other two classes but it just isn't clicking. I know once it clicks it will be super easy. I'm hoping it clicks soon. I have mixed feelings about getting good grades when I feel like I don't know anything. On the plus side though, I did get the highest grade in the class on my last class and I will be getting a pin to wear on my ID badge. One person in each class gets that so I'm pretty happy that I get one. I hope to get more in the future because it is something that you can put on your resume and everything. Sorry if this doesn't make sense, I'm dead tired but I figured I better update my blog before I start getting chewed out by certain family members. :D
Wednesday, October 14th I went to the Jail and Bail. The Jail and Bail event is actually pretty cool in my opinion. The event is a fundraiser for scholarship money for girls (like me) that want to go into mechanics and want to attent UTI or NTI. As far as I know I don't qualify for it since I am already attending school but I'm going to look into it and find out for sure. At the event they have a bunch of different drivers that they put in "jail" and you can either donate money to get them out of jail or donate money to increase their bail amount. There is a judge there that sets the bail amount for each driver and they also do an auction as well. The drivers will take money from you there so I gave some money to Kevin Harvick because he is Robyn's driver. My driver wasn't there but he did donate money to one of the people in jail to get her out (she is an announcer on the Speed channel). I gave money to Kevin pretty much to make Robybn jealous. That's pretty much my goal while I am out here...do everything I can that Robyn would like to do then send her pictures. :) At the fundraiser they also had the country music artist Tracy Atkins (I could totally be spelling his name wrong too) and that was pretty cool. It was misting that day so there wasn't a huge turn out for the event as far as I could tell but they did raise a lot of money and it was more up close and personal than I ever expected it to be.
Saturday, October 17th I went to the race. Yes, I went by myself and yes, it was very scary to do by myself. Sometimes you just want someone to do stuff with but I don't really have anyone that I hang out with too much yet. I hang out with a girl named Ashley but she was working that day so she couldn't go. The only thing I regret about the race is the fact that I did not dress warm enough. I froze my butt off. It was nice to go to a different track since I have only been to the one in Phoenix so far and I did notice a difference. Biggest difference to me was that this race track didn't seem as loud to me. Don't get me wrong, it was plenty loud but it either wasn't as loud as Phoenix or my memory of Phoenix made is wrong. Either one is a possiblity.
Today I had the day off from work so I went to Kevin Harvick, Inc. pretty much just to make Robyn jealous. A lot of the racing facilities aren't open to the public on the weekend so I don't get to check them out like I would like to. Kevin's facility was the farthest away that I'd found so I figured I'd get it today and maybe hit some of the closer ones next Wednesday. I've posted pictures from that trip so I hope you enjoy them. I'm working on the slideshow of the rest of the stuff I have done over the last few weeks so I'll try to get that posted tonight too.
I am currently taking my third class which is manual drivetrain (aka manual transmission plus mroe). I'm getting a good grade but I don't feel like I've learned that much. It's not that they aren't teaching it; I'm just not retaining it like I would like to. I've had to do more studying for this class than I have for the other two classes but it just isn't clicking. I know once it clicks it will be super easy. I'm hoping it clicks soon. I have mixed feelings about getting good grades when I feel like I don't know anything. On the plus side though, I did get the highest grade in the class on my last class and I will be getting a pin to wear on my ID badge. One person in each class gets that so I'm pretty happy that I get one. I hope to get more in the future because it is something that you can put on your resume and everything. Sorry if this doesn't make sense, I'm dead tired but I figured I better update my blog before I start getting chewed out by certain family members. :D
Sunday, October 11, 2009
I need to start leading a less boring life if I want to update my blog once a week. My life is pretty much school, work, and relaxing on the weekends. I am definitely learning a lot at school and it is more mentally exhausting than anything else. There is so much to take in and I am trying to retain as much of it as possible. The class I am in is more on the aspect of running a business and how to write up service orders. Not exactly my favorite subject (I honestly don't ever want to own my own shop or anything) but it is good to know a little about that side of the business. I'm glad that I am getting this class out of the way right now. My class has two kids in it that it is their very last class and then they graduate. I think that would be really tough because you would be so use to doing more hands on stuff instead of sitting at a desk or computer all day. The teacher is really nice though and it makes the class more bearable.
I did go to Charlotte a few times this weekend. It's about 40 minutes away from my house to Charlotte which makes me glad that I live in Mooresville. It would be nice to live there if there were a lot of things I wanted to do in town but I prefer living close enough to go into town if there is something I want to do but otherwise avoid the big city. I just drove around with one of the guys from school and we pretty much just went sightseeing. I now know where the Panthers play and I know where the NASCAR Hall of Fame is going to be. We found a couple of bowling alleys too. One of them is a bowling alley/dance club. I kind of want to go just to see what it's like. I also went to the single's ward down in Charlotte. I only went for Sacrament but it was still nice. The building is a little hard to find and I'm really glad that I have GPS. I also like the fact that you can just drive by an LDS building and know that it is an LDS building. That helped a lot too.
Next weekend the race is here. I'm debating about buying a ticket. I've been told that I can by a four day pass and go to a few different races so I might do that, it just depends on the cost. I figure the race is only here a couple of times a year so I'll probably end up doing it. If I do, you'll find out next weekend when I update. If I go I'll definitely take pictures so everyone can see how craptastic my seat was.
I did go to Charlotte a few times this weekend. It's about 40 minutes away from my house to Charlotte which makes me glad that I live in Mooresville. It would be nice to live there if there were a lot of things I wanted to do in town but I prefer living close enough to go into town if there is something I want to do but otherwise avoid the big city. I just drove around with one of the guys from school and we pretty much just went sightseeing. I now know where the Panthers play and I know where the NASCAR Hall of Fame is going to be. We found a couple of bowling alleys too. One of them is a bowling alley/dance club. I kind of want to go just to see what it's like. I also went to the single's ward down in Charlotte. I only went for Sacrament but it was still nice. The building is a little hard to find and I'm really glad that I have GPS. I also like the fact that you can just drive by an LDS building and know that it is an LDS building. That helped a lot too.
Next weekend the race is here. I'm debating about buying a ticket. I've been told that I can by a four day pass and go to a few different races so I might do that, it just depends on the cost. I figure the race is only here a couple of times a year so I'll probably end up doing it. If I do, you'll find out next weekend when I update. If I go I'll definitely take pictures so everyone can see how craptastic my seat was.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Saturday, October 3, 2009
A New Beginning
Since the rest of the family has pretty much abandoned the family website and Dad keeps talking about shutting it down, I figured I should carve my own niche into the blogging world. I think starting my own personal blog was the most difficult thing. I had to think of a decent title to the blog, choose a layout, and from there it started snowballing. I'll probably be fiddling around with it for a while. I can't say that I won't be learning by doing. Robyn has been insistent that I start my own blog so I can keep everyone up to date on my new adventures on the East Coast. I wanted a blog that would last for years to come. Here's to hoping I have accomplished that!
Robyn also wants me to post pictures from some of my adventures while I'm out here. I have a couple of pictures from my first week here and I also have some pictures that I took in Charlotte when I was shopping with one of my friends. I haven't uploaded them to my computer yet so I will have to get those posted later. I'd have to say that I am like Jonathan and Daija when it comes to picture taking so don't expect too many. :D
I just finished my first class at NTI and I can't say that I could have been any happier with the results. I got a strong A in my class (96%) and there were only a few boys that beat me. I was the only girl in my class and that is probably going to be my story for the entire time I am in school. My first class was a basic engines class and it was a lot of fun. My teacher was a great teacher and had a lot of funny stories about his racing days. I think I learned a lot of new ways to cheat in racing and not get caught. I've decided the sport is just as much about who can drive the fastest as it is who can cheat the most and not get caught. Let's just say there is a good reason that everything in NASCAR is measured down to 1/10 of a thousandth of an inch. There's been a few things on Chad Knaus and Jimmie Johnson pushing the limits of legality for the race car and it just makes me laugh because EVERYONE is doing it. If they aren't pushing the limits of it they aren't being competitive enough and there is no way they even stand a chance of possibly winning.
There are a couple of girls at the school that I got to know at orientation. Unfortunately only one has morning classes like I do and our first class wasn't together and neither will our second be. The other girl has class in the afternoon but we still text a bit. Both of them race and Anna, the girl that has afternoon classes, said she will take me to one of her races because I have never seen dirt track racing before and I really want to. The other girl, Ashley, is done for the season so maybe I'll get to go another time with her. I actually went shopping with her last Saturday for a dress for her racing banquet. And yes, you heard that right, I went shopping. We found this gorgeous dress that was normally $200 and she got it for $50. I called GG right away and told her of the savings. It may not have been me saving that much money but we can all appreciate saving that much. After Ashley and I were done shopping we just drove around Charlotte for a while and just looked at all of the beautiful houses out there.
Next week I start a new class and I have a new set of classmates. Some of them will be the same kids from my engines class and some will be new so I get the opportunity to meet a lot of different people. This next class is service writing. I've heard that it's one of the most boring classes so I'm glad that I am getting it out of the way right away. My engines teacher said that a lot of kids struggle with it after they have had a class that is mostly lab/shop time because they are used to doing things hands-on and then they get stuck in a classroom setting for a majority of the time. I don't know why this class is an actual class and not just a day in another class because I honestly don't know what could possibly make it worth having a three week class on it. I mean, it's writing up a service order (you know, the estimate you get when you bring your car in). I'm hoping there's a lot more to it than I think and I hope that it's not all just a bunch of part numbers to memorize.
Robyn also wants me to post pictures from some of my adventures while I'm out here. I have a couple of pictures from my first week here and I also have some pictures that I took in Charlotte when I was shopping with one of my friends. I haven't uploaded them to my computer yet so I will have to get those posted later. I'd have to say that I am like Jonathan and Daija when it comes to picture taking so don't expect too many. :D
I just finished my first class at NTI and I can't say that I could have been any happier with the results. I got a strong A in my class (96%) and there were only a few boys that beat me. I was the only girl in my class and that is probably going to be my story for the entire time I am in school. My first class was a basic engines class and it was a lot of fun. My teacher was a great teacher and had a lot of funny stories about his racing days. I think I learned a lot of new ways to cheat in racing and not get caught. I've decided the sport is just as much about who can drive the fastest as it is who can cheat the most and not get caught. Let's just say there is a good reason that everything in NASCAR is measured down to 1/10 of a thousandth of an inch. There's been a few things on Chad Knaus and Jimmie Johnson pushing the limits of legality for the race car and it just makes me laugh because EVERYONE is doing it. If they aren't pushing the limits of it they aren't being competitive enough and there is no way they even stand a chance of possibly winning.
There are a couple of girls at the school that I got to know at orientation. Unfortunately only one has morning classes like I do and our first class wasn't together and neither will our second be. The other girl has class in the afternoon but we still text a bit. Both of them race and Anna, the girl that has afternoon classes, said she will take me to one of her races because I have never seen dirt track racing before and I really want to. The other girl, Ashley, is done for the season so maybe I'll get to go another time with her. I actually went shopping with her last Saturday for a dress for her racing banquet. And yes, you heard that right, I went shopping. We found this gorgeous dress that was normally $200 and she got it for $50. I called GG right away and told her of the savings. It may not have been me saving that much money but we can all appreciate saving that much. After Ashley and I were done shopping we just drove around Charlotte for a while and just looked at all of the beautiful houses out there.
Next week I start a new class and I have a new set of classmates. Some of them will be the same kids from my engines class and some will be new so I get the opportunity to meet a lot of different people. This next class is service writing. I've heard that it's one of the most boring classes so I'm glad that I am getting it out of the way right away. My engines teacher said that a lot of kids struggle with it after they have had a class that is mostly lab/shop time because they are used to doing things hands-on and then they get stuck in a classroom setting for a majority of the time. I don't know why this class is an actual class and not just a day in another class because I honestly don't know what could possibly make it worth having a three week class on it. I mean, it's writing up a service order (you know, the estimate you get when you bring your car in). I'm hoping there's a lot more to it than I think and I hope that it's not all just a bunch of part numbers to memorize.
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