Happy Birthday to Many

As I am slacking once again....

I would like to throw out a Happy Birthday to so many people.

Happy Birthday to You
Happy Birthday to You
Happy Birthday dear (list below)
Happy Birthday to You

Kwadwo - July 25
Laura -
Jodi -
Rachel P - July 28 (Today)
Sarwa -
Shannon O - July 31

Back in Business :-)

Quick update...I am finally back in business after about a week without a modem. It was difficult at times because there was so many things I wanted to do on my computer that I couldnt. And because of that I just decided not to really bother with getting on the computer at all most of the week.

I have to run for now and get ready for church. Hopefully, I will post a bit more before the evening is over. If not, well it will be later in the week.

Tomorrow I am headed to Louisville to Autocross...lots to catch you all up on there.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Broken Modem

What a sad sad day for my computer at home. Access to work was very slow through the dial-up and remote desktop and so in frustration, I pulled out the work laptop. Apparently, I failed to disconnect the modem before pulling the line out of the phone and plugging it into the laptop. Somewhere in all of that I apparently busted the modem in my computer at home. I have tried to disable and uninstall it with no success. So now I sit in my bedroom on my work laptop with no access to all of my personal files. It does give me some relaxing time to check out all the blogs and post on mine at the same time. Probably this weekend I will get a chance to pull the computer back apart and see if I can get a modem to work again.

Georgetown College vs University of Kentucky (Basketball)

The official announcement has been made by the University of Kentucky athletic department. University of Kentucky will square up against Georgetown College on November 9, 2005 at Rupp Arena.

I'm definitely there as long as I am not in Vegas for a work conference, but since I currently don't see that happening, you will find me at Rupp Arena decked out in my Black and Orange. This will be about the only time you see me cheer against the UK Wildcats.

Let me know if you are interested and I will see what I can find for tickets.

Not Moving to Louisville

After very much debate with myself, I have made the decision not to move to Louisville. It definitely was not the easiest decision to make, especially this time around. I feel like my life is currently split 50/50 btwn Louisville and Lexington. Work consumes 50% and it is of course all in Louisville, but on the same token its mostly all that is in Louisville.

My church family and friends are all in Lexington, though some have moved. Weekends are 90% of the time spent in Lexington/Georgetown and occassionally in Louisville.

The biggest thing was the starting anew to start anew again in a year. It just seems mind boggling at this time to do that. When you are right out of college or still in that frame, where life is not settled. Everything doesnt point to your current place of living, it seems so much easier to uproot and go somewhere else. But when you are settled in a place and your insurance, banking, medical, bills, and just overall life things are all rooted where you are today. The hassle of moving it all to a new location is just painful to think about especially since I know this fall is going to be filled with grad applications, ODK, and YAACK. The stress of getting everything moved and making sure you dont loose anything is just more than I need at this time.

So officially, I am staying in Georgetown and commuting until I head off to college next fall. Mentioning of that it is time to find all those grad apps and start a writing.

Thanks for all the prayer and support. Please continue to pray for Ashlee as she decides where to live.

Im Alive

Yes I am alive. Not that it really matters because noone reads my blog anymore :-( I guess thats what I deserve since I am huge slacker. Truthfully, I havent been at my computer long enough to pay bills more less write the life story.

Here are some high pts of recent

- My family is all doing well. Thanks for the prayers.
- Went canoeing for the first time a few weekends ago. Defintiely have stories about that :-)
- 4th of July weekend was nice and relaxing time in my apt, actually paying attention to my apt and cleaning it up some. And i have to say that I have done a decent job of keeping it as clean as I cleaned it.
- Debating on whether to move to Louisville with Ash or not. I know some of you have heard about her prayers for living arrangements. Please continue to pray for the both of us on this one. No decisions have been made yet.
- Work is keeping me insanely busy during the day, which I suppose that is what its suppose to do.
- This weekend I am spending in the 'Ville for Wedding Showers and Autocross on Sunday

Im sure there is tons more but I really need to get some sleep. Hope everyone is doing well and please come back and read my blog :-)

Prayers and Thoughts

Thanks to all of you who have kept my family in your prayers over the past many months. Unfortunately, I have some sad news to share with you. My uncle Dale passed away this morning in his sleep. He was diagnosed with lung cancer in November. I just asked continued prayers for all of my mother's family, especially his wife and son. My cousin needs some extra prayers to cope with this and continue on to receive his undergraduate degree. He just finished his freshman year at UK, and was very close to his father.

I will be headed out to Paducah in the morning to be with my family. Pray for my safe travels, especially as there is potential for me to be really tired and sore tomorrow. And for the travel of any of my other cousins who will be making the journey this weekend.

Thanks

I have returned

Yes I am back from NYC safe and sound. Plus very exhausted and way behind on so many things. I will try to post updates on the trip as soon as possible. Though dont look for anything prior to at least Thurs night if not later. Sorry things are very busy. I have a mtg in Louisville tomorrow after work and then church on Wed.

This weekend is also very full with Canoe Trip on Sat and racing on Sunday.

Autocross Class Points Calculation - CKRSCCA

Here is how the points are calculated over the season. I will try to keep this updated as the events count down.

Points/Event = 100 - [900 x (entrant's time - class winning time)/class winning time]

DNF = 20 points
DSQ = 0 points
Minimum Points 20

Overall calculation takes the individuals top 5 events for their overall year score.

Event #1
Ron - 41.592 - 100
Betsy - 42.989 - 69.771
Robin - 45.581 - 20 (Yes I had to take the minimum on this one :-)

Event #2
Ron - 41.925 - 100
Brian - 43.460 - 67.048
Tim - 44.979 - 34.44
Robin - 45.948 - 20

Event #3
Event #4
Event #5
Event #6
Event #7
Event #8

Getting Healthy

Okay its time to become serious about this whole losing weight and eating healthier. So I have decided that one possible way of accomplishing this is having accountability. Since I spend the majority of my time on the computer why not have my accountability right here on my blog. Though since noone seems to comment on my blog it might be a bit lonely accountability, but just having it in writing that I see on a good number of days might be enough.

Goals
- Cook dinner at home 4 days a week
- Limit soft drinks down to just an occassional Ale 8 here and there.
- Eat non-fried fish at least once a week.
- Eat more veggies :-)
- Take at least a half hour of my lunch hr, 4 days a week to walk.
- Take the trash out again by walking and taking a full lap around the Apt Complex.
- Minimize late night eating.
- Eat something for breakfast to get the metabolism moving.
- Do sit-ups and work out with the weights 5 days a week.
- Lose 10 lbs by Lindsey's Wedding; and 30 lbs by Laura's Wedding

Todays Accomplishments
- Cooked dinner for the first time in ages. Tilapi in the skillet and carrots.
- Did a few sit-ups and did move around outside during the Autocross.

Though tomorrow is the only other day this week that wont be blown by my vacation. When I return, I plan to stay focused on these goals. Thanks for the support.

New Car, Slicks, or Driving....Oh What Shall I Do

Alright, I am totally getting my butt whipped at this new site. Is it the tires? Or can I just not maneuver the curves correctly? Or is is that my car is a big sedan?

Truely don't believe there is one answer to those questions but a little of all of them are correct. Slicks would definitely help some, would it counter balance what seems to just bad driving. I dont know about that. I believe I did go into a few corners a little too fast and just over steered the car. Smaller car would probably definitely help but dang thats money that I truely dont have to spend at this time in my life.

I wish I knew if slicks would really help me enough to be competitive and worth purchasing everything that would be needed to pull of the use of slicks.

Contemplation will continue.

CKR Autocross Points Event #2

Back at the Dumptruck Training pad for the city of Lexington, it was another brutal day for the GS Accord. Luckily the storms and rain came only during walk through and then cleared for the rest of the day's event. It surely didnt help me any. This may be one of the worst events, in which I have ever competed in.

The start was an optional slalom again which I caught the middle cone on two runs, which didnt matter because on the way back through the optional slalom on both runs I came off the corner too hard and had to take the the first cone to driver's side instead of to the passenger's. That failure screwed up the slalom totally and resulted in two DNF's. At least I thought I had two DNF's and a cone in each DNF. The last DNF on round 5 was not recorded nor was the cone that I hit, so not sure whats up with that. Maybe it was just a bad bad bad dream.

I had a couple good runs that I blew on the last turn totally locking the car up and loosing significant time. Though I am not proud of the results of today's event, I will post them as an update to this post as soon as they are posted on the CKR website. I will then also update the overall point calculation post and push it back up to the top. Im in very deep last position. 6 more events to make that change :-)

UPDATE:
Times
46.693+dnf
46.848
46.039
46.956
46.675 (Believe this too was a DNF)
45.948

Class 4 out of 4
Raw Time 68 out of 72
Pax Time 63 out of 72

New York Hear I Come

Not that I blog a lot anyway, though I have been doing better recently. You definitely will not see or hear from me after sometime on Monday until the next Monday. If your lucky, I might post something Father'Day Eve late.

I am headed off to New York for a two-fold purpose. Well it turned into a two-fold purpose after I was accepted to attend the inaugral CLT2 program by ODK.

Brief Excerpt about the program:
"The National Leadership Honor Society Omicron Delta Kappa is proud to announce its signature program, Campus Leaders Today, Community Leaders Tomorrow (CLT2™). Being held at Pocantico, the Rockefeller Brothers conference site located in Tarrytown, New York, from June 14-17, 2005, this program will bring together 23 young leaders with an outstanding contingent of faculty. CLT2™ will teach the skills and information needed to become a successful community nonprofit board member. "

Once the program ends on Friday afternoon, I am meeting up with Deanna, a college friend. We are then going to hang out in New York and hopefully see most of the key sites, including a Yankees vs Cubs game at Yankee Stadium on Saturday. So for those baseball fans, if you catch the highlights of the Sat June 18, Yankees vs Cubs, look for me. I think we have bleacher seats in the outfield though I really have no clue.

Look for an update after its all over and maybe some pics, if i find a place to host them and scan them :-)

Review of Goals for 2005

Lets see how goes the Goals for 2005...Im afraid that its not going to be very good.

- Loose 30 lbs that I have gained the last 6 months.
* No luck on this one
- Excercise More
* I am walking a couple days a week at work so that is a slight improvement. Though not enough to fix the first item.
- Eat Healthier
* Really cant say I am doing this. Probably eating too much especially today.
- Make a decision about where life is headed next.
* This decision was made though now I need to start applying for grad school.
- Complete the execution of a successful ODK Province X Conference in February.
* Successful and Complete :-)
- Be more prepared for Bible Study
* On average, I am usually more prepared for Bible Study so thats a success as well. Granted I am not leading as much these days, which helps.
- Have Fun, but not too much
* Okay, I might be on the line on this one. Definitely, enjoying life so thats good.
- Save money for that next life decision
* Not sure how this one is going. Guess I am saving some money though is it enough, not sure there.
- Read More
* Definitely slacking on this one, I have about 3 books started at the moment.
- Finish 1 of 3 Cross-stitches for my cousin's kids in 2 weeks, and hopefully finish the other 2 by end of year :-)
* I did get the first cross-stitch finally complete by Easter and started on the second one.

Not a lot of success but some.

Fun Event #2 Results

Results from the Fun Event on Sunday

Personal Times in Run Order
51.082
51.117 +1 Pylon
50.200
50.384
DNF :-( though apparently ran a 49.029, but I missed the last of the slalom
48.788
---Improvement of 2.294

Placements
Raw Score - 53/61 ---- (8.676 behind 1st)
PAX Score - 40/61 ---- Pax Time 38.152 (4.435 behind 1st)
Class - 3/3 ---- (3.249 behind 1st)

Class Best Times
1 - 45.539 (Ron - Mini Cooper S)
2 - 46.278 (Betsy - Mini Cooper S)

FTD - 40.112 (94 Mazda Mx-5)

CKR Autocross Fun Event #2

What a freakin hot day it was today..I believe this may be one of the warmest autocross events that I have attended in a little over 2 years. Granted it didnt help that we were out on an asphalt lot with no shade. Though I really cant complain about the lot, it was a nice lot and a decent surface. Just need a bit more parking space and we will really be in business.

Luckily for me today was a fun event, because I s***ed it up big time today. Never did a full run feel perfect. I got to fide with a couple of the guys in the first heat, which was fun. Though after riding, I new that the course was not for me today. I just wasnt feeling it.

Again, I finally dialed it in on the last run and finished with a 48.78, but it was still over 3 secs behind the class winner. Though I guess, I am finally getting a bit more aggressive, as I actually took down two cones in the slalom today. The slalom was a double slalom. You went through the optional slalom made almost a 360 and took the optional slalom again. The first time, I hit a cone it was on the way back out. The second time was the way in, and on the way back out I locked up the wheels and couldnt catch the last cone in the slalom, therefore DNF the run. :-( I was not excited about that because it was the second to last run of the day and my fastest time at that point was a 50.011. Almost 5 secs behind the class leader, which is way too far behind to be competitive at all.

The cubicle shelf will gain yet another cone tomorrow when I arrive. Not sure, if I will purchase a second cone to take care of the other cone I hit or just leave it as a DNF.

Ron took a ride with me on my second run. Again, all he had to say was you have the line down great. I asked "What can I do to get faster?". Basically, just find those right points of acceleration and braking and you will get it. Gee Weez...I think I am just going to have to get a smaller car and some race tires. Then we will see what I can really do.

Okay okay...as the majority of you know me. No that will not happen even if I really really wanted to. At this point, even getting race tires is not an option so I will just have to keep on improving and staying as close to Ron and Betsy as I can.

Once the official results are posted to the website, I will put out an update.

Next Sunday, is another event if anyone wants to come out and watch. Just send me an email or drop a note here, and I will give you the details.

The Original Website (1998)

Out of the archives and the deep deep abyss comes a link to the past. You will see that I have added several new links to the side of my blog, included in these is a link under blogs that says "The Original Website (1998)".

Chris and Lindsey you probably remember the summer, we all worked on creating our first websites. Lindsey and I next door in the Sigma house for the summer. Chris not sure where you were probably up in N KY. It was a lot of fun and we actually setup a chat option off the site (Dont attempt it now. I am sure its broken.) Though at the time it was top of the line of sorts.

I am hoping that this might help convince me to do a little more with my site. At least maybe I can post some new pics on the old site and link them back to this site. We will see what happens. Please dont expect alot anytime soon.

I put the link under blogs because I wasnt sure where else to throw it at this point. Enjoy a little history and some old html coding. Who knows what might come along behind it.

Update on my Uncle

I ask you all for prayers for my Uncle Dale who is fighting lung cancer. He was diagnosed back in November and two attempts to go remove part of his lung have not been successful because of growths on the lung. I thank God for the ability to make it home today to see my uncle this evening and ask for continued prayer for him. Unfortunately, he has been taken to the hospital this evening and I have no further update at this time. He was struggling with his breathing and having to use his oxygen a lot today. Keep my mom's family in your prayers as well, as this is my mom's youngest sisters husband. They have one child who just finished his freshman year of college.

Thanks

Autocross Video

Check out the link from the title for some autocross videos. You can find a link to my 5th run at the very bottom of the page (robin m).

Enjoy and thanks to Ben for capturing these great videos.

PS I put this as a new post so that all those who only view my blog through their rss reader would actually see the video :-)

CKR Autocross Points Event #1

Oh my...how sweet it is to be in my car racing again...

What a day, I had at Applebees Park for the first points event of the CKRSCCA Autocross season. It definitely has been way too long since I have been in the car driving as fast and smooth as I can around pylons in a parking lot. Today was an awesome day, though I had to wait til after 3 pm this afternoon to actually get in the car and on the course.

The course today was not meant for my V6 4-door sedan but I think I managed my way around the course pretty well. Actually, one of the top drivers out of DSP rode with me on my second run. He was actually somewhat awestruck. He said that I ran a great line and he wouldn’t change a thing. So the next question is since he wouldn’t change a thing, how do I shave all of the necessary time off to be competitive against the Mini Cooper S. One big thing would be race tires but not ready to fork over that money just yet. I have to fork over some money for new street tires first :-)

Here are my times for the day in run order:
- 48.759
- 48.836
- 47.144 plus 1 pylon :-( …….. A new pylon magnet for the cubicle :-)
- 46.688
- 46.685
- 45.581

Not too shabby…I think by that last run I was on a role and could have cut it down to 44+ if I had one more run. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case and the day was over.

I finished 3rd in GS behind Ron (41.592) and Betsy (42.002), 3.989 secs behind the GS winner.

Overall PAX turned out a bit more impressive with a 38 finish out of 72.

Well I am off to watch Star Wars with the guys, so I can actually see what everyone is raving about :-)

UPDATE: Overall RAW time results put me 58 out of 72. Guess it wasnt quite as shabby as I thought :-)