Day #4 - Race Day

The first line really says it all:

Pure and simple, Jimmie Johnson won the Yellow Flag 400 Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway by winning the final race off pit road.

All I can say is that today's race was total bull crap. Congrats to Jimmy Johnson, but for NASCAR and Good Year to not test the tire situation fully before coming here, and then to handle it the way they did is just total crap. They should have just let them run and let the teams determine how long they were comfortable staying out.

I'll post more later.

Drunk And Stupid Is No Way To Go Through Life, Kid...

Every now and again I see a story where some bozo falls from an escalator at a ball park. Almost always, the bozo is male, in his twenties, and drunk (note that the latest story does not currently mention the last aspect, but it is still being investigated).

The sad thing is that in our overly litigious society, the ball park or baseball team (or both) usually end up getting sued, and thus end up spending lots of money in legal fees defending themselves against something that clearly was not their fault. This kind of crap needs to stop.

As a side note, this same thing happened at Miller Park. Some mentally challenged idiot got drunk, road the escalator down on the railing instead of standing on the step like a normal human, and fell (to his death, if I recall correctly). Now, also thanks to our overly litigious society) the escalators have stupid Plexiglas walls "protecting" us from our own stupidity.

Day #3 - Qualification Day

Today was qualifying day, so we got up somewhat early (5:45 or so) and headed down to the track. We got ourselves some nice seats up in turn one (section E penthouse). I started taking a couple of pictures of the track when one of the ushers asked me if I wanted to go up to the roof and take some pics from there. Can't pass up a chance like that! So, he removed the "Do Not Cross" rope and we climbed the ladder up to the roof of the grandstands where the spotters stand. The view from up their was spectacular!! I'll post some pictures later, though they really don't do the view justice.

After qualifying, we walked around the infield for a while and checked out the new Chevy cars and trucks. After that, we came back to the hotel for some relaxation and swimming. Tonight, we'll probably just eat somewhere here in Crawfordsville, and then hang out and relax. Tomorrow will be a busy day.

Day #2 - Indianapolis Indians, More Road Construction...

Today started out cloudy but turned in to a beautiful day. We started out by taking a short hike on the Sugar Creek Trail. We then had lunch at a nice local Mexican restaurant in downtown Crawfordsville.

After relaxing a bit, we went to Indianapolis and walked around the White River State Park and then walked around downtown for a bit. We stopped to eat dinner at the Claddagh Irish Pub. After dinner, it was back over to the White River State Park area to catch an Indianapolis Indians game at Victory Field. It was an exciting game, and the Indians beat the Syracuse Chiefs by a score of 2 - 10.

All in all, it was a great day, even through at the end of it all we managed to find yet more road construction on the way back from the ballpark. Ugh!!

Uhg! Nothing but Road Construction...

Well, we are down in Indiana for our annual trip to the Brickyard-400. Hopefully the rest of the vacation will be more pleasant than the trip down here was. I swear that there was nothing but road construction from the WI/IL boarder to the north end of downtown Chicago. Basically, all of the Edens Expressway is tore up, but once you get to the Kennedy, everything is cool all the way through downtown until you get to Gary, IN. Then, the really insane detours begin...

Once we got through Gary, though, everything was cool. The trip from Gary to Crawfordsville (where we stay for the extended weekend) was really smooth. So, here we are. Today, we will just relax, go out to dinner, have a few beers, and relax some more. Tomorrow, we will probably head down to Indianapolis. Depends on the weather.

Skank Alert...

I mean, just look at the picutre... I think I have caught 12 diseases just from looking at her... I can't believe anyone actually ever paid to had to sex with something like that.

And Justice is Served...

Man shoots wife, man abducts kid, man gets hit by bus and dies. It sure is nice when things work out in the end...

More On Ethanol Policies

It is no secret that I think the ethanol push is moronic. It is not an efficient fuel and it results in higher food causing great pain to the poor (and everyone else). Furthermore, the free market will dictate the proper solution, not government mandates, which will do nothing more than tie us to what is clearly the wrong solution.

It is nice to see others putting pressure on the G8 nations to cut back on these ridiculous mandates (though I would like to see an all out abandonment, myself). It is also nice to see that Great Briton is starting to make moves in the proper direction. Hopefully we will too.

Taking a Page Out of the Clinton Playbook

It appears that Obama is taking a page directly out of the Bill Clinton play book and is moving to the right to appease conservatives who are not all that happy with McCain being the Republican nominee.

US presidential hopeful Barack Obama has said he would expand George W Bush's programme of involving religious groups in government initiatives.
...
He said challenges from saving the planet to ending poverty were too big for the government to solve on its own.

A council involving religious groups would help to set the national agenda, Senator Obama said in his speech.

"We know that faith and values can be a source of strength in our own lives," said Mr Obama.

Obviously, this sounds all well and good. Just don't trust him to actually follow through on any of it.