ITS ANOTHER HODGE PODGE ENTRY...

It's only July, but I'm already excited about I got the first football game of the year (NCAA 2003) for the GameCube. It's my first sports game for the new system and I'm kind of looking forward to getting out of here tonight and going to play it. I also reserved a copy of Madden 2003 for the PS2. Now if only Winning Eleven 6 would come out here in the states, I would never buy another game again. Well the new Grand Theft Auto game is coming out. And Colin McRae 3 and .... nevermind, I'm an addict.

If you haven't guess, I'm back at work the paper, but I'm about to leave again for another race soon. Heading for Brooklyn, Michigan for the Michigan Indy 400 on Thursday. It's my last race with the IRL this season, so I'm kinda sad, but it's been a great experience and I hope it could lead to a job later on. I've worked my ass off for them and I hope I've done the job well. One thing is for sure. I'm still not sure what I want to do with the rest of my life. I could be a great copy editor/page designer and leave Anderson for better and brighter places, but doing that, I'll turn my back on racing and I'm just not willing to do that right now. I really need to try to work in racing for a full season or more and see if it's for me. It's in the blood though, so I don't think I'll truly be happy until I get there.

Sorry for the rambling... On to happier things... Casey Kane (the reporter and my friend, not the race car driver) has started her own website. It's still under construction, but everyone should check it out to encourage her. I'd hope more people would see it, but unfortunately only a few people ever read this thing... anyways, welcome to the web Casey!

The photo department at the paper asked me to shoot their annual group photo with their intern today. They're a silly bunch, as evidenced by this photo (http://www.geocities.com/abs1973/images/willPregnant.jpg) Yahoo refuses to let me link to it, so just cope and paste it to your browsers. Some of my readers may recognize him. They may not claim to be related to him any longer, but you know who he is...

BLAST FROM THE PAST

Greetings from the suburbs of Music City USA, better known to some at Nashville, Tenn. So far I've worked a day at the track and explored the town with some co-workers. The night on the town was pretty fun, but it was also kind of a flashback to living in Texas. We ate dinner at the Wildhorse Saloon, which is like the Hard Rock of country music. It was like every honkytonk place in Texas that my friends dragged me out to, except it was a lot bigger. We went to this kickin' six-story club and hung out on the roof overlooking a free concert on the river. Low and behold, but it's Robert Earl Keen. It was a nice surprise to hear some Texas music. Anyways, today is raceday, so I'm sure I'll be pretty busy.

I CAN'T AFFORD A REAL ONE...

but maybe I can afford one of these. This entry is short and sweet because I've got some stuff to do before I head off to Nashville for the race cars.

Have a good weekend everyone!

BORED AT THE OFFICE
When a columnist at this newspaper can't think of anything to write, they either a) don't write anything, or b) write a big hodgepodge of stuff that's on their minds... I'm gonna do a "B" for this entry

Last weekend when I was in Kansas, I started watching a movie in the hotel with Ron Livingston (the guy from Office Space) and Amanda Peet. I never caught the name of the flick but it was on TV today. I have since found out it's called Two Ninas. It was pretty good. The weird thing about it was I just happened upon it as I was flipping channels and it was almost at the spot where I left it about a week ago. It was like it was waiting for me to come back to it. ...

OK... I've been sitting here trying to write an entertaining entry for about 15 minutes now. I''m really bored right now. I'm sitting here in front of this computer screen, like I do most days, and I can't help but wonder if today can move any slower. I guess I should relish these slow times while I have them. It's gonna be really hectic in here when school starts back up. Life is really easy right now. I need more of a challenge. I'm working solo tonight at the paper, and I'm already finished with my work for tonight. That rarely happens.

I should really try to pass the time better. I could watch TV, but the same mindless shows are on right now, and what would it matter since I can't see the TV from my desk anyways. (Whatever happened to the editor saying they would raise the TV up so more people could see it). I could surf the internet, but is there anything out there that interests me that I haven't already read today? I could try to keep this website somewhat interesting, but what's the use? I'm not even sure that anyone reads this thing anymore.

I'm sooooooo bored right now it isn't even funny. I can't even think up a good thought for the day. Is it time to go home yet?

OLD FRIENDS VISIT AND ANOTHER PURCHASE..
Brian and Vicki Snyder are in town, and last night, Jon Solomon and I went to eat dinner with them at Nami for sushi and other food by the lake. I like Nami, not only because the food is really good, but also because out by the lake, it doesn't feel like you are in Anderson. It's like a little resort town. A good time was had by all and it's good to see my old friends. We'll probably go out again before they leave on Sunday.

On to spending more money....First it was the Gamecube, now I've made another big purchase. The notebook computer I've had since 1996 is on its last legs, so I've taken the plunge and ordered a new one. It's an IBM Thinkpad with a Pentium III-700 processors. It has everything I wanted, including DVD player, so I can take some movies on the road to watch in airports and hotel rooms when I'm bored the next couple of weeks.

TOO TIRED TO TITLE THIS ENTRY

I'm finally back from Kansas City. Well, that's a lie. I got back at 1:30 p.m. on Monday and as I write this, it's Tuesday, so I didn't really just get back. But I digress, you probably want to know about the trip.

It was fun. I've never been to Kansas City, and though I didn't get downtown or see the Negro League Museum, it was worth the trip. First and foremost, it was very hot. I saw a few people have trouble with the heat. I'm certainly glad I drank plenty of water. But even drinking a lot of fluids still left me feeling light-headed at times. The morale of the story: If you have to spend a lot of time outside and it's hot -- as it is in most places during the summer -- drink plenty of fluids, even if you're not thirsty. Kansas Speedway is a really nice facility. If you ever have a chance to take in an event there. Drink lots of water and go!

As for the work, the addition of the Infiniti Pro Series made things a little more hectic for us all, but we got through it. I added a new duty putting out the quote sheets and I had to resist the urge to go out and get quotes on my own. Still, I learned a lot and I can only get better as the series heads to Nashville. And hey, it's a free trip and I'm not in Anderson.

I'm back at the paper for the next 10 days. My schedule for the rest of July is long stretches of work broken up by road trips to work some more. Hopefully the old brain won't be mush by the end of the month. It's already getting soft (a racing term describing engines losing power), but I'll muddle through. After all, football games come out for the PS2 and Gamecube at the end of the month.

INDEPENDENCE DAY
Happy Fourth of July to everyone who actually reads this thing (All two of you!) This is the time of year where we celebrate our freedom, and I'd just like to say thanks to all the men and women in the armed forces who help us keep it.

DOG DAYS OF SUMMER

Boy days off sure go by fast, especially when you have a boatload of things to do. I still need to do some stuff (Like take out my trash and clean my linens) but I've ignored this thing for a while.

There's nothing going on in sports besides baseball, so it's a challenge to get enough copy to fill a standard section. I feel sorry for our avid readers, because reporters are on vacation, or just have nothing to do. So it's an awful lot of wire copy. Speaking of work, I ran into Marcus and Mindi at the Bagel Shop today. I ate with them, while they talked shop about their upcoming special section, but it kind of made me feel all wobbly because I'll have to do a couple in a few weeks.

That's all for now... I think my dryer just went off...