These guys are crazy!

Ok, so for the past couple of years the fire dept (Richland) has been manning a consession stand down and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) as a fund raiser for the department. Due to my work schedule, yesterdays Motor GPX race was the first of these fundraisers I was able to be a part of.
First of all, we have to arrive to "set- up" our stand an hour before the gate opens, which means that we have to be there by 6 in the AM! There by necessitating our leaving the fire house at approx 4am, there by requireing me to get up at 3am! So already a pretty bad day right? So we get down to the track and begin to set up. As this was my first time, i was a runner to the seasond vets who had been here many times. Along the way I asked some of those members who were in charge of this fiasco just how much money do we make? The answer probably shouldn't have shocked me, but i'm not gonna lie, it did. We make approx 12% of everything. Now we served burgers, hot dogs, brats, candy, coffee, hot chocolate, soda and beer, nachos and some other odds and ends.
After hearing the 12% figure i did some quick math. For every case of of beer that we sell, ( and keep in mind that the customers are limited to 2 beers per transaction) we make just under 10 dollars. This was decent i thought as a case of beer in the store is about 20 bucks cold so we were making half on beer.
The was a GPX race rolls is that it is actually a bunch of little races with the headlining race at the end, much like a boxing match, with the undercard and such. So our little stand which was located at turn 1 ( stand 6 if you want to buy some food or beer next time!!) would be slow during the individual races but then would get slammed during the breaks. We had a little 10 gallon water heater that spit ot piping hot water with which to make the hot drinks, that we outpaced more than once, as well as we were more than once hustling to get more food made during the rush. But it was all well and good and we got to mingle with people from all over the world and they got to help out the fire dept, everybody wins...kinda...
It is after all a race, and only one person can be the winner. As i was working as a cashier for the stand I was able to take a straw pole on who the customers as to who they thought would win the "main event." It seemed like a fellow named Rossi was the odds on favorite. Well as the last rush came to a lull we were given the oppertunity to scope out some of the race from some rather good seats. We took turns and rotated it out ( the stand still needed cleaned) So when it was my turn we got up there and about four laps into watching, I am convinced that there is something seriously wrong with these guys on the bikes. First of all, driving close to 200 (thats no typo!) mph on nothing but a bike it nuts! Secondly when you are turning at such a speed that you have to have your knee scrape the pavement to keep balance, you're nuts. Third. When you make said turn your head is approx 4-6inches from said pavement...all at 200mph!! You have to be crazy to do that. I mean who wakes up in the morning and says, this is a good idea. Just to give you some numbers, these bikes are going the distance of a football field in one second. Thats less time that it takes you to read this sentence. To put this in a little but of a perspective, that about 1/4 speed of a .22 bullet! To me that is CRAZY!!!!!! But anyway so there we were watching the race and right in front of us that Rossi guy everybody thought was going to win, and was currently running in second and hotly contesting first place, lays his bike down and 200 mph and slides about 50 yards down the track sparks flying and then proceeds to slide about 40 yards until thankfully the wall stops him. So out comes the ambulance to check him out and the track moves to a caution, but wait...whats this...Rossi simply gets up, brushes himself off, hobbles to his bike, starts 'er up and gets back into the race! I was stunned, this guys just wiped out hard, and now he wants to keep going!!!??? I understand these guys are professional and this is there job but there has to be a little part of them that knows that this is nutty!! Any way as a side note Rossi lasted just a few more laps and had to quit the race due to mechanical problems...duh, you mean like would result from a 200 mph wreck? Im not say sayin, just sayin!!
Anyway the FD might have cleared 400 bucks profit which means that all 11 of us make about 2 bucks an hour for our 12 hour day. I know right...those gys are crazy!!!

A really good movie you probably haven't seen.

As many of you know, I am somewhat of a movie buff, and it's true, though my taste can only be described as eclectic (my number one favorite movie is Ghostbusters) I do enjoy watching all generes of movies. As I was searching for something to watch one day I stumbled across a movie that had already started. Now having that little touch of OCD that I do, I couldn't start watching it partway through. So thanks to the miracle that is U-Verse, I merely looked up more showtimes and selected record. Finally the time had come to watch this movie, much to the disdainment of my girlfriend as the time I selected to begin the movie was about 11pm and that I was unaware at the time that this particular flick is just this side of three hours long. But I was ready to watch The Miracle at St. Anna.
This movie is a Spike Lee masterpeice that centers around a Group of African-American Soldiers during WWII. These particular soldiers were members of the famed Buffalo Soldiers of the 10th Cavalry, the predominantly Black (most of the officers were white) fighting unit prior to integration. These soldiers, thanks to a white officer, get stranded behind enemy lines in a Tuscan Villiage. They stumble across a little boy that one particular member befriends, and are all taken in by a family that has it's own problems. Now all of this takes place in a story being told, as the movie opens with a black postal worker going...well...postal and taking out a German Lugar and absolutely blowing away an individual that comes to his desk and asks for stamps. What follows is an incredible account of what black soldiers had to deal with during WWII and what the civilians had to do to stay alive in occupied countries.
It also brings home many lessons, such as the right thing to do is not always the right thing to do, and shows some brotherhood lessons such as we currently see in the armed forces and the fire service. No matter what your personal feelings are about someone, when the lead starts flying you put aside the personal feelings and take care of business.
All told this is one of the best movies I have seen in years and have already seen it twice, and all people I have seen it with have had the same reaction. You spend the whole movie trying to figure out who/why this guy was that was killed in cold blood in the first five minutes. There is also alot of historical facts and tie-ins that make this not only believable but a thrill to watch and I will definatley be watching it again. So much so in fact that I programmed U-Verse to save it so that only I can erase it. Thank you technology!

Ringback Tones

So i have been criticized alot recently about my ricgback tone, or rather my lack thereof. What had happened was that when i got a new phone two years ago it came with a free ringback tone. I thought what the hell and selected one of my favorite John (Cougar at the time) Mellencamp songs Hurts So Good. This was cool enough and the best part was that when I would answer I would catch several people still singing along. This went on for two years. So approx 6 months ago I upgraded to a Blackberry Curve. Well with this palm sized computer came a problem...the cancellation of my Mellencamp ringback tone. Now this was no problem to me. I never heard it except off key from anyone calling me who got a little to enthusiastic while waiting on me to answer. But what Verizon did, certainily not on accident, was not to replace my expired ringtone with a simple ring, but rather an assortment of classical (and not good classical) music. This caused me no little grief. It was probably 2 out of 5 people would comment on my ringback tone, and demand I change it. Now this can go a couple ways. I understand that a ringback tone should be something most people calling you should enjoy, they are the ones that hear it. But on the other hand if i've got to pay for it, and then I don't even get to hear it why would I have one? But I had set the trend. I would need a ringback tone. So I began investigating how to get one on this blackberry of mine. The only problem was, I couldn't figure out how to do it! After several months of enduring what I can only call constant beratement, I logged on to Verizon.com and began a whole hearted effort of finding a new ringtone. This is no small feat, after signing up for something or other, it was finally time to choose a ringback. I was stumped...what should I choose? Should I use the same one I had previously? Should I pick rock, country, oldies? i realize this had to reflect not only me but i didn't want anybody reading to much into my ringback who may be calling me. Finally after the $2.99 it cost me for 365 days ( and yes an can log on and see exactly how many days of ringback I have left) I was set. Seems to me like way to much work for something I'll never hear...unless you are still singing it when I pick up.