Past 36 Hours

Calvin and JD woke up with colds yesterday morning so our first morning of hauling the whole family off to church (Aldersgate UMC, BTW) didn't happen. The kids instead got to go off to the in-law's house for a few hours. Of course, that meant I spent much of that time cleaning the kitchen and doing laundry. Andy and Barbara both commented about how I always seem to be folding laundry every Sunday when they return the kids. Well, until I can fold clothes without worrying about Harper scattering the piles, the weekend playdate times are the only good window of opportunity.

Some time during the afternoon, I started to get a headache. At dinner time, it was annoying. During Harper's bath, it was getting painful. I soon found myself lying in bed hoping that a little bit of shut-eye would make it go away. When 8pm arrived, I pulled myself out of my bed and flopped into Calvin's bed to do the boys' bedtime routine. At 8:30, I shifted back to my bed. When JD came out shortly thereafter, she said that I was asleep. I don't know if it is the longer-than-usual sleep I had last night, but I was really pathetic this morning. Not that I'm feeling all that fantastic right now. No illness, just a mental funk today.

I'm wearing my "I'm not going outside or seeing anyone" outfit - orange & burgundy tie-dye sweatshirt, baggy jeans, and slipper sox (the kind with the plastic grippy stuff on the bottom).

Talladega Disappointment

There's so much blame to be placed with the racing at Talladega. I'll try to keep this brief.

1. NASCAR - Switch to engines small enough that you will remove the restrictor plate. All the power in the world is moot when you have to have your pedal to the floor for a lap and a half to get to full speed and there's nothing you can do to pass because everyone always has their pedals to the floor. I would also like to see some of the aerodynamics fucked with so cars don't cut through the air quite as well. No, it is harder to get more exiting than seeing 40 cars in a 3-wide pack. HOWEVER, a whole race like that is freakin' dangerous! Allow the cars to get some space between them. I miss a trend from the mid 90's where there was a good-sized front pack, a large middle pack, and then a straggler pack. NASCAR will have to give up the ghost on packing everyone together or they're going to see most of the field continue to be knocked out in more than one wreck per race or drivers will just give up and line up in a train.

2. Mike Helton - WTF with morning announcements that basically completely screw over what people can do on the track? Decide on these rules before final practice, you idiot!

3. Drivers - Not all of them fit into one or more of these categories, but many folks do: A) Don't pitch a fit and say "I'm just going to stay in line all day," B) stop bumping folks in the corners, C) don't let you crew chief talk you into a fuel strategy at Talladega; there WILL be a wreck near the end of the race to use up the last of your fuel before the checkered flag waves.

4. Talladega - It's probably worthwhile paving over most of the grass in the infield. Make it possible for cars to escape wrecks by driving through there. Also, invest in a study to see if graduated banking can be incorporated to smooth out the transition from the corner banking to the apron. Too many times, a car at the bottom has bumped against the apron and been bounced up the track to the outside wall.