The LazyAssGeek’s

After last year’s June Dover race Joe & I had decided we weren’t going to do THAT again.  Pretty boring race and god awful traffic were the main culprits, regardless of the fact that we were very well taken care of by the Haas folks in their suite.  Just after that it was announced that Tony Stewart was taking half ownership of the team and that he and Ryan Newman would be driving for the team. So when Ed from Lance Co (the mid Atlantic Haas dealer & service reps) proffered an invitation to this year’s race in September we had to do a 180 in our thinking and give it another shot. This time Val joined us, so in addition to enjoying the race with her we also had a designated driver!

We had another great pit tour, even with bouts of pouring rain. So thanks to Mariah from Haas Racing for showing us around and taking care of us in the suite, even though she wouldn’t rig the drawing to get us a damned hat. The race was a bit more interesting this year, though almost inevitably Jimmie Johnson finally got to the front and ran away with it. We decided we were just going to take our time before getting into the car, even went to the Applebee’s just in front of the track to grab a bite to eat.  Even two hours after the race ended the parking lot was still backed up getting out, but we managed to get home in about 2 hours from the time we got in the car. Not awful, but we are still less-than-impressed with the job the folks from the track do with the logistics.  Nothing like being charged $10 to park and then having almost nothing in the way of organization with the local infrastructure to move the traffic in & out.  I’ll step down off the box before I really get rolling…  Thanks to Ed and the folks at Lance as well as the Haas Racing folks for a great day.

Click the monster for the pics from the day…

Miles the Monster

I’ll attempt to avoid becoming too maudlin in this post, but it will likely be difficult. On Saturday September 12, 2009 we lost our Congo Girl.  She had a seizure of some sort on Friday evening just before I got home from work and never recovered.  We made her as comfortable as we could, putting her in our bathroom in a towel-lined box – a  quiet, dark place so she could rest comfortably, which is what experience, the internet and Val’s vet all recommended doing(forget about finding an Avian Vet on the weekend).  She looked like she maybe was rebounding a bit but very early Saturday morning, around 5:30am, we heard her squawk and ran into the bathroom and she faded away just after we got there.

It was a very difficult morning in the house, having to take care of her and relive it a bit each time one of the kids woke up and we had to tell them. Our Boogie Chicken was with me for over 21 years (she was 22) and even though they only lived with her for a few months and knew her for only a few months longer than that, I know she had become as much family to Val and the kids as she was to me. Losing her hurt us all.  It’s always those little things that get to you the most – catching yourself thinking you should save some crust from your pizza for her, saving newspapers for her cage, hearing the kids next door whistling to her(they loved hearing her out the window next to her cage and didn’t know she had died) or the reflex to go put the cover on the cage when you’re heading for bed. So much for avoiding maudlin, but I’ll consider writing this therapy of some sort.

Congo

She was a very much loved Chicken and I think a very happy one herself. We will all miss you very much Congo Girl.

Andy & Biggi, in a display of suspect sanity, generously invited us to return to their home this summer, so we invaded last weekend.  Andy wasn’t able to join us until late on Thursday after a business trip but we drove up late Wednesday, arriving at 1:30am Thursday. We finally got to meet the new additions to the family – Scarlet & Filou! It being the middle of the night they were wound up and ready to go after Biggi set them free from the bedroom where she’d kept them while we were unloading.  They never really showed any fear of Sport and ensconced on the cat tree (where they generally sleep away the daylight hours) they obviously felt quite safe. By the next morning they didn’t even need that and ran around on the floor with Sport there the way they normally would.

After a short night’s sleep we took it fairly easy on Thursday, stocking up on groceries for the weekend, enjoying the gorgeous day on the newly-improved deck (great job on the underside of the roof Peter & Crystal!). The kids even ventured out onto the pond in the canoe, dragging Val along for the first trip. Sport quickly got over any fear he had of the water once he saw the kids out on the canoe and practically dove in, then trying to swim out to them.  He had a ball running in & out of the water. We finished up with a pizza party and some Rock Band and managed to be awake when Andy got home, though we weren’t awake long after that!

On Friday we headed into Kittery to take in the outlets and make the inevitable run out to Nubble Light so Val and the kids could see what it feels like when it’s not 20 below zero.  Biggi did a great job not falling asleep on her 30th visit of 2009 to that lighthouse.

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