January 23rd

It looks like it is now definite that I'll be staying in Salt Lake City for the foreseeable future. I'll spend a lot of time out of town in the new job but I'll have plenty of time back here to race the 2009 season. I had my home for sale due to the imminent move and came to an agreement with a good friend to sell it to him and then lease back the upstairs and shop. With the amount of travel I expect to have this frees me from the burdens of keeping the maintenance up and gives me the comforts of a home that I know with the convenience of an apartment or condo. Eventually I'll either end up relocating or slowing the travel down but staying in Salt Lake. Either way I'll likely do a condo next time. I've heard some grumbles about our first two races being in Lake Havasu and Las Vegas. Many people are reluctant to travel due to the economy. I certainly can understand where they are coming from but I'm still excited to go take on the California series guys on their turf. Besides, fuel and hotel costs are the lowest they have been in 5 years and going to a nice weekend at Lake Havasu in March while it's probably still snowing in Salt Lake has some nice appeal too!

January 13th

It's been an interesting past few days. Just when I thought it was time to do the final packing for the move to Los Angeles, I got a call from my manager that I should plan on staying in Salt Lake for a while longer. I'd just shut off my cable, internet and phones. Some things with work have changed, altered by the economic climate, competitive situations and construction schedules. I'm not upset about it though. It makes my life a lot easier. I was kind of looking forward to having a condo on the beach for obvious reasons though! The people I've met and worked with so far seem to be first class professionals. It's nice to be with a large organization like ADT.

Our first race is just 2 months away at Lake Havasu City, AZ. I've got to order a couple of nerf bars and send the fuel pump to Hilborn but those are minor items. I'm hoping that this weekend will be nice so I can begin doing some more work on the trailer.

January 7th

Last night was a sad night. I had to euthanize my little black buddy, Zorro, the cat I've had for the past 8 years. Zorro originally belonged to my ex-wife's family but one of the cousins developed allergy problems. Heather begged me to let her take him. After two weeks at our home one evening he jumped into my recliner and curled up on my lap like he had done it for years. From that point on he was my pet. I'd never had a cat before and always thought of myself as a dog guy. But as the years passed, I got divorced and lifestyle changed, having a cat was a lot easier than owning a dog. Zorro acted a lot like a dog. He loved being in the Jacuzzi tub, liked going on walks with a leash and talked constantly. Every one of my friends loved the little guy. He became ill unexpectedly over the weekend and began fading on Monday. It hurt to put him down but if you have a pet that loves you like Zorro did me, you should love them enough to ease their suffering. I'll sure miss the little guy. It also appears that while the move to LA to take over the Honda account is still on, some timing issues have slightly altered those plans. In the interim I'll manage a Google datacenter project in Tulsa along with a handful of other things. It should be fun and interesting.

January 1st - New Years Day

It seems like the right thing to do, starting the new year off with a quick post. I'm looking forward to what 2009 has to offer. I'll be in a new position at work and in a new city for the first time in 15 years. This will also the be the first time I'm lived in a different residence in over 10 years. I've accepted and embraced the changes that the new year will bring. 2008 and 2007 were tough years professionally, physically, personally and with racing. But that's all in the past. It's time to look forward and be excited about what the future holds.

We learned some things about the new car at the end of the year. The plan for now is to live in Los Angeles but return to Salt Lake to race all events. My goal is to win the Utah region championship and get back to our winning ways. Once I get settled in the Left Coast we'll bring the new dirt car frame out and start assembling it. Hopefully on a couple of the weekends that I'm not in Salt Lake, I'll get to run the dirt car at Perris.