It's March 3rd already and I have been very busy lately so that's my excuse for not posting. My wife had rotator cuff surgery on February 24th so I had to take a couple days of vacation to help her and have been doing all the hosehold chores. She will have to wear a sling for five more weeks and it will take up to a year for the shoulder to return to normal. In the meantime she can't work or do much of anything besides her therapy in a special motorized chair designed to raise and lower her arm. Today she took an improvised shower/spounge bath and when she was done she couldn't get her arm back in her sling so she had to call someone to come over and help. She has another unrelated procedure coming up that we're anxious about so this has been a difficult winter for Deb and I.
A few weeks ago I had an intake gasket and water pump put on my wife's go. Prior to having the work done the check engine light had come on but the car was running alright. When I had it in for the repair I had my friend who did the work put it on his scanner and found out it needed a $60 MAP sensor. I fixed that and it was running great then the Sunday prior to my wife's surgery the oil pressure light came on. I took it in and had a new sensor put on for that and again it was running great. This past Sunday I was half way to the grocery store (maybe the problem is that I shouldn't be going grocery shopping) and all of a sudden it started running rough. The check engine light flashed then it stayed on so I parked it in the garage and haven't touched it since. I called my brother-in-law and he said that it sounds like a coil pack. A friend of mine is going to let me use his hand held scanner so I can get the codes and he will let me know what the problem is. He said it sounded like a coil pack so that's two people telling me the same thing. I'm going to borrow his scanner for this repaid and will have to get my own basic OBDII scanner so I can do my own diagnosis the next time this kind of thing happens. I've got a lot of "coaches" that I can call for free advice and the basic scanners are under $100 so it would be a good investment.
My truck needs a little bit of work as well but it's nothing that has to be done right away. They were known for the bushings between the tank and fin tubes leaking in cold weather but it only leaks in below zero weather and once the weather warms it doesn't leak a drop all summer. Nevertheless, I think it would be a good idea to replace it.
Speaking of placing old worn out parts I had my annual physical today after work. I had the lab work done a couple weeks in advance, my cholesterol was a little higher and I need to drop a few pounds and watch what I eat but everything else looks good. I have to go back and get it checked in six months and have been walking and trying to eat better. My neck hardware and arthritis in my back and shoulders limit me from jogging like I used to do but I'm cleared for walking long distances. I live next to a walking patch so I don't have any excuses except for the ice, snow and snowmobiles going by at 50mph. when it warms up and the path is safe to walk I'll get back out there. In the meantime I'm walking 40-60 minutes per day in the skyway and will walk down by the river during my lunch break when it warms up in a month or so. This season I'm going to make an effort to avoid the fried foods at the races and try to find something on the menu that's better for me. Good luck on that one. Cholesterol medication can affect your liver and that would mean no beer so there's some real incentive to control my cholesterol. LOL
But enough about the cares of life, let's talk some racing. Check out my "Inside Dirt" column in the latest issue of The Midwest Racing Connection as well as all the fine articles and photos. I downloaded the latest issue, saved the pdf file to my flash drive and brought it to work so I could read it during breaks.
The UMSS meeting will take place this Saturday at the Settlement in Somerset. Details about the spec engine that we built by Wheeler Racing Engines of Blaine will be revealed aw well as more information about the rules package. I plan on attending so I can keep up with what's going on as the series takes shape.
You have probably heard by now that the Sandbox races have been canceled due to not enough pre-entries. It was going to be a Karting and Legends extravaganza this year, no Midgets, so it would have been an unfamiliar form of racing for me. Those divisions put on some good races last year and it would have been nice to get out and shake out the camera equipment but now I'll have to wait another week. I'm looking forward to the outdoor season and hoping for decent weather early in the season.
You're probably wondering why I write about everything under the sun here on the blog. The reason is that even though my website is dedicated to racing this blog has morphed into an informal chat with friends. Think of it as us sitting around the campfire after the races having a few beers and talking with friends about whatever comes to mind. Just because I'm a racing writer and photographer doesn't mean that I don't have other things going on in my life. I've got plenty of other concerns, worries, challenges, likes, dislikes and opinions. Jotting them down on the blog is good therapy for me and if somebody doesn't think this type of thing has anyplace on a racing website, well they don't have to read it if they don't want to.
We've got kids, in laws, outlaws, grandkids, pets, jobs, cars, trucks, homes, apartments, hobbies, cares, worries, health issues and all kinds of other things going on in our lives besides cars going in circles on dirt. Any racing writer, photographer, driver, promoter, or anyone else involved in the sport that leads you to believe otherwise is either in denial or full of sheeeet.
Type to you later!!!
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