MERVERNATION

02/25/2001

Man how about that... The race today was started late due to rain. they finally get going with it and within three quarters of the first lap, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Crashes in turn 3. VERY FIRST LAP! Think someone is trying to tell him something? Hes ok, or so he says. he had a bit of a limp, but it appears he will be ok... another one I dont like much, but dont want to see get hurt. The race was rained out and will be run at 11:00 AM monday morning.

02/23/2001

The other day I was talking to a friend who owns Grand Prix Auto in Westtown NY and we were discussing the possibility of Dale Earnhardt maybe loosening his seatbelt/harness out of excitement and anticipation of the last laps of the race.... last night and today the reports are out that it looked like the belts were broken. Not sure if they failed on their own, or if they were loose and that extra space that he may have moved up on impact broke it. we may never know, but something else interesting is that he was the only driver to still wear the open faced helmet and there had been talk about a full helmet with the HANS device (head and neck support) possibly saving his life... he was wearing neither.

02/21/2001

Yesterday I went to the Oral Surgeon and had a wisdom tooth pulled. The thing hurt so bad that it would wake me up at night. the pain would travel down my jaw, and up the back of my head and sometimes in my eye. I went to the place yesterday and said get this thing the hell out of my head. It took them 8 full tubes of novacane to numb it enough to work on it. they pulled it, prying on every angle of it they could. then the 2 root tips broke off in the hole. now they had to pick and pry and take the drill down in the hole trying to break these suckers free. What a wonderful time though, I hardly felt a thing, and now I feel 150% better. even the slight pain from the swelling of the gaping hole and stitches is practicly nothing compared to the pain that tooth was causing... about 3 years ago I had the oppisit one removed, and at that time, they recomended that I get this one out. I avoided it for close to three years... the thing rotted away to almost nothing.. probably shouldnt have waited so long.. but its over now. they gave me 3 drugs to take... Amoxil, Decadron, and Percocet, woohoo! I dont even need the Percocet today, I feel fine,. the other ones are anti-inflamitory and antibiotic. Those I have to take. So overall, Im doing ok.

I also recently had my car worked on... a new Ford Authorized Transmission with all the ECOs done to it... boy what a difference. I also has a new Mass Air Flow module put in, and new O2 sensors.. getting a little better gas mileage now. The car is running with MUCH more power than it was. A few days before that I ran over something in the road and put put a hole in my right rear tire so big it looked like someone drilled a hole in it. I took it to Penske in middletown and got it plugged, but that only lasted one day due to the hole in the sidewall that delveloped later from running on it flat. So I took it back and they gave me a new tire. I had them take the new on and put it on the front, and take the other old rear one and put it on the front. On the gague a new one reads a 10, and my old rears were reading 9s so the were pretty even. the fronts went to the back and they were measureing 7s. All I need to do is burn a little rubber on the new side a few times and they should be nice and even! :)

02/19/2001

I was in the middle of updating earlier (yesterday now) and as I was typing thats when my sister loaded up nascar online and we saw the news... just seconds before that I was there and it said nothing about it... so thats why I stoped what I was writing and put the updates about the accident. Then I went back to nascar online a few minutes later and the article had changed. then a few minutes later it changed again. thats why my posting for the 18th was like it is now.

Weather a fan of him or not, Im sure every stock car fan is in some way a little sadened by the news of the passing of Dale Earnhardt. The thing that bothers me the most is that it appears that he didnt hit the wall all that hard. ive seen wrecks where guys have hit the wall much worse than that and walked away without a scratch, or just a broken wrist from holding the wheel too tight. Im wondering if he may have already had a condition which impared his respitory system or made him have a weak chest which made it much easier for the impact to hurt him. Or maybe it wasnt the injury that they told the public,.. perhaps something in his back had problems. At the end of the 1999 season he went in for back surgery,.. spinal work doesnt always heal up the right way. I wouldnt be surprised if theres something else in the equation.... well either way, its a horrible thing to have happen.

02/18/2001

READ THE BOTTOM OF TODAYS POST

Only a few minutes left till the big race! Last night at the close of happy hour final practice Mark Martin had the FASTEST time of anyone with a speed of 191.156 MPH, time of 47.082. I hope he can take this thing this year after he had it stolen from him last year. Time to go watch!

**********

Damn good show. That was a VERY exciting race today, and the outcome was beautiful. Yes Im a Ford Guy and Ford DIDNT win, but the guy driving the Chevy who won is one of my favorites and to watch Michael Waltrip win his very first time, while his big brother Darrell Waltrip sat in the announcers booth was a pretty emotional thing. The driving was very clean most of the day untill Ward Burton (another one of my favorites) slowed slightly without warning while Robie Gordon was getting ready to pass him, and then it happened. an 18 car pile-up. Naturally my #1 Favorite Mark Martin was an innocent victom of the bullshit and I guess thats just how it goes. Tony Stewart did a flip or two but hes ok. Dodge did a heck of a job getting ready for this event, and they had 3 of their cars in the top 10 at the end of the day. They had 1 mechanical failure and a tire problem,.. not too bad for a new car. Sterling Marlin really caught a big break from the caution for the wreck. Had there been no wreck he wouldnt have been able to catch up to the rest of the field from the tire incident. Rusty Wallace did a hell of a job... first he blows a tire scrapes the wall, and goes a lap down.. then he fights his way back to the front of the pack, almost getting back on the lead lap, and finally does, then he fights his way back to the front of the field again, but gets caught in the wreck, tears the side off the car around the wheel, and gets back out there with an aerodynamic disadvantage, and then barely holds on as Earnhardt, Marlin, and Schrader fight for position and crash all around him. After all that he finished the race 3rd and I believe had there been a few more laps, he could have taken the thing. ** UPDATE INTERUPTED!! ---)

Dale Earnhardt Just died from the final wreck in the Daytona 500. He was involved in an accident with Kenny Schrader which put him in the wall and ended up down in the infield. they took him to the hospital unconcious... I never was a fan of the guy but I wouldnt wish this on anyone. The really sucky part is that Michael Waltrip who won the race was just hired by Dale Earnhardt to drive that #15 car. He won and Earnhardt may have never known it.

Wait a minute.. now the news article on NASCAR Online has changed to "injured" just a minute ago it said he died. More updates to come.

It nows seems official. Dale Earnhardt has passed away. May he Rest in peace, and may his family get through this hard time ok.

02/15/2001

Im gonna need everyone reading this page to go ahead and move your desks back as far as possible. If you could just go ahead and do that as soon as possible..... that would be Greeaaaaat.

02/12/2000

NEW VIRUS WARNING

If you get an E-Mail with a subject like "HERE YOU HAVE ;o)" or similar and/or have an atachment which appears to have a JPG attachment called "AnnaKournikova.JPG" or something else JPG/JPEG check it to see if its actually a VBS file, like.. "FileName.JPG.VBS" Not sure what the damage of this sucker is yet, but we have been working on decodeing it here at work, and we believe it may even mutate from sender to sender. As we figure out more, I will post the information. Until then, DONT OPEN IT!!

02/09/2001

Only 2 more days till we see some action on the track. Sunday the 11th is the Winston Cup Bud Shootout. A Pre-Season Excitement generator, speedweeks kickoff. It is a small race at Daytona, about 70 laps or so, with a manditory green flag pit-stop. Its filled with drivers who have won a pole position the season before. But because Rusty Wallace got 9 of the poles last season, it left some openings, so they decided to include past bud shootout winners as well. That means Mark Martin can run this year. He won it 2 years ago, hasnt missed the race for quite a few seasons, but just wasnt lucky enough to grab a pole last season. The other exciting thing about the Shootout will be the fact that Dodge will have some entries in it. It is the PERFECT time for them to really find out how the car handles in a true race environment. I hope they have success, it will be interesting to see just how far they have come in the 1½ year prep time they had. In the CASCAR series (Castrol Racing Series) the intrepids won their first race (I think thats how it went), though the Dodge teams arent expecting to win their first time out in Winston Cup, they certainly have a chance to do well. Im also excited that the NASCAR Busch series is going to be getting a bunch of teams over to Fords. For a long time the Busch series was 85% Chevy (guess they are cheaper or something) but this year they are really going to tip the scales back, and from what I have found out, most of the engines and stuff will be supplied by Roush Racing (my favorite team). Jack Roush is really a BIG key behind Ford success in racing these days. Sunday he will be there with 2 or 3 of his teams. Its gonna be nice to get back to racing this year. A sport thats not treated like a sport, one thats a bit more fair than the superbowl was, and definatly more exciting than ANY basball game. So I wish the Dodge drivers luck with their big day sunday, and I wish Mark Martin luck to win the damn thing. Go #6!

Check out the newly redesigned NASCAR Online too!

02/01/2001

You know what I hate? Typical People. Ill explain...

* I hate when people like something just because everyone else does. chances are though that everyone else does because they know someone else does.
* I hate when people like all the popular songs on the radio just because its whats popular, not because they really like the music.
* I hate when people turn 21 and buy alcohol just because they can. Everyone does that... why? I didnt.
* I hate when people drink just because they can buy alcohol. like it makes them cool or something.
* I hate when people constantly talk about their drinking experiences cause they think it impresses others.
* I hate when people smoke just to fit in to a crowd of friends..... stupid.
* I hate when people "pimp out" their Cavaliers and Neons and such, and make them look fast when they arent.. point?
* I hate when people convince themselvs by looking at the extra plastic on their cars that they really are fast and try to race me... I love the looks on their faces though when my 4 door family car blows them away.
* I hate when people driving those cars roll down their windows and crank their radios, speakers clipping, and drive slow like they are in a parade. Hey, just cause you want to hear it, doesnt mean everyone else does.
* I hate when people think something is better just because its more expensive.
* I hate when people typ3 l1k3 th15 and think it makes them a hacker. A real hacker never leads on.
* I hate when people wear clothing that their friends do even if it doesnt look good on them. join a circus.

I guess thats a good start.. you get the idea. Ill add more as I think of them. As a side note, If you fit this list, dont take it personally. You shouldnt care what I think. Also just be aware I said "I hate *WHEN* people..." *NOT* "I hate people..." Its the actions, stereotypes, and fads that piss me off really. Be origonal already. Set a standard, dont follow one.