Dear Santa...

It happens from time to time. I get bored then I get distracted. I start to think about the possibilities. The numbers. I'm a geek, that's what I do. And it's the holidays so it's somewhat fitting to put together a little wishlist.

What do I mean? The $207M lottery jackpot of course.

I'm a practical guy. Well, except for the British roadsters and the Ducati, and the belief that no one ever build *exactly* what I want so I have to buy it then modify it. Or wait 4 years for someone to make just what I need. I mean, really! What's the problem? Am I asking too much? ... Wait, where was I? Oh right, practical. But $207M is plenty to be practical and have a little fun. Right?

A few new toys in the garage would be okay. (Heck, probably a whole new garage!)

I'd need the basics:



Plus something a little unusual:



And maybe something very unusual:

(The doors slide forward into the fenders?!)


The Ferrari and the Ariel would clearly need to spend time on the track. So I need a way to get *to* the track. I hate flying. So maybe a nice motorcoach? This one should do:

It's only $2.1M.


It's a simple list, I'm a simple guy. Now, all I need are 6 good numbers and $1.

Dark at 4:30pm?!

As much as the long summer days are great, the short winter ones stink. Sometimes a week will go buy when I don't see my house in the daylight.

Some of the 2009 track day schedules have been posted. I'm still waiting for a schedule from STAR and NESBA. But 2-Fast and Keigwins have posted schedules, as well as a few others.

The most intriguing date thus far? Keigwins has the full track at Miller on June 13th + 14th. I'm a little intimidated by some of the long straights of that track but the surface and facilities are first-rate. With some luck one of the other motorcycle groups will get the Friday before or the Monday after and make the drive worth it.

Still hoping for an early date to start the season. STAR at Spring Mountain in February sure would be nice.

Does It Come With A "Mr Fusion"?

The wife and I were on the way to dinner last night when we came upon on oddity for Seattle: an interesting car, over 10 years old, outside of its garage between October and June. ... Rust is a bitch.

In this case it was a DeLorean DMC-12.



I'm not a huge fan of DeLorean. But, the combination of the gull-wings, stainless steel body, and Back To The Future makes it somewhat interesting.

Much to my surprise Anandi expressed some interest in one. I doubt we'd ever actually shell out $20k for one but owning a novelty car is fun to think about.



As a side note: on the way back from the game today I saw another classic car (Okay, okay. Relax. Maybe the DeLorean isn't a classic but this one really is). A Morgan Plus 4. It looked well loved and well worn. New top and skirts and tires, but well worn paint, some rust and some scars. All-in-all a nice honest car. Kudos to whoever owns it and actually uses it.

New Sandbox To Play In

Woot! Oregon Raceway Park is opening for business in 2009. At least one local track group is already on their schedule.

Personally I wish the track were more "technical" and less "horse-power" but it's still good to have another pseudo-local track option.

ORP isn't far from the Columbia River Gorge where the SBNW event was held a few months ago. It could make for an interesting motorcycle trip where a day or two on the track is combined with a day or two riding around The Gorge. ... Maybe I can talk Joe into making the trip.

Just Some Random Notes

Despite my better judgement I've been wandering around Facebook for a few weeks. (I'm testing a theory: I think I'm just as anti-social online as I am in person.) Despite not being in Facebooks target demographic since I don't have an iPhone covered in pink glitter and a Hello Kitty backpack I do occasionally run into a nugget of good stuff.

Like World Class Driving. I don't know much about them but they'll be in town twice in 2009. Might be worth a look.

I'm still stalking the motorcycle track day websites. The schedule for 2-Fast is up. All mid-week dates as usual. Their performance last year impressed me so I'll make an effort to ride with them again in 2009. Unfortunately they only run at Pacific Raceways and the weather there is hit-or-miss until June. So I'm still looking for good early season dates.

I did run across this and this. I guess I'll scratch Fast Freddy off the list for the time being.

Also from Facebook I learned that there might be a 20-year reunion for my high school in the Spring. I'm trying to figure out
1) is it worth going?
b) what else I might combine in the trip?
iii) should I drive The Triumph down?

3500 miles in a TR6 is rough. On the driver, on the car, on the passenger, on the guy behind you inhaling burnt oil. But PCH in May in a convertible is achingly appealing.