Renewed and Booked: Renewed my race ticket and booked a hotel near my sister’s in Fishers. I’m ready for the 93rd Running of the Indianapolis 500! Now, off to read piles of pages from the Indy Star that my sister saved for me all month…

May 21, 2008

8:30 p.m.: SuperShuttle arrived, transported me to SFO.

10:30 p.m.: Boarded AirTran flight. (Darn, not the Air Tranica plane…) Plane was loaded with race fans for the direct flight to Indy – great vibe. Overheard someone saying he was the great-grandson of Ray Harroun.

11:30 p.m.: Despite the fun and laughs, I inserted my noise canceling ear buds, settled into my business class seat (almost big enough for me to curl up sideways in), and tried to get some sleep.

May 22, 2008

6:30 a.m.: Flight landed at Indianapolis International. Took an eternity to taxi to the gate.

7:10 a.m.: At the Alamo counter, they upgraded me to a Parnelli Jones orange Mustang. Almost too bright to look at that early in the morning, but I figured it would be 1.) fun to drive (yes) and 2.) easy to find in race track parking lot with thousands of other cars (yes).

8:00 a.m.: Arrived at my sister’s house in Fishers, mauled by 5-year-old nephew Josh, (the 11-year-old, Luke, had already caught his school bus) and a happy, slobbering yellow lab (Chase).

10:00 a.m.: Napped while my sister helped out at Josh’s kindergarten class.

12:00 noon: Met dad, stepmom, brother-in-law, and Josh (freshly sprung from kindergarten) for lunch at the Nickel Plate bar and grill in Fishers. Had an excellent hand-breaded tenderloin sandwich.

2:00 p.m.: Parents headed back to New Castle; drove to my hotel and checked in.

5:00 p.m.: Dinner back at sister’s house – followed by a brief concert by Luke on his Guitar Hero game. (Josh sings “Going out on a whale on the Crazy Train” – cute.)

7:00 p.m.: Headed back to the hotel, listened to Talk of Gasoline Alley and Indy Live while setting myself up for my five-night stay. Wanted to sleep early but it was midnight by the time my eyes closed for good. Ugh…

May 23, 2008

6:00 a.m. Whose idea was it to get up this early? :p Very slowly gained a state of semi-awake while checking email and looking at the doubtful weather forecast. Although armed with the recommendation to try breakfast at Brickyard Crossing (thanks, CC!), was unable to wait that long and partook of my hotel’s breakfast instead. Next year, for sure!

8:00 a.m. Left hotel for IMS.

8:50 a.m.: Parked in Lot 2, entered Gate 5 and headed for the garage area to make my morning rounds.

10:00 a.m. Settled into the Tower Terrace in front of the Media Center, tried to get online to blog with my Asus Eee PC. Plenty of public wireless signals detected, but could not get connected. Ah well. IndyCar practice eventually got underway and I was joined by my Facebook pal Tom Beeler, who took a break from his media job to come say hello. And then, the rain…I tried to connect with other Facebook pals John Edward and Crash Gladys, eventually getting a text back from Crash, sharing that it was “Limo to all the race parties night” for her. (I just can’t live like that…) Told Crash I’d find her on Sunday.

5:10 p.m.: After a day of sheltering, wandering, shutterbugging and not seeing any more track action, it was time to head to Plainfield for Curt Cavin’s Carb Night Burger Bash. My mom, two sisters, niece and three nephews headed down from points north to join in. The party started at 6:30 and they arrived a bit late, but still got to see eventual race winner Scott Dixon in person. The little ones spent a good bit of the evening outside with me, full of milkshakes and shivering, so I left the party early (apologies to CC, Jeff of “My Name is IRL” fame, and his readers- really wanted to meet you all). We finished the night at sister’s in Fishers, where the little ones wore themselves out on her new Wii Fit. Didn’t get to sleep until 1 a.m.

May 24, 2008

6:30 a.m.: Whose idea was it to get up this early? :p Very slowly gained a state of semi-awake while checking email. Needed to be at sister’s at 7:30 so we could drive to New Castle for breakfast at 8:30.

8:30 a.m.: Stacks Restaurant, New Castle IN. Two sisters, niece, three nephews, dad, stepmom and I laid waste to some pretty decent breakfasts, then went to parent’s for a few hours of lolling around while the kids ran through the house. For some reason, dad decided to make real, stove-top popped kettle corn right before we had to leave for lunch in Muncie. But it was awfully good…

12:30 p.m.: Mom’s house, Muncie IN. Two huge Pizza King pizzas were delievered (I can’t tell you how happy this made me!). Kids had a fenced-in yard and a full-sized trampoline with safety netting to romp on. It was a lovely day, so we hoovered down the pizza and lounged around outdoors under the big patio umbrella.

6:00 p.m.: Back in Indy at Scotty’s Brewhouse. Picked at a salad while visiting with a friend I hadn’t seen in 4 years. She and I could gab all night, but I enforced my 9 p.m. curfew so I could try to get some sleep. Ha. Still not adjusted to the time zone and finally got settled after midnight.

May 25, 2008

6:00 a.m. Whose idea was it to get up this early? :p Very slowly gained a state of semi-awake while checking email and looking at the glorious weather forecast. Quick breakfast topped it off.

7:15 a.m.: Pointed the Parnelli-mobile towards IMS.

8:20 a.m.: Traffic? What traffic? Split the early- and late-arrivers perfectly. Parked in Lot 2, in through Gate 5, headed off to the Clabber Girl stand for another quick breakfast. Wandered around, enjoyed the gorgeous day, took tons of photos and kept track of Facebook pal John Edward, who was stuck in the late-arriving traffic jam. Texted with my sister – she and the whole family were at a cousin’s house for a BBQ and they had a race pool going. She was asking me who to keep and who to trade. Settled in my spot early and quickly found the stands around me packed in with race fans, so by the time John arrived, I knew I’d miss shooting the main ceremonies if I went to greet him. Never tracked down Crash, either – need to email that woman!

1:11 p.m.: Kristi Yamaguchi (always a favorite – so cool to see my skating and racing worlds collide) dropped the green on the 92nd 500 and we settled in for what I later called “four hours of pit stop practice with a few sprints in between.”

5:30 p.m.: Wandered around the grounds after the race to let some of the traffic get out of my way. Finally left grounds at 6:10 and didn’t get out of my lot until well after 7. Back at hotel at about 8, completely exhausted from a day in the sun (big shout out to my best friend SPF 85 for keeping me pale as ever), but too wired to sleep. Watched most of the race replay and some local sports coverage while catching up with email and my usual round of web sites and blogs. Got to sleep about 1 a.m.

May 26, 2008

7:00 a.m. What the…? My alarm was set for 8:30 and there I was, wide awake at 7. Sleep deficit continued to grow. Everyone came to my sister’s in Fishers for a BBQ. We had a way too much to eat and a really nice day.

7:00 p.m.: Back at the hotel to pack while watching the victory celebration on TV. Planned to get to sleep early, but yet again I got caught up in following coverage of the race, reading papers and blogs and emails. Got to sleep at midnight.

May 27, 2008

6:30 a.m.: Ugh. Showered, finished packing, checked out and headed to my sister’s for breakfast with Josh. Left at 8:45 to turn in the Parnelli-mobile, then wasted time at IND waiting for my 12:05 flight. Stopped over in Vegas and touched down at SFO at 4:30 p.m. Grabbed a SuperShuttle to my place, where I was greeted by one feline (Sebastian) and hissed at by the other (Sabrina, who soon purred and made up). Posted some photos on my blog before turning in early for a real night’s sleep at last…

Uh-Oh: Got home from my fun but tiring trip to Indy on Tuesday evening and have been very low-key ever since, just relaxing and sorting through all the photos I took. So today I’m feeling lethargic, woozy and a little queasy, like I’m getting the flu. I’m due back at the office Monday and this isn’t how I want to go back into the fray… *sigh* I did go for my scheduled girl maintenance (mani/pedi) and fell asleep during each. My technician, Kim, just laughed at me – usually we chatter all the way through both. She told me “You go home and take a nap now…” And I did. Early sleeps for me tonight, too, if I can manage it.

Deja Vu: Milwaukee. The (historic) Mile. West Allis, fair surroundings, beer and brats everywhere, and friendly folks who love their racing. And an Andretti and a Rahal on the front row. Wait – is it ‘92 again? *grin* Looking forward to tomorrow’s race. If it plays out as usual, something dramatic will happen that will feed Eddie Gossage’s publicity machine in Texas and we’ll then have a week of fun with that. Hey, Texas will be fun enough as it is – The Dragon has added it to their limited schedule, and with Scheckter racing, there’ll be a little extra something to watch.

Finally Done! Check out all my Indy 500 photos by starting on the Carb Day page, and following the link at the bottom of each page to work through all four pages. You’ll see Carb Day Practice (all 15 minutes!), Curt Cavin’s Carb Night Burger Bash with eventual race winner Scott Dixon, pre-race festivity shots and action from the race and afterward.  Enjoy!

Sonoma-bound: Went to the IndyCar race at Infineon last year, but drove back to San Francisco each night. This year, I’m making a little vacation out of it and just booked an adorable cottage for the weekend, adjacent to the Fig Pantry (relative of The Girl and the Fig and home of yummy artisan cheeses). Really looking forward to it! Meantime, I’m cropping and sizing photos from the 500 and those should appear on my site in the next day.

Back Home Again (in California): Made it home around 5:30 pm. Nothing amiss when I arrived – lots of mail waiting, and Sabrina hissed at me as she usually does when I’m gone a while. (Within 5 minutes, she was snuggled up to my neck, purring her brains out.) Uneventful flights home after a nice visit to family, friends and The Greatest Spectacle in Racing. The race will last all week for me – I have all the broadcast stuff to catch up on, loads of TSO emails and racing blogs to read. Happy I took the rest of the week off – I’ll need it to catch up! I have loads of photos to sift through and will place a separate page of them here as soon as I get them resized for the web.

A Few Laps: The IndyCars got on track for something like 15 minutes today, and the rest of the Indy 500 festivities were rained out. The Freedom 100 Indy Lights race will be held at noon Saturday and the pit stop competition was canceled. *sigh* Did spend some time chatting with Facebook friend Tom Beeler – he’s a media-type, though, and his editor was there, so he spent his day in the warmer, drier confines of the Media Center.

A Few Laughs: Actually, quite a few. Curt Cavin’s Inaugural Carb Night Burger Bash was a big hit, despite the blustery weather. There was an auction of several racing related items and some chat time with Cavin’s radio show co-host, Kevin Lee. The guest of honor was pole sitter Scott Dixon, who had other commitments and couldn’t stay all night, but did a nice Q&A session and took loads of photos with folks.  Here’s one with the intrepid Cavin himself:

Despite the cold temps, everyone had milkshakes – 96th Street Steakburger shakes are the best in town.

Alamo upgraded me to a sports car this morning:

It’s a bit more orange than this in full daylight…and it really GOES!  :p

Photos and reports from vacation will appear here if I can manage the time to make it happen!

Four More Days: Heading out Wednesday for a few days of family, fun and fast times in Indianapolis. Seriously need a break, so I’m really looking forward to it. Right now I’m listening to qualifications and practice for the 500 and keeping an eye on the long-range forecast for the 25th, which looks great one day and dismal the next…

Tour More Days: More Fixx dates, including one in Vegas that got bumped to a Saturday (July 26). That makes it much more doable and it’s on my short list for a little summer diversion. (Just gotta build up some defenses for the drama and bullshit show that often accompanies that scene…*sigh*)

Snore More Days: Neeed Sleeep. It’s been really warm here in San Francisco, with the last couple of days in the 90s. This is rare and most residences in the city do not have air conditioning. Last three nights have been fairly sleepless and I’m really dragging. Today is much more tolerable and I’m hoping to get a nice walk in before the sun sets.

Here’s a site with up-to-the-minute news and a live blog:  http://www.indy500coverage.com/

ESPN and ABC will carry TV coverage, but they are generally not so great. Turn down the audio and listen to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network.  The Radio Network provides coverage for the first two hours and the last hour of quals. In between, local coverage is provided on 1070 The Fan. The Fan carries the radio network coverage as well, so you can hit them up at 12 noon local time and ride out the whole 6 hours.

Follow the speedway video boards and live public address and launch a live timing and scoring app here: http://www.indycar.com/

Curt Cavin’s blog will have the scoop and answers to readers questions all month.

My Name is IRL and Pressdog have commentary as only they can provide.

Follow the Indy Star’s tweets on Twitter!

Enjoy!

Wiped Out: It’s been a busy week and I’m exhausted. Gonna have a low key weekend and follow qualifying for the Indy 500. Nothing sounds better… *grin* At least the weather’s due to hold for tomorrow…it’s been raining most of the week. Sunday looks awful, though.

For the Fixx Fans: A few summer dates trickling in. July5 at Kettering OH; July 12 at Portsmouth VA; July 13 at NYC; July 25 at Las Vegas; July 27 at Anaheim; July 31 at Saratoga, CA. Hearing about a possible date near St. Louis.

Still Hungry: Eating regular food once a day, but still doing liquid/soft most of the time. Still a little hungry most of the time, but in many ways, I feel pretty good so will keep it up for a while. Once I get back to Indiana, there will be too many things I have to have (Pizza King, for one), so I’ll be off this modified diet at least for a few days!

All Soft: Still on the meal replacement shakes today, but also had some miso soup, applesauce, yogurt and mashed potatoes! I’m so excited to have eaten something that you almost have to chew! Same deal tomorrow, then I can start sprinkling in baked potatoes, soft bread and non-acidic fruits.

Vacation!: Truly, really taking one. I never take more than 3-4 days off, but end of May, I’ll be off 11 whole days in a row, thanks to Memorial Day and two weekends. Heading to Indianapolis for family and 500, then will just hang at my place for a few days. Maybe a spa day. Considering the Fourth of July weekend back east. Maybe. Definitely taking a day or two at the end of August for the IndyCar race at Infineon.

Asus Eee!: My new ultra-portable laptop should arrive tomorrow – I’ll be able to blog updates from Pit Road at IMS!

Shaken: Meal replacement shakes for the last 2 1/2 days. I’m gonna have some soup in a moment – it’s time for real food. Meantime, my Facebook buddy and fellow race fan John Edward was tormenting me with photos of Brickyard Burgers and Track Fries from opening day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Lucky guy’s there all month. Didn’t have the strength for my usual weekend marathon walk, so I spent time on the yoga mat instead. Feeling a bit better after that. Tomorrow, a full day of shakes and soft bland food. Whee.

Car 22, Where Are You?: Davey Hamilton was officially announced as the driver of Vision Racing’ 22 car for the 500, with Hewlett Packard and Kingdom Racing sponsorship. That’s the news I’ve been waiting to hear!

Lightning McQueen, Where Are You?: Just saw Cars for the first time. Adorable. :p

Speaking of Cars…: Today I worked from home due to my tummy disorder, but I needed to drive to the office to get some paperwork and notes. I’m a ZIPcar member and the only thing left to reserve at my local stop this morning was a BMW 325i. My first Beemer experience…it was a dream to drive…I’m ruined for the usual Civic hybrid or Prius.

Liquid Diet: The last couple of days, I’ve felt like I’m being stabbed in the gut. I had a stomach bug last weekend and those symptoms are gone, but replaced by pain. I’m now on two days of a liquid diet, then two days of soft bland food in an effort to give my tummy a break. If that doesn’t help any, I’ll be visiting the doc. Ditto if it grows worse. I’m several hours into my first liquid day, and so woozy I can’t type straight. I’m craving everything. :p

My sister’s strongly encouraging me to come out for a music festival near her so she and her friends might have a better chance to hang out with a band I know that’s on the bill. She got to spend some time with them about three years ago when they played her town and I was visiting.

I just don’t want to go…

One of the musicians breaks down and sobs every time I see him. “My life is so hard…” You can only advise someone to stand up for himself so many times. “Do. Or do not. There is no try.” To dump your troubles and sob on someone’s shoulder every time you see them is rude and thoughtless. I’ve taken to avoiding him when I’m around (and then he mopes). Sheesh.

There are “drama queen” fans who always seem turn up just when you’d like a nice, low key time. (And then you have to listen to the opinions the guys have about those fans once they’re out of earshot!) For instance, there’s a sad case who turns up with a long-time friend of theirs. She lives near one of the guys and is always IMing or calling him. He can’t stand it: “The cow’s said she got me some Bali Shag. Now I have to be polite and deal with her.” He notes her obsession with one of his band mates, adding: “No way – he has high standards. And he’d never live it down if we found out he was with her.” She’s not a happy person, even less so when she doesn’t get much attention from her favorite – I feel sorry for her. Then there are the “desperately cling to the singer while my husband sits in the corner” types, and the “two beers and I’m making a scene” types – they all seem to turn up at once (often together)! Some people find it amusing to have all those agendas bouncing off each other, but it just makes me sad.

Top it off with some the folks who help out (and sometimes take advantage of their position with the guys, costing them money or power tripping on and alienating others in attendance.) The guys have very sharp opinions about that, too..

Add it all up and the vibe’s toxic. I’ve been too busy with my management career to hang out much these days and haven’t been in their scene for a while. I miss hearing their music live, but some of it’s on my iPod. And I miss some of the folks, but I am in touch occasionally. I just like my space to be clean and toxin free. I hope my sister won’t be too upset if I decide against it…