What a Joke: With a competition yellow every 10-11 laps, the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard was the worst excuse for a race I think I’ve ever seen. Time to trot out this old gem:

Gimme Back My Radio Network!: Bob Jenkins is sitting in for Marty Reid on the TV side of IndyCar coverage this weekend. And we’re back to the TV crew doing quals coverage on Indycar.com. Bob (bless his heart) + Scott Goodyear = zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. I need my Radio Network guys as often as possible – a girl’s gotta have her Davey Hamilton fix, especially. Slow afternoon at work – most folks are outside at the company picnic. Went out for a bite to eat earlier – loads of cute kids running around. I’m sitting here full of chicken, curried potatoes and ice cream, trying not to nod off…

UPDATE: Lookit that! They’re rolling the radio network as well. Bob, Scott…have a good one. I’ll be sitting over here with Davey…  *grin*

Quick Update: Last week’s thrash to get a presentation done for the CEO landed the hoped-for 6-figure funding we wanted. Woo hoo!

Progress Report: Bathroom and kitchen purged of unneeded items. Living room half done, with an estimated completion date of 7/24. That leaves the bedroom (and books…loads of books) and the hall closet to tackle starting Friday. Saturday morning, it’s off to the hardware store for a ladder, heat gun, spackle, scrapers and paint. Whee. *grin*

Yellow: As in caution. In addition to my bad left knee, I now have a bad left foot, victim of a toppled heavy wooden chair at a Thai restaurant in South city today. Two toes are not sure what color they should be, so they’ve gone a range of pinks and purples with some deep blues edging in. This will hinder my progress on several fronts, so I now have to re-plan my attack… *sigh*

Reporting In: Yeah, yeah…I’m here, okay?! LOL! Goodness, it’s been a whirlwind, mainly due to work. Last Wednesday, we learned that our entire dev team is moving out of the creative group and into the program management department. That department is being realigned to match industry best practices, and our processes are due to follow. The end goal is to lead with user experience, instead of letting engineering resources and constraints or the whims of “Hey, what if we did THIS?” continue to drive what happens next. Now, I’m realistic enough to know there are rough patches ahead and to realize that the degree of success will depend on how “religious” we get about the new processes, but I am STOKED that we are making this first step. One of the most exciting things about it is seeing our director and VP level folks move into areas that are definitely playing to their strengths. Another thing – my team will eventually start playing a larger role in product definition, which is a great opportunity for us all.

Meantime…: Both my team and myself spent a ton of time in training last week, they for collaboration skills and techniques, and me for product management. This all plays into the re-org nicely, but we couldn’t get much done outside of that. So, of course, the CEO asked us for a high-quality presentation exploring something we’re not doing on the site right now so he can present it at the Home Office this week. *sigh* I think we got a good set of ideas out the door, but it was a mad scramble. Back to the training – if your company does software dev of any kind and you need your processes and thinking straightened out a bit, Marty Cagan’s your guy.

Ruht Roh!: So, you might have read me here or heard me there mutter something about the massive purge and paint project I need to do to my entire apartment. You know, the one I’m starting right about now and was planning to have done by … oh…say….end of September? Well…seems like my big Sonoma weekend in August now includes having a house guest for a couple of nights. And no, it wasn’t MY idea. LOL! It WILL be lots of fun, but guess whose revamp of abode is now in fast track mode? Uh-huh. Apologies in advance if I get a few paint splatters here and there on BashUp.

Tarrrrrd: Man, what a sleepy day. I didn’t do anything too vigorous this weekend, due to a banged up left knee. Missed the Todd Rundgren show here last night, but the consolation was spending several hours on the phone with my buddy who was traveling back home after a weekend in the Fingerlakes. Got some pretty interesting inside scoop about that particular scene. And the scoopage continued today when Rupert gave a call and caught me up on all the news with his band. I’m rolling the IndyCar race from yesterday so I can hear the TV commentary (I listen to the radio network live during the races) and once that’s over, I’m seriously considering a 9 o’clock bedtime. Thumbs up to Ryan Hunter-Reay and RLR for their win at The Glen!

Name That Tune: My pal who traveled to western New York for the weekend engaged me in a bit of Name That Tune via chat today, while listening to his iPod (which contains a whopping 29 songs!!! LOL!). He’d type the lyrics as the song played along and leave me to quote the title. Some of the songs I haven’t heard in 20 years, and I missed a few. It was a delightful way to start my Saturday. *grin* I have a few home improvement projects lined up and spent today finalizing the plan of attack. The bathroom isn’t quite ready for prime time – needs a fresh coat of paint, for one. It’s top priority on my list – that room is my favorite in the house, with a big clawfoot bath tub I visit every night.

Watching the Daytona 400 now. 60 laps to go…

Low Key: It started last night, when I spent over two hours trying to talk to a friend who was driving through northeastern Ohio. Talk about dropped calls! Was a nice chat, though. (And if you’re reading this, my friend, these words from me to you: hands-free device. :p ) This morning, I got some strength training and yoga stretches in, and spent another hour or so trying to chat with above friend while the drive continued through Western New York state. More dropped calls – LOL! Meantime, I was following IndyCar practice at Watkins Glen, which was delayed due to baby deer bounding around the infield. They eventually relocated them and the cars got underway, but it was comical to watch the track workers think they had half a chance to catch the little sprites without an army. A few texts came bouncing in, including one from Diamond in Oswego, and one from Rupert of The Fixx – both saying “Happy 4th.” Watched the Nationwide race while chatting online with above-mentioned pal (no more dropped calls!) and I coined my new pet name for the series: Yawnin’Wide. Hamlin, Ky. Busch and Junebug were yer podium there. In general a much-needed, quiet 4th with a nice walk and quite a few laughs. A multiple-home-run kinda day…

Fun Fun Fun: The day started with an online chat with a friend I usually only hear from on weekends due to our work schedules. Was great to get the morning going with a few laughs. Everyone was in a light-hearted mood at work and they hoovered down the cookies I made last night – Den Mom was happy to provide the treats. Then “school” let out at 2 p.m., turning us all loose on a gorgeous NorCal summer afternoon. Planning a quiet 4th here, following IndyCar and NASCAR (not quite as interested now that Dario Franchitti’s out) and tackling the house chores. Probably get a walk or two in, as well.

Weakling: Back in the office today – feeling somewhat better, but still dragging a bit. Looking forward to the long weekend. The office is shutting down at 2 p.m. tomorrow, so I’ll be home in time to kick the holiday off by listening to Trackside with Cavie and Kevie live, instead of podcasting it as usual. Wish I could be at The Glen…instead, I’ll be following all the race activities online while I begin the massive purge of my apartment. (whee… LOL!)

Icky: Worked from home due to flu bug. Fortunately, it’s a somewhat slow time for projects, so we’re just cleaning up odds and ends and nothing requires a great deal of thought. If there’s ever such a thing as good timing for the flu, I guess this is it…