I’m not superstitious, and I’m glad. I don’t think it has any place in racing. Force sure showed that having a green race car isn’t the bad luck that folks once thought. I do like to do things the same way each time, but that has nothing to do with superstition. Having a system, or habit, eliminates having to waste extra time and thought for typical procedures, like suiting up before a pass. For the final round in Denver this year, I got all of my equipment on while standing next to the team Durango, and was about to walk over and get in the MTS Dodge Charger to race Capps. I had pulled my one-piece firesuit up and zipped long before starting my dress ritual, as National DRAGSTER needed some photos. Well, out of my routine (and partly out of my mind) I completely skipped putting on my fireboots and didn’t remember until after everything else was on! Jim Marcellus (who helps me with the equipment) and I had a quick laugh, he helped with the boots, and we won the race. Being superstitious just clogs one's mind with superfluous (look that up) thought, and it WON’T help you perform better in the cockpit.

Anyway, back to my opening sentence. Last blog I talked about not being able to run the Hawley School in the rain, and guess what happened Tuesday? Yep, lots of the wet stuff. Not my fault, right? It was frustrating, as 13 of our graduates had showed up for the last alumni race of the year, and all of them had made runs (45 to be exact) the day before. We’ve built up quite a list of graduates, and it’s great to see them come back and compete against fellow students for a chance at a trophy and bragging rights. We’ve rescheduled for Jan. 9, and I KNOW it won’t rain that day (remember, I’m not superstitious).

NHRA still is in the process of gathering information regarding Funny Car chassis, and is yet to finalize any changes for next season. There could be some BIG alterations eventually, but for now it looks as though we will start the season with the configuration that we ended this season with. After Force’s accident in Dallas, we did add extra bracing in the driver’s area to all of the DSR Funny Cars.

With the wet weather here in Southern California, the landscapers haven’t been able to work every day, but the backyard still is shaping up. As I write this they are hammering away on the back porch (what exactly are they hammering on?), and it should be done within the next day or two. I went with Jenna and her mother Cindy to the nursery (that apparently is a big outdoor place where they display, maintain, and sell plants to the general public; who’da thought!) to pick out plants once we start the lawn portion of the yard. There are lots of different sizes, shaped, colors, and textures, and I was completely confused. I left. I made sure not to walk under the ladder on my way out. I needed to get two new tires for my Nissan truck. Yes, the famous 230,000-mile, tree-pulling truck that you’ve seen on previous blogs. I know, buying new tires for it is analogous to buying a Rolex for an Aborigine, but I don’t want to end up sideways on the freeway. Good friends Kenny Kelso and his daughter Sarah, who runs Super and Top Comp, now own their own tire store nearby, so I stopped by and got two to go.

Jason is doing his baby thing. There are many “firsts” with children his age. Five minutes ago I heard the toilet flush; guess who just learned how to run dad’s water bill up? Mom bought him a toothbrush and showed him how to clean his two teeth. His top two are just breaking the surface, and he usually lets us know about 3 in the morning how much it hurts him. We all went to Cindy’s last week for a day, and Jason got to play with Peaches, my golden retriever who now stays at Cindy’s with her pal Chief, Jenna and Cindy’s beagle.

I’ve been trying to get the motorhome up to speed. I installed a brake controller for the trips where we are taking a race car. Today I’ll remove the front leveler and send it back for a rebuild. I now am sort of an expert on the hydro-hot water system. While attempting to do routine maintenance I noticed that it had burned through a portion of the combustion chamber. Ten phone calls, six hours, and two band-aids later and I’m close to having a hot shower again.

I went surfing with friend Rich last week. Cold and small, in more ways than one. But, since I hadn’t been out in several weeks, it still was worth it.

I went and saw my oncologist yesterday, and he said I looked “reasonably well”. He obviously didn’t know that I was no Brad Pitt even before the chemo. He said that although I will have to be monitored for the rest of my life, we can scale back on the radioactive PET scans, and I only need to go in every six months. All good news.

Well, that’s all I’ve got for now. I’m just putting on my lucky rabbit’s foot keychain and four leaf clover T-shirt to get some work done around here!

Watch out for the black cats!