I actually felt the first signs of a scratchy throat when I got up on Monday morning. As I was sitting in the Richmond airport, writing the previous blog, it was getting worse. My first thought was "Well, we went to the final round, so maybe my throat is just a little sore from all the yelling we did..." but I knew that was wishful thinking. As I flew home, on two different airplanes, I could actually feel myself getting sick, first with the throat, then with my sinuses, and then a little ticklish cough. Perfect!

Actually, I don't know about you, but I've always been conscious of my body's ability to fend things off when I simply can't afford to get sick. It was as if everything was put on hold until Monday morning, and then all the defenses were dropped at that point. Plus, that four-week grind could wear anyone down, so I know almost everyone was tired and beat up, and it's far easier to catch a cold or an upper-respiratory thing when you're not in top form.

Anyway, I came home and felt well enough to go out to dinner with my lovely wife, but then I hit the sofa and soon after went to bed. I headed up to Walgreens yesterday morning and stocked up on Zicam dissolving lozenges (they work wonders) and lots of other stuff, including the single grossest but probably most effective thing yet discovered for this crud: A Neti Pot. Totally heinous to use but very effective in clearing your sinuses and nose and just making you feel better. My actor buddy Buck was the first to tell me of these things, since he's around as many germ-infested people as anyone but has to be able to go out on stage every night, singing, acting, playing multiple instruments, and just being "on" without being sick.

I'll start today's photo gallery with a pic of the view I came home to. Yes, that's snow on the front yard. Even for us this is early for snow, and even though it wasn't much, it was just the thought of it that hit a lot of people in the gut. As we came down out of the clouds, on final approach into MSP, you could hear the murmur go through the plane, as all the people in the window seats were telling their neighbors "Look at that! Snow!!!"

The guy sitting at the window next to me was taking iPhone shots as we came in, no doubt to send back to his peeps in whatever warm climate he came from.

I had a bunch of post-race work to get done yesterday, so I spent most of it in my office but then had a bowl of soup for dinner and went to bed early. I expected to feel way worse when I woke up, but basically I feel the same so I think that's a "win" in my book. I slept in as late as I could, and now it's almost 12:00 and I'm back behind my desk. I'm pretty sure blogging isn't contagious, so don't worry about that.

When I was out yesterday, I finally got around to completing an assignment given to me by blog reader and prolific e-mailer Kim, the lawyer from Vancouver. A few blogs back, I wrote about the new "roundabout" intersection we have right by our neighborhood here in Woodbury, and the funny hieroglyphic directional signs the city came up with after first attempting to use normal yellow signs that were never designed to work at an intersection that's really a vehicular merry-go-round. Kim asked to see them a couple of weeks ago, but I just got around to doing it, so I'll include them in the gallery.

I particularly like the fact they officially call the intersection a "roundabout" instead of using the sanitized and Americanized term "traffic circle." I can hear Jon Anderson's voice every time I go around the loop (and Rick Wakeman's keyboards, and Steve Howe's guitar, and Chris Squire's bass, and Bill Bruford's drums... Why YES I can). I go around the circle on every trip to and from the airport, and with each passing week it's obvious the locals are getting a better handle on how to seamlessly get into the loop and back out of it, without stopping, panicking, staring, worrying, or going the wrong way. You can usually get through without even slowing down.

I'm also including some more pics from the Richmond race, in the gallery. You'll see a couple of shots of the guys, a shot of Tim being interviewed by Sheena Baker of National Speed Sport News, and in that shot it looks like Sheena has just shown Tim her "magic voice recorder" because he's staring at it like he's expecting it to do a trick.

We also had Gary and Sue Madden with us a lot this past weekend. If the last name sounds familiar, it's most likely because you're thinking of John Madden, but it may be because you remember my former CSK teammate, Matt Madden, who now works on Ashley Force Hood's car. Gary and Sue are Matt's parents, and Sue always brings FAR TOO MANY cookies, brownies, and other ridiculously tasty treats for us. We are simply incapable of having the self-restraint needed to keep from plowing right through plate after plate... I ate my entire year's quota of chocolate chip cookies in two days.

Oh, and I also got a pic sent to me from an LRS guest, who noticed the same sign we all saw just a few blocks from the entrance at Virginia Motorsports Park. I laughed every morning, when I passed the patched-together sign for "Wilkerson's Cafe" but never had the chance to take a photo of it. The bottom line on the sign, though, is the funniest part, since Tim's idea of "soul food" would be to go crazy and add bacon to his cheeseburger.

Then there's my buddy Jerry Foss, esteemed photographer for the National DRAGSTER. As I've written here before, Jerry and I have a ritual for the first time we see each other at every race. We play Seinfeld parts by approaching each other with skeptical looks, get right up in each other's faces, and he says "Helloooooooo Bob." I then use my best Newman voice and say "Helloooo JERRY!"

And, to the right, you'll also see a scan of a newspaper article we received from an LRS person who was working in Europe. Hard to believe, but we got major ink over there after Daniel's crash in Memphis. If anyone can translate any of the story, I'd love to know what they had to say.

Back in the world of the racing business, I had to check with Tim yesterday to figure out what our mutual "Plan B" would be for a hotel in Pomona. We stayed at a Residence Inn during the Winternationals, in exchange for doing some promotional work for them, but we're not doing that this time around. The team had always stayed at the Motel 6 in San Dimas, but our booking agent lost his contract with that place, so we had to choose from three other options. We could've saved a few bucks and stayed at a nicer place by going out to Ontario Airport, but Tim chose the one option in San Dimas because it's so much closer to the track. Good move, and I agree.

Of course, it's easy for me to agree because in Pomona I'll be playing my "pay for it yourself and you can stay anywhere you want" card. Originally, Barb was coming to the race and she likes to stay at the Sheraton, right there at the track, so I booked a room there. Now, it turns out, she won't be able to make it, but... I'm staying at the Sheraton. Expensive? Yes. Worth it? For me, also yes.

And... Annette, Dave, John Fink, and I are figuring out our plans to host the whole team for dinner one night in Pomona. Since we're the four new people who came in out of the blue this year, we want to thank Tim, Krista, and all the guys on the team for how much they've made us feel at home. We all feel completely part of the family now, and I'm sure the other three agree with me when I say "This is the place to be."

I spoke to Del for a bit yesterday, and he's still pretty charged up about his win in Richmond and still excited to talk about us racing each other in the final. He thought that was cool, and so did I. Sounds like he's going to the Dodgers playoff game on Thursday, with Robert Hight, and I know they're all hoping for a total So Cal World Series, which would no doubt be dubbed the "Freeway Series" by the media. That would be pretty cool, to see the Dodgers and the Angels square off.

Finally, since it's the end of the baseball season, it's the start of the hockey season, and I'm again playing in two fantasy leagues, just like last year. The "easy" league is the one we have the most people in (39 right now, but still waiting on a 40th guy's roster), including drivers, crew chiefs, crew guys, wives and/or sisters of the aforementioned, and a few friends (including a certain Broadway actor).

Greg Ozubko, as always, is the administrator for the league. I collect all the rosters and get it all put together, but Greg uploads it all and is the one who can go in and make changes when needed. That, for some reason, means we're back to my name being purposefully misspelled all the time. Greg is, obviously, hilarious. This time, he even extended the running joke to my wife, so whereas everyone else is listed with their correct names, I'm "Bob Wilberson" and Barb is "Barbara Doyleson" for no understandable reason. Greg's just funny like that. I guess I better not complain, or there's no telling what my name is going to look like tomorrow... Oops.

That league is the "easy" league because all you do is circle names on a sheet and that's it. You get points when your players score points, but you can't make any roster moves or trade players at all. What you start with is what you get, and it really helps if none of your players get hurt...

I'm also, though, back in the "complicated" league organized by Phil Burgess. This one, as you may recall from last year, is totally hands-on, from the way you draft your players (no two teams in this league can have any of the same players, whereas almost everyone in the easy league has about a dozen players in common) to which players you "activate" each night. You can add and drop players, trade them to other managers in the league, and you really have to be on top of it to do well. If you just walk away and don't pay attention for a week or so, you'll get spanked by the opposition.

Like the baseball league I played in all summer, this one works as if my team and another team in the league are simply playing each other for a whole week. We earn points on offense (goals, shots, assists, etc) and from our goalies, and as you can see I went 3-6-4 in the opening week, so I'm down there in 9th place.

For the record, "Top Alcohol Zamboni" is ND Senior Editor Kevin McKenna. "He Shoots He Scores" is Mr. Burgess. "Canuckleheads" is our blog reader friend from Vancouver, Crazy Jane. "Chuntys" is ND Managing Editor Juan Torres. "Woodbury Royals" is Neighbor Dave. "Slashers" is ND Senior Editor Steve Waldron. "Cosmopolitans" is actually my wife, a name I chose for her team in honor of both her dashing style and her favorite cocktail. "Colorado High!" is former ND staffer John Miller. I'm, of course, "Da Boyce." And, "CanAm99" would be Rob Flynn.

It's going to be a long tough battle this year. Blood will be spilled!

That's it for today. Time for more Zicam...

Wilber, out!