I left my house this morning and drove through the snow and ice to the polls. This is the first time I’ve ever voted in the Michigan primary. Since the New Hampshire debates, I’ve been doing some research and paying attention to the candidates. I finally decided who I would like to be our president. I won’t tell you who my choice is, but I will say I was pleased with the New Hampshire primary results.

After I voted, I came to the shop just as I do every weekday. As always, my team is here working long hours to get everything ready. They are here when I arrive and here when I leave. It seems like this time of year, no matter what day of the week or what time I drop by the shop, there is always someone here working.

All four Kalitta cars will have a new brand of seatbelts this year. Joe Marko of HMS Motorsports came out to our shop last week and fitted Scott, Dave, Doug, and I for new belts that are made by Schroth Racing. Joe works with teams in other Motorsports to make sure the drivers are using the most secure safety restraints possible. I got to talk with him a little bit about making my job safer. He can’t help me with slipping on ice on the way to work but he gave me some advice about how my safety equipment should fit and how I should be secured in the cockpit. We are always trying to improve. We made some adjustments to the chassis in order for the new belts to be attached differently to the car. Chuck Lett and some of the guys from Attac Race Cars have spent a lot of time here at the shop welding and making the needed changes not just on my car but on the other three cars as well.

Even though I wasn’t racing, I guess you could say this last weekend was a winning one. First of all, the UM gymnastics team won the meet that I went to in Ann Arbor on Friday. They beat the University of West Virginia and Arkansas. Also, I was glad that the Chargers won because most of my family is San Diego fans. I was more pleased that the Patriots won on Saturday night. I’m a Pats fan because I went to college in Massachusetts. I used to work at Patriots games to earn extra money. I was actually one of those people you see in the background at games wearing those bright yellow jackets. I had to check purses and backpacks of all the fans entering Foxboro Stadium. Then all through the game I had to stand in the aisles and help fans find their seats. It was actually pretty fun. After the Pats won the Super Bowl in 2002, I went to their homecoming parade in downtown Boston. There were literally millions of people there and it was literally zero degrees outside but that was really fun too. I got to see Tom Brady in person. Well actually I didn’t exactly “see” much of anything with the masses of cheering people everywhere, but I felt his presence. My college friends and I have had fun cheering for the Pats. I’ll probably be a fan for life. Hopefully they will prevail this weekend against my family’s favorite team.

I’ll be watching the game if we get back from Orlando in time. My suitcase has been empty for over two weeks now and that’s very unusual for me. So it’s time to pack up and go. Thursday I’m leaving for the Mac Tools Fair in Florida. This will be my third year going and I always really enjoy it. I’ll try to get a blog written while I’m there.

Oh yeah, I’ve included a photo of the mosaic I have been working on. I probably won’t have a whole lot of time to work on it, but I told you in a previous blog that I would give you picture updates. I know I told my Grandma I would post photos of it on my blog so she could see my progress.

Talk to you from the Mac Tools Fair!