With my travel schedule, it’s common for me to forget where I am when I first wake up in the morning. Well, early this morning I was at home in Michigan, fully awake, and definitely had to question if I was where I thought I was. I felt a gentle rumble and shake that I am all too familiar with having grown up in an earthquake-prone region in Northern California. I had to remind myself where I was because Michigan is not known for having earthquakes. I didn’t think it could possibly be an earthquake so I dismissed it and determined that I had officially gone crazy. That was at 4:30 a.m.

I went back to sleep and then later that morning I was watching the news and heard them say that the Midwest experienced a 5.2 earthquake. The timing of it is funny because I had just hung a mosaic that I made on the wall over my bed. As I hung it, I remember thinking that I could never do that in California because if an earthquake happened while I was sleeping, it could fall on my head. Well, who would have thought Michigan would have an earthquake a day later?  

On Wednesday after Vegas, I spent the day at Detroit Metro Airport, but thankfully not because I was waiting for a flight. I was in a conference room for the filming of a training video. We have been working with a company called Betco that is based out of Toledo, Ohio. They are an industry leader in supporting facility maintenance professionals by producing and distributing “unique formulations for cleaning, disinfecting, floor care, skin care, industrial applications, and other assorted specialty cleaning and maintenance products.”

Becto is making a skin care informational video for their customers and they want to really grab their viewers’ attention and separate themselves from the competition. That’s where we come in. Their video will show footage of our KB dragster going over 300 miles per hour. Then it will show me talking about how important it is to have clean and healthy hands in my 330-mph office and when I’m drinking a glass of wine at my favorite restaurant . The footage we got on Wednesday was of me in my team uniform saying all that stuff and then they filmed me in a restaurant holding a glass of wine. I had to get my hair and nails done and get all dressed up for the part. It is a good thing they have a good product because when I got back from Vegas, my hands were really cracked and dried out from the wind and dry air. I used Betco’s Clario Soft Skin Care Cream to make my hands look decent for the video.

Betco also flew in Dr. Matthew Zirwas, who is a Dermatologist at Ohio State University. He talked about the importance of clean hands for the video. I learned from him that hand washing is the single most important means to prevent the spread of infection. Dr. Zirwas said that according to the Center for Disease Control, about 36,000 people die from the flu or flu-like illness each year, 5,000 people die from food-borne illness, and 78,000 to 90,000 patients die each year from Hospital Acquired Infections. Betco’s Clario Instant Hand Sanitizer is a good product to combat those problems.

I think the video will be very interesting. I’m glad that I got to be a part of it. The things I learn and people I meet from being a Top Fuel driver always amazes me. I’m glad Betco is using drag racing to promote their products. I think they will be glad they did. Gary Martin, who is the technical manager for Betco Skin Care, made it all happen along with the Betco communications manager, Courtney Ryan. It was great working with them.

So it’s just another day here at the shop. I went to lunch with Rachel, our team manager, today and we actually got to sit outside and enjoy the sun. That’s the second time today I’ve had to question whether or not I’m really in Michigan. Let’s just hope we don’t have any more earth-shakers. Hopefully I’ll be able to enjoy a relaxing weekend at home. Talk to you soon.