I Guess a BBQ......

is totally out of the question.

In the last 24 hours we have had as many inches of snow. So far the score is Snow 3, Colin 0.

I guess that is part of what Christmas is about, at least for the kids. Myself I think I prefer palm trees and Tequila Sunrises on the beach. When all my Santas look like this, I will know I am in the right place.


This was Christmas day in the Barbados in 2004, and I was having Tequila on the beach.

A friend sent a picture of the palm trees in Tawasen BC, as he sometimes does, just to tick me off. This time they were covered in snow.

So much for global warming!

Anyway friends, Christmas is nye upon us and another year fast approaches. So, to all,

A Merry Christmas and Happy and Prosperous New Year

It is that time of year....Again

I wanted to send some sort of holiday greeting to my friends, but it is so difficult in today's world to know exactly what to say without offending someone. So, I met with my attorney yesterday, and on his advise I wish to say the following:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non addictive, gender neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced with the most enjoyable traditions of religious persuasion or secular practice of your choice with respect for the religious/secular persuasions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.

I also wish you a fisically successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2009, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contribution s to society have helped make our country great( not to imply that Canada is necessarily greater than any other country) and without regard to race, creed, colour, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.

By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms:

This greeting is subject to clarification, or withdrawl. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for him/her or others and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.

Sincerely,
Colin

Today we have adorned our non secular, non religious, environmentally friendly bush, with energy conserving bulbs and biodegradeable ornaments.

Ahhhhh, to heck with it

MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR

Home For the Winter

Our month and a bit away from home was a pleasant respite from the cold dreary weather at home, at least that is what we thought. Apparently the weather over the last month or so, specially Thanksgiving was extraordinary. Regardless, I am now looking forward to those cold, blustery winter days when I am warm and snug, buried in my hobby room or in the garage. I especially like those cold winter Monday mornings when I can roll over in bed and give the world the finger.
Our last event at Road Atlanta was a great finale to our season end. The awards banquet was outstanding with Messrs Williams and Woerhle doing an outstanding job of co-emceeing the event.

Our longtime friends, Bob and Diane Harrington retired from their respective SVRA positions and now look forward to weekends camping in their new mobile home with Charlie and the grandchildren. Bob and Diane were both presented with parting gifts by Bob and Linda Williams.

One down side to the weekend was the injury to driver Rob Mocas. Rob sustained severe injuries to his right lower leg when a drive shaft coupling failed on his Alfa Romeo. Quick response by a lady corner worker saved the incident from turning into a tragedy. Rob will be undergoing months of surgery and rehabilitation. We wish Rob all the best for a speedy and successful recovery.

Later this week I intend to get back to the Banana. So much to do and so little time. In four months we will be back to Florida to start our 2009 season with SVRA. A new event has been added this year and along with Sebring, we will now be travelling to West Palm Beach Motorsort Park for an event. New track.....whoopee! We are now up to nine events so we will not be spending much time at home between March and October.

WHERE'S WALDO??????

Our peacful hotel has been overrun with college folk. See if you can find Waldo.

Hint: left click on the picture and it will enlarge

Sun Screen????

Help me out here. People who have to work or participate in outdoor activities use sun screen to protect them from the rays of the sun. Notice I didn't say "harmful" rays of the sun. They use it to protect themselves from sunburn, logical.
Since being here at the ocean, I have seen people lather themselves with sun screen with a rating of 50+, then go and lie in the full sun for 6 hours. At the end of the day they retire to their little caves as white as when they appeared in the morning. Where is the logic in that?

Much Ado About lunch

A 218 mile drive to Charleston and back, just to have lunch is dumb, dumb, dumb, but really good!

Life is Frought with Disappointments

Last year at this time, Linda and I were exploring every nook and cranny of the east coast from North Myrtle Beach to Savannah. This year we are back and looking to enjoy some of the treasures we discovered last year. One of those pleasures was a great restaurant at Pawley's Island....Louis Fish Camp.

We drove the 40 odd miles from North Myrtle to enjoy a late afternoon lunch. Our hopes were crushed when we found the place GONE! It closed on September 5th. We are devastated. To salvage what was left of the day, we drove down to Georgetown. We had a later lunch at The Old Fish House after a trip to the fish market. At the fish market we picked up 1lb of shucked oysters, 1lb of fresh scallops and a pound of large shrimp (oxymoron) plus a cooler and ice, all for the grand total of $28.00. Tomorrow we feast.

There Are Two People......

on this planet that have TOO MUCH TIME on their hands; The guy sculpting this sand model, and me for documenting it's progress from my balcony, 12 floors up.

It started out looking like a reasonable representation of a VW bug, but ended up as..........

a characture of an...I don't know what. The side toward me never did get finished so I had to walk down to the beach to photograph the side away from me.

Now I feel like I should spend all day tomorrow building a better sand sculpture. maybe a Ferrari F1 or a Lola T70 Coupe....NOT!

So, there you have it....two grown men wasting 14 man hours to build and document a sculpture that will disappear with high tide. TOO MUCH TIME and glad that it is all I have to do for the next two weeks.

It was a rainy day in Pizzaville.......

and Virginia International Raceway, to say the least. Seems we were on the edge of a tropical storm, verging on a hurricane. Three days of rain, wind and fog. Regardless, SVRA pulled off another successful event even in the face of adversity. On Friday night a great time was had at the Oak Tree Plantation House. Many dressed in the attire of the day as Southern gentlemen and ladies (pictures to be added).

Monday we left for a two week re and re at North Myrtle Beach. Once again, as last year, right in the middle of Bike Week. The sights are somewht interesting but the sound of unmuffled Harleys can soon get on your nerves.

On a more personal note, our son Ian, left for Ireland on the 29th of September to be reunited with his new bride and off to a honeymoon in Paris France. If you remember, Ian and Eileen were married on the 2nd of May and on the 4th she was on her way back to Ireland as per the conditions of her one year work visa. The immigration process is well underway and hopefully we will see her back in Canada shortly after the new year, permanently.







Ryanair from Ireland to Paris. Ian forwarded this photo but I am not sure whether it was taken by Ian or Eileen. Both are very proficient with a camera.

This is taken from their condo in Paris. If memory serves, it was about $500.00 Cdn per week and is in the heart of the city. Cool!!!!!
















Not very spacious by our standards but very acceptable by Euro standards.








Eileen at the window. Computer included I guess as I hardly believe that Ian or Eileen would have dragged theirs from home.

Anyway, we are here in North Myrtle for two weeks then it is off to Road Atlanta for our final race of the season. Next years schedule has been tentatively released and we have an additional event at Moroso. This brings us up to nine events......busy season coming up.

Will Somebody Please.......

Introduce the Americans to two ply toilet paper. My god, everywhere we went, single ply paper....and shiny too. Enough about personal hygiene...on to bigger and better things.

This was the weekend of The Vintage Grand Prix at Watkin's Glen. Another fantastic event with well over 400 entries. Anyone interested in seeing some pictures, they can be found on my Fotki site at; http://public.fotki.com/colin1944/watkins-glen-vintag/ I will be posting more in the next few days.

All was not without drama and disappointment. Ian was to join us on the Thursday and his car blew a water pump on Wednesday (drama).

We took my BMW down so Ian was able to go to the house and get the SUV. He made it down without incident late Thursday evening. I had arranged for Ian to do the Friday night re-enactment race in a friends Lola T70 (the one in the picture), but during Fridays practice, it broke a distributor drive (disappointment). Somehow they were able to scrounge a new distributor and Ian was on for some laps around the track on Sunday (hurrah), but alas, the passenger seat was only there as a token gesture to meet the sports car rules of the day, and poor Ian just would not fit. Actually, I think the seat was made for a vertically challenged ten year old (disappointment all over again). All was not lost as Ian did get to do some laps in the Pace Car, such as it was. He gained a completely different perspective of the track and was very pleased for the opportunity.

Once again we were "fogged" out on the Saturday and the days events were cut short by two races. Sunday dawned somewhat brighter and we just picked up the schedule from Sunday morning and scrubbed the missed races from Saturday. Friend, David Dartt was there in my ex Mini and performed admirably. David finished 4th overall and 2nd in class in the hotly contested Group 1 category. David is one hell of a good driver.

We stayed over Sunday night and had a very pleasant breakfast with friends Bob and Bill (sounds like a comedy team). Later in the morning we headed up to Hammondsport to the Glen Curtiss Museum. I had been there once before (remember the GT40 episode?) but Linda had not. After a few hours there we went to the Snug Harbor (Americans don't spell properly) Restaurant and had a fabulous lunch. By 3:00pm we were on our way home.

Oh, did I mention I also picked up a whole bunch of parts for the 'Banana'; fuel cell, fire suppression system, Koni shocks, Girling master cylinders, parking light assemblies and misc. other goodies.

'Fer gedda bout it'

New Jersey, hmmmmm. Interesting place. Not what I had imagined, but interesting.

Didn't really know what to expect in Jersey, but quite different than any stereotypes I had seen on TV ala 'The Soprano's'. We crossed into New Jersey from Philadelphia PA. Mostly agricultural, tree farms, and landscaping businesses. Clean, neat and uncluttered. A pleasant surprise. The town of Millville where New Jersey Motorsport Park is located is a cultural mish-mash. Thursday night we were witness to the Millvile 2008 Baby Contest. Can you imagine anyone with enough guts to judge 300 babies and have to tell 598 parents, "Your kid didn't win"?

Friday night we brought 23 race cars into the downtown core for a bit of a car show. Looked pretty decent until the next day when 300 cars showed up for a Hot Rod show. Scouted the local bars. Linda went into cultural shock, can't really blame her. You had to be there.

Found a fine Italian resturant, Lucia's. Food was great and the owner was an avid motorsport fan. No....Tony Soprano did not eat there. At the track on Sunday, before racing got underway, before the Convocation and the Nation Anthem, we were treated to speakers blaring the theme song from 'The Soprano's'. All the locals speak in one syllable, four letter words (eh! What the f**k).

Monday morning we headed down to Cape May on the southern extremity of New jersey. Couldn't really figure out what was going on down there. Architecture ranged from Cape Cod and Key West to Dodge City.

Regardless, spotlessly clean and neat. Beaches that would rival any in North America, but you have to pay to use them....$4.00 per day. We had only planned to scoot through Cape May on our way home but the seafood resturants were so inviting we had to stay for lunch. We dined at Fisherman's Wharf and headed home around 1:00pm

Quickie update on the banana. Received Lilves Racing wheel flares, a Ford 8" rear end and a Wilwood rear disc brake conversion kit. Now to make the required modifications and get it together.

MGB Relocation.

The restoration of an old car is not to everybodies taste so I have decided to continue the restoration on another site. For anyone who may be following it, it may now be found at: http://public.fotki.com/colin1944/mgb-restoration/ It is much more detailed than I could have done here and currently has about 33 pictures and descriptions posted.

Forrest Gump Engine......

Since the 'Banana' arrived I have been in a perpetual quandary as to the power plant. I consider myself somewhat of a purest and desecrating an almost perfect MGB with something other than an original engine has been nagging at my conscience. On the other hand, trying to get even mediocre performance from the wimpy powerplant is both very costly and leads to building a hand gernade. Oh, decisions, decisions. After much soul searching and research, I decided to go with a 3.4 V6 of GM origin. Instant gratification on the horsepower front and minimal changes to the chassis etal to accommodate it.
So, the day came when I had to put the money on the table. Why, in the face of logic and all my research did I buy a V8? BECAUSE OF HORSEPOWER!!!!! Although a travesty to purists, I condone my actions knowing that this engine was indeed used in the GT model from 1968-73.

So here it is, my 3.9 Rover (BOP) V8 complete with 5 speed transmission. It arrived Saturday and it is now on my engine stand and ready for dismantling.
I have a feeling that this will blow the budget all to hell and will probably extend my completion schedule by another 6-9 months. Oh well, you only get to go around once so you might as well make it as much of a ride as possible. After all: "Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body. But rather to slide in sideway, foot to the floor, steering wheel in one hand, martini in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming WOO HOO, WHAT A RIDE!

CRAIGSLIST

Beware of scam ads selling exotic cars really cheap!

Update on the Banana

We are home for the next 5-6 weeks and I am hoping to see progress on the Banana going ahead in leaps and bounds. The interior is now 95% removed and all the exterior appendages save for a few hydraulic lines have been removed.Tires have been acquired and mounted on the new Minator (Minilite replicas at 1/2 the price) rims....cool.

Next week the Banana will be dragged out of here on a flatbed trailer to have a custom roll cage installed and a few of the unnecessary holes repaired and filled. I hate it when bulkheads get butchered to accommodate speakers. Five point safety harness's for both driver and passenger (should anybody be crazy enough to ride with me) have been purchased and seats, probably Sparco's will be purchased next week. Once the Banana has left the building, it will give me a chance to clean up and tile the garage floor. How about a nice black and white checkerboard? Now isn't that original.

I think I have decided on a colour. It will be a Chrysler dark blue (Nightwatch Blue) from the late 70's. Non-metallic and very dark, almost black. It should look good with a beige leather interior.

Mid-Ohio and Put-In-Bay

SVRA/MID-OHIO
Another successful SVRA event at Mid-Ohio even with the Monsoon rains on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Torrential downpours, thankfully they came later in the day and didn't last too long. All the races were squeezed in somehow. New shirts from a generous sponsor made the weekend. At last I am somewhat of a bumble bee (inside joke).

Carl and Bob, resplendent in new attire .

PUT-IN-BAY

It was a cold and rainy day at Put-In-Bay.

What can I say, a little island paradise tucked in at the west end of Lake Erie. Apparently this is Mecca to weekend party boaters. An island measuring some 3 miles by 1.5 miles. Access by ferry or air. They try and encourage tourists to leave their cars on the mainland and avail themselves of one of the 800 golf carts on the island. Lets see, return trip for a car and two people by ferry.....$42.00. Two days cart rental on the island...$120.00. Hmmm, do the math, NOT!

We stayed at a B&B about a half block from the waterfront, The Anchour Inn, oops, it's in America. That should be "Anchor". We had a two bedroom cottage that we shared with Bob and Linda Williams, 'The Wee Anchor Cottage'.

The stay included breakfast which was pretty good although not a lot of choice. You ate what was served or went hungry. Started with a bowl of blueberries with cream, some form a hash brown potatoes and an egg souffle, rounded out with coffee or tea.

The island is steeped in history. I could go on for pages but best you check it out for yourselves. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Put-in-Bay,_Ohio

Sunsets on Lake Erie are as good as any at Key West, Fl.

A Weekend of Mixed Emotions

This was one of the weekends Linda and I look forward to every year. It was the weekend of the VARAC Vintage Races at Mosport. This has been used as an excuse for our good friends from the USA to pay us a visit, enjoy some good racing and BBQ. This years event ended with a very sombre cast as one of vintage racings favourite drivers had his life taken at Mosport. Dino Crescentini will be sorely missed by this small fraternity of vintage racers. Our heart felt sympathies to his family and friends.

The Banana is starting to look like the car it should have been. Resplendent with its new grille and wheels, the Banana is starting to look like an MGB should look, not one of those rubber bumper monstrosities foisted on us by government regulations. Targett Mostorsports has/is supplying all the parts for it's resurrection.

Targett Motorsports is relatively new on the scene and is located in Ohio, USA. The owner, John Targett is himself a very successful MBG vintage racer. John is the sole USA Minilite Wheel Distributor ( http://www.minilitewheels.us/ ) and can be reached at jbritcars@aol.com

Wednesday it is off to Mid-Ohio for another SVRA vintage event. More parts for the Banana will be picked up and when we return home, the shell is off to get the roll cage installed.

See you at the races!

Percocet...Weeeee!

Kidney Stones....No fun. Percocet....Better than anything we ever took back in the 60's. Enough said. If any of you have suffered the onslaught of kidney stones, I need say no more. For those lucky enough to have escaped this lifes little pleasure, there is no use even trying to describe the pain, unless of course you happen to be a women. The closest analogy would be to go through natural child birth, only, replace the vagina with a penis.

On to happier notes. The work has been progressing on the Banana and I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. In two to three weeks the shell will be leaving to have a roll cage fitted. Before it goes I hope to have the remainder of the shell stripped to bare metal and primed.

Once it gets back from having the roll cage installed I will get to the final body work required before painting. A few wrinkles to be taken out of the front of the hood and a bit of road rash on the left front wing.

Front suspension has been decided upon and I am going with the "FAST" IFS (pictured below).

I am still not 100% on the rear suspension, but probably Jaguar IRS, with outboard discs rather than inboard

Power train is still up in the air but right now a 3.4 V6 is in the running with a T5 transmission. That remains to be seen though.

Road America Go-Kart GP

Another chilly and sometimes wet weekend at Road America was offset by the fun and excitement of the SVRA Go-Kart Grand Prix.

Starting grid positions were by luck of the draw and I was fortunate enough to draw #1. I didn't particularly relish the thought of 17 other drivers breathing down my neck into turn one so I traded off my position for #18...dead last. Taking into account my considerable bulk, I thought this would be the pertinent thing to do. As we sat on the start line, dark clouds moved in, the temperature dropped and I am sure I saw snow flurries. Oh for a set of snow tires.

The flag dropped and we were off. As everyone else swung wide for the proper line into turn one, I elected to go up the inside, brake hard and stay tight to the inside. Plan 'A' worked wonderfully until the exit of the turn. Five karts were sideways and all tangled up across the track. I sort of bumped my way through and came out in 7th into turn #2. Ahead...Technical Director, Jack Woehrle. Nothing like getting the chance to lay some good old timber on the boss. After 5 laps I finally closed in on Jack through the chicane. Entering the pit straight we were, nose to tail, bumper to bumper...the chance of a lifetime. Time for the old 'Pit maneuver" and a chance for 6th overall. Well, the best laid plans of mice and men sometimes go astray. The sudden Lack of forward momentum as I hit Jack spun my kart around and sent Jack careening across the fertile plains of Road America. Struggling for control, Jack managed to shorten the track on his off route excursion and in doing so set his fastest lap of his race. Me, I dropped down to 9th as Hugh and Scott whistled by the melee. I sort of lost enthusiasm for the chase as I was so far behind and settled into a moderate pace for the remainder. On the last lap, 20 feet from the finish line I was pipped by a young lady that appeared from nowhere. Damn, I wish go-karts had mirrors. All in all, us old farts did OK. Most of us ran within 2-3 seconds of the track record which was probably held by some 90 pound kid that spends all his free time there. The eventual winner came within a few 10ths of the record. Well done! Myself, I was just happy to survive and was quite happy with 10th overall, but 9th would have been better.


Bill Hurd at speed

The Secret is Out

I have been informed that it is OK to reveal what was to be kept a secret. Well, not really a secret but kept off the internet. Apparently it is OK for me to announce it here because nobody reads my Blog anyway.

We have lost a son but gained a wonderful daughter. Ian and Eileen were married at 10:00am on May 2nd during a small family civil ceremony. This was the wish of both Ian and Eileen. It was a very happy occassion for all concerned. The ceremony was followed by lunch at Jack Astors with some of Ian and Eileen's friends and a family dinner at a local eatery. The complete story in pictures at: http://public.fotki.com/colin1944/ian-and-eileens-wedding/

Sometime in 2009 there will be another ceremony in Ireland, more formal and including both families and friends from both sides of the pond.

I am pushing for late August so that Linda and I can continue on to the Goodwood Festival in the south of England in early September. Time allowing, we hope to also take a jaunt to Europe via the Chunnel. One thing I have to do before I depart this dear old earth is have a dash around the Nurburgring at speed:-) I understand the Nurburg Taxi Service in a BMW M3 is somewhat hair raising and well worth the money.

That is it! Linda and I are both very pleased and wish Eileen and Ian a long, happy and prosperous future. GOOD LUCK KIDS!

Today........

is the day of which we do not speak. Great things are happening today, at around 10:00am, things of which I am forbidden to discuss on the internet. Suffice to say that Linda and I are VERY happy with the event, and at sometime in the near future we will be able to tell all. I am not usually prone to wanting to spill secrets but this is the exception. Stay tuned, all will be revealed soon.

A NEEEEW CAR!

Time has come to retire our five year old Kia Sorento. It has been a fabulous SUV and served well. Only complaint was the gas mileage. Vehicle had a lot of character and it is somewhat sad to see it go. But....time for a change, warranty has expired and we need more room so Linda can continue to shop her way through the USA. With any luck we will pick up our new Saturn Outlook Thursday or Friday of this week.

We took a look at the Cadillac SRX but surprisingly the Outlook was quieter, smoother and had better use of interior space. With all the same options the Outlook is about $15k less.

And now for something completely different.

In my travels through the Internet I have discovered 3D printing. This is "Star Trek" technology. Apparently it has been around for a few years but it is new to me. Imagine, creating a drawing of an object on you computer, sending it out to a 3D printer and having a solid object that you can hold in your hand as an end result....AMAZING! For anyone interested in this technology, I have included a link to a demonstration video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyZtBYG0QOg Take a look. Even if you have no interest in 3D modeling, it is a fascinating display of today's technology.

Printers start around $19k, which is not outrageous. It is not quite as simple as it sounds as one has to produce a 3D drawing for the printer to work. I started investigating 3D software and found there were any number of companies willing to offer up a free 30 day trial. I downloaded what I thought would do the job and started mucking around. After wasting hours, I decide that maybe reading the tutorial might be a good idea. This software is nothing like the vector software I am used to. The learning curve for these 'AutoCad' type programs is very steep. After 2 hours of following the tutorial, I had finally created a 3D box with a hole through it. Something I could have done in two minutes in Corel X3. Unfortunately, in Corel it may look like a 3D box but it isn't really and the Corel files are not compatible with Alibre software. Regardless, I will persevere as I am determined to learn and become proficient in 3D artistry.

Two weeks and it is off to Wisconsin for a vintage racing event at Road America. Our Chief of Tech has decided he is going to sit this one out (chicken). We are going to be short staffed for this event and with close to 400 cars to tech, it is going to make for some long days. We stay at the Ostof Resort which makes the trip worthwhile.

Home at Last

Although I am not too sure if that is a good thing. Usual lousy spring weather and $5.60 a gallon for premium gasoline ($4.78 for an equivalent US gallon). And who says we are not getting ripped off by the oil companies? Their 1st quarter net profits of over $400 million make me want to puke. Gas prices in the US are around $3.44 US gallon for premium so it is still a $1.34 cheaper per US gallon States side.

It is nice to be back, just to see the kids and granddaughter.

The trip home was uneventful and the weather held for the whole trip. Made good time.....seventeen hours from Savannah to the front door.

Lots of stuff to catch up on. The yard work this spring is going to be a major chore. Winter played havoc on our bushes at the side of the house and they will all have to be removed. They have been in there for twenty years so there will probably be some resistance yanking them out of the ground. Frost did a good job on our deck so that will have to be re-leveled once it has settled back down. Sitting in Florida, I had made a decision to really get some work done out back this spring. Looking at it now, it seems like an overwhelming task and I may just re-think the whole affair. Think I will go and lie down until the feeling goes away.

The Time Has Come.......

To head for home. It has been a great six weeks here in the sunny south but it is time to head back to the Great White North. Temperature here in Savannah are expected to drop to 41f overnight and we can expect snow on the way home. One looses touch with reality being down here in terms of weather.

We finished our event at Roebling Road and it was another great weekend of vintage racing. Best part is still being with new friends. Staff dinner Sunday evening was at Sam Snead's Oak Bar and Grill. Great food, good service but a little pricey.

Next event is Road`America in May. Northern Wisconsin weather in may can be a little dicey so one dresses for both extremes.

See everybody at home on Tuesday.

Life Doesn't Get Much Better

Today we had a leisurely drive from Orlando to Daytona. A drive which would normally take about and hour took us almost four. We took the backroads, the slow roads, and the scenic roads. We stopped and looked at new SUV's, had lunch at one of our favorite spots, The Cove on A1A in Melbourne. We casually strolled into Daytona and were met with chaos. Good grief, isn't Spring break over yet? The hotel we were booked into was over-run with undesirable type young adults. Fortunately they were not able to provide the room we had booked so we were off the hook and cancelled. We drove north through Daytona and settled on a great resort right at the north end of the beaches. This is an older hotel that has just re-opened after $34 million in renovations. I am sitting here at my computer in our 12th floor room overlooking the ocean. Doors wide open and a good cup of coffee.....life doesn't get much better.

We are here until Wednesday morning then off to Savannah.

Thought for the day: There is more money being spent on breast implants and Viagra today than on Alzheimer's research. This means that by 2040, there should be a large elderly population with perky boobs and huge erections and absolutely no recollection of what to do with them.

Fun!!!WOW!!!!

$8.00 watery drinks, cheesy bar, terrible karaoke, noisy brats running around at 11:00pm. I am sure it must be somebodies idea of a goodtime. NOT MINE!

A sure sign that I have gone over the threshold into old age, and not very gracefully. Oh for the serenity of Lake June. Even young ladies in scanty bikini's are not enough to tempt me into this type of lifestyle.

The streets are adorned with every type of tourist trap, cheap gift shops, promises of discounted theme park tickets, miniature golf and worst of all....TOURISTS.

Our last Days at Lake June (Sebring)

The sign says it all. Tomorrow morning we depart for a week in Orlando. Time here has been very relaxing, it is hard to leave.
We had great neighbours while we were here. Hardy across the canal, the ultimate fisherman. Delores next door, the organiser and Neto on the other side who took us boating on Lake June.
It is hard not to want to buy a place down here. Prices are dropping dramatically but taxes and maintenance is still a killer. Waterfront or canal front housing runs about $100k per 1,000 sq.ft. No basements, that is hard to live with, but lots of room for a huge garage.

We are in Orlando for almost a week and then 3-4 days in Daytona before we head up to Savannah. A week in Savannah then on our way home.

Florida Week Three-Lazing About

We have just completed our third week in Florida. Not a whole lot to report but I feel it necessary to provide an update.

For the most part the week has consisted of lying about, watching the local fauna and generally doing bugger all. After all, isn't this what retirement is all about?

Gary doing his best impression of a retired person.

The weather has been somewhat mixed. Sunny and hot with the occasional rain shower thrown in. Saturday it rained on and off for most of the day. The jury is still out on today. Heavy cloud with brief glimpses of the sun.

Next week we are going to be in gypsy mode. Four or five days in Orlando, a few days in Daytona then up to Savannah for another 4 or 5 days. By the 13th we should be on our way home. Will somebody please turn on the heat and drain the pool of all that white stuff by the 16th.

56th Sebring 12 Hours of Endurance

I think there is more endurance required to watch the full 12 hours than to drive it.

I attended my first 12 Hours of Sebring in 1970. For that event there were 83 entries, of which 68 qualified and started the race. This year there was only 35 entries, and by my count, only 32 started. Very difficult to make an exciting event with 32 cars spread around a 3.7 mile circuit. Regardless, it was a great week.


Linda and I were there from Tuesday with SVRA who provided some of the supporting races. Thursday afternoon, we started some 78 cars for a one hour endurance race and Friday afternoon a 30 minute Trans-Am race. Probably the highlight of the week for some.

For the most part, the Trans-Am race was staged but provided great entertainment with lots of passing and off road excursions.

Today was a day of rest. Racing is now behind us until we head up to Roebling road just outside Savannah. Mmmmmm, Savannah, great food.

Florida Week Two-Amelia Island

This was our weekend trip to the Amelia Island Concours de'Elegance, and elegant it was. Amelia island has to be one of the hidden beauties of Florida. The event is held on a golf course second to none and the hotel is beyond sumptuous.

The Saturday dawned rather cool and overcast. By the time we made our way to Amelia, some 5 hours north of our present location, it was windy, very windy and quite cool. Temperatures hovered in the low to mid 50's. We decided to scope out the terrain and then search out our hotel for the night.

Sunday started cool and breezy under clear skies. We made our way to Ferdinando Airport and jumped the trolley to the golf course. Ten dollars to park plus a trolley ride to and from our car was to be the only bargin of the day. Fifty dollars each for addmission seemed a bit much for a "car show", but by the end of the day, we all agreed it was well worth every penny.

The winner of the 1908 New York to Paris Race, restored to the condition that it finished the race was one of the historic highlights. Of special note was a one off Roll-Royce, built in, I believe, 1937. The sculptured lines of this classic would rival any of todays attempts at "Retro" autos.

Florida Week One

It is a week today that we left home for Florida. This is the house we have for the duration. Kinda nice, no basement. Jeez, how can people live without basements? Actually they do have basements here, I think they are called indoor swimming pools.

Not much to report really. We have been to the track and met up with some of our SVRA friends. Linda has tried to restrain herself on shopping but we have been looking for a new SUV. Florida may not be the place to buy but the USA definitely is. GM has issued a memo to their dealers nation wide to cease and desist selling cars to Canadians. Ford, Chrysler and everyone else is doing a booming business with Canadians. For example, a new Lincoln MLX, loaded down here is around $38K. Up home they are in the high $40's to low $50's

Saturday morning we are heading up to Amelia island for the Concour d'elegance. This is supposed to be the Pebble Beach of the east coast...we will soon find out.

Meet My New Friend Tommy

Tommy is a Snowy Egret that visits our dock at our rental in Sebring. Mooch!

The trip from St. Augustine was somewhat circuitous as it took us over 3 hours to travel less than 90 miles. That was by choice as we took every back road and scenic route on the way. Our route took us through Daytona for the start of Bike Week. Where ever we go there seems to be a Bike Week either in progress or coming or going.

We arrived about 2:15, met or host, a very nice lady and settled in. Gary and Jackie arrived about 5:30. Alls well, suppers done now it is time to relax.

What is the difference between Whitby Ontario

and St. Augustine Florida?..................not much, no snow. Today and tonight are the coldest day in St. Augustine in 21 years. Only 28f (-1c) tonight. Except for the lack of snow we might as well have stayed at home.

Got up this morning at 5:30am to snow and 13f but clear sky. We were underway by 7:30am. Sun was coming up and it looked to be the start of a perfect morning. At least in Beckley. By the time we were 10 miles down the road we were back into blinding snow squalls. Snow lasted until North Carolina. from there on skies wee clear and bright and the temp. soared to a whopping 33f. All radio stations were reporting record lows for the day.

Got to St. Augustine around 5:00pm. Everything is pretty well booked because of Bike Week in Daytona. Seems whenever we come down there is always a bike week close by. We will spend an extra day in St. Augustine as our house will not be available until about 2:00pm Saturday.

Saturday morning will be a leisurely affair. We will probably go through Daytona just to see what is happening and then down to Sebring...the long way. We are going down 1A1 so we can hit one of our favorite restaurants on the way.

Florida, Here we come

Well, we were on our way to Florida by 4:00am Wednesday morning, and that was as good as it got. Highways outside Toronto were wet but clear, and it went downhill from there. We elected to take the mountain route down through Pennsylvania while our friends Gary and
Jackie chose to go I-75. I wonder how they made out?

When we came into Ft. Erie, it had just stopped snowing. Upper New York State through to Pennsylvania saw snow squalls and ice covered roads. We had hoped that once we turned south at Erie and got away from the lake effect snow, things would clear up. They did for about 30-40 miles then we got into some major snow.

We stopped for the night in Beckley WVA. We arrived about 2:00 in the afternoon. Snow at times reduced visibility to about 100 yards (if that) and we had about a 2 inch coating of ice and slush over the whole car. I crashed about 7:00pm and awoke around 5:30am to a thick blanket of fresh snow. Got to admit it is really pretty here, mountains, fresh snow, crisp air, nice fireplace in the lounge area. Hopefully we will be on our way by about 7:30 and by then highways will be cleared. With luck we will arrive in St. Augustine Fl. about 5:00pm. We have a day to kill so we may stay there an extra day or head down to Daytona for a day, depends on weather.

By now, Sarah and Jay should have the keys to their new home. We are very excited for them but unfortunately can't be with them to celebrate. Good luck kids. We look forward to seeing your new place when we return.

54 Hours without heat and Counting.

Cooking has become a joy, not that I love cooking, but it is nice to be near a nice warm appliance. We have two comfort zones in the house. My 'ungreen' office with it's 6 quartz halogen pot lights produce an acceptable level of warmth. That plus a small heater keep my space at a toasty 75f, warmer than I would normally stand. Our bedroom is the second refuge, not that it is terribly warm but it does provide a soft place to cover ones self with a nice heavy comforter. Sleeping is actually enjoyable with a room temperature around 55-60f. Getting up is hell. Taking a shower and stepping out into a 50f bathroom with a cold tile floor is hell.

Tuesday morning at 8:00am I fully expect to see a new furnace being dragged through our front door and into the basement. It has been promised that we will have heat by noon. Just in time too as tomorrow the temperature is to soar to a balmy 45f. Go figure.

15 DAYS, 3 HOURS, 57 MINUTES until we leave for Florida, but whose is counting

The Coldest Days of the Year

So here we are....mid February, the coldest days of the years (-18c, -1f) and we have now been without heat for about 30 hours. Wonderful, just wonderful.

Our furnace ceased to function late Saturday night, the pilot light went out. By Sunday morning the temperature in the house had dropped to 64f...not too uncomfortable. The heating man was called, immediately determined our furnace was a safety hazard and 'red tagged' it.

By noon another furnace man arrived to sell us a new furnace......$16,000.00 later, a new furnace, air-conditioner, humidifier, Hepa filter system and hot water on demand system. Now all we need is to get them installed. Tuesday is the earliest they can do it. Meanwhile, the indoor temperature continues to plummet.

One thing we have determined, unequivocably, is that gas fireplaces are for decoration only.

Although most attractive and comforting on a cold winters night, they provide absolutely no heat to keep those old cockles warm. Another thing one should note is that energy efficient light bulbs do not produce any noticeable heat either. Ovens and stove tops however, do.

The heating man left us three electric heaters of about 500 watts each, to keep a 3,400 sq. ft. house warm. One didn't work, the other barely and the third spends it's time being moved from room to room as the need requires.

The up side is, we spend so much time shivering and trying to keep warm that I am sure we are burning calories at a rapid rate and are bound to loose some weight......right.

16 DAYS, 16 HOURS, 33 MINUTES and 24 SECONDS and Florida here we come.

2008 New Year Portraits

2008 New Year Portraits of Sarah, Jay and Sienna.

Sienna and Flowers, hope this is not an indication of a 'Flower Child'.

Not too much happening this time of year, things are fairly quiet. Recovering from the Christmas and New Years celebrations. The older you get, the longer the recovery period. If I make 70, I expect the recovery to be complete by around mid June.

44 days, 9 hours, 2 minutes before we leave for Florida