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| The Hot Wheels Ramp. Later, they ran a truck down the ramp and it did a jump. I tried to get a shot of the jump, but without a good telephoto lens, I was too far away. |
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| They had some vintage winning cars do a few laps with former winners as drivers. It was cool to watch them go around. |
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| As always, there was a large, and often interesting crowd. |
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| The Stealth Bomber did a fly-over. Awe-inspiring. You really can't hear it until it has already passed over you. It's good to not be the bad guy. |
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| Current cars on the track in turn four. |
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| The aftermath. |
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| I had a good time. |
I went to the Indianapolis 500 with my buddy Brian, who lives in Parker, Colorado. He called me a few months ago to tell me that he was coming back to Indiana to go the race, and would I like to go. I said: "ummm, let me think--YES!" Now, in doing so, I put myself in a bit of a spot. You see, my wife LOVES the race. I simply enjoy it. She does things like downloading the sounds of the racecars as her cellphone ring tone. I.....well...I just enjoy it. She was a good sport with me though, and didn't give me too hard of a time.
If you've never been to the race, it is an experience. You and hundreds of thousands of other people all sitting in a giant oval watching cars going REALLY fast! In some ways, the other thousands of people are almost more interesting than the race itself. I didn't see too much craziness this year, but it was still interesting. I will comment on a couple of observations...
1. As part of the pre-race ceremonies, the race organizers always ask a minister to offer a prayer. I don't recall the wording so much as the tone. I remember thinking it was a good prayer. The thing was, I might have been one of only a handful of people who actually listened to it. The guy in front of me couldn't stop sipping his beer long enough for the prayer to end, and the group to my right chattered on as loud as ever as if there was nothing going on. In fact, the whole crowd only quieted slightly during his benediction. However, a few minutes later they played TAPS, and immediately the entire crowd became solemn and quiet.
I'm proud that they had enough respect for our fallen soldiers to give them the silent respect that they deserve, but it really saddens me that so many people cannot give enough respect to the One who gave it all for everyone to at least set the beer down for minute.
2. Brian and I had parked downtown and rode a bus to the track. It is a great way to get there, but a bit tougher way to get home. You see, the bus riders file in a few at a time for several hours before the race, but everyone wants to leave and go home at the same time. Anyway, the bus dropped us on the 16th Street end of the track, and our seats were almost at the other end of the 2 1/2 mile oval. It was a long walk to and from on a pretty doggone hot day, but I didn't mind it too much. On the way out though, I saw an image that reminded me that some people just shouldn't go out into public when they drink. Walking down the middle of Georgetown Road was a young woman. She was with a group and I'm guessing that she was probably in her middle twenties. I'm sure she is normally quite attractive as well. However, on this day, she gave off an image that pretty much killed any sense of attractiveness...at least it did with me. You can start with dark hair and tanned skin. Typically, that's attractive. Then add the skimpy bikini top. That would catch the eye of most guys. Then, add a bit of a pouch or slight overhang to the stomach, a cigarette in one hand and a beer in the other, and her short shorts unfastened. Ummmm. Not my idea of a beauty queen. Sorry.
Time for the fitness update.
Things are still a bit tough for me. I think I have a touch of some bug that is hanging on to me and sapping my strength. I'm getting tired really easily. This last Sunday, I had gotten good sleep the night before, but still I came home from church and slept for about four hours. Besides that weird weariness, the weather, my schedule, and all the graduation festivities have made getting my miles in a bit problematic.
All that said, I have added a few to the tally, including 11.3 miles just today. Here are the totals:
Goal: 2011 miles by walking, running, or cycling in the year 2011
Miles completed: 288.8
Percentage of Goal Completed: 14.36%
Current Weight: 257.8 lbs
The weight was an issue last week. I actually jumped up over 259 on the scales on my unreported last week. However, I dropped back down this week. I still need to get the trend line moving downward though. I'll feel much better when I get below 240.
Enough for now. I hope you enjoyed the pictures.
See you on the road.
Mike
Don't take the "prayer:" thing to heart. People have a hard time believing in things they can't see. They know that the military has protected them; they see the evidence all over the news.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, they only thing a lot of people know about God, is the psycho "religious" people they see on T.V.
Furthermore, Mom and I listened to the prayer in the car, and it didn't sound like no one cared. I think when you're surrounded by the all the people, you can't necessarily hear the overall sound. When we were listening, you could still hear some groups talking, but it did get considerably more quiet. And, I recall that there was cheering at the end.
Basically, Don't be discouraged. Most people aren't quiet, because they don't really know God. That's not their fault... its ours. We should be the ones that set the example and act kindly towards them.