So yes, the Air Races

I'm back, actually I got back late Sunday, and spent Monday recovering and taking care of things around the house. As for the Air Races, there were a number of good and bad things this year.
The bad things is that this was a bad year for aircraft. About 5 were in accidents and at least two of them were destroyed. Thankfully no one got hurt (well, I think Thom broke his hand, but haven't heard if it was broken or not - Hot Stuff Accident  ). Also, because last year had bad attendance and the main sponsor pulled out, there were less of the acts that go on between races. They just didn't have the money.

However, the new sponsor (Stihl the chainsaw makers) did well, and there were more people at the races this weekend than I have seen there in a good many years. The stands were actually packed. So I'm hopeful that next year they'll have more money. It was also hard on a number of the unlimited racers, about ten of the now aren't showing up, as they just couldn't raise the money to come, and we're talking about past champions. But on the other hand, there were almost twice as many sports class racers than ever before, and while the sports isn't always the most exciting class, it's the every man class, and sometimes it really can be pretty exciting to watch.

So, the races this year had its ups and downs, and some of those were a bit different than I've gotten used to expecting. Hopefully next year we'll see some of the airplanes and other things back that were missing this year, and the crowds will continue to stay big.

I also bought another bass guitar, this one is used, I got a good deal on it from a pawn shop in Reno. It was pretty dirty, and dirty pots were causing it to have sound problems when adjusting the different volume knobs, but that's an easy fix for me. The fret board was also a bit dry (high desert, go figure) and rather dirty as well. It looks like it got played a lot, in a lot of smoky casinos. I got most of it cleaned, when I change the strings, I get the frets and the bridge cleaned out. It's an Ibanez SR300ROM and it has almost the same tone as my SR700, as well as the same thinner neck and 25 fret neck, which is why I bought it. Also, I got a good deal.

Last of all, check out Elio motors if you have the chance, an American made car that gets 84mpg and costs only 7K. They're hoping to start producing them next year. I can tell you that two men over 6 feet tall, can in fact fit in one at the same time. I even have pictures to prove it.