These people are crazy!

My cousin Ian races Sprint cars. His is the black and green in the picture. I love him very much, but he is crazy! These speed machines fly around a dirt oval track upwards of 120 MPH. The saying is sit down, shut up, strap in and always turn to the left. Last Saturday night was a perfect race evening, so we went to Eagle Raceway. It had been many years since I've been to the races. Ian's dad, Monte was racing then. We turned off the highway to the track and the sprints were running their hot laps(practice runs). Just the sound of those engines made my heart beat a little faster. Once we got in, found my aunts and uncles who were there got something to eat, I was ready. Ian did okay, he kept all four wheels on the ground, thank God.

I do love to go and watch the Sprints and Modified run and pray the whole time
Ian is on the track. Of course its exciting, but I found myself Saturday night thinking about my dad and how I would had loved to be able to watch one more race with him. He loved racing, as a matter of fact when I was little, every Sunday evening was spent at Sunset Speedway.
I had forgotten how much I love the smell of hot anit-freeze and being pelted with dirt.

Passwords

There isn't anything on this earth that reduce an intelligent adult into a quivering, drooling nincompoop faster than passwords. And I don't mean the game! I have 11 different passwords to get into 11 different applications at work. In the last 4 days I have had to try, try being the optimum word here, to change them. SORRY, YOU HAVE USED THAT FORM OF WORD WITHIN THE LAST 27 TIMES, PLEASE SELECT AGAIN. Arrrgh! I have already used the pets names you could think of. My nephews, cousins, TV people, real and imagined. All the Food Network folks, Old AOL passwords, Cars etc. You get the drift. So today I had to give up and call the Help(less) Desk. I asked them why this has to be so difficult, I mean come on, we sell groceries, not uranium. The conversation with Eric went like this. . .
"This is Eric, how may I help you."
"This is Barb Hunt in Omaha, I need a couple of my passwords reset."
"Passwords?"
"Yes, the one for Biceps and Main."
"Your passwords are disabled."
(It was like I had walked into the middle of a bad comedy routine.)
"I know. that is why I'm calling. I want you to reset them so I can start over with my selections."
"Ah, I can help you with that. What is your Biceps sign-on and password."
"Eric my password is disabled."
"Yes, but I need it to sign in as you."
"Eric, my password is disabled."
"In order for me to mirror your session I need what your password was."
"Okay, my sign on is 107340 any my password is disibgh01"
"Thank you, it will just take a minute. . .this password doesn't work."
"Eric, That is why I am calling you!"
"Oh, here I can assign you one."
"I need two , I have two sessions down."
" Hold for a minute, I need to find out if I can give you two right now or not. I think I can only give you one per call. You might have to call back."
"WHAT?!"
Silence. . .
"Barb, I just talked to Kim and she said it would be okay. Just a moment, I have to get you two secure passwords. We are required to keep track of all passwords we hand out. Comapny security is at stake."
"Great, what are they?"
'Now you will be prompted to change your password when you get signed in."
"Got it Eric what are they?"
"Okay, for Biceps use Summer and for Main use Spring."
"Wow those are secret, no one would ever think of those."
Go figure. My new passwords were inspired by my new friend on the help(less) desk Eric.
Dumbshit and Lamebrain

My favorite place, where is yours?

Rocky Mountain National Park, Bear Lake to be exact. Talk about inspiration! This is without a doubt my favorite place on this earth. God is here. I know, God is everywhere, but just sitting here and being quiet, as the wind skims the surface of the lake runs up the shore and surrounds me, I can here Him call my name. I don't know why, but I know that I know, that I know. God talks to all of us if we are willing to listen. Where is your favorite place? The ocean, the desert? That special place in your house? Maybe its in your garden. Wherever it is, its special to you because that is where God has called you to be near to Him. Whether you listen or not is entirely up to you. It boggles my mind still to think that the Creator of all that is and all that will ever be, wants to be a part of my life and me to be a part of His.

barb

God and Dogs

For those who don't know, this beautiful young lady is Molly.
She came into our lives a little over 2 years ago. She is schnauzer and poodle, and doesn't hesitate to tell you what she thinks. If you have ever owned a Schnauzer you know what I mean.
She is a gift from God. Unconditional love, expects nothing in return, well maybe a scratch once in a while. Doesn't care about how much money you have, what you look like, what kind of car you drive, or the brand of the shoes on your feet. A dog doesn't care where they are as long as they are with you. They stick like glue when you are sick and make you feel like the most important person in the world when you come home from work. They love your friends as much as you do and will protect you to the death.

Maybe dogs are God's gift to us to show what love is suppose to be all about.

The Mysterious Case of the Missing Brains

Yesterday was the 4th of July, a time of great fun, family and way to much food. It's also a time to be reminded of our freedoms and be thankful to those who have and are guaranteeing we keep them.
It is also the time when the phenomenon of Missing Brains afflicts millions of Americans. How can you spot someone who is suffering from this incurable disease? There are very distinct signs.
1. Scorched eyebrows
2. No hair on shins or forearms
3. Blisters on either or both thumbs and index fingers.

The most severe symptom? Loss of common sense.
Case in point: Normally you would place the artillery shells in the tube that comes with them, light the fuse, get a way, and the little ball of gunpowder and color travels high in the air and explodes in a breathtaking display.
So we, I mean my nephew Dan thought it would be neat to put one of those shells under a plastic bucket and light it. Now any rational person would have said no way, by those of us suffering from missing brain all shouted "Go for it."
So we, I mean he did. needless to say the bucket, buckets( we destroyed 5 before the night was over) flew high in the air and the ground level explosion of color was unbelievable. The entire neighborhood were watching by this time. I have also discovered the disease travels at a high rate of speed and is capable of afflicting many people at once, because the crowd was on there feet before the first bucket hit the ground screaming for more.
I do have to admit we had a great time. No serious injuries. Laughed non stop, and yes I have to admit, I loved it!
We have started to collect buckets for next year.

Must be the inhalation of gunpowder or something.