I’ve been upset after a race before. I’ve been pissed at some driver or another or just at the dumb luck that has befallen one (or more) of my drivers. But I’ve NEVER in my life been so pissed off and worked up as I was after today’s race. At one point I was even in tears because I was so upset.

The incident in question: lap 323 … Carl Edwards turns Brad Keselowski and sends Brad airborne after 3 attempts to do so on previous laps. Here are some pics of what Brad’s car looked like after the wreck: pic 1, pic 2, pic 3. It was a scary wreck and it took a while before they said if Brad was okay or not. The FOX broadcast showed replays of Carl gunning for Brad on earlier laps but missing. I guess he connected all right.

Why did Carl intentionally wreck Brad? Well, no one really knows except for Carl. But I’m pretty sure the incident on lap 40 had something to do with it. In that incident, Carl drifted down in front of Brad, Brad tapped Carl, and it sent Carl into Joey Logano and messing up both of their cars pretty bad while Brad kept going. Yes … I admit that Brad made contact with Carl, but it was a racing incident. Brad was pretty much on the yellow line. He held his line as Carl came down on him. Perhaps Brad could have let off the throttle and let Carl in, but you can’t stop a stock car going over 190 mph on a dime. Brad said he tried to let off the throttle, but he just wasn’t quick enough. Besides, Bobby Labonte was behind Brad. If Brad had let up, who’s to say that Labonte wouldn’t have run into him? Yes, it was early in the race, but Carl could have not tried to put his car where there was no room for it just as much as Brad could have let off the throttle and let Carl in. Neither were to blame or innocent.

NASCAR did park Carl for the rest of the race, but that didn’t really matter. There weren’t many laps left in the race and Carl was over 150 laps down. Carl didn’t deny that he wrecked Brad on purpose. Carl’s exact words:

Brad knows the deal between him and I. The scary part was his car went airborne, which was not at all what I expected. I have a lot of respect for people’s safety. I wish it wouldn’t have gone like it did, but I’m glad he’s OK.

Carl … the cars are going over 190mph at times around Atlanta. How can you not expect something bad is going to happen. And just because you didn’t “expect” him to go airborne, you still shouldn’t have hit him in the first damn place.

After the first incident, it almost sounded like (to me anyway) that Carl thought he was entitled or something … that Brad should have just rolled over and let him in because Brad is a rookie and Carl is a “seasoned veteran”. I don’t care who you are (even Dale Jr), no one is “entitled”. No one should have to move over and let another driver in a spot or let them pass without fighting for position as long as both cars are on the lead lap. Now, if you’re a lap car, yeah … get your ass out of the way. But Brad and Carl were on the same lap during the first incident. Why should Brad roll over for Carl?

Before anyone decides to flame me because I said that I am a Keselowski fan, I never said I wasn’t a Carl Edwards fan. No, he isn’t on my list of favorite drivers, but I didn’t hate him. I have actually cheered for him in a race or two. Not any more. His actions on the track today and his statements after the race have made me lose all respect for him. He had plenty of time to cool down after the first incident, and I believe the FOX pit reporter showed him a replay of what happened before they interviewed him. He consciously made the decision to go out and find Brad on the track and deliberately take him out (the replays showed that fact).

Now … if the tables had been turned … if Brad was the one who wrecked Carl intentionally, I’d be pissed at Brad. Same thing if Dale Jr or Martin Truex or any other driver did that to anyone else on the track (even Kyle Busch). When you’re going the speeds that they go at Atlanta, doing what Carl did was a very poor judgment call.

The other thing that has me pissed about all of this is the fact that there are a lot of people out there who say that Brad deserved what he got … that Brad had it coming … that Brad has taken out drivers in the past at other races. Some have even brought up Talladega last year when Carl flipped after Brad got into him and Brad when on to win (in that situation, Carl tried to block Brad and Brad held his line … Carl would have done the same if the situations had been reversed). I’ll admit that Brad is an aggressive driver. That’s one of the things I like about him. He had to be aggressive last year in the Nationwide series in order to be noticed with all the damn Cup drivers running full seasons (don’t even get me started on that front). But you can’t tell me that Brad is any more aggressive than Kyle Busch or Denny Hamlin. The incidents that people have been mentioning have been “racing deals”. I can’t remember any incidents where Brad intentionally took out another driver (I could be wrong, but I’m sure if there have been any, they are few and far between).

We should find out Tuesday or Wednesday if NASCAR will penalize Carl any more than parking him for the rest of the race. Initially I was calling for NASCAR to park him. Now I’m backing off that. I do still think he should receive some sort of penalty. He should definitely lose some points and be fined some money … something harsh enough to prevent him (and any other driver) from doing something that stupid again. I have a feeling that NASCAR won’t do a damn thing though. If that’s the case, this will happen again, I guarantee it. It will keep happening until someone (driver, crew member, or fan in the stands) gets seriously hurt.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a NASCAR fan. I don’t miss a race unless there is absolutely no way to watch it (then I’ll record it so I can watch it later). This week’s race was on tonite. It was the first of 11 races (the last 11 of the season) where the races are on ABC. The race tonite was the last race before the “Chase to the Sprint Cup” or simply, the Chase. For those of you who don’t follow NASCAR, the Chase is basically the playoffs for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series … 10 races to determine the championship. Not all of the drivers in the series have a chance to win the championship. Only the top 12 drivers after this race make the Chase. So it was a very important race.

My local ABC station is WDAY (in Fargo, ND). For whatever reason, WDAY decided that the local news broadcast was more important than pre-race show. That was their first mistake. I was upset enough at WDAY’s programming decisions that I sent them an email via the form on their website. I was very civil in my email. This is what I sent them:

ABC is carrying the NASCAR race tonight at Richmond, VA. It is the first of 11 races that ABC is carrying (the last 11 of the season). Tonight’s race is the last race before the 10 race “Chase”. The “Chase” is NASCAR’s version of the playoffs. Tonight’s race will determine who will be in the “Chase” and who won’t. There are several drivers that are very close to making it or falling out.

I am extremely disappointed that WDAY has chosen to air the local news at 6pm rather than the pre-race show. I understand that there are people who want to see the local news. But you need to understand that there are also people who want to watch the pre-race show. Since this is the last race before the “Chase”, there are lots of stories to be covered. I (and numerous other NASCAR fans in the region) will miss those stories. If this was an NFL wildcard game or a game that determines who makes the Superbowl, would WDAY show the news rather than the pre-game show? I find it hard to believe that they would. So why is WDAY not showing the pre-race show tonight?

WDAY could have aired the local news at 5:30pm. But instead, they have chosen to upset numerous fans by not airing the pre-race show. I hope that this is not a sign of things to come. There is another race (a ‘playoff’ race) that will start at 6pm local time (on Oct 17). I hope that WDAY does not preempt the pre-race show for that race for the news like they are doing tonight.

I have more respect for WDAY than any other station in Fargo. However, I am extremely disappointed in their decision about the pre-race show tonight. Please do not make me lose respect for your station by doing this again.

Then, the Notre Dame – Michigan football game ran long … cutting into the NASCAR pre-race show by about 20 minutes or so. Rather than going into the NASCAR coverage, WDAY decided that they were still going to show the local news broadcast. That was their second mistake. The news broadcast wasn’t over until after the opening ceremonies began. They didn’t join the race coverage until the opening prayer had already begun. So I didn’t get to see the pre-race interviews with those drivers who were on the bubble for making the Chase … and it was a tight field this year.

Would WDAY preempt the pre-game for an NFL game that decided who makes it into the playoffs or the Superbowl? I find it hard to believe that they would. So why did that do that for NASCAR? Completely unacceptable. I didn’t send another email. I thought that the email that I had sent earlier was enough to get my point across about not showing the pre-race show.

Then WDAY made their third mistake … the one that “broke the camel’s back”, so to speak. They left the post-race coverage after the interview with the winner in Victory Lane was completed. The post-race coverage wasn’t done, but they decided to leave anyway to show the local news. Excuse me? What about those interviews with the drivers who made the Chase? From what I found out, ABC continued coverage until around 10:45pm central. That means that I missed 15 minutes of coverage … of interviews with those drivers who made the Chase. That’s completely unacceptable.

I called WDAY right after they left the ABC coverage for the local news. The lady I talked to had no clue what was going on. I highly doubt she passed anything I said along to the appropriate person. All she told me was that since the winner had been declared, they were free to leave the coverage. WTF?!? Are you freaking kidding me? That’s messed up. You couldn’t delay the news 15 stinking minutes?

Needless to say, WDAY got another email from me. I wasn’t quite as civil as the first one that I sent, but I wasn’t vulgar either. I just don’t understand how they can make decisions like this. The second email I sent is here:

I would like to know WHY WDAY left the NASCAR broadcast before it was done. Tonight was the last race before the “Chase” (or the playoffs for NASCAR) begins. There are a lot of stories about who made the Chase and who didn’t. Yet WDAY chose to leave after the Victory Lane interview for the local news.

This is completely unacceptable, especially since WDAY decided to NOT show the pre-race show. How can you not show the pre-race show and then leave the post-race show early? Would you do that for the NFL? I think not.

I really want to know who is making these programming decisions. How can you justify what was done tonite? I really want to know. Please send me a response explaining things. It has been at least 10 minutes since WDAY left the post-race broadcast, and I have been told that ABC is STILL on air with the post-race show. Completely unacceptable WDAY.

I have no idea if I’ll get any response from WDAY. I honestly won’t be surprised if I don’t get a response. That being said, I really hope that I do get a response. I really want to know why the programming decisions that were made regarding this race were made. There is one more nite race that will be aired on ABC, on October 17th. This race is scheduled to start at 6pm central. I am hoping that the decisions that were made tonite (skipping the pre-race show) will NOT be made for that race as well. I know that I am not the only NASCAR fan in the WDAY coverage area. I mean, we do have a dirt track in our backyard (the Red River Valley Speedway), so there are race fans out there, and I’m sure there are local race fans that are NASCAR fans as well. A race fan is a race fan is a race fan.

I’m still riled up about this. I need to find some way to calm down so that I can get some sleep tonight. I’m just glad that I was able to watch NASCAR Now on ESPN2 and Victory Lane on SPEED to see interviews with the drivers that I’m sure ABC interviewed during the post-race show that I didn’t get to see.

This weekend is the first nite of the 2008 NASCAR season. I was excited. I love nite racing. But the nite started off on a bad note. First, FOX decided to start the pre-race before it was even scheduled to come on. And then, they leave the broadcast right before the race was supposed to start to go back to the baseball game that had been under a rain delay.

I understand that the baseball fans wanted to see the completion of the game. But FOX royally screwed up. They were showing the baseball game on both FX and FOX. WTF?!?! I can understand showing the baseball game on one and the NASCAR race on the other. But to show the baseball game on both. What the hell were they thinking??

The baseball fans were able to watch their game on 2 DIFFERENT CHANNELS while we NASCAR fans missed the National Anthem (and Emerson Drive sang it this week ), the command to start engines, and the green flag. Yeah, FOX did switch back to the race, but not until AFTER the green flag.

I was so pissed off that I actually called our local FOX affiliate. I was surprised when someone actually answered. I asked why the race wasn’t on. I told him that the baseball game was on FX and FOX. He didn’t know that. He had no clue why the race wasn’t on. Apparently it was all the national FOX affiliate’s decision. I wonder if other people called in as well. There was a ticker scrolling across the screen saying that it was the national affiliate that made the decision to not show the race. I found that funny. That was either because of me or because of me and the other unhappy fans.

I also sent an email to FOX. I know that it won’t do any good. I doubt anyone will actually read it. But there’s always a chance. And I know there are several other fans who sent emails as well (according to a message board I’m on). Maybe they’ll finally get their heads out of their arses and actually make some changes. But I doubt it. This is the email I sent them …

I am completely baffled by the programming decisions that were made tonight, Saturday April 12th. I understand that the baseball game was delayed due to rain. But did you really have to air the baseball game when it came back on on both FOX and FX. Especially when the NASCAR race was due to begin. I understand that there are baseball fans that wanted to see the game. But there are NASCAR fans who wanted to see the race. And with the baseball game on FX, why air it on FOX as well? That is completely asinine. The baseball fans had the option of watching the game on FX. NASCAR fans had NO OPTION. We missed the National Anthem and the command to start engines, not to mention the green flag. Yeah, you switched over, but you missed the green flag.

And don’t think I’m the only person who is upset by this. I am seeing unhappy people all over the internet. You made a very bad decision tonight. I just don’t understand what you were thinking.

An UPSET NASCAR fan,
Becky R

Okay … I’m gonna get down off of my soapbox now. Time to go pay attention to the race. If FOX decides to break into the commercials with race coverage that is.

Luckily I have health insurance. I was without for 3 months after I switched jobs at the beginning of this year. Well, I wish I could go back to my old insurance company. The eye drops cost over $100 (I thought they were close to $120 … that’s what I was told when I called around to different pharmacies to figure out which one to go to, but it appears that they’re just under $110. Either way … they’re still EXPENSIVE!!!). With my old insurance company, I paid only $30 and my insurance paid $71.40. With my new insurance, I pay $61.97 while insurance pays only $46.97. WTF?!?!

The prescription is supposed to last about a month. There are 32 vials in the box, and you’re supposed to use each vial only once (actually … if I used the drops like that, the box wouldn’t even last a month since I’m supposed to use ‘em twice a day). My eye doctor told me it was okay to use a single vial for 2 days. So I can stretch a single prescription out for 2 months rather than 1.

Thank goodness my paychecks are bigger with this new job. Otherwise these drops would stretch me thin. I don’t think there’s a generic brand. I wish there was. I guess I shouldn’t complain. At least I have insurance. But do these drops really have to be so damn expensive? And why does my new insurance company have to be so damn cheap? That makes me leery to go in for a checkup. I really need to though. I can’t remember the last time I saw a doctor (who wasn’t an eye doctor). But if my insurance company is so cheap with this prescription, how are they gonna be with office visits and lab work and any sort of prescription I might end up having to go on?

Getting that prescription refilled sure did ruin my day. I’m glad I didn’t do it earlier in the day.

As I said, I ordered it on Sunday nite. It shipped out Monday. It was scheduled for delivery tomorrow but actually showed up today. I was happy. I was planning on setting things up tonite. That is until I opened the box. I found a 12 ft video cable in the box rather than the KVM switch that I ordered. The packing slip that came with the package had the correct item on it. But some dumbass in shipping must have been going too quick and put the wrong damn item in the box. They’re not even from the same manufacturer!!

I called Dell right away to get the correct item sent to me. I really should have done it online. But I wanted to talk to someone and get things squared away as soon as possible. But of course, when you call Dell, you get someone from overseas … generally India. At least I could understand this woman. But she didn’t seem very smart. She wanted the Dell part #, but the item I was sent didn’t have a Dell part # on it. I gave her what I thought was the manufacturer’s part #, but that didn’t help her. I went to Dell’s website and searched using the part # I gave her and found the item. I then gave her the Dell part # that was listed on their website. But THAT didn’t help her either. She said she couldn’t find it. I told her I found it on their site. That’s where I got the Dell part #.

She finally put in the return/exchange. Then told me it would take 8 business days. Excuse me. Dell screwed up. I would expect them to take care of their customers faster than that. She said that was the maximum time frame they give. The CORRECT part will be shipped to me via next day shipping. It had damn well better be. She said I would get an email about this and gave me a confirmation number. I still haven’t gotten that email. I’ll give them until noon tomorrow before I call and complain.

From now on, when I buy stuff like this … I’ll get it from NewEgg. I never had a problem with them. But that $25 coupon was only good at Dell. That’s why I got it from them. They had better take care of things quickly or they’ll feel my wrath.

So today went from a high to rock bottom. Dammit. Why can’t anything go my way?

Downtown Fargo buildings evacuated after skid-steer loader hits gas line

Several buildings in the area of First Avenue North and Broadway in downtown Fargo were evacuated about 10:15 a.m. today after a skid-steer loader hit a natural gas line in an alley.

[snipped]

Eileen Ketcham was among the workers in the Black Building at 118 Broadway evacuated by firefighters. She said she didn’t smell gas in her mezzanine-level office, but firefighters told her they detected gas in the basement.

…read the entire article …

I found out about this around 1pm when a former co-worker ICQ’d me. And I WORK IN THE BLACK BUILDING!!! The article says that they evacuated the Black Building … apparently it wasn’t the entire building … or at least not 4th floor. I guess we’re just not important enough.

I understand that the gas probably didn’t make it up to the 4th floor, but if there was gas in the building, there was a chance of an explosion. And if there had been one … me being on the 4th floor … I would have been screwed. That building could have had some MAJOR LIABILITY on their hands. I don’t know who to blame … the building management or the fire department. Either way, I was less than happy to find out about this well after the fact. If it involves an area that I am in … I DESERVE TO KNOW!!!

It doesn’t do any good to complain to either management or the fire department now. But I hope if this ever happens again (and I hope it does NOT), they’ll inform the ENTIRE building.

So Justin just wrote me a check for the amount that Kelly thought it would be. If it’s an overpayment, I’m assuming they’ll take it out of my next paycheck. According to the calculations I did on the Payroll Calculator that I found a while ago, they gave me about $13 too much. So that means my next paycheck will be $13 less than it usually is.

I don’t know why things are so damn unorganized. If payroll was due last Monday, they should have had the damn correct total by now. If this happens again, I WILL speak up.

But at least I have my money now. I’d love to put it all towards the laptop, but I’m gonna have to get gas in the next couple of days and groceries again since Lisa is coming up this weekend.

This morning seemed to go by pretty quickly. But this afternoon just drug on. 5 o’clock couldn’t get here quick enough.

I kept waiting for Kelly to show up at the office. Yesterday Justin mentioned that she might stop in. I was hoping she would so I could get my overtime check. Monday was payday. Kelly called (since she works from home now and only comes in every now and again) to ask if it was okay if I only got my regular salary on my check and got my overtime later in the week. I guess the guy who does our payroll was on vacation or something. I said it was fine because I wanted needed my check. I assumed I would get it Wednesday or today since Kelly’s in sometimes on Wednesdays and Justin is in on Thursdays. Well, Justin was in yesterday, and Kelly never showed up today.

I usually don’t mind being in the office my myself. I am on Tuesdays, some Wednesdays, and Fridays. I can plug my mp3 player into my speakers and not have to use headphones. And I’m not distracted with questions and other noises. But some times it’s a real pain in the ass. Like when paydays fall on days when I’m in the office myself. I hate asking when I’m going to get my check … but dammit, I earned that check and I need it to pay bills. In those cases, I generally get it early, but I still hate asking. And the floor I work on is basically empty except for us and Chris and Carla across the hall. There are days I feel completely alone up there … and that’s not a good thing for me. It helps that both Chris and Carla stop over every now and then … even if it’s just for a second as they come or go. But that helps.

What’s really getting on my nerves lately is that I have no idea when the “regular” schedule for Justin changes … at least not until he either shows up or pops up on ICQ. I’m the kind of person who likes a regular routine. I like to know what is going on in advance. Like yesterday … I had NO idea that Justin was going to be in the office. Not that it really mattered, but it would have been nice to know. That just meant that he wasn’t in the office today.

So I STILL don’t have my damn overtime check. I’ve got 5 ½ hours of overtime pay due me. I want it dammit. And now I won’t get it until Monday since no one else is in the office tomorrow. I wanted to know how much I could spend at WalMart/Target/KMart (wherever I decide to go) and how much stuff I can get. I’m at the point where I need to replenish a lot of my stuff … Tide/Downy/kitchen stuff/etc/etc/etc. I also wanna put more into savings. I’m getting really antsy about getting a laptop. I want one NOW!! I put $100 in last nite, so I’ve got $700 earmarked for a laptop, but the one I’m looking at on Dell.com is just under $1100. Plus I’ll need the accessories to go with it (wireless router, carrying bag, etc). My cousin might be able to get me one for just under $900. That would be nice, but I’ll have to see the specs first.

I’ve got the TV off right now and my stereo on (with Chris Daughtry in the player) hoping it would pick my mood up, but it hasn’t worked. Music usually can. Maybe Chris just isn’t doing it today. Hopefully I can get distracted with all my shows on tonite (Y&R on SoapNet at 6, Ugly Betty at 7, CSI at 8, and GH on SoapNet at 9). Guess I’ll just have to wait and see.

I’m starting to feel all ADD right now, so I think it’s time to end this post. I’ve jumped back and forth writing it anyways. I’m just not focused right now. Good thing Y&R is on in about 2 minutes. Time to get lost is a soap opera since I have no life of my own … :G-razz3:

I sent them a strongly worded email complaining about things. NOBODY gets between me and my NASCAR. :devil: I never liked the channel anyways. The only time I watch is if I like the shows … and the only ones really are Thursday nites (Ugly Betty, Gray’s Anatomy, Men in Trees [if that show is even coming back]). I don’t even watch General Hospital there … I watch it on SoapNet.

I doubt my email will even be read let alone get a response or do any good. But I HAD to do something. It was either that or give myself a coronary because I was so pissed.