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.

Since I’m back working again (just over 4 months at the new place) and coding every day, I have ideas race through my head for things I want to do with my own websites. Unfortunately, those ideas are racing while I’m at work, and by the time I get home, they’re gone. I need to start writing ‘em down I think. I’ve been using the CodeIgniter framework a lot. I keep trying to think of things I could do with it.

I’ve also dabbled in writing a Facebook app for a project at work. It’s a relatively simple one, as far as Facebook apps go … no interaction with the user or anything like that. I still had issues getting things set up initially, but that’s probably because I jumped in with both feet rather than reading documentation first. Oh well. I learn best by doing anyway. I’d love to come up with a Facebook app on my own, but I’m not sure what to do. The only thing that I can come up with is a weather widget. I started laying one out for my own websites already. I could create a script that can be plugged in to a regular website, a WordPress plugin, and a Facebook app. I just need to get my butt in gear. It’s hard to get motivated to work on my own websites after working on other people’s sites all day at work. But then again, I am usually sitting at the computer all nite anyway. I might as well do something useful rather than reading Twitter and Facebook and other mindless surfing.

We use WordPress quite a bit at work. I don’t deal with it since I’m the programming geek (php & MySQL), but I see what is being done by my co-workers. It makes me want to work on this place again. One thing I’ve never dabbled with is widgets. I usually just hard code the stuff I want in the sidebar since I’m just doing the site for myself. But I’ve seen what can be done with widgets and it makes me wanna give it a try.

There was a time where I was doing a lot of WP development. Yeah, it was just for myself, but I knew what was going on and what I could do. It’s been so long since I’ve done anything serious with WP. Even when I redesigned last, I didn’t delve into things I could have. I really wanna dive back in, but I feel so far behind. So many advances have been made to the core. I happened run across a site for a WordCamp in the cities. I’m seriously considering going. I think one of my co-workers wants to as well. It’s not until November, so we’ve got a while to make a decision. Anyone else considering going to it?

I’ve got a pretty sweet setup going on now (well, considering what I’ve had in the past anyway). I added memory to my laptop (from 1GB to 4GB), and I upgraded to Windows 7 (which I LOVE). I even got a new monitor that’s hooked up to my laptop (21.5″ widescreen). The dual monitor setup is perfect for development (I wish I had dual monitors at work). I still use WAMP server for local development. I even found out about a program (from my boss) that gives me a GUI for my local MySQL databases (HeidiSQL). I have no excuse not to work on my own websites (other than the fact that I’ve turned into a lazy ass).

So … be on the lookout (I’ve said that before, haven’t I ). I really will try to post more here. As with the ideas I have for my websites during the day, I have ideas for posts that never materialize (I think I need to carry a notebook with me to work … or just use Google Docs). I need to be better about that. I need to stop procrastinating and being lazy. I really hope I can follow through.

I was wondering why the refund estimate that TurboTax was showing me was higher than what I estimated when I went through things before (based on paystubs since I was still waiting for tax docs). At one point, TurboTax told me about the Making Work Pay Tax Credit. ‘Scuse me … WTF is that? I didn’t see anything on the forms when I did my estimate. So I did some searching on the IRS website and found this information. I was still confused after reading it. I did some searching online, but that didn’t really clear anything up either. But I trusted TurboTax, so I forged ahead. If TurboTax was telling me I was getting a refund that was $400 more than I expected, I wasn’t going to question it. TurboTax is supposed to be accurate, so they must be right.

I did go back and look at the form I did my estimate on, and it turns out it was on there … line 40 of the 1040A. I usually skim over the section on credits since I never have any. I don’t have any kids or own any property or anything like that. That’ll teach me to skim over the tax forms based on how previous years have been. But then again, it was just an estimate. And that’s why I use a site like TurboTax so I can find out about things I might miss or not know about.

I don’t remember ever hearing about the “Making Work Pay Credit”. Where the hell have I been? But in my defense, I was more concerned with finding a permanent job around the time that this credit was announced. For a good part of the year, my career was in limbo since I was working contract jobs. Now that I have a permanent job again, I can pay more attention to stuff like that.

So … what am I going to do with that extra refund money? I was already planning on getting a monitor and a Windows 7 upgrade. I’ve been thinking about getting more memory for my laptop too (since I’m getting the Win7 upgrade). I was gonna go with 2GB of memory to keep the costs down, but now that I’m getting that extra money back, I might ramp it up to 4GB. I’m not convinced that I need that much memory though. The rest of the refund … well, that will go towards a down payment on a car that I’m planning to shop for in the spring. The more I can put down at the beginning, the lower the payments will be (and I doubt I’ll get much money for trading in my current car).

“Why” you ask? Well …

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The Christmas 2009 winter storm will continue to impact the area through Saturday morning. For the remainder of Christmas Eve…there will be periods of light snow. Snow rates will increase from late tonight through early Saturday morning…and north winds will increase to 25 to 35 mph…causing considerable blowing and drifting snow with blizzard conditions. Widespread whiteouts can be expected across much of Eastern North Dakota into adjacent Minnesota counties. Travel Christmas Day will be extremely hazardous. The map represents additional snowfall accumulation expected from noontime Christmas Eve through midday Saturday. On Saturday…the snow will wind down slowly but winds will still be high and visibility poor. Sunday will be better with no snow in the forecast and winds diminishing. Please stay tuned for further updates.

As you can see, Mother Nature had other ideas. Well, her Christmas present is going back. LOL

We got about 6 inches of snow overnite here in Fargo. It didn’t snow all that much during the day, and it wasn’t all that windy. I did consider leaving work early to head to Mom & Dad’s before it started snowing again. I obviously decided against going. The road reports for my route home was “snow covered” then “continuous ice/compacted snow” then “scattered ice frost” and back to “continuous ice/compacted snow”. I decided to use my better judgement and stay in Fargo. If the roads are travelable on Sunday, I’ll head to Mom & Dad’s (unless they decide to come up to Fargo). And if the roads are still shitty, there’s always next weekend.

Robin ended up staying in Fargo too. If the roads in town are passable, maybe I’ll venture over to her place to hang out. Otherwise I don’t know what I’ll do. I plan on making some chili cheese dip tonite to munch on (I was going to make it and take it to Mom & Dad’s). I bought the ingredients yesterday to make lasagna. I might make that tonite so I can pop it in the oven tomorrow for dinner (with leftovers for supper). And I have beer in the fridge and vanilla vodka chilled out in the freezer.

It definitely sucks being stuck here in Fargo (alone) for Christmas. It’s the first time that I haven’t made it home for Christmas. But I’d rather be stuck here than in some ditch or worse. I guess the Christmas presents and baked goodies will just have to wait. I just wish Mom hadn’t said that she had some krumkaka for me (I love those). Maybe I can hitch a ride with Santa.

I sent out a Christmas letter with my cards. I thought I would post it here for my friends that I don’t have addresses for.

December 2009

Wow. A Christmas letter from me 2 years in a row? That probably won’t ever happen again.

The past year or so has been kind of stressful for me, but things are starting to look up. As I said in last year’s letter, I lost my job in October 2008 and started a contract position in December 2008. That contract position only lasted 4 months (I was filling in for someone on maternity leave). I found another contract position in May 2009. The position was supposed to be a contract to hire position, but the company ended my contract early in August (and laid off 15 people the day after my contract ended). All that uncertainty almost drove me crazy.

But I said things are starting to look up, didn’t I? I started a new job (a permanent one this time around) in November. It’s with a company in Moorhead. I’ve been there for about a month and a half now, and I’m very happy. I get to work with php and MySQL again, which I really enjoy working with (yes … I AM a geek).

I’m not sure what 2010 will bring, but I’m hoping it keeps on the upswing. I had been planning on buying a house, but the rollercoaster that my work life has been over the past year has put that on hold for a little while longer. While I don’t have the money saved up for a house just yet, I do have some money saved that I think I’ll be putting towards a new car in the spring. I’ve had my car since 2001, so it’s time for an upgrade.

I hope this holiday season treats you well. I hope Santa brings you everything that you ask for. ;) Make sure to take time to treat yourself well during the hustle and bustle of the holidays. Take care and have a great 2010.

Happy Holidays …

Becky

This past year has been trying. I lost my job last October but then found 2 short term contract jobs. The short term-ness and uncertainty really wore on me. But I found a full time, permanent job a month ago (so thanks for that early Christmas present. ) I’m hoping that the tide has turned and things will start going “up” for me rather than how they have been.

I thought that I should get you a list of things that I wouldn’t mind getting under the Christmas tree this year. These are just suggestions. I don’t expect to get everything on my list. It would be nice to get one or two things though.

• Wii games & accessories
  • Wii remote
  • Wii steering wheel
  • Endless Ocean
  • Mario Cart
  • NASCAR Kart Racing
  • Wii Fit Plus (with Balance Board)
  • Wii Sports Resort
  • Wii Game Party/Wii Game Party 2 or similar games
• DVDs
  • Cars
  • Gabriel Iglesias: I’m Not Fat I’m Fluffy
  • Moonlight – The Complete Series
• CDs
  • Chris Young – The Man I Want to Be
  • Luke Bryan – Doin’ My Thing
  • Lady Antebellum – Lady Antebellum
  • Love and Theft – World Wide Open
• NASCAR Stuff
  • anything Dale Earnhardt Jr
  • anything Martin Truex Jr (his new team for 2010 [NAPA])
• Misc
  • iTunes gift card (for music and/or iPod Touch apps)
  • gift card for clothes (I need to try ‘em on to know they fit)
  • my “man” candles (The Midsummer’s Night scent by Yankee Candle – they smell like men’s cologne.)
  • dark (dark, dark, dark) chocolate
  • Windows 7 upgrade
  • Flip camcorder
  • anything else that’s techie/geeky
  • a cowboy

You should be able to find something doable on that list. As you can see, I put the cowboy back on the list this year after leaving him off last year. There aren’t any country bars left in Fargo, so if I’m gonna get a cowboy, it’ll have to be from you.

Watch out for birds on your journey around the globe this year. I’d hate to hear that you crashed after hitting a stray snow goose or something. I’m too old to stay up and wait for you … I need my sleep. But I’ll leave out some baked goodies (if I ever get my ass moving and make ‘em). Tell Mrs. Claus I say “hi”.

Becky

P.S. I just thought of a few more items for my list:

• office toys for my new desk at work [or my desk at home]
• programming books [on subjects like: CodeIgniter, php, MySQL, jQuery]
• pictures for my bare walls [both in the living room and the bedroom]
• LCD computer monitor (preferably larger than 19″ and widescreen)

It feels soooooo good to be working with php again. For the past year, (at the 2 contract jobs I had) I was working strictly with html and css, mainly html emails. While I don’t mind working with css, I enjoy working with php and sql so much more. And not only am I working with php again, I’m even learning a new framework, CodeIgniter. It’s what they use at work.

I had my first taste of it today when I started on a new project. I think I’ll pick it up pretty quickly. While I haven’t used a framework before, I have worked with a “layer” concept at a previous job. We had separate directories for database, presentation, and domain layers. CodeIgniter has model, view, and controller “layers”. What I really like about CodeIgniter is the fact that you can put together an array of data in the controller layer to send to the view layer, and in the view layer, you have variables that have the names of the keys from the array that was passed to it. Or at least as far as I can tell, that’s how it is.

I’ve even been in a good, upbeat mood the past couple days. I really noticed it today. I don’t know if it’s just because I’m out of my apartment or it’s because I’m back working (with something I really enjoy even) or it’s just things turning back around in my favor. I’m not going to analyze it, and I’m definitely not going to take it for granted (or at least I’m going to try my damnedest).

Hopefully this means I’ll have a good birthday this year (it’s next Saturday). Now I just need to figure out what I’m gonna do to celebrate it.

I’ve been a little nervous to start the position. I haven’t worked with php very much since I was laid off a year ago. I’ve done a little with it at home, but the 2 contract positions that I had were basically html/css positions. I actually got to start a little bit today. I didn’t get very far because the dev environment on my computer isn’t fully set up yet. It is so nice to get back to php development.

The company is small, but the people are really nice. I don’t feel like a complete misfit. LOL Hopefully everything will work out in the end. I’ve got a good feeling about things.

And a bonus … the office is right next to a mini-strip mall [I don't know if you can even call it that since it only has 3 businesses in it] that has a coffee shop at one end, a Subway at the other end, and a liquor store in the middle. So I can get a coffee before work, a sub for lunch, and some booze on my way home from work.

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Last year, Dale Jr had some problems in the practices. He also got in an accident during the race and finished 28th. Hopefully he’ll fair better this year (he needs it after how his season has gone).

It would be better if I was actually at the racetrack for race weekend, but it is cool that my name is on a racecar in the race. My Dad signed up too (copycat ). His name is on the truck deck lid. The race is Sunday afternoon. Hopefully at the end of the race Dale Jr will be in Victory Lane. Maybe Dad & I will be his good luck charms (along with the over 70,000 other people who have their names on the car).