PROPS AND PISTONS

A large part of my adult life has been attending car races. Everything from NASCAR, Indy Car, Sports Car and local dirt tracks. By far the my favored type of racing is Sports Car Racing and Specifically the 24 Hours of Daytona and The 12 Hours of Sebring.

We have made life long friends over the years and for that I am blessed. I am fortunate to live within one hour of the front gate of Sebring International Raceway located in Highlands County. Every time I pull up the stop sign in front of the track, I get a chill. It is a special place for me.

 

In addition to the 12 Hour Race held on the third Saturday each March, SCCA (Sports Car Club of America), HSR (Historic Sportscar Racing) and SVRA hold events at the famed track throughout the year. Recently we attended the Props and Pistons event. This is our story. (make the Law and Order sound in your head now).

P-40 Tomahawk with Flying Tigers livery provides the Props

An Oldsmobile V-8 is a piston driven monster

Fellow racing enthusiasts, Larry and JP completed our trio of addicts for this race. We set up camp in the paddock at turn 1space 1. Now understand we are all hard working Americans who make up the middle class in our great nation. Larry is a Commercial Designer, JP has worked for Palm Beach Fire Rescue for 25 years and I am just a dude who teaches people how to do stuff. We don't have motor homes, but we all own tents, Coleman stoves, old fashioned percolators for making coffee (very important by the way) and an ability to deal with the finicky weather changes Central Florida can dish oat. Oh yea, we are masters of trackside cooking and eating. We are beyond just hamburgers and hot dogs.

Our humble trackside abode

L-R JP, Me, Larry

Larry's Gumbo

We even eat "semi" healthy



 



Now that you know a very little aboat us, onto the cars and other stuff we allegedly did. I truly enjoy attending vintage racing events at Sebring mainly because the crowd is 125,000 less than the 12 Hour event in March. Much  more relaxed and easy going is the theme at these events.

 

There were three occurrences which were memorable for me at the race. The first was seeing a Porsche 906 which to my recollection I have never seen in person. This car was developed in 1966 and went toe to toe with V12 Ferrari and mighty Ford V-8 racers. The 906 was powered by a lightweight 2 Liter, flat 6 producing a modest 220 HP. Some versions were later fitted with V8's.

 



The second memorable event was the ability to get up close and personal with an Oreca P-1. This car raced at Le Mans and has never raced in America until now. The exciting part of this car is the Judd V-10 power plant. The 10 cylinder Judd has such a unique sound both at idle and under full throttle. The sound is similar to a Jaguar V-12, but better. We also had the privilege of talking with the car owner who brought the car over from France to participate in this event. Our buddy JP has raced many times at Sebring and is very familiar how bumpy the track is and how tricky turn 1 and 17 are. He and the car owner had a nice chat, we wished him luck and continued our paddock wondering.

 

Moving on to the third memorable event which took place at about 10pm. Let me preface first. We have been run out of a lot of places in the track from not being allowed on pit row after the race because we had shorts on, to team tents which may have included fresh coffee and food and everything in between. I did follow JP into a drivers only meeting at one event which was freaking awesome, but that is a rabbit trail for later. 

 

Just minutes earlier, our band of motor heads had been chased out of the fenced area at the beginning of turn 17 by the corner workers. That was a bummer. As we dejectedly began our sojourn back to camp, I noticed the corner station in the middle of turn 17 was dark and manned by an older guy. Almost on command, we three instantly employed our finely honed ninja skills by blending in with the shadows and slowly and quietly moved closer to the inside wall. Suddenly out of the darkness another corner worker appeared, this one with communication gear used to give up dates to race command. We knew from experience these guys were hard to deal with. Larry used his cunning and instinct to strike up a conversation with this head phoned honcho. To my astonishment, they let us stay. Holy Smokes. The cars were whizzing by within 10 feet of our position. Protected only by 5000 pound barriers, we soaked up every sight, sound and smell with each passing second. Don't have pictures to show you because I did not want to push our luck.

 

We headed back to our corner of spectator heaven for some more of JP's Lemon Pie while sitting around a nice little fire. We shared stories about racing and life and of course always planning for the upcoming 12 Hour Race just 3 1/2 months away (we start counting days after New Years). The guys went to sleep in their vehicles, I slept on a cot inside the EZ Up. 

 

 

I will let the cars close us out.

A Toyota of some sort but absolutely no idea- first time in country

 

Ford GT in Gulf livery



Ford GT

The car that changed todays Sports Cars-Audi R8

Porsche 935 - notice the turbo at the back of the car

Former NPTI car just doesn't look right in black.

JP making that Stang look good

Ever popular Tom Milner designed Corvette

Porsche 962

 

PS- We also like nice premium cigars.

 

 

 



Be A Zombie Slayer

Someone told me not long ago they thought I could be a good Zombie slayer. I like a good fantasy, so lets play.

It has been my experience that Zombie's show up at the most inopportune times. To be a bunch of brain dead beings, these things have developed a collective reasoning which seems to gain momentum from the gaiety of the living. Maybe its an inner conflict of hope and dreams dashed by this grotesque disease which draws the walking dead toward the living. Regardless, it is essential to be aware of your surroundings at all times.

All of my dealings with Zombies have been unexpected and violent. I have found bladed weapons never run out of ammo but draws you in closer to the critter. Single encounters have taught me many of them are ticklish. If you can distract one by focusing on the tickle spot and get it laughing you can cut its head off with no problem.

Years ago I was given a Marine NCO sword. The sword is worn by Marine Non-Commissioned Officers at official functions like the annual Marine Corps Ball. They are typically ceremonial and tend not to hold a good edge. The one given to me was specially made by legendary blade craftsman, Bill Smith. Smith blades are coveted by Marines and the waiting list is long but distinguished of Devil Dogs waiting to receive these long blades. I count myself as fortunate to be one of the few non Jarheads to have one. Smith's unique forging process produces a hard , sharp edge and is what sets his swords apart from all others. He had an idea and ran with it. You might say he is the Blade Runner.

April 25 is my favorite date (because its not to hot, not cold all you need is a light jacket) and is when it all changed. We were in the back yard practicing piñata smashing. The wife and I compete in doubles professionally on the Pinata tour. I compete in the one handed category since I lost an arm during a game of bloody knuckles years ago. From the southwest we saw four "people" approaching our fenced in yard. This is not uncommon because often times when we train in the backyard, a crowd gathers to cheer and take in the awesomeness and downright badassary of our finely tuned art. I walked toward the fence, with a Sharpie uncapped so I could sign their memorabilia and welcome them. The closer they got, the more I could tell something was not right. The stench for one was stinging my nose hairs and I recall thinking to myself, great this is a bunch of Euro trash. They uttered a noise and I figured they were just speaking Euro. But before I could ask for their green cards, I realized they were dead, but walking....towards us.

I called for Shania, my wife, to bring my piñata smasher, the trusty Smith Blade. These dead walkers got tangled up in the concertina wire which surrounds our property. As their flesh was ripping and tearing, Shania and I swung for the fence and cut their heads off. To our astonishment, as soon as the heads hit the ground, they started rolling towards us, bowling ball style, in a very aggressive manner. I guess they were upset at us for lopping their lids off. Well, I couldn't pass it up, so we started playing catch me if you can. They don't change direction very fast, let me tell ya and that's a fact jack.

A miracle happened at this point. I always carry Skittles in my pocket when training and competing because they are coated with fruit flavorings and they give me unbelievable power during a long 58 stage piñata match. As luck would have it, there was a hole in my pocket containing the Skittles. Since I had been running around the yard in a zig-zag pattern, they were all over the yard. Well the Zombie heads, caught a whiff of the sweet yumminess and they started rolling around eating them up. There was something quite surreal about seeing a bunch of dead heads rolling around the backyard scarfing up candy pellets. It was like watching a Pac-Man game come to life.  As the heads gorged themselves on the candy, we finished them off by showing them pictures of Hillary making out with Bernie.

Drama seems to follow me where ever I go. There was the time I caused a riot at a Pinewood Derby race because I was winning big every time. However, this Zombie thing was the topper. Shania and I collected out Bug Out Bags, loaded up the camper and headed for Howie-In -The-Hills FL.

Zombie escape vehicle (ZEV)

After arriving at our destination, we evaluated what we had learned so far. Zombie's come from Europe and they smell like head cheese. They like Skittles and their heads can attack you even after being severed from the body. I am sure we will learn more as events deteriorate.

What a Life

Apparently, I lead a fairly blah existence. Hey, don't get me wrong, I am OK with blah.

L_R- Vinny and Miles

This past weekend was Memorial Day so what did we do? Not much...... Well my mom and dad came over on Saturday morning. Dad wanted to go to our range and shoot some new guns he recently purchased. Now mind you he is 80 years young and still going strong. So we went and slung some brass while mom and the Mrs. watched the French Open on our new TV.


Dad slinging brass

Dad and I got back to the house about 1300 hours. Well, let me tell ya, we men are calorie burning machines so we were hungry. Off to Bob Evans we all went. Now, I won't bore you or me with our menu selections, but it was right good. Sorry I didn't take pictures...darn your luck.

The folks headed back across SR 60 to their side of the state shortly after lunch. So what did we do?  I cleaned guns and knocked out two articles for my other Blog and corresponded with some clients. She did laundry and took a nap. I fell asleep watching the WWII movie marathon on TCM (Turner Classic Movies).

Understand what I am about to say is a miracle. I never sleep past 0500, but on Sunday my Beagle "let me sleep in" until his hunger pains turned him into a raging lunatic at 0630. Made my black tar coffee, fed the boys and did a bit of reading before church. We got ready and left for Sunday School about 845.

After services concluded, we hightailed it home for a quick change of clothes and off to Disney World we went. EPCOT to be exact. We entered through the back gate of the park and were "selected" for enhanced security screening. I emptied my pocket contents into the little tray and went through the security scanner. Of course it went off, so they wanded me. I actually forgot about the titanium in my lower parts until she asked me why her wand was beeping. My bad.

Last weekend for the Flower and Garden Festival

We wondered over to the American Pavilion to hear the Voices of Liberty sing in the rotunda of the building. If you have never heard the group sing, you are missing out. It is a group of eight who sing Americana songs, all acapella. The sound is spectacular. Throughout the bottom floor of the exhibit are scenes from throughout the history of our nation. Once the singing ended,  we were hearded up to the second floor for the show, which lasts about 20 minutes. That was the only thing we did. We exited the way we came in, through the back gate.

Don't tell anyone, but we parked in the "working cast members" lot across from the Boardwalk hotel. We are not working cast or even non working cast members, but we have annual passes. It feels so good to be so dirty.

Back on I-4 headed back to Cowville. Not so fast there speedy, the intrastate (I-4 is not really an interstate since it never leaves Florida) was bumper to bumper. We exited at Champions Gate and came home the back way. Took forever. Had to watch the Monaco Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500 which I recorded earlier. Hey that was a lot in one day.

Monday rolls around and I start yard work early. Now, what I do is not real yard work mind you because my yard is cut and trimmed by professionals. My once beautiful St Augustine yard is now a Bermuda, weed filled patch which needs to be re-sodded. My vision of yard work now is weeding the beds, throw a few bags of mulch here and there and my all time favorite chore is trimming Robelini Palm fronds. These suckers have thorns which penetrate leather gloves.  Napped in the man lounge after all that.

The Mrs made chicken tacos for din-din which is a favorite. Did some more writing and pillowed my head about 2100.

I am thankful for my quite and boring life, just had to share.

Later.

This Ain't no European Carry-all

This is purse, a man purse. We he-men, typically don't refer to our shoulder bags as purses, but they all do the same thing. They carry our important stuff!

My purse is actually a large shoulder bag, called the Colossus Versipack made by Maxpedition. Coach, Gucci nor Michael Kors bags can match the diverse use these bags offer. These bags are made of 1000 denier ballistic nylon and are soil and water resistant.

For those familiar with Maxpedition's line of shoulder bags, the bag is larger than the Jumbo pack by about 25%. Another great feature the bag has are all of the paracord ties on the YKK zippers which make access quick into any compartment.

The rear compartment is designed to hold a 50 ounce bladder. Which means you can attach a sip tube to the reservoir and run it through the pals webbing on the top of the bag for a quick drink without having to stop.



I have carried this bag more than any other bag I own. It is a great day hike pack and has over 500 cubic inches of space on the inside. Two rows of PALS webbing on each side and three rows on the bottom make the bag expandable based on use and need. The padded, ventilated shoulder strap is adjustable and helps distribute weight evenly. Other uses are a range bag, bug out bag, every day carry bag, travel bag, carry on the airplane bag, camera bag, a most awesome tactical diaper bag and go to Disney for a day bag. As a medic bag it would easily accommodate the needs of a platoon.

2 full rows of PALS on each side

550 cord attaching poncho via the PALS channels on the bottom
of the pack, configured for a day hike.

The main compartment measures 8"X4.5"X10". What does that mean? It'll hold a lot, that's what.
The compartment is also padded and has some insulating qualities. But mostly it holds the gear you need to tote with you.

Another plus for the bag is it has a bunch of smaller compartments to hold ancillary gear needed to support whatever endeavor you embark on.

Fire starter kit

Flashlight and cigar compartment



The bags also comes in a multitude of colors ranging from Khaki, Foliage Green, Dark Brown and Black. As a general rule I despise black bags unless the interior is a contrasting color. It makes locating key items difficult at times when looking into a black abyss. The Khaki color has held up well, has not faded or stained and the light color contrasts well with gear stowed inside.

There are not many places I go that this versatile bag does not accompany me.



In the paddock at Sebring for an HSR race 2 weeks after
surgery 6.

Like Coach, these bags are not cheap with the Colossus checking in at $149 on Maxpedition's website. However I have seen them under $120 on Amazon and Optics Planet. The old adage "you get what you pay for" is proven with this bag.

Pain Free...finally.

Let's just say, aging just doesn't do us any favors. Agreed? Basically it sucks.

Being active and exercising has its drawbacks, at least it did for me. I have been an exercise fanatic and extremely active for most of my life. Playing sports in school included, Cross Country running, Football, Soccer, Track & Field and Baseball.

As I became an adult (I use that term loosely) I continued being active and going hard at exercise. Running was a constant. In my late 30's I began to log lots of hours in the weight room trying to fight the aging process. Hey, did I mention running?

Me completing the Stop Soldier Suicide 22 Mile Challenge in 2015.

I sustained my first significant knee injury in 2002 while running, at night in the rain. The result was a torn medial and lateral meniscus and injury to the back of the knee cap. Surgery #1 in the books.

As time progressed my knees really took a pounding from my inability to restrain my activity resulting in a total of seven surgeries on both knees. The older I grew, the more intense my work outs became, until I proclaimed a fitting motto was: "workout right up to the edge". Roughly translated this meant workout right up to the edge of puking.

Eventually, it got to the point where I was having trouble walking and in constant pain and I mean blood sucking agony, keep you up at night kind of pain. Being in chronic physical pain can cause damage to other areas of your life and it must not be ignored. Your body is telling you something is wrong and you need to get it checked out. Please don't tough it out, it will come back to bite you in more ways than one.

When I was 46, the surgeon performing surgery 4 told me both of your knees need to be replaced now, but you are too young for the procedure. What the...?  Fast forward a few year and I finally decided I couldn't stand it any more. So I sought out a local Orthopedic surgeon for help. After X-Rays on both knees and a hip he told me he was going to treat me with Pain Management. I can't even explain how low I felt. Stunned and obliterated is about as close as I can do.

So I looked for a second opinion. I was fortunate and blessed to have been able to get an appointment with reknown Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Jeffery Rosen of Orlando Orthopedic Center. After a thorough examination, he asked me "how are you even walking"? This knee (the left one) was bone on bone in about 50% of the joint and almost no space left in the rest of the joint.  At the time, the only remedy was a total joint replacement called total knee Arthoplasty. I scheduled the surgery before leaving the office.

The day of surgery was filled with a bit of apprehension but no fear. The Anesthesiologist talked to me about the process of going under and that he also would also be performing a femoral nerve block which would last for about 24 hours and help with managing pain afterward.

The procedure itself is brutal and involves sharp knives, some chisel like tools, drills, guide rods and a hammer. All I can say is thank goodness for the drugs which keep you in dream land during the procedure. My first conscious thought some time later was being in the recovery room with about 20 other surgical patients before being moved into a room on the orthopedic floor of the hospital.

In recovery, sporting my always present Tampa Bay Lightning hat. (GO BOLTS!)

Being hooked up to a hydromorphine drip under my control every eight minutes was kind of nice. To my horror, at 0900 the following morning a physical therapist who we shall call "satan's son" came into the room. He actually expected me to get out of bed. Just moving the leg hurt like hell as he helped me up. He indicated "we" would be taking a few steps in the room. As I supported myself over the walker, I recall thinking few steps my butt,  I set my sights on walking to the nurses station-about 30 feet away. After the trip out and back, he then put this machine in the bed, straped my leg to it and said you need to do this 6 hours a day. At which point I pushed the little red button causing a bit of liquid pain relief to drip into my veins. I probably said something snarky like, realllllyyy?

The machine he placed in the bed is called a C.P.M. or Continuous Passive Motion machine. Basically it flexes the knee to a preset angle and all the way to flat in a very smooth motion. The goal is to work two hours per session, three times a day, increasing the flex angle each time.

Strapped into the CPM Machine

CPM control indicating -5 degrees flat, set at 115 degrees

The 26 with the arrow indicates the machine is bringing the leg from max preset flex

to the preset flat setting. All of this is controlled by the patient.

Blah,blah, blah, yodda, yodda, yodda, more PT and exercising before I left the hospital three days later. Rehabbing joint replacement is hard work. Physical Therapists came to the house to work me hard. Nurses came to check too make sure I didn't croak from the painful activities.

Fresh cut!

The first milestone occurred on the sixth day after surgery, when I woke up in the morning with a noticeable reduction in pain. Yippie! Three days later the staples were removed, all 22 of them. Once the staples came out progress moved a little quicker. I ditched the walker at 11 days and sat in the front seat of a car at 15 days. I walked a mile 21 days post op-it took 25 minutes, but I did it.

Walking the mile on day 21. The surgery is also a great way

to loose weight.

Rehab is NOT laying in bed popping pain pills. Rehab IS working your butt off at least six hours a day on the C.P.M. and exercises in between.....if you want to walk again without pain. We went to EPCOT 28 days after getting the new knee, we didn't stay very long but we went.

Let me talk about pain management. You will be given some heavy duty pain meds when you come home. I was given 4 mg Hydromorphine tablets. Take them for the first few days weather you are hurting or not. If you get behind the pain curve, it is difficult to catch up, as I found out the hard way. I went through two refills before transitioning to 10 mg Hydrocodon tabs. Unexpected relief came from the ice wrap which circulated ice cold water around the knee. I think this is how I was able to sleep at night as you are forced to sleep on your back for about a month.

Circulating ice water wrap brought tremendous relief.

Today, that knee is completely pain free. Total recovery time was roughly 12 weeks which included 22 out patient physical therapy sessions.

The second knee replacement, a year and a half later in December 2015, was much quicker to heal from. I went home the same day, resumed normal activities three weeks later, and went through far less narcotic pain medicine. Why was the second one easier? My frame of mind knew what to expect,  a skilled surgeon like Dr. Rosen helps but also the technique has improved to the point of there is no more cutting of the thigh muscle, less surgical trauma to the knee cap and a shorter incision.

And on the horizon is Stem Cell Therapy which could eliminate most joint replacement surgery all together. The treatment involves a Dr. withdrawing your blood and separating the white blood cells. The white blood cells are then injected back into the injured area and the repair begins naturally. No cutting, hacking, no drilling, no staples and no pain. However the treatment is expensive now and not covered by most insurance. As the science evolves, I envision this treatment becoming more common place.

Shameless plug for my incredible surgeon. The day after the first replacement, (remember both of my knees were shot) as I was in an out of the bed walking and exercising on the CPM, my right knee really got over worked. I was having trouble supporting my weight with it. During his rounds, I told Dr. Rosen about the issue with the right knee and I thought an injection of Cortisone would help. He agreed. He and his surgical assistant, Victoria, who I code named "Superstar" went back to his office to fetch me some C-juice. The injection took place about an hour after our conversation. It really calmed down the inflammation in the "good knee" and allowed me to complete my rehab with relative relief. By the way, I had an Orthoscopic surgery (#6) on the right knee four months later in an effort to buy me a little time before eventually replacing it as well.

I share this information for the purpose of encouraging you to seek proper medical advice if you are in a position similar to mine. There is no worse feeling than believing your pain can't be permanently remedied. I would not wish that on anyone.