To The Track!!!!

Today Alex, Jason, and I made plans to go to the race track with our trucks this next week.

We'll be going on Tuesday, and we'll either be heading to the track in Lansing if the weather is good, or to Dirt Burners in Livonia if the weather is bad.

I basically told them that I would rather go to the free track as long as the weather allows...because we'll be able to go to Dirt Burners indoor track all winter long when we want, so we may as well take advantage of the other track while it's still nice enough outside to do so.

I think I'll be taking my new buggy and my monster truck with me, along with the 4 wheel drive Tamiya buggy.

My 1/10th buggy and my stadium truck are both set up to run on the clay at Dirt Burners, so I'd rather not put them out on the different type of surface to make sure the tires are still in good shape when I do eventually make it to Dirt Burners.

I'm really wanting to run the new 1/8th scale truck to see what it can do. I know it's fast, and I know it's quick...but I really want to see it do some jumping!!!

Amazon Kindle Fire Tablet...

As anyone that's read my blog for a while knows, I have an Android tablet...an Archos A70.

I got it because I wanted something more portable than my laptop but with a bigger screen than my phone. The A70 worked well, but it never seemed to be as powerful as I had hoped.

So I have been on the constant lookout for a new tablet, but I simply didn't want to spend $500 or more to get an Android 3.0 tablet like a Xoom or an Acer Iconia.

A while back I had heard rumors that Amazon was working on a tablet of their own. These rumors really heated up about three weeks ago, and I began checking for news about it daily.

I found out that it was real, a guy at TechCrunch had actually used it. I found out that September 28th Amazon had scheduled a media event in New York...supposedly to announce the tablet. I found out that it was supposed to be a fairly powerful device (compared to my A70) for less than $300.

So, if you're paying attention...today is September 28th...and this is what was announced...


This is the Kindle Fire. It's an Android powered tablet that's not really using Android. Make sense?? Of course not. It runs a version of Android, but it's been so modified that you can't even tell it's Android. It's got a 1.2ghz dual core processor in it (compared to the 250mhz processor in the A70). It's got a 7" screen, which I find to be better for tablets than a 10" screen. It seamlessly integrates with all things Amazon...the book store, the video store, and the app store. So basically, it's a powerful Amazon device that will give you all things Amazon at the touch of a button.

Best part??

$199.

That's right. Less than $200.

Cathy went ahead and preordered one for each of us. They are supposed to ship on November 15th, and we should get them a day or two after that.

I'm looking forward to it. It looks pretty awesome!!!

Building a Hybrid Buggy/Truck Thing...

I have pretty much everything done to all of my RC trucks and buggies that I want to have done to them. I need to do one more thing to the Backslash...and that's get some hardened shock shafts to replace the ones I bent. I also would like to get a new body for the Ruckus, but that's not really necessary...just something that I would like to do.

That means that the only truck that isn't really done is CircuitTWO. I had originally bought CircuitTWO as a parts truck, but then I managed to get everything on CircuitONE fixed without using many parts from the other truck.

So I basically have an "extra" stadium truck that really only needs a few things to get it running. It needs some transmission gears, because I took the gears out of it to put into the Ruckus when i smashed the gears in it. It needs some shock spacers because I robbed them off of it for some other trucks, but that's not an issue because I just got some new aluminum shocks for the other Circuit, so those spacers can be put back on right away.

Other than that, it just needs a motor combo for it because it's only got stock electronics in it.

But I don't really NEED another stadium truck...so what to do??

I got it...I'll make it into some crazy hybrid buggy thing.

Like this...


Or this...from another angle...


It's basically the stock Circuit chassis, with a hacked up body that I wasn't going to be using from a B4.

It actually looks pretty sweet...like a standard 1/10th buggy with a really wide wheel set and big wheels.

Now the only thing I really need to decide is what type of motor combo I want to go with for it. I had thought about getting another 380 combo like I have for the B4, but then I kind of thought about going insane...with like a 5700kv motor and a 120a ESC to get this thing up into the 60-65 MPH range.

Of course, I could always just go with another Castle system and call it a day.

Either way I decide to go, I think it's going to be a really cool little project. I've got a wing mount on the way for it, but I'm not sure if I'm going to use it. I kind of like the looks of the vehicle with just the body on it.

Happy Birthday Google!!!

A while back I made a post about Drinking the Google Kool-Aid.

Well, with that in mind, I would like to wish Google a Happy 13th Birthday!!!

I don't remember exactly when I discovered Google, but I know it's been my homepage on every PC that I have owned for years now. I also use a Google powered phone, Google for my mail, and Google for just about everything that I can.

Here's to many more great years!!!

Don't Look Now...

...but the Lions just did something that GOOD teams do.

Down 20-0 at halftime, the Lions of the last few seasons would have probably just gotten ready for the plane ride home. But not THIS Lions team. THIS Lions team came back out punching.

And ended up getting on that plane to come home with their first 3-0 start since 1980.

Impressive?? Absolutely.

They have all the makings of a decent football team...but the thing that seems to impress me the most is the fact that they look like they are having fun.

Now, let's just hope they can keep this good season on track. I'm not hoping for 14 or 15 wins...but I would like to see them just keep playing well.

Detroit deserves it!!!

My First Custom Body...

So, I got the graphics and the paint done on my first really custom body. I painted the body on the B4, but that was just a quick and ugly job to get it a different color. This one I spent a bit of time on and I think it came out great.

I did learn a few things, though. I need to be a bit more patient and I definitely need to do a bit better job of cleaning up the body before laying the paint down.

Overall, though, I think it looks great.

Here's some pictures.

Parts Started Arriving...

Today I got a bunch of RC stuff in the mail.

Problem?? I didn't get quite what I was expecting.

First of all, I ordered the shocks and body from the same place, and they gave me a single tracking number for the package. When I got the package today, the body was in the box, but instead of the shocks there was a note telling me that some items will ship separately. This makes me think that maybe they didn't actually have the parts I ordered in stock, which upsets me AND is against Ebay's policies, I believe. I sent them an e-mail to see what's up, so hopefully I'll hear back soon.

I also got the batteries for the new buggy. Problem is, I got a pack substituted instead of what I actually ordered. It's no big deal, the pack they substituted is actually a more expensive pack, but I really wanted to try out the batteries that I bought.

The buggy should be here tomorrow. Hopefully that goes better than today's shipments!!!

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

I love it.



It's like they are terrified of it and curious about it at the same time. Then, they follow it like it's their leader, only to be terrified and curious about it again!!!

Bunch of New Stuff For CircuitONE...

So, CircuitONE was the first RC car that I got...and it's been too long since I did any work on it.

On the way for the Circuit right now are:
1. New body
2. New tires
3. New wheels
4. New fan for the motor
5. New aluminum shocks

I will be dying the wheels the same pink color as I did on the B4 buggy, and the body will be painted the same color as the B4 body, but with some added designs.

The fan for the motor is necessary because the other one bent, and I can't get it back to the correct shape for it to fit on the motor correctly.

The aluminum shocks are something that I have wanted since I first got the truck, and they are supposed to do a great job of rebounding and damping, so they should help the truck to jump quite a bit better.

Once I have all of these things installed, CircuitONE will pretty much be done. There won't be much more that I will possibly be able to do to it!!!!

That Time of Year...

So, it's about that time of year when I start to have a stuffy nose on a regular basis, and a sore throat a couple of times a month.

Today I have both!!!

Awesome.

The worst part about the process is the sore throat. It hurts quite a bit until it finally moves completely into my head, and then I'm just stuffy. I'd rather be stuffy than have a sore throat any day of the week.

Maybe this winter won't be quite as bad as the last few...but probably not.

The best part??? This means that it's slowly becoming winter!!! Yay!!!! Oh wait...crap...

Divisional Champions!!

Congrats to the Detroit Tigers on their first Division Title since 1987!!! They've been on fire as of late, and hopefully can keep it up come October!!!

Stupid Spartans...

The Spartans got pounded today. I watched the first half, and really couldn't figure out what they were trying to do. They are a POWER RUNNING team, and they seemed like they had given up on the running game after their first two drives.

It's always bad when they lose...but it's always worse when they lose to Notre Dame.

Next week, hopefully, they will get back on the winning track before moving on to the Big 10 schedule.

1/8th Scale Buggy...

Well, the RC vehicle that I've really wanted since I started getting into this hobby earlier this year was a 1/8th scale buggy. They look cool. They are big. They are heavy. They are fast.

I pretty much became obsessed with them the first time I went to Dirt Burners and watched all the 1/8th trucks literally tear up the track. Nothing could touch them.

So I finally went ahead and got one.

It's an XTM XT2e and it's ready to run other than batteries.


It's got a nice motor in it, a very nice ESC, is 4wd, and is said to have a top speed of about 45 MPH...but it gets there in about 2 seconds.

It comes with a pretty nice radio system, as well, but I won't be using that because I already have a pretty nice radio system. So I'll be able to throw that radio up on Ebay pretty much as soon as I get it and get some of the money back that I spent on the buggy.

I also ordered the batteries for it and some other things for my other trucks...hopefully things will start showing up early next week!!!

Been Doing Some Reading...

I was looking for things to do in Michigan on Halloween because we will have the day off this year, and while looking around I found this interesting book on the web.

I ordered it from Amazon and it showed up pretty quickly.

It's pretty cool. Basically, it starts off giving you a history of each haunted location that the authors have visited. It tells you WHY the place might be haunted and gives you some witness accounts of happenings. Then the second part of each story goes into the actual investigation that the authors did with various other paranormal investigation groups.

After you've finished reading each story, you can then go to the website that the authors have set up and enter a code that is printed with each story to get into a "Secret Room" where you can see the photos, videos, and listen to the recordings that they captured while doing the investigation!!

I don't read very often, but I've been having a good time reading this. They also have a second book out, so I'll probably order that one as soon as I'm done with this first one.

I would like to start reading a bit more...I'm not sure if I actually will, but I would like to. It's relaxing.

Post and Ye Shall Receive....

...so yesterday I posted about getting Gingerbread soon for my R2D2 phone, right??

This morning I woke up and was prompted to install the latest operating system for Android.

How awesome is that?? It installed quickly and easily and has all the new features of Android 2.3.

Great stuff.

Gingerbread...

I've found out that my Motorola Droid R2D2 is going to be getting Gingerbread soon!!!

That means that it's going to have the most up to date operating system available for Android powered devices. It gives it better stability, battery life, and it's supposed to download and run on 3G quite a bit faster.

I had started to think that it wasn't going to be made available at all, but the rumors started popping up a few days ago, and now Verizon has a page on their website that tells you how to go about installing it once it's downloaded to your phone, which is a sure sign that it's coming soon!!!

Please Don't Ever Forget.

I will always...ALWAYS...remember exactly what I was doing on the morning of September 11th, 2001. I can't say that about really any other day in my life. But I will remember the details of that morning for as long as I live.

Even to this day I still sometimes think about it and get very sad. As I watched college football today and saw some of the tributes, I couldn't help but break down in tears. I can't believe it's already been ten years.

Please, everyone, don't ever forget.

Only Waiting on Paint...

I've now got EVERY part installed on the B4 buggy, and the only thing that I'm waiting for now is paint. That should be here early next week, and I'll get to work on painting my first body.

Oh wait, I still need new tires, but those aren't that important while I'm just testing the buggy out on the street.

So after I get some paint next week, I'll start seriously looking for tires...then the buggy will be ready for some racing!!!

Three Horrible Starts to Days in a Row...

So Thursday Cathy and I got up and headed to work.

Oddly enough, I felt good about going in to work and was looking forward to a fun week with my co-workers.

Of course, that was short lived. We got there and about five minutes into our day they let us know that we were going to have to work mandatory overtime on Friday, and that our hours had changed on Saturday. Great. Just what I wanted to hear when I was in a good mood.

So we made it through that day, and woke up on Friday...only to find that Cooper had gone potty on our brand new love seat. I ripped it apart and got everything cleaned up, but the cushion is going to take a few days to dry. So we have a love seat with only one seat on it. Great way to start out Friday.

So we end up making it through Friday and get up on Saturday morning. Everything is going fine, we're going in early to get another hour of overtime, and I grab my wallet. I put it in my pocket, and then I look at my arm and it's covered in black stuff. I couldn't figure out what it was, until I noticed that my pen had exploded in my front pocket of my work shirt. So I went to grab my other one, and wouldn't you know it...I couldn't find my other one that fits, and the only one I could find was too small. So instead of getting an hour of overtime this morning I ended up using two hours of leave time because I didn't make it in on time after having to wash my shirt a couple of times.

I'm hoping the rest of the week goes just a tad bit smoother.

Halloween Costume...

For the last several years, there has been a Halloween costume at Target that I have really wanted to buy. But, for one reason or another, I never end up buying it. I usually say to myself, "Oh I'll wait until after Halloween and get it for a discounted price" and then when I go back they're all sold out.

So today, Cathy and I were in Target and they had it again. I had said to myself a few weeks ago that if they had it again this year, I was just going to get it.

So I decided to go ahead and buy it, even though Halloween is still a good ways off.

Here's the stock picture of it, because I didn't get one of me in it yet.


I don't really know what I'm going to do with it...but we have Halloween off this year, so maybe we'll pass out some candy.

Of course, wouldn't you know, as soon as I got it at Target...I found it on Target's website for $15 less than I paid for it. So now I'm thinking about taking it back to get my money back and then buying it online instead...but that seems like a hassle...so I'm not sure.

Track Time...

Today Jason came down and we were going to go to a track in Hillsdale, Michigan...about 45 minutes from my house.

We got there around 3:00 or so, and bad news...rain washed all the dirt from the track away earlier this year, so it is no longer open. I did get some stuff from their little shop, but ultimately we were disappointed.

So we decided to drive the two hours give or take to Lansing to try the little track out at Grand Woods park.

Turned out to be totally worth it. The little track is great, and Jason and I were the only two there so we didn't feel crowded or anything like that...and we could crash all we wanted without worrying about getting into anyone else's way.

I ended up breaking a few things on two of my trucks, but got them fixed when I got home. Not too big of a deal.

I also had some stuff waiting for me when I got home...ball studs to put adjustable links on the Ruckus, a motor and ESC combo for the B4 buggy, and a new 4 wheel drive buggy by Tamiya called a Gravel Hound. I'll try to get some pictures of the Gravel Hound tomorrow. It's VERY cool looking.

I'll probably try to get to that track in Lansing a few more times before the fall really sets in. It was pretty awesome.

50,000...

...that's how many kills I finally hit in "Bad Company 2."

I've set small goals for myself in the game ever since I got it, and as soon as I hit level 50, then the next thing became 50,000 kills.

It took me quite a while to get there, but it was satisfying once I did.

Next up?? I'm not really sure..."Battlefield 3" comes out in just about 7 weeks, so I don't know if I can get anywhere else before then...

You've Got To Be Kidding Me...

So I started watching the Notre Dame vs South Florida game at work after we were done for the day. Right about the time we were getting ready to leave they went to a weather delay. So I made it home and found out the delay was a lengthy one, and the game hadn't started again yet.

So I took a nap and when I woke up the game was on again. Cool.

Watched it for a while, then they went to another weather delay with about 5 minutes or so left in the game. It was supposed to last about 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes or so, I noticed on ESPN.com that they were playing again, so I went to switch it back to watch the end, and it wasn't on. Apparently the local station decided to just go ahead with whatever they had normally scheduled to play.

So basically, I spent several hours watching the game only to have the last few minutes not even covered. Amazing.

The only good part about it was that eventually the Irish did in fact lose. That was all that I wanted to see, was them lose. But come on, I didn't even get to see it happen, or hear the homer announcers talk about how Notre Dame got the short end of the stick or something.

Oh well, maybe I'll get to see them lose next weekend...

MSU Football...

Tonight the Spartans began their quest to defend their Co-Big 10 Championship from last season.

The game started out pretty slowly, and the Spartans looked pretty anemic on both offense and defense.

But by the fourth quarter they seemed to be playing better. Maybe their performance on the field last season made it seem as if they should come out and just demolish a 1AA opponent, and that fact makes a 22 point victory seem like it wasn't very impressive.

But, as they said at the end of the game...a win is a win. So I hope they show up a bit stronger next week, and continue to get better as the Big 10 season approaches.

Another One of These...

...types of posts.

But...

...are you serious??

It's already September??

I really can't believe how fast the year is going by. College football started tonight. The NFL starts next week. It's starting to get dark earlier. In about a month we'll probably start noticing some trees changing colors.

It's hard to believe that it's almost fall. Where did the summer go?? It seems like it took forever to get here, and then once it did it feels like it's been disgustingly hot ever since it showed up.

Oh well...I'm sure it will fee like no time before I'm making another one of these posts at the beginning of October...