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"ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN" (cont.)
We spent the first half of
the following week in the shop preparing Raminator, Rammunition, and the R/T to
head to Milford, PA for our second appearance of the year (and the first fall
appearance ever) at Milford C-J-D. It always rains in Milford when we are there;
sometimes a little, sometimes a lot, and sometimes you wish that the trucks had
propellers and rudders on the back. After some hard rain and technical bugs on
Friday night, the R/T was kept fairly busy on Saturday afternoon, though the
slippery (and deep) mud and water in the dealership’s back lot made traction
more of a joke, than anything. As I worked the front and rear steering,
throttle, and brakes in an effort to keep up forward momentum, the truck slowly
and sloppily slid its way around the field. Though the riders loved it, I was
ready to put an outboard on the back of the truck and see if that helped out
any! The ride home was one of those drives where you are just tickled pink to be
DRY!
The week following Milford
marked the last time in 2006 that we would have to wash mudded up trucks. While
Rammunition was washed and reloaded, Mark’s Raminator truck was pushed into the
shop to begin the much-needed tear-down-and-rebuild process. The truck has held
up remarkably well since it was put into service in May of 2003, but due to its
very hectic schedule the past couple of years, we haven’t had time to strip it
down to the bare frame, and rebuild it back up. Thankfully, a slower fall season
this year granted us the chance to do so. The truck was stripped down to the
bare chassis in a matter of a couple days, at which point the frame was moved
back into our welding shop, where Mark would perform any repairs or
modifications that were needed. After that, it was off to the powder coating
facility for a fresh coating of shiny black powder coating.
The break in our busy
schedule has afforded our team some well-earned and greatly-enjoyed weekends
off, in addition to the evenings at home after work during the week. These last
few weeks have offered me the simulated feeling of what a “regular” job might be
like. For someone who worked odd hours in high school, and began their career in
racing just out of high school, a “regular” job is about as alien to me
as…well…an alien, I guess. While it is nice to be sleeping in my own bed, eating
at home most nights, and sleeping in a tad here and there, I’m pretty sure that
I’d be driven to insanity if I had to live like this all the time, year after
year. Further more, I’d probably drive the people around me to insanity if I
didn’t get to travel. At least at this point in my life, I’m happy to be a
traveling man. Besides, I gotta do it for the article, right?
Mark’s truck returned to the
shop early the following week, and the re-assembly began in earnest. Sparing you
of the boring details, such as re-running wires and hoses, cutting new
polycarbonate panels, and freshening up engines and transmissions, the process
was fairly uneventful, with no major headaches to speak of. After yet another
weekend of tending to “homework”, we came upon the final few days before
Thanksgiving.
With the decision to make the
Thanksgiving holiday into one long weekend for the crew, we were left with only
three days to finish the rebuilding of Mark’s truck, in order to stay on
schedule. The truck is scheduled to depart November 28th for a dealership
appearance in Las Vegas, NV, so finishing it before Thanksgiving would be
crucial. Thankfully, the mechanical side of things was pretty much wrapped up by
Monday evening, with Tuesday being consumed with body panel mounting and decal
application. Wednesday, with the truck sporting a freshly-painted body and about
90% of its graphics, we put spark and fuel together to bring the beast back to
life. Mark took the truck out onto the shop road and drove around for a couple
minutes in the brisk and clean air, the bright sunlight glistening off the
slippery coat of new paint. Not only did the machine look good, but it ran
smooth and sounded outstanding. The smell of success filled the air.
As the day wound down,
Rammunition was unloaded from its transporter, and the tear-down process began
on it, in an effort to get a bit ahead of schedule prior to the holiday break.
For me, I had a bit more on my hands on Tuesday and Wednesday aside from my
normal shop duties. Tuesday morning, while helping Geremie and Mat change a
monster truck tire around on some wheels, I got a call on my cell phone from
Amanda. In a somewhat panicked and irritated voice, she instructed: “Come get
me.” After hearing that a couple times earlier in the year, I knew exactly what
she meant. Her “brand-X” truck had decided not to restart after she fueled it up
at the local Major-Petroleum-Corporation filling station near our house in
Rantoul. I slid into my Ram, making sure to grab some gloves on the way out of
the shop, and tore up US-45, which connects the town our shop is in and the town
of Rantoul, where we live. Arriving at the gas station about ten minutes later,
I fiddled with the key in the ignition and finally got the truck to light off.
It seems as though the trucks starting system was still giving us fits, despite
replacing the starter and battery with high-quality new units. Typical symptoms
for a vehicle with 125,000 miles on it, but frustrating none-the-less. After
parking the machine in question at the shop for further examination, I sent her
off to work in my Ram, while I contemplated my next move, wondering if her tired
truck could be counted on any longer. Anything can happen, you know.
Wednesday flew by for me, as
I spent the day mixing work with car business, wrapping up details on the phone
with the boys in Richmond, grooving tires, and working out the insurance
transfer with my insurance agent in Rantoul. For Thursday’s Thanksgiving
holiday, Amanda and I dined around mid-day, after which we took our new ride out
to Lake of the Woods in Mahomet, IL for some hiking and photography. Frequent
readers of this reporter’s rambling will recognize Lake of the Woods as one of
Amanda and I’s favorite places to spend free time. After rippling off around a
hundred and fifty or so shots in about an hour and a half’s time, we decided to
cruise around downtown Champaign and the University of Illinois campus. With the
majority of the town’s population consumed by requisite holiday activities, we
pretty much had a run of the place, walking and driving at a leisurely pace,
uninterrupted by the usually howl of the masses. As the afternoon gave way to
evening, we retired to our home in Rantoul to watch a movie and enjoy some
drinks. A fine way to close the day, in my opinion. A relaxing day such as that
was just what the doctor ordered, after the whirlwind that the first half of the
week had transformed into for Amanda and I.
While Amanda dutifully headed
off to work the day after Thanksgiving, I sought out a local restaurant for a
rare breakfast outing. Corned beef hash, potatoes, eggs, wheat toast, and
pancakes, washed down with ice water and black coffee made up my breakfast
selection, and after an enjoyable half hour or so of reading, I rose from the
table and headed out, having decided to drive on out to the shop to help Tim and
Mark get ahead on some of our current projects. Being on salary is fine by me,
as it makes my time spent at work much more informal. I decided to spend most of
my Friday helping the two of them out, seeing as how I would be missing two days
of work in late December, as Amanda and I were planning on driving out to
Wyoming to spend the holidays with my family at their home in the foothills of
the Snowy Range Mountains. Though nobody is really keeping track, all of us on
the team try to make sure we are holding up our end of the bargain; that’s part
of what separates champs from the rest of the pack, in my mind.
With my new “monthly” format for Behind The Scenes, my final contribution for you all will be towards the end of December. While I closed out last year with a two-part “wrap-up”, I believe for 2006 I will parlay that method and stick to what I’ve been doing. Those of you who have followed my updates through 2006 have essentially stepped into my life and lived part of it with me, as I’ve spared only the most boring and private details, in an effort to paint for you an accurate and descriptive picture of what life is really like out here when the stadium lights aren’t on, at least for this rambling soul. The heavy realization that time truly passes us by far too quickly always hits me towards the end of December, and I’m always a tad bit melancholy when one year gives way to another. However, I truly am excited about 2007, and I look forward to the new and exciting travels, adventures, (hopefully) triumphs, and photo opportunities that a new year always affords. So, until December, “good readings”!
- KD Email KD and let him know what you thought!!
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