Hey everyone! I hope you are all enjoying your summer and doing lots of riding! I'm happy to report that Robert (my husband, and the owner of TSP) has been doing lots of riding this summer, and I've even had the chance to ride Mario a few times (Mario would be my red go cart, pictured in the banner above). But still, I cannot believe how quickly summer is flying by! If I think it went by quickly, I can't imagine how kids going back to school are feeling.
That being said, it's been a fun summer. Last week I had the opportunity to camp out overnight with my family to watch the annual Perseids meteor shower. If you know me, you know how much I love the stars and the night sky, so you can imagine how much I look forward to meteor showers. Now if only I could see the Northern Lights. Someday....
The weekend prior to the meteor shower, I had the pleasure of working The Service Pavilion booth at the Indianapolis Moto GP event. It was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun. I was lucky enough this year to get out of both set up and tear down (that never happens), but the time spent there was still hard work! We are typically in the booth for 10+ hours a day, going non-stop. There really wasn't any down time this year, other than when the Moto GP race was going. But that's the way I like it - I'll never complain about being busy!
We got to see a lot of familiar faces, catch up with some friends (Doug & Ted, I'm talking about you!), and of course meet lots of new people. The Corsair-V sale that we had going on was a big hit, considering it was the lowest price we have EVER offered on the Corsair-V helmets. I did notice that bright, colorful helmets were by far the most popular helmets that people were interested in, which is usually not the case. I guess it's that whole 80's neon thing that is back in style (everyone always told me history repeats itself, I just didn't expect to see the 80's again this soon). I have always liked bright colors myself though (which is why I wear the Abraham helmet in the center below) - maybe that's a result of being an 80's baby.
That being said, it's been a fun summer. Last week I had the opportunity to camp out overnight with my family to watch the annual Perseids meteor shower. If you know me, you know how much I love the stars and the night sky, so you can imagine how much I look forward to meteor showers. Now if only I could see the Northern Lights. Someday....
The weekend prior to the meteor shower, I had the pleasure of working The Service Pavilion booth at the Indianapolis Moto GP event. It was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun. I was lucky enough this year to get out of both set up and tear down (that never happens), but the time spent there was still hard work! We are typically in the booth for 10+ hours a day, going non-stop. There really wasn't any down time this year, other than when the Moto GP race was going. But that's the way I like it - I'll never complain about being busy!
We got to see a lot of familiar faces, catch up with some friends (Doug & Ted, I'm talking about you!), and of course meet lots of new people. The Corsair-V sale that we had going on was a big hit, considering it was the lowest price we have EVER offered on the Corsair-V helmets. I did notice that bright, colorful helmets were by far the most popular helmets that people were interested in, which is usually not the case. I guess it's that whole 80's neon thing that is back in style (everyone always told me history repeats itself, I just didn't expect to see the 80's again this soon). I have always liked bright colors myself though (which is why I wear the Abraham helmet in the center below) - maybe that's a result of being an 80's baby.
Our original plan was to head downtown one night to grab dinner at the Weber Grill restaurant and enjoy the festivities going on downtown. However, after working long, hot days in the booth, we opted for a quick local dinner and headed back to the hotel room to relax. While in the hotel room, Rob started watching You Tube videos and ended up going down the YouTube "rabbit hole". We were watching funny videos and ended up pulling up an old favorite that we somehow discovered a few years ago. You know that Sugar Hill Gang song "Jump on it"? Well, that song has a well known riff that everyone associates specifically with that song. Unbeknownst to us, that riff was sampled from an older song..."Apache". Somehow we stumbled across the video for the original song, by Tommy Seebach. Here you go...Apache!
But the fun didn't stop there. First, Rob and Paul made their way downstairs to the "Cupboard"...or whatever the hotel calls their little sundries shop. This particular shop had a sign on the door saying "Roast and Toast". Clearly, the "Roast" referred to coffee, which was plentiful in the little shop. But I did not see bread, toast, or even a toaster anywhere in that room. What I did see, however, was an economy size bag of oyster crackers. Yeah. Like the size only a restaurant that sells A LOT of soup would want. Not the size your average hotel guest would want. To be fair, it was an extended stay hotel, but still - I wouldn't even have a bag this size in my home. In fact, I didn't even know oyster crackers came in packages that large until I saw that one.
Anyway, after everyone was back in the room, Rob continued his path down the rabbit hole and came across another YouTube gem. It might be the best and worst video I've ever seen. And as Rob pointed out, "You don't even have to remember the name of the song, because you just look up 'Worst music video ever'". The video is terrible, the singing is just a bit off key the whole time, and yet I've decided that this woman is a genius. Because if you are anything like me, this song will be stuck in your head for days. As in, I saw the video for the first time on Saturday night, and found myself alone in my car, driving home from the airport at 1am Monday morning, singing this song! I continued to sing it for a few more days, and if I even so much as thought about the video, the song was instantly stuck in my head. All I can say is that it is clear that this video was produced long before YouTube existed, and I am so glad that people hang onto this stuff for as long as they do. So are you ready for the "Worst Music Video Ever"? Here you go! You're welcome!
Okay, so back to the races. Sunday was a good day for us. Traditionally at Indy, race day is our slowest day (this is not usually the case at other tracks, it just seems to be an Indy thing). However, this year, we were swamped on Sunday! Lots of helmets went out the door as well as lots of Arai umbrellas. The umbrellas were a hit no matter what the weather - people either wanted them for shade, or to block the little bit of rain that we got there, so that was a win-win.
We all tried to grab lunch before the start of the race, and in doing so, I nearly missed the start of the race. Fortunately, I made it to my watching spot just in time. It wasn't my favorite race that I've ever seen, but it was okay. As a Lorenzo and Rossi fan, I wasn't really excited to see Marquez win. But it is what it is, and Lorenzo made up for it at the Brno race this past weekend, so all is well in my world.
Probably one of my favorite things about the race was the conversation I heard between two girls that had been sitting near me during the race. After the race ended, one girl said to the other, "I think it's neat that even though Rossi hasn't been on the podium all season, he still has a loyal fan base." The other girl agreed that yes, that is cool. What?! What?! Ummm...Rossi hasn't been OFF the podium all season, ladies. I desperately wanted to correct them on this, but couldn't think of how to do so tactfully, without coming off as a jerk. So I just let it go and chuckled to myself. Yes, I know, I'm a jerk regardless.
Immediately following the race, I headed back to the booth to prepare for the last rush of the day. Because I had a flight to catch, I had to head out at 4pm. I decided to use Uber, after reading about an agreement that the track had with a bunch of Uber drivers. On a side note here - I was making jokes over the weekend about my fear of getting a "serial killer Uber driver". I had just used Uber for the first time ever in Philly the week before, and in doing so, I inadvertently applied to become an Uber driver (I consider myself fairly tech-savvy, so I am not sure how this happened). At any rate, I got an email from uber, essentially saying that all they needed was the make and model of my car, and I would be ready to go. So, even though I am NOT a serial killer, I was pretty disturbed to find out just how easy it is to become an Uber driver. Hence the serial killer jokes. So back to the story. Apparently, in the agreement with the track, there was to be a whole lot full of Uber drivers ready and waiting. So I headed down to the lot where Paul said they all waited last year. Of course this was when it decided to start raining. I walked for about 15 minutes to get to the lot and....it was empty. So I requested an Uber ride and the driver called a few minutes later. He was only a few minutes away, but trying to coordinate with him on where to pick me up was tricky. Half of the street was closed so that all exiting traffic was going one way. Because I had walked down to the lot where I thought all the drivers would be, I was at that point in a spot where the driver couldn't possibly pick me up (due to that side of the road being closed), nor could I cross the street. So...I walked back to the track entrance and had to wait about 5 minutes before they would allow us to cross the street. He was on the other side of the street waiting for me, and as soon as I got there, he grabbed my wrist, pulled me along, and said "I got you!". Well, after all my jokes, you can imagine what was going through my head at that time. However, he turned out to be extremely professional and kind, which was a big relief. Traffic was worse than I had anticipated, so between the delay of getting an Uber pickup and the traffic, I was afraid I was going to miss my flight. I was dropped off at the airport about 50 minutes before my flight was to take off, and as I walked in, I saw Kevin Schwantz sitting outside on a bench. I had met him a few times in the past, though I am 100% positive he had no clue who I was when I said hello. Anyway, the airport lines were wonderfully short and quick, and I made it to my gate with time to spare. The flight went smooth and dropped me off in Philly....where I had a 3 hour layover. The kicker is...I live 1 hr and 15 minutes from the Philly airport, and had a 3 hour layover to fly to an airport that is 1 and a half hours away from my home. But flights to Indy were crazy expensive this year, and flying from Allentown just made more sense this time around. Fortunately, I liked to read and I just devoured a book for most of the layover, so it wasn't all that bad. After arriving in Allentown, I jumped in my car and sang "Losing you" (i.e. "Worst Music Video Ever") all the way home... :)
But the fun didn't stop there. First, Rob and Paul made their way downstairs to the "Cupboard"...or whatever the hotel calls their little sundries shop. This particular shop had a sign on the door saying "Roast and Toast". Clearly, the "Roast" referred to coffee, which was plentiful in the little shop. But I did not see bread, toast, or even a toaster anywhere in that room. What I did see, however, was an economy size bag of oyster crackers. Yeah. Like the size only a restaurant that sells A LOT of soup would want. Not the size your average hotel guest would want. To be fair, it was an extended stay hotel, but still - I wouldn't even have a bag this size in my home. In fact, I didn't even know oyster crackers came in packages that large until I saw that one.
Anyway, after everyone was back in the room, Rob continued his path down the rabbit hole and came across another YouTube gem. It might be the best and worst video I've ever seen. And as Rob pointed out, "You don't even have to remember the name of the song, because you just look up 'Worst music video ever'". The video is terrible, the singing is just a bit off key the whole time, and yet I've decided that this woman is a genius. Because if you are anything like me, this song will be stuck in your head for days. As in, I saw the video for the first time on Saturday night, and found myself alone in my car, driving home from the airport at 1am Monday morning, singing this song! I continued to sing it for a few more days, and if I even so much as thought about the video, the song was instantly stuck in my head. All I can say is that it is clear that this video was produced long before YouTube existed, and I am so glad that people hang onto this stuff for as long as they do. So are you ready for the "Worst Music Video Ever"? Here you go! You're welcome!
Okay, so back to the races. Sunday was a good day for us. Traditionally at Indy, race day is our slowest day (this is not usually the case at other tracks, it just seems to be an Indy thing). However, this year, we were swamped on Sunday! Lots of helmets went out the door as well as lots of Arai umbrellas. The umbrellas were a hit no matter what the weather - people either wanted them for shade, or to block the little bit of rain that we got there, so that was a win-win.
We all tried to grab lunch before the start of the race, and in doing so, I nearly missed the start of the race. Fortunately, I made it to my watching spot just in time. It wasn't my favorite race that I've ever seen, but it was okay. As a Lorenzo and Rossi fan, I wasn't really excited to see Marquez win. But it is what it is, and Lorenzo made up for it at the Brno race this past weekend, so all is well in my world.
Probably one of my favorite things about the race was the conversation I heard between two girls that had been sitting near me during the race. After the race ended, one girl said to the other, "I think it's neat that even though Rossi hasn't been on the podium all season, he still has a loyal fan base." The other girl agreed that yes, that is cool. What?! What?! Ummm...Rossi hasn't been OFF the podium all season, ladies. I desperately wanted to correct them on this, but couldn't think of how to do so tactfully, without coming off as a jerk. So I just let it go and chuckled to myself. Yes, I know, I'm a jerk regardless.
Immediately following the race, I headed back to the booth to prepare for the last rush of the day. Because I had a flight to catch, I had to head out at 4pm. I decided to use Uber, after reading about an agreement that the track had with a bunch of Uber drivers. On a side note here - I was making jokes over the weekend about my fear of getting a "serial killer Uber driver". I had just used Uber for the first time ever in Philly the week before, and in doing so, I inadvertently applied to become an Uber driver (I consider myself fairly tech-savvy, so I am not sure how this happened). At any rate, I got an email from uber, essentially saying that all they needed was the make and model of my car, and I would be ready to go. So, even though I am NOT a serial killer, I was pretty disturbed to find out just how easy it is to become an Uber driver. Hence the serial killer jokes. So back to the story. Apparently, in the agreement with the track, there was to be a whole lot full of Uber drivers ready and waiting. So I headed down to the lot where Paul said they all waited last year. Of course this was when it decided to start raining. I walked for about 15 minutes to get to the lot and....it was empty. So I requested an Uber ride and the driver called a few minutes later. He was only a few minutes away, but trying to coordinate with him on where to pick me up was tricky. Half of the street was closed so that all exiting traffic was going one way. Because I had walked down to the lot where I thought all the drivers would be, I was at that point in a spot where the driver couldn't possibly pick me up (due to that side of the road being closed), nor could I cross the street. So...I walked back to the track entrance and had to wait about 5 minutes before they would allow us to cross the street. He was on the other side of the street waiting for me, and as soon as I got there, he grabbed my wrist, pulled me along, and said "I got you!". Well, after all my jokes, you can imagine what was going through my head at that time. However, he turned out to be extremely professional and kind, which was a big relief. Traffic was worse than I had anticipated, so between the delay of getting an Uber pickup and the traffic, I was afraid I was going to miss my flight. I was dropped off at the airport about 50 minutes before my flight was to take off, and as I walked in, I saw Kevin Schwantz sitting outside on a bench. I had met him a few times in the past, though I am 100% positive he had no clue who I was when I said hello. Anyway, the airport lines were wonderfully short and quick, and I made it to my gate with time to spare. The flight went smooth and dropped me off in Philly....where I had a 3 hour layover. The kicker is...I live 1 hr and 15 minutes from the Philly airport, and had a 3 hour layover to fly to an airport that is 1 and a half hours away from my home. But flights to Indy were crazy expensive this year, and flying from Allentown just made more sense this time around. Fortunately, I liked to read and I just devoured a book for most of the layover, so it wasn't all that bad. After arriving in Allentown, I jumped in my car and sang "Losing you" (i.e. "Worst Music Video Ever") all the way home... :)
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