"A Day At The Races"

This past Saturday my brothers Scott & Steve and I went to Stafford Springs Connecticut to the Stafford Springs Raceway to participate in the "Rusty Wallace Racing Experience". Stafford Springs Raceway is a half mile track with slight "banking in the corners we all were there for the "ride around experience" as we were "co-pilots" in the cars along side an experienced professional race car driver. We all entered our cars through the window just like a real race car driver ( also like the "General Lee in the Dukes of Hazzard television show) and were wearing a regulation helmet and race outfit.

I would estimate our average speed to be about 93 miles an hour and I was surprised at the "G" force as the driver would floor the car down the "straightway" and then hit the brakes fairly hard to reduce the speed right before the corners. I tried to video this race experience but somehow the video didn't work I found out later after the ride as I must have put the camera in the selection one spot away from video mode.

I rode in the  "00" red Ford Taurus car which I thought seemed to be the fastest car there at the track. My brothers both rode in a blue modified racing truck.

We all definitely experienced the real feel of the racing experience and I would recommend the "Rusty Wallace Racing Experience" to anyone who wants to get a taste of a "Day at the Races" and perhaps feels "the need for speed". The Rusty Wallace Racing Experience is available at various tracks of all types throughout the country at all types of tracks offering "ride around" and individually driven race car experiences. My driver and I did pass some of the individual riders quite closely almost like they were standing still as these drivers of course don't have as much skill or comfort with their cars as the professional drivers. I wonder how the racing experience would be on the bigger tracks such as Daytona, Michigan, or Talladega super speedways? Maybe some day when I am older I'll get a chance to find out.

I Don't Want Ebola

"Free Pot"

Today I receive my first "free pot" from the local Shaw's supermarket. This "Cuisinart 2 quart stainless cookware" only took $1,000 worth of groceries with one "green stamp" received for every ten dollars worth of items purchased. So I guess this pot isn't really free but it is "catchier" in marketing than saying "You can get this here saucepan for only one thousand dollars worth of purchases".

Similarly, there is a local pizza place that says "Buy one large pizza and get a small cheese pizza free.". You can't get the "free" pizza without spending money. A lot of promotions are "BOGO" (buy one get one).

Well, I guess I can't complain too much especially as I do eat everyday and with this pot I did "get a little help from my friends" with the green stamps; but that is another story plus the retail price for this pot is supposedly $39.99.

"Skyline Chili In A Bowla"

I just finished recording an acapella  song today where I talked about not wanting or liking "Ebola" and in this song I mentioned that I'd rather eat "Chili in a bowla" when just at noon time I received a package from "Pauline " of Lawrenceburg, Indiana containing 4 cans of "Skyline chili" renowned in Cincinnati, Ohio area since 1949. Pauline and her husband were recent guests driving their car all the way to the "Soundings Resort A Bluegreen managed resort" in Dennisport on Cape Cod. On arrival I was speaking with Pauline and her husband about the "Skyline Chili" and also the "Mike Fink Riverboat of Covington, Kentucky". Pauline said, "Hey Rick, give me your address and I'll send you some chili". True to her word, today I'm in "Chili Heaven!" with the arrival of this chili package. Thanks Pauline for  the chili and crackers  and remembering me. I hope you and your husband had a great time visiting the Cape and the Soundings. I'll have to try your serving ideas and also add a hot pepper or two from my recent garden to make this chili even hotter than the "five alarm version".

Ebola Me No Like. Not Fun

I don't like Ebola.             Ebola is no fun. I just don't like it. Too bad we can't restrict this deadly plague to Africa and try to contain it, treat it, and eliminate it. BUT, apparently that is not "politically correct" and the CDC (Center for Disease Control) and the Obama Administration seem to feel that it is better NOT to restrict air travel or secured our borders as people from the affected Western African countries will willingly submit to testing,  quarantine, and telling the truth about their flight origin and medical history and potential Ebola exposure. Their logic is IF we restricted travel from the affected countries then these people would just enter through our unsecured borders without any medical testing or monitoring and spread Ebola even faster.

I don't know. Doesn't seem to make sense to me. I don't want or like the thought of Ebola and having blood spurting out my eyeballs. Not fun. check out my YouTube video .

"Doggone Dog Visits the Soundings"

This week we had a late night visitor on the grounds of the Soundings Resort in Dennisport on the Cape. Maintenance man "Pete"  found this "doggone dog" wandering around without an owner is sight. We decided to keep this dog in the lobby and call the police to help determine who owned the dog from the dog tag license number. This dog who we found out was named "Honey" was quite playful and curious as it wandered around the lobby and office. Honey found a whiffle ball in the back office so we played fetch for a while and I gave the dog some water from a bowl while waiting for the police officer to arrive. It was determined that the dog lived nearby and this 10 month old Yellow Labrador was given just a verbal warning for trespassing and sent on its way when its owner arrived.

Special Delivery

Thanks for the "special delivery" "Joe G" from West Haven, Connecticut of a "clam pizza" from "Pepe's Pizza " of Wooster Street in New Haven all the way to the Soundings Resort in Dennis Port on Cape Cod (a 186 mile trip according to Google Maps). "Pepe's Pizza" a New Haven landmark, was recently voted the Number ONE pizza in America with the clam pizza. I appreciate this gesture from you Joe and the over three hour trip you made to the Cape.

I remember back at the University of Connecticut in 1975 while attending school there that student John DeStefano Jr. and others used to make the drive from Storrs, Connecticut to Wooster Street in New Haven for "Pepe's and Sally's pizzas". John later became New Haven's longest serving  mayor and still resides in New Haven (one of the "Pizza Capitals of the World if not THE pizza capital of the world").

"Deer In Headlights"

A couple nights ago I was driving to my house around 11:40 PM from the Soundings Resort. I was a few hundred feet from the turn off to my street when out from the corner of my eye I saw a deer running from the right hand side of the road towards my car from between a couple of houses. I though for an instant "Hmm, I've never seen a deer on this road before". The deer kept on running and didn't stop so we ended up colliding on the right passenger headlight area of my car. I was probably driving around 30 MPH at the time and didn't have enough time to avoid the deer. I wonder what this deer was thinking? Probably not too much I guess. From the collision , the deer was knocked into the center of the road on to its side; the deer looked at me for a second and then got up and continued running across the street.  I guess deer don't know enough to watch out for traffic so I literally had a "deer in headlights".

I went back later an found the piece of plastic from the headlight on the road and taped it up. The next day I went to a local auto parts store  and they said that they could order the replacement part for $375.00 and it would be there the next day. I decided to check the Internet and found the same part on EBay with a "buy it now price of $195.06 including shipping for a parts store in Illinois with arrival scheduled for Tuesday. So, I will see if I made the right decision when the part arrives although they do allow for free return shipping if the part doesn't fit.

I'm glad the deer seemed "OK" and I'm glad my car wasn't "totaled" but I kind of wish the deer was able to "chip in a few bucks" but it ran away before I could ask for identification.

Dennisport Mural

Here is a photo of a sailing mural located on a former brick wall in back of Main Street in Dennisport on Cape Cod near "Auntie's Ice Cream Parlor, the Red Nun Restaurant and Jeremy's Barber Shop" which I took on "Columbus Day" this year. This mural represents sailing of course, but not the "Nina, Pinta, or Santa Maria" of the Christopher Columbus fleet of 1492. It is said that the Vikings visited Newfoundland in Canada and also the town of Dennis before it was a town in approximately 1005 with Leif Erikson. We don't have a "Leif  Erikson Day" celebration with getting off of work although October 9th has been deemed "Leif Erikson Day".

"Twenty-Six Summers Ago"

Twenty-six Summers ago I remember browsing through a "Cape Cod Compass Summer 1988" magazine and seeing myself in the above print advertisement for the local radio station "WCOD" in a picture taken at their annual "Cape Cod Chowder Festival" held at the "Melody Tent" in Hyannis, Mass. I'm pictured on the left in the photo pouring in some light cream into the chowder pot and John Richards is stirring in the cream into the chowder. This photo was taken a few years before 1988 and I remember being amused and surprised to see myself unexpectedly in the magazine.

We were representing the "Captain's Clambake Emporium and catering operations at that time based in Dennis Port and used to feature the traditional New England Clambake both inside the restaurant along with as many as five outside on location catered clambakes occurring on the same day. The Manning family, owners of the Captain's Clambake Emporium had converted the former "Hereford House"into a  restaurant which featured a custom stainless steel steam unit for the clambake and a  gas radiant "charbroiler " for cooking steaks and chicken in an open kitchen. There was a player piano present for entertainment and I was in charge of the group sales (primarily motorcoach groups) for the restaurant along with helping market the catered clambake business.

I had my fill of clam chowder and watermelon over those years as for "quality control" I would sample and rate each chowder and watermelon on what they would call the "Ricker scale". I would welcome each group at the restaurant along with giving a short speech about the history of the New England Clambake and our cooking processes along with changing the piano rolls for the player piano and helping direct the groups through the clambake meal.

I look different now over 25 years later but seem to be still about the same size and weight. Pictures are a "snapshot" in time which moves steadily on for us all.

"Sheik Yaboutay "

   I remember this song from 1976 by "KC and the Sunshine Band; "Sheik Yaboutay" during the era when "funky" music was popular. Here is a You Tube from "Soul Train". I never understood why the song title is "Sheik Yaboutay" but maybe this song is a tribute to one of the Saudi Arabian Sheiks who helped end the gas lines and gas shortages of the Jimmy Carter era of the early 1970's.. Apparently "Sheik Yaboutay" could really dance and maybe "KC" went over to to Saudi Arabia and watched one of the local "Dancing Under the Tents" dance contests which were quite popular in Saudi Arabia and the other Middle Eastern countries back then. It is my understanding that many of the dance contestants would drive their camels over many desert  sand dunes for many a mile for the opportunity to compete at the oasis. For some reason, these contests were always held on a Wednesday night (also known as "Hump Day")probably in honor of all the camels. I was surprised to learn this but it must be true as I saw this on the Internet somewhere. "Shake Your Booty" Sheik Yaboutay.

Ebola Out of Controla? Time Will Tell

I see there are reports of Ebola spreading to the USA in Texas and possibly Washington D.C according to the recent news reports. Is Ebola out of controla? Reports I have read saw there is a possibility of up to 1.3 million cases in Africa by January 2015 according to some projections by health officials if this virus is not contained. Viruses I guess are prone to "mutate" over time in some cases and the fear is that Ebola could evolve into some sort of airborne strain where literally "all hell would break loose". They say that contracting Ebola is like the fires of hell inside the body and that blood even starts to flow from your eyes, ears, nose, and rectum from the  hemorrhagic conditions of this virus.

I wonder if this is one of the "Four Horseman of the Apocalypse" as described in the Book of Revelations in the Bible. Some interpret the first horseman as representing "Pestilence" and the spread of disease. Time will tell how rapidly Ebola spreads throughout the world and how many will suffer a gruesome death.

Now, the United States has sent approximately 3,000 soldiers to Africa to help construct treatment facilities for the expanding number of Ebola victims to help in trying to treat this deadly virus. I hope these troops aren't directly exposed to the Ebola patients or we may end up with many soldiers coming back to America infected with this virus and further spreading this virus throughout the country. Time will tell.

There are other reports of new respiratory viruses spreading throughout America. The "open borders" policy of letting virtually anybody that wants to walk or swim across our Southern border without any type of medical screening may have contributed to new types of diseases and viruses broad to our country. Especially, I have heard that these new immigrants have been "settled" in all of the states.

It is usually risky to expose populations to new germs, viruses, and diseases. It is my understanding that many Native American Indians died from exposure to European settlers and the "small pox" they brought with them to the New World.

Time will tell the extent of the Ebola and other virus outbreaks. Time will tell if the lax government policies regarding immigration and health screening will come back to strike us with an out of control epidemic or if these viruses can be contained.