The week in Indy

This week was spent at in Indianapolis for the Brickyard 400.  I had my normal travel day on tuesday and went to work on wednesday.   I had a normal work week, but the speedway here is a tough one for putting out our equipment.  It's so spread out and difficult to get to many of the camera positions and our telemetry base station positions.

The Indy Speedway has only allowed the Sprint Cup series to race there in the past, (in relation to NASCAR), but this year opened up to 3 other series, so the place was a nut house and very busy.

The new schedule had it where there were none of the cars on the track on friday that our product covers, so most of us didn't even have to go into the track that day.  Looking for things to do, I read that Indianapolis has a great art museum, so I head up north of town to experience it.  It was quite impressive and I probably didn't even see half of it.

Later on friday afternoon, I went to the movies and then had dinner.  It was a fun relaxing day.

Today (sunday) was a very busy day at the track.  I got there before sunrise and spent the early morning checking on my equipment.   At 10:30, Justin Moore played a concert in the infield, so I went and enjoyed some of that.  He's a very country singer and has a couple of hit singles like "If heaven wasn't so far away", "bait a hook" and "small town USA".  It was a good concert.

Afterward, I went to the frontstretch to see The Band Perry put on a mini concert.  Having an all access pass to the track allowed me to get right up close to the stage quite easily.   It was a very good concert.  I really like the band and think the lead singer is quite sexy!  

They only sang 3 songs:  Their hit: "you lie", their hit "If I die young" and they covered "Fat Bottom Girls" by Queen.  Their choice of songs to cover was excellent and very unexpected.  It made me like the band even better.

The race went well.  I'm on a plane tomorrow to go home for 26 hours and then head to Pocono on Tuesday.   The life of a NASCAR roadie.

An original Norman Rockwell at the Museum

I liked the frame on this piece better than the art that was in it.

Large sculpture in the art garden.

An interesting sailing piece that hangs from the ceiling.

A beautiful sculpture that was quite controversial in the early 19th century.

This morning at the track.  Taken from the camera 2 position in turn 3.

Looking down the front stretch from Camera 10 position in turn 4.

At the start/finish line.

Justin Moore in Concert

This Justin Moore Video features Carl Edwards (a popular NASCAR driver)
who also introduced Justin at the concert today.  They are best friends

War Memorial in downtown Indy

V-22 Osprey flyover after National Anthem

V-22 Osprey flyover after National Anthem

The Band Perry (a sister and 2 brothers) with Kimberly Perry singing
lead vocals.  I really think she was singing to me! Not a bad
photo for a phone huh?

This is their current video.

A Personal Expression

About a month ago, one of my favorite recording artists - Kenny Chesney - came out with a new album.  There is a song on that album that happens to hit home with me and a current situation in my life.   I listened to it over and over and realized that I needed to put visuals with the music - as a kinda therapy for myself.  I shared it with my brother and sisters to make sure they were okay with me making it public.

I'm not looking for any comments or support, I'm just wanting to share.


*note: you can click the arrows beside the word vimeo to expand it

For me - by me. from GW Meadows on Vimeo.

Chillin' in the 386

My Sunday and Monday have been good.   Sunday (yesterday) I started off at SERENITY where I had to install the AC unit (again) after the technician was done working on it (again).   I started off early to try and beat the summer heat that builds up in a boat without AC.   I got it all installed, wired it up and plumbed it up.  It started up perfectly and then shut off after about 4 minutes with the 'high pressure' code showing on the controller.   I think I have a bad high pressure switch on it now.  The tech is supposed to go by the boat and check it out sometime today.  He's not super dependable, so he'll probably get around to it sometime this week.   Anyway, by the time I was done I was completely drenched in sweat from working down in the bilge of the boat.  Hey, it's Florida and its fine when you emerge from the boat and into the sea breeze all wet like that.

I then gave Serenity a good bath and dried her down.  She looked happy.

A clean sloop and a sweaty owner.

I got a little business work done throughout the day and then went for a bike ride on the beach at low-ish tide.  Enjoyed the sounds of the Zac Brown Band and reconnected with one of their songs that means a lot to me :  "Quiet your mind".  It's worth a listen.  If you don't have it on your iPod, I'd recommend it.

I hear the waves
Sun beatin' down on my shoulders
It's a near-perfect day
Wishin' I wouldn't get any older
They say that it's gone 'fore you know it now

Quiet your mind
Soak it all in
It's a game you can't win
Enjoy the ride

I feel the change
Goin' on all around me
It's strange
How I'm taken and guided
Where I end up right where I'm needed to be

Quiet your mind
Soak it all in
It's a game you can't win
Enjoy the ride

At the end of the water
A red sun is risin'
And the stars are all goin' away
And if you're too busy talkin'
You're not busy listenin'
To hear what the land has to say

Quiet your mind

I hear the waves
Sun beatin' down on my shoulders
It's a near-perfect day
Wishin' I wouldn't get any older
They say that it's gone 'fore you know it and
Soak it all in
It's a game you can't win
Enjoy the ride



I spent some time finishing up a video I've been working on this week.   I'll likely share it here soon.

Today, (monday) began with an excellent bike ride on my Trek 7200 (hybrid bike).  I picked a great set of songs and had my heart rate over 140 for the entire ride - over 150 for about 30% and peaked at 165! It's all about the tunes! The B-52s, Limp Bizkit and Pink helped me crank it up well.  It was a good hour+ long ride.

After my second meal of oatmeal, I headed over to the beach with the cruiser again - but noticeably earlier than yesterday and the wind conspired with the clock to have the tide too high for a beach ride.  Probably just as well because a nasty line of thunderstorms was trying hard to push east against the sea breeze and I probably would have been a few miles down the beach when it hit.

The beach near a local park.  You can see the thunder storm line trying to push eastward.

So, with that plan scrapped, I started my planning for leaving town tomorrow and decided to go get some new shoes.  I wear the same model of New Balance sneakers (when I wear shoes).  I have a pair for work and a pair that look nicer.  When the work pair starts to look bad, I rotate the other pair - to be work shoes and buy a new pair.  (It makes sense to me).    Other than that - flip flops and boat shoes are my main choice.   Anyway, they didn't have my size, so the shoe shopping will have to be continued at some point in the future.  

Another active day

Keeping with my promise to myself of more activity,  today I decided to partake in 2 separate sports.  The first one was a good 'carve boarding' session on the only hill around here.

About 10 years ago, Jan bought me a carve board for my birthday.  A carve board is sort of a cross between a skateboard and a surfboard.  It has big grippy tires and it 'carves' like a surf board.  It's a lot of fun and I used to ride it fairly often on the hills on the Outer Banks.  

Once we moved to Florida, I didn't ride it again until today!  It was a fun - thigh burning workout and I hope to make it more of a habit.

The video below is a music video of carve boarding that I made for The Pit Surfshop on the Outer Banks.  The band is Fighting Gravity and all the footage of the band was shot at The Pit.

Fighting Gravity

The Pit | Myspace Video


In the afternoon, I took the beach cruiser bike over to the beach and had a good hour long ride while listening to some good tunes.

Afterward, while sitting on the beach looking out at the waves, I was reminded of what a good life I have.  I hope I don't ever forget it.  I am a fortunate fellow.

From there, I headed up the beach and checked out the new roof top bar on the pier.  I've been having some more problems with my stomach and so I thought it was time to do a medical test to see if my stomach could handle beer.   I'm happy to report that it all seems just fine!

The view from the roof-top bar on the pier.

For anyone who's interested to know, I'm still getting plenty of 'house work' done as well.  I got some work in the yard done as well as some work in the garage.  It's not ALL fun and games!   :)

A 3 Sport Day

The 'toy box' on the beach today.

While I was in New Hampshire last week, I made a commitment to myself to get more active.   I've noticed a vicious cycle of being fatigued and not getting enough exercise.  The only way to break that cycle is by getting out there!

I got back on the bike this week and have 3 rides under my belt since tuesday and plan to get 2 more in before heading off to Indianapolis on tuesday.   Today I had a nice ride down through Ponce Inlet, around the lighthouse and back to my car up in Port Orange.   

For the first time in a long time, I also got back on the surfboard.   I let other things get in the way of that over the last year and I need to not let that happen any longer.   I'm happiest when I'm out on/in the water.    Today was no different.  The surfing was not good - little 2 foot mushy waves,  but being back out on the board was great.  It's clears your view of things.    

I had a great dolphin encounter while out there - with a pod swimming all around me chasing bait fish.  Most were adults but there was one little baby dolphin.  It almost looked like a toy.    Some teenage boys saw the dolphin swimming around me and started swimming out to where we were.  As they approached, the facial expression on one of them changed and he looked at me and said "Those ARE dolphins aren't they".    It made me laugh out loud.

Not from today - but similar (including the flat water).

I also went to the driving range to hit some golf balls, but I picked a pretty stupid time to do it - around 4:30 in the afternoon - in July - in FLORIDA.    I didn't even finish the bucket of balls because of how much I was sweating.     Still, a good trend was started today - doing fun stuff to stay active.  

Ponce Inlet Lighthouse

Another 'good one' gone.

From 1986 through 2005, I found myself in a position of losing more friends than any person my age should have to.  Some were really close friends.  Almost all of them died in hang gliding, paragliding or ultralight accidents.  Some, right in front of me.   It's a tough burden to bear.  Nonetheless, I would go through the pain of losing those friends many times over - just to experience the joy of knowing them.

John 'Wiley' Carlton - age 44, (who everyone knew as Wiley) was one of the planet's most talented pilots.  His 'claim' to fame in the hang gliding world was how good of a tug pilot he was.   Wiley flew 'tugs' for many of the flight parks -where you'd be pulled to altitude by an ultralight - instead of running off a mountain.  But Wiley could fly anything and fly it well!

Wiley was killed while crossing the road in Kill Devil Hills yesterday.  Hit by an ice cream truck.    It almost sounds like a joke doesn't it.  Fly every kind of aircraft that people label as crazy - then hit by the proverbial truck while crossing the road.

Wiley had a love for life and living it to the fullest.  I hadn't seen Wiley since I retired from the HG industry, but I'll never forget him.

Rest in peace Wiley.  The whole aviation community will miss you greatly.

Photo stolen from Lauren's FB post.  Thanks Lauren.

Catching up on the last few weeks

Yeah, so I said I was going to update the blog more often - that's not been going so well.  I'll try to do better.

So here's what's happened in the last few weeks - mostly explained in photos.

The middle of June had me in Michigan for a NASCAR race.  The track is located about an hour and a half from Detroit in the small town of Brooklyn, MI.  This track - like many - are in the middle of nowhere and so there are few hotels near the track.  For that reason, we stay in Ann Arbor, MI.  Ann Arbor is a nice college town with lots of good eateries.  The drawback is that it's a 45 minute drive (each way) to the track.  That really adds to your work day.  The 3 photos below are from the Michigan track.

From Michigan, I flew directly to San Francisco for the Sonoma Race.   Rather than fly all the way back to Florida on monday - just to get on a plane again early on tuesday, I spent a layover day in the Bay Area.

My long time buddy - Tim is going through a tough time in his life right now and it was important to me to spend some time with him.  Tim and I met in Los Gatos and had dinner and then walked to the park and had an excellent reminiscing session.   Tim is an inspiration to me and he'll always have a special place in my heart.

The next day found me in the crew hotel in Napa, California. for a week of NASCAR work.  The following photos are from that week.

This is the courtyard at the hotel we stay at in Napa.  I have breakfast out by this pond with the ducks swimming around.  It's peaceful.

Barry - from the TV show Storage Wars was in the TV compound in Sonoma.  I had to have a chat with him and take a photo.  He's the best character on that show!

Almost every day had us stopping at a winery on the way back to the hotel to sample the wine.  This photo is from the rack in one of the wineries.

A  year ago, I helped my niece Nicole get a job at Sportvision and so I am VERY lucky to get to work with her. She's like a daughter to me.  This is Nicole and I at Laird Winery.

This is Nicole and I at Silver Oak winery. I liked the wine so much there that I bought a $117 bottle of wine.  Sheesh!

This is the back of the main grandstand at the Sonoma track.  Notice the jets putting on an airshow.

After Sonoma, I headed home for a week off.   Starting on July 3rd, I began a week of work at the Daytona Track.  This race is especially good for me because I can work it from home.

After our first 'set' day, 2 of the crew (Jack and Drew) and myself took my sailboat SERENITY for a trip down the river to have dinner at a local restaurant.  It was good to get her out of the slip again.

Jack is good photographer and took this photo of me while we were underway.

While I was working the Americas Cup last year, I met an awesome Scottish lad whom I worked closely with.  He's a big fan of the movie Talladega Nights and so I convinced him to come down to Daytona and experience the race with me after the Rhode Island Americas Cup series the week prior.

Al and I on the roof at the Daytona Speedway

Sunset at the Speedway

One of my favorite bands - Train - played a concert before the race.  Of course my favorite song of their (Drops of Jupiter) was very last.

So after the Daytona Race, I got on a plane and headed to New Hampshire.  The race there is in Loudon - about 35 minutes north of Manchester where we stayed.

The day before I left to go to NH there was a big thunderstorm and it started a fire near our neighborhood.  This photo is taken from the street in front of our house.

This is the view out my hotel window in NH.  The hotel is planted right in centerfield of the local minor league baseball team.

Manchester NH is just 1 hour north of Boston and so Sam Adams is big in the area.  The local distributor had a 'tasting' night while we were there.

Taken from the airplane leaving Daytona.  This is the marina where my boat is.

The view of Daytona beach from the plane.

And that catches us.  

Bonus Pic:

Jan sent me this picture of my boy while I was in NH.  

My Own Personal New Year

No, you never see it coming
Always wind up wondering where it went
Only time will tell if it was time well spent
It's another revelation
Celebrating what I should have done
With these souvenirs of my trip around the sun


I'm just hanging on while this old world keeps spinning
And it's good to know it's out of my control
If there's one thing that I've learned from all this living
Is that it wouldn't change a thing if I let go


....trip around the sun - Jimmy Buffet

My number one birthday tradition is to get to the water - no matter where I am.  This morning I was at home and got to sit by the water that's right in my own back yard.

We all celebrate our birthdays differently I suppose.  I use mine to combine a couple of 'holidays' into one day.  New Years and Thanksgiving.   


The actual holiday/time of year that is "New Year" seems on the surface to be quite arbitrary (and I"m sure theres some good reason for exactly why it's when it is - but I don't feel like doing a google search to find out), but for me the new year resets on my birthday.  It's a personal 'new year' for sure where you can take stock of what you've done for the last 365 and plan on what you'll do for the next.  Reflection is a big part of my personal new year.


Then there's Thanksgiving.  No doubt that on the official holiday that is Thanksgiving - I do a mental checklist of all the things that I'm thankful for, but not as much as I do on my birthday.


I'm a very fortunate fellow.  I'm aware of where I am in life and how it is juxtaposed to many others who haven't the same fortune as I.   


I've decided - for myself - to list some of the many things of which I'm thankful for:


I'm very thankful to have been lucky enough to find incredible love in my life.  It's impossible to explain the importance of that.  


At the top of that list would be my wife who loves me like a dog.  I mean that - it's an unconditional love - the same a dog has for their human.  I just don't know how someone can be so accepting of who I am and what I do.  Some people know me as a successful person, but I fail a lot!  I fail much more than I succeed with some pretty hair brained ideas - some which get nowhere and some which only get somewhere but end up nowhere.   My wife accepts every part of who I am and I could not possibly be happier about where I've ended up on that front.


I have a long, long list of others who I love very much as well.  People who are so important to me - even though with some - I rarely get to see them.  Connections I've had for many years, but they live in other places than where I do.  


An interesting thing about this subject is that because of the lifestyle I've chosen, I have so many friends that are scattered all over the country and in other countries, but I have almost none where I currently live.  It's an strange situation and one we hope to remedy within the next 18 months by moving back to the Outer Banks of NC where our core group of community friends are.


My 20 years of traveling and living all over the U.S. in support of my hang gliding jobs and businesses gave me dear dear friends who I rarely get to see anymore, but do make a connection with every now and then because of the invention of Facebook.  What a two-edged sword Facebook is.  It can be a privacy invading time sink AND it can be the wonderful way to re-find your old friends and reconnect.   It's a tool I suppose and like any tool - you can build beautiful things with it, or you can smash your thumb.  I'm trying my best to not smash my thumb - but I'm certainly building beautiful things.   I am very very thankful for my friends.


I am thankful for the opportunities that have been (and continue to be) placed in front of me.   I don't think I deserve them - however I will gladly act upon them when appropriate.  There are people out there who see more in me than I ever will.  If they can believe in me then I certainly can believe in me an I thank them greatly for opportunities.  My current job is an example of that.  I'm in it because of an opportunity placed in front of me by 2 friends.   I love the job and I thank them.


So as I spend my day being thankful, it's likely I'm thinking about you the reader.  Not many people read this blog and so if you're here - you're likely to be a friend or family member.  Thanks for everything you've done for me - even if it was a smile of appreciation.  It matters.  I learn as much as I can from each of you.