buckle-up

We had only just unpacked from our European trip, and beginning to settle back into the daily routines of our business life when we took off for a weekend racing. Car racing, that is, up in the Mojave Desert just north of Simi Valley. Carved into the gentle rise to the west of the township of Rosamond, lies the Willow Springs International Motorsports Park. And after watching others race at other tracks, we decided to try it for ourselves. Well, truly racing? Not exactly, but … How it all started. Earlier this year we had friends over for dinner at our house in Boulder. As we were finishing the meal, talk turned to lifestyle issues. What did we like to do to relax? What were our interests outside of work? And it was during this conversation our friend told us he raced, campaigning a race car in California. He gave us the web site of a club he considered provided one of the best introductions to racing and encouraged us to take a look and to consider joining. After all, you can’...

For regular readers of the business blog I maintain for the HP NonStop community: http://www.itug-connection.blogspot.com/ – you will have come to recognize that travel, food, cars / bikes, and music are pretty much at the top of the list of things Margo and I like to do. While we both like to read and watch movies, our passion to explore places, enjoy “new adventures”, and to sample different food and wines will remain a key part of our lives for years to come. While it’s still fresh in our minds, it is appropriate that the first posting for “buckle-up” (a suggestion from Margo, of course) looks back at our last trip to Europe. While we mixed a little business with vacation times and the enjoyment of the places we visited, we ran into the problem many US travelers face these days – the terrible exchange rate between US dollars and the Euro. By the end of the two weeks, we were really pleased to be back in the US where a simple Starbucks coffee purchase didn’t have us both cringe!...