Big thanks to the various messages you all have sent in regarding my my last post. Things are settling down a bit now and it is time to try to get back to “normal” (whatever that is!). I plan to do just that by getting back to the track this weekend . April 25-26, PBOC will be hosting another track weekend at the Homestead-Miami Speedway. If you are in the area, stop by and say hi!

I talked a long time friend of mine into bringing out his brand new G37 to see what it could do. It is fun to watch the excitement as someone gets ready for their first track day. As usual I will have video and photos . Stay tuned!

As many of you know, it has been a rough 6 months for me and my family as we have watched my father-in-law battle stage 4 cancer. Sadly, he lost his battle today and the world lost a great man. He fought so bravely and with such determination, that there were times I thought he had the thing licked. Unfortunately, the cancer kept coming back with vengeance, that ultimately overcame him.

Through it all, he stayed positive and showed us all how to live day by day, cherishing the things most important - family, friends and God. I was lucky enough to be with him in his last hours and, while I am saddened to see him go, I take comfort in knowing he is not suffering anymore. I may have lost a father-in-law, but gained an angel up in heaven looking down upon me and my family.

Thanks so much for all the prayers and words of support that I have received from many of you. This is indeed a great MINI community.

In case you haven’t noticed, I have been taking some time off from MINI-related activities lately. Here’s what I have been up to so you don’t think I am just ignoring you all .

I recently completed 2 years as an administrator for Sunshine MINIs and stepped down as of the first of the year. Between being an admin and on the planning team for Mickey and MINI for the past few years, it has taken its toll and I have stepped down from both to allow me to have more time to be with family.

A few of you already know that my father-in-law has been battling stage 4 Melanoma since last September and things haven’t been going well. Each day is a new challenge and when faced with life’s challenges like this, it is easy to put things in perspective and rearrange priorities. Thank you so much for those of you who have been praying for his healing. Keep those prayers coming - they are much appreciated!

I have been trying to keep my weekends open to be available for my wife and her family. Unfortunately for MINI stuff, the weekends are when I typically get to do MINI things, so it has taken a back seat lately. I do have a few things coming up though. The next PBOC Homestead track weekend is coming up in April and I am really looking forward to getting on the track again. I have a few things to post up an will try to get those up as soon as I can. Hopefully that brings you up to speed - keep motoring!!

First of all, a belated Merry Christmas to all. I did my best to limit my computer time over the past week so I could spend as much time with my friends and family, hence the lack of a Christmas Day post (yes I know I could have pre-posted it, but oh well). I hope Santa was good to you all. I am currently recovering from the food overload. I may have to dust off my Wii Fit and get back on track . Today I am heading back to work after a few days off and getting ready to close out the year. I hope you all have a great end to 2008 and an even better 2009! Make sure to make time for those who mean the most to you. Life is short - cherish each moment… and keep Motoring!

First off, let me assure you all that I am alive and well even though I haven’t posted in over a week. There has been a lot going on around the home front and, well, priorities have to kick in from time to time to take care of those things that mean most to you.

Today was one of those days that no one wants to go through. I had to make the tough decision to put my dog down today after she suffered, what appears to have been a stroke. I know this is not exactly MINI news, but many in the local MINI community knew my dog and she was as much a part of the family as anybody else. She was a fantastic dog and will truly be missed. Hug your loved ones extra tight today - you never know what tomorrow brings.

Just got in from my week-long vacation to the Lonestar state, and all I can say is - WOW - it gets HOT in Texas! I’m used to the hot and humid Florida summers, but we just don’t get daily 104+ degree afternoons like they do. And you can say all you want about that “dry” heat… when you walk outside at 11pm and get hit in the face with Texas heat, dang!

I did manage to see about 5 MINIs while I was out there, mostly pre-2007 models. No Clubmans were spotted, however. Of course while I was there, we did have a hurricane come our way. Leave it to me to leave Florida to go on vacation, only to land in the path of a hurricane! Luckily all we got was some rain and some wind in the San Antonio area.

I am still sorting through the 2,000+ e-mails I received while I was out of town and “unplugged”. I did spot 2 interesting e-mails that I will post about next. I hope you enjoy!

Ok - time for a break from our regularly scheduled MINI blogging to bring you a technology update that is taking place behind the scenes here at MotoringFun.com . If you have been following MotoringFun.com for any amount of time, you know that one of the things I enjoy is taking in-car video footage from track weekends. Not only does it provide some cool entertainment on the site, but it allows me to look back at each weekend and see how I did.

Shooting video, in general, is fun and I enjoy creating custom DVDs slideshows, etc. What’s not so fun is dealing with tape. Importing video tape into a computer, editting it and then encoding it to the proper format takes forever and can be very frustrating. Well the price point on the new HiDef cameras that shoot video on flash memory cards finally dropped to where I could afford one and I figured that this would be a great time to upgrade the MotoringFun.com video camera to make the editting process a little easier.
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Some of you have asked for an easy way to see when someone is logged into the chat room from the various pages on the site. So tonight, I went ahead and added a chat room status monitor to the sidebar. Now, from just about every page on MotoringFun.com, you can see how many people are logged into the chat room at any given time. If you see someone in there, take a moment to say hi! Remember - if you are the only person in the chat room, make sure to stay logged in for at least 5 minutes or so to give someone a chance to enter the room and chat with you. Popping in and out without staying logged in just makes you miss each other by a few minutes lol. Well hope you enjoy this little addition to the site and happy chatting!

Ok - so it is January 3rd and I have not posted the traditional Happy New Year greeting - what gives? Truth be told, as crazy as the end of 2007 was for me, 2008 is off to more of the same craziness. I actually tried to leave town to get away from the insanity of work, only to be called back in to town to put out some fires that cropped up at work again . Think I actually got to spend 1 whole day with my family on New Years without the cell phone ringing with some problem to fix. For that I am thankful. Needless to say, I have piles of MINI “schtuff” to sort through and post, but first I must sleep . Here’s hoping that you got your year off to a great start and got a chance to do some motoring! Talk to you real soon!

Boy have things been crazy for me lately. I have been helping to relocate our data center at work and, needless to say, been working some nutty hours and have had no time to post on MINI happenings. Sure glad Christmas is almost here and I finally have a chance to spend some quiet time with friends and family. I hope you are able to find the time as well to spend some time with those you care about. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and Santa is good to you . Once the relocation is complete, I should be back posting as normal (should be after the new year). Until then - stay safe and happy motoring!