Speed Street

Well, it’s the Memorial Day weekend, and that means NASCAR here in Charlotte! Yesterday Speed Street kicked off downtown and the roads are blocked and full of sweaty office workers who rarely see day light. This is an annual event, and the Coca-Cola 600 will take place this Sunday. Although I don’t keep up with NASCAR and who’s leading in the points, I have been to a few of the races and found it very enjoyable. Once, through work, I even took the Jeff Gordon driving experience and drove 8 hot laps in one of the race cars. I had to follow the pace car, but still managed to reach just over 140 mph. I was completely shocked at just how tight you fit into one of those cars. Once I was strapped in, the only thing I could move was my arms and legs, and nothing else. Not my head, not by body, nothing. It had a very claustrophobic feeling about it.

Anyway, back to Speed Street. As with any street event, about all you can do is eat expensive fast food, drink beer, and sweat as you’re trying to fill your bag up with as many free handouts as you can get. Generally the promotional items that are given out are brochures, drink cozies, posters, and candy. I normally don’t attend these types of things, but since I work downtown, all I need to do is walk outside and here it is. Of course since I’m at work I have to skip the beer portion of it. That’s a real shame too, because I just might enjoy it that way, not to mention being better able to cope with my co-workers afterwards. Once back in the office, everyone compares their crap with everyone else’s crap, and then we joke about why we even bother in the first place.

Battling Beauties

Just over two years ago, I was looking for part time work to make a little extra money and to break the monotony of the daily grind. What I ended up with was far better then what I had expected. A friend had a side job as a ring announcer for a sports entertainment company, and their main focus was women’s wrestling and mixed martial arts. At that time they were looking for someone who could run the sound and lighting equipment. This is something I’ve never done before, but being that I have a technical background, I was willing to give it a try. So I went down and was introduced to the owner who showed me the equipment and how to use it. We spoke for awhile and he agreed to give me a try.

When the next shoot came, I showed up for work with full expectations of working the sound and lighting board, but what happened was a little different. The ring side cameraman had been in a car accident and hurt his arm and wasn’t able to hold the camera due to the pain. I was given the camera and a few minutes of instruction, and off I went. I must have done a decent enough job because just over two years later, I’m still running the ring side camera.

Recently we moved into a new studio with all new equipment. Now everything we do is in high definition. Before I use to use a camera that I had to hold steady in my hand while at the same time capturing the “moving targets” in the ring. By the end of the day, and many of those days were 12 hours in length, my arm and back were killing me! Now, I have a shoulder mounted camera that I use. Again, another 12 hour day, but this time my arm and back were fine…but my legs were killing me! Still, this camera is much more comfortable to use and gives a far greater picture quality.

Going back to the day job in my dingy little cubicle is difficult after a weekend of filming, but I do enjoy showing off some photos of my wrestling co-workers to my office buddies. While they spend their weekends playing World of Warcraft and changing diapers, I get to spend time with models, professional athletes, and actresses. The one thing I did realize is that despite how beautiful and famous some of these girls are, they are just like everyone else. They have their daily routines that they’ve grown accustomed to, they have their families that wonder if they’ll do anything good with their lives, and some of them even have husbands and children that they go home to afterwards. They really are no different than anyone else. And of course at the end of the day…


…it’s only a job.

Healthy Living

Yesterday morning I finally watched the movie, “Super Size me.” Although I had heard many things about it, including just how bad fast food is for you, it was much more dramatic actually seeing it happen on the screen before me. I can happily admit though that I haven’t been to a McDonald’s in over a year, and really only eat fast food maybe once a month. But still, the lessons learned from this film can apply to diet in general. I do go to the gym on a regular basis, so later on that afternoon, I made my way to GNC to buy some protein powder. As I’m leaving, of all things I stop behind a Toyota Prius that had two kayaks strapped to the roof. As I’m sitting there peering out the windshield of my SUV, I’m reminded of that South Park episode where all the hybrid driving people enjoy the smell of their own farts, so I thought to myself, “Snooty bastards!!”

I guess I still have a ways to go…

No, You Can't Vote!

I remember when I was 18. It happened to also be a Presidential election year, and I was finally going to be able to cast my vote and to feel like my vote counted for something. I registered to vote and waited until the day came so that I could finally be heard. Once that day arrived, I drove myself down to the local community center and cast my vote for President of the United States. What a proud moment it was for me! I was an adult, my voice could now be heard, and I had the power to vote for or against any candidate that I chose to.

Fast forward 4 years and another election year is upon us and once again, I was proud to be able to cast my vote and be heard. I had moved out by this time and was now living on my own, so I called up the election center to see where I needed to go to vote. The voice on the other end of the phone asked for my name so that he could look me up. I told him and a few moments went by as he fumbled through some paperwork. Eventually he came back and said, "You aren't eligible to vote."

"How can that be?" I responded.

"It's too late, you can't vote." he told me.

"What do you mean it's too late?" I said. "The election is over a month away, and I'm still registered."

"Did you vote last time?" he asked.

"Yes, and my legal residence is still the same. If I need to re register I will." I said.

"No, it's too late, you can't vote." He said more firmly now.

Unfortunately my naive ass believed him, and I didn't vote that year. I don't have any type of a criminal record or anything else that would make me ineligible to vote, so the only thing I can think of was that he saw that I was registered in a different party then he was, and he didn't want me to vote against his favorite candidate. This little episode left me with a sour feeling over all. I was just trying to do the right thing. I just wanted to vote and let my voice be heard. Unfortunately that voice was silenced by the stranger on the other end of the phone.

Please don't let those voices silence you.