Guinness and papa rellenas
Well the trip is on... here is the recap of Thursday. Slept in, this is my theme for summer 2003, to sleep more so I am staying on track. Then Vic and I headed into Wilmington, DE and walked around, nothing exciting there so I grabbed a snapple and we headed into Philly.

Philly was cool, it had an excellent colonial feel. The site were interesting, but with very high security. It was a hassle to get in to see the liberty bell, so we took pictures from outside. I hate get felt up to get on an airplane, let alone to see an old bell with a crack in it, so we walked. Then we went to the tomb of the unknown soldier. This was interesting, reading all the plaques around the plaza (yes plaza, I love plazas, make me think of home) made me think. Men died, who no one knew, they had no one to grieve for them, but they fought and died for a cause they believed in. No one felt pride over their loss or knew they died and remembered their sacrifice. No family, no history, and no future.

What type of men were the leaders of those armies? Leaders who lead men, into battles against unbelievable odds, facing a never ending enemy, with little food and rest, and get the men to continue to fight. The founders of this country were great men, to say the least. I am not a huge American patriot as many have noticed. Looking at tombs of men with no name who faught for the cause... made me think... would there ever be a cause I would fight for? What type of man would I follow into battle? Am I the type of leader that men would follow into battle? If Bolivia went to war, would I and the Centellas boys go and fight (I mean Bolivia has never really won a war, so if they fought again they would need all the help the can get) for the homeland? I am proud to yes that I would, I hope I would.

Alright enough crazy talk. After that, we ate at the Gallery Mall in Philly. Tons of people, cool stuff, very multicultural, and it was relaxing. We ate, and then headed back to Wilmington to meet up with Andy.

We went out and meet with some people from Andy's office. Had a Guiness in a very Irish looking spot, it was alright. We discussed reasons everyone is scared of HR people, why long pauses by your boss when ask for time off scare you, and why living in a corporate town sucks. Then we ditched the Irish feel for some Dominican food. Good food, terrible service, got wet in the rain, and Vic got offended when Andy said he was talking Espanol with an English accent... whatever.

Vic took off to NY for the wedding rehearsal. We will meet up with him tomorrow. Well I got to jump in the shower, Andy will be home from work soon and we are heading into Phily. I am off...

Scenic Ohio! Philly here we come!
Well the drive to vist Andres is done. It was great driving again with Vic on a roadtrip. Stopping for Wendy's and gas for some reason always becomes an adventure. We got lost at the final destination, but only just a little. And the beautiful countryside which is Ohio was breathtaking as usual... no not really. What a waste of State.

But we are hear, getting ready to head into the city and meet Andy after work. I am a little broke, but that never stops me from having a good time! We will see what adventures we manage to jump into... alright time to run... peace!

Insurance, traveling and broken bolts
Well my insurance is going to expire tomorrow, so doing some shopping and it looks like Tamara found a good deal in IL, much cheaper then Progressive. We will see if the advertised price is anywhere near the actaul out-the-door price. Keeping my fingers crossed, saving money on insurance would be great! Then maybe we can get that car paid off faster!

Tomorrow I leave for my mini east coast tour. In April I did the west coast tour and it rocked, we will see how the east stacks up. I am excited to see my younger Brother who is working in Philly (Andy is the one who hooked me up with the rims on the ride, shot out!). I am traveling with Vic from WMU, we have not road tripped together in awhile so this will be fun. We are rolling in the luxury edition Kia Rio (that means extra dents... no leather) and have his sister's wedding to attend in NYC on Saturday. Good ol' Puerto Rican wedding... can't wait!

The car work has come to a screeching hault. I broke some bolts on the fender and front air dam trying to remove parts. Rust is as of right now is my arch nemesis. I will get it off though, even if I got to get a blow torch on it! My next race is not until July 19th so I have time... oh yeah I also got to get that exhaust pipe fixed that I blew up! he he...

Til next time.... same monster channel, same monster time... I'm out!

The Fast and Exhaustless...
Well today was the big day and man was it a blast! Here is how the day went for Team LB Performance (Hermen and I).

I was nervous and excited, as the day went I saw many drivers go off course, hit tons of cones and just look like crap. I was worried about how I would handle, especially it being my first time. Car #86 was placed in the third and and final heat so I got to see everyone else race first.

My time came, I was nervous in the starting grid, but a good nervous. I was calm, focused on the course and hoping to just complete the first of my four runs without looking like an idiot. My turn....

Well the in the first run of my heat I took 5th out of 12 cars. Not too shabby.... I ran a 58 sec time around the course. So now I am pumped, I had Hermen sit in with me on the second and third runs and give me feedback on what he saw me do in my 1st run. Second run... shaved an entire 3 seconds of my time, a wonderful run with no penalities. 55 second time. No cones hit so far.

The third run I was going to up the pace a little. Really try to get into a groove and see if I can try to move up the ladder at all and see if I can actaully place at my first event. Lady luck, and the 8Ball shifter let me down. I hit a cone on the second stretch of the salom (I was really doing well until then) and lost my focus after that. I still made a faster time, a 54 second run, but the cone added two seconds to my time so really it counted as a 56 second time. I was now down to 7th out of 12.

My final run, I took all the information I learned from my first three runs, and I was resolved to get below 55 seconds on a clean run. I started great, my best luanch of the day. Cleared the first big curve great and killed the salom on the first pass, then I swung and controled a great slide around the box, and downshifted into first to hit the salom again. Then I heard it as I poped the clutched back in and heard the tires cry for traction... a loud booom! Ah!

At the time I did not know what happened but I knew something was not right. I did not let it fade me (I tried not to) and hit the salom wonderfully and headed for the snake. In the snake I knew my car was not right, something was wrong but I pressed on. I hit a cone in the snake. I completed the loop fine and did the two 90degree turns well and headed for the finish.

My final run was a 55, with a 2 second penality for the cone I hit. Not too bad since I blew the exhuast pipe apart on my car. I managed to put so much pressure on that downshift that I blew the weld on the exhuast pipe just after the resonator. What a run!

After the racing was over Hermen took the NX on two fun runs. He did pretty well also and got some seat time and next time we will dual enter the Nissan and both drive it. The car now sounds like a semi truck since it is running now with no muffler but we drive it home after a sweet first day out. We had a good time and that was all that mattered (no seriously I am fine with not placing).









I want to thank a few people who make this race possible for me. Hermen, my co pilot, pit crew and after-race celebration team. I like my rice with beans! Becky, thanks for the loaner car while I got my car ready... I need it for a few more days until I get that exhuast fixed and some paint back on her. Also thanks for reminding me that competition is good, but having fun is good to. To everyone who helped with the car at all, Ramon and Ramiro for helping to sand and work on the paint and everyone who gave me advice. Lastly to Furrin, my new car club for giving me the chance to race and learn the sport.

I will be back! I will be faster! I will have paint on my car!