I Didn't Miss It

The other day someone said to me, "hey you missed the (big community event) last week". 

I didn't miss it. 

Favorite pic from Ns art show.

I was at a football scrimmage, saw my freshman enter his first high school game for seven snaps. I didn't miss his first throw to his favorite receiver, or that he went 3-5 and that one of his misses he hit the dude square in the chest. It was a total of maybe five minutes of playing time, and I didn't miss it. 

The week before a high ranking official was here and we had been trying to connect to talk some work stuff about small business items. We'll probably connect again soon down in Indy or chat via zoom on some work items. I feel bad we didn't connect, but I was exactly where I wanted to be. 

I didn't miss it. 

M in right lane.

I was focused on a swim meet, where my youngest pulled maybe the best backstroke turn ever, and as usual did a great job cheering on friends. That one isn't that competitive, but loves to be part of a team, make friends, and is the one who can't wait for school to be back in session. 

The following day I got a reminder text about an outdoor reception being hosted where most likely some important people would be mingling. I replied that I was not sure I could make it, I had a few other things on my calendar I was juggling and depending on the weather I would try...

I didn't miss it. 

The weather was great, the sun was out, and so I didn't go, instead I drove to Gingerman Raceway. Yeah, its summer, my Z is running, and I am driving her. It was just Me and My Z out there, cruising to the track, burning oil and passing cars on the track, dinner with my SCCA peeps, and a sunset drive home while watching fireworks along the lake... I was exactly where I wanted to be. 

I try to be a good dad, attend the things, volunteer for PTO, and since starting to work from home I have gotten to enjoy the kids a lot more (and they annoy me a lot more as well... ha). I wrote a blog reflecting on that in 2022 (Cocoa Bombs) and while honestly I don't like working from home because its hard to find motivation and I really really miss having office friends... it has helped me prioritize my time that really should be outside of work, and I want to start answering more often...

My Z at Gingerman

I didn't miss it. 

Instead maybe I was at a local brewery watching my oldest talk about and display beautiful works of art that came from those hands. Hands down my favorite event this month, and when planning it, it was nice to say, you tell me when you need to have it, and I'll be there, cause it is exactly where I want to be. 

The other thing I often do, and I am doing less, is moving family things around for community events. Date night with Jenn, or game time with kids. Like our Sundays are really a fun tradition now, who knows how fall sports scheduling will impact that, but we have developed fun routines and I need to focus on just letting work and community things pass and say honestly... 

I didn't miss it. 

I think I too often have sacrificed where I want to be, for where I think others want me to be. At a big local event, mingling with donors, sharing an event to help get people there, speaking to a group, etc. Apologies to the people who were often on the list of things I missed that I did want to be at in the past that I sacrificed for work. I feel bad, and while yes work is important, and I think I am still doing a good job, if you looked around at an event and thought Sam isn't here... 

I didn't miss it. 

How's Summer Going?

How is my summer? Well the past couple of weeks was filled with family and I owe everyone a big album of photos. 

Couple weeks ago had a trip to Phoenix... it was for a retreat for the Notre Dame Federal Credit Union Board of Directors and I figured since my kids have cousins there... we make it a family trip. Despite it hitting 119 for several days in a row, we survived. The kids had not been to Phoenix since well before the pandemic so we were due for a trip, their cousins are 9, 11, and 13... so the blend with Mari (9) and Cruz (12) is just a perfect play group. So Heather also came on the trip so the kids could enjoy a fun trip while I worked. Living so far apart from family is hard, and so it was nice the cousins got to spend a week together.

A special part of that trip was staying at the Arizona Biltmore... a historic resort that is a Waldorf Astoria property which means... fancy. If you know Mari, you know she likes luxury and fancy things, so despite the fact that the sun was trying to kill us on a daily basis, she was in heaven. The kids swam at their cousins pool, and we hosted them all at the resort one day to enjoy the slides, pool, etc. Thank you Matt and Cristy for hosting us and for rides to and from the airport. Big thanks to NDFCU for the great retreat site, I love serving on that board and supporting the positive work they do in the communities we serve. It was a great way to recharge! 

Our return home landed us some airport delays so we got back to South Bend late... to start our next big family visit. Andres was in town (lives on the Isle of Mann) and he brought with him Javier, my nephew who lives in Mississippi, who was in Chicago while Andres was there working, so they came over together. Since he was visiting, my sister Raquel also came to visit and brought her daughter Ayanna and her partner Kory. Also Novalí was able to come down... so we had a very FULL House here for the weekend! 

We lined up fun stuff, an outing to the South Bend Cubs, I took them all to an autocross at the Tire Rack test tracak (need to upload some videos), quick Studebaker National Museum stop and of course no visitors come to South Bend without a stop to the South Bend Brew Werks. Cruz had a football event and Andres and Javi stopped to watch a little before a quick trip for pictures at Notre Dame. 

Whew... that was a whirlwind few days... but wait, there is more! 

A few days later, I took Cruz and Mari to Florida to visit my parents! We flew from Grand Rapids, which was cheaper, but also a good excuse to get to see Novalí again. We got lunch with her on Friday before we flew out, and dinner with her on Tuesday when we got back. 

In keeping with summer vacation theme... it was mega hot and this time we added in FL muggy to the mix. Regardless though it was a great time with my parents. It has become a little tradition now that I take the kids to FL just before they go back to school. This year Novalí couldn't join us as she is going with them to Ireland and the Isle of Mann at the end of the month and can't get more time off. (So excited for their trip!). 

We enjoyed time in the pool, playing tennis, fishing, table tennis, shooting pool and Cruz even hit the links a little with my dad... we played outside when we could, and when it was too hot, or rainy, we busted out the classic Wii or the kids played chess with grandpa or puzzles and baking with grandma. 

Dropping a bunch of pictures on Facebook and Instagram, so check me out there for more views from our trips... now it is time to grind out back to school! Wish us luck over here... 4th and 7th grades starting soon! 

Ivy Tech Graduate (x2)

Introducing, Sam Centellas, certified in Automotive Service Technology AND Maintenance and Light Engine Repair. 

Me and My Degrees
in the shop

A few years ago I wrote about being a college dropout (blog)... I had started my Autotech Certificate in 2012 when I worked at Ivy Tech... I left the college in 2013 and stopped taking classes. I started back at it in 2020, I figured no time like the pandemic to get back at it.
I learned A LOT. 

The biggest thing I learned... is how hard it is being an adult going back to school. WOW. Most semesters I took one class, some semester I took two, all while working a full time job, sometimes while working more than one full-time job... and the whole time being a parent, running my side hustle, trying to stay healthy and trying to stay sane. 

I'll be honest, it was harder than when I got my master's degree. Yeah for real, the time in the shop you can't BS like I could writing papers in grad school. You also have to commit the time, once you tear the brakes down on a car, you can't just shelf it for later, you got to get it done. When you break something, you have to fix it, when you don't know how to do something, just googling it doesn't fix it... you need to tell someone you can't figure it out and ask them to show you how to do it. Then you have to try it yourself, and prove you learned it. 

I also learned about not solving problems with what you think, but with what you know. Car repair isn't about guessing, if that was the case your mechanic would do the wrong repair at least 50% of the time. If when I was 99% sure I knew what was wrong, you still have to test to be sure, and yep, that 1% makes a difference. It made me think a lot about my work, we often trying to solve problems that don't actually exist and then wonder why we didn't solve the problem. We didn't actually test to see what the problem actually was... 

I got a lot of work done on the my Z which was nice... but also did brakes on the family van, my MKZ hybrid, Juan's Z, and lots of other student and school cars (changed the oil on the chancellor's car!). Link below to my Z blog with lots of the cool projects but here is a direct link to my favorite one was all the suspension work I did to get her ready for the 2022 Race Season (which then I barely raced the car...): Here Comes 2022. 

I met more great people... students who were trying to improve their life through technical skills. Students who didn't know what they wanted in life but just liked cars. I connected with former colleagues or friends in different ways... I remember when a top community leader came into the shop on a tour and couldn't believe it was me covered in brake dust tearing up a Toyota Solara with some students. He asked if I was the teacher... nope, here to learn. 

I also learned again, and was reminded how those in trades get treated. Wearing dirty jeans and my Dickies work shirt... means I got treated differently stopping at the store after class. I wrote a blog about that a few years ago (can't find link)... interestingly I thought pandemic taught us how important essential workers are, but I realized that was a lesson quickly forgotten by our country. Also a reminder to many, that an entry auto mechanic actually makes more per hour than I did with my master's degree... 

Lastly... this was a little in honor of my grandpa. He owned a garage, and always wanted his grandkids to be "smarter" than him and make more money. I remember he laughed when I told him I had started an auto tech degree all those years ago... he told me something like you are an engineer what are you going to do with that? I told him, to try to be as smart as you and open a garage (I have a dream of opening a non-profit garage some day). 

I had a lot of stories and posts about my classes, especially on my other blog (Me and My Z). I am actually really proud of these TWO certificates, yeah I started so long ago that my credit tracking was off, and while I planned one certificate, I ended up getting two, and one semester earlier than planned. 

Now debating if I sign up to walk at commencement...