Moving... kinda
Well as many of you know, I am supposed to be moving next week. However, after rolling about 2 gallons of paint onto walls in our new place, then wrestling with a Wagner PowerPainter (definately not powerful or useful) for three hours, and trying to paint in the semi dark I gave up.

I selected the room that was the "fixer-upper"... man did I get more then I can handle. The room will look good if it kills me, if I have to quit my job to work full time on finishing the paint, or even if I fail my two classes cause painting was more important. I am resolved that the room will look good... end of story.

On to other news... there is no other real news. Well except that this week I am heading over to Saginaw to visit with my mother and father (and do laundry of course, no I am not driving 2.5 hours for free laundry... well maybe I am), then dropping three fraternity Brothers at Midway airport, and finally spending time in Chicago will my little one. All this when I am supposed to be finishing an internship project and my practicum research. Ha... like that important stuff will get done!

I am actaully going to bed before midnight... no productive stuff going on over here! Goodnight.

Use the commenting feature
I set up the comments links so people can leave messages. Tons of you just read the blog and send me emails. Please just leave a comment here, simply click on the comment link and leave a message that will stay with that post. It is that easy. Thanks!

Good race day and Mexican food for Team PLP
We did it. My car got back from the paint shop last night at 9:30. After an early rise so I could her back together (at least enough for the race) we headed to the course. Today we were at GVSU, it was a beautiful day, we also all got some tans (or burns, not me, I actaully worn sunscreen).

Getting the cars ready was more stressful then last time. My magnetic numbers fell off on the way to GVSU (we lost one). At the race we needed to strip the speaker box and amp out of Ramiro's ride and get all that crap out of the car he keeps in there (if I didn't know better I would swear he was homeless and lives in the backseat of his car). Big shot out to Hermen, pit crew chief for Team PLP, for making sure tire pressures were good, numbers were on, and cars were ready.

Ramiro ran first (Honda Accord). You can see him lined up for his first run, I know he was nervous... I remembered the feeling. He ran some good times, we had confusion on the course and I am putting in a compliant on how they worded the directions. Once we got the course correct Ramiro was able to finish with a decent time, 29.0 seconds. He really would of had a 27.2 but he missed a cone so it did not count. But according to Team PLP... he ran a 27.2!



Then it was my turn. Since I was not able to get the car back together before the race I had to improvise a few things. On the window sills I had to put some napkins in between the window and door so I wouldn't crack my windows. It looked kinda ghetto... but you got to do what you got to do when working in a parking lot. But hey... no broken windows!

I ran some good times. I am pretty happy. The course was very tight and short, which for me was hard because of my super stock suspension set up. I did not stay on my course my first two runs, but the last five I kept uping my speeds and substantial increments. I ended the day with a 24.2 second final time. Once again I only beat one car in my class but if you think the fastest time in my group was something like 22.4 I was not that far behind. Plus I was driving so hard I had my car on three wheels through the back end of corners 3 and 4... that is what I call Driven...



After the race we got some good Mexican food and all passed out from a long day. Being out in the sun wears you out. We are all a little darker now and more experienced in Solo II AutoCross.

It feels good now that the paint is finally done. Once the car is completely put back together I will post some nice pictures on my NX page along with the seat install which will be done this week. The paint looks sharp for a budget job and Team PLP is looking good.

As usually after a race I got to give a few shot outs. To Team PLP; Hermen "Pit Crew Chief " Diaz thanks for the help, next time you better get out there and drive. Ramiro "Accord Driver #68" Padron good job out there, you better do it again. To all the supporters, Oso and Lisa for coming out to watch Ramiro run, to Becky again for letting my borrow the Honda (it will be returned in better condition then I got it), to my landlord for not getting mad about all the cars ripped apart in the parking lot, to all those who emailed me good luck and well wishes, and to the Furrin Group for teaching me all I know about AutoCross. Thank you!

Almost show time... where is my car?
Tomorrow we race. Parking Lot Performance will debut our Honda Accord at the event. Today we took Ramiro out and gave him a crash course in how to shift so that he gets the maximum power and hits the proper shift points. Hermen will ride along with him during his first event to help give him tips after each run.

I am glad to see we will finally be running the Honda... however it is not looking very promising right now about the Nissan. I have not heard from my paint guy, and I am starting to get worried (it is my nature to worry). He knows my car needed to be done for tomorrow, and I hope I still get it sometime tonight. I won't have a lot of time to prep it before tomorrow... but at least she will be on the road for the AutoCross tomorrow if I can get her back tonight.

We installed the rest of the interior pieces in Ramiro's car today. So it is finally all assembled... and no pieces left over! However we forgot to plug the clock back in, always got to forget something. When he gets his new console trim and shift boot ready to install we will fix it then when it is taken apart again. But his car sounds great now with the Polk 12s in the trunk, and with the custom trim this car is really coming along.

Well off to do a tune up to the Hondas. We got the 96 and 98 Accords ready for full tune ups. Man we are running a little mini garage in our apartment... oh wait... no its' just Parking Lot Performance!

Life is good, except for that whole school thing...
Things are going well. Today was fun (and we haven't even gone out yet). I went by Speedwise to drop off one of my MOMO Seats to finally get fitted for my car. Got a hair cut, the girl there only charged me for a kid hair cut again (4 bucks off!). Had lunch with Hermen at Taco Fiesta. Got a big project done at work. Also went and looked at the progress of the leather work on my door panels and it looked great! And tomorrow I get my car from the paint shop... so I am excited. Everything is coming together well.

Well Saturday Parking Lot Performance will be racing, and this time we have two cars! The Nissan should be ready and Ramiro will debut the Honda. We have been teaching him how to shift and we think he is ready to take on the Solo II AutoCross. We will find out this weekend.

School... that is another story. Not going well. Behind on both my practicum and internship. However I know I can get it done so I am not overly worried. Plus right now I don't really care.

Also today pictures of Novali got posted on her site. So check it out, link to her site is on the side.

Alright. Got to get ready to go out.

Wires, Camera, and the DMV
Well good news and bad news. For those who asked, yes Parking Lot Performance (PLP) is the final name of our team! It is very fitting. Example, today we hooked up our first amp. We got it working right and everything (of course doing everything the long way) except for that we did not have enough speaker wire so we only hooked up one of the subwoofers. All I can say is... that was so PLP!

Bad news... I can not find my digital camera. I am not sure in which place I used it last. I have a feeling it was my hotel in San Francisco (I will call them tomorrow) or in one of the planes on the way back (calling them tomorrow as well). I fear it is lost forever, and for those who know me that little thing never left my side! So of course I need to get a new one.

Finally got the Mercury reregistered. Don't ask. Now I just need to call about that ticket.

PLP, Novali, San Francisco and the Nissan paint job
Alright. Well it has been a very busy last few days. So let me recap what all has been going on for me over here. Last weekend (4th of July) I was in Saginaw as I wrote about. Well the pictures of Novali have been slow to post because we are running out of server space... so as soon as Miguel gets the additional space all set there will be pictures. Keep checking her site cause it will be any day now.

PLP. What is that you might ask. Well you can see the speaker box in one of the pictures, that is part of PLP. Well it stands for Parking Lot Performance and we are really getting into high swing. This is the speaker box we did for a Honda Accord and this week the amp and all the wiring will get done. So far we have raced my Nissan, custom painted the interiors on a Nissan NX, GMC Sonoma, and Honda Accord. We also have done performance upgrades to the Nissan and Sonoma as well. What Hermen and I started is really taking off, and once the Nissan is completed we will really be an official team!

After the visit home I was busy getting back to campus and working on my internship with the Office of Student at GVSU. This busy week also included a vist to see the progress of the Nissan and checked out the paint shop and the cars progress (see small picture). I also had to prepare for my trip this weekend to San Francisco for my Board of Directors meeting for the Western Region Greek Association.

My board meeting in Frisco was excellent. It was as great of an experience as I thought it would be, and I am really looking forward to serving on the board for years to come. I was so tired and busy out there that I only went out one night when I was in town. I love that little city!










I am back now in Michigan to stay for a while, not a long while but at least more then a few days. I got to get some rest and get back to EST. I hate this jet lag and time change stuff....

4th of July, Saginaw and Lightning
I am home. This time I traveled with not only Novali, but Tamara and her mother as well. So the Centellas' have a full house for the weekend. Last night when we got here Novali jumped right into the pool and in little time was going down the slide. This morning we hit the pool again, at Novali's request. We got out just before a big storm hit.

So we are in doors, with a fridge full of steaks that were destined for the grill... so instead Andres went to go rent "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and it looks like we might have to bust out the George Foreman grill. Miguel, you aren't missing much.

Photos of course will be posted as soon as this adventurous trip to Saginaw is over... if the weather gets better we might head to Gladwin as well.

Off to enjoy the rain...

Bye bye Nissan and a Graduation Party
Well this was a long weekend. On Friday got everything ready to send the Nissan off to the paint shop. Hermen and I finally got her ready and she will be back in about three weeks. It will be nice having the extra parking space at the apartment. Now I have to hurry and get the rest of the interior modifcations done so when she returns from paint we can slap her back together and off to the next race. On my NX 2000 page you can check out the recent upgrades and pictures.

This weekend Victor Rivera gradauted. Him and I have been best friends since we become involved with Sigma Lambda Beta almost 5 years ago. We have had some great times, good memories, and tons of laughs and miles on our cars roadtripping across this country (and can't forget Canada to). On Saturday he walked and got the big brown diploma holder. Here are some pictures of his family, the graduation, and of course the party afterwards.

This will be a slow next couple of days. Taking some time of work, and getting ready for a great weekend with Novali in Saginaw! Hopefully we will get nice weather this time and can get up to the lakehouse and get a tan.

Time with Novali... no time with the Nissan
Well I just returned from a two day visit with Novali, what a fun time. Finally the weather cooperated with me so her and I could go and play at the park. I taught her how to climb a chain ladder, she learned very quickly, and I got her to slide down all the slides. More information and pictures from the trip are posted on her website. Click on the link on the top right and check her out.

Work was busy lately, and my trip to Philly, then to Chicago have gotten me very far behind on Project NX. I worked a little on her this morning and finally got the new sun visors installed and almost finished the center console to finally make that Momo leather boot look like it was made to fit in my car.

I got the exhaust pipe rewelded so that is all ready to go again. She is ready for the track at least... still no paint but at least she is running well. I am debating on just saving the money and paying someone to paint the car. I just have no time right now, but I have no money either. Ah that was not a long debate... maybe some money will come my way soon.










Well the afternoon is half over, I got some sun already working on my car. My level of pastiness is decreasing since the sun has finally decided to show its face. Very good... very good.

Work, well this has been something I never posted about. Work at CompuCraft is going as well as can be expected. However, Monday, Apple will be making a big announcement. It has been very hush hush... the rumors are a dual 2 gig G5 chip! New tower design... and super price reductions on the iBook line... we will see. So needless to say I will be busy at work this week posting information on the web about the releases and talking to customers who I am sure will be lining up to get in on the latest ground breaking ideas from Apple.

Signing off... this is Sam Centellas, on his way outside to get a tan!

CheeseSteak, Buddha, and a Puerto Rican Wedding with no Salsa
Well the trip is over... I am back in Holland and back to the routine. I want to write about the last few days of the trip!

Friday we had a good time. Andres got out of work early and we headed to Philly. First we stopped and got some early dinner and had a Philly CheeseSteak. Then we relaxed at a cozy Brazilian place, the beer was good, we chated, Andy kept braggin about his parking space. Next was Bluezette for some Presidente, and then Buddakon, "Man that Buddha would look good in my bathroom." There we meet the Dupont Crew. Marc and Saskia were fun to say the least, Jessica (shot out #1) was there in the Jaws of life dress and Abe was hitting on an old lady who asked me to hold her bill. Excuse me? Do I look like a table?

Then the night got really started. We headed to Glam, some nice hip hop, Jess felt at home, like she was in the countryside of IL again (shot out #2). However Andres and I were ready for Salsa. So the crew was off to Cuba Libre, this club was hot. We meet the rest of Team Dupont there and started a fun filled night of Salsa dancing. Andres is much better then he cares to admit, and I stuck mostly with my Merengue skills but ventured into some Salsa and of course Bachatta when played.

On the way back Andy bragged about his parking spot, we saw a guy get his butt kicked and cell phone powerslammed. Ah... a good night. Philly was an adventure, a good time, and a future trip for me I am sure.









The following morning I woke up to a rude phonecall from Vic. Checked my voicemail, some rude messages from Vic. Then we headed to NY to see Vic, and attend the wedding of his sister Stephanie, who I meet two years prior when she came to visit Western Michigan.

The wedding was interesting, we sat with Vic's Cousin Jimmy, who I at first thought was Vic's dad cause Vic did a terrible job of introducing us to anyone. The reception was great, but there was no dancing! They played Salsa music all night, and no one danced... it was a crime against humanity. How can you not dance when Salsa is played?

It was nice to finally meet all of Vic's family. I talked with mom and dad a few times on the phone, but now I got to meet them and say hello in person. I look forward to seeing them again when they come for Vic's graduation.









After the wedding we went to a club in Newburgh, NY. It was great, good music and a college town club feel. Andres left around midnight to drive home. Then Vic and I headed home a little after that as well.

Sunday, well we slept in a little. I had breakfast with the Rivera family and then off to Michigan we went. I long no so fun drive later... here I am, home!

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!

On your Mark...
Well the car is ready, she got a new air intake filter, checked the fluids, put the plate back on, and put on the lucky (hopefully) 8 ball shifter. Tomorrow just have to check the tire pressure and off we go... Race Time!







It has been a fun week getting the car ready to go. Team LB Performance is ready for its big debut! Now I need to get some sleep and get rested for a long day tomorrow... wish me luck!

Just a little more...
Well today got the door panels, trim, and door handles off. It was not too difficult but we did it and got it primered. All there is left to primer now is the hood and the front bumper cover. The project is really moving forward, thanks to mother nature for bringing nice weather to work outside in.







Besides the car work it was a pretty slow day... looked around for apartments with Hermen and Ramiro. Nothing yet but we are getting close and I know we will find the prefect place any day now for sure. I love moving, getting a new place and figuring out were everything will go is tons of fun for me...

Alright I got to clean my place now, this busy week of working on the car has reaked havoc on my poor living room... got to bust out the vaccum.

Power Sanding
Alright now we really got work done on the car... we got the power sander out and went to town! Almost the entire car now is sanded and tomorrow Hermen and I will get it all primered up. We got the rest of the trim off, and tomorrow we just need to pull the window trim off, remove the door handles and spray primer. Lets just hope we get warm weather....

For those wondering exactly what I mean by racing, here goes... I am doing an event called an AutoCross this weekend. What this means is that there will be a track set up with cones, each car will run against itself and the clock. So it is very safe (especially for a novice racer like me) and I will not be bumper to bumper with other cars battling at 200 MPH (even though I might try that in the future, just not this time).

Rudy, Vic and Juan came and visited from Kalamazoo today. It was cool to see them and chill here at my place. I miss Kalamazoo and all the good times there, the road trip with Vic to the east coast will be a blast next week! Can't wait.

Well I am off to sleep now, so I can get up early and get back to sanding...

Primer Grey
Today I got a lot done. Worked at Student Life for a few hours and got some of the website work out of the way and started on the t-shirts for the welcome back BBQ in the fall. Hermen and I went looking for houses again... we found a cool house and checked out some others. We just got to get the roommate situation all set and ready to move.

Sanding on the car continues... we got the ground effects off and some of the trim so we can get the paint all smooth. The rust is not as bad as I thought it would be so the schedule is back on track and hopefully we will be painting soon.



Tomorrow after CompuCraft I am going to get back to sanding... and then put down some more primer. Got to love that primer grey color!

Well it is getting late and I am off to bed. This week will be busy as I prepare for my first race with the NX. I am excited and nervous at the same time. She is still mostly in primer and not looking all that great, but she is ready for the track. This paint job is a larger project then I had thought, but a great learning experience. Either way Hermen and I are having fun working on it. Please keep up with the NX section of my website for updates on the progress of the car.

Thanks Andy and Miguel for signing my comments and testing that out for me. I am glad I got this blog started and I will try to keep it updated. Off to bed....