Dickie in the Baron's Speed Shop in late April/early May 2010

I am way late on posting stuff from my UK trip so check these out. This is at the genuine Baron's Speed Shop, working on the Thruxton project, so I took some photos. Here, Dickie is welding the correct spot for the rearset mount for the Thruxton, and checking out the fit. It's coming together!

The van is FINALLY painted on the inside!

What a transformation. Now, if I could only find those $*$&*$*(@W*$*$ door hinges. Aaaauuuuuuughhhh!

Thanks Bruce and Kevin for fantastic work on the van. We're coming around the corner now!

Congrats to Danica Patrick on a 5th.at Indy 500

I think she started 24th, and I skipped watching the race as I was busy, but she was in 14th and made her way to 5th from lap 169 to the end, lap 200. And she narrowly missed the accident with Mike Conway.  He has a non-time-critical leg injury, according to the track Dr. He'll be o.k. 

Anyhow after Danica's comments earlier in the week there were a bunch of people criticizing her. However the aspersions cast on her racing record by a bunch of haters was really put to rest as she finished strong. Her after-race comments on ABC showed class and humility and also gave us a view from her side of things.  I have always been a fan of hers, and I can't really tell you why. But she's doin' great and I wish her luck. She is a perfectly competent and competitive driver in the Indy series. Period.

Me last July 4th.

On a whim, cousin Tim invited me to go on his boat down to the Waterfront Park for the 4th of July Blues Festival and fireworks. Of course the river was going to be a c.f. but what the heck.

Anyhow, he's superb boatsman, and a superb loader/unloader of the boat, so it made things much more manageable. The music was great, the fellow boaters were great and shared some of their food. Lots of nice folk on the river. "People on the river are happy to give". True True.

This year I dunno about the 4th but on the 2nd a group of us are going up Mt. St. Helens again.

20 years ago to the day when I did it last.

Anyhow, Tim snapped me with his cell phone camera (I use them a lot, don't I?) and this picture is a document of that night.

Getting back to the boat ramp at Willamette Park was very tense - the river patrol were all acting psychotic and the parade of bozos didn't help. But we took our time and got outta there in one piece. Well, I did break his sunglasses accidentally, but made it right recently by buying him a leatherman AND a swiss army knife.

Rock on!

Monmouth vs. Square Mile Coffee Beans.

We went into the indoors Greenwich market, and took a break and had some coffee at Morgan's Coffee experience. The proprietor told me the best known beans in London were the Monmouth and the Square Mile coffee beans - and they sold the Monmouth blend/brand. It was absolutely delicious. Here Eugene and I enjoy a coffee break while waiting in vain for the rain from Spain to refrain! Photo courtesy Marie Smith

Greenwich Market, London.

Well, it is an indoor market now and the outdoor market has been pushed aside for future development. Bummer. But the center of Greenwich (yes, the place where the Greenwich Observatory is) has some cool shops and I bought new jackets at two of the stores. Julia ran the

one store (colorful lady and great help to us!) and I'm wearing my new purchase in this picture, outside of the market nearby during a torrential rainstorm. The market was great and the shops great, and there was general mayhem in the town on a Saturday afternoon.

Photo courtesy of Eugene Vincent Smith.