A man has to know his limitations.... Those were my exact thoughts when I was knee deep in mud working on the ditch.... It's just too big of a job for me and a shovel.... It's Napoleon's Waterloo, Jimi Hendrix's night of binging on heroin, Eliot Spitzer's fling with a 22 year old hooker, The Patriots losing to the Giants in the Super Bowl. You get my drift. Soooooo I have two options, hire a landscaping crew to come out with there heavy machinery or make the call on the BAT phone and arrange a weekend where a couple of my friends come down from VA. and we rent a Bobcat and get-r-done..... This is what the big hurdle is....... The ditch needs to be graded and sloped so water runs freely in one direction. Then I can use that pile of broken up concrete as a bed along with the RR ties as a retaining wall.... This is my dream and it will be a reality!!! Oh yes it will be a reality!!!!! I talked to Boike about him and Hatcher coming down a long weekend and helping... I sure hope he recalls our conservation because as he explained in a slurred speech he was at the horse races all day drinking a few adult beverages. I think it will be some weekend in the next month or so.....

Speaking of that kooky kid Boike, we went down to Atlanta for the race last weekend and DANG what a wild and wacky time.... It freakin' snowed on Saturday morning....



Yeah it was cold but it' was still a great time. We met some great people and not so great ones too... OK I'm going to get this off my chest, There was this old grumpy man who thought it was still 1862 and we were fighting the Civil war. He found out I was a Yankee, I think it was my northern accent that gave me away, and started calling me a damn Yankee and all the problems in this country is because of me and everyone else from the north.... He was serious the whole time, not smiling or laughing like he was having fun with me. The kicker was when Boike, gotta love him, added fuel to the fire and told this guy, "Yeah and he even voted for Hilary for senate!"GEEZ!!!! For the record, I have not lived in NY for 20 years and she came along well after. The guy went cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs when he said that. Thanks Boike! The guy did a great job in putting me into a foul mood. THERE!!! I let it off my chest..... I'm good now. I will never see that ,TOOL, guy again and it's just too bad that some people are just flat out bitter about stuff... Let it go DUDE!!! It was 150 years ago.......

Back to the great people we met. Meet Cale!!! He's a good old boy from Monroe, Ga and runs the local pawn shop.

He told us some funny stories about the crystal meth addicts that come in and the stuff they try to pawn. I know it's sad the way there life is in a downward spiral but we still chuckled at the stories.... A bunch of heathens we are..... Back to Cale, who was named for Cale Yarborough. He was such a nice guy that he even helped the 24 crew push the car onto the hauler. What a guy!!!


But I would say the highlight of our trip and the story that will never be resolved was our run in with Bill Elliott. Let's begin shall we……. It was Saturday night and Boike and I were doing our ritual walk around the infield. They were running legends cars on the little 1/8 mile on the front stretch. We wandered on over there onto pit road to watch a little racin'. We were there for about 10 minutes when this guy in Dickey's coveralls comes over and starts watching the races. He was maybe 5 feet away from us. Boike says, "hey I think that is Bill Elliott." So I glance over there and I thought it was too….. Then another guy comes over and starts watching the race with him. Boike says, "And look, I think that is his brother Ernie." I glanced over there again and I concurred…. As soon as I said yeah I think it is, Boike does a 180 and starts saying "NO it's not Bill. He would be dressed better and he would be mobbed by people wanting his autograph….." I made the argument that he was probably there watching his son in the Legends race and he wears those coveralls because he is working on the car between races PLUS let's not forget that Bill is a good old boy from the backwoods of GA…. Of course he wears Dickey coveralls. What else would he be wearing? A tuxedo?????? And he wasn't being mobbed by people because they are use to seeing him because there kids race legend cars with his son every week. Of course Boike and I were too scared to go over and ask him. Before we knew it he went back to the garage area. So Boike and I debated it the whole walk back and even asked the local guys who were camped out next to us. They agreed with me that it probably was Bill and that is what he would wear. Boike was still on the fence until we heard on the radio that Bill's son won the legends event that night. Also I found this too.

Bill Elliott's son wins title: Twelve-year-old Chase Elliott, son of NASCAR legend Bill Elliott, won his first major racing title Saturday by clinching the Young Guns division of Atlanta Motor Speedway's Winter Flurry. The Winter Flurry is a six-race competition for eight divisions of Legends, Bandolero and Roadsters. Other champions crowned Saturday were Bubba Harry (Roadsters), Kyle Plott (Bandits), Trey Maughan (Outlaws), Rawlin West (Chargers), Justin Swilling (Semi-Pro), Jeff Haynie (Masters) and Billy Fulson (Pro). Elliott's crew chief is his father Bill, who said he was just "tickled to death that nothing fell off the car" during the race. But he shouldn't start looking for a full-time gig in that arena, according to his son. "He climbed out and said, 'It's junk,'" Bill Elliott said. "I guess he must have got that from me. But he's doing a good job. Right now, it's just been a good way to spend time with him. I didn't get to spend too much time with my other kids, and I regret that." Chase Elliott, from Ballground, Ga., also sees these early races as a stepping stone for his future. "It was fun," Chase Elliott said. "We're just working hard, having a good time. We're moving in to a Legends car this summer and just want to keep moving up. I guess my goal is to get to Cup one day." His mother, Cindy, is bracing herself for that. "I tried to deter him when he was younger; I gave him golf lessons, tried to get him involved in baseball," Cindy Elliott said, laughing. "But ever since he's been old enough to talk, he's wanted to be a race car driver. And he's doing a great job, having a lot of fun. I'm so proud of him."

There you have it! Boike swears he knew the whole time that it was Bill but I'm not buying it.

I never thought I would see the day when someone wanted to look like me but Charlie was all about looking like his uncle Andy!!! Being the simple guy I am, I get my hair cut with a #3 shed on the trimmers.... Very simple and maintenance free... Well he saw me getting my hair cut and wanted it done on him. FYI When a 3 year old asks to have this hair shaved off it's best to ask his mother first if it's OK. So I asked Lizzy and see gave the green light.... And here is the results!!!! fine looking hair cut if you ask me!