Preflight:

Friday: 9/28/02

I order a MOMO TOP RACER fire suit from MO-West in the am and get it in the afternoon, what service!! (well OK, we went to LA and picked it up ourselves) and it helps to buy the color that they happen to have in stock in your size at the time you order. Which was listed as red in the catalog, but is really orange IRL. It matches the Trophy car well though. I run over to Dave Turner MotorSports and get some black gloves. I'm set!

Saturday: 9/28/02

Oops - did I put off getting a ticket for too long? too late to use the millions of FF miles I've been piling up - what am I going to? - the full RT coach fare with a 3 day advance is a "bargin" @ $4000.00 - I thought they wanted us to fly? don't think so.

Hmmm - I'll guess take a look on the internet - OK it's "only" $2225.00 for a coach class RT ticket - that is better but not my style - I decide I'll check HOTWIRE for a HOTFARE (like they say to do on the radio, and BINGO - we are talking now!! only $765.00 RT!!

However, I can't take that ticket "blind" as I might have to leave too early or late in the day and not get there when I am supposed too - what to do?

Hey! Capt. Kirk to the rescue!! He says: "..take your best deal to Priceline.com and name your own price!" OK, I figure he never lied to me (only the Romulins) so I'll try it - the HOTFARE fare is good for a hour anyway. Minimize that window and jump over to Priceline - I pick my desired times and enter $750.00 RT in the bid box and wait....... BOING!

Offer accepted!! (damn! that was too EZ. Now I wonder if I could have got it for $725?)

OK, time to look for the passport and Dr's note that I'm OK to drive etc. - no time left to bribe my pal at the clinic - I decide to use last years note and alter the date - they won't look at it anyway (I hope). Goose is just happy that I actually might have a ticket in my hands this time.

Sunday: 9/29/02

Emails flying and boxes a taping - the day flies by in a blur.

Monday: 9/30/02

Running about collecting things to take and trying to get the webguys to post the new calendar page to the website so that everyone will get a clue that I'm not in town for a week. Shipping the last orders that I can and in general working on setting a record for drinking coffee - I think Starbucks will announce a 100% increase in profits this week on this one day alone.

Up way too late.

Tuesday: 10/01/02

Running about collecting things to take and trying to get the webguys to post the new calendar page to the website so that everyone will get a clue that I'm not in town for a week. Shipping the last orders that I can and in general working on setting a record for drinking coffee - I think Starbucks will announce a 100% increase in profits this week on this one day alone. Up way too late.

Hmm, that sounds allot like Monday - they all run together when you are having this much "fun".....

Wednesday: 10/02/02

Up way too early - especially facing the 14 hour flight and the straight to the track schedule we have for the next day - but who needs sleep when you own stock in the 'Buck anyway?

Off to deliver some final parts and hit UPS and the PO one last time on the way out of town - the rest will just have to wait. My bag is packed with all sorts of interesting looking car parts, I wonder if the Feds will care? It turns out that the Feds don't care about the little black boxes with wires coming out of them nor about the aluminum Type-R front strut bars nor about my helmet etc. but they are really interested in the 1.5" long baby/moustache scissors that were in with my tooth brush - that took a 4 person + executive decision making session to decide that I could not commandeer the plane with them because of their rounded tips. America's bureaucracy at its best.

Off to the gate and - oops, it is strip search time! I guess I looked like one of those people that the computer selects at "random". No one could figure out what all the car parts were for but they (and I) did finally get on the plane together. (I warned them about looking in my sneakers but they did anyway - I'm glad they issue those guys gloves)

Delta crammed us all together in the cattle/steerage class section and managed to take off on time. Amazing. We played "and how much did you pay for your ticket?" until one of the people got pissed - maybe they paid $4K?

4 hours later we hit Atlanta and scrambled for the International side. The "tube" goes south and I decide to walk rather than maybe miss the flight while they reboot the system. and walk. and walk - well, if you have been there you know what I mean.

We do another round of passport inspection and off we go. This time I get wedged in-between a fat guy that should have; a) taken a shower, and b) bought 3 seats just for himself; and two crying babies. I make a pact with the devil that I will go 1st class next year no matter the price.

Never mind - I can handle it I tell myself, it is only 12 hours. That turns out to be true, and I get to Amsterdam with at least a few brain cells left and stumble off the plane to find my bags. Amazingly, they all come off the baggage strip in one piece and looking good. I figure I might as well try to go through the "nothing to declare" line and it works. At last I'm "free" and in fresh air.

Amsterdam is a cool airport - lots to do - lots to eat - lots to look at. (some of it walking around) And it is built right next to the main train station. I need to take the train to Amersfoot where Guus lives because I'm arriving at 8:30 am local time and that is a commuters nightmare. It all works out because the friendly train conductors speak a bit of English and take pity on me and all ny shit I'm lugging with me and tell me which ticket to buy and which stop is which.

30+ miles of green fields filled with fat Califiornia looking cows and we are there. OK, made it! now to get all my boxes and bags on a cart and out to the street. No carts - bummer. I go find one, and all my stuff is still there when I get back - nice :-)

Time to call Guus - oops the cell phone doesn't work here - I think the SPRINT guys need a wake up call; T-Mobile does. I'll have to remember that for next time. OK, I can use a pay phone, but no EURO change in my pocket yet. OK, how about a CC phone? oh, they don't take MC only VISA - just like on TV. OK, get out the VISA, and it does not work. OK, try the next phone. It doesn't work there either, ok, on to the third (and last) phone - it works! yay! However Guus doesn't answer - bummer. I leave a message that I won't repeat here. It starts to rain again. (have I mentioned that it is almost ALWAYS raining in Holland?) The grass is so wet it has mold on it.

I deside to call his home phone # instead of his cell - He says "Hi" in Dutch - I'm saved. I go to the cafe at the station and ask for a "large" cup of coffee while I wait. I am handed a 6oz cup and I am reminded that the word "supersize" has not made it over here yet. I order another cup. However, they do not have a cup large enough to dump the two cups in at the same time so I take them both back to the table. That's OK, I can have an imaginary friend - I'm already seeing things anyway.

A few minutes later Guus comes flying up in his white Accord Type-R. Nice ride. We zoom off towards his house in Amersfoort.

[Amersfoort is a cool master planned community/town and is worth looking up on the internet if you have the time and inclination or anything more than a passing interest in architecture]

Thursday: 10/05/02

Thursday is just the continuation of Wednesday for me - our schedule is pretty jammed - I go home with Guus, eat something, and pack up the cars and head for the Honda Holland Headquarters where the Norcini NSX is stored. I find out on the way that since Guus has been spending 110% of his time and energy (like he should be) battling his cancer, that the car has not actually been started for ~16 months and since the Honda dealer that we had in our pocket to look after the service needs of the car etc. also went out of business during this time (not enough sales to keep going) that the car is kinda just like I left it. Hmmm - OK - we will see what happens, it is a Honda - right? My fingers are crossed.

We connect with the sales guy at "H" headquarters (our "handler" there) and he offers us some coffee. I think I looked like warmed over road kill by then. On the way to the coffee table, I see a HONDA track suit in the display case - it is calling my name.... Hmmmm. OK, the COFFEE is here!!! We grab some and sit. I think about sleeping.

Misha (Guus's car nut pal of many years) arrives and we start the trailer hook up process. Of course the battery on the trailer is dead but we are tough guys and push. While all this excitement is happening, the sales guy comes back over and offers to look for another suit like the one he heard that we liked. He and I go back in the warehouse to see and leave Misha and Goose to do the dirty work. We find a box of them [made by SPARCO] and dig them out. I get to try them on, settling on a 56 - fits better than the MOMO I just got and it says HONDA on the front and back too - I am STYLIN! He suggests some racing shoes and I fall for it - they turn out to be black/white trim and match the gloves I bought before I left. Such a DEAL! especially since he does not know the price of anything and suggests that we drive away now and pay later. I kinda wonder why this suit is rough on the outside and the MOMO is silky smooth but I'm too tired to look at the labels. (more on this later)

Goose and Misha have hooked up the trailer to our rented 125HP Diesel truck by now, [no RAM trucks here] and off we go. Goose (Guus) and I in his white ITR and Misha hanging tough driving the truck. (our Guy Friday Extraordinaire) Can you visualize this as the "Tortoise and the Hare" fairy tale come to life? We take the cars over to the storage unit and trade in the ITR for Goose's white NSX. Now the "hare" is even faster!

Off we go to SPA......