Miscellaneous Ramblings

Here it is Wednesday night, and I don't have anything specific to cover. Actually, that is not a true statement, I have a lot to talk about, just no specific topic tonight. Tonight we go into miscellaneous ramblings.

Received my new STEMTech product, ST5 with MigraStem and had my first glass of the new product. I really liked it, put it in 8 ounces of water and added some blueberries. The mild vanilla taste complemented the blueberries very nicely. Looking back, I did notice a slow, but steady increase in energy, especially since I had a particularly bad night's sleep last night. Hopefully, this product will allow me to be more active during the day so that I can sleep better at night. Looking forward to playing with different recipes for this drink. What is really cool is that you can put ST5 in a warm liquid (not boiling, but warm) so in the winter time, you can have a nice warm drink with ST5, you are not stuck only drinking it cold. I will keep you posted on my personal progress with ST5.

On another subject, have been busier than a one-armed paper-hanger here in the office. I have promised getting a new website up and active over 2 weeks ago, and have not gotten very far with it. I continue to work on that, but other chores and tasks have been rearing their ugly heads...

Looking forward to getting back on the road again. Really sad that we were unable to make it to Sturgis motorcycle rally this year, really miss everyone there. We are looking forward to being there next year. Family issues and concerns took priority, so we opted at the last minute not to attend this year. The decision not to go to Sturgis was one of the most difficult decisions we have ever made. We haven't missed a Sturgis motorcycle rally in over 10 years. We are missing our Sturgis family and assuming all goes well next year, we will definitely be there.

Lastly, we are looking a a new start-up company that will have an awesome new product available by the end of September 2010. Since we have been close to home this last month (again due to family concerns) we have been doing a lot of research and work with this new company. Keep your eyes on this blog by the end of August for major announcements that you don't want to miss.

If you are looking for a second income to supplement your current income, please feel free to check out our website. If you have questions, you can e-mail us at hawgwash1@yahoo,com or leave a comment on this blog.

Have a wonderful evening. This ends my miscellaneous ramblings for the month...really...

Until tomorrow...

Yorkie Health Update

Well, thought some of you might be interested on how our little Yorkie, Hawg has been doing. This will be the last of your Yorkie Health Updates. Haven't written about him much because I don't want to bore you will all the mundane little things that really don't need to be covered. Hawg got his stitches taken out today and is doing just fine.

It was a little touch-and-go for him this last week, actually more touch-and-go for me, not him because I was not sure how fast he should be healing. Hawg was still doing some internal bleeding 7 days after surgery, and the vet had originally said the bleeding was to have stopped after 5 days. Since I am such a worry wart, I called another vet, described the procedure that Hawg had gone through and asked when there should be no more bleeding. Based on what I told them, the vet indicated that the bleeding was normal up to 10 days after surgery, because Hawg's surgery was so extensive. Well, imagine how much better I felt.

As if on command, the next day, Hawg exhibited much less bleeding, and by the 10th day, there was virtually no more blood. Yippie!!! Then all I had to do was to worry about how and where to get his stitches out. He had a total of 10 stitches, and normally I am not squeamish about that, but where the majority of the stitches were, well, I wasn't going to be snipping around ANYTHING...

When we arrived in Corbin, KY yesterday, I started asking around for a vet. I couldn't keep Hawg's stitches in forever, so figured this would be the best time to get them removed. I was pointed to the Corbin Animal Clinic, which was about 2 miles from the motorcycle rally. I rode over there yesterday to ask if they would remove Hawg's stitches, and was pleasantly surprised to receive such a kind and positive answer. I always worry about going into a vet's office in an area that I am not familiar with. The people at the front desk were wonderful and kind and gave me a few blocks of time that I could bring Hawg in. Gratefully, I went back to our motor home and let Hawg know he only had one more day before he had his stitches removed.

This morning I loaded Hawg up on the bike and we rode together to the Corbin Animal Clinic. Within about 10 minutes after arriving, they came out to get Hawg. They verified where all the stitches were supposed to be and took Hawg in back. Within 5 minutes (seemed longer to me, but as you know, I am a worry-wart) he was back, sassy as ever. The vet said he is healing well and should be just fine. After my stomach finished doing all kinds of back-flips, I thanked everyone at the Clinic, put Hawg back on the bike and headed back to the motorcycle rally.

It took me about an hour to calm down after that (it only took Hawg about 10 seconds to calm down...) and now he and I are much happier. I am sure he feels much better not having all those stitches and I feel better knowing there is nothing more for him to do except finish the healing process. Hawg is loving this venue, the people we have met are awesome and are definitely "dog" people. He is being spoiled by everyone he meets, so I am positive his healing will proceed even quicker now that I am not nervous (my stress did cause him to be a bit stressed too) and he now gets to meet people again (again, in my over-protective state, I wouldn't let anyone touch him while he was "healing", since I didn't want anything to go wrong...I am such a pain sometimes...). Both dogs are still happily eating their StemPETS nutritional supplement too, which is probably what is keeping Gypsy healthy and helping Hawg to heal well.

Next time you see Hawg, you will never know he had any type of surgery. On a slightly different note, Gypsy has really been liking my over-protection of Hawg because I don't walk them together. She gets individual attention when we walk then he gets attention. Gypsy has been thriving on this individual attention, so I may make more of a habit of walking them separately. We shall see, since each dog loves a good brisk walk. The even better news is that by my walking both dogs separately for the last almost 2 weeks, I have lost a good bit of inches around my middle. My belt is now pulled into the last notch. The extra walking along with my watching what I eat (and taking my StemEnhance regularly) has finally done the trick to helping me to lose that extra padding. More reason why I may just keep walking the dogs separately...we shall see.

Until tomorrow...

The American Freedoms Rally

As you may be aware, we are participating in a new rally, The American Freedoms Rally in Corbin, Kentucky. Usually, we do not attend first year motorcycle rallies because attendance is inconsistent. We are making an exception on this rally because of what the motorcycle rally actually stands for. The American Freedoms Motorcycle Rally was designed to bring bikers and the general public together from across the United States to celebrate our Nation's Independence Day. It is also designed to honor the heroes of this great nation, our active duty military, veterans, and those who gave all so that we may enjoy the freedoms that we have today.

If you are not familiar with where this event is held, it is at the David L. Williams Southeastern KY Agriculture and Expo Center. The Center, also known as "The Arena" is located in Corbin, KY, right off I-75 and exit 25. As you exit 25, you will turn towards Corbin, "The Arena" is located on top of a hill, behind the Appleby's restaurant. Turn into the road just past Appleby's and go up the hill. You should see the hot air balloon and tents prior to arriving.

This event starts with a kick-off party beginning at 5 pm on Wednesday, June 30th and goes through midnight. There will be a wide variety of events occurring throughout the rally. There will be a pig roast, burn out pits (if you have not had the opportunity to see a burn out competition, this is a great time for that), mechanical bull riding, dunk booth, lots of food, and some great sounding entertainment. We watched them build the stage today and test some of the sound systems, and if these early tests are any indication, the music is going to be awesome.

They are planning a Louisiana Crawfish Boil on Friday, July 2nd which should be a whole lot of fun. On Saturday, July 3rd, they are going to hold a Military Appreciation Day. According to the promoter, this ceremony will rival some of the best in the Nation. I don't want to give anything away, so if you are curious, come on by and see what happens for this Military Appreciation Day as we pay tribute to the brave men and women of our armed forces and honor our fallen heroes.

Best of all, the American Veterans Traveling Tribute (like the Traveling Wall) will be on display during the whole American Freedoms Motorcycle Rally and Event. If nothing else, this is something that everyone should see at least once.

Hopefully we will see you all here during the weekend. Come on by the booth and say "Hi".

Until tomorrow...

Kentucky Ride In 2010

Today was the last day of the Kentucky Ride In 2010 put on by the local GWRRA (Gold Wing Road Riders Association). This was not a typical motorcycle rally for us, more like a weekend for Gold Wing Riders to literally ride in and just hang out together. It was a nice change of pace for us, we were able to present our Waterless Cleaning Products to the riders and not feel like we had to work hard. One reason for that is our table was set up inside an air conditioned pavilion. So even though it got over 90 degrees outside with a high humidity, we were very comfortable.

Since the majority of riders at this event were Honda riders, we focused on presenting our Waterless Cleaning Technology products for them to see. Since we were essentially at an indoor event, we did not have much opportunity to demonstrate our Waterless products. The good news is that many of the riders were familiar with Waterless Cleaning Technology, so demonstrations were not super critical. What was really nice about an indoor show is that all the attendees were happy to be indoors and had a good attitude when looking at the products we had to offer.

This event was a great way to connect with many people. Since it was not a crowded event, it gave us a lot of time to wander around and spend time talking with people instead of constantly demonstrating our products. For many vendors, this may not have been a good thing because it was a very casual event, designed more for socializing than selling. But in these casual events, you get to learn more about what people are interested in and you actually have the time to spend time with people instead of looking for that next customer. We had great opportunities to talk with the District Staff and find out more about what Gold Wing Riders like to do. This is great information for when we attend other Gold Wing Rallies in the future.

Since I spent a LOT of time socializing, it is VERY late right now (after midnight) so I am going to call it a night. We are looking forward to attending next year's Kentucky Ride In assuming that it will be held after Memorial Day (for us personally...) otherwise we will be sure to have one of our associates attend the Ride In so that our Waterless Products continue to be represented here.

Until tomorrow...

GWRRA Georgia Wing Fling

Last night was the closing of the Gold Wing Road Riders Association (GWRRA) Georgia Wing Fling rally. Personally, I had never participated in a Gold Wing rally and am very, VERY impressed about how they organize it out here in Georgia. I also was not entirely sure how we would be received at a Gold Wing rally, I had no idea what Gold Wing riders were interested in. Generally the rallies we attend are basically Harley-Davidson focused, even though other bikes are more than welcome. What I have learned is that rallies for different types of motorcycle brands have different ideas of what happens at a rally.

For instance, at the BMW rallies we attend, the riders are more focused on light-weight camping gear and clothing for riding rather than cleaning their bikes. Actually, they seem to find it a mark of pride to have a dirty bike. The more bug-caked their bikes are, the higher their standings are. Their focus is on riding, not cleaning their bikes. Therefore, our Waterless Wash products do not really go over too well with BMW riders. The only thing they really liked our products for was cleaning their windshields and face shields on their helmets.

Harley riders tend to like lots of leather. Leather jackets, chaps, vests, purses, belts, basically any type of wearable leather. Harley riders do like cleaning products for their motorcycles, especially our Waterless Technology cleaning products. That is mostly because there can be a whole lot of chrome on Harley-Davidson motorcycles and with a waterless cleaning product, they can quickly and easily clean their chrome without making a mess.

Gold Wings are large bikes and do not have their engine showing like the Harley's or even BMW's usually do. There is a lot of fiberglass or plastic on a Wing, and usually not a whole lot of chrome. The Gold Wing riders take a lot of pride in their bikes and like to keep them clean, so we figured that our Waterless Wash Technology products would be a good fit for the Wing riders. I just wasn't sure about the reception of the other products we had to offer (like our Doo Rags and our wheel cleaning stands). I should not have been concerned. What we had to offer for the Wing riders is what many of them were looking for.

Back to why I really liked the planning of this particular GWRRA Georgia Wing Fling. what I really liked about this type of rally is the fact that they not only had poker runs for the riders, but there were seminars and educational lectures for the riders and their passengers (also called co-riders). The BMW rallies we have attended also had seminars for the riders, and it is nice to know that other groups also find seminars worthwhile. Some of the seminars covered a wide variety of topics from "How to have fun at a Rally", "Remembering Names" (boy do I need that one...), to "Motorcycle Awareness" to name a few of the choices available.

The theme of this year's GWRRA's 25th Annual Georgia Wing Fling was the American Bandstand, so they had 50's style dance contests, bingo, a "Twist it up Talent show" and all kinds of activities. There was even a scavenger hunt and a trivia quiz that included many vendors. I thought that the wide variety of activities really kept the participants very busy and having a whole lot of fun. Everyone we met was in a good mood, and that could have been a major challenge because it did get quite warm during the days here.

Not only did the rally organizers have all these activities going, but they were going on in a timely fashion. There seemed to be no delays, and when they say something was to occur at a particular time, golly, it did. The vendor organizers also had their ducks in a row. They had already had areas set up for the vendors and worked very well with the vendors to make sure everyone was satisfied with location. What I thought was awesome was that the Assistant Georgia District Directors continued to wander around the vendor area making sure the vendors had cold water to drink and checking to see if the vendors needed any assistance with anything. It is extremely rare that organizers take that much care of the vendors. It is wonderful to find people that care about others. We have found a whole lot of people here in Georgia really care about other people....

We are looking forward to attending next years GWRRA's Georgia Wing Fling.

Until tomorrow...

What to talk about?

Well, tonight I have been struggling for the last few hours, actually all day long, trying to find something interesting to talk with you about. I usually start each day with the question, "What to talk about?" and usually have something already on my mind or have made notes of talking points. Today, I have drawn a complete blank. You may find this funny, but I already have a blog topic for tomorrow and for Sunday, but have still been struggling today.

Perhaps my biggest issue was my concern about our Yorkie, Hawg. He went into surgery this afternoon, and I got a call from the vet later in the day saying he was fine and recovering. If all goes well, we get to pick him up tomorrow around noon. They warned me that he is in pain, and will be in pain for a while. I don't know about you guys, but looking into a dog's eyes knowing that they are hurting, just breaks my heart. Hopefully I am worrying about nothing. The only reason I knew something was wrong with Hawg was because he wasn't urinating, he didn't indicate any major pain. He is one tough little bugger...

But after my all-consuming worry about our Yorkie, we also have the Gold Wing Road Riders Association Georgia Wing Fling to work at. The people are great, and the weather has been much better than we have dealt with in the last two weeks. The only wrinkle in this show has been the brief rain-shower that occurred (not on the weather report...need to have a chat with the weatherman on that one...) late this afternoon. If the weather man listened to me, we can't have rain until after the event shuts down, after 5 pm. But nobody talked to me about that rain shower. I will have to have a chat with someone about that. I will not allow another recurrence of a rain shower until after 5 tomorrow afternoon...my rules...

So, as you can see, again, I have nothing to say...(not) Hopefully this was a little entertaining. Stay posted, I will have interesting topics for the next two days....

Until tomorrow...

More traveling to Motorcycle Rallies

After Milledgeville, GA, we spent a little time with a friend in Fayetteville, GA and then it was back on the road for more traveling to motorcycle rallies. This week we are headed off to Hiawassee, Georgia for a Gold Wing Road Riders Association state event. We have arrived for the Georgia Wing Fling. Since vendor setup was today, we were able to take some time and find out about the township of Hiawassee.

Hiawassee was incorporated on October 24, 1870. The drive up to Hiawasse from Atlanta is absolutely beautiful. The roads are small, not too heavily traveled but really great for motorcycling. I was so wishing I was on a bike on the way up here, the views were incredible, and the roads were well maintained. The only downside to the ride up here was the fact that the roads were small and winding. Fun on a motorcycle, but not so fun in a motor home pulling a trailer. There were a few knuckle-biting situations, but nothing that we couldn't handle. Next year it probably won't be as intimidating, since we know where the roads will go.

Hiawassee is almost 2,000 feet above sea level, nestled in the North Georgia Mountains about 2 hours Northeast of Atlanta. The name Hiawassee is a derivative of the Cherokee word meaning "meadow". Riding up here, you pass through a very cool town where all the buildings are designed to look like an Alpine village. Once here, there are wonderful areas for motorcycle riding. The views are breathtaking, and if you like to fish, the fly fishing here is top-notch. There are year-round trout streams and rivers here and some compare the fly fishing here to those areas in the western region of the U.S. The City of Hiawassee and the Hiawassee River continue to be popular tourist areas. Did you know that in the 1800's through the 1930's wealthy families from the lowlands would "summer in the mountains" to escape the heat and disease more prevalent in the more heavily populated areas.

I realize that tonight I sound like a travel blog, but once and a while I thought you would all enjoy some descriptions of where we have motorcycle rallies instead of just hearing about the motorcycle rallies. The Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds look to be a great location for any type of motorcycle rally, and we will provide you with a full run-down of how the event was on Sunday evening. Until then, I am going to try to sneak away and explore this beautiful town we are currently in.

Until tomorrow...

Synopysis of Milledgeville Thunder Rally

Well, I was SUPPOSED to submit a blog last night, but I had zero Internet access, so for those of you who thought I blew you off, I didn't. The Milledgeville Thunder Rally ended today and even though we had a blast, I am glad this motorcycle rally is now under out belt. Quite honestly, the only negative to this whole rally was the weather, which could not be controlled.

Everything else about the Milledgeville Thunder Rally was great. We were set up next to some seriously fun vendors, the people that came to visit us in our booth were great and, again, the promoter was fantastic. Please do not think that I would be saying this if it was not true. This is the second rally in as many weeks that we actually had a lot of fun at. Usually, the motorcycle rallies are fun, but more work and a lot more stress. Also, setting up at the other rallies can be a serious test of patience. Milledgeville Thunder Rally was one of those rallies where the vendor set up was great, and the promoter really knew what was going on. You have no idea how refreshing it is to be at an event where things occurred like they were supposed to.

So, as you can most likely assume, it was HOT and HUMID at the Milledgville Thunder Rally this weekend. It was so humid that many people looked like they were swimming through the rally. As I noted on an earlier post, there were times that the weather reported 100% humidity and temps in the 90's. I had never experienced humidity that high without rain, so this was a first for me. Even through the heat and humidity, the participants of the rally kept a really great attitude. Granted, they moved slowly, who wouldn't? But all the people we met were just having a fun time at the rally. When you feel that hot and sticky, it is unusual to have people in a jovial mood, but that occurred here.

Throughout the rally, our neighbor, Carmen of Unique Glass Etching, and I continued to sing Christmas songs. I believe we actually had people coming up to our booths to see if we were really that crazy. Unfortunately, we were unable to get anyone else to sing along with us, but hey, perhaps next year we will have an official sing-a-long....

The rally had bike games that were a blast to watch. The games were held in the middle of the vendor set-up, and due to the arrangement of the vendors, there was no problem whatsoever regarding the bike games interfering with business. Actually, it allowed all of us vendors for a change to be able to watch the events without leaving our respective booths. That also made this rally fun, we usually don't get to watch all the fun stuff that goes on for the riders. The organizers did have some events at the band stand which was near the campers, they had a hooter bounce (use your imagination...), some mud wrestling, and what looked like a pillow fight. Since the band stand was quite a distance from our booth, I couldn't really see what was happening, just hear it and laugh. There was also a burn-out competition that happened on the other end of the campground, we could only hear the motorcycles and see the smoke. I don't know who won that event...

Prior to the bike games, there was a bike show (See Pic of Steve & his first place trophy) that again was set up in the middle of the vendor area. Both of these were great not only because we could see what was going on, but also because it drew people up to the vendor area. The motorcycles in the bike show were a sight to behold. The setup for this event was that there was a lower field for the campers and the band, and then an upper field for the vendors. The only issue was that in this heat, many people didn't want to wander too far from their campsites, so when events were arranged closer to the vendors, the people did follow. We are already planning on next year's rally here and trying to figure out if we can squeeze the October event into our travel schedule too. We will keep you posted, just check out the Schedule of Events on our website.

The pictures of the rally are taken from our booth. It looks hazy out there, but it was actually pretty sunny most of the time. The haze was that 100% humidity I was talking about. This is a motorcycle rally that everyone should attend if you are in the area, it was a lot of fun.

Now that the Milledgeville Thunder Rally is finished for this month, we are cooling off in the motor home enjoying the dry air-conditioning. Tomorrow we start preparing for our next rally, hopefully it won't be as humid, but no matter what, we will have fun.

Until tomorrow...

Milledgeville Thunder Rally

Well, today was the "official" first day of the Milledgeville Thunder Rally. As you know, we set up our booth yesterday and then spent the rest of the day networking with other vendors and chatting with the other participants that had also arrived early. Today, was the real opening of the rally.

Unfortunately it was an extremely HOT day to open too. I currently live in Arizona, so am relatively used to the heat, but Arizona usually doesn't have really high humidity unless it is mid-July through September. The weather website noted the humidity was at 100%. I thought 100% humidity meant rain, but trust me, there was absolutely no rain to be found here today. There were some really cool looking clouds moving around us, but nothing even hinted of rain today.

With the heat so intense today (the sun was out in full glory) and the humidity up so much, it was very difficult to get excited about much of anything. I had forgotten how bad humidity can feel, and completely forgot how to stay cool in situations like this. I remember when I was a child that when the humidity got to be too much, we just all hung out in the pool. Didn't have that luxury here today. Got to sit in, around, near the booth but no pool was in sight. I did get a good lead on a pond that was about a half a mile away. If it is this hot again tomorrow, you will find me in the pond, with a very long string to the booth. That way, if someone wants something, all they need to do is to tug on the string, and I will be there promptly (yeah, right, in my dreams...).

Anyway, I did survive a beastly hot and humid day today. What made the day fun was that the other vendors near us also made the best of a very uncomfortable situation. Carmen, the woman who sells this awesome frosted glassware, and I were singing Christmas carols throughout the day. If the song had the word "Snow" in it, we were singing it. Needless to say, the customers thought we were truly off our rockers. The good news was that the customers also enjoyed themselves when we were fooling around so much. You would normally expect people to be very crabby when it gets that hot and muggy, and perhaps they may have been if it had not been for Carmen and I singing Christmas songs... still makes me smile thinking about it. What is even funnier is that I can't sing worth a darn. You really don't want to hear the caterwauling that comes from me...but, in this heat, we all thought it was very funny...

Anyway, after singing our way through the worst of the day, the evening cooled off nicely. I am not sure if it is really cool, but the sun went down, so we were not baking, so by definition, it got cooler. Again, according to the weather forecast, it is not scheduled to get very cool tonight, but right now, I don't care, I am finally in a moderately air-conditioned motor home. 80 degrees with single digit humidity is just the ticket for me right now. Actually it feels a little nippy in here...may need a blanket tonight...and who is kidding who here???

After this rally is done, I will post pictures, you hopefully will enjoy where we have been. The views have been fabulous, the people even better (despite the heat and humidity) and the overall planning so far has been good.

Until tomorrow...

Setting up for a Motorcycle Rally

Well, today was setup day for the Milledgeville Thunder Rally. We got up early, and arrived at the venue a little after 9 am in anticipation of a possible gaggle of vendors arriving for setup. Setting up for a motorcycle rally is not for the faint of heart. More times than not, even when the promoter recommends that you show up by a certain time, there will be many vendors who would have cued up the night before.

It seems that you can never accurately anticipate what set up will be like at a rally unless you have attended it in prior years. Even then, knowledge of how a rally was run in prior years does not necessarily mean it will be OK this year. All the same, Milledgeville Thunder Rally is a new rally for us, so we had no idea what we were going to encounter when we arrived at the staging area.

What we found was a beautiful open field with electrical boxes scattered around and three vendors already set up. Seeing other vendors set up sometimes makes me feel like I missed the memo stating we needed to arrive a day earlier... The good news was that it was only three vendors, not three dozen already set up. Even better news was that the promoter had already confirmed we had a space, so our anxiety was somewhat reduced. The promote arrived shortly after we did and we were able to get the motor home placed, our electric set up and identify where our booth was to be set all by noon.

Setting up for a Motorcycle Rally can be a stressful experience especially if this is either the first time you have ever been a vendor at this type of event, or if this is a new event for you. The best way to prepare for a Motorcycle Rally, or any other weekend event is to do as much homework as you can in advance of the event. You can look on the Internet for pictures of prior years' events, you can talk to the promoter (more on that later) and you can contact other vendors who attended the event in years past. Even if you do all of the above, there is no guarantee that this particular event will be good for you. Keep that information in mind if you plan on participating as a vendor at events. Even if the event went very well last year, there is no guarantee that it will again go well this year. People change, economic conditions change and the weather can be a huge factor.

Assuming you have done your homework prior to an event and still decide to attend, the best thing to do is to be sure you arrive no later than on time. That shows the promoter you respect their time and their event. It also usually allows you enough time to set up before people come around to purchase what you are offering. We love to come as early as possible so that we can not only be set up, but can take the extra time to walk around and talk to the other vendors at the motorcycle rally. Talking to other vendors is a great way to network, usually, if they are already set up, they are more than willing to spend a few minutes chatting with you about the event, their products, the attendees of the event and possibly other events that are coming up.

The information you can obtain from other vendors can be absolutely invaluable. We have received excellent leads regarding upcoming motorcycle rallies, who to talk to, and where to avoid. We have also found vendors selling items that we had personally been looking for. What also comes out of chatting with others is that they will ask you what you are offering. Again, this is an excellent opportunity to network and promote yourself. Even if the other vendor is not personally interested in your products or services, they will have in the back of their mind what you do, so if a customer wanders up and asks them about a certain product or service, there is a very good chance that they will point that customer to you if you are the one who can provide the product or service. Networking with other vendors is almost like creating a local directory of products and services for that motorcycle rally. you would be amazed once a rally starts, how many people will be in attendance. Many times the customers are looking for a particular product or service, but due to the crowds and possibly the layout of the motorcycle rally, the customers are not able to locate you. If other vendors are aware of who you are, where you are and what you have to offer, they will point the customers in your direction.

Good luck setting up for a motorcycle rally or any other weekend event. Motorcycle rallies and weekend flea markets are relatively similar events, so what I have suggested here can apply to flea markets, craft shows, etc. If you have specific questions regarding setting up for a motorcycle rally or other event, please feel free to contact us at hawgwash1@yahoo.com. If you are interested in starting up a home-based business and need ideas, please check out our website at http://www.hawgwash.net/.

Until tomorrow...

Results of Motorcycle Rally

Well, after much preparation, stress and then set-up, we managed to survive the motorcycle rally in LaGrange, GA, "Bikers On Main". This was a great event put on by awesome people. I am not just saying that, it is true. Granted, I have also never been to Georgia before for any length of time, so for all I know, the people here are awesome all the time anyway. But I digress...

The event Bikers on Main, was basically a day and a half event. There were live bands performing in the center of the Historic District on Friday evening and then very early Saturday morning, a portion of Main Street was blocked off so that vendors could set up, motorcycles could easily park and then everybody could come by and listen to the bands. All the proceeds from this event went to Harmony House Domestic Violence Shelter. So, now you know why I thought this was a wonderful event for all who attended.

As mentioned in my earlier post, we worry about all kinds of things when we attend a new motorcycle rally for the first time. This rally was no different, but we should not have spent even a minute worrying about anything. The club that sponsored this event, Southern Cruisers Riding Club, Chapter 109 - LaGrange had all their ducks not only in a row, but the ducks were joined at the hips. The directions to get to the vendor check-in were specific and accurate (you have no idea how many directions we get that do not get us to where we are supposed to go), when we went to check in, the people that were to register us were there early and even had maps and locations already set up. We were able to check in, and the organizers were quickly and easily able to show us where our space was. We were then quickly able to unload and get everything ready for the rally.

The only downside to this whole event was that we did not get nearly enough sleep prior to the rally. Again, that was due largely to our worry over what could happen. All of our fears were unfounded and we wasted precious energy worrying over something that never came to fruition. Word to the wise, do not worry about things you cannot control, nine times out of ten, your concerns will be not even close to what actually occurs. I know better, but sometimes I still fall into that old rut...

We couldn't have had our booth placed between any nicer people either. One of our neighbors was an organization called D.A.D. - Defending Americas Defenders. What they do is collect money and donations to help take care of our homeless veterans. The work to help the homeless veterans get back on their feet. This is a wonderful group and if you are interested in what they do or getting involved, their website is: http://www.defendingamericasdefenders.com/ .

To our other side was a great group of people who did some really good leather working. They made leather belts, created custom leather saddle bags for motorcycles, and had other leather accessories, all made by them. We had a lot of fun chatting when the crowds thinned later in the day. This event was a great venue to network in. Even though we may not have sold product to everyone we met, we were able to talk to people and let them know who we were. The only wrinkle in the whole event was the thunderstorm that kicked up mid-afternoon. The storm managed to clear the streets of people and some vendors had many items blow all over the place. When all was said and done, after about 30-45 minutes the skies cleared, but the people did not return as quickly. The good news is that the temperatures remained lower and we all enjoyed the cooler evening.

To recap, Bikers On Main was a great event and one that we hope to return to over the next several years. If you have an opportunity to attend this event next year, do so, it is well worth the visit. Also, the historic downtown district of LaGrange is a beautiful sight to behold. Can you tell I really enjoyed myself this weekend? I hope all of our future rallies are as enjoyable as this one was.

If you want to find out which events we will be attending next, check out http://www.hawgwash.net/ and click on Schedule of Events. There you will see a listing of all the events we are attending along with some other useful information. Hopefully we will get to see you at one of our future rallies.

Until tomorrow...

Getting ready for Weekend Shows

Today was spent getting ready for the upcoming show, Bikers On Main in LaGrange, GA. Part of getting ready for an upcoming show, especially one that you have not attended in the prior years can be an exciting and frightening experience. This is the first year that we are doing any shows in Georgia so, obviously, this is the first year we have attended this rally.

To prepare, the first step is to get here. As many of you may have guessed, we do not live on the East Coast, but much further West. We come to the East Coast every year while attending an event called Run for the Wall (you have most likely read some of those blogs earlier this month..) and then we traditionally work our way back West by attending various motorcycle rallies. This year we opted to attend some new rallies in Georgia. The problem is that neither of us have been in Georgia for any amount of time, so the fact that we were able to navigate to our intended city was an accomplishment. (There are times that I can be very directionally challenged)

Once we arrive in the city that the rally is to be held, we traditionally take a trip to where the actual rally is to be. This alleviates some stress because we are then somewhat familiar with the streets and layout of where all the vendors will be set up. Also, at time of set-up, we won't worry about getting lost trying to locate the vendor check-in area (again, my directionally challenged problem). So, today we were successful in locating not only the city (which would be pretty hard not to find...) but we were also able to drive around where the vendors were to be set up. That means tomorrow morning we will actually know where we are going (sort-of). One less stressor to check off the list.

The next challenge is where to place the rig when we are working the rally. That little issue has yet to be resolved, and will probably give us heartburn until tomorrow when those questions will be answered. Usually we have a good idea where they want us to put the rigs and trailers, but this time, I forgot to ask. This is not usually a difficult task, but especially with new events for us, we both do stress about where the rig goes because our critters are in the rig while we work. We do not like to take our animals in our booth, it can be very distracting for both us and the customer. You want people to pay attention to your booth and the items you have to offer, not the critters you have frolicking around your booth.

Then the last worry we had was locating a place to be for the night before the event. Since we do not live around here, it was important to locate some place local to stay the night before. I did have the presence of mind to remember to ask for local camping options and am very glad I did. The downside to that is that I missed the turn for the campground. Under normal circumstances, that would not have been too much of an issue, but this time, since the campground was on a relatively narrow two-lane road, we had to drive an additional 15 miles before we could find a safe place to make a U-turn. I like to think of these little "detours" as an opportunity to explore, but the other half of this party does not take kindly to my attitude of "detours". I enjoyed the scenery, but the additional 30 miles we really didn't need to make in the rain today. Even though, it was still a very pretty drive in the country. We got to see some really cool homes...

Well, now it is time to call it a night, it is an early start to the day tomorrow, and we still have yet to resolve the issue of where to put the rig when we are working. I know everything will work itself out, but fear of the unknown will make for a tad of a restless night tonight.

If you are interested in finding out more about what we do and what we offer at the various rallies around the country, please visit http://www.hawgwash.net/ for more information. If you would like some advice or assistance in getting your own home-based business into a rally, please feel free to contact us at hawgwash1@yahoo.com.

Until tomorrow...

Back to Business

Well, it is now after Memorial Day and time to get back to business. As you may be aware, we take about 2 weeks off each year and participate in Run for the Wall to honor our heroes. I have posted some of what we did on the last series of blogs, so you may have a sense of what this event means to me personally. Now it is time to get back in the saddle and back to work.

This weekend you can find Hawgwash, LLC in LaGrange, GA. We will have a display up a the Bikers On Main festival in LaGrange, GA. Not only will we have our Waterless Wash products, but we will be detailing motorcycles there. Again, this is a great opportunity to advertise your business. If you are struggling trying to get your business recognized, try attending some rallies. They don't have to be motorcycle rallies, but perhaps farmer's markets, art shows, whatever type of outdoor event that would be a good match for the services and products you offer.

Tonight's blog is going to be relatively short, it has been a long two weeks, and my brain is still more angled towards Run for the Wall rather than on business. Today was the first day that we really focused on business since the beginning of RFTW. Granted we detailed many bikes prior to the beginning of the Run, but once on the run, the mission took over and the business took a back seat.

As you work your business, it is critical to be able to take time out for your personal time. Running a home based business can become all-consuming and you may lost focus on the important things in your life. Our re-focusing time is the motorcycle trip across country for Run for the Wall. It is a great way for us to get back in touch with life's priorities. Then, when the event / mission is completed, you are better able to reset your priorities and get back to your home based business with better focus and vigor. I do not recommend Run for the Wall for everyone, but you should find some event or task that will take your mind off of your business for a short while. Everyone needs to take a break from work, otherwise you will find your life will feel out-of-balance.

So much for my ramblings tonight. Tomorrow will be another day.

Until tomorrow...

Motorcycle Rally Event Today

Today we participated in a motorcycle event that was a lot of fun. It was called "One for the Son" and was located in Fort Lowell Park, Tucson, Arizona. It was a Christian Biker Fellowship event for 2010. We all had a wonderful time.

Actually we had so much fun that after the event started, I forgot to take pictures. The attached pictures show what our booth looks like (before the event began) and then once all the major festivities and activities ended, I had enough time to take a picture of the parking lot and then of the view we enjoyed while at the event.

This event was intended to benefit the local Christian charities: Victory Worship Center's Mobile Medical Clinic (helps local Tucson people with free medical care), Christian Faith Fellowship and the Church on the Street (has homeless programs that are open to all who walk in the door). The event had wonderful live music throughout the day and only relied on "canned" music when the bands needed a little rest. The music was modern and uplifting and (this is the best part) not too loud, but loud enough for everyone to hear clearly. We have been at many events where the music was so loud you could not carry on a conversation at all.

They also had face painting for the children in attendance, and there were quite a few children attending the event. There was also this really cool "train" made up of a lawn tractor, and five 50-gallon drums cut out and made into individual train cars. The children had an absolute blast being driven around the parking lot in this very different train. What was a lot of fun to watch was how much fun the "conductor" had while driving the children around the lot. He would turn the train so tightly that he could high-five the child in the last train car. Everyone (even those of us too old to fit in those drums) had an enjoyable time watching the antics of the train and the children in the train.

There were several vendors in attendance and lots of people wandering around checking out what was for sale. What made this event so wonderful was the fellowship shown by all the participants. Everyone came for a good time, and everyone seemed genuinely happy to meet and greet strangers. It is not usual for a motorcycle rally to be so welcoming to everyone who arrived, even general users of the park. We had bike games where many people did participate, there was a great bike show and finally a raffle for donated prizes. Again, what made the show and the games so enjoyable is that all motorcycles were welcomed. Not just Harley-Davidsons participated in the bike games and we saw some very interesting solutions to some of the biker games. No, I am not going to tell you how some people won, you will have to figure that out by yourself.

We had lots of opportunities to show how our Waterless Wash product, UltraLuster, worked on dirty motorcycles and cars, and also had the opportunity to talk to people about our new nutritional product, StemEnhance and StemFLO. Several people were interested in what a Stem Cell Nutritional product could do to benefit them, and we provided them enough information so they could make an informed decision.

If you have the opportunity to attend this event next year, I highly recommend it. It is family oriented, and bikes and people of all ages were welcomed. Since it was an extremely long and windy day, this blog is ending now. I am pooped and more than a little wind-burned. Time for some much needed rest.

Until tomorrow...

Yuma Prison Run Motorcycle Rally

Tonight is going to be VERY brief as it is day two of the Yuma Prison Run Motorcycle Rally. This rally has been going on annually for the last 49 years. What is really cool about this run was that even from it's inception, it has been dedicated towards the betterment of children's charities. This run started in 1961 and has run continuously ever since. Some of the main charities that were donated to this year were The United Yuma Firefighters Child Burn Survivor Program, The Make-A-Wish Foundation and Olive Crest Homes for Abused Children.

The event, as usual was great. The vendors were set up and ready for business by noon on Friday and we stayed open for as long as our customers wanted us to. Since the entry fee included camping, many people either took tents, motorcycle tent trailers or motor homes onto the Yuma County Fairgrounds and spent the weekend camping at the event. This allowed for people to wander all over vendor village throughout the evening without feeling rushed. Also by being on premises, the event allowed the vendors to feel relaxed and to stay open for as long as we wanted to. The only rules were that we were to begin business by noon on Friday and we have to be off premises by noon on Sunday. All other hours are defined by each vendor.

We liked to open early, so as to catch the avid motorcyclists who wanted to clean their scoot before the day's rides began. On Saturday, we were open for business by 7:30 am and finally closed our tent down by 9 pm. Tomorrow we will be open no later than 7:30 and will close down and pack up by noon. The people here were awesome. The attendance was as good, if not better than it was last year and this is also in light of the fact that Arizona Bike Week shifted it's event to this same weekend.

It was great to see that attendance for the Yuma Prison Run did not suffer because Arizona Bike Week fell on the same time. I suspect that we didn't see a decrease because this is so much more than just a motorcycle rally. It is an event put on by a highly respected club, the Norwalk Centaurs is a family-oriented club and that is reflected very strongly in the annual Yuma Prison Run that they host every year.

If you ever have the opportunity to attend this event, I would highly recommend that you make the effort. Again, the focus is to raise money for children's charities, and there are lots of children in attendance. These kids not only wander around to meet everyone, but they spend a good bit of time working the event also. It is heartwarming to see the love and generosity from the bikers towards the children and hopefully this tradition will continue for the next 49 years. Even better, we hope to be able to attend as vendors for the next 49 years (and that puts me at....no, we won't go there...). If you want more information on the annual Yuma Prison Run, please visit their website at www.yumaprisonrun.net.

Until tomorrow...

Rip's B.A.D. Ride

As promised, tonight you will get a brief history of the B.A.D. Ride (Bikers Against Diabetes). On Sunday, October we attended the 5th annual Rip's B.A.D. Ride in Arizona. This was our third year in attendance and we will continue to attend as the years go on. As always it is a great event, supporting a wonderful cause, fighting Diabetes.

The weather on Sunday was great, especially for Arizona standards. It didn't get over 90, the sun was out, there was a light breeze and not a cloud in the sky. Perfect Arizona riding conditions. There were approximately 30 vendors attending the event this time, with items ranging from health care to jewelery, to shirts. Since this was an event supporting Diabetes research and cure, the American Diabetes Association was very active here too. The American Diabetes Association had shirts and small bean bag toys for sale to help raise money to prevent and cure diabetes. Their other goal is to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes.

Unfortunately most likely due to the tough economy, attendance was not as big as it had been in prior years. Fortunately, the people who attended did all they could to make this event memorable and wonderful. Mogollon was the main band, and Wooden Nickle was the opening band. Both bands were awesome and had people dancing in the bleachers and in front of the stage. The B.A.D. Youth Ambassadors were in attendance and seemed to enjoy mingling with the bikers. The bike show brought in many great bikes, some of the categories included American V-Twin, custom, and metric. The bikes that won the contest were true sights to behold. It was really great to see all types of bikes at the show and all the different bikes that came in to support this wonderful cause.

Did you know that there are 23.6 million Americans who have diabetes? That works out to about one in every 20 people have diabetes. Funds raised through this event help to support the work done by the American Diabetes Association for research, education, community programs and advocacy efforts.

Rip's B.A.D. Ride was started in California in 1997 by Rip Rose who was a biker photojournalist for Easyrider. Rip Rose had a dream of getting the Biker Nation to rally together to help fight diabetes. The first ride had about 300 riders starting from a few different sites to converge into Glen Helen Pavilion. Rip's ride has now gone nationwide with five additional states picking up the cause. Rip's B.A.D. Ride now takes place not only in Northern and Southern California, but in Arizona, Missouri, Texas, Kansas and Iowa. This ride also has the support of Karen Davidson and Willie G. of Harley-Davidson. Rip's ultimate goal was to unite the biker community to continue to fight to prevent and cure diabetes and improve the lives of those affected by diabetes.

If you want to find out more about Rip's B.A.D. Ride, or want to participate at some time down the road, please visit http://www.ripsbadride.com/. This site lists the rally sites, times and provides information on how to volunteer.

History of Bike Night at Arizona Joe's

I wanted to briefly talk about our bike night at Arizona Joes in Apache Junction. We hold a bike night at Arizona Joe's (AJ's) every Thursday. We started the bike night three years ago in October and it has been going on ever since.

Our original plan when we approached AJ's three years ago was to have a bike night until May(ish). After May in Arizona, the heat gets almost unbearable and we figured most of the motorcyclists would not want to ride to a bike night that is held in an outside patio during the heat of the summer. Our other reason was that we usually start our traveling after May and could not be in attendance during that time.

What happened surprised us all. Once we got the bike night going, people didn't want to stop showing up. Even though we planned on leaving to attend motorcycle rallies around the country, the attendees of AJ's bike night and the owners of AJ's decided to continue the event through the summer. We were able to get a few of the attendees to help manage our table of products and hand out raffle tickets while we were gone. Believe it or not, the bike night went all year long that year and has continued since then.

This year our bike night is expanding. Originally there was us, Hawgwash, offering waterless cleaning products for sale, and some other people selling miscellaneous other items related to motorcycling. We held a raffle at the end of each evening and we had various people performing during the evening. Now we have several people showing up each Thursday offering items for sale, we periodically hold a 50/50 drawing where 50% of the proceeds go to the winner and the remaining 50% goes either to a local charity (Legion riders, VFW, Wounded Warrior, etc) or to help pay for the raffle prizes that we give away each week and we have an awesome band to keep everyone entertained.

I would like to point out that the 'band' is one person, Greywolf, but he and his computer are the best thing to happen to our Bike Night. Greywolf keeps the crowd entertained, plays the music that we all want to hear, has an awesome voice and plays a mean guitar. He does have a band that plays on Saturdays at AJ's, but he does all his solo work on our Thursday bike nights. If nothing else, it would be worth while to come to bike night just to hear Greywolf perform.

We hold a free raffle weekly, each person who comes to bike night receives one raffle ticket. The items for raffle are donated by Arizona Joe's. We also get prizes from some of the people who are offering items for sale (we donate every time we are in attendance), and some of the regular attendees of Bike Night make up gift packages to raffle off. The raffle gets to be a lot of fun since you never know what will be raffled off. Sometimes if a guy wins a girl's shirt or other item of clothing (leave that to your imagination), we make the guy try on the clothing item before they can return to their seat.

This winter we are going to start up our bike show again holding that once a month (we haven't figured out which week yet), we are looking into doing a "walking" poker run, so people can wander around AJ's without leaving the premises, maybe a treasure hunt, we may try a wet t-shirt contest (you would not believe how many guys want to be the ones to pour water on the front of the ladies...), we will be holding motorcycle care clinics, and are open to other ideas that people have to suggest.

Hopefully, if you are in the Apache Junction/Mesa area of Arizona, you can come on by some Thursday night to AJ's and partake of the fun....

Until tomorrow...

Tucson Hogtoberfest

Good day all. We spent most of the day today preparing for the upcoming Tucson Hogtoberfest XXI that starts tomorrow afternoon. Granted this is not a week long event, but we do want to be as prepared as possible for all shows.

The weather should be great, mid-to upper 80's, sunny with some high clouds. If you are near Tucson, please come on by, we will be located at the Tucson Harley Davidson, just northwest of I-10 and Ina Road. (www.hogtoberfestaz.net) The kick off party starts at 5 pm tomorrow night.

Yeah, I know that sounds like an unabashed plug for Hogtoberfest, but hey, what the heck. It should be a lot of fun...we will be there... The really cool part about this event is that it is free to attend. If you want to participate in the poker run, then you have to pay a small fee.

The people from Tucson Harley are also really great. They have always been kind and welcoming to vendors and participants alike. They are always striving to improve this annual event. They have to be doing something right for this to be the 21st year...

Anyway, it has been busy for us today, we need to hit the road early tomorrow, so I am keeping this blog short. With luck, I will be able to post from Hogtoberfest tomorrow night. If you don't hear from me, then you can probably safely assume that we are having so much fun, I won't have time to update until after the event ends on Sunday (don't forget about the free pancake breakfast at 6 am Sunday..). The event wraps up around 5pm on Sunday.

Hopefully we will see some of you this weekend. If not, be safe whatever you do. I will keep you posted on the fun tomorrow... Until then...

Update on Las Vegas Bikefest

As you all probably know, we have been working at Las Vegas Bikefest. This has been a fun event for us throughout the years and it was again fun this year. Tonight is our last night for LV Bikefest and I am already looking forward to next year's event.

This year we were located at the Las Vegas Harley Davidson on Eastern Ave. We had not been there for a year and didn't remember the other events that LV HD had going there. I got to see my first wet t-shirt contest. Of course Steve wanted me to take pictures "for the Marines on the Marine website"...yeah right, who are we fooling, but Steve did not want to get close up to the stage.

That left me (all 5'4") trying to wind my way up close enough to the stage to take pictures. Normally that would not be too difficult, but I felt like I was the only girl in the crowd. I didn't realize how many guys were a LOT taller than me. That became painfully obvious when I kept trying to take pictures of the girls on stage only to have some guy move his head. All I got was a great shot of the back of some guy's head or his camera. If you think about it, my shots were pretty funny, there were more pictures of the backs of guys heads, arms, camera phones, cameras, than there were shots of the girls in wet t-shirts.

I am not going to post those pictures on this website (this is a "G" rated site - my rules...), I will leave the pictures up to your imagination. I will post a picture of a really neat person we met, his name is "RayRay" and he does custom license plates and frames. What really fascinated me about "RayRay" was that his leathers matched his bike almost exactly. I liked the fact that even though he had a LOT of blue on the bike, it was tastefully done, and not overdone. Even his leathers looked very classy. It is not often you see blue chaps and vest, but "RayRay" pulled it off with panache.

The weather here was awesome, if you don't mind winds. We had very strong winds on opening day, Thursday and they again picked up on Saturday afternoon. The good news is that the 90+ degree weather ended on Thursday and even though we had lots of sun, the temperatures didn't get much past mid-80's the whole event. It was absolutely perfect riding weather and great rally weather.

One of the best things about coming to Las Vegas Bikefest is seeing all of our friends from the Las Vegas area. Even though we worked at the booth, our friends were able to take some time and come to visit. It was almost like going to old home week, we had so many friends stopping by.

Bikefest ends tomorrow, Sunday, so if you are near, come on by, otherwise hopefully some of you will be able to take some time next year to attend Las Vegas Bikefest. It is a fun time, you get to see Las Vegas at it's best and there is some awesome riding in the Las Vegas area. We look forward to seeing some of you next year.

Until tomorrow....

Las Vegas Bikefest Rally

We are here in Sin City, Las Vegas, Nevada. There are some changes to the city, some of the construction projects that were supposed to be completed by now have stopped due to lack of funds. You can see the effects of the economy even here, in Las Vegas. The casinos are not as full (which is really good for those of us who don't like crowded casinos...more chance to use the machines) and there appear to be several businesses that are no longer in business.

On the bright side, we were able to spend the last day catching up with our friends who live here. It was almost like a homecoming week, going from home to home, visiting all of our friends and catching up on news that is not usually discussed at length over the telephone.

The weather here was hot (upper 90's to low 100's) up until today. It got really windy last night and I don't believe the temperatures got much over 75 today. The main downside to the weather today is that I was unprepared for the cooler temperatures. I forgot to put sunscreen on my neck and have subsequently burned the back of my neck today (in the heat I don't forget to put on sunscreen). There were really big gusts of wind throughout the day, which made setting up tents in anticipation of the start of Las Vegas Bikefest quite a challenge. Despite the winds, the vendors were upbeat in anticipation of the start of the rally. Everyone pitched in to help each other, and the general consensus is that this was going to turn into a really good show. We even had some time to visit other vendor friends of ours today and catch up on what is happening with them and their business.

Steve got to show me around some of his old stomping grounds, and we were able to sneak in some time to wander around Las Vegas. It is nice wandering around, but I had forgotten how bad the drivers here could be. I ended up watching the road more than I have had to for a very long time. To think about it, we have not been in a large metropolitan city for several months. I forgot what it felt like to navigate through rush hour traffic. Even with the traffic, it was still wonderful to ride the bikes around and see some of the sights.

We did stop this evening at Mr. D's on Rainbow and got to watch again the "Globe of Death" show. I understand that this is the last evening that they are riding at this location so it was a lot of fun to watch the guys ride two motorcycles in this tiny globe. From the outside, the globe looks pretty darn big, but if you stuck your head inside the globe, you have to wonder why these two guys don't bonk their heads each time they pass in opposite directions in the globe. You get a whole new respect for the challenge and skill that is required to ride around inside basically a giant hamster ball... It was a fun show, and if you get an opportunity to watch these guys, do, they are very entertaining.

We also got to meet the World's Fastest Woman, Valerie Thompson. She is out of Scottsdale, AZ (small world when we are all in Las Vegas). She will be racing her drag bike the end of October and plans on going back to the Bonneville Salt flats next year to try to break her own record and get over 200 mph. Her current record is 187.42 mph (she is the 2x world land-speed record holder), so she is very close to breaking that 200 mph mark. We had the opportunity to chat with her a bit tonight, and she was very charming. We will be rooting for her to break that number next year at the Bonneville Salt Flats.

That is all for tonight. Tomorrow I will talk a bit about trying to decide what you want out of life... deep thoughts....Take care