Then why not just get an SUV!?

This morning, I was walking across the lower lot at ORU and happen to see this yellow Dodge Viper RT/10. I have heard of other sightings made by my fiance (that's so weird to say!) and by my brother and my roommate. But this time, I got to see it. So I decided to get a better look.

I had a temp tag in the back window and it was more clean than anything I can imagine. Ok, not that clean, but very clean none the less. There was a little brake dust on those big monster wheels but that's about it. As I was walking around the car soaking it all in, I heard the doors/alarm shut off. So the owner must be close. I waited a second then spotted him. I told him I liked his car but I also like the Lotus Elise. He said he was looking for an Elise until he drove the Viper. He said nothing compares. Ok, I have never driven a Viper or even rode in one, but I do know this.

Actually, wait a second. I don't know the year of it, but it looked to be between a 93 and a 96. I checked the 0-60 times for the Viper RT/10 and it gave 4.5 for the 93 and 5.0 for the 96. Um... doesn't the Elise cover the same ground in about 4.6? Yeah! But wait the Viper has between 400-450 hp and the Elise only has 190. Something isn't right...

It must be the weight. The Viper weighs around 3400 lbs and the Elise is only around 1900. That's a little bit of a difference. Also, in Motor Trend, the Viper goes through their slalom course at 68.1mph while the Elise goes through at 73.2mph. The $193,000 Track Ready Ferrari Challeng Stradale goes through at 72.7mph. Hmm...

Ok, you may be wondering what I am so upset about. Well, as I was leaving the Viper and it's owner, I asked him if he has ever been to the track (race track). He said no and I told him I went with a buddy in a Lotus Elise. I asked if he was interested. He said no. He doesn't want to burn up tires or go too fast. He did that with his M3 already (so he says). He said that it's scary enough as it is. Now, if he is reading this, then please don't take this the wrong way, but you're wrong. Scary enough as it is... ever drive an Elise through traffic?












That's scary. The Viper and the Elise have similar specs, except for the top speed obviously, but the Elise doesn't even try to be about speed, it's about the handling. And it still pulls 4.6 seconds in 0-60! The Lotus is much smaller so that even a VW Beetle looks huge next to you on the highway. I get hit by a Hummer... ok, bad example. I get hit by a car or something, the Elise is done. You get hit by the same thing, that 3500 lb monster will protect you a little more.

Also, I love Vipers! That's not my problem. My problem is just this, if you buy a fast car I really think that you should take it to a track, a controlled environment, and see what it can do. You can go fast legally and safely instead of risking your neck on the street. I understand that some people just want to "baby" their cars, I completely understand that. But only if it of some antique value or something. But to buy this fast car and not use it to it's potential seems silly to me. To his credit, he has been there done that with another car, but since this is a different car, I think he should take this out too! Oh well, that's just one mans opinion.

I'll leave you with this quote:

But the fact is, remove straight-line grunt from the equation, and the Elise 111 R is a more rewarding steer than the Ferrari. Savour the moment. Cars that change your life view don't come along every day.

Have a great weekend.

Mountain Biking, finally!

Wow, I haven't mountain biked in like a week or two. I went last night. I just got my bike repaired last week and haven't been able to test it out. It seems to have been working much better! I mean, much, much better! That could be a bad thing though, because that means I can't blame the fact that I'm slow on my bike anymore... No, last night, I was feeling it. I was really doing well.

Also, Nick and I rode down this hill (Elwood Rd.) on our bikes. We got up to 48mph! On our bikes! You can't believe what that feels like, unless you have a motorcycle I guess... But we could have gotten pulled over for speeding! Can they do that?

Don't worry Mom, we had our helmets (hanging from our handlebars) and only 2 or 3 cars passed us and Nick's rear tire blowout didn't slow him down too much. Good times...

I raced in a Lotus Elise on Sunday.

A friend of mine has a 2005 Lotus Elise. British racing green. He said he would be going to the track on Sunday. He asked if I wanted to go. I did. I went. I brought some video equipment (just a camcorder). I leave you with this video.

I found some cool stuff!

I found an ORU student directory (phonebook) from 1977-1978. I thought those years sounded familiar, so I looked up a certain name and this is what I found...
















Is that cool or what?! Also, I hope this is ok with him... and Dad, email me if it's not... but he sent me this, and I believe that it is also from '78.














Well, that's it for now.

A little taste of Fall.

Woke up today. Hot. Well, warm anyway. That's because they turn the air conditioner off at night. I guess that's supposed to save money or something like that. Anyway, I got up early today, on my only day to sleep in (except Friday), because Josh needed Cassidy and I to get fitted for tuxes. He said we could go at 9am. At like 8:45 he came into our room and said, oh, they open at 10. Great! Wait, I'm going off topic...

Ok, so I woke up and it was hot. We opened the window to try and cool things off. It didn't feel very cool outside either though. So Cass and I got ready to leave, trying not to move too much for fear of reapplying deoderant. We rode down the elevator and walked out the door and you know what was there to meet us? 65 degree air! It felt absolutely georgous! I have been longing for cooler weather! It's overcast too, which makes it feel a little cooler. Not cold enough for a jacket though. Well, not for me anyway.

So I'm just waiting to go to my next class. Not much to do right now. Senior project is getting kind of stressful, I think only because I haven't sat down and pounded out the details yet. I just have an idea as to what I want to do. It helps me to be more detail oreinted sometimes.

My body still aches. My elbow bumps everything and everyone. I'm constantly saying "Ow!" And if I sit for too long, my leg (knee pit with rug burn now turned to semi scab) hurts when I start to walk. I have to really stretch it out and break the scabs so it doesn't hurt as much.

Back to the weather. It's nice an cool today, but it's supposed to steadly climb to 91 by Saturday.

Apple has a special keynote today. Rumor has it, there is a new iPod to be unveiled. The iTunes Music Store is down saying that it is being updated (rumor has it a new movie store). Also the online Apple Store is down for the moment. I guess because they are adding the iPod. There are some more stuff that are supposed to be released but those two are the biggest news to me. We'll see how things go.

This just in! I'm reading updates from the conference... new iPod features... new games (bejeweled, tetris...) 60% brighter with control... new headphones... 3.5 hrs of video playback... games for sale on iTunes for $4.99... games will work on your 5G video iPods (yeah!)... $249 for 60GB and $349 for 80GB!

Ok, I gotta go to class, just check www.apple.com for more information. I'm sure it will be posted soon!

The ORU Bikers!

 

Me bikin!

 

I prepared a date in the obligitory Prayer Gardens... Afterward, we studied french and anatomy...

 

Date pt.2

 

Spoke cut pt. 2.

 

When I was setting up my bike on top of my TV, it fell, so I grabbed it and the spoke cut me!

 

Random, but good stuff!

I know it's been a long time since I posted, but I haven't been able to sit in front of a computer very long to just do nothing. The semester is already off to a fun, but fast start. Here are some topics I want to cover in this post... Worship, Taking time to smell the roses and my most recent injury.

First of all, worship. Over the past two years, I have really gotten into worship. Worship at church, chapel, in my room, in the car, wherever. The majority of it all has been from the beginning of this past summer till present. I've never felt such strongs feelings about worship ever before. I see as something much different than I used to. There is a song by the Newsboys that really gets me going every time. It's called "He Reigns." Here is an excerpt from the lyrics:

It's the song of the redeemed
Rising from the African plain
It's the song of the forgiven
Drowning out the Amazon rain
The song of Aisan believers
Filled with God's holy fire
It's every tribe, every tongue, every nation
A love song born of a grateful choir
...
When all God's children sing out
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
All God's people singing...

I love the lyrics and I love the song. I hope you get to hear it sometime.

I also want to share one my greatest moments worshipping with you. I didn't want to say anything for seeming like I'm boasting, but I feel that it may help someone draw closer to God as well.

Anyway, it was a Saturday night service at Church on The Move sometime this summer. It was just Jenni and I and we were in the big church, around 8,000 - 10,000 people. We sang, had the sermon and the pastor, Willie George, asked the musicians if we could play a song again one last time before we left. I honestly don't remember what song it is but I would if I heard it. Anyway, the band started to play... I started to feel something in my stomach. A stirring inside of me was like, "You have to stand up, you have to stand up and stretch your arms to God." Everyone was sitting down, I think we were just supposed to sit there and enjoy it. I was sitting there and just waiting for the exact right moment, I knew the song was building and as the chords and notes built to the climax, I was just waiting for the deluge to come. As soon as the climax hit, I jumped out of my chair, and threw my hands into the air as far as I could stretch. I was on my tip toes just reaching for God. In my head, I saw one person in the biggest church I've ever been in, standing when everyone else was sitting. That person was me. It felt so exilerating! I didn't do it just to be the only person standing, but I did it for me and for God. After the song played about twice, they asked everyone to stand as we closed. I can't even begin to explain the feeling though. I felt so vulnerable, but sometimes, you have to feel like that. Put your trust back in God. Who cares if people are watching. You just have to let it all go and see what happens.

Ok, moving on... This part is the "taking time to smell the roses and my most injury." They are tied into each other.

On Thursday, I went biking with the guys. That means Cassidy, Nick, and Sean. It's a really nice day weather wise and there is no one on the trails. They all start to go a little faster, so I speed up. I now don't think anyone else went faster though. So I was going kinda fast, I missed the line I thought I was on, hit a rock or something and fell off. It was a pretty graceful fall though so it was ok. That time, I just got some thorns in the arm. A pretty normal injury for me.

So I keep going, truckin' on, now trying to regain the pride I left dripping from a thorn bush and wham! Down I go again! This time, it's a full blown endo. Left elbow, bruised and cut. It's a nice raspberry now. So I fell twice... who doesn't fall now and then... I'm starting to think that this mountain (Turkey Mountain, more of a hill but Turkey Hill must have been copyrighted...) does not want me on it today. I give a quick prayer to my guardian angels just to make sure they are on their toes and I clip back in... ready to make a comeback!

So we bike another mile or so, through some tough rock gardens and we make it to the top of "Lip Buster." No, I did not name that hill that. That's its official name. So I'm like, hey, I'll rush down and when I get to the bottom, I'll take pictures of you guys! Great idea! I take off, probably faster than I have before, and things feel weird from the start. I'm in the wrong line, but I can't seem to get out of it. Next thing I know, my leg is all cut up and the area behind my knee is skinned like road rash! So I get up, finish the descent and blow my whistle, signalling for the other guys. They finish and we meet back and the lot.

My leg is hurting now, I get a better look at myself and I notice that I almost probably met Jesus. But all is well, it's not my time. So I get back to the room, limping in agony from the raw skin touching clothes every time my leg bends or tendon tightens. The shower was brutal. I haven't felt pain like that in a long time! Really, I can't remember the last time I felt pain like that. So I get cleaned up and hop in bed, trying not to move. I'll go to the nurse in the morning. I kept waking up in the middle of the night because it was hurting and so was every other part of my body.

I got up on Friday, went to the nurse, but some Bacitracin (I think it's just triple antibiotic) and gauze on, wrapped it in ace bandage and I was hobbling off to chapel. It hurt so bad on Friday I had to walk so slow! I stretched it out (with much pain involved) so I could ride today at class.

Today was a good ride. No new injuries, well, major ones anyway. But I did kind of jam my left thumb. Well see how that goes.

Anyway, walking around slow all day Friday really made me take in the scenery. I know that there isn't much at ORU in the way of trees and stuff but there is enough. I realized that God made all of this. He made people. I got to watch people doing their thing. Some are in a hurry, some slow, some just clueless.

I just recommend you guys to take some time and literally slow down so you can get a different view of life. Things will look different and it's very interesting. Hopefully it doesn't take a fall like that to make you do it though!

Take care! Ride hard!