What You've Been Waiting For

The Pokemon of The Week is a good one this week, if you ask me. While finding this Pokemon of The Week I learned that this particular PT Cruiser was given away in some sort of contest. What is important to know, is that someone from OHIO of all places won this car. If you've read this blog or know me at all, you know what I think of people from OHIO. They all have a few screws loose in one way or another, for good or bad. It's fitting, that this car goes to someone from OHIO though. It doesn't belong in any other state.

This weekend was LOT of fun, mainly because of Saturday. I spent the day with a few other people from work at Ford's Proving Grounds for an SAE conference. The morning was a panel discussion about Engineering for a Sustainable Future. Speakers were there from Ford, GM, Tesla, and Toyota. The afternoon is where the real fun happened. We spend about 4 hours on their test track doing anything imaginable in cars WE got to drive. There were 9 events, and they shuttled groups all around the proving grounds to different drive events. We started driving Ford Fusions on a wet track to test the car's stability under wet roads. Then we drove Ford Taurus's through a slalom course. I LOVED getting in the car and being told to get the car to 60 MPH as fast as I could, and take it around a hairpin turn, with the rear end sliding around. Next, we took Ford Edges/Lincoln MKX's through a slalom course. This time I was driving it much more agressively and this event was REALLY fun because of the high center of gravity. The rear end of the MKX I was driving started to slide around in one turn which was so much fun.

The next set of events had the best one of all. It was titled "Giddy Up Mustang". They had drivers for us, and 4 Bullet Mustangs - with V8's and manual transmissions. We had to wear helmets and the drivers asked "How comfortable do you feel being more aggressive?" I told him to be as aggressive as he could, that I wouldn't be scared. It was AMAZING. The car was powersliding around turns and we got air as we went over hills. So much fun. They also had Ford Escapes/Mercury Mariner/Mazda Tribute Hybrid SUV's for us to take around slalom courses. I actually got to drive one with just me and the instructor, and he said he didn't care what I did as long as I didn't hit cones so I drove that one very hard through the course.

The last set of events was made up of high speed driving on a banked track and rough road testing (potholes, cobblestones, etc.). I got to drive the new Ford Flex (the crossover my stabi-link will be on). The high speed driving was made up of a Ford F-150, Flex, Lincoln MKS, and 2 Ford Focuses. There were no instructors present in the cars for the high speed course, you just filled the car with kids and drove the track following a pace car. I got in one of the Ford Focuses with 3 other guys. I was in the backseat and noticed a loud roar from the tires. I learned why. The guy driving got on the backside of the track, and slowed the car way down to get space ahead of him. He was in a spot where the control tower couldn't see him. He punched the gas and got the car up to 90 MPH then yanked up on the emergency brake. The rear tires locked and the car started fishtailing down the course. That was a little scary and definately not allowed. I can imagine the tires on that Focus had a bunch of flat spots in them. Apparantly, those 3 guys had been taking turns driving and doing that to the car the whole time.

It was an AMAZING opportunity though to be at the proving grounds and see how cars are tested. The best part was it was free.

Today I did much of nothing, except for grocery shopping, car washing, and laundry. It was a nice "me" day.

The *maybe* house seems to be more "it will happen" now. The price has been agreed upon by the bank and I (although a little higher than I originally thought). The closing is supposedly supposed to be at the end of this month which is WAY sooner than I thought. I'm nervous, excited, and I guess some other things I'm not sure of yet. The emotions come and go. Sometimes I think it's scary and I shouldn't do it, but mostly that goes away when I know living in an apartment is an absolute waste of time and money (in my opinion). It will be an adventure, for sure.

One thing I do know is that I love one of Dan's cats: Harley. She is not like any other cat I've met. She comes when you call her, she's extremely affectionate, and she doesn't act ungrateful or hateful like most cats. She's gotten so close with me that I let her sleep up on my bed. This was her today, taking a nap. I'm going to miss her.