Got some sun down in So Cal and enjoyed the Indy Grand Prix at Long beach California. I didn't know what my weekend would entail nor did I know where I'd be staying. They were nice enough to allow me to bring my grandfather along, we had previously talked about family and they seemed to be about that family mentality. I had it on good faith that things obviously went well enough in my phone interviews to warrant the cost of having us come down to meet the owner. Who just so happened to be one of the many sponsors of the race, so of course naturally I got to enjoy the race and a lot of amenities that went along with that.
Spent most of my Thursday with the owner talking about the future of his company's and where he wants them to go and what my position would entail. He didn't offer me the job out right, but hinted he wanted to put me under the broiler to see how I deal under pressure. So that night with just my tablet I had to put together what he wanted and present it at 6am the next morning before the practice races. He put me on my toes and called me halfway into the night and told me to go downstairs he was in his car and wanted the presentation now. I had a fairly good outline of what he wanted so it was rough but it was all there. I could only imagine if I didn't have something to show him that I would have been back on that plane and packing that night. But things went well and he commended me for my quick work.
Friday comes and I got treated to legal forms shoved under my door at the hotel at 4am. Lots of NDAs and standard fare. But the last page was about physical liabilities/insurance and as I'm reading it I start to get the picture. I get to be on the track in a race car! I knew I wouldn't fit in the Indy car so I asked if I could let my grandfather take my place. I was expecting a no, but they were overwhelmingly enthusiastic in saying yes to that request. So I'm happy to say I got to do something awesome for my grandfather.
The driver (Arie Luyendyk Jr.) funny enough was staying at the same Marriott hotel and had breakfast right next to us that morning with his gf. He remembered us as we talked a little bit about what he was racing, he had a helmet so it was a dead giveaway. He was racing the SST trucks later that day, but we didn't know he was driving the two seater indy cars. Come to find out his father was a famous Indy driver. He almost beat one of the times from practice of the Indy cars with two people in the car no less. That kid has a future in racing if not Indy somewhere else! My grandfather had a great time and I'm sure it was worth the stress and potential headache of going while sick, it truly was a once in a lifetime event.
We got to enjoy the rest of our time going through the paddocks/pits/anywhere practically that we wanted the whole weekend. I got really close to some of the accidents from the Indy light racing down in turn 1. Got a piece of fiberglass from one of the cars that crashed. All in all I'm exhausted and I got back here to fresno yesterday.
I'm gonna say this if you have to fly nothing beats corporate traveling. You drive right onto the runway they take your car and get your baggage. Then you just hop on the plane and off you go right to where you want to go. Get right off the tarmac and into a rented car and off to the hotel. Do the same thing in reverse and it makes me wonder why I've never thought about chartering a plane before. I got lucky and was taken back on a citation jet which blew my mind by how comfortable it was. Last time I was on a plane I was 200 pounds less and it was uncomfortable, but not on this baby. My grandfather was so comfortable that he took a nap and was able to lay out completely.
I've been in and out of contact with their people today about some particulars in regards to what I might need access to up in the bay area. They currently have buildings in other states/areas and standard/chevron doesn't allow them to have offices near the wells and pipelines even though they own them. So they are looking into building options which I'm told will be finalized as soon as monday. So until then I'm sitting here waiting recuperating and enjoying some much needed time with my grandfather. If it works out it'll be fantastic, if it doesn't then it wasn't meant to be and I got to have a great experience. I saw a lot so now it's time to rest my eyes and crash out for a bit.
Tomorrow I go to take my grandfather in for a active mri and ct scan which will no doubt give him bad news. The kind of bad news I'll give this face to :'(. I hope and pray that it's not gonna be that way but I can't imagine things going better.
Hope you all are doing all right in life and living. Cause life sure is short as hell.
