Brian Kelly’s Blog

This past weekend I took my son to the air show that was held at Edwards Air Force Base in California.  They used to (in the good ol' days) put on a show about once a year.  This was the first in 3 years, so we weren't about to miss this one (and thanks to my wife for reminding me that it was coming )

Was fun to share all of the great aircraft w/ my son.  They performed a live reenactment of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  It included authentic Japanese Zeros and pyrotechnics.  A large variety of aircraft flew, including: C-17, C-130, T-38, P-38 (Lightning), F-16, F-22, B-52, B-1, B-2 and others.  The F-22 Raptor truly stole the show.  It has the capability to turn on a dime … and also nearly stand still.  It even "slid backwards" at one point.  Very impressive.  It was further evidence that we have some of the most advanced aircraft in the world (and in my opinion, we need to keep it that way!).

On that note, please always support our troops!

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The City of Lancaster held a 2-day event called "The Streets of Lancaster" this past weekend (Oct 10-11, 2009).  It was a very well organized event that comprised of multiple classes of both amateur and professional Go Kart racers.

The "Boulevard" (Lancaster Blvd) was transformed into what looked like about a 3/4 mile road course.  It was the first event of it’s kind in Lancaster (to my knowledge).  It was a lot of fun.  I own a 100cc Yamaha go kart myself that my entire family shares "time" in on occasional weekends out at Willow Springs Raceway in Rosamond, as well as other tracks in Riverside, Apple Valley, and Fontana (California Speedway).

Top speeds were clocked at 78 mph (using a radar gun) heading down the main straight-away.  These karts sit a mere 3/4" off of ground, so 78 mph is *really* moving!

It sure got the ‘ol "juices flowing".  Made me want to suit up and join the fun – LOL.

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My son’s YMCA Notre Dame basketball team had their 2nd game back-to-back with their first (first game was Friday, second was Saturday) … still without a single practice together as a team.  It looked as though UNC was going to pull away in a rout in the first quarter, but the Fighting Irish fought back to take the lead late in the first.

The lead changed hands several times thereafter, but UNC held on to win as the Irish appeared to tire in the 4th Quarter.

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Final Score:
Notre Dame
39

UNC
47

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My son hasn’t played organized basketball since he was about 8 years old.  He’s now 13.  The 13-14 age group didn’t have enough kids to fill the division, so some were bumped up to the 15-17 age group, and others were bumped down to the 11-12 age group.  My son, due to his size, was bumped up.  I was very proud of how he "held his own" with "the older guys".

They didn’t win the opener, but given they hadn’t had a practice together as a team before the game, it wasn’t all that bad.  Was a close game until late in the 4th. My son is #7 on "Notre Dame".

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Final Score:
Florida
49

Notre Dame
41

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A True Story

I recently installed a garage door opener to replace an older one that had ceased working.  It took about 4 hours of labor, then when I went to test it, it didn’t work.  I now have to uninstall it and take it apart to try to determine what went wrong.  I sure wish I had known about this fantastic gizmo (video below) before I shelled out nearly $250 and a Saturday of anquish:

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