How's this for a bad weekend? **WARNING: THIS IS A MAJOR RANT

A

abooja

Guest
It's 6:30 a.m. and I've been up all night, furious for the past two hours as my weekend has been ruined by electronics, and my brother. Somehow, I felt I should share this information with you guys, given that you're the few who might be able to empathize.

I've waited two long weeks and all weekend LONG for this damn race, and was even prepared to wait another day to see it, as it was my father's birthday today (yesterday) and I would not be home to see it live. All night long, I warned family members to avoid Channel 5 (FOX in NYC), as the race was on and I did not want to see even one second of it, for fear of ruining the outcome for Sunday morning.

Then my brother decides to tell off (i.e. curse out) his dingy girlfriend during a heated, late night game of spades with my folks, thus bringing the evening (morning) to an abrupt and obnoxious halt. Forty-five minutes of breathtakingly bad traffic later, I would arrive home at 4 a.m., already disgusted and exhausted.

To top things off, my cabbie apparently understood not a single word of English (NO exaggeration whatsoever) and nearly got into several accidents, making abrupt stops on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (an oxymoron, for those of you who've never had the pleasure) whenever he misinterpreted my "Keep going!!!" as "Get off right here!!!". I practically had to beg him to drop me off at the corner. Damnit if I didn't still give him a $5 tip.

So, I finally make it into my apartment and go to give the folks the obligatory "I got here okay" phone call, and notice I've got a message on my answering machine. (Wouldn't have even looked if I didn't have to make that call.) It's my great pal, Stephanie, from work, and it seems she's decided to stay home and watch television this Saturday night and, lo and behold, she's actually watching the race!

"Where are you? Answer the phone! Where are you? Your boy is out!! Your boy is out!! Aggggh, call me when you get this message!!!"

Naturally, I flip out when I hear this, and on my poor father a bit when I called to tell him I got there okay. (That's an overprotective Italian/Brooklyn kind of thing, by the way.) And on the upstairs neighbor, I'm sure, who must have heard the ranting and throwing of objects below. This chick from work had COMPLETELY ruined the race for me, I believed at the time, and I would surely remember to stick that to her on Monday.

After much gnashing of teeth and spewing of hate, I decided I needed a sedative before I would even attempt sleep: a rerun of Seinfeld that I taped a few days back. One "in the can", as I like to say. That would surely calm me down and put me in a good mood for sleep. I'd wake up whenever and just watch the race anyway. A ruined race is still better than no race at all, right?

Except that -- heh -- when I went to press the eject button on my VCR just an hour or so ago, I noticed that the cable power light was off. Panicking, I turned on the vcr and, sure enough, it hadn't recorded a g**damned thing. Must have been an electrical outage or something. Seriously, I checked everything at least three times before I left, and all lights were on and things were good to go. I rarely make that kind of mistake. I know I didn't this time. I just got screwed again. It's just that simple. :grrrr:

BTW, checked the cable guide for a repeat performance of the race, and found nothing but PPV In Demand channels, for some g**forsaken reason. No rebroadcast of the Pepsi 400 in the next 48 hours anwhere on all, what, 800 friggin channels???!!!!! That's just grrrrrrrrreatt!!!! Might as well take a shot, hit the boards, and at least find out who won the sonofabitch.

Welcome to the worst part of this nightmare. From all that I've perused online, the 2002 Pepsi 400 was one of the greatest stock car races in recent history! Michael Waltrip won, for chrissakes!! He NEVER wins, and he won at Daytona! Again!!! And then all that business about Junior running great all along, then being told to go for the win, and getting pushed back at the end. Classic, classic stuff.

And I will see none of it. Not now, not tomorrow morning, not not ever, but maybe in 5 or 10 years when ESPNClassics gets a hold of it. May as well be never, ya know?

So I guess I'll finish cleaning my apartment tomorrow. Or actually pick up a book and do some studying for a change (heaven forbid). Or work on my horticultural project. ;)

Except that -- oops! -- it's ALREADY tomorrow and I'll accomplish nothing useful tomorrow (today) given what happened yesterday. It'll just be eating away at me every time I read a post about the race, and about this or that aspect of it. I won't be able to contribute anything to the discussion and I'll be pissed for a good, long time, I don't mind tellin you. Hell, I may even be stubborn enough to decide to carry this one to the grave.

Okay, so I'm exaggerating there, but I am massively pissed.
Thanks for participating in this mental health clinic with me.

abooja the vanquished :anon:
 
:eek: An attempt to make it better???
It wasn't a "great Race". Single file racing in the front, only time one of the 4 or 5 leaders that led all night didn't lead was during green flag stops. 3 cautions in the first 18 laps, a called Nascar caution on lap 25 or 26, and no one could touch 15 & 8 when they were lined up nose to tail. Actually, the only excitement was the saves some made on their cars when they were 3 wide and touched, but they were deep in the pack and those cars pretty much stayed there. Pretty boring racing, only suspense was waiting on the big one, and it finally happened, compliments of Jarret and J Burton. Most anxious moment was the prayers for Joe Nemechek to get out of his car.
Just another boring plate race where you just pray everyone lives to race another day.
 
abooja, if you get Speed Channel they will reshow the race on Wed. at 8pm est.
 
Didn't miss much at all abooja. Just another barbaric wreck fest for ratings.

Worst race I've seen in a long time.
 
Thanks, guys, for not getting on me about the bad language. I just woke up from being up all night, and I'm almost glad I won't be bogged down for an extra four hours today watching that junk. (Sorry, Memorex just doesn't cut it for me this time.)

Great, now that it's nearly 3:30 p.m., I can start preparing dinner. :rolleyes:

Thanks again, LTR, for that race time. My t.v. guide doesn't go more than three days in advance, so I wouldn't have known about the rebroadcast. Guess I'll watch the damn thing after all.

Hoping this is a better Sunday... :soldier:
 
:mad: I would be pizzed too, and I bet somebody taped the race and would send a copy if you begged sweetly.

Those cabbies are never americans anymore.

Kat says PURRRRRRRRRRRRRRR and happy Birthday to Daddy.

Is this how you feel??
 
Thanks, Kat!! That does about sum up how I feel right now. (Except, my problem is not enough caffeine.) And thanks for the birthday wishes for my dad! He'll surely think I've lost my mind when I tell him, but you're very thoughtful all the same. :)

Ditto on the cabbie problem. I rarely see native English speakers driving cabs these days, but this was the first time I've met a cab driver who could speak NO ENGLISH WHATSOEVER. But that's another rant entirely, and not one for this forum. (Unless someone wants to make it one! I've got plenty to say on this subject...)

I've got SpeedChannel, so I'll be able to see the race on Wednesday, apparently. Better than nothing, I guess.

Thanks again! Time to cook breakfast (dinner).

:daisy: :daisy: :daisy: :daisy: :daisy: :daisy:
 
IF they DON'T rebroadcast - I taped it and will be glad to share, just let me know your snail mail.
 
That race was nothing you reallly want to see...if you know what a huge wreck looks like then you know this race.
 
You'll enjoy the race. The anti-DEI people are mad when they win. If their fav driver would have won the same way it would have been the best race ever. ;) :D
 
Yah, saw that photo in another thread, Kat. That's about how I felt on Saturday night when I found out the vcr crapped out on me. Aggh!!!

Thanks, Maggie! That's so sweet of you. I think I'll be okay, though, as long as SpeedChannel broadcasts the rerun at 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, as scheduled. Thanks so much, though!

It's certainly not going to be the same as having seen it live on Saturday night, but at least I'll get to see for myself what all the controversy was about. Besides, I've got a tape collection going and Daytona is a huge one to miss. Don't know what I'm gonna do with all those dang tapes. Maybe build some furniture with em one day. satisfied
 
Just caught the rebroadcast of the Pepsi 400 on Speed Channel. (Well, like, a couple of hours ago.) It was a pretty messed up race, as most of you have said. Interesting, however, for that very reason. I'm glad I didn't have to wait five years to see it, either, because that would have been extraordinarily anticlamactic. :rolleyes: It still was, of course, but in a more tolerable way.

By the way, Speedvis...err, Speed Channel rocks! I don't know how long the original broadcast lasted, but the trimmed down 3-hour version was much more efficient and enjoyable than the droning live broadcasts have been lately. Plus, they insert all these neat post-race interview clips at key moments throughout the race. Hearing what Ty Norris Sr. had to say about the Junior incident, while it was happening, was especially poignant. Not hearing Darrell Waltrip barking every second and Larry MacReynolds butchering the English language quite as much was another plus.

I like them both, though. DW always gets to me when he gets teary eyed. I just don't know that they should be in broadcasting.

Anyhow. glad that monkey is off my back. I sure bitched about it enough. :eek:
 
NO BIGGIE.....I only caught part of it on the radio crusing toward New Orleans.....I knew Tony was out....but I watched it last night on Speed Vision.


I am just guessing here, but you are italian correct?
 
I'm part Italian, yes. Why do you ask, pray tell?! What gave it away?

BTW, wish I was cruising towards New Orleans!
 
THE TEMPER, OVER PROTECTIVE PARENTS, TRAFFIC, PART OF TOWN YOU LIVE. I did my time in New Jersey and went through my fair share of Italian boyfriends!!
 
Ahhhh...say no more, Prowler. Gosh, how I hate that I fit any sort of social stereotype. That's as far as it goes, however. Never did date an Italian boy, for instance. I also didn't get married and have kids by age 24, I don't drive a Lincoln or a Lexus, and I hate cannolis. I'm into NASCAR, pulled pork sandwiches, and politics. NOT exactly your typical Italian Brooklyn chick, I assure you. ;)

But I do love mob movies!
 
Just noticed that I mentioned being Italian in that first post. Oops, that might have been a bit of a clue!
 
i know your pain, we have two cable companiies right in my area and one of them dont carry fx. well, i went on a trip and asked my wife to tape the race. she said no problem. well our vcr wouldnt turn to the stupid channel the race was on and everyone she could get in touch with to tape it, didnt get fx. so i know how you felt anyway:p
 
Yes I do, Trish. See post above!

Judas: glad to hear I wasn't the only one. I didn't get FX until this year, so I missed lots of stuff last season. I wish these networks would get their stuff together and be consistent for a change. Good thing I'm skilled on the remote. ;)
 
Hey Abooja, was your BF a redneck or Coon Ass? ( Coon Ass is not a bad thing in south La.;) they are proud of it)
 
Hey, Tabasco!

No, I would call him more of a wannabe Coon Ass. Except for one great uncle in the klan, he came from a decent, well-off family, but insisted on being a drunk, drug addicted, racist dumbass his whole life. Moving to NYC only made him worse. Pretty glad he's gone. Wonder if he's enjoying his new pinko buddies in the Bay Area?... ;)

Although, he was a very colorful guy to be around. And I've got all those good recipes from him. Hope he doesn't ever come sniffing around this forum... :sketchy:
 
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