Andy Small: My Adventurous Journey To The Race For Recovery
- NR4
- Published ()
"OH NO! I gave him the wrong address."
*Blue Screen of Death*
A Fatal Error has occurred please reboot.
About this time I'm cussing my computer and everything it stands for. This is the 5th blue screen of death I've gotten to night, I can't get rid of them. I've tried everything, defrag, scandisk, EVERYTHING. I know what I have to do but I don't want to do it: Format. I go about the task of backing up everything that is important to me, over two CD's are filled. The next night after school I come home and go about formatting the thing.
It's all done, *phew* can do a fresh install of windows and I'll be good to go for this race I have coming up. Stick the Windows CD in the drive and get: “You have the wrong version of Windows ME please put the right one in.” Oh this is just great. This is all I need, one of the biggest races of my online career is about to happen and I don't have my computer! AH!
I then head on over to Team-Lightspeed!'s Forums to ask about it. My good buddy Jon Nelson tries to help me. Finally he gives up and asks for my number.
"Yeah you're getting these errors cuz of the new motherboard you put on the computer," Jon says.
"So what does this mean?" I ask knowing full well that it means I gotta get a new OS.
"It means you gotta get a new OS."
"What do you suggest?"
"Windows 98 or 2000," Jon says "I have a copy of 2000 just sitting here, never been opened or anything, you want it?"
"YES! Oh thank you man, you're a life saver," I say. I give him my address and hang up with him going out in the living room to tell mom and dad what great friends I have on the computer.
The next day I'm sitting at school and I realize I messed up BAD. I gave Jon the wrong address. I gave him the one from my old house where we just moved from. I run to the pay phone (since it's my off block).
"MOM," I say obviously out of breath.
"What," she says, I woke her up!
"Mom I gave Jon the wrong address, what do we do?"
"Let me call dad and see what he suggests"
I go about school trying to calm myself down. I know what I'll do I'll send Jon a email telling him what I did, he'll change the address on his end. I email him and I get nothing back till late that night. He was out all this time and didn't get my email, he told me to call UPS and get it changed.
That weekend I had to do a speech contest and I had to get up early, so I couldn't do it. Mom couldn't find the number. I thought I was up the creek without a paddle. Qualifying was going to be the Wednesday of that week and if I didn't have my computer I wouldn't be able to get the car qualified.
Then another one of my buddies had an idea that I just loved. He could qual my car and I'd have to start in the back if he made it. Great! I cleared it with the race officials and we were set. I also have to say that if he made it in my car and not in his I was going to let him have the ride, it would only be fair. Thanks a million Mark!
The Monday before qual'ing started I got win2k and installed it, but there was a problem. I couldn't get my modem to install right. Once again I was on the phone with Jon trying to get this worked out. I finally got it to work by switching PCI slots. Sound wasn't working but atleast I could get of Mom's computer. I think she was starting to go nutty cuz she couldn't get on the net.
I was fighting with that sound card trying and trying and trying to get it to work. Still no go. The night before the race I make a daring move, I re-format. Once the reformat was done the sound still didn't work. Well I thought if this doesn't work I can't race in the race.
The night before the race I'm on the phone with Jon again. I'm trying to get sound working. I finally decide re-format my hard drive. Once that is done Window's loads easy. Well that's something. At 2:00 am the day of the race my computer is running. I open up the case to take the speaker off cuz it's getting on my nerves. When I do that I ground my keyboard jumper on my motherboard. Keyboard and mouse will not work. AHHHHHH! I call Jon in the morning and we figure out what is going on. I then realize I need a new copy of NASCAR 4, mines so worn out I can't get it working.
I fly to Wal-Mart to get a copy of N4, it's working great. I get it all loaded I'm ready to race Finally!
I show up to the server at it's launch. My connection is not so good. Well not to worry I think I've got 90 mins to get it trouble shot. I disconnect and reconnect and my connection is solid as a rock! Yes. Time to get racing.
For this race my buddy Mark Brister and I formed a race team call Small/Brister RACING. That is awesome because this was the first time we've teamed up since SimChassis Racing. We both raced US NAVY schemes. It was awesome.
Qual time. Phew I'm glad I don't have to do that. It's just plain nutty. I'm glad to be starting in the back.
Warm up time. Time to make sure my setup is loaded and find my stall. Not hard. It's the last stall on the track. That's either good or real bad. I go out and kiss my mom and she wishes me a safe race. Kind of like a "How bad have you got it?" Commercials. It's a tradition for my big races. The last minute of warm-up we have a moment of silence for all those effected by September 11th .
Race time. I'm on pins and needles as we exit the pits. I'm checking my wheel and pedals. I'm checking my shifter. I'm checking my pants okay jk about that :). We head down to take the green and already there is a wreck. I hope this is not a sense of things to come. But, it is. 20 laps in and something like 4 cautions already. Wow. This is what happens when you get a big time race and people that don't usually race with each other. Four cautions and I don't get in one. I'm lucky. Well on lap 30 my luck runs out. I got hung out to dry and was drifting back when a warper took me out. I parked it and went out to root for Mark.
All in all it was a good time, I'm glad I have friends like I do otherwise I wouldn't have had the honor to run in that race.
Peace Out
Andy