AARON
associate editor

WE’VE ALL BEEN THERE Feb 11, 2010 - 04:13 PM

Our art guy, the still-green hobbyist John Irwin, tagged along this afternoon with Stephen and I to radar our test vehicles for the issue we’re currently finishing. John’s giddy excitement over all the cars we get to play with..err, test…is entertaining to all of us since it has been so long since the rest of our staff started in RC. John often joins in for radar days to help get cars started and running, and he likes to putt around the surrounding area with the cars after they’ve been clocked and logged in the computer.

Stephen and I couldn’t help but laugh at what he did earlier today; while driving in a relatively open area with few obstacles John managed to collide with, and become stuck in, a bush in plain sight. While he jogged over to the bush, and away from the uproarious laughter of his co-workers, I thought about what it must be like to be unfamiliar with driving RC cars since I can’t remember back that far. Most new hobbyists can drive straight away from themselves and make the first turn just fine, since their perspective from directly behind the car makes it easy to tell which way the car will go. It’s after that, when the car is heading sideways or, the worst, coming back toward the driver that things start to get a little confusing. I remember setting up cones in the driveway to make simple courses in order to refine my car control abilities (well, and it was a lot of fun when I was 9-10 years old). Remembering what it was like to run lap after lap in the driveway only to forget momentarily what I did only seconds prior, and send a cone shooting across the driveway, makes it easy to sympathize when watching those skills develop in a brand new RC’er.

We were only laughing in good nature, buddy. We’ve all been there.

RAIN SUCKS Jan 22, 2010 - 12:46 PM

Today makes the sixth straight day that it has rained here in SoCal, with some of the most bizarre weather we’ve ever seen. Tornado warnings along the coast, are you kidding me? I Google-searched “miserable rain” and the above three photos showed up, which made me laugh horrendously; not only are their faces hilarious, but I know how they feel. The most common theme of my blog has been complaining about less-than-perfect weather, and this last week has been nothing short of depressing. We’ve received several inches of rain that already canceled Tuesday night’s club race and tomorrow’s schedule as well.

About three or four months ago, we went through our entire office and cleaned and rearranged everything, and one of the changes we made was moving my desk right next to one of the windows. Here’s my current view. If that’s not impending doom lurking in the sky, I don’t know what is.

By the way…since I started typing this, it has started raining again. Ugh.

GIVE ME AN R! GIVE ME A C! Jan 15, 2010 - 04:56 PM

The inspiration for this blog was - don’t laugh - my mom (please, keep the jokes to yourselves). Not because she reminded me that it had been a while since I updated my blog (she did), nor because she suggested that I include her in my blog (she did), but because she has consistently been my biggest cheerleader for over 23 years now.

Sometimes, that cheerleading is unnecessary (yay, you bought new contacts today!), but every RC racer’s enthusiasm for the hobby grows with a little bit of positive support. I really enjoy seeing the face of any RC racer, young or old, light up when someone congratulates him or her on a good race or after showing significant improvement over the previous couple of weeks.

I appreciated every high five I got after winning Tuesday night’s club race. Always have, and always will.

LAST SECOND HEROICS Dec 21, 2009 - 01:41 PM

In baseball, walk-off home runs are the most celebrated way to claim victory in the final at-bat. As the San Diego Chargers’ Nate Kaeding showed yesterday, splitting the uprights with a last-second field goal is a thrilling end to a football game (Chargers have won nine in a row, woo-hoo!). And Kobe Bryant, like the basketball greats that came before him, is the one whom the Los Angeles Lakers rely on to knock down a jumper as time expires. Snatching a trophy out from within someone’s grasp is one of the most intense and exciting experiences in competition.

My main event at Saturday’s club race wasn’t exactly as monumental as a World Series game, but my last-second heroics elicited their own cheers of excitement (as Stephen and Wayne from Upgrade RC were waiting on the drivers’ stand behind me, both laughing and cheering). I bided my time wisely, following closely enough to my competitor to capitalize on any mistake but not in such proximity as to get collected in a wreck. I knew that pouncing too early would only leave time for payback (likely with much more force than what I planned on using). Instead, I waited until the last second, over-jumped the final double to gain the inside line into the 180 preceding the straightaway-inducing sweeper, and out-gunned the foe to the finish line.

The battle was for second place, but who cares? It felt like a win.

CALLED ON ACCOUNT OF COLD Dec 09, 2009 - 02:09 PM

Tuesday night’s Hot Rod Hobbies club race has been “guys night out” for the RC Car staff for a long time, at least the two years I’ve been here. When we’re in town, Tuesday night is pretty much a given; only family emergencies, severe burnout around deadline time, and the occasional rainy weather can keep us from burning laps and eating Thai take-out.

I didn’t go racing last night. I was in town and looking forward to going, and the track had been repaired back to running condition after Monday’s showers. So why didn’t I go?

(Please note: This is for tonight’s forecast. Last night at 9 PM, the “feels like” temperature was in the high 30s)

IT WAS TOO COLD!

To most southern California residents, an overnight low in the high 30s and low 40s is beyond uncomfortable. To make matters worse, I’ve grown up here my whole life and have grown accustomed to being warm (translation: I’m a wuss), and I weigh, as near as makes no difference, 150 pounds. I’m simply not equipped to handle adverse weather conditions. The last few weeks I’ve sported long underwear and multiple sweatshirts and still felt chilly. When I walked out of the office about a quarter after 5:00 last night, I knew right away that I wasn’t racing. Period.

It may not have been snowing (like the poor sap shown above), but I felt his pain.