Since my last post two week ago, several things have happened. Some good, some bad. Probably the most interesting is that as of last Tuesday, we were named concessionaire at Amelia Motor Raceway. This puts us in a totally different position, one that could pay great benefits in the long run.

AMR is a long established go cart track that unfortunately was run in the ground by management and they lost most of their loyal following. Now under new management, there is a serious effort to mend some old fences and get the track back to what it once was--one of the fastest and most popular go cart tracks in the Eastern part of the country.

The first practice session was last Saturday and the first point races yesterday. While th

e attendance wasn't what promoter Donnie Woodson hoped for, it was a good start and I hope to be a big part of his rebuilding efforts. We're in a totally different position with an actual building to work from including an exhaust system, hot water, a fridge and an ice maker. No tents!!!! No wind!!!! No Rain!!!! A real honest to God kitchen. And as concessionaire, rather than a contract vendor, we do it all. As such, we've had to change our menu adding Bologna Burgers and Fries. The next race, two weeks from now, we're adding cheeseburgers to go with our usual ribeyes, dogs, funnel cakes, drinks and lemonade. And we need to add candy for the kids and probably some other things as we go.

I was shocked to see those little buggers flying around 1/4 mile dirt track at 65-70 mph! It was awesome, although something Iwouldn't dream of trying. 55 mph in my truck is fast for me. But, they have it all from the little kids that putt-putt around to adults with a need for speed.

While all of this was happening, we had one decent day at the auction last Thurday, and then this week, we had the worst day we've had since before we added the ribeye steak sandwiches. With sustained winds at 35 mph and gusts to 60mph, it was just awful. We actually had better days when it was 10 degrees and snowing. I couldn't even set up the tent. When I tried, it actually picked my fat butt off the ground and I was airborne for a couple of seconds. Less than one loin for the day--or a big loser for Big Red's crew.

Friday, I worked at Altavista Walmart and had a pretty good day especially with hot dogs. Tank and his roomate, Allen, took over about 6:00pm and worked until 11:00. Then, they worked there on Saturday while Peggy and I were in Amelia. Not a great weekend but at least recooped some of my losses from Thursday. Needless to way, I felt it would be inappropriate to sell funnel cakes on Easter Sunday so we opted out of today.

The most valuable lesson from the week was Fries. While it slows things down a bit, as long as I'm cooking to order as opposed to high volume where you just keep cooking and hope it sells, it isn't too bad and they are worth it. I'll probably try them next weekend while we're at Wards Road Walmart, consistently our best store. If we come close to selling as many hot dogs as we did in Altavista, and add fries to that, it should make for a good weekend as long as our funnel cake sales remain what they should for that location. And who knows, maybe fries might find their way on my menu at Richmond Raceway for some of those shows or other places we do ribeyes. To bad I can't do them at Fredericksburg but my friend Lemonade John has a lock on fries and lemonade there.

Not to change the subject but Peggy is trying to get into trouble---AGAIN. After spending the night at the farm, she drove back to Harrisonburg this morning to do the holiday thing with her family. There was something about her trying to tie up Kagen with a phone cord. I don't think I want to know anymore about that.

I do hope all of my loyal readers have a wonderful holiday.