So.... I'm not calling this a guide or anything, just looking to get the discussion started in case it could help someone else.

Before I got married nearly 24 years ago,  I was racing endurance motorcycles, hydroplanes, river jets,  go carts, a short stint playing with midgets and 410 Sprint cars, not to mention the occasional street grudge matches.

Since my daughter was born,  now going on 22 and a college graduate,  I have only been fortunate enough to help in the pits and once in a while, get to test and tune. Needless to say,  my seat time has been limited unless you count pulling the kids on tubes and skis and piloting an occasional houseboat.

Mind you, I'm not really upset about it, just miss the adrenaline terribly.

I have been to dozens of events since then and really appreciate my time at the tracks and talking shop.

My wife and I have been having a difficult time for the last several years, not just the relationship,  but the three ring shit show that we call life.  So we have had numerous discussions on how to reconnect as we have drifted miles apart over the years.

We decided to take a few things we are passionate about and attempt to share them with each other.

You need to keep in mind, my wife had never one time been there when I was in the hot seat, so to speak.

So, to shorten this up a little, she and I went to the Long Beach Sprint Nationals this year.

Now. I normally go to these things by myself,  sometimes I go with my dad,   who is a gear head in his own right.

Anyway,  you could call me a   rookie at trying to entertain a newbie.

Well, Saturday I was asked if I could help the GN3 crew as a holder and wiper downer etc on the Sasquatch Team Boat. My wife insisted I go help out.

Well as it turns out,  it took a ton of time because of some problems that arose on the boat. I left her at the SoCalJetboats viewing area thinking she could chat up some of the cool folks hanging and watching the races.

Huge mistake. She is quieter than I am and ended up sitting by herself and got lonely and bored. Completely my fault.

So we were supposed to go have some dinner with friends after the races Saturday and needles to say, she was pretty pissed at me.  (Very sorry flytime).

We ended up going to dinner very late and talked about it, for quite some time, mostly me apologizing every few minutes. Lol

We decided to go Sunday (mainly because it was a five hour drive home) and stay in the pits with the GN3 crew. I answered as many questions as I could, introduced her to as many people as I could locate and she had a great time. Probably could have done without the sunburn. Lol.

Introduced her to Dave Rankin,  the Doidges, among others.

So long story short (too late), make her feel like she is the most important person there,  because at the end of the day, she is.

I was humbled by sharing my love of a crazy motorsport with someone I have been with for most of my life, honestly I think we both grew a little bit this weekend.  I'm not sure she realized how passionate I still am for this crazy and exciting world of boat racing.

With the passing this weekend of Mike Fry, TAH racer,  I know I am not the only one.

Race in peace Mike, you will be truly missed.

Thank you guys for being here. I'm not sure you really realize how connected you make me feel within the boating community

It was really great to see some of you guys this weekend.

Hope this helps someone else, I felt odd posting it.

GT

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I was looking forward to meeting her.  Was my wife and step son's first time at the boat races.  Going through the same learning curve.  Bummed we didn't get more time to talk.

That's on me Joe.  That's what I was taking about. When I saw you I was running back to get the boat back in the water. I suck at time management. Always have.

Not sure how, but would like to make it up to you.

Never did see Omar. I guess it is an El nino..... LMAO!!!

Have a great night.

GT

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no odd feelings required here good sir!

hats off and a nod of the head to you my man for opening up.

i tried to bring the wife and kid that sunday.  kid will be 2 next week....attention span is measured in mere minutes lol....SQUIRREL!
but i think he would have enjoyed the sound of the engines( i know i did ).  and to see the boats racing by.  the wife....motorsports isnt her thing either.  but...she did say she was willing to hang out.  so i guess thats a start.  baby steps...

ive only met a few people from here, and so far all have been great.  but my interaction with them has been few and far between and i have not hung out with anyone nor have attended any events....so the familiarity level may not be on par with that of other members.  im sure my wife would have had the same feelings your wife did saturday...with me being a 'stranger'...and her only vaguely knowing/hearing about things i learn from the site. 

from what it sounds like....it started out rough but ended well.  i can appreciate your struggle.  baby steps.....

SQUIRREL!!

^^^^^  Well said

I can understand exactly where your comin from GT. For me it seems like the drifting started right after we got married though, we didnt get to have the 15/20 years or so before it started. She never really wanted to go to the drag nights at the local tracks, or to the lake with my dads boat or ours  after i finished it and i could never get her to go out wheeling. The only time i guess you could say we "bonded" while doing what i love and enjoy was when i was working on stuff in the garage. I would pretty much make her come out and she had a dedicated spot in the garage she could sit and hang out and "talk" while i was working on stuff and she seemed to really enjoy it after time as well as i did. But after moving into an apt and losing that time plus working two jobs and side jobs on the weekend things havent gotten any better with me always working. Aside from doing things together with the kids or going to her family functions we really dont spend any time together. But then 2 weekends ago i got a glimpse of hope. A friend of mine asked me to ride his harley to his new home in central cali. He had left it at his brothers during the move and claims he didnt have the time to come get it and his wife wont drive alone and he didnt feel like renting a trailer so he asked me and i was looking forward to some alone time to get away and relax. Now my wife hates any kind of street motor cycle because they are "dangerous", always said shed never get on one and shes the reason i didnt get back onto a dual sport a few months back but after my friend and his wife pushed alittle and she decided to ride out with me. So first thing in the morning we headed out and instead of taking the short and fast way which would of been a 6 hour 80mph cruse i decided to go the longer route and ride up pch which took us 2 days. A few stops here and there during the day to relax, stretch and check out some local shops and some pretty cool resturants made the trip really fun for me and her. To my amazement I can say she had a great time and i know this because she said it. Probably one of the best times we have had together alone since the honeymoon. We had head sets and she talked till her lips almost fell off for most of the ride (it wasnt untill about half way through the first day she realized she had to push a button for me to actually hear what she was saying. She just thought i was a good listner, i just thought she fell asleep) and it just being the two of us with no distractions, pretty much cuddleing with me and talking the entire time and not having to worry about anything other than pot holes It was really nice for just the two of us. I could of done without allllll that talking but it really made her happy and I now have permission to buy a harley when the funds permit so im pretty happy about that too. Shes looking forward to the rides and the time alone together and traveling as well so asap i will be getting another bike.



So long story short and the moral of the story.....buy a harley Glenn lol.

Yeah, that's not going to happen lol.

Besides, I have a dual sport. Hahaha.

It's funny you say that though, I think we enjoyed the drive to and from more than anything,  we talked at least 3/4 of the way each direction.

Thanks for the comments everyone,  I feel less goofy with some of the things said.

Jarvis, it was great meeting you, sorry I didn't get to hang longer. It was a weird day all the way around.

GT

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It was worth a shot lol. Another thing my wife loves is cooking and food, youd never guess that though by looking at my little 4'8 100 pound mexican. But its obvious she can cook when you look at me though...... but anyways she loves that show with guy pierce, Diner drives and dives? I think thats wahat its called. She always talkes about wanting to go to some of those places and you can go on the web site and find the places hes been to, we stopped at like 3 of the places mentioned and she loved it, me not so much. i eat heavily, i poop its just one of those things and when you go to a good place you eat heavily. I can say i look forward to some road trips just to go get some food. Might be something worth looking into.

My wife is definitely a foodie. She's an amazing cook.  The issue and one of our many challenges is that she absolutely has to eat 100% gluten free. She has a condition called Celiac,  to paraphrase,  the wheat proteins make here very, very sick.

We make do, but sometimes it's a challenge.

More often then not, we are successful,  it just means we try to stick to familiar places which can make it boring.

Like I said,  three ring shit show.... lol

GT

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     I completely understand everything your saying, my other half wasn't into much anything I was (besides street bikes/Harley's). I introduced her to the jetboat thing, and I think she likes it a lot. Boat only holds 4 people, needless to say it's a 2 person ride each time. She never wants to leave that seat, and she becoming a good co-pilot. I did explain she can't drive until she learns to back up the trailer, because it's apart of driving a boat. So for now, she good with being a passenger.
    But we were in a bad spot for awhile, and she was in a huge depressed state. Boating has brought a little smile to her face, and she can brag to her girlfriends a little. Hopefully this brings back what we started with, so the fun times can continue rolling!!


SMOOVE

                                                 




                                                                                           

No shit Gt

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My head hurts after reading that

Dang this thread went to hell

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Here if you guys are out of ammo yet as soon as I know none how to post letters in his comment lol you know I'm talking about the gentleman with a headache

Sent from my HUAWEI H891L

are we being punked right now......




cjjjn.91,

consider proof reading (read what you type before hitting "post") at least a little before you post something....
for all of us buddy...