Like a fickle mistress, the sun has returned. Where the heck were you all weekend? As of last Friday, this was going to be a major day in our plan to run the Winternats. We planned to get the container moved from the Fishermen's Island wharf to Interport, then unpacked and appraised. After the rain on Saturday though, the pressure to get all that done is gone... just like my energy went yesterday. Still, with the sun shining and the temperature nearly 25 C by mid-morning it's hard to feel down about things.

A quick breakfast, shower and shave and fresh clothes (for a change) and I'm out the door and ready to get back to work. Arriving at Ken's at 8:30, the phone is ringing nearly non-stop and I'm soon acting as the receptionist. With the "foreign" accent, many callers assume they've reached Ken when I answer the phone. Strangely enough, half the calls seem to be for me anyway. Customs Brokers, Dragster Australia, Mark Brew and some of the mob who offered a hand with the car all ring up before mid-day. After repeating our sad story six or seven times, I'm almost tempted to record a message detailing our sorrows and let the answering machine deal with the calls.

Best news comes from OBM (customs brokers) who report that Australian Customs have finally cleared the container to be delivered to Interport. (One hurdle cleared, three or four to go). Of course, the delivery can't be arranged until tomorrow though... Now it's starting to look like my plan to have at least the rolling chassis at the Winternats is in doubt. What else can go wrong? How about a toothache for good measure? Yeah, they've been bothering me for two days now and a visit to the dentist seems inevitable.

The day passes rapidly, with me working on the all-new and hopefully improved, Ken Lowe Race Cars website. Sort of a joint Australian-Canadian-American effort, it still needs heaps of work to complete it, but should move forward rapidly when I return to Canada next week. Tom has finished the first set of cylinder heads and today the intake manifold is finished. As long as I can get the #62 drill bits tomorrow, the valve cover oiling system will be done as well. So, despite all the doom and gloom, the race car (at least the bits we brought with us on the plane) is moving towards completion.

9:00 pm:  We've just finished a strategy session and have come to the following conclusions (subject of course to change without any notice): We'll possibly get the race car delivered on Friday the 11th (probably on Tuesday the 15th though - as Monday is a national holiday - Queen's Birthday). Tom will stay and finish assembling the car while I fly home next week. I'll fly back in time for the Test'n'Tune on July 10th and then we'll officially debut the car on July 17th at the Winter Finals. After that, we have to get the trailer shipped down by the end of the year, in advance of our arrival on December 28th for an extended (three months) "tour of duty" downunder in the 2000 season.

As always, stay tuned for the latest updates. Changes in plans? If you've been with us for very long, you'll know that is almost a given. After all, wouldn't we get (even more) boring if we were predictable? Last minute update: It's raining again, for the first time in nearly 24 hours and very heavy this time. The weather forecast is not good until at least Thursday and at this point, some of my Aussie mates are starting to grouse about the "Canadian" weather they've been experiencing lately. If there aren't any more updates on this page in the near future, you'll just have to assume I've been sacrificed for "the greater good" (ie: to appease the drag racing gods).