what's new

I had some nice discussions and also got some suggestions at Lubersac concerning this website.
One of them was to start a collection at the readers for a new camera, since mine broke at Putten. I am not a big fan of asking for money though.

But I just went through my numbers, and it's a fact, I have burnt up app. 1200 € (and spent around 900 € for stuff that is still good) in equipment in the last 3 years and now need to spend at least another 900 bucks for a "good" cam. Out of reach right now to be honest.

The sponsoring on this site has helped a lot to cover the expenses, but not all of it. My mom just called me crazy this afternoon for doing what I do and the way I do it.
Well - maybe I am.
But if you really feel like donating, you can to my www.paypal.com account (to oldspook@aol.com).
I would prefer further sponsorship for the site though. That way I know I can give value back to you.

The other question was, why I don't write as much as I used to.
I don't think I used to write much more in the past - I just get a lot more stuff on here, so articles sorta drop off the front page more quickly than in the past.

The deal with writing though is:
If a promoter wants to have an article of his pull on this website, he needs to pay for it.
In the end it's work for me, as I miss out on time with my team behind the scenes.
Also: Them in the pits working on the tractors and me on the track watching the pull doesn't work out too well, if I travel on their expense. So if I want to spend all the time on the track, those who benefit from it have to pay. I am idiotic enough to do it for the fuel costs and some food.

As for "opinion articles":
If I really speak my mind, I'll be in trouble with some of the "higher up" guys in charge rather quickly. I still do get into trouble more than enough though.
Also it doesn't change a single thing if I bitch around on here.
I have went the correct route and got voted into the german board and that's where I think I can spend my time more effective on changing things for the better. And german pulling needs a lot of changes to stop from falling behind even more.
Technical articles:
I am methanol stupid and the longer I am into this sport, the more I figure what I don't know about the rest.
The stuff I do know is more or less "team owned" and I can't go out here and blow out results of expensive testing and development out to the public. If somebody has general questions, feel free to put them into the message board and I'll try to answer what I can.

What I've been busy with lately, was getting other photographers to use picasa galleries or send pictures to me. I think you won't find any other pulling website on the web, that connects to as many pulling pictures from all over the world. This is the result of joined forces and I think we should all be thankful for those guys letting me place links to their galleries on here.

I still can't find any help on the results or points though. The NTTO and DTTO are the only associations I know that run some kind of "results service" for the media. The rest doesn't seem to give a sh... whether what happens at their pulls get's out to a wider public or not.
So - to come to an end:
I am currently busy writing articles for the german magazine until the end of the week.
Then I'll take some holiday in northern germany and try to help some with the preperations for the pull in Lengerich, too. From September on I am back into full time courses and hopefully "normal" work (bye bye long nights).

So - if you want more stuff on here, understand that it takes time (either yours or mine) - and I only have so much free time and money. What goes beyond has to be paid for, as it keeps me away from doing things that are more important.