Thursday, May 19, 2011

Be Cool Like Us

 
Coming to an air soft gun war with Mary, Evan, Nick, T.J., Ryan, Neil Brouwer, and me, you know you’ll have a great time. It is so much fun to go to a war and stay for hours just going out at night, breaking off into groups, and shooting at the opposite people from the other group.
            When we have wars, we like to have them on warm summer nights. If we start we usually like to start at around seven and go until eleven o clock, or midnight. If we shoot each other and you get shot two or three times then you say that you are “dead”. Most of us will pretty much hide anywhere just to get away from the other team. Mary and I have hidden in the trees, underneath someone’s deck, and we even hid in the grove as rocks on wet ground. We were just sitting down like a little ball but we were texting people so they somehow would have been able to see us. When they flashed the flashlights on us, they seriously thought that we were really big rocks. It was awesome.
            When we get together we all try to bring some sort of snack for when we have breaks. We usually bring pop, candy, bars, chips, and other stuff. When we have breaks its kind of pointless to have one, because we don’t even stop shooting each other.
            I remember our first air soft gun war; Neil Brouwer ran into a clothesline and did a full back flip. Evan and I were the only ones on our team that were still “alive” and we were hiding behind the deck, which is right where it happened, so we were able to see it happen. It made the whole night so much fun.
            Another time that there was Neil tripping, we were at his grandparents. His grandparent’s driveway goes up from the ground. Mary, Neil, and I were running away from the other team so we didn’t get shot, and we ran across the driveway and Mary and I had turned around and we saw Neil on the ground laughing. Mary and I were laughing but the other team was still running toward us, so we decided to just leave Neil on the ground and ran for our lives.
            The last air soft gun war that we had last fall, Neil and Ryan were waiting for my team to go and find them, but they were getting impatient. Instead they decided to run across the lawn and shoot while running. It was Ryan and Neil, and they were running but didn’t see a little tree in front of them. While they are running, they ran over this rope that is around the tree and staked in the ground. They both fell simultaneously and it was just awesome!
            So if you ever want to have fun doing this, you have to hang out with the cool people who have these wars. It’s all worth it on a warm summer night.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Persuasive Essay~Drag Racing


Drag racing is so much fun if you are able to go and see it live. When racing is over you are able to go up to the racers stands and their tents to get some autographs for them. They travel all over the United States. When I go I go to the Brainerd International Raceway and Resort.
            When we go, we go for the experience and it is a really fun place to be. They have Funny Cars, Top Fuel, and Pro Stock Motorcycles. Last year the winner of Funny car was Bob Bode and it was his first win so far. Larry Dixon was the first in Top Fuel; Andrew Hines was first in Pro Stock motorcycle. And Jeg Coughlin Jr. won in Pro Stock to earn his fifth Brainerd Wally.
            But actually meeting these people is a fun time. They sometimes even tell you the story of their first race. Even if you have never watched it on TV or something, go to one in person. The first time I ever went, I never watched NHRA. But one year I went and have been going ever since. It’s been three years already.
            Just going to Brainerd for 2 days is a good and easy time to hang out with friends and family. Even though the tickets are a little expensive for one person, you’ll know in the end. If it’s a rainy weekend you can still make it fun if they can’t dry off the tracks. While they are working on cars or working on the track, it’s so easy just to have a good time.
            The Funny Car is one of the “professional” classes like Top Fuel, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Motorcycle. These cars have forward-mounted engines and carbon fiber automotive bodies over the chassis.
            Top Fuel runs on a mix of around ninety percent nitro methane and ten percent methanol. These cars are much longer, narrower, and equipped with large tires in the back and small tires in the front in order to maximize their straight-line acceleration and speed.
Pro Stock cars are limited a 4-barrel carburetor intake systems. They can be “split” so that each of the halves can be more accurately positioned over the slightly staggered intake runners. Pro Stock Motorcycle, or Pro Stock Bike, has been racing since the 1980s. It is a class that has two-wheeled equivalent of Pro Stock. That’s why I think that people should experience going to a drag racing raceway to watch. It will all be worth it in the end.

NHRA vs. Nascar

In the National Hot Rod Association, has a lot of varieties in NHRA. If you are ever offered for the chance to be able to go to one live, go to it, it’s all worth it in the end. These people who race travel all over the United States, but the nearest one most people go to is Brainerd International Raceway and Resort.
    When people go to this raceway, most just go for the experience. The varieties it has are Funny Cars, Top Fuel, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Motorcycles. Meeting the people who race at these things is so much fun. When I meet some of these people, it’s a really amazing time because they might sometimes tell you the story of the first time they ever drove in a race live. These people that race are of all different ages, cultures, everything. If you are able just to talk to them while they are at their tent working on their car or something, go up and talk to them.
    If you have never watched it on TV or anything, you should try to go to one in person. The first time I went, I never watched on television, but I went to it anyway and have been going to it for the past three years now. It’s so much just to hang out with people that you don’t even know but you get to know. The only bad part that could happen is when it rains and that's when they have to postpone or cancel the races. If they can’t dry off the track or if it keeps on raining, they cancel the races for that day. That’s the only bad part.
    When people race against each other, only two people race at a time. They are of all different ages. The raceway is only one fourth of a mile. In that time a Top Fuel Car will get up to three hundred miles per hour within four seconds. Funny Cars get around two hundred and eighty within 4 seconds. Pro Stock will get around two hundred and five in seven seconds. And Pro Stock Motorcycle will get one hundred and ninety in seven seconds. When they race, they go almost all year round, because it goes from February all the way until November.
    In NASCAR the percent of having male drivers is seventy-six percent. The percentage of younger drivers is eighteen percent for the ages eighteen to twenty four. Twenty-eight of them would be more likely to be African American, and thirty-four percent to be Hispanic. The seven unique markets would be Denver, Houston, NY/NJ, Ohio, Seattle, San Francisco, and Minnesota.
    NHRA is the largest drag racing body with over three hundred thousand racers, and one hundred and forty tracks across North America. Millions of people come to these races every year. Some of these people that go all over the United States just to watch these people just because they are so into the National Hot Rod Association.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

She Sells Sea Shells by the Sea Shore

What’s all new here? Where Josh is in a nice warm place, out of the country, in the sun on the beach.
    Josh, playing beach volleyball with some people from a different country. Watching them glide across sand doing all sorts of tricks, while you’re the only white person that’s twice their age. Yes, his name is Josh Streeter, and he is 19 years old. The reason why he is in Mexico is because he, his family, and some friends are here for a vacation. This is their first time being here. It’s nothing like they had expected at all.
    With all the open markets and little stores here, it seems really funny how you can bargain with these people. You try to go down but they just seem so stubborn when they are selling someone this stuff. It’s fun to see all the different things from their culture and to compare or contrast their culture from ours.
    So here they are, with the family, on a beach playing volleyball in Mexico. It’s about eighty degrees right now here, and it hasn’t even been too windy at all. This is their third day here, but they still are here another four days. After their game of volleyball, Josh went walking down the beach that same day. When he wasn’t that far down, Josh found some turtle shells. These turtle shells looked like animals had been bothering them in the nest. It looked like any kind of animals had been digging and picking at them. It looked like the animals had eaten some or even tried to break the shell. So Josh found them and he tried to cover them up with sand again. So after he covered them up, Josh went back to the hotel.
    The very next day Josh went down to the same place to see if the shells were okay. They were, but it looked like the shells had actually cracked, because you could see the sand moving. So he went back to go get some of his family and some of the kids to show them what was happening. They all seemed to love it a lot, so they all went walking down the beach to see if they could find any more.
     Well, they didn’t find any more so they decided to go back and just have a shopping day and a night out. Well, they went to some pretty crazy stores, and it is so much fun just to bargain with the sales person. After their shopping day, they went back to their hotel to get ready for their night out.
    Once Josh and his family got back to the town and went to some clubs, it was about two in the morning! Since they were tired they decided to go back and go to bed. So the next morning they all went to go for a walk when they all past the turtle shells that they noticed they had already hatched. When they saw all the eggs we counted eight. But there was probably more that they didn’t see.
    When they didn’t find any more Josh was kind of disappointed but kind of relieved at the same time. He wanted to find more egg shells to see how many had hatched and had gone into the ocean. But what he was afraid of was that the animals had actually eaten some of the eggs, so some of the turtles weren’t able to survive. Josh wanted to see some of the turtles make it to the ocean and watch them swim in the water and just live their life.
    When Josh gets back to the United States, he will have to start deciding what college he wants to go to. Josh is kind of looking at going to school for missionary work. Josh and some of his family has gone on a couple of mission trips all over. They love to help all of the people that need it. Like all the people that are on the streets, don’t have any food at all, or don’t have any food to eat. Josh has worked at a lot of fundraisers with his church just to help out with people from other countries that have no food.
    Josh would like to go to a Christian School for sure, one that he likes and that his family likes, and especially one that is not so far from home at all. Josh likes coming home to visit his mom and dad. He likes spending time with his little brother Timmy, who is 15, and his little sister Georgina, who is 6. He promised his little brother he would help him learn how to drive a stick car, and teach his little sister how to swim!
    So here is Josh sitting in a plane on his way home. Wish him luck!

Monday, January 24, 2011

Drag Races

Have you ever heard a dragster in person before?
Once the car starts you can feel vibrations in the air.
Have you smelled burning rubber?
The most unpleasant smell, pretty much known to man!
Have you stood next to a funny car while they try to fix it?
You can taste everything that is in the air.
Can you see how fast the NItro Fish motorcycles go?
In about not even 10 seconds they can be past the finish line.
Did you feel the excitement when you sit in one of the first dragsters ever?
You can feel the petals and the steering wheel and what it would be like to drive one.

Family as vehicles

My mom is like a Toyota Prius...she's foreign!
                     My brother is like a Ford Focus.
The worst kind ever.               
       Sisters remind me of Dodge Charger,     they are alright,
                         but not everyone loves them.
       I am a Chevy Silverado.          Can't get any better than that!