I haven’t written a non-automotive related journal entry in a while, but I guess since a lot of things have been changing lately, and that I USED to do this all the time, I thought I would write a new one. Well first off, I got a new job! I’m no longer at Overboost… Now I’m at Southland Credit Union. Now I have to dress nice to go to work everyday, now I get to work a normal 8 hour day without having to be complained to… now I have a real job like a normal adult! It’s been strange how my life has taken a detour because of the slump in the economy in 2001. But I’m starting to get back on track now… this job isn’t as glamorous as my first job out of college, but I think there’s a lot of promise here. I’m happy to get this new opportunity. I have so many goals OUTSIDE of drifting and car stuff, and this will finally allow me to accomplish some of them. It feels really good… especially since I have Nadine and Kristy specifically in mind. As for my drifting situation for 2005, I’m both excited and kind of uneasy about it. I’m unsure about sponsorships, the different season series, and my involvement in events. I love drifting… the competitions are fun too, but there are things about it that get me bummed out. I hate selling myself to get sponsors, I hate the seriousness of it, I hate the politics, the secrets, the deals. It stinks. Plus, it takes so much time out of my life to deal with all this stuff behind the scenes and to prepare and to fly out to all the events. There’s always been a seriousness around me since drifting started to get big… a feeling of people watching… a feeling that you have to prove to people that I’m serious about drifting and that I want to get good and stay good and be committed to the sport and its supporters. All that SUCKS. I just want to have fun and I just want to drive. I’m completely happy once I’m in my car and I’m drifting… but the other 95% drama associated with drifting gets me down. That’s why I’ve informally decided that this will be my last year of drifting competitively. Will I drop out of people’s minds when they think about the popular drifters in the US? Yeah… but I don’t care. I’ll also lose all my sponsors… no tire support, no anything support. But I’ll still have fun, and I’ll still be drifting, and I’ll still be teaching people and giving them the awesome gift of learning how to drift too. That’s all good enough for me. That’s what makes me happy. I wonder if quitting the competitions will keep me happy? I still love the challenge of courses that mostly only competetions can bring.