My dad, above everything else, was an aviator. His life's passion was flying. Until Danger girl was born, my life's passion was racing. A few days after my dad died back in 1998, I went to the Reno air races. While I do love aviation, I wouldn't say I have a life-obsessing passion for it. Certainly not like my dad did. And while he also enjoyed racing, he too didn't have the passion for it I had. Still, the Reno air races is a natural combination of the two passions.

While I'd been to them before, it was with someone else taking me who was just heading out there anyway. He was very annoying and ended up making the weekend an utter hell. After my dad died I went alone. In the wake of my experiencing such a tragedy, it was one of the greatest weekends of my life.

While I was there I promised myself that I'd go every year no matter what. Really I promised myself that I'd be able to do it every year and do it comfortably as an indication of whether if I'd allowed my life to get to a point where I'm a failure. I didn't make it out this year. In short, my not making it there means that major changes in the way I live my life are in order.