After an almost 2-year hiatus, my car is finally back on track, literally. Just a few minor changes, and it was ready to go:

Before:
Stock suspension
Stock 16x6, 16x7.5 wheels
225/50/16 and 245/45/16 Toyo RA1s
Stock a-arms
Stock rear control arms
Stock fenders
Stock rear deck lid
Stock Intake
Busted-up used Spugen single exhaust
Stock front swaybar, no rear swaybar
Alignment: Front: -1.5* camber, 0 toe, 6* caster, Rear: -2* camber, -1/4" toe
Sponsored by: me

After:
KW Variant 3 coilovers w/ 515 lbs/in spring rates
CCW 17x9, 17x10 3-piece wheels
275/40/17 Nitto NT-01s on all 4 corners
Go Fast Lab adjustable front a-arms
Go Fast Lab Bumpsteer kit
Ghetto-rolled front fenders (think jack handles and channel-locks)
Borrowed deck lid with 67" x 10.75" aluminum wing with Gurney flap
AEM V2 Intake
Used Buddy Club single exhaust (immediately busted up at Willow Springs)
Saner adjustable front swaybar, stock rear swaybar
Alignment: Front: -3.5* camber, 0 toe, 6* caster, Rear: -3* camber, -1/8" toe
Sponsored by: Honda of Pasadena Service Deparment and Lone Star Software

Random maintenance:
Replaced driver's side rear axle
Valve adjustment
Replaced passenger side hub/wheel bearing (in progress)

First weekend out was 9/2 and 9/3 at Willow Springs International Raceway. The weekend started off rather slow, as I ran in the yellow (beginner) group the first couple sessions to learn the line, get reacquainted with driving on the track, and to learn the new setup. However, by the afternoon, I was back in the blue (advanced intermediate) group and was setting fast lap every session. I was amazed at how well the car handled straight out of the gate. In my first session, I got metal-to-metal contact between the front wheel and the GFL a-arms in the entrance to turn 5, where I'm braking, turning and hitting a dip all at once. Stiffened up the compression damping to 7/8 and the rebound to 7/8. Car immediately felt absolutely perfect.

Using the pyrometer, I kept adjusting tire pressures until I got even stagger across the face of the tires. This sweet spot came at 37psi front, 35psi rear. Tire temps that weekend were insane. I saw over 225F several times! The Nittos were great. Tons and tons of grip (a lot of that is due to the certifiably insane tire sizes I am running). They are very predictable near the limit, although greasiness comes on very very quickly, and if you're not ready for it, you go shooting off the inside of turn 4 sideways and mess up all sorts of stuff...

Saturday's times were decent, but nothing special. I ran 1:37s and Richard who drove it for one session without pushing it too hard, did 1:38s. Sunday, I really figured out the course and started to gain enough confidence to push the car hard. Turn 2 is flat out in that car with the mongo tires and huge wing. I would lift a split second to settle the car for turn-in, and then stay flat out all the way around, tracking out around 90mph. Turn 9 of course takes lots of practice to get right, but I got my apex speeds up to 96mph. This was good for a 1:35.4. Aaron Bitterman drove the car for a half session, laying down a new street s2k record of 1:33.8. He had nothing but good things to say on the way the car handled. I'm sure I lost all that time in turns 3-5.

After the big off in turn 4, the steering wheel was off center, the fender was banged up, the bumper was melted, the tire was cut, so it was time to fix the car again. Took it into Marty at Honda of Pasadena to fix the suspension/alignment. Unfortunately, he couldn't find the source of the problem and could only align the front left to -3* camber.  After the alignment, the steering wheel was centered, but quickly went back off-center, and the car started pulling hard to the left. However, it was too late to get it fixed again before the SpeedVentures World Champioships at Buttonwillow 9/29-10/1.

Buttonwillow has always been my favorite event of the year. I did it in 2003 on street tires and stock suspension on my way home from having the Elda rollbar installed by Comptech in Sacramento. In 2004, I shared a garage with Richard and John, and brought my brand new truck filled with half-used Hoosiers, Kumhos and then bought a set of RA1s from the buttonwillow tire shop. At the time, I was convinced my stock suspension was garbage and Richard helped me install his take-off stock shocks to compare against. Now, I know the problem I was experiencing was bumpsteer. Needless to say, that experiment was a waste of time...

Anyway, flash forward to 2006. This weekend, the entire new crop of fast guys was there. None of the old guard were there, unfortunately. Rylan and Richard were doing an SCCA race at Laguna Seca. Will's car is still being put back together. John is taking a hiatus. Dave sold his car to Richard. But, it was a great time running against Rob, Kel, Raymund, Tim, Sri, Chris and others.

Friday was again a time to get reacquainted with track and car. The car didn't work nearly as well here as it did at Willow Springs. I had a hard time getting it to take a consistent set. Friday, I didn't play with settings too much, as I was trying to work on the line more than anything. I did soften up tire pressures, and softened up front rebound. Saturday, I stiffened the swaybar to full-soft on one side and middle setting ont he other side. I reduced rear compression damping to 6/8. The car was more predictable, but the tire pressures dropped to 32F/30R hot, and they seemed to get greasy after just a couple laps. Sunday, I raised the tire pressures all the way back to 37/35 and softened up compression to 5/8. Buttonwillow is very bumpy and the car responded pretty well to softer settings. Sunday, the car felt very good, and I felt like I had the line down pat and had my fear turned off.

Session 3 was almost perfect. I hit all my apexes, naturally drifted to the edge of the track on corner exit, kept my foot planted when necessary, but fuel starvation killed all of my laps. So, I pulled off to top off the gas and started hearing this ominous tick-tick from the right rear wheel. I took the car to all the other S2000 owners and asked their opinion on the noise. Some thought it was a CV joint, others the diff, others the hub, and others the wheel bearing. Any of the 4 would have made the car undriveable on the track, so I packed up and headed home early, without a decent time. By the time I got back to Pasadena, the noise was a constant scraping/grinding noise and the diagnosis was set: wheel bearing.

Fri: Rob 2:01.9, Me: 2:05.4, Kel: 2:06.x
Sat: Raymund: 2:07.0, Me: 2:07.9, Kel: 2:08.3
Sun: ?? I only got to a 2:07, but 2:05 was extremely doable with a working car.

This new class of modified street s2000s is fast, and their drivers exceptional. Rob is clearly the one to beat, and I intend to do that... soon :)

Continuing Steph's train of thought,  here are some categories of things that trigger good memories from my childhood. What are your entries in these categories? What other categories can you think of?

Eateries:
Burger Street
Brahm's
Purdy's
Mr Gatti's Pizza

Games:
Monopoly (pronounced ma-no'-poe-lee)
Croquet
Checkers
Tiddly Winks
Whatever that blasted game is with the steel sphere and the two metal rods going uphill
Hangman
Battleship
Operation
The Game of Life
Ra (3D tic-tac-toe)
Parcheesi/Sorry/etc
Boggle
Scrabble

Sports:
3-legged racing
Potato sack racing
Bowling
Tennis
Soccer

I'm fed up of people turning up their noses at my lack of completed formal education, so I've started looking at options. CMU, ranked #4 in graduate computer science schools offers a remote program for a Master of Software Engineering degree. Best of all, a bachelor's degree is not a hard and fast requirement. All I need is 5 other qualified students and "corporate sponsorship." I will be speaking to the director of the program soon about the possibility of doing the program without corporate sponsorship. Worst case, Lone Star Software Engineering Services, Inc could arrange pseudo-sponsorship for us. Are any of y'all interested? Here's the link:

http://www.distance.cmu.edu/SE/paths.html#mse

I've already got 2 other people strongly interested. Just need 3 more!


With CP, we're now at 4, total....

For those of you who don't know, I've decided to stay in SoCal for a while. I'll still be returning to Dallas regularly to visit with family, but right now there's just too many important things here: my friends, my professional network (I need a job!) and of course, my wonderful girlfriend.

Given that, I NEED A JOB! Here's my resume; if you know any appropriate openings, please let me know!

Tony Payne <lonestarsoftware@gmail.com> 818-723-8527

Director of Software Engineering

Broad technical career with consistent track record of innovation and rapidly increasing responsibility

Consummate software engineering and project management professional offering a solid background in all phases of software development lifecycle. Broad expertise in engineering software for major e-commerce sites, embedded applications, network management, financial services and GUI applications. Expert knowledge of project management and planning, software architecture and design, with strong technical and managerial qualifications to lead large teams in complex, interdepartmental projects.

Core Competencies:
** Problem Solving
** System Architecture & Engineering
** Software Team Leadership
** Project Management
** Software Engineering Processes
** Debugging & Optimization
** Strategic Planning
** Software Design, Development & Testing
** Rapid Prototyping
** Distributed Systems
** Requirements Gathering/Analysis
** Embedded Applications
** Quality Assurance
** Teambuilding, Coaching & Mentoring
** Algorithm Analysis & Design

KEYWORD SUMMARY
Director, software engineering, software engineer, project manager, software development lifecycle, engineering software, e-commerce, embedded applications, network management, financial services, gui, project management, planning, software architecture, design, managerial, management, complex projects, interdepartmental projects, problem solving, system architecture, engineering, software team leadership, processes, debugging, optimization, strategic planning, software design, development, testing, rapid prototyping, distributed systems, requirements gathering, analysis, embedded applications, quality assurance, teambuilding, coaching, mentoring, algorithm analysis.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

LONE STAR SOFTWARE ENGINEERING SERVICES, Pasadena, CA / Denison, TX, 2005 – Present

President/Consultant
Design, develop and test custom software for key clients. Develop marketing strategies and sales plans, and analyze customer requirements. Maintain all financial records, contracts, accounts payable and receivable. Recruit and manage sub-contractors. Key Achievement:
** Proposed and won multiple contracts from two major clients (Idealab & Omnilux) and successfully deployed all projects.

OMNILUX, Pasadena, CA, 2002 – 2005

Served in several positions of increasing responsibility for this optical wireless solutions provider, enabling enterprises, systems integrators and service providers to deploy and manage secure, ultra-broadband networks.

Director/Manager of Software Engineering (2004 – 2005)
Managed internal and external resources for and led implementation of complex, interdepartmental software engineering projects of $1M or more. Determined product development roadmap including requirements, architecture, staffing and more. Collaborated with executive team to set product development goals and priorities for new software products, architecture and processes. Gathered requirements and wrote specifications.
Reported project status, risks, dependencies and issues. Researched and negotiated with potential partners and vendors. Implemented and managed quality assurance and managed release processes, test plans and system engineering. Wrote or managed project documents, including design, issues, defects, release and user documents. Recruited, managed, mentored and reviewed Senior Software Engineers and trained project managers in Omnilux and other Idealab operating companies. Key Achievements:
** Personally designed and implemented software development, testing and release processes.
** Successful track record of 100% on-time, on-budget project completion.
** Built strong, customer-focused engineering team.
** Proposed and won executive approval for new product strategy and architecture to improve company offering and meet client needs.
** Secured white paper request from EMS framework vendor due to unrivaled demand for customer ease-of-use in UI, leading to ground-breaking demands on their framework.
** Created comprehensive list of engineering skills grouped by experience level, enabling engineering managers to rate employees to a common standard and create detailed skill development plans for engineers, resulting in a fair, company-wide leveling plan and optimum growth for each engineer.

Principal Software Engineer / Consultant (7/2002 – 1/2004)
Managed projects and led architecture, design, development and test of network management applications, including embedded agent, NMS and custom UI. Gathered requirements and presented architecture, design, test plans and project status for peer review. Liaised with hardware team, ensuring seamless system interaction. Compiled test cases and plans, and managed defects. Managed and mentored other engineers on projects. Planned and implemented QA and release processes, code reviews and defect tracking. Key Achievements:
** Led ground-up development of all software; prototype system was so functional that it remained in place for three years instead of the original one-year specification.
** Recognized for impressive level of personal productivity, maintaining high quality and results.
** Able to identify design and architecture problems before becoming serious issues, with strong understanding of entire system, including component interactions.

CITYSEARCH.COM, Los Angeles, CA, 2002

Senior Software Engineer
Redesigned and optimized core search algorithms and mentored other engineers in software design and best practices. Key Achievement:
** Significantly impacted engineering staff software development methodologies, resulting in improvements in their career path.

PETSMART.COM, Pasadena, CA, 2000 – 2002

Senior Software Engineer / Software Engineer
Led time-critical, revenue-impacting redesign projects, contributing to all aspects of system development to find creative ways to meet tight deadlines. Collaborated directly with C-level executives on project requirements and strategy. Designed e-commerce order-flow process and components in every area of system. Debugged and repaired performance and stability issues in Oracle DB, application server and application code. Key Achievements:
** Produced very high quality products and met all deadlines, no matter how unrealistic, emphasizing performance, flexibility and ease of use.
** Strong leadership talents, with the ability and willingness to expend “political capital” to ensure high quality and retain customer focus.
** Assumed leadership of two system overhauls: re-architecture of e-commerce order flow system and of the application server.
** Created dynamic marketing/personalization system, replacing proposed purchase of $500K system.

FREE-PC.COM, Pasadena, CA, 1999 – 2000

Senior Software Engineer
Designed and developed software and system applications, including server farm management utilities controlling 125 servers, and multi-threaded event queue server. Created and deployed parallel processing environment for processing large volumes of data and generating reports.

NORTH COMMUNICATIONS, Marina del Rey, CA, 1998 – 1999

System Architect / Software Engineer
Architected, designed and implemented secure, reliable software for financial applications, seamlessly collaborating with other departments to ensure components work together. Interfaced with R&D and browser teams to manage inter-department requirements and manage overall system design. Interfaced with customers for post-sales installation and debugging, and with business team for requirements definition. Designed system architecture and security, as well as key system components. Key Achievements:
** Developed system architecture that saved company’s flagship product from disaster and raised it to being worthy of patenting; intervention enabled company to survive additional four years.
** Re-engineered system architecture and software development processes, cutting development time by two-thirds and dramatically improving quality, resulting in v.2.0 approval prior to v1.0.
** Served as “Team Lead” of interdisciplinary development team responsible for adding advanced functionality to subsequent versions of product; managed team schedules, reviewed completed work, prioritized tasks, mentored team members and oversaw design and planning.
** Instrumental in demanding and assisting implementation of formal QA procedures.

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND

Undergraduate Coursework in Computer Science
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, Pasadena, CA
Max B Alcorn Scholarship in Computer Science
Edward C Posner Undergraduate Research Fellowship
Athletic Council for Mentoring and Education
Captain, Varsity Soccer Team

TECHNICAL PROFICIENCIES
Platforms: Windows, Linux, Solaris
Tools: MS Project, MS Office, Project Server, SharePoint, Bugzilla, CVS, Visio, UML, mod_perl, apache, Visual Studio.NET, jrun, resin, Template-Toolkit, JDeveloper, .NET framework, MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server MSDE, Oracle, Crystal Reports, XML, Unicode, SJIS
Programming: Perl, C, C#, Java, PL/SQL, SQL, bash