Thoughts of a Random Gamer

Today’s post goes out as a tribute to the family of George Eisenhart Jr. who sadly lost his life over the weekend doing what he loved.

Friday night I had the awesome opportunity to go to a monster truck rally in Madison, WI.  It was the Monster Truck Nationals.  Not sure if that means they were actually Nationals or if the whole tour was considered that.  But there were 8 trucks, some little go-kart like trucks, a rocket propelled golf kart, and a MEGASAURUS!!!  All of them were awesome and I easily became like a ten year old kid again when seeing them fly through the air, as the air reaked of diesel fuel.

Now, I can’t even imagine trying to describe for you the amount of work that goes into any of those machines.  The remote ignitions in case something goes wrong, the massive engines, how the heck those monster tires are made, or putting together a safe roll cage.

Seeing one of these massive machines fly through the air and crushing down on old cars is beauty in its most raw form.  Seeing windows shatter, and ceilings crush is awesome!  The driver even spends a second or two looking at the ceiling of the venue with no idea what is about to hit and then bam!  they are back to the ground and the run is done.  I definitely suggest going to see them in action.

Also impressive are golf karts with jet engines attached.  I decided I wanted a picture a split second after I would have been able to capture one for all of you who read this.  Just imagine though that even when sitting about 200 to 300 feet from the kart, you can still feel the heat from the engine.  And we were no where near the closest seats in the arena!  Sadly the venue was not long enough for them to fire up the engine and run the length of the floor.  I am pretty sure it would have blasted pretty quick.  Unfortunately a google search of the vehicle turned up nothing quite as pretty as what was seen.

Now, the MEGASAURUS!!! is one of those car crushing monsters that you can sometimes see on television or over the internet. In fact, one was recently on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.  This thing was impressive.  It came rolling out in what appeared to be a army personnel carrier and then opened up to a machine about 35 feet or more tall.  It spit out flames and had massive hydraulic arms to pick up the Dodge Neon that quickly became junk spewed across the floor.  It ate through it slowly, but eventually was able to eat all the way through, dropping the car to the floor in two pieces.

I said I would dedicate this to George and I want to say a few words here. George definitely had a passion for the trucks that he presented to the nation.  He sought to share that passion with everyone in the audience and I would say that even though I only saw him in action once, he succeeded.  Seeing him jump up on top of the crushed cars, talk to the drivers, shoot t-shirts into the audience, he was definitely good at his job.  A friend of mine who I went with on Friday was actually from the same hometown in Ohio, and when I told her about the horrible news, she instantly called home and wondered how things were.  People everywhere are thinking of the Eisenhart family this week and into the future.  Please continue the show that was his passion, so that his passion can still be shared with so many young and old people in the nation.

Gamers, thanks for buckling in for this one.

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