[ 07-16-03 ] [ 3:41 p.m.]
[ At 11:23 p.m on July 17, 1986... ]

It's my last day as a 16-year-old. Tomorrow when I wake up, I'll be, well, sixteen, but what of it? (Hold on, I'm explaining this in a minute.)

Okay. I was thinking about this earlier when I took an illegal joyride with Daizy and Rueben (the dogs). As you may be able to tell, I'm one of those diarists who loves doing special entries on special occasions - #100, Mom's Day, Dad's Day, and now my birthday. So, I thought to the little muse who lives in my head and is greatly responsible for this wonderful diary, what should I do for my birthday? Well, it didn't take long and I got it all worked out: Tomorrow, expect to see a very short entry with very large text containing: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Today, however, I thought I'd entertain you all with the story of my birth. Feel free to puke at any time.

Okay. I was an 11th hour baby, which means tomorrow I'll be sixteen until approximately 11:23:46 p.m. From what my mother tells me, this was the time that my chubby little face was revealed to the world through her... Let's kill that thought before it becomes something very nasty. Anyhow, me being an 11th hour baby, I like to procrastinate and wait until the last minute when doing lots of stuff. But that really has nothing to do with my birth story.

I was born in Neenah, Wisconsin on Thursday, July 17, 1986 at 11:23 p.m. This we already knew, we're just re-stating facts here. I was born in the Theda Clark delivery room, like normal babies who are born in Neenah.

What makes my birth so special, at least in my opinion, is where my dad was when my mom went into labor. At the time when my mom was pregnant with me, my dad was a crew chief on a race team that raced at Wisconsin International Raceway in Kaukauna. Kaukauna runs its normal weekly races on Thursdays, which was where my dad was at approximately 7pm. He was under his team's car, working on the setup, after his driver, Dennis, set fast time in the time trials. Apparently, the track announcer came on the P.A. with a message for my dad: "Bob Luebke, call home, your wife is having a baby!" And so she did. And by the way, Dennis ended up winning the feature, and dedicated it to me. So I had a race dedicated to me while I was being born!

So that's the ever amusing story of my birth. It's also how I'm sure that my fate as a race fan was sealed.

How many of you are sleeping? Wake up! It wasn't that bad!!

Okay. Happy birthday to me... tomorrow.

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