Prolly the wrong forum to this, but oh well...
I went to high school with Andy and shared some classes with him.. but hundreds and hundreds of hours of FIRST time with him. We worked together on controls (NEVER let Andy hold the soldering iron when your fingers are nearby, he shakes
).. strategized together... and I was able to learn a lot because guys like him let me into the FIRST world.
But what I owe the most to Andy is probably the two years he served as my backup driver in 1997 and 1998. I don't appreciate him being backup because it made me primary.. but we worked so much together that he helped me improve my driving abilities more than anyone else in the world ever did. Many a night we spent trying to one up each other in our little driving games.. he always forced me to do better and better. And we helped each other improve.. knowing all along that someone who drive in competition and another wouldn't. We worked together to get better and where my 3 years of primary driving are some of my proudest accomplishment in FIRST, I owe much of that chance to Andy for helping me get better.
So line up those chairs any day Andy, and I'm game for a little match. I'm still waiting for you to beat me
(ok, so I know you did once, but you hit 2 chairs and I did it perfect.. so I'm waiting for you to beat me on a perfect game!)... and the first aid kit will always be there for you when you get hurt.
FIRST will miss you. Thanks for teaching me so much, helping me so much, and being an awesome friend and kid!!
I'll be there cheering you on the day you get that degree, because I know you can do it!! Good luck!!
