6.22.2002
Well, I did something tonight I hope to never do again.
I went to a stock car race.
My goodness, the boredom. It was an admittedly bad night for racing as the wind was howling (which very seldom happens here) and it was about 37 degrees (which often happens, but not on this, June 21st, the longest day of the year). I went with my uncle and 3 young (6-5-3) cousins. I was unprepared for the length of time involved with such an event. It was about 7:15 when we arrived, and I thought "max, this thing lasts an hour. Maybe hour and a half". Three full hours later, we are still there, braced against the wind, with the only addition being about 18 gallons of pee that I have to get rid of.
We sat there and watched as race after race after race occurred, seemingly randomly. Like 5-6 hapless, albeit dented, vehicles from the road happened to get caught in this version of Hell for roundabouts. They would go around and around for 20 minutes till somebody got the idea to wave a green flag. Then things sped up slightly, but stopped again after 3 minutes later when the same guy thought it would be wicked cool to wave a checkered flag. We sat and sat, crouched against the wind. My little cousins fought with each other and climbed all over me. And snotted all over me. Little kids have bodily fluid pouring out of every possible hole in their bodies at all times. If it runs, it finds a hole, and, well, runs. I can't stand little kids. If only they could be born 12.
It was loud. It was dusty. It was boring. It was long. How many times can you watch the same 6 dented cars go around in a circle before getting the feeling you have seen this before? The clouds skittered along the horizon, apparently in a race of their own, oblivious to our piddly one in the dirt. Theirs was far more interesting.
I did make use of the opportunity to observe people, as is my custom. This was the most interesting part. There were of course a bunch of the wrench- and motor-headed guys around. Obviously. They were notable more in the sense that they were all the same. Variations on a theme. The interesting part was the girls. I was surprised at the variety, the range of social and economic classes represented at this event. There were the horribly ugly, frighteningly obese women there. The thin, overly smoked women with shocking pink eye shadow. There were others with the expensive racing jackets. And so on.
One girl I saw sttempting to look glamorous while smoking a cigarette. This is something I haven't seen in a long time, as most people these days do not develop any particular smoking STYLE, rather just hold the thing and smoke it. She was holding her hand in an affected way and trying to look like she was a movie star. Her boyfriend appeared to be one of the drivers.
Another was a girl who appeared to want to be different, but not too different. She was wearing a hard hat (like the construction guys) with purple flames drawn in marker on the side. This was what indicated to me that she was trying to be different, and to her credit, she was. She also wore a rather tight, short gray shirt that revealed a large and growing gut. (just like so many others) Now remember it is quite cold at this. I am wearing a sweatshirt, and am still kind of cold, so for those who know me, you know it is cold. She was wearing a small, overly tight T-shirt. Obviously not because it is comfortable. She also had a tattoo in, of all places, her butt crack. (I could see this because of the low pants and high shirt) It was kind of a faded blue-greenish color. I joked with my uncle that it wasn't a tattoo, it was the result of poor wiping skills.(hehee)
Another one when I first came was a bit of a surprise. I walked up and sat down in the stands, and noticed a girl behind me. The first thing that came to mind (I'm sorry) was "there is no possible way those things are real". A second glance revealed they indeed were not. They were her knees, tucked up in front of her, prodruding out of her sweatshirt. heheh
The most interesting girl I saw was one of the most inconspicuous. She was off to the side, playing and smiling with a little kid that was from a nearby parent. She was wearing a dirty carhart jacket, with a wool sweater that stuck out longer than the sleeves of the jacket. She had a similar colored hat, riding just above a roman nose. It was a good nose. She just seemed like the girl next door. Very friendly. very out of place. She had the accompanying well-haired boyfriend, but didn't really pay a whole lot of attention to him, nor he to her. They may not have been boy-girl-friends. I got the vibe from her that she wished she was someplace else, with someone else. Like she wanted to stay at home or go read a book or something, but went to the stock car races on her male companions insistence. She had intelligent eyes. And I think nobody else noticed her.
But alas, the stock car race continues. The engineer in me resurfaced and thought of ways to improve the race cars. I think that electric vehicles would be far better. Better torque curve than an internal combustion engine, and with handy-dandy computer control over such things as 4 wheel independent traction control, speed, torque, etc. Also, to have 4 wheel steering would be good, too. Best of all, it would be QUIET. a comparably small DC generator and a large nickel-metal-hydride battery pack would provide more than enough power at a fraction of the noise level. Which I suppose would cause everyone to lose interest. I tried to talk to my uncle about it, but he just gave me these "shut up and watch the race" looks.
sigh. anyhow, the we finally gave up the battle, surrendered to the wind and left. about 2 hours and 48 minutes after we should have, and $5 lighter. It was a good experience, I guess. Just not one I want to do again soon.
Imagine watching this on TV... wow.
jeff "I think my spaceship knows which way to go" green
I went to a stock car race.
My goodness, the boredom. It was an admittedly bad night for racing as the wind was howling (which very seldom happens here) and it was about 37 degrees (which often happens, but not on this, June 21st, the longest day of the year). I went with my uncle and 3 young (6-5-3) cousins. I was unprepared for the length of time involved with such an event. It was about 7:15 when we arrived, and I thought "max, this thing lasts an hour. Maybe hour and a half". Three full hours later, we are still there, braced against the wind, with the only addition being about 18 gallons of pee that I have to get rid of.
We sat there and watched as race after race after race occurred, seemingly randomly. Like 5-6 hapless, albeit dented, vehicles from the road happened to get caught in this version of Hell for roundabouts. They would go around and around for 20 minutes till somebody got the idea to wave a green flag. Then things sped up slightly, but stopped again after 3 minutes later when the same guy thought it would be wicked cool to wave a checkered flag. We sat and sat, crouched against the wind. My little cousins fought with each other and climbed all over me. And snotted all over me. Little kids have bodily fluid pouring out of every possible hole in their bodies at all times. If it runs, it finds a hole, and, well, runs. I can't stand little kids. If only they could be born 12.
It was loud. It was dusty. It was boring. It was long. How many times can you watch the same 6 dented cars go around in a circle before getting the feeling you have seen this before? The clouds skittered along the horizon, apparently in a race of their own, oblivious to our piddly one in the dirt. Theirs was far more interesting.
I did make use of the opportunity to observe people, as is my custom. This was the most interesting part. There were of course a bunch of the wrench- and motor-headed guys around. Obviously. They were notable more in the sense that they were all the same. Variations on a theme. The interesting part was the girls. I was surprised at the variety, the range of social and economic classes represented at this event. There were the horribly ugly, frighteningly obese women there. The thin, overly smoked women with shocking pink eye shadow. There were others with the expensive racing jackets. And so on.
One girl I saw sttempting to look glamorous while smoking a cigarette. This is something I haven't seen in a long time, as most people these days do not develop any particular smoking STYLE, rather just hold the thing and smoke it. She was holding her hand in an affected way and trying to look like she was a movie star. Her boyfriend appeared to be one of the drivers.
Another was a girl who appeared to want to be different, but not too different. She was wearing a hard hat (like the construction guys) with purple flames drawn in marker on the side. This was what indicated to me that she was trying to be different, and to her credit, she was. She also wore a rather tight, short gray shirt that revealed a large and growing gut. (just like so many others) Now remember it is quite cold at this. I am wearing a sweatshirt, and am still kind of cold, so for those who know me, you know it is cold. She was wearing a small, overly tight T-shirt. Obviously not because it is comfortable. She also had a tattoo in, of all places, her butt crack. (I could see this because of the low pants and high shirt) It was kind of a faded blue-greenish color. I joked with my uncle that it wasn't a tattoo, it was the result of poor wiping skills.(hehee)
Another one when I first came was a bit of a surprise. I walked up and sat down in the stands, and noticed a girl behind me. The first thing that came to mind (I'm sorry) was "there is no possible way those things are real". A second glance revealed they indeed were not. They were her knees, tucked up in front of her, prodruding out of her sweatshirt. heheh
The most interesting girl I saw was one of the most inconspicuous. She was off to the side, playing and smiling with a little kid that was from a nearby parent. She was wearing a dirty carhart jacket, with a wool sweater that stuck out longer than the sleeves of the jacket. She had a similar colored hat, riding just above a roman nose. It was a good nose. She just seemed like the girl next door. Very friendly. very out of place. She had the accompanying well-haired boyfriend, but didn't really pay a whole lot of attention to him, nor he to her. They may not have been boy-girl-friends. I got the vibe from her that she wished she was someplace else, with someone else. Like she wanted to stay at home or go read a book or something, but went to the stock car races on her male companions insistence. She had intelligent eyes. And I think nobody else noticed her.
But alas, the stock car race continues. The engineer in me resurfaced and thought of ways to improve the race cars. I think that electric vehicles would be far better. Better torque curve than an internal combustion engine, and with handy-dandy computer control over such things as 4 wheel independent traction control, speed, torque, etc. Also, to have 4 wheel steering would be good, too. Best of all, it would be QUIET. a comparably small DC generator and a large nickel-metal-hydride battery pack would provide more than enough power at a fraction of the noise level. Which I suppose would cause everyone to lose interest. I tried to talk to my uncle about it, but he just gave me these "shut up and watch the race" looks.
sigh. anyhow, the we finally gave up the battle, surrendered to the wind and left. about 2 hours and 48 minutes after we should have, and $5 lighter. It was a good experience, I guess. Just not one I want to do again soon.
Imagine watching this on TV... wow.
jeff "I think my spaceship knows which way to go" green
< 01:58 >< /j >
