Let's Go Racin'

I won't be online as much as usual this week; the Petit Le Mans starts Tuesday, and I run worker registration and hospitality for the event starting Monday evening. That means eighteen hour days and no Internet while I'm over there.

I will be coming home from time to time - I live less than a mile from the track, and have a few hours mid-day when I don't have to be there, so I usually come home for a shower, a nap, and some quiet.

I plan to post daily, as always - y'all didn't think you were getting off that easily, did you??

I figured I'd tell you a little about what I'm doing over there (this week with the added bonus of lots of rain!) on a typical day:

4:30 AM - get up, get dressed, make sure the Evil Genius's clothes are ready for him, start the crock-pot if I'm using it to cook tonight's dinner, grab the handheld radio (it's been charging overnight) and cell phone and head over to the track. Everything else is already in the van, packed the night before.

5:00 AM - fetch ice from the cooler halfway across the property, 4 or 5 twenty-pound bags hauled out of the cooler, into the van.

5:15 AM - unload ice from van. Ice down water, juice, and soft drinks. Start coffee urns - there are three, but they have to be done two at a time and I can't turn on the lights until they're done or we blow the surge-protector and lose power. Unload registration box containing passes, car passes, waivers, pens, and schedules. Unload boxes of t-shirts to be given to the workers when they register. Put breakfast pastries and fruit out, and any snacks available for workers to take with them to their stations. Haul cases of water from the trailer and set them out for workers to take with them for the day. Set out flags, radios and communications equipment by station number.

5:45 - make my one cup of coffee for the day (this week, I will drink coffee or tea in the morning because otherwise I won't make it to lunch, let alone through the whole day) and tuck a danish roll away for the Evil Genius when he comes over with whoever leaves the house last in the morning.

5:50 - ready the registration area.

6:00 - Open registration, get workers and their guests signed in, hand out t-shirts and swag bags, check coffee, start new urns, place more breakfast pastries, fruit, and snacks out as needed.

10:00 AM - close registration, tidy up the tent area, fill coolers with water and soft drinks, fetch more ice and ice down drinks, turn off and empty coffee urns, load urns and registration gear into the van, wait for lunches to arrive, order lunches for tomorrow.

11:30 - sort lunches for delivery by zone, sort drinks for same, send them out with zone chiefs, make certain remaining lunches are enough to feed workers who report to the tent for meals, re-fill and re-ice coolers. Feed Evil Genius lunch and try not to notice how filthy he is from playing in the field that is out parking lot/hospitality area.

1:00 - tidy tent again, stow any extra lunches (hah!!), fill coolers one more time. Cajole, threaten, and bribe Evil Genius to get into the van, haul coffee urns and us back to the house. Clean urns. Fill water jugs - we don't have a water source at the track, so I have to come home for it. Load urns, water jugs, and afternoon/evening snacks into the van. Chivvy Evil Genius into the house, out of his dirty clothes, and maybe into the tub. Shower. Check on dinner in the crock-pot. Check e-mail, phone messages, and blogs, make phone calls. Nap, if there's time.

3:00 - load Evil Genius and self into the van, return to the track. Prep the coffee urns for tomorrow. Tidy the tent. Unload registration boxes, t-shirts, and snacks for the evening. fill and ice coolers.

4:00 - open registration. This is when most workers' guests will arrive. Update the bulletin board with tomorrow's hours, notes and menu.

4:30 - ice beer and wine for after-shutdown social.

5:30 - set out snacks for the social.

7:00 - close registration, load registration box and t-shirts into van.

9:00 - chase workers and guests away, close down social, tidy tent, turn out the lights, double-check the coffee urns (because coffee failure?? not an option!!), and head home with the Evil Genius if he didn't go back to the house earlier with Mum (who is working in the communications center for this event).

10:00 - load breakfast and snacks into the van fro morning, top up the boxes of swag bags so I don't run out, fill water jugs, bring in radio to charge over night, eat dinner if there's any left, visit with out of town guests visiting for the race, tidy kitchen, tidy living room, prep dinner for tomorrow, get Evil Genius bathed, read him a story, and get him to bed.

Midnight (if I'm lucky) - crawl into bed and die for a few hours.

4:30 AM - repeat above.

In between times, I'm usually running back and forth from the tent delivering ice and water to the workers or registering people who came in late (because I AM nice, damnit!!) and generally trying to help things run as smoothly as possible. It's chaotic, exhausting, and fun.

On Thursday, we'll have night practice and I'll be home even later, and Friday is the cookout and door-prize giveaway, so late again. Saturday is the final day, and I'll take the Evil Genius all over the track so he can watch the racing from every possible angle...and while we're at it, I'll haul water and ice around to anyone who needs it, fetch lunches and dinners for the workers, make sure Mum in the tower has whatever she needs, and nap once or twice. By end of race on Saturday, I'll have the tent tidied away for the last time, all the remaining drinks and snacks set out, and a bottle of Scotch ready to share with the event chiefs and my friends from out of town.

I may or may not get out of bed on Sunday. Or Monday.