Da Groj

To add to the issue of late preregistered arrivals:

If you show up late, it is NOT appropriate to start a fight with the people doing registration. It's also not appropriate to walk away cussing about us. I'm a calm person, but I was getting very riled up. The walk ups showed up as early as 715 am, and it's not fair that they may have been cut out by people showing up more than 2 hours later.

I totally agree with you Steven. I think some people have forgotten that there is a set time for everyone to be on site and have the waivers signed. Everyone please remember to give yourself enough time to get there and have all the paperwork filled out by 9:00 at the latest. I don't think people realize how time consuming it is to reorganize run groups when a class grows from 8 to 12 and another from 10 to 12 and another from 7 to 10. Lets put it this way so people can visualize this better. With the time it takes to handle late entries and rearrange things we could have had 1 more run (even with trying to beat the rain). If rain wasn't an issue we could have had 2 more on top of that and had 8.

Moral of the story. The earlier we start, the more runs we get.

Alexis, you are absolutely right.

Good point of view, Chris.

And Tim had noted the 9:40 drivers' meeting not starting until 10. Well, at the drivers' meeting, we like to announce the run and work groups. Jamie had started on them at about 9:15, and figured the 25 minutes was enough time. But as he was working on them, people kept arriving and changes had to be made. So we all had to wait.



Speaking of registration - nice work, Mark and Alexis! All the paperwork was in order and the books balanced on the first try. You're hired!

LOST AND FOUND:
stars and stripes umbrella. Quite patriotic. "Raines" on the label. Quite ironic.

I was one of the late arrivals. I thought it better to show up late than no-show. (I hope I'm not the above-referenced belligerent. I didn't curse at anyone, so it was somebody else, right?) It was certainly not my intention to inconvenience anyone, I really didn't realize being late was a problem. If I was crusty in my reaction to the registration workers, it was only because I was trying to understand whether I was being scolded or denied entrance. Thank you for accomodating me. FWIW, you could have told me to go home, and I would have been okay with it.

garage west wrote:Thank you for accomodating me.

You're welcome. And thanks for posting. And please, everyone, understand we don't want to single out folks and point fingers. We do want everyone to understand that autocross requires participation and cooperation from everyone, in a variety of ways, and that the actions, or lack thereof, from a few can affect many.

snookwheel wrote:I can't believe I missed Baked Ziti

And caesar salad. And garlic bread.

And brownies!

Thanks to all who were concerned about us. Yes, it was a nasty end to the day. We haven't gotten the estimate back from the Nissan place yet, but I can imagine that we had thousands of dollars of damage to the car. We're just glad we're not hurt. Of course, I could stick a few needles in Doug and make a few bucks on a PIP claim for neck injuries, but I'm just glad we have insurance to cover the damage. I don't need to profit from the accident. (Puncturina -- acupuncturist, get it?)

Anyway, thanks to all for running the event. Thanks to the sopping wet courseworkers for run 4. Thanks to Willemina for providing lunches that actually include some green vegetables.

I'm pretty sure this was my best time.

It was wet though. Very wet.

http://tbehobbies.com/img/movies/autox3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... 3-2-10.mpg

Since my in-car camera decided it didn't want to read the SD card, you'll have to live with reliving the moment. All I have is an out-of-car vid. It'll be fun for those who didn't make it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2LcdaO8kwY

Oh, I also forgot to thank those that helped chalk the cones. I've never seen that take so little time. It's amazing what just a couple extra hands can do to help get things setup and moving.

Man sounds like a blast, I love rain events, and I always curse myself for missing a FREE Flowers meal. But I had one of those moments, the alarm going off and looking outside and saying to myself. Rainy day autocross or Rainy day Sleep, the sleep won out. Funny the GP was canceled, Nascar was canceled. but FAST goes off without a hitch! it's a shame too, since I need the wet practice.

Loren, sorry again for compelling you to codrive . My bald tires made the actual autocrossing more of a trial in throttle control than anything else. As I'm sure you remember, anything more than half throttle caused wheel spin, counter-steering and usually a spin. The driving kinda sucked, and it would've been better in your car - the one with brand new tires, no less! Not to mention, you would've been in a dry run group. All around fail, I guess. Hindsight is always 20/20.

A couple of my runs were in absolute pooring down rain with puddles that had to have been more than 4 inches deep. There was one occassion where I splashed through a puddle after the exit of the chicago box, and I could NOT SEE ANYTHING except water for about 2 or 3 seconds :shock: . I couldn't see the cones and was just guessing where they were! And my wipers were at full speed.That was amazing. This is an autocross I will not forget!

Congrats to Chris for passing me in the points. I'll do my best to take the lead back! Most of all, though, congrats to Bob for some great driving and taking first place in G! That was awesome. I couldn't be happier for you.

Thanks to the Flowers for some great food. I told my wife about sticking to the edge of the grocery store, and about multi-grain pasta.

Thanks to all the core people who do such a great job every event. It's appreciated. Oh yeah, Dan Rasp did a good job with the drivers meeting. It's never been that entertaining. He should consider hosting the Academy Awards

It's all good, Chuck. A "bad" day autocrossing is still better than the best day at work!

I think I'll be weather-proof next month, as Rydell has offered me a drive in his Subaru. 8)

Rosko wrote:I told my wife about sticking to the edge of the grocery store

What does that mean?

Man! I can't believe it!! One main reason why we didn't get more runs is because people being late. Guys we all need to be punctual, stop being selfish! I am shocked that people would start cursing at those that are working registration. I would think that a person doing something like that should receive one race ban!

Jeremy17 wrote:

Rosko wrote:I told my wife about sticking to the edge of the grocery store

What does that mean?

The middle isles of the grocery store contain all the processed food. The outside edges hold all the fresh stuff (meat, dairy, fruits, vegetables, etc).

jdr_racer wrote:Man! I can't believe it!! One main reason why we didn't get more runs is because people being late. Guys we all need to be punctual, stop being selfish! I am shocked that people would start cursing at those that are working registration. I would think that a person doing something like that should receive one race ban!

There were 3 that come to mind that possessed surprising attitudes.

Miata GT wrote:

jdr_racer wrote:Man! I can't believe it!! One main reason why we didn't get more runs is because people being late. Guys we all need to be punctual, stop being selfish! I am shocked that people would start cursing at those that are working registration. I would think that a person doing something like that should receive one race ban!

There were 3 that come to mind that possessed surprising attitudes.

That's just wrong! I'm serious about a race suspension for that behavior.

Just live and learn and don't do it again. ^^^ I certainly won't put up with it anymore. Thankfully I'm chairing Brooksville where the gate tells people no.

No one's going to get banned for getting upset. If any of those people have seen this thread, they know their actions weren't appreciated. And they know the mass preference is for folks to be on time.

If late and upset was a one-time-thing, well, we all goof once in a while and it won't happen again. If it's a chronic thing, and gets repeated, the group will police itself, as it's doing now: A lot of people have read this thread and now clearly get that such behavior (angry/late) is unacceptable, which in theory makes it less likely to happen. If that natural policing process doesn't work, well, we've got time to take more direct action.

And should push come to shove, that direct action will just be getting hard-a$$ed about the 9 am deadline. No one has ever heard, "Registration is closed. Go home." We push FAST as laid-back, relaxed, hang out, have some food and drive a bit. But there are aspects we take quite seriously despite that, like safety. And, evidently, politeness and timeliness.

Thankfully I'm chairing Brooksville where the gate tells people no.

The gate helps, but stuff like this happens there, too. No one likes hearing, "You're not on the list."

Very well stated, Steve! I like your style. Yellow_Colorz_PDT_02