2nd race, from January 2011 |
Most of the day looked like that… Aiden raced 4 races… He won one flat out… The others… Not so much!
It was nice to overhear other kids talking about how cool the “skull” car was. So, that was a plus!
Then there were the computer problems! Unlike the big wooden tracks that we had as kids… They have now moved up to an all aluminum track, computer timed finishes and a real time scoring system broadcast by a projector on the wall. Its some brilliant high tech stuff!!!
Aiden’s first place finish, from January 2011 |
Until it all went wrong!!!
After the 3rd heat… The program that controls the racing went haywire. Locked up, and gave the dreaded message “Program not responding”. When the operator of the computer opened up the “task manager” to start deleting other operations that were running… I knew we were in trouble!
That was around 1PM. Dad, who showed up with me at 9:30 that morning… Had to leave to get to work. I, was not able to sneak out so easily! At some point… They started doing sing alongs with the boys to pass the time while the computer people tried their hands at solving the issues. I did sing!
The 4th heat was run, and the system crashed again. As far as I could tell anyway! I saw lots of conversations going on, calculators being pulled out, and overhead monitor was turned off.
Overall, the troop and leaders did a GREAT job keeping the mass of scouts in line for all the hours we were there. I was expecting a mini riot of sugared up vandals. But, there is something about scouting that seems to remind the boys that they have to answer to the adults. With all the delays, it still went pretty well. But, like the Oscars… It just seemed to drag on!
When it was all over… I had been there 6 hours!
Next year… I am coming late!!!
Oh, and as far as Aiden is concerned… He was bored by the time it was over! Thats a shame. I remember when I was a kid, I was jacked up like no body’s business when the race was going on. We didn’t get a reading on where he finished. I didnt write down his times… I hope that they have some of that stuff documented. He came in 3rd and 1st on 2 races. 4th on the other 2. If he wants, next year we can aim for a fast car. But, if he wants to build something cool and stylish… I am always up for that as well.
After it was over… We headed up to Peoria to have dinner with some friends at Flat Top.
Summer was working the chop sticks. Aiden even made a Stir Fry. Filled with tons of pineapple. But it still counts!
From January 2011 |