Tweet
So you want to be a Referee.
I’m a 20 year old soul trapped in a 71 year old body.
In the past, I had raced PRO 350, 500, and 700cc Hydro and that was for nearly 40 years. I was an average racer, but my stuff nearly always finished. When I ran, I always put in a lot of effort into the equipment before a race. Refereeing should be a lot easier than Racing, I thought.
So getting back to the Referee part, I quit racing not after my own serious life changing accident but in 2006 after a fellow Hydro Racer, and friend, had his life taken away in a senseless, untimely racing accident. It had been a long 8 years, watched a couple of races but never got back into it.
The beginning of this year I got an e-mail from the US Title Series President they needed help, their current Referee has medical problems, and could I help out as Referee? Sure, I’m retired from my old 60 hour a week job and just have been working on our house since we own it, for the last 10 years. Since I retired from work 4 years ago, we work every day on the house, and it looks like we haven’t done anything to the place in all that time. Maybe I could do some good for the sport and get away from the home improvements. How hard can Refereeing be for a couple of times you might ask? The answer for me is Darn Hard!!!
Refereeing turned out to be for the Six Race Series, one in Florida, one in Wisconsin, one in Minnesota, one in Michigan, one in Illinois, and the last and closes to home in Tennessee. Refereeing turned out as hard as racing for me. Not the Refereeing but after we got back home……… Not really true, the Refereeing took a lot of prep work before I ever got to the first race, but I could control that time to some degree.
Getting back to the story, the first race in Florida I thought would be the most stressful. It wasn’t, and soon learned to be comfortable in the Refereeing position. After we got back home from Florida, this was the start of a good thing turned bad. Our icebox, OK you young ones call it a refrigerator, decided to quit working while we were gone, about $500 in food spoiled. We bought more food.
Race #2, we got back from Wisconsin and found out that the Washing Machine in the just newly painted and floored laundry room decided to leak the whole time we were gone. Fix the leak with a new part and pull the new flood. Another new floor for the “TO Do List”, I’m falling a little behind now.
Just after we got back from the 3rd Race in Minnesota I’m going to do some prevent maintenance on both of the upstairs shower valves. The seals must be 40 years old and slightly leaking. I’ll stop this problem in the bud. Went thru all kinds of precautions before I did the first shower…… NO Problem, I’m an expert now! That’s what I thought. Second shower ended up leaking like a sieve. Add new Kitchen Ceiling under the second shower to the dreaded “TO DO List”, really falling behind now!
I’ll have 6 weeks after Speed Week to get the new floor into the laundry room and start the new Kitchen ceiling, I thought. After Races in Michigan and Illinois, Races #4 and #5 which was also the DePue USTS Nationals, the Refereeing Stress was at a ALL TIME HIGH. One of our Racers had a serious accident and I have been dreaming about that one, for the last 6 weeks. We finally got home from Speed Week the grass has been growing for two weeks. The next day I got the John Deere Lawn Tractor out to beat down the grass. One pass into the grass and the Tractor Transmission gave up the ghost. I went online, found the necessary part, $450 later, rebuilt the Transmission, and got the grass cut the following week. Now I’m really behind on the “TO DO List”.
So this bring us to today, we got home last night from Johnson City, great place to Race!!! Everything is going great this morning, Trip took only 3 hours to get back home, slept good last night in our own bed, and the neighbor did us a favor this last weekend and collected our mail. Of course, the medicine I have been waiting for the last 6 weeks finally arrived while we were gone. The neighbor being the good guy that he is puts our mail in a nice white plastic bag on our front porch. We get up this morning collect the garbage from the house, as we are planning to drop it off at the collection yard as we go out for breakfast. Someone in our family, no name please, see the white plastic bag and assume it’s garbage. Two hours later after dropping off the garbage, eating breakfast, and picking up our two dogs from boarding, the wife goes to the nice neighbor for our mail. Too late, It has been buried under a ton of crap somewhere in South Carolina, $200 to 300 dollars worth of meds in that landfill.
That's how my Refereeing been this year. Hope 2015 is better!
Update 9/16------ Went to the Doc this morning and then to CVS for more drugs, good news only cost $14.00 the insurance covered the rest. Looking like a GOOD DAY! ( wife is out of the doghouse)
I’m a 20 year old soul trapped in a 71 year old body.
In the past, I had raced PRO 350, 500, and 700cc Hydro and that was for nearly 40 years. I was an average racer, but my stuff nearly always finished. When I ran, I always put in a lot of effort into the equipment before a race. Refereeing should be a lot easier than Racing, I thought.
So getting back to the Referee part, I quit racing not after my own serious life changing accident but in 2006 after a fellow Hydro Racer, and friend, had his life taken away in a senseless, untimely racing accident. It had been a long 8 years, watched a couple of races but never got back into it.
The beginning of this year I got an e-mail from the US Title Series President they needed help, their current Referee has medical problems, and could I help out as Referee? Sure, I’m retired from my old 60 hour a week job and just have been working on our house since we own it, for the last 10 years. Since I retired from work 4 years ago, we work every day on the house, and it looks like we haven’t done anything to the place in all that time. Maybe I could do some good for the sport and get away from the home improvements. How hard can Refereeing be for a couple of times you might ask? The answer for me is Darn Hard!!!
Refereeing turned out to be for the Six Race Series, one in Florida, one in Wisconsin, one in Minnesota, one in Michigan, one in Illinois, and the last and closes to home in Tennessee. Refereeing turned out as hard as racing for me. Not the Refereeing but after we got back home……… Not really true, the Refereeing took a lot of prep work before I ever got to the first race, but I could control that time to some degree.
Getting back to the story, the first race in Florida I thought would be the most stressful. It wasn’t, and soon learned to be comfortable in the Refereeing position. After we got back home from Florida, this was the start of a good thing turned bad. Our icebox, OK you young ones call it a refrigerator, decided to quit working while we were gone, about $500 in food spoiled. We bought more food.
Race #2, we got back from Wisconsin and found out that the Washing Machine in the just newly painted and floored laundry room decided to leak the whole time we were gone. Fix the leak with a new part and pull the new flood. Another new floor for the “TO Do List”, I’m falling a little behind now.
Just after we got back from the 3rd Race in Minnesota I’m going to do some prevent maintenance on both of the upstairs shower valves. The seals must be 40 years old and slightly leaking. I’ll stop this problem in the bud. Went thru all kinds of precautions before I did the first shower…… NO Problem, I’m an expert now! That’s what I thought. Second shower ended up leaking like a sieve. Add new Kitchen Ceiling under the second shower to the dreaded “TO DO List”, really falling behind now!
I’ll have 6 weeks after Speed Week to get the new floor into the laundry room and start the new Kitchen ceiling, I thought. After Races in Michigan and Illinois, Races #4 and #5 which was also the DePue USTS Nationals, the Refereeing Stress was at a ALL TIME HIGH. One of our Racers had a serious accident and I have been dreaming about that one, for the last 6 weeks. We finally got home from Speed Week the grass has been growing for two weeks. The next day I got the John Deere Lawn Tractor out to beat down the grass. One pass into the grass and the Tractor Transmission gave up the ghost. I went online, found the necessary part, $450 later, rebuilt the Transmission, and got the grass cut the following week. Now I’m really behind on the “TO DO List”.
So this bring us to today, we got home last night from Johnson City, great place to Race!!! Everything is going great this morning, Trip took only 3 hours to get back home, slept good last night in our own bed, and the neighbor did us a favor this last weekend and collected our mail. Of course, the medicine I have been waiting for the last 6 weeks finally arrived while we were gone. The neighbor being the good guy that he is puts our mail in a nice white plastic bag on our front porch. We get up this morning collect the garbage from the house, as we are planning to drop it off at the collection yard as we go out for breakfast. Someone in our family, no name please, see the white plastic bag and assume it’s garbage. Two hours later after dropping off the garbage, eating breakfast, and picking up our two dogs from boarding, the wife goes to the nice neighbor for our mail. Too late, It has been buried under a ton of crap somewhere in South Carolina, $200 to 300 dollars worth of meds in that landfill.
That's how my Refereeing been this year. Hope 2015 is better!
Update 9/16------ Went to the Doc this morning and then to CVS for more drugs, good news only cost $14.00 the insurance covered the rest. Looking like a GOOD DAY! ( wife is out of the doghouse)
Comment