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Porsche
Club of America
By Bruce
Hauben, Bruce993@PorscheNet.com
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As I sit at my keyboard in late March some musings on spring seem in order.
Here I am, only two weeks from a Lime Rock DE event followed in a few days
by a NHIS DE day, and I'm watching the little red squirrels - cute little
buggers - tunnel through 18" of snow to find the remaining sun flower seeds
I scattered over the winter for ground feeding birds and squirrels. We
still have a few 4'-5' snow drifts, all remnants of the longest winter
period with snow cover that I can remember. Plus the weather forecast is
for additional snow in our area tonight. You can be assured that I'll be
calling the Track Committee Chairs' the day before these early events before
I load the trailer, making sure the events will take place.
Judging by their leaves, we've lost many of our rhododendrons over the winter. I don't understand why, as the deep snow cover should have given the roots and lower branches an even temperature situation and the air temperatures were not particularly frigid. The roses have been completely snow covered for 3 months, usually a desired situation, but we'll have to wait and see given the rhodys' condition. With months of cross country skiing practically from our front door, and repeatedly clearing snow from our very long and very steep driveway, it's been a winter of exercise. As my primary care physician said last month during a semi-annual check-up (every visit includes the prerequisite questions about exercising and use of seat belts) I'm getting more exercise this winter than I do in the summer. Speaking of trailers, yesterday felt like bringing a new baby home from the hospital. While it's been thirty years since I last did that, it's the closest analogy for my feelings when the RS America was finally parked in its rightful place in the garage last night after spending four months at the Good Samaritan of EPE Rehabilitation Facility. It took a while to clear out the snow blower, cord wood, wheels and tires that had accumulated over those four months but now the garage looks normal...in fact better than normal as the RS America is an entirely new animal. Joyce and I can't wait to get it out on the track and enjoy our "new" toy. In preparation for my entry into Club Racing we first removed everything the rules allow i.e. air conditioning, radio/amp/CD changer/speakers, old heavy race seats, etc. Then we started adding things i.e. new race seats, fuel cell, mono balls and stiffer springs, beautifully crafted custom cage and splitter, 3.8 wing, etc. The car's capabilities have always been ahead of mine and now I have an even wider differential into which to grow. There was a movie out a few years ago called "The Money Pit", about house owning in suburbia. Little did they know how easy they had it. As only we Porschephiles can appreciate, the true money pits are our track cars. Until now, we had one extra set of wheels that we easily handled in our truck bed. Now we have two extra sets that naturally required the fabrication of a tire rack for our open trailer...par for the course. Before the snow fell, last October and November I made several trips into Vermont laying out the route for our end of April Ramble to Stowe's Topnotch Resort. Little did I know then that my final two reconnaissance trips this spring would be with snow still on the ground. And that very last trip has to be in the 993 due to its analog odometer. I've never liked digital watches, speedometers or odometers. They always make me feel like I'm being force fed and not allowed to extrapolate the data for myself. With an analog odometer we can get more accurate waypoint distance measurements. I know, in the overall scheme of things, each driver can make his/her own re-calculations as they go along. It's just another of my Type A problems in wanting to get the mileage points as accurate as possible. Our seed sprouting is doing well under the grow lights in the basement. Everything from tomatoes, broccoli and peppers to lupines, pansies, impatiens and primulas are now or soon will be ready for transplanting to larger containers. When the seed catalogs start arriving in early January they're a great antidote for cabin fever. It's very similar to pouring over travel catalogs or...see the next paragraph. Joyce and I started planning our track season much earlier this year than in the past. I guess the cabin fever was taking its toll and this was a means of getting a little spring fever into our blood. As Steve Artick has said as we've swapped schedules back and forth, this is a "living document" as it continues to evolve. VIR was axed by Joyce's business travel and Road America was dropped due to a long desired exotic vacation, as was a Watkins Glen weekend. We were really looking forward to experiencing the Road America track as well as visiting a new grandson in Milwaukee. Oh well, another of those priority decisions that has to be made. So, as an event gets dropped, we look for a replacement. Here's hoping your spring is not far off and you have a safe driving season. Good Things About a
Bad Stock Market
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