WHEN WE SET THE COMING SEASON’S TRACK SCHEDULE, it’s helpful for me to have it posted on a large wall calendar. I can see each upcoming event, with close of registration and plan for it accordingly. They also come in handy for work as I can note appointments on it while still talking on the phone. I also don’t know how all that phone stuff works, so I limit its use to actually calling people and the occasional text message.
For years suppliers would mail you a new calendar as a token of their appreciation, or a way to market their goods to you all year. If you are a Porsche fan like me, you could pick up one with dream cars and those images would help get you through the dark days of the off-season. Since most people now use their phones, all of that has ended. If you want a real calendar you have to go find one. It was that search that made me realize that half the world is insane.
Now don’t get the idea that I randomly searched the dark web or anything. I went directly to Amazon, so it would be delivered quickly, and I could expend a minimum of effort. It turned into a job as there were 75 pages containing close to 1,000 calendars.
If you want a real calendar you have to go find one. It was that search that made me realize that half the world is insane.
First, I had to race through 25 pages of cats doing all kinds of crazy stuff. Then there were 15 pages of fantasy calendars, from Star Wars to unicorns doing yoga. Another 20 pages contained everything from sexy firemen to dogs pooping. Would someone place a calendar with dogs pooping on their wall? Yuck! Then there were five pages of specialty stuff. Fire trucks working, I guess for pyromaniacs. Or llamas, for people who like ugly things that spit in your face. This section included cows, though I’m not sure which were the attractive ones, with the occasional Mustang and Corvette pics thrown in for the domestic car guys.
After looking at all of them, there were no Porsche calendars, so I went back to page 73. There I found a large-format calendar with elephants. I didn’t buy that one just because I think elephants are awesome creatures. This calendar is put out by the World Wildlife Fund, so buying that one was contributing to the rescue and protection of the species. I don’t know who gets the money for unicorns doing yoga. Half the world is definitely insane.
That brings us to the serious stuff. I’m sure you are all aware that the provincial government has lifted the QR code proof of vaccination on March 1. Whether this was a health or a political decision remains to be seen. Once again, they have put the onus on the 80 percent who are vaccinated to protect ourselves from those who are not. While I was willing to eat out in a separated booth knowing everyone else was vaccinated, I’ll stop that for a while now. Not only will the separations be gone, but so will the assurance that everyone else has verified their vaccination status.
In Driver Education we find ourselves in a slightly different situation. For an instructor to climb into a student’s car, they must give up the ability to socially distance and trust their safety to another individual. We’ve taken small steps like providing students with their own radio headsets, but nothing will compare to the vaccination verification system now built into our registration system. After consultation with the rest of the track team we’ve decided to continue that requirement for the beginning of the 2022 season and the foreseeable future.
This is a reminder to those who have signed up for any events this coming season, that you need to post your QR code verification to your driver profile as soon as possible.
Our registrants expect us to do what we can to keep them safe and that doesn’t just include their safety on track. It also includes their safety at the track.
So, this is a reminder to those who have signed up for any events this coming season, that you need to post your QR code verification to your driver profile as soon as possible. Then we can process your registration. Please don’t leave it to the last minute, as we are expecting full events. You will be bumped by someone who has completed their registration ahead of you.
By now you are aware that safety is always our primary focus. However, there are certain things that we have no control over. I must admit that I always found updating our harnesses every five years, while allowing 10-year-old helmets, to be kind of silly. I understand that in certain southern climates the UV rays can cause non-DOT belts to deteriorate but living in Canada makes that moot. Not only is our season only six months long, but I don’t know anyone who leaves their prized car out in the sun, rain, and snow.
That said, we don’t have any control over PCA National’s minimum standards, so we do what we are told to insure our events. While this year the helmet expiration extension is over, the supply-chain delays in current harnesses will delay this year’s supply. PCA National has extended the harness expiration date to July 1 of 2022 to give us all time to source our favourite brand of harness. We’ll keep you posted if that is extended again.
I hope everyone has had a great winter season and I hope the holidays were some relief from your isolated COVID-19 lifestyle. It’s starting to look like there are some reasons to hope for a better season this year, so keep your fingers crossed.
Our season is coming sooner than you think and I can’t wait. </>
