IMS - Day # 13 - Traffic Control - 8th Day, aka: Pole Day!

Saturday was Pole Day, or Qualifying Day at IMS.  Our clock in time Saturday read 5 am on our schedule.......the alarm drove us from blissful slumber around 2:50 am....truly iniquitous as I wrote earlier.

I cranked out Friday's blog entry whilst sipping a couple cups of coffee, then ate breakfast and started getting ready for another day on the traffic line.  Saturday the gates opened to the general public at 6:30 am, but workers and other related traffic were already streaming through Gate # 2 when we were dropped off at 5 am to begin our day.  It was, of course, still dark.  By 9 am we had already been on the job 4 hours, and I needed a NAP as I took my 30 minute break.......suddenly TLE was waking me up....I had fallen asleep sitting in the folding chair.

At 9 am began 60 minutes of practice laps by those contending for Pole Position.....I walked up the ramp around 9:30 on my next break to watch, and saw a 229.808 mph lap posted....that's about as close to 230 mph as you can get.  Within another 30 minutes it started gently raining, and practice had to be stopped.  Even though it was raining traffic still continued to poor into the infield area of  the IMS.  By 2 pm the infield parking was full, and we had to start turning away traffic.  Only those with reserved parking, and, of course those working for race teams could enter for the rest of our shift.  I think it was harder work turning away people, and explaining to them that the infield parking area was full.  Of course, there are a number of parking lots all around the perimeter of the track.

We continued our 30 minute shifts, and eventually the rain stopped, but left behind high humidity.....one of my favorite things. That coupled with the sun coming out again made for a sticky afternoon to be sure.

TLE and I finished our last shift on the line at 5:30 and headed home for the evening.   It was a very busy day, and our first 12.5 hour day, and we are both starting to feel the fatigue of 8 straight days......we are now half way through our 16 straight days of work.   Starting Sunday our check in time is 5:45 am each day, and 3:15 am on Race Day...May 26th, and then we will be free once again.  We both were in bed a little after 8 pm.

I'm sure you are wondering...."who won the Pole?"......to answer that question in two words.....Ed Carpenter with a four lap average speed of 228.762.  The Andretti team won the next 3 positions.....they have 5 drivers.

Thanks for stopping by

IMS - Day # 12 - Traffic Control - 7th Day, aka: Fast Friday

Many days here have their own unique names earned over the 100 plus years of this event.  Friday is known locally as "Fast Friday".  It's the last day before "Pole Day"....aka: Qualifying Day......so all the teams are out in force pushing their cars to higher and higher speeds.  In anticipation of "Fast Friday" one driver pushed it a little too hard into turn one, and put his car into the wall pretty hard......so now we have our first crash.  

"Fast Friday" started out, much like Thursday, with very heavy cloud cover, and as we walked to the check in area it was apparent, at least at that time, that we would get rained on Friday.  We "clocked in" and caught the first golf car shuttle up to Gate # 2 where TLE and I found out there were just the two of us, plus Sarah, and then Rick (our supervisor) and Dan.  By 8:30, just 30 minutes into my first break I was called back to the line.....we were getting slammed with inbound traffic.  Thankfully, this day, the Indianapolis P.D. showed up to assist us.  Without their help we would have sunk quickly.  

The inbound traffic never really let up the rest of the day, and on this day there must have been a 100 school buses entering IMS for the day.  We were reduced to taking 10 minute breaks and then back into the line.  TLE actually ran "point" several times Friday and did a great job, just as I knew she would.

I was on a break around 3 pm when we started seeing lightning in the distance....within 15 minutes the sky fell......you could not see across the street and the wind was blowing the rain sideways.  Everyone still on the line quickly retreated to the break tent, and there we remained.  Finally about 3:45 the main office called on the two way radio releasing all the workers at every gate except for the supervisors.  Well, that was all fine and good, but none of us were going to walk 1.5 miles back to Gate # 10 to clock out, so there we sat waiting out the deluge until almost 5 pm when they finally were able to bring up an enclosed passenger van to transport us to Gate # 10.

Normally......whatever "normal" is on a job we have held for 7 days....we would just have stayed until quitting time, but Saturday we must clock in no later than 5 am, so getting off an hour early means we have an extra hour before we have to get to bed.....for TLE that means between 8 and 9 pm.....way, way to early for me.  I fell asleep in my recliner around 9, and woke up at 10:15 and moved to the bed where we were rudely awakened this morning (Saturday) at 2:50 am........as TLE and I often remark when we must wake up way, way too early......."this is iniquitous!"

Well, that was "Fast Friday", and it was faster in every sense of the word!  Thanks for stopping by!

IMS - Day # 11 - Traffic Control - 6th Day

I was re-reading my entry for Wednesday and realized that I neglected to mention it rained pretty hard Wednesday evening, and into Thursday morning, which included lightning and thunder.  We awoke Thursday with the full expectation we would be working that day in the rain.  Weather.com showed 60% chance of rain beginning early afternoon, and extending at that percentage into the evening.

The interesting thing about Indianapolis is that the local weather guessers, when giving the day's guess, usually will refer to conditions north of I-70. and south of I-70......well, as it turned out Thursday that "guess" came to pass if you lived south of I-70, but for those of us who currently reside north of I-70, while very cloudy, it was dry all day long.  

The heavy cloud cover did keep the temperatures in the 70's, but the humidity stayed high most of the day resulting in personally damp conditions, if you know what I mean.

Both TLE and I are starting to experience a little fatigue.....typically we get into bed between 9:30 and 10 pm, and I get up around 4:30 am, while TLE rises and shines at 5 am sharp.  "Why" you might ask......okay I might as well get the truth out.....TLE needs a lot less time to get ready to go.....I need that much more time....I don't like having to rush around in the morning.  It was the same when I had weekend soccer assignments....I would get up at least an hour earlier than I realistically should need.....I am a morning person, and I love that time of the morning, so why cut it short?  To make a long story short, we are typically getting between 6, and 7 hours of sleep a night.......sometimes less..... but we have gotten used to getting 8-9 hours per night.  We are doing 11 hour shifts, and starting Saturday we will be doing somewhere north of 12 hour shifts.

The inbound traffic got heavier earlier on Thursday, and we had to open the 3rd inbound lane an hour earlier.  Thankfully the traffic was not as heavy as it was Wednesday.  From 10 am on we stayed on 30 minute rotations due to the warmish, high humidity conditions.

Because all of us, including the race teams, thought the rain was coming early afternoon, there were a lot more cars out on the track starting at Noon than usual attempting to get as many practice laps in before the rain came as possible.....as it turned out it never did, and the practice laps climbed into the hundreds by mid afternoon.  The result was the background noise level was significantly higher....a preview of Race Day, no doubt.

The people who "watch" us on the numerous TV cameras which blanket this facility have let those of us working Gate # 2 know we are doing an excellent job, which coincides exactly with our personal opinion of our team's performance!

The nice thing about this job, and I think I've mentioned this before, is the time does seem to go much faster, and we never seem to get bored.  If you've been following our blog going back to our Amazon experience you will know that was the most difficult part of that job....BOREDOM.  

Those employees who run the various shuttles around the track area have gotten their act together, and we have had no trouble catching shuttles to and from work.  We have found there is a time clock in a water proof metal box right at our Gate 10 destination at the end of each day where we can clock out as we exit the shuttle, and then it is a couple hundred yards walk "home".

That was Thursday........Friday will mark 7 days on the job, and 9 to go.  Friday is known as "Fast Friday"....it's the last day before Pole Day, Saturday.....that will be a very, very busy day.

Thanks for stopping by!

IMS - Day # 10 - Traffic Control - 5th Day

It's starting to feel  a lot more like late Spring here in Indianapolis.  For the first time we walked to work without our jackets and gloves on.  There was that kind of feel to the air that told you it was going to be a warm day.....certainly not triple digits, but warmer than we've been used to for the past 7 weeks.  It's funny how your body gets used to cold weather, but that first warm day....mid to high 80's feels a lot warmer than it really is.  I know by the time we finish with our assignment here at the INDY 500 these days will, in retrospect, seem cool.  No doubt there are triple digit days coming in the future.....not necessarily here in Indianapolis, but eventually. I heard a report on the Weather channel yesterday that it was over 100 in Sioux Falls, SD two days ago.....that's where we are headed after we depart Indianapolis....so it's looming out there.....hot weather.  The question, I guess, is will we be able to dodge the triple digits as well as we did last year?

The morning went as  it usually has.....around 7:45 am all the workers start streaming into Gate # 2, and it's just one continuous line of cars for about 15-20 minutes, then it lets up until 10 am when the gates are open for the general public to enter, then we go to two entry lanes, but it's manageable.  At around 11:15 Wednesday the flood gates opened.  Suddenly we had two lanes of street traffic stretching out as far as the eye could see wanting to turn into Gate # 2.  We tried to handle the flow with two lanes, but finally had to open a 3rd entry lane.  Suddenly we everyone on traffic control was in the street.....all six of us, directing traffic....no one was expecting this kind of traffic on Wednesday.  Then, at exactly 1 pm, as quickly as it began, the traffic eased up and we were back to 2 entry lanes.  TLE and I are told that on Race Day, May 26th, it will be like that for about 5-6 hours straight.

We are both settling into our responsibilities nicely......the one difficult thing for us to learn is to differentiate between the myriad types of credentials, "hard cards", badges, car stickers, tickets, etc.  I think after 5 days now I've got a better handle on that part of the job, too.  Those who have been doing this for 20+ years say it used to be much simpler....sometimes change and/or progress do not result in the desired efficiences.....I'll let it go at that.

Because it got much hotter yesterday, and then add in the fact we are standing on asphalt, which is increasing the temperature by a number of degrees, our shifts were shortened to 30 minutes from 60 minutes, and our supervisors were walking ice cold bottles of water out to us to keep us hydrated.

The one big difference between this workamping job and the Amazon job is that the time really seems to pass much more quickly, and it is not as hard on our feet.  Thursday will mark our 6th day on the job, and that will mean we only have 9 days to go.

The heat of the day seemed to stifle our appetites, so we just ate a few snacks for dinner, and watched our two recorded Tuesday shows....NCIS, and NCIS L.A.....then headed off to dream land.  Oh, by the way......we had the A/C on from the time we got home until just after midnight....haven't had to do that for a long time!

Thanks for stopping by!

IMS - Day # 9 - Traffic Control - 4th Day

If you are stopping by today to see what happened Tuesday, Day 8, just refer to Monday, Day 7.  I'll just recap those things that were different.....it was 15 degrees hotter, and the traffic was heavier.  Some days are just hard, at 5 am, to write about in a way that makes them more interesting than they were, and I guess that is the way many, if not most jobs are.  After the newness wears off, and the anxiety about getting through that new job learning curve dissolves it's just work.  What makes it interesting, for me, is the people.  The people we work come from every vocation under the sun.  What they all have in common is a love for the "Indy" experience.  Some are in their 70's, and some, like our co-worker Sarah, are in their early 20's.  Sarah stays in a large tent here in the campground.

Many of our co-workers have been working the "500" for over 20 years.....some close to 40 years.  Our overall supervisor, Linus Rude, has been here since he was 15, and is in his 31st year.  Linus is not retired......he does have a real job.  My traffic control buddy, Joe, is a retired middle school teacher, a history buff, and an avid reader.  When we are out on the line directing traffic he will talk about the history of the traffic during lulls in the traffic.  Another co-worker, Greg, is a Marine (served one 3 year stretch), and now works for "Head Start" Mon-Fri, and arrives at the track around 2 to work the last 4 hours of the shift. On the weekends he works the full shift.

When we are out on the "line" we each take turns running "point"....the point guy determines what lane each vehicle will enter.....the "point" directs traffic into lane 1 until it is full, then directs vehicles to lane #2.  He also determines which vehicles may not enter through Gate #2 from 10 am to 6 pm.  The second person backs up the point.  All buses, trucks of all kinds, motorhomes, and limos go in lane 1.  Motorcycles are directed to lane 2.  Each lane takes you into a tunnel that goes under the stands and race track.  Gate #2, where we are stationed, is the only one that can accommodate vehicles over 8' tall.....our gate is 13'11", but the ceiling was not always that high.  Even so, some of the large transports have only a few inches clearance as they creep through the tunnel, and they have to be sure they are far enough to the left as they enter the tunnel, or the trailer will hit the curb, and bounce the rear of the trailer up into the ceiling. 

We also have a lot of pedestrian traffic that enters on each side of Gate #2.  There is no parking fee for the vehicle, but each person is charged $10......as we get closer to the race, and the traffic increases the rate goes up in increments of $5.....right now we are still charging $10 person.

The "infield" of the track is enormous.....a small city could exist there....actually, it is a small city, which also includes 4 of the 18 holes for the Brickyard Gold Course.  Each day as we are shuttled down the middle of the infield we pass the motor coach area where all the drivers have their million dollar plus coaches......I would say about half are Newells.  Another parking area holds all the enormous transport trucks.  There are restaurants, concert venues, office buildings, etc.

I am told that on race day over 400,000 people fill the viewing areas......remarkably "we" are able to empty the track after the race in about 90 minutes.

Our shifts start, right now, at 6;45 am, and end at 6 pm.  Saturday our start time will be 5 am, and will end at 6 pm.  Then, starting Sunday, our daily shift will begin at 5:45 am, and end at 6 pm. Race Day our shift starts at 3;15 am, and ends at 4;15 pm, or shortly thereafter.  Amazingly, in just 4 days my body has adapted to waking up at 4:30, and I am getting by on 6-7 hours of sleep....thank goodness for 5 Hour Energy!

Okay, well I guess the preceding was a decent attempt at making the same thing sound a little more interesting......at least I hope it will be received as such.

Oh, I almost forgot, a few months ago one of my blog readers, Jeanne, wrote asking if when we were in Indianapolis, could they come and meet us....they live in the area, so we set the date for Tuesday at 7 pm.  Chris, her husband, works for one of the Indy Car race teams.  They, just a few months ago, purchased a 1989 Prevost, 40', motorcoach.  The conversion was done by Marathon.  They just started fulltiming in March, after selling their local home.  They are in their early 50's, and Chris plans to work while on the road.  They brought some nice craft beer with them as a gift, and we sat talking for an hour and a half...Chris has to be at the track each day early, just like us so they bid adieu around 8:30.  We are so glad we had the chance to meet them, and are looking forward to seeing their coach after Race Day.  

That was our 4th day......time to eat breakfast, and head out for another work day....it is 5:56 am as I finish writing.

Thanks for stopping by!

IMS - Day # 8 - Traffic Control - 3rd Day

Monday felt more like a Wednesday to me......for some reason my internal day clock is all messed up.  The morning air temperature was a little higher....in the low 40's as we left to walk to the employee check in area, but it warmed up to close to 80 by mid afternoon.

After clocking in at the employee check in area around 6:30 am we were able to find an employee shuttle almost immediately, and were quickly transported south to Gate # 2.  We both started out wearing our IMS issued jackets, but within a few hours I was down to my short sleeves and enjoying the pleasant air.

Here I am in position waiting for some cars to direct!  The incoming traffic ebbs and flows....most of the time we have two entry lanes going full blast, but this was taken during one of the "ebbs".

Dan, one of our supervisors was kind enough to snap this picture of TLE and I directing something.....:D

TLE awaiting traffic to direct!

I took this picture of TLE from across 16th street....this is where all the action is.  Today a late model Newell came in.....wasn't able to get my camera into action quickly enough to get a picture.

We worked until 6 again, and were able to catch another employee shuttle back to Gate 10 where we clocked out for the day.  We then walked over to employee check in to get two clean shirts and turn in our soiled ones.

We were home by 6:30 stripping off our work duds, and settling into relax for a few hours before we went to bed, and get ready to do it all over again.  13 days to go....but we are not really counting down like we did at Amazon.  We are really enjoying ourselves a lot, and the days seem to fly by.  

Tuesday the forecast is for 83 degrees.....that is a big temperature swing, and I'll probably be wishing at some point I could change into shorts and flip flops, but it is what it is.

Thanks for stopping by!

IMS - Day # 7 - Traffic Control - 2nd Day

Sunday started cold, and stayed cold.  TLE and I both had "under armor" on the entire day, plus our IMS parkas, as the high only reached 53, however, the sun was out the entire day, which helped, somewhat, to offset the cold.  Everyone I have talked with says it was 30-40 degrees warmer this time last year.  Of course, this also causes a problem for the race teams.  They can run practice laps, but until the track surface warms up enough they cannot really open up their cars and run max speeds, although I did see a few cars hit 218+ mph when I went up on the ramp to watch during one of my breaks.

Our routine each day will be pretty much the same, except starting this Saturday our clock in time is 5 am....Saturday is "Poll Day', and the gates open at 6:30 am!  After that we clock in each day at 5:45 am, then on Race Day, May 26th we clock in at 3:15 am!

Okay, well we have 14 days to go on our IMS marathon.  Don't get me wrong, this is nothing like Amazon.com in the sense that we are not walking and standing for 10-12 hours straight.  Every other hour we can sit down, eat a snack and relax.  I'm sure you can appreciate how much easier on the feet and legs that is.  

Our overall supervisor, Linus Rude, has taken a liking to TLE.....well, who wouldn't, right?  He occasionally wisks her off to the Administration building to give another lady a lunch break, or just one gate down to spell another lady.  She is liking the variety.  

We didn't get any pictures today, but I did upload a video to Facebook of a couple of cars running practice laps.  Monday's blog entry will definitely have pictures of our work area.

We worked the full shift Sunday right up until 6 pm, and ended up walking a mile plus home as it would have taken too long to catch a shuttle.  We still haven't quite figured out the shuttle routine yet, and I think the drivers are still in a learning curve because they do not seem to run on a schedule you can count on yet.  We arrived "home" around 6:30 pm, and while TLE took a shower I turned on the TPC gold tournament to see if my boy Tiger was doing well, and he was at 13 under par tied with Sergio Garcia.  Tiger had just finished the 17th hole, and Sergio was just teeing off at 17.  17 is an island par 3.....you must carry the entire distance to the green over water.  Sergio's first shot landed in the water, and so did his second....he went from being tied with Tiger to losing 4 strokes to par on one hole, and then hit the water on 18 carding a double bogey on the final hole, so he lost 6 strokes to par in the last two holes.  At any rate, Tiger won his 4th tournament of the year.

TLE went to bed at 9, and I was not far behind at 9:15.....I think being in the sun most of the day took a little more out of us than the first day.  The forecast for Monday is slightly warmer with a projected high of 60.......here it is May 12th and we're happy if it hits 60.  One of my co-workers asked if I would rather have it in the 90's.....no, I would rather have it cold......well, honestly, I would rather it was 70 degrees, and I could wear a t-shirt, shorts and flip flops, but I also wish rainwater were beer, and it's not!

Thanks for stopping by!