NASCAR

[countrygal]

Woops, hit the wrong button. What I was trying to say.....

NASCAR has put Steward and Bush on probation for six races for bumping each other after a wreck during practice. If they got into it on pit road, ok. But geez, give these guys some slack will ya?!

[Clipper]

Wow Kim, all he has to do is take off his device and he can't hear anything?? Every husband should have one of those. It would give new meaning to "selective hearing" haha.

Hearing protection is a must at a NASCAR event. I used to go to Dover and Pocono. The open area at pocono was not too bad, but the enclosed oval of Dover was really noisy. I can't say as I have been to a race at Bristol, although I live here. The speedway here is like a "bullring". The stands are high, and the track is small, so it is like having 43 very loud race cars roaring around in a soup bowl, with no where for the sound to go but to echo around in the bowl.

Bristol is one of the most coveted places to have tickets for, and it is unique and exciting to watch a race at. I would love to go, but since I broke my back, I could never walk the distances from the parking to the stands nor could I sit for that long on the hard seats. I just stay home and watch it on TV, LOL.

Believe me, high frequency loss is a major loss. I have a high frequency loss from the gunfire when I was in the Navy, and it is hard to hear normal conversation if there is any background noise at all, and it makes it difficult to appreciate good music anymore. Protect both your own hearing and the hearing of your children. I always thought it silly to wear ear protection to mow the lawn, but I do so now, and it is much less stressful, to only hear a muffled sound from the tractor while you are mowing.

Also don't let you children fire 5" 38 mm cannons or 50 caliber machine guns without ear protection. It is very hazardous to their hearing, and the neighbors will be upset with the noise. LOL

[kim]

Yeah...he's profoundly deaf in both ears, and when he's not wearing his processor he can't hear a jackhammer right in front of him. He, literally, can't hear a thing without his 'ear'. With it on, he still has no hearing at all in his right ear because we didn't have that one implanted, and in his left ear, his hearing is in the 'low normal' range. He can hear me whisper, though, if he's close enough! Technology is great. :-) He's an amazing kid! He has the most trouble with high frequencies, as well. And crowded, noisy places like Celebration Station are just evil for him....too much going on all at once, so much that he can't hear anything!

[countrygal]

I've been to Richmond, Martinsville and Loudon. Love the short tracks! Although one day maybe I'll make it to Daytona just for the expierence of it all.

You are right about hearing protection. The races are LOUD! I'm after my husband all the time because I know he has hearing loss from being around all the equipment on the farm. I'm pretty sure he's happy some days that he can't hear as well as he used to. MEN!!!

[Clipper]

Oh yeah country gal, I am sure there is nothing that can tune up your high frequency hearing like standing next to a roaring ensilage blower for eight or ten hours, or plowing for eight or ten hours at full throttle. I remember well, how quiet it seemed when you finally shut the machinery down.

I also drove a feed truck for a short time and that blower on the trucks that blow in bulk feed are horrendously noisy also.

Does he take off the ear protection when he comes in the house?? If not, he is trying to tell you something. LOL

[countrygal]

He rarely wears ear protection. We have enclosed cabs on all but one tractor so the noise isn't so bad anymore, but before that we didn't. I think the damage is already done. I have to make sure the same mistake is not made with my boys. I even wear ear phones on my lawn tractor!

I'm sure if he could get away with wearing something in the house, he would. I don't think I'm THAT bad. But I will bitch when warranted!!!

[Clipper]

Do the trctors also have ROPS protection built into the cabs and seatbelts to keep them in the seat in a rollover?

I am sure you are not that bad, I was only kidding, LOL.

[countrygal]

Yes they all have ROPS protection but one. They have seatbelts, but do you really think they get used very much? lol There is a kid seat in our big chopper and that gets used so the kids aren't bouncing around, but other than that.......not so much. You should see the computer systems in these things now. The instruction books are about 5 inches thick.

[frankcor]

That's great. There's nothing like the sound of air induction when they punch the gas on those 900hp 358s. You gotta be near the front of the car so the exhaust noise doesn't drown it out.

I'll never forget being stirred from a drunken sleep by the sound of a 12-cylinder Ferrari winding out to around 12,000 rpm from over a mile away on a summer Friday morning at Watkins Glen. By the time I reached the track a few minutes later (drunk 19-year olds don't wear pajamas while camping out), the car zoomed by me, accelerating to 180 mph down the long back straight. Ever since that moment, racing has been in my blood.

[frankcor]

LOL, CLipper! Are you suggesting Kim restrict her son to 105 mm howitzers and 30 caliber machine guns?

Who knew? Between guns, choppers and Grand Funk Railroad, it's a wonder I can hear at all.

[Clipper]

I heard all of that Frank. I also lost a little hearing when I worked in the base fire department at griffiss in my early days of my civil service career. I rode the rescue truck, and when a plane had hydraulic issues, we had to go underneath the aircraft and put pins in the landing gear to prevent collapse, while the plane was running at half throttle to maintain pressure. Nothing like the roar of 8 engines on a B-52 to enhance your hearing, haha.

[frankcor]

I grew up in the Town of Lee under the flight path. On a hot August evening and those heavies would have all 8 throttles pushed to the dashboard struggling to get into the hot humid air, visitors would invariably duck down and ask "What the hell is that noise?" Us kids would start snickering and dad, right on cue, would respond "That's the sound of freedom."

[countrygal]

We're in the landing path over here and if I was talking on the phone to my mother-in-law who lives up the road we would have to wait a minute when the plane flew over my house and then again when it flew over hers. You also could tell which cows were new to the farm because they were the ones freaking out when one flew over real low. We kinda miss um.

Had a helicopter land in our corn field today. Must have been waiting out the bad weather.

[frankcor]

If God intended us to fly in helicopters, birds would look a lot different than they do. They're just a place to sit before the next crash.

[countrygal]

hahahahahaha