AMY'S FLAGS MI-5

Amy says: "Many of you know- I am a NASCAR fan...and this weekend is the Daytona 500!!! During any auto race- NASCAR including- flags of different colors are displayed along a track and mean different things. This MI-5 is based on some of those flags but answers do not have to be race related at all....(I will omit the two most well known flags- the green and the checker)."

1. The Black Flag- also known to some as the consultation flag- is waved at a driver for various reasons but means that the driver must pull into the pits. Most of the time the driver is called to the pits to take care of extensive damage on the car or to take care of any penalties that may be incurred. Tell us about a time you had to deal with a penalty of some sort or of a time you had to take a time out to fix something right away.

We went to our first Nascar race in NH a couple of years ago. We took Dwane's truck, which, like all of our vehicles, has 100K+ miles on it. We got as far as Kennebunk when we heard this "knocking" sound. I don't remember now what the problem was (our vehicles have too many problems to keep track of), but we had to deal with the issue. As a result, we missed most of qualifying. I was not happy. And, this was not the first time, nor the last, that plans got sidetracked because of auto repairs.

2. The Yellow Flag is sometimes called the caution flag. When this flag waves it alerts a driver that there is something wrong on the track and they should slow down and fall in line behind the pace car. Tell us about a time you slowed down your pace.

I was pregnant with Caleb the year that Eben started Kindergarten. I felt like I now had a "free pass" to relax a little. I started taking daily naps (sometimes 2 a day) while Eben was in school. So, from September - February, I was "slowed down".

3. The Blue Flag with Orange Diagonal, known as the courtesy flag is the only "optional" flag in racing. This flag alerts a driver that he (or she) is holding up traffic- specifically the leaders- and that they should be courteous and move over to let the leaders continue to race. While this flag is optional- officials and fellow racers will look down upon anyone who repeatedly ignores it. Tell us about an experience where you let someone take the lead even though you really wanted it or about a time someone gave you the lead in something.

That happened to me yesterday, but I am not going to go into that here.

4. Red Flag means all activity on the track must come to a stop. This is usually done because of poor weather or a a lot emergency vehicles on the track. Drivers must line up according to position in the designated area (usually on track or in the pits), Crew members are not allowed to work on the cars during this time. Depending on the length or the red flag drivers are often allowed to get out of the car if parked on pit road. Tell us about a time when everything stopped for you.

Hmmm. I can't think of anything off the top of my head. Well, maybe the time that I had a TB test at Bath Memorial Hospital. After the test, I fainted, and bumped my head. I had a small seizure and ended up with a concussion. When I came to, the Personnel Director said "close your legs, dear". I had a skirt on, and when I fainted, my legs spread apart. And, as you might know, all of this happened in front of the guy I had a crush on.

5. When the White Flag is thrown during a race, it signals to all drivers that they are entering the last lap of the race. What is something you are almost done with?

It doesn't seem like I am "almost done" with anything. I should finish the office billing today, but at this minute, I'm not "almost done". I'm more than half-way done with the Beth Moore study on Esther, but it's not "almost done".