Labor Day Showdown

I might have found NPR's coverage of the event disappointing but today's Great Bathtub Race was entertaining, as always, and a pleasant reminder of why small-town life can be so enjoyable. The KNOM "Black Widow" (pictured below) limped into last place for the third year in a row (we're collecting quite the pile of tortoise trophies) but at least the rig didn't fall apart this year. The weather was uncommonly beautiful, quite unlike last year's race where I was bundled up and wondering how I would ever make it through the winter.
Since my digital camera is on the fritz, I've posted some pictures of last year's race until I get some of the 2006 edition.

The Black Widow, the most poorly-designed bathtub (sorry Les) in competition. The weight is distributed all wrong and most of your energy is spent holding the bathtub up, not pushing it forward.
Starting in front of city hall...
In process, just before the duct tape on my side gave way and we lost most of our water out the back, onto my foot and nearly our team captain before righting our rig and limping across the finish line.

Interesting aside... the Discovery Channel was supposed to be filming our event but they were nowhere to be seen today. Word is that they knew Steve Irwin and were so distraught by his death, they weren't able to work today.