Bob Printup, left, and Terry Callender with his parrot, Blue, arrived early at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in preparation for this week's events. Photo by Gary Thompson.

Next week they may go to work at a Georgia nudist colony, helping to ensure that enough suntan lotion is on hand, but this week they're helping handle recreational vehicle camping security at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

You may see the gray-haired man walking around the race track with a parrot on his shoulder as he reminds people not to ride their bicycles on the oval. Others, their white hair and white beards neatly cropped, may use binoculars in an effort to spot people planting American flags in the soil outside the speedway -- speedway rules specifically state that flagpoles in parking lots must be securely attached to RVs.

So goes the life of the retired individuals and couples who combine part-time work with RV camping.

On Monday, a line of huge RVs pulled into a speedway parking lot off Las Vegas Boulevard. The rigs, many of them costing more than $300,000, carried about 100 retirees from across the country who will largely work to keep the race-going occupants of 6,000 other RVs who begin arriving today from partying out of control during race week. They also get to see the race as work permits.

"They all found out about these jobs through reading WORKAMPER NEWS," said 77-year-old Bob Printup, a retired California hospital administrator who runs the RV security team.

The bi-monthly magazine published in Arkansas is chock full of help wanted ads and features on the RV life.

"We have roughly 5,000 employers across the United States who advertise with us looking for people to work short term at things like NASCAR races and long term at places like Disney parks," said WORKAMPER NEWS editor Steve Anderson. "Often, they work in the resort hospitality industry. We have people who want someone to house-sit a ranch or someone to hire on as a wrangler. We even have seven nudist operations who regularly advertise for employees with us."

The hired help who answer the ads go by the same name as the magazine: Workampers. They're people, largely in their 50s and 60s, who work to supplement their retirement incomes to help them afford their RV payments, gasoline, insurance, camping fees and other costs of living life on the road. Jobs might pay anywhere from $7 to $15 an hour.

Printup said the people who work for him "take their jobs very seriously, (they) know that rules are there to be enforced."

In other words, if some drunken RVer tries to fly a kite -- they're not permitted because of low flying helicopters and other aircraft -- you can expect every member of the sober RV security team that's nearby to come over and get the skies cleared.

Jeff Motley, director of public relations at the racetrack, says the speedway contracts with several outside security firms to handle different aspects of security for the race that attracts nearly 200,000 people. On Monday, Printup held a meeting with his security personnel on what RVers can and can't do at the races this week.

"We really don't expect any trouble," Printup said. "Sometimes people drink too much and are a little loud, and some people may try to sneak in, but that's about it."

Terry Callender, 62, of Reno, stood near his RV with his parrot, Blue, on his shoulder. He said he and Blue love being Workampers "because it gives us the chance to meet such nice people." People are mesmerized by how polite the bird comes across. "Please," and "thank you," and "hello" regularly slip through Blue's beak. But occasionally, when irritated, Blue also squawks up some salty language.

"Blue will only talk like that," Callender joked, "if somebody tries to sneak in here without having the proper credentials."

Richard and Diane Hinkle, who are originally from Florida but now call their RV their home, stood in one of the RV parking lots and talked with Dave and Jan Barnett of Colorado and Paul Watrous of Idaho. They said the ideal job for them is working in scenic parks across the country.

One of their more memorable experiences, one shared by many RVers on the road, was buying books from a naked bookseller named Paul Winer in Quartzsite, Ariz. Many RVers get pictures taken with him as well as his autograph.

"It's the people you meet on the road that makes this such a great life," Richard Hinkle said.

Winer, who runs the Reader's Oasis bookstore in Quartzsite, said in a long- distance telephone call that he was happy that many RVers at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway were talking about him, particularly those in security.

"They know I want everybody to feel secure around me and that's one reason why my business does so well," he said. "I don't want them to think about sex around me, just about comfort. I'm all for good security. If I had a better butt, I'd be a franchise and be really financially secure. But even though I'm a bad ass, I've at least found a way to make a living in the desert."