Spring MouseAdventure 2009 - Page 11

innerSpaceman · 04-27-2009, 09:41 AM

Heheh, the Happy Haunts are feeling what I felt years ago ... namely, I haven't change, but the competition has heated up something fierce.

Sure, I was likely getting a little older and slower, but really we pretty much played the same game as always, but it was no longer the winning game. Heheh, we went from winning so often and consistently they had to invent forced retirement to instant obsolecence of falling further and further down the field.

Nowadays, all I care about ... if I play, which is not every time ... is whether the game is fun. And this one was. We made a few strategical errors of time management, but nothing drastic. We had a really good time, and though we got to the finish line a couple of minutes late ... we were happy to finish the course.

That said, I think having every team coalese at the Blue Sky Cellar at the end of the game, mere yards from DCA's MouseAdventure Central ... only to send everyone back into Disneyland and up Main Street ... with a parade running during the final half hour of the race ... to have been a very sour and, imo, miscalculated "exciting and challenging" finish to an otherwise brilliantly-conceived game of not-too-easy, not-too-hard, and involved experiencing the parks in depth.

We had a great time.

Loved being ahead of the Happy Haunts for half the game.

At first, we were kinda bummed when they caught up with us and passed us ... but in truth those shared moments of the game when we were neck-and-neck were really some of the best times!

Afterwards - the epic Hearthstone / Swank Bar / Soup Kitchen festival of nearly EVERYONE on the LoT was simply fantastic, heartwarming, hysterical and ... in a word ... aWeSomE.

Ghoulish Delight · 04-27-2009, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

Loved being ahead of the Happy Haunts for half the game.

At first, we were kinda bummed when they caught up with us and passed us ... but in truth those shared moments of the game when we were neck-and-neck were really some of the best times!

And I totally loved the fact that we caught up at a point that afforded us the opportunity for mid-game debrief and relaxation. A monorail ride with no puzzles to work, no need to sit there staring competitive daggers at each other, just a chance for a recap of each other's day so far.

innerSpaceman · 04-27-2009, 10:27 AM

Heheh, the bobbing and weaving "race" to sing "Grim Grinning Ghosts" to non-seething Koi ... followed by playfully elbowing each other out of the way to read braille on the forever-Bonita-Tower elevators. Tee Hee. Fun.

innerSpaceman · 04-27-2009, 02:46 PM

This is of course completely unofficial ... but if The Manhattans Project came in just a few minutes after The Happy Haunts (albeit disqualifying us officially), but The Happy Haunts had 60 minutes in time penalties and we had none ..... um, then we achieved our supreme goal of besting The Happy Haunts.

Who's Happy Now?

Kevy Baby · 04-27-2009, 05:21 PM

Not to rain on the MA thread parade, but after everyone left dinner last night, we stuck around to make sure all of the bills had been covered (whoever's idea it was to split that up should be shot). After all the monies (both credit card and cash) were counted, it was VERY short. In addition to having already paid our own bill, we gave another $120.00. otherwise, the waitress would have received almost no tip.

innerSpaceman · 04-27-2009, 05:28 PM

Kevy, I want to know how this happened. Which check was $120 short? There was no check for the entire table. That was produced as a joke to present to Chris. The actual checks were for four-people each (unless a particular group requested a different number).

So ... if there were approx. 24 people, there would have been 6 separate checks. Was it a case where 2 or 3 of those were each short $30 or so, or was there some oversight where perhaps 1 entire check did not get paid?

My area's check for 4 people came to $90. But one person had only a side dish, and another 2 shared their entree. On the other hand, we had a large bar bill. My point being, it's entirely possible that one check was for $120. I'm wondering if that's the case, and it got lost in the spicy sauce.

In any event, though we always joke about Kevy coming to the rescue on any underpaid restaurant tab ... that is only for giggles and is never to happen for even ten bucks. A $120 shortage is entirely unacceptable. We must find out what happened, and see that Kevy is properly reimbursed.

P.S. - It was our idea to have separate checks. Seeing as it made life very easy for us, and our check was paid in full with a very generous 25% tip, I don't see why this would have been a problem for everybody else. To the contrary, waiting for every one of 24 people to go through one single check and calculate their amount would mean we'd be sitting there still.

Kevy Baby · 04-27-2009, 05:31 PM

As I mentioned in the other thread, the whole situation was a cluster fvck. There was no way of figuring out what happened. I am a numbers guy and at that point, there was no way anyone was going to be able to figure things out.

Even though she may have been at least partially responsible, there was no way I could have walked out of there in good conscience without making sure she received a tip. Others may disagree with my decision, but it was the one I made.

innerSpaceman · 04-27-2009, 07:02 PM

It was the only honorable decision, Kevy. And I'm sure we will see to it that you are made good.

But I'm at a loss. With 6 separate checks in 6 separate folders, you treat each of them separately. It's not a case of there being a $120 shortage on an $800 tab. There was no $800 tab.

Hey, I'm not here to be the inquisition. I'm sure you spent an inordinate amount of time figuring that out last night, and have little desire to deal with it now. I'm just flabergasted is all.

Sure, if I had thrown $75 into an $800 pool, I'd have no idea if the entire tab was properly paid. But when I put in $75 to my group's tab, I knew for a fact the bill was paid with a 25% gratuity. It was all there in the little folder, and I didn't have to rely on 23 other people to make that happen.

I doubt if 8 separate people decided to shortchange their bill. Most likely it's a shortage on 2 or 3 of the checks, and - in theory of course - it should have been easy to see which checks were properly paid and which were not.

Best Laid Plans and all that. But rest assured, your gesture of pure Kevydom will be a temporary inconvenience. We will make you whole.

Ya know, money-wise.

NirvanaMan · 04-27-2009, 08:16 PM

I have decided that I finally love a team name I have concocted enough to stick with it for the future. The Manhattans Project. Unfortunately busy schedules leave me now without precious free time (I hate my job) so the t-shirts didn't get printed. Next time. That said, I also really enjoyed my team. Steve, the knower of trivia, disneyland and MA strategy. Aud the creative and visual one who refuses to quit. And I the logic guy with good eyes.

I thought we actually played quite well and enjoyed it much more than the last MA, until the "speed quest" portion which kicked the fun portion down a notch. Also wishing we had gone to big sky first to skip the Flik's quest. Oh well.

The transportation thing, much like in the Amazing Race, is the great equalizer. Though it can be the benefit to some, we did not luck out. We ended up catching trains, monorail and the like just as they were departing having to wait for a full cycle. This allowed the happy haunts to catch us at one point. It was a nice ride though.

I missed having anything truly clever and unique this time, but perhaps the game has been running too long (and Alex is no longer writing). But it was fun. I truly enjoyed the first enchanted race considerably more though. And not just because I did far far better.

We didn't really make any big mistakes with the exception of missing the year big thunder mine opened, but we rectified that without riding again. Still a time sucker. We resisted the temptation to take the penalties thought it may have been strategically appropriate on some tasks. That said, we still came in at a crappy time. Not sure if other teams are just that much better, but we didn't think we were doing that poorly.

That we missed the cutoff by mere minutes because the X on our map looked slightly closer to the horseshoe than that random walled off area next to thunder was depressing, with one team member bailing before we found it a couple minutes late.

Oh well. Next game I suppose.

Not Afraid · 04-27-2009, 08:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NirvanaMan

I thought we actually played quite well and enjoyed it much more than the last MA.....

Should I be taking this personally?

04-27-2009, 09:41 AM	#101
innerSpaceman Kink of Swank Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Inner Space Posts: 13,075	Heheh, the Happy Haunts are feeling what I felt years ago ... namely, I haven't change, but the competition has heated up something fierce. Sure, I was likely getting a little older and slower, but really we pretty much played the same game as always, but it was no longer the winning game. Heheh, we went from winning so often and consistently they had to invent forced retirement to instant obsolecence of falling further and further down the field. Nowadays, all I care about ... if I play, which is not every time ... is whether the game is fun. And this one was. We made a few strategical errors of time management, but nothing drastic. We had a really good time, and though we got to the finish line a couple of minutes late ... we were happy to finish the course. That said, I think having every team coalese at the Blue Sky Cellar at the end of the game, mere yards from DCA's MouseAdventure Central ... only to send everyone back into Disneyland and up Main Street ... with a parade running during the final half hour of the race ... to have been a very sour and, imo, miscalculated "exciting and challenging" finish to an otherwise brilliantly-conceived game of not-too-easy, not-too-hard, and involved experiencing the parks in depth. We had a great time. Loved being ahead of the Happy Haunts for half the game. At first, we were kinda bummed when they caught up with us and passed us ... but in truth those shared moments of the game when we were neck-and-neck were really some of the best times! Afterwards - the epic Hearthstone / Swank Bar / Soup Kitchen festival of nearly EVERYONE on the LoT was simply fantastic, heartwarming, hysterical and ... in a word ... aWeSomE.
	Submit to Quotes

04-27-2009, 10:27 AM	#103
innerSpaceman Kink of Swank Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Inner Space Posts: 13,075	Heheh, the bobbing and weaving "race" to sing "Grim Grinning Ghosts" to non-seething Koi ... followed by playfully elbowing each other out of the way to read braille on the forever-Bonita-Tower elevators. Tee Hee. Fun.
	Submit to Quotes

04-27-2009, 02:46 PM	#104
innerSpaceman Kink of Swank Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Inner Space Posts: 13,075	This is of course completely unofficial ... but if The Manhattans Project came in just a few minutes after The Happy Haunts (albeit disqualifying us officially), but The Happy Haunts had 60 minutes in time penalties and we had none ..... um, then we achieved our supreme goal of besting The Happy Haunts. Who's Happy Now?
	Submit to Quotes

04-27-2009, 05:21 PM	#105
Kevy Baby Chowder Head Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Yes Posts: 18,500	Not to rain on the MA thread parade, but after everyone left dinner last night, we stuck around to make sure all of the bills had been covered (whoever's idea it was to split that up should be shot). After all the monies (both credit card and cash) were counted, it was VERY short. In addition to having already paid our own bill, we gave another $120.00. otherwise, the waitress would have received almost no tip. __________________ The thing about quotes on the internet is that you cannot verify their validity. - Abraham Lincoln
	Submit to Quotes

04-27-2009, 05:28 PM	#106
innerSpaceman Kink of Swank Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Inner Space Posts: 13,075	Kevy, I want to know how this happened. Which check was $120 short? There was no check for the entire table. That was produced as a joke to present to Chris. The actual checks were for four-people each (unless a particular group requested a different number). So ... if there were approx. 24 people, there would have been 6 separate checks. Was it a case where 2 or 3 of those were each short $30 or so, or was there some oversight where perhaps 1 entire check did not get paid? My area's check for 4 people came to $90. But one person had only a side dish, and another 2 shared their entree. On the other hand, we had a large bar bill. My point being, it's entirely possible that one check was for $120. I'm wondering if that's the case, and it got lost in the spicy sauce. In any event, though we always joke about Kevy coming to the rescue on any underpaid restaurant tab ... that is only for giggles and is never to happen for even ten bucks. A $120 shortage is entirely unacceptable. We must find out what happened, and see that Kevy is properly reimbursed. P.S. - It was our idea to have separate checks. Seeing as it made life very easy for us, and our check was paid in full with a very generous 25% tip, I don't see why this would have been a problem for everybody else. To the contrary, waiting for every one of 24 people to go through one single check and calculate their amount would mean we'd be sitting there still.
	Submit to Quotes

04-27-2009, 05:31 PM	#107
Kevy Baby Chowder Head Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Yes Posts: 18,500	As I mentioned in the other thread, the whole situation was a cluster fvck. There was no way of figuring out what happened. I am a numbers guy and at that point, there was no way anyone was going to be able to figure things out. Even though she may have been at least partially responsible, there was no way I could have walked out of there in good conscience without making sure she received a tip. Others may disagree with my decision, but it was the one I made. __________________ The thing about quotes on the internet is that you cannot verify their validity. - Abraham Lincoln
	Submit to Quotes

04-27-2009, 07:02 PM	#108
innerSpaceman Kink of Swank Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Inner Space Posts: 13,075	It was the only honorable decision, Kevy. And I'm sure we will see to it that you are made good. But I'm at a loss. With 6 separate checks in 6 separate folders, you treat each of them separately. It's not a case of there being a $120 shortage on an $800 tab. There was no $800 tab. Hey, I'm not here to be the inquisition. I'm sure you spent an inordinate amount of time figuring that out last night, and have little desire to deal with it now. I'm just flabergasted is all. Sure, if I had thrown $75 into an $800 pool, I'd have no idea if the entire tab was properly paid. But when I put in $75 to my group's tab, I knew for a fact the bill was paid with a 25% gratuity. It was all there in the little folder, and I didn't have to rely on 23 other people to make that happen. I doubt if 8 separate people decided to shortchange their bill. Most likely it's a shortage on 2 or 3 of the checks, and - in theory of course - it should have been easy to see which checks were properly paid and which were not. Best Laid Plans and all that. But rest assured, your gesture of pure Kevydom will be a temporary inconvenience. We will make you whole. Ya know, money-wise.
	Submit to Quotes

04-27-2009, 08:16 PM	#109
NirvanaMan Making Change Happen Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 990	I have decided that I finally love a team name I have concocted enough to stick with it for the future. The Manhattans Project. Unfortunately busy schedules leave me now without precious free time (I hate my job) so the t-shirts didn't get printed. Next time. That said, I also really enjoyed my team. Steve, the knower of trivia, disneyland and MA strategy. Aud the creative and visual one who refuses to quit. And I the logic guy with good eyes. I thought we actually played quite well and enjoyed it much more than the last MA, until the "speed quest" portion which kicked the fun portion down a notch. Also wishing we had gone to big sky first to skip the Flik's quest. Oh well. The transportation thing, much like in the Amazing Race, is the great equalizer. Though it can be the benefit to some, we did not luck out. We ended up catching trains, monorail and the like just as they were departing having to wait for a full cycle. This allowed the happy haunts to catch us at one point. It was a nice ride though. I missed having anything truly clever and unique this time, but perhaps the game has been running too long (and Alex is no longer writing). But it was fun. I truly enjoyed the first enchanted race considerably more though. And not just because I did far far better. We didn't really make any big mistakes with the exception of missing the year big thunder mine opened, but we rectified that without riding again. Still a time sucker. We resisted the temptation to take the penalties thought it may have been strategically appropriate on some tasks. That said, we still came in at a crappy time. Not sure if other teams are just that much better, but we didn't think we were doing that poorly. That we missed the cutoff by mere minutes because the X on our map looked slightly closer to the horseshoe than that random walled off area next to thunder was depressing, with one team member bailing before we found it a couple minutes late. Oh well. Next game I suppose.
	Submit to Quotes