Wednesday, July 25, 2007

The Leviathan Chronicles

Wiberty or Death


A B C D E F
1 DC




2





3 Team Penalty - Bonuses - Start Time End Time Total Time
4 A2 1:00
10:10 AM 1:41 PM 4:31
5 Bloodshot

10:10 AM 12:26 PM 2:16
6 Enemies of the Common Good

10:10 AM 12:25 PM 2:15
7 Fellowship of the Van 1:00
10:10 AM 12:45 PM 3:35
8 Lost in Place

10:10 AM 1:12 PM 3:02
9 Millers 1:00
10:10 AM 12:41 PM 3:31
10 Stillwater

10:10 AM 1:12 PM 3:02
11 Team Lazlo

10:10 AM 2:08 PM 3:58
12 Richmond 1




13 Team Penalty - Bonuses - Start Time End Time Total Time
14 A2 2:00
4:48 PM 7:56 PM 5:08
15 Bloodshot 2:00
3:29 PM 7:57 PM 6:28
16 Enemies of the Common Good 1:00
3:40 PM 8:11 PM 5:31
17 Fellowship of the Van 1:00
4:22 PM 7:55 PM 4:33
18 Lost in Place 2:00
5:32 PM 8:03 PM 4:31
19 Millers 2:00
4:15 PM 7:40 PM 5:25
20 Stillwater 2:00
3:47 PM 6:40 PM 4:53
21 Team Lazlo 2:00
5:31 PM 9:00 PM 5:29
22 Richmond 2




23 Team Penalty - Bonuses - Start Time End Time Total Time
24 A2

10:12 AM 1:00 PM 2:48
25 Bloodshot

10:12 AM 11:54 AM 1:42
26 Enemies of the Common Good

10:12 AM 1:42 PM 3:30
27 Fellowship of the Van

10:12 AM 1:26 PM 3:14
28 Lost in Place

10:12 AM 1:45 PM 3:33
29 Millers

10:12 AM 12:57 PM 2:45
30 Stillwater

10:12 AM 12:24 PM 2:12
31 Team Lazlo

10:12 AM 1:46 PM 3:34
32 Charlotte (just for fun game: score not included in total times)




33 Bloodshot

5:04 PM 7:35 PM 2:31
34 FOTV

7:30 PM 9:40 PM 2:10
35 Millers

Not timed

36 Stillwater

5:05 PM 7:10 PM 2:05
37 Carpe Fluvium




38

- Bonuses -


39 A2
1:00 off total time

40 Bloodshot
1:00 off total time

41 Enemies of the Common Good
1:00 off total time

42 Fellowship of the Van
1:00 off total time

43 Lost in Place
1:00 off total time

44 Millers
N/A


45 Stillwater
1:00 off total time

46 Team Lazlo
1:00 off total time




Grits & Gumbo


A B C D E F
1 Nashville




2





3 Team Penalty - Bonuses - Start Time End Time Total Time
4 A2 3:00
10:00 AM 3:33 AM 8:33
5 Bloodshot 2:00
10:00 AM 2:50 AM 6:50
6 Enemies of the Common Good 1:00
10:00 AM 4:58 AM 7:58
7 Fellowship of the Van 2:00
10:00 AM 5:15 AM 9:15
8 Lost in Place 3:00
10:00 AM 3:02 AM 8:02
9 Millers 2:00
10:00 AM 3:41 AM 7:41
10 Stillwater 1:00
10:00 AM 3:35 AM 6:35
11 Team Lazlo 1:00
10:00 AM 4:30 AM 7:30
12





13 Atlanta




14





15 Team Penalty - Bonuses - Start Time End Time Total Time
16 A2 1:00
10:00 AM 3:30 6:30
17 Bloodshot

10:00 AM 3:30 5:30
18 Enemies of the Common Good 1:00
10:00 AM 3:30 6:30
19 Fellowship of the Van 1:00
10:00 AM 2:50 5:50
20 Lost in Place 2:00
10:00 AM 3:30 7:30
21 Millers

10:00 AM 2:20 4:20
22 Stillwater

10:00 AM 3:30 5:30
23 Team Lazlo

10:00 AM 3:30 5:30
24





25 Savannah




26





27 Team Penalty - Bonuses - Start Time End Time Total Time
28 A2

10:15 AM 1:50 3:35
29 Bloodshot

10:15 AM 11:58 1:43
30 Enemies of the Common Good

10:15 AM 11:53 1:28
31 Fellowship of the Van

10:15 AM 12:53 2:38
32 Lost in Place 1:30
10:15 AM 1:28 4:43
33 Millers 1:30
10:15 AM 12:38 3:53
34 Stillwater

10:15 AM 1:50 3:35
35 Team Lazlo

10:15 AM 1:04 2:49
36





37 Panama City




38





39 Team Penalty - Bonuses - Start Time End Time Total Time
40 A2 1:00
11:20 AM 1:50 3:30
41 Bloodshot :40
11:20 AM 12:47 2:07
42 Enemies of the Common Good 1:00
11:20 AM 3:00 4:40
43 Fellowship of the Van :40
11:20 AM 2:10 3:30
44 Lost in Place 1:00
11:20 AM 1:40 3:20
45 Millers 1:00
11:20 AM 2:05 3:45
46 Stillwater 1:00
11:20 AM 1:40 3:20
47 Team Lazlo :40
11:20 AM 3:05 4:25
48





49 New Orleans




50





51 Team Penalty - Bonuses - Start Time End Time Total Time
52 A2 1:00
7:30 AM 10:50 4:20
53 Bloodshot 3:00
7:30 9:40 AM 5:10
54 Enemies of the Common Good 3:00
7:45 10:38 AM 5:53
55 Fellowship of the Van 1:00
6:15 9:30 AM 5:15
56 Lost in Place 1:00
6:15 10:45 AM 4:30
57 Millers 6:00
6:15 7:45 AM 7:30
58 Stillwater 1:00
6:15 9:35 AM 4:20
59 Team Lazlo 3:00
7:30 10:38 AM 6:08



Totals


A B C D E F G H I
1
A2 Bloodshot Enemies of the Common Good Fellowship of the Van Lost in Place Millers Stillwater Team Lazlo
2 Day1 9:39 8:44 7:46 8:08 7:33 8:56 7:55 9:27
3 Day2 2:48 1:42 3:30 3:14 3:33 2:45 2:12 3:34
4 Day3 Bonus Round Bonus Round Bonus Round Bonus Round Bonus Round N/A Bonus Round Bonus Round
5 Starter Clue Bonus N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 1:00 N/A N/A
6 Wiberty or Death Totals 11:27 9:26 10:16 10:22 10:06 10:41 9:07 12:01
7








8 Day4 8:33 6:50 7:58 9:15 8:02 7:41 6:35 7:30
9 Day5 6:30 5:30 6:30 5:50 7:30 4:20 5:30 5:30
10 Day6 3:35 1:43 1:28 2:38 4:43 3:53 3:35 2:49
11 Day7 3:30 2:07 4:40 3:30 3:20 3:45 3:20 4:25
12 Night7 4:20 5:10 5:53 4:15 5:30 7:30 4:20 6:08
13








14 Grits & Gumbo Totals 26:28:00 21:20 26:29:00 25:28:00 29:05:00 27:09:00 23:20 26:22:00
15 Cumulative Totals 37:55:00 30:46:00 36:45:00 35:50:00 39:11:00 37:50:00 32:27:00 38:23:00
16








17 Final Standings 5 1 4 3 7 DNF 2 6

These were pulled from an E-mail from Josh W., many thanks Josh for the stats, and a wonderful set of races!!!


Basic stats.

Miles driven by A2 (thats me.) - 3749, round trip from D.C. to New Orleans, and back again.

Cash spent on everything - approximately 5,000 dollars, and dammit, we were good and portabled booze so as avoid bars. (Except Nawleans bars, we consider that charity.)

Number of ridiculous drunken arguments that helped on a nightly basis - 6

Number of ridiculous arguments that had no helpful aftereffects whatsoever, but we got to sleep without intentional bloodshed on a nightly basis - 7

Number of non-smoking hotels who will find my snail-trail of cigarette butts in remote stairwells ( except Panama City, where we all kinda used the embers to chase off vermin) - All.

Getting a wonderful young waitress in Savannah, as well as an ancient and wise Bell-Captain in Atlanta to both grin, and say, with glee, "STINKPICKLE!"

Priceless.

And Visa can bloody well drop the the damn interest rates on our card, Forthwith.

There's yer sign.

Alex off, Dan is logging in my stead, back after I inspect the local bathrooms and ponder what next to post.

We will have full post-race coverage on the Ocho, (we have Bulgarian women's curling on a backlog here on the TiVo, so gimme a few) but they forgot to respond to my last E-mail and ESPN has been quite recalcitrant in returning notes about air times etc., so work with me here.

Oh hells, these are OUR bathrooms. I hate road trips. I'm off to check the rest off the house, our thoughts go out to those that raced and got the dreaded late-night phone call from the insurance adjuster regarding damage to homes and vehicles - please let us know if A2 can assist in any way, we've had a tree try to take out our house before, we know the feeling, and are quite willing to lend transport, hugs, etc.

To all the Teams who raced with us, it was fun, informative, and a royal pain in the ass.

So when are we doing it again?

A2

P.S. We'll do our best to update a day-by-day breakdown, but much like many other teams, we are scattering to the wind for work and other necessities, please forgive.

Friday, July 13, 2007

day .5, the Great America Race.

We haven't even started racing, and we're already a bit punchy. Mind, part of this is a result of travel to the start destination. Anji picked me up in Baltimore today. Traffic wasn't particularly bad, but we started getting goofy before we even hit Washington city limits.

Driving through the city of Washington is always a little weird. Entering from Baltimore, you see the sad decrepitude of most of the city; then there's the old '30s Hecht Company warehouse and the Arena--things that are an integral part of Old Washington but which mean absolutely nothing to the vast number of the town's modern inhabitants, 98% of whom were born somewhere else. Before long, we encountered the traffic hell that was created back in the '50s when some brainchild decided to route some of the major city streets under the big circles. Before we landed in the weird little hotel--apparently built as an apartment house in the '50s and refaced as a hotel in the '90s--we had:
1) annoyed, but not surprised, Washingtonians by cutting halfway across Thomas Circle;
2) flung a cigarette butt at a terrorized touron family;
3) gotten sidetracked by K street's insistent path under Washington Circle; and
4) broken several traffic laws in one fell swoop accompanied by Anji's declaration "Watch THIS!!!"

Now: This comes after the last week of hideous preparation. Alex managed to drive himself into blithering oblivion, but solved the Evil Clue of Death. I, on the other hand, was reduced to wandering about the house, drooling and walking into walls (to the great consternation of my cats) but couldn't solve it.

We now have the start location (which I will not yet disclose) and have been bopping about the hotel room like tipsy banshees. I am hoping that we don't have to spend too much time in Washington tomorrow, because I want to solve clues in Richmond, and have a drink at the Jefferson.

--this post courtesy of Dan.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

LuckySeven

We finally made it out of D.C. this afternoon, and I'm hoping to have more coherent notes up soon, just checking in.

It was a good race, and taught us a few more lessons, some about how we run the team, some about human error (i.e. - you USE the chance card in Jail, you don't get it there, therefore PRISON is NOT a viable code.... - our bad,) and better still, the concept of adopting a solo racer into our crew.

We are posting our translation of the starter clue today, A1 mentioned to me that there are forums, and I, in my idiot mode, said something smartarse back, to with which she replied "pearls before swine."

LOL, I just found the notes about Lucky & start points. I'm a doofus.

We came in 2nd place, and apparently irked the Richmond VA veteran teams by having the audacity to show up an alternate race - c'mon guys, you are gonna kick our collective butts anyhow, let us get some tacky bling for the mantle :D

We are simply waiting for the REAL owner of our prize to come and demand that we restore it to his wrought-iron fence-post.

To Jason, please check in, you were a welcome addition to a zany team, and your ability to run down an upwards-moving escalator was the subject of many bar drinking tales. Already.

("OMG he's going down THAT one!" "Is he o.k?" "Yeah, and he beat all of us using the right escalator - just grab that metro train.")

My tiny little brain is full, I'm going to bed, see you all in D.C. Saturday morning.


-Alex

Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Sorry, we've been a tad busy...

Eventually, I'll figure out how to link the starter clues we get in PDF format, but until then struggle on using your imagination. We had 2 races after the Mini-Cooper event, and either we got lucky, or Anji simply rocks at solving clues, along with Dan and Mo, both of whom teamed up on separate races to help us bring in the 1st place. So, to date, we have raced 5 times, taken 6th, then 2nd (grrr, by 20 seconds, darnit!) and then 3 straight 1st place victories.

We are headed to Washington D.C. this weekend for the Lucky 7 race, meeting up with trusty Dan for a practice run through the city that will be our first challenge next weekend, en route to Richmond, VA for a breather at home, and most likely a lot of late night laundry work.

We will have the comps with us, and as such, will all do our best to update all 3 of you who are reading this. Enjoy the 4th of July holiday, and I'll try to give a better race breakdown when I'm not trying to solve the starter clue they sent us, which will probably be held accountable for the anyureism I'm about to have.

This stuff is HARD. I'm a cook, not a cryptoanalyst, dammit!

More later.

Best quote overheard as we walked away with our lovely tacky trophy, "Whoa, watch out for them - they're Serious Racers!" stated by one team to another whilst surreptitiously pointing at us.


If they only knew how amateur I am - or is that immature? Again, thanks to all fellow A2 race members, Ute, you were awesome this weekend, glad to have you join the roster. I wouldn't put it on your resume for post grad work, tho...

OK, time for a nap before the 4th Grill-out and cypher solving.