VSRR III --
Ruth on the Road – Day 3
July 3,
2007
“HMMMM”
said Dan. “I had trouble getting the JudgeMobile
started - too much salt air I think - anyway now that the servers are back on
line and all is running smoothly I've made it to the scoring table and have
begun to add in yesterdays Trivia scores. Looks like Vera was one above the
"traveler" and got double points. Today's wild card will be Helen's
daughter "sunfrog" - if you end up just
above or just below her you get double points.” and he added, [A little horn
tooting] “Catching up at the scoring table - we have a new leader - overnight
in combination with arriving at the day 2 destination and double points for
trivial Vera has moved into first place! “ Ruth called, “Yea! Vera! …What the heck
am I Yea-ing about……… you just leapt ahead of me!”
Following a
lengthy discussion about puzzles, Dan worked to enlarge the pictures and retain
clarity viewing them on his laptop with a relatively small screen. But Sly had
tried different resolutions and only got fuzzier pictures. Helen moved all the
puzzles into Photoshop Elements, “but they get fuzzy almost as soon as I start
to enlarge them…think dear leaders need to come up with another means of giving
us clues”... Donna broke in, “hum.... day job getting in the way. LOL! Some of
us are having that same problem, you know, someone actually wants us to do
something other than race in the month of July” ….. Sly’s
crusty reply, “How inconsiderate of them - don't they know a happy employee is
more productive - and travel expands the mind - how many pixels are there in a
mind anyway?) Allyn reappeared. ”Dear old Comcast...crashed at 1 PM yesterday,
returned at 8 AM today. Threw a clinker in my race, but I've been to the garage
and am back in the race, only one lap down.” Ruth responded, “I know the
feeling…my keyboard broke a wing last night…trying to finish the report. Clunk,
clunk…one letter took half a minute! Help arrived…with bandages and big
knots the wing is holding!”
Dan announced,
“Dear VSRR III racers - my apologies for the puzzle problem - in lieu of the
difficulties encountered - we'll be going back to the prior year races - of
written clues. Because of the problems encountered all racers have been
advanced to
Sly
questioned Donna’s whereabouts. “Donna O'Brien has been really quiet the last
day - very uncharacteristic of her. I wonder if she is quietly adding more to
her ankles, or somewhere else, while she is touring the Island,” http://www.netaxs.com/~trance/tattoo.html Dan responded, “I have it on good authority
directly from her that before leaving for Easter Island she was still in Paris
shopping at a lounge-a-ray shop – I can't imagine where she's going to put
those chairs in her little van!” Another announcement from
Dan. “Helen first to find today's SS!” Mike suddenly flashed in again! “Dan, I found this link: http://www.flash-gear.com/npuz/
It allows you to make a puzzle from your own photos
and create a dedicated link to solve it. The users can than move the
pieces around to make the finished product. My sister and I tried it
several times last night. It works like a charm!!! It was fun too
because with more pieces, you have to scoot things around to make it
work. Maybe you should try this. Even though I may have indicated I
didn't like puzzles, it was mostly in jest and with a program where we can move
pieces around, it might be more fun for everyone.” . . .
Dan sent
two puzzle tests requesting that everyone let him know if they were any better.
Penny responded, “…We still need a program where we can take the pieces and
move them around ourselves…like you can with a jigsaw game.” Dan, testing
Mike’s program, burst into song! “http://five.flash-gear.com/npuz/puz.php?c=v&id=2226751&k=2150069
Man oh Man - this is what I was looking for and never found - THANK YOU MIKE!
Now for the real test - please click on the link above and let's see if it
works for everybody! If it does we may be back to Plan 56 - we'll stay with
what is in the
starting gun for today - but if this test goes well - then we may just have to
go back. Please let me know. Thanks again Mike - you just proved what I already
knew - that the folks in this group always have an answer - even if they are
not sure what the question is!!!” . . . Helen with relief said, “Thanks Mike! Dan!
...no longer cutting strange pieces!”....Mike smiled,
“You are more than welcome! Now this is a puzzle I can figure out. Try it next time
with smaller (and more pieces!!!)” …”Oh yea,” said Dan. “We'll definitely be
working in that direction!” Then, whipping out clues with only short pauses Dan
began posting clues for the racers next destination. “(a.) Does not go well with
pepperoni (b.) Heading southeast (c.) 1173 (d.) 183.27
feet from the lowest side (e.) 186.02 feet from the highest side (f.)
Estimated weight 14,500 tons (g.) 294 steps (h.) 5.5 degree tilt…Clue 8 0f 8……..
Within minutes Dan reported, “NPS must have super GPS - how many clues Sue? ...
You currently lead the pack!” Sue replied, “I figured it out on the 3rd clue.
Like this much more than puzzles. Can we keep it this way?” [Sure, sure – I’d
like it too if I solved it in five seconds!!] …Esme noted, “I just noticed that
it costs more HD's to race than most of us can earn by arriving at the next
destination. I think we're being "played!" Dan replied, “That's why
the SS and Bingo are important - Not to mention trivia!”
Dan
announced “As of 17:45 Zulu - the scorer's table is clear -- all points have
been posted that I saw come into my inbox - 12 racers have made it – guess what's
for dinner tonight? HRS “ – as an afterthought he added, “Mike - I can't wait
for tomorrow's puzzle too - BTW - I think I'll redo Days 1 and Day 2 tonight if
I get a chance.”… Rita answered the question –“Why pizza, of course. Sly and I
have the strolling singer/musicians set up to sing Italian songs for us, while
we eat pizza and sip our wine.” Dan reported,
“Looks who’s tied at the next destination with 147
Right back
at him NPS said, “Yeah, tell me another joke. Maybe by day 10,” Dan promptly
said, “These two ducks walk into an Italian restaurant - err -- Mike how does
that one go again?” Mike said, “Not in
mixed company! Last time I told that joke, I was escorted out of the building. Maybe later, after a little bit more Chianti. Pass the Filoncino. I don't want to drink on an empty stomach.” Here comes more horn blowing as Dan announced,
“Rita finds the secret stash and moves into sole possession of 1st place! -- Way to go Rita!” PPS (Points Posted Shortly!). Rita
laughed, “Only until Vera gets home from work and sends in her answers.” Dan
replied, “Enjoy it while it lasts!” NPS said,”I think she got bonus points on
trivia yesterday for being next to Traveler. Sometimes it’s not how fast
you are in trivia but pure luck.” And Sly commented, “How did she get so many
points anyway? These are only day 2 points for her - she is more than a day
ahead - perhaps she needs a holiday, working so hard and all.”… Esme commented,
“Technically or not, I could holler BINGO right NOW. But for purposes of the
VSRR III, it would be wrong.” … “Uh Oh
Ever the
helper, Dan came on with another thought. “Hello Racers – I need some brave
souls to do some experimental test flying – thanks to Mike’s discovery and the
magic of html I think I have managed to insert the puzzles directly into the
VSRR III web page – hopefully people who have problems connecting at work will
be able to get through and solve the puzzle – I have redone the first 3 days –
actually photos that were used and I need some brave racers to test them out
and report back. If you are a fearless racer – and want some practice for
upcoming legs of the race – go to the VSRR III web page http://dtlima.com/VSRRIII.htm click
on the “Location Clues” link to the right of the globe and then pick your day –
let me know if it works for you…signed, HOOTS –
You should have seen the dust fly!
Scrambling to get into the air, Helen, Penny,
Dan was
visibly moved! ”Neat Mike -- thanks
again for finding that PPT (Puzzle PuterTogetherer).
You saved my sanity and perhaps single handedly saved the VSRR III from falling
off a cliff. I feel like I just spent the night working in the garage on the
old 61 Corvair - tuning it up, grease up to my elbows - but she's purring like
a kitten. . . ´Mike replied, “My
pleasure. It was obvious that the original puzzles were going to cause a
revolt. I emailed my techie sister and begged her to solve Day 2. She responded
back that it was a waste of her time and here's a link to a better puzzle
program. Then she started emailing my entire family puzzles of personal
pictures. It got me thinking...I can only imagine what your email inbox looked
like the past few days! LOL!!!” Dan packed the clipboard
in his brief case saying, “We’ve got a bunch of stuff to do in the morning -
starting time tomorrow - 19:00 ZULU - see you at the scoring table! “. . . and he was off into the night!!
Esme said,
“Great! That's noon for me and I might just be awake by then. Starting time
tomorrow - 19:00 ZULU - see you at the scoring table!”