Proposal for a new mileage challenge

[Rosebud]

This has some teeth. Other possible methods of segregation.....er....distinction:

1. By income/tax bracket (proletariat vs haute bourgeoisie)
2. By level of education (post docs can have their own team)
3. By level of coolness and social acceptance (this would require an honest self-evaluation)

Or we could go OLD SCHOOL.........pick two team captains and we have an official team selection process. One by one, each captain makes a pick until all interested participants are selected. True, one person will inevitably be picked last, but the whole board will have a great running joke for years to come....

Come on.... Mullahs vs. Heretics vs. Apostates would be FUN -- no fair comparing my idea to segregating by income or educational status!!!! Or, maybe I'm just not threatened by the idea because I give mullas, heretics and apostates equal respect and you see the mullahs as superior (are you a mullah?) But that's what makes it fun... it drives competition because each group has to PROVE its superiority. I actually think segregating this way would help everyone accept each other more instead of less.... I know... that's kind of counter-intuitive thinking.

That said, though, I'm good with team captains picking teams and I think it would be entertaining to do it publicly. (I also volunteer to be last.) I have to admit, though, that arbitrary teams seem a little bit like girls' camp "squirrels" vs. "chipmunks" or something. Runners vs. cyclists is fun because everyone intrinsically associates themselves with their team. It's harder to get worked up over a team created through a subjective picking process, IMO. If Mullahs vs. Heretics vs. Apostates is too threatening are there other categories that would make it possible for people to pick their team captain instead of having captains pick the teams?

Either way is fine by me, though....

[Jeff Lebowski]

Come on.... Mullahs vs. Heretics vs. Apostates would be FUN -- no fair comparing my idea to segregating by income or educational status!!!! Or, maybe I'm just not threatened by the idea because I give mullas, heretics and apostates equal respect and you see the mullahs as superior (are you a mullah?) But that's what makes it fun... it drives competition because each group has to PROVE its superiority. I actually think segregating this way would help everyone accept each other more instead of less.... I know... that's kind of counter-intuitive thinking.

That said, though, I'm good with team captains picking teams and I think it would be entertaining to do it publicly. (I also volunteer to be last.) I have to admit, though, that arbitrary teams seem a little bit like girls' camp "squirrels" vs. "chipmunks" or something. Runners vs. cyclists is fun because everyone intrinsically associates themselves with their team. It's harder to get worked up over a team created through a subjective picking process, IMO. If Mullahs vs. Heretics vs. Apostates is too threatening are there other categories that would make it possible for people to pick their team captain instead of having captains pick the teams?

Either way is fine by me, though....

You are obviously new around here. Either that or you are having some fun trolling.

But for the record, some people here are highly offended at the "mullah" label. It's kind of like the CUF n-word.

[Rosebud]

too funny. that's what I suggested the first time around.

I don't know who you are, RB, but you're making me awfully nervous. I can't help but think I need to hit the cybergym or something - get back to the top of my board-game.

Great minds think alike. I still say that you and I make the best team on the board.... except when we don't . Together we can crush any of these men.

[Rosebud]

You are obviously new around here. Either that or you are having some fun trolling.

But for the record, some people here are highly offended at the "mullah" label. It's kind of like the CUF n-word.

lol....I see... well then.... my great apologies DDD . You are definitely no mullah.

[cowboy]

And I will add my agreement to your agreement.

I've been following this thread and thinking about it since last night, but I haven't had time to post anything because I've spent much of the day getting our cows out of the neighbor's corn field (neighbors get pretty excited about cows in their corn.) Here are some of my thoughts:

1) I think it's pretty much unanimous that we finish the current challenge and start a "Rest at the Top" Challenge sometime in September.

2) Rosebud made some good points today, and I especially like the idea of allowing others to chip in with donations as well. It looks like our group will log 3k-4k miles per month for a somewhere between 9,000 and 16,000 by the time we finish, so every $.01 that is added to the current donation of $.05 will contribute between $100 and $200 to the total. Therefore, I suggest that those who want to donate do so by the mile in tenth-penny increments, meaning that every tenth-penny per mile we commit to will cost us between $1 and $2. If you want to commit, but you are afraid you can't afford the risk of a 25,000 mile total, then cap your contribution when you commit (ex. commit one penny up to $200.) My wife has started coupon shopping, so I'd be willing to throw a penny at this - she keeps telling me how she "saves" me hundreds of dollars with every trip to the store.

3) While I like the spirit of DDD's no teams suggestion, I'm always better with a little competition. I'm for forming teams.

4) I'd like to stay with the distance rules and activities as presently outlined with the inclusion of ellipticals and rowing machines. 15 minutes per mile on both of them.

5) It's always hard to pick a charity because there are so many good charities who need money. Because little Gage is the inspiration for this effort, I think it would be most appropriate if the proceeds helped children. Also, it would be nice if the proceeds could be spent in a way that would provide a perpetual benefit. For example, I think it would be kind of cool if we could find out what Gage's favorite books were, or what books Paul read to him the most, and buy copies of those books and donate them to Utah hospitals' children's libraries in their memory. That's just an example, and I'm not necessarily suggesting we do that specifically, but something that can benefit children over and over would be neat.

6) Whoever is donating needs to teach me how he/she is getting us all to work our butts off for like $.35/hour and be excited about it. I need him/her to talk to my kids.

I think this is a cool idea, and I'm in for it. Good job, Dirtbag, for inspiring all of us, and thanks Jeff and Anonymous for getting this started.

[creekster]

If Mullahs vs. Heretics vs. Apostates is too threatening are there other categories that would make it possible for people to pick their team captain instead of having captains pick the teams?

Either way is fine by me, though....

How would we decide who would be a captain? there would probably be about 45 teams.

I am not sure baout the M v. H. v A test; it reminds me of the motto on the back of my House of Blues ballcap, which says "Unity through diversity." but I could live with it, I am just not sure where I would put me or a lot of tohers.

I think even if we just picked teams such artifical divisions would quickly take on a life of their own; I feel like I could annoy just about anyone on another team.

[Teenage Dirtbag]

If we're gonna do this thing, we should settle on a format soon. We've got a little over 2 weeks left in August, and we will need at least 2 weeks for people to sign up. If we went with the draft method of choosing teams, we would want to have that done before Sept 1, no?

I propose this format, and I guess we can vote yea or nay, and everyone feel free to post your tweaks to my idea.

First, we need to determine who is in charge of the challenge, so we have a final decision maker. I nominate the anonymous member of the board who stepped up and got this idea rolling. If he/she wishes to remain unknown, all decisions can be related through Lebowski, if he's ok with that.

Signups from Aug 16-30. Final cutoff for sign up will be Aug 30. Teams chosen by two team captains Aug 30/31. Beginning 8/1 individual team members track their own mileage for a week, report it on Sat or Sun at the end of each week. I will volunteer to record and report all mileage records for the duration of the challenge, if that's fine with everyone. Miles to be counted include all exercise-oriented miles, including running/jogging, walking, cycling, swimming, and machine based exercise including ellipticals, treadmills, rowing machines, stationary cycles, etc. All ratios would be carried over from the current challenge.

It would basically be the same format as the CB challenge I organized a couple of years back, but with just 2 teams instead of 10. You can see the website for that at http://challenge.shaneb.net
I would be happy to put together a similar web site for this.

Anyway, that's what I propose. Let's see what everyone thinks.

[Rosebud]

How would we decide who would be a captain? there would probably be about 45 teams.

I am not sure baout the M v. H. v A test; it reminds me of the motto on the back of my House of Blues ballcap, which says "Unity through diversity." but I could live with it, I am just not sure where I would put me or a lot of tohers.

I think even if we just picked teams such artifical divisions would quickly take on a life of their own; I feel like I could annoy just about anyone on another team.

Yes... the lines are fuzzy. Truth be told, I'm just entertaining myself with the idea. The competitive banter could get hilarious. And agreed... arbitrary teams would take on lives of their own.

I'm thinking you're right about the 45 volunteers for team captains. How many people on here were ALWAYS team captain in elementary school? Out with it now. How many bullies do we have on CUF? Time for confessions.....

[Jeff Lebowski]

If we're gonna do this thing, we should settle on a format soon. We've got a little over 2 weeks left in August, and we will need at least 2 weeks for people to sign up. If we went with the draft method of choosing teams, we would want to have that done before Sept 1, no?

I propose this format, and I guess we can vote yea or nay, and everyone feel free to post your tweaks to my idea.

First, we need to determine who is in charge of the challenge, so we have a final decision maker. I nominate the anonymous member of the board who stepped up and got this idea rolling. If he/she wishes to remain unknown, all decisions can be related through Lebowski, if he's ok with that.

Signups from Aug 16-30. Final cutoff for sign up will be Aug 30. Teams chosen by two team captains Aug 30/31. Beginning 8/1 individual team members track their own mileage for a week, report it on Sat or Sun at the end of each week. I will volunteer to record and report all mileage records for the duration of the challenge, if that's fine with everyone. Miles to be counted include all exercise-oriented miles, including running/jogging, walking, cycling, swimming, and machine based exercise including ellipticals, treadmills, rowing machines, stationary cycles, etc. All ratios would be carried over from the current challenge.

It would basically be the same format as the CB challenge I organized a couple of years back, but with just 2 teams instead of 10. You can see the website for that at http://challenge.shaneb.net
I would be happy to put together a similar web site for this.

Anyway, that's what I propose. Let's see what everyone thinks.

That all sounds good, but why not use a google doc spreadsheet like we are currently using? Then the mileage totals are instantly updated. We could even instantly update the corresponding dollar amounts.

[creekster]

Just to make it interesting and to increase the competition, how abotu if the winng team gets to choose avatars for the losers for a week? or somethign like that?

[Jeff Lebowski]

First, we need to determine who is in charge of the challenge, so we have a final decision maker. I nominate the anonymous member of the board who stepped up and got this idea rolling. If he/she wishes to remain unknown, all decisions can be related through Lebowski, if he's ok with that.

This should work fine.

[Teenage Dirtbag]

That all sounds good, but why not use a google doc spreadsheet like we are currently using? Then the mileage totals are instantly updated. We could even instantly update the corresponding dollar amounts.

Sounds good to me. The extent of my spreadsheet knowledge is extremely limited, so someone else would need to set up all the formulas.

[Teenage Dirtbag]

That all sounds good, but why not use a google doc spreadsheet like we are currently using? Then the mileage totals are instantly updated. We could even instantly update the corresponding dollar amounts.

I guess my thinking for a weekly report is to add a bit of unknown to the thing. So, if one team doesn't really know what the other team has been doing, they may push just a bit harder.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I guess my thinking for a weekly report is to add a bit of unknown to the thing. So, if one team doesn't really know what the other team has been doing, they may push just a bit harder.

We demand instant gratification.

[creekster]

We demand instant gratification.

plus I think it is dailty motivation.