Note
OK, you know how when you do a 24 hour rogaine or a 100 miler, and you swear you never are going to do it again? Well, that is how I feel right now. Though, while I never did another 24 hour rogaine, I hope I can bounce back from this weekend, and really the last month, and learn from my mistakes - like don't beg a club to do an event which is the following weekend from another event where I was pre-registrar and results.
Yes, I tried to do a little extra, like with the labels for the medals, and I would have even been OK there, if only I could have remembered that it was not Cedar Caves!! :)
So, before my "poor little me" post moves me to the top of the nosey log list, I want to thank you all for your support, both on my log and via email.
Nobody did anything to me, and I wasn't even upset at the posting about the lack of official results 24 hours after the event.
Because, the part that actually counted, i.e, the official results, was done as expertly as usual. And, believe me, that wasn't always easy either, what with the number of people who entered incorrect SI-card numbers, switched with their spouse or child, left it in the hotel room and borrowed another, etc. Seems like a simple thing, but every time you step up with the incorrect SI#, you create a situation which requires more attention than the 8 year who is manning the download can handle.
And, I was pleased that results were posted somewhere pretty quickly each evening, despite the poor internet.
I am upset at myself because, while I always try to top myself, I did so in a negative way this weekend. It was getting the data to go over to the Results Display which I managed to screw up on Friday and Saturday. The TV stands became a glorified bulletin board at some point each day.
The hardest parts to swallow were the rookie mistake I made with the results displays on Friday, and the novel way I managed to royally mess up the results display on Saturday. Saturday was really painful, because I didn't realize what I had done wrong until near the end, so the fix I tried to apply was worthless. (Thank you SL for helping.)
Sunday, the self-inflicted issue was minimal (missed 13 starts when I didn't turn on one radio control), but then there were things which were out of my hands, like the display computer freezing and the Finish control not transmitting for a short period (11 Finish times lost in the Results Display for a 3 minute period). Chump change compared to the other two days.
The results display failure aside, I failed to realize that I needed to secure volunteer help for the weekend. I think I assumed that my fairy godmother would take care of me and people would appear. While people stepped forward, I was mentally and physically exhausted by the end of the weekend. I wasted lots of time doing stuff like getting the extension cord down the hill from the building on Saturday. This meant I had no time to make a chute from the finish to download, which meant that it was a stressful scrum at download vs. the orderly process of download and get out of my space now, please. ;-)
Though, things probably would have been OK if the start and finish had been near each other, then there are always people hanging out that I can snag to help for a few minutes. The freezing conditions didn't help matters either.
So, for future events, I may need to stick to my strength (the scoring software side of things) and leave the results display side of things to someone else. I definitely need to consider how exhausting this can be before committing to any events in 2016.
If you have read all of the way to here, then thank you again for supporting me, and for appreciating my efforts and believing in me.
Also, thank you to G&L for the hugs. There were many others who touched base with me, and it was very much appreciated. This is how much of a mess I am right now...writing this last sentence makes me weepy again. No, I'm not a mess, not at all. :)