Happy Christmas, Merry Kwanzaa, Rockin' Hannukah, etc, etc. Tony from Team WOOO here with the very best present of all: status updates!
I've filled out and sent in the "we are going to die" form, the one that says that it's not anyone else's fault when we get beheaded by insurgents. I sent in my copy, and am assuming it got there; Rich will have to download one and add himself to the team that way.
Official Mongol Rally charity organizers WillWeMakeIt.com have launched their program for Rally teams to collect mad cash. Unfortunately, there's been some issues with our activation of the Team WOOO account, so no donations open yet. Stay tuned!
Finally, the first of our donators has already appeared, mutual internet friend Shinigami Risky. He's donated $500 to the war effort - enough to significantly lessen the sting of the entry fee for both of us. Thanks buddy!
- Tony
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Friday, December 14, 2007
The Real Deal
As Rich so elegantly states below, we are indeed "in". However, there are many levels of "in", and lots of juicy details that any theoretical reader of this blog might be delighted to hear. Thus, I will be ignoring Rich's rather lackluster attempts at one-upmanship, and posting now about our FABULOUS SUCCESS.
This post actual contains several mini-events; I beg forgiveness for being too caught up in finals and term papers to post specifically about them. The chain of events goes as follows:
Approximately one week ago, on a Friday or thereabouts, I received the long-awaited email offering us a place on the Rally. I had known that this was coming, being as we were in first place on the waiting list, but still somewhat like coming home to a beautiful wife of many years who has unexpectedly received noticeable-but-tasteful breast implants. Overjoyed, I quickly perused the email. What it came down to was that we had a spot open for us, and could confirm it by paying the king's ransom of £456, which is approximately $930 in today's woefully under-equipped dollars. We would have three days to lock in our payment and confirm our places.
Now, this is a cost we had agreed to split, of course, since it was a single fee for the team. I wanted to contact Rich and quadruple-confirm that he was ok with spending a hell a lot of money on this, one last time. I finally managed to catch him ( no easy task, given the time difference and Rich's own drunken vampire sleep cycle ), and he told me to, if I recall correctly, "Get on with it, fag". He's very loving, in his own special way. So I got on with it.
Entering in that modern miracle, the credit card number, I prepared to drop a huge amount of money on the chance to die terribly. However, disaster soon struck: credit card declined! Fraud! Identity theft! Oh my god!!!
I quickly deduced the situation. I had gone online and attempted to use nearly $1000 from my credit card, which had most recently been used to buy a gallon of milk, some time in October. My bank, bless their hearts, were slightly concerned, and requested that I call them and supply them with my social security number, address, height, weight, mother's maiden name, phone number, blood type, and penis measurements. Once they had sufficiently satisfied themselves that I was indeed myself, although not necessarily in my right mind, they unlocked the funds. I paid the Rally organizers once more, this time at the buzzer; we had only hours left on our hold when I got the confirmation. I feel that this is in keeping with the spirit of the Rally.
So, we now have our shiny new place awaiting us, as well as a bunch of shit with a cumulative value of $0, like T-shirts, a team blog (another one!), and invites to a couple of parties in Olde England which Rich will have to buck up and attend for us. But we're in!
The next step for us is to fill out and mail in what I like to refer to as the "Not Liable for Your Dumb Asses" form. This is a monstrous and intimidating sheaf of papers, filled with terrifying legal terms like "liability" and "parties" and "heretofor" and "tortured" and "starvation". We simply have to enter our names, sign and date it, and send it in before December 20-somethingth, to make sure our grieving loved ones can't sue the Adventurists when our bodies are dredged from a hundred-mile stretch of the Yangtze River.
Another good title for this document would be the "This shit just got real" form. Because it just did.
Next up: finding a car that fits the qualifications and possibly runs!
- Tony
This post actual contains several mini-events; I beg forgiveness for being too caught up in finals and term papers to post specifically about them. The chain of events goes as follows:
Approximately one week ago, on a Friday or thereabouts, I received the long-awaited email offering us a place on the Rally. I had known that this was coming, being as we were in first place on the waiting list, but still somewhat like coming home to a beautiful wife of many years who has unexpectedly received noticeable-but-tasteful breast implants. Overjoyed, I quickly perused the email. What it came down to was that we had a spot open for us, and could confirm it by paying the king's ransom of £456, which is approximately $930 in today's woefully under-equipped dollars. We would have three days to lock in our payment and confirm our places.
Now, this is a cost we had agreed to split, of course, since it was a single fee for the team. I wanted to contact Rich and quadruple-confirm that he was ok with spending a hell a lot of money on this, one last time. I finally managed to catch him ( no easy task, given the time difference and Rich's own drunken vampire sleep cycle ), and he told me to, if I recall correctly, "Get on with it, fag". He's very loving, in his own special way. So I got on with it.
Entering in that modern miracle, the credit card number, I prepared to drop a huge amount of money on the chance to die terribly. However, disaster soon struck: credit card declined! Fraud! Identity theft! Oh my god!!!
I quickly deduced the situation. I had gone online and attempted to use nearly $1000 from my credit card, which had most recently been used to buy a gallon of milk, some time in October. My bank, bless their hearts, were slightly concerned, and requested that I call them and supply them with my social security number, address, height, weight, mother's maiden name, phone number, blood type, and penis measurements. Once they had sufficiently satisfied themselves that I was indeed myself, although not necessarily in my right mind, they unlocked the funds. I paid the Rally organizers once more, this time at the buzzer; we had only hours left on our hold when I got the confirmation. I feel that this is in keeping with the spirit of the Rally.
So, we now have our shiny new place awaiting us, as well as a bunch of shit with a cumulative value of $0, like T-shirts, a team blog (another one!), and invites to a couple of parties in Olde England which Rich will have to buck up and attend for us. But we're in!
The next step for us is to fill out and mail in what I like to refer to as the "Not Liable for Your Dumb Asses" form. This is a monstrous and intimidating sheaf of papers, filled with terrifying legal terms like "liability" and "parties" and "heretofor" and "tortured" and "starvation". We simply have to enter our names, sign and date it, and send it in before December 20-somethingth, to make sure our grieving loved ones can't sue the Adventurists when our bodies are dredged from a hundred-mile stretch of the Yangtze River.
Another good title for this document would be the "This shit just got real" form. Because it just did.
Next up: finding a car that fits the qualifications and possibly runs!
- Tony
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Update: Sup doodz nm
Here's an update because I just love updating. Holy shit do I love it. Updating, I mean, it's like shooting crack. Or at least what I imagine shooting crack must be like. I'm way too suburban for that. Do you even shoot crack? Who knows, ask Rich.
I would have thought everyone loves writing updates but as it turns out, The Adventurists don't! I can tell because they have not changed their website since the lotteries went live. They also haven't given us another email since the one about the waiting list. Was it something I said? Did everyone there die of bird flu? I hear that's an issue in Europe. Either way, the moral of this story is I have absolutely nothing new to write about. Like a porno that cuts off in the middle of foreplay, this update has no climax, no point to it. My bad!
- Tony
I would have thought everyone loves writing updates but as it turns out, The Adventurists don't! I can tell because they have not changed their website since the lotteries went live. They also haven't given us another email since the one about the waiting list. Was it something I said? Did everyone there die of bird flu? I hear that's an issue in Europe. Either way, the moral of this story is I have absolutely nothing new to write about. Like a porno that cuts off in the middle of foreplay, this update has no climax, no point to it. My bad!
- Tony
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
It's a wonderful world
So, the latest late email came from our friends at The Adventurists. As you'll recall from our last episode, we didn't get in either draw, and thus our names will be entered into the waiting list. Well, those results came, and we did make it onto the waiting list.
In position 1. That is, the moment a spot opens up, we get it.
So we are pretty much in.
In position 1. That is, the moment a spot opens up, we get it.
So we are pretty much in.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Round Three - This Failure Train has no brakes
Well, we got the results from the third and final lottery - still no place for Team WOOOOO.
So what happens now? Do we pack up (so to speak) and go home, disappointed in our failure to secure a spot? NO! Failure is what we excel at! We hunker down and wait. Here's the situation:
In round 1, we made an entry. Other teams made approximately five hundred entries each. 200 places were rewarded; some of them confirmed, some of them didn't, because they were dummy entries that had already won on another entry. We don't get in.
In round 2, the process is repeated. Our entry from the first round carries over; so do a bunch of dummy entries that still hadn't won. In addition to this, more entries are made, many of them duplicates. Another hundred places are awarded; some confirm, others don't. Team WOOOOO still fails to get in.
Then we get the unplanned Round 3. Seeing the places that hadn't been confirmed had thrown their system out of whack, the rally organizers decide to make a third lottery, open only to carryovers from the first two rounds, with no more registrations. As you may see from the pattern, many of these entries are still fake entries that have been floating around since the first or second round. Extra places are assigned, filling the gaps from the first two lotteries.
So now, the third lottery is over, and we still haven't got a place. Since the third lottery was meant to fill the places left over by dummy entries in the first two, it may appear that all is lost; however, you have to remember that many winners of the third lottery are fake entries that are still clogging the system. Third-round winners have until Monday to confirm their win. Some will, others won't. On comes the waiting list.
On Monday, a waiting list is randomly generated for team entries that are still in the system, and an email is sent out to (I think) the top 75 places to let them know their status. Now, my theory is that at this point, a number of empty places are already going to exist, caused by third-round dummy winners. Then the system will start going down the waiting list. Presumably, each position will have at least 24 hours to confirm a spot before forfeiting and moving on the next entry in the waiting list. Many will forfeit, because even the waiting list will be clogged full of fake entries. Unfortunately, moving past these fake entries will take time, since each one will have to expire before moving down the list. However, this is when all the fake entries finally get weeded out; when the final places are assigned, everyone with a spot will be an actual team.
So, in conclusion to this massive essay about absolutely nothing of any importance, I still think we are going to get in. It's just going to take a while. Even if we get in the list at position 30, a fairly good result, that's still a month of waiting time. But we'll see how it works; I retain hope.
We'll update on Monday when we find out more about the waiting list.
- Tony
So what happens now? Do we pack up (so to speak) and go home, disappointed in our failure to secure a spot? NO! Failure is what we excel at! We hunker down and wait. Here's the situation:
In round 1, we made an entry. Other teams made approximately five hundred entries each. 200 places were rewarded; some of them confirmed, some of them didn't, because they were dummy entries that had already won on another entry. We don't get in.
In round 2, the process is repeated. Our entry from the first round carries over; so do a bunch of dummy entries that still hadn't won. In addition to this, more entries are made, many of them duplicates. Another hundred places are awarded; some confirm, others don't. Team WOOOOO still fails to get in.
Then we get the unplanned Round 3. Seeing the places that hadn't been confirmed had thrown their system out of whack, the rally organizers decide to make a third lottery, open only to carryovers from the first two rounds, with no more registrations. As you may see from the pattern, many of these entries are still fake entries that have been floating around since the first or second round. Extra places are assigned, filling the gaps from the first two lotteries.
So now, the third lottery is over, and we still haven't got a place. Since the third lottery was meant to fill the places left over by dummy entries in the first two, it may appear that all is lost; however, you have to remember that many winners of the third lottery are fake entries that are still clogging the system. Third-round winners have until Monday to confirm their win. Some will, others won't. On comes the waiting list.
On Monday, a waiting list is randomly generated for team entries that are still in the system, and an email is sent out to (I think) the top 75 places to let them know their status. Now, my theory is that at this point, a number of empty places are already going to exist, caused by third-round dummy winners. Then the system will start going down the waiting list. Presumably, each position will have at least 24 hours to confirm a spot before forfeiting and moving on the next entry in the waiting list. Many will forfeit, because even the waiting list will be clogged full of fake entries. Unfortunately, moving past these fake entries will take time, since each one will have to expire before moving down the list. However, this is when all the fake entries finally get weeded out; when the final places are assigned, everyone with a spot will be an actual team.
So, in conclusion to this massive essay about absolutely nothing of any importance, I still think we are going to get in. It's just going to take a while. Even if we get in the list at position 30, a fairly good result, that's still a month of waiting time. But we'll see how it works; I retain hope.
We'll update on Monday when we find out more about the waiting list.
- Tony
Friday, November 9, 2007
Posting from home! In underwear!
Rich is correct in that I also did not get in on the Tuesday lottery. I hadn't written a blog update about it because I wanted to connect with Rich and make sure he didn't either, but he's avoiding me to hide the massive crush he has on me. So, the pieces are together now: Team WOOO didn't get in. But let me elaborate on Rich's statement about the elusive third drawing:
Our ever-astute friends at The Adventurists have noted that many places awarded in the first and second lotteries were not taken, due to people signing up more than once (cough). To attempt to remedy this, they are holding a third and final lottery; however, this one isn't actually open for registration. The only entries into the third lottery are carry-overs from the first and second lotteries, which should help clear out some of us that have been in from the start. There's still going to be carry-over fake bids, too, so we'll see what happens. After the third one, they start the waiting list, which is randomly assigned. Rally organizers claim that we'll get an email letting us know our status on Friday evening, their time, which is hopefully pretty soon, my time. So pretty soon we'll know where we stand.
LONG LIVE TEAM WOOOOOO
- Tony
Our ever-astute friends at The Adventurists have noted that many places awarded in the first and second lotteries were not taken, due to people signing up more than once (cough). To attempt to remedy this, they are holding a third and final lottery; however, this one isn't actually open for registration. The only entries into the third lottery are carry-overs from the first and second lotteries, which should help clear out some of us that have been in from the start. There's still going to be carry-over fake bids, too, so we'll see what happens. After the third one, they start the waiting list, which is randomly assigned. Rally organizers claim that we'll get an email letting us know our status on Friday evening, their time, which is hopefully pretty soon, my time. So pretty soon we'll know where we stand.
LONG LIVE TEAM WOOOOOO
- Tony
Posting from work!
Tony obviously hasn't been around to update, so heres the news.
I didn't get in in the second sign up, and im assuming Tony didn't either, HOWEVER, today they are holding a 3rd lottery just for people who are still in the list from the second attempt.
So hope is not lost!
-Rich
I didn't get in in the second sign up, and im assuming Tony didn't either, HOWEVER, today they are holding a 3rd lottery just for people who are still in the list from the second attempt.
So hope is not lost!
-Rich
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Third in a series: Really short updates
Today's the day for Rally sign-ups, round 2. I'm automatically entered from last time, and this time we've also got Rich signed up for a place. There's 100 places being assigned, as opposed to 200 places last Thursday, and the team multi-signing is probably going on harder than ever. That said, I'm still not hopeful about getting in today, and still feel we'll get in sometime this week off of the waiting list. But if we get lucky and make it in, hey, great, congratulations us, party all night. We'll be letting everyone know if we got in sometime tomorrow afternoon.
- Tony
- Tony
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Not a real boy yet
Well, we got the email. And the verdict is... no dice, yet. Here's hoping for next Tuesday!
Here's my personal theory: next Tuesday will come and go and we won't get in, and we'll go on the waiting list. Then, dozens of winning teams will drop out, because they were duplicate entries by guys that entered in fifty accounts to the original two windows, and the waiting list teams will get on. I'm optimistic.
Here's my personal theory: next Tuesday will come and go and we won't get in, and we'll go on the waiting list. Then, dozens of winning teams will drop out, because they were duplicate entries by guys that entered in fifty accounts to the original two windows, and the waiting list teams will get on. I'm optimistic.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
The Long Wait
Well, it's done on my end. I put in an application at 9 this morning. There was nothing at all to do; just sign in and click the button. Sort of a let-down. Now comes the longest ~24 hours ever...
-Tony
-Tony
Monday, October 29, 2007
Shit goin' down
Like a fiery messenger from the heavens, word of the ever-elusive Mongol Rally 2008 Registrations has descended down upon us and left chaos and madness in it's wake.
It appears that registration has finally been set, according to emails received by 2008 hopefuls such as yours truly, as well as an updated page on the mongol rally site itself. And it looks like this year, things are going to be run a bit differently.
It seems that a registration window will open at 14:00 GMT on Wednesday, October 31st, which according to highly scientific calculations punched into my cell phone coverts to 9 am in my time. This window will remain open to teams for 24 hours. At the closing of the window, all the teams entered will be randomly assigned. If there are more applicants in this window than there places released, which seems likely, the spillover teams are automatically entered into a SECOND signup window, a week later, which has it's own batch of places to be assigned.
So what happens now is that we sign up on Wednesday and cross our fingers. Whether Team WOOOO gets in or not is completely random, but we have two shots at it, so I think we've got a fair chance. Additionally, the Rally organizers didn't specify how many places are being released in each batch - if the rally sticks to the 200 team limit of 2007, one would assume 100 places per window, but nothing's actually been said about the number. So now we sign up and we hope. Hope for the privilege of dying horribly in a country who's name we can't pronounce.
But one way or anothing, shit is goin' down son
- Tony
It appears that registration has finally been set, according to emails received by 2008 hopefuls such as yours truly, as well as an updated page on the mongol rally site itself. And it looks like this year, things are going to be run a bit differently.
It seems that a registration window will open at 14:00 GMT on Wednesday, October 31st, which according to highly scientific calculations punched into my cell phone coverts to 9 am in my time. This window will remain open to teams for 24 hours. At the closing of the window, all the teams entered will be randomly assigned. If there are more applicants in this window than there places released, which seems likely, the spillover teams are automatically entered into a SECOND signup window, a week later, which has it's own batch of places to be assigned.
So what happens now is that we sign up on Wednesday and cross our fingers. Whether Team WOOOO gets in or not is completely random, but we have two shots at it, so I think we've got a fair chance. Additionally, the Rally organizers didn't specify how many places are being released in each batch - if the rally sticks to the 200 team limit of 2007, one would assume 100 places per window, but nothing's actually been said about the number. So now we sign up and we hope. Hope for the privilege of dying horribly in a country who's name we can't pronounce.
But one way or anothing, shit is goin' down son
- Tony
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Worthless updates
Here's another update that doesn't really say anything. I'm making it, however, because I found out that the Rally website has a little teaser video thing that's pretty excellent and I thought it deserved a post. Watch it here and tell me you aren't excited.
My favorite is the guy that appears to fall off the top of one of the cars.
-Tony
My favorite is the guy that appears to fall off the top of one of the cars.
-Tony
Monday, October 22, 2007
Hey guess who still hasn't updated despite October being more than half over
Surprise, it's The Adventurists! Your prize for guessing correctly is pain, bitterness, and loathing. Don't spend it all in one place!
In other news, not one but TWO people I know personally have confided in actually reading this crap, and one of them didn't even need pestering! Wow!!! Team WOOO is now a bona-fide internet supersensation!
Lastly, I'd like to remind everyone reading of Gosleepgo, the site where we can win a thousand dollars towards our Rally costs. If you like the idea of our winning a thousand dollars, and I certainly do, you should go sign up for an account here, and then support our project here. DOn't worry, they don't send spam or anything, and we've offered to scribble the name of our Gosleepgo supporters on the car if we win. And if we don't, nothing lost but thousands of man-hours and the bright flower of hope.
Let's cross our fingers for some registration updates sometime this year!
- Tony
In other news, not one but TWO people I know personally have confided in actually reading this crap, and one of them didn't even need pestering! Wow!!! Team WOOO is now a bona-fide internet supersensation!
Lastly, I'd like to remind everyone reading of Gosleepgo, the site where we can win a thousand dollars towards our Rally costs. If you like the idea of our winning a thousand dollars, and I certainly do, you should go sign up for an account here, and then support our project here. DOn't worry, they don't send spam or anything, and we've offered to scribble the name of our Gosleepgo supporters on the car if we win. And if we don't, nothing lost but thousands of man-hours and the bright flower of hope.
Let's cross our fingers for some registration updates sometime this year!
- Tony
Friday, October 19, 2007
Team WOOO gains freedom and another obstacle!
Because Tony is a whiny little baby, he insists that I add things to the blog too so that people don't think he has made me up to make them think theres someone in the world who cares enough about his stupid ideas to accompany him on what is likely to be a suicidal deathrace accross the globe.
So today I finally got to talk to my boss about my time off. Good news: he knows what the rally is. Bad news: He laughed and told me to get stuffed when I asked for 4 weeks off. So I may have to go for the career break option, but that is last resort.
I also finally got rid of my crazy bitch girlfriend, which gives me even more incentive to do this thing because goddamnit I need to put the excitement back into life after 2 years of crazy hell!
If we don't get into this I will be very sad :(
- Rich
So today I finally got to talk to my boss about my time off. Good news: he knows what the rally is. Bad news: He laughed and told me to get stuffed when I asked for 4 weeks off. So I may have to go for the career break option, but that is last resort.
I also finally got rid of my crazy bitch girlfriend, which gives me even more incentive to do this thing because goddamnit I need to put the excitement back into life after 2 years of crazy hell!
If we don't get into this I will be very sad :(
- Rich
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
The Adventurists: Here's something you already knew!
So I open my email inbox for about the twentieth time today, because I'm really neurotic like that. And there, gleaming like a nugget of gold left behind in the toilet, is an email from THE ADVENTURISTS, aka the guys that run this whole Rally thing. Foaming at the mouth, lacerating my hand on the mouse, I fly to open it.
If anyone ever tells you blueballs can only be caused by suddenly ceased sexual activity, they are lying, and probably work for The Adventurists. The email was a new newsletter, which is well and fine, but it really said precious little about the facts we're all waiting to hear: When the hell can we sign up for this damn thing?
The newsletter, under the heading of Mongol Rally 2008, informed readers that the "first batch of places" would be available "in the next few weeks", which is possibly even less information than we had prior to this. I suppose it's better than nothing, but man oh man. Blueballs.
A couple of interesting between-the-lines notes: first off, at least we know places are still coming. I was getting worried. Second, they make reference to the "First batch" of places, which implies the presence of one or more batches, logically. Not that this matters to me, since I will be pouncing on the first batch like a fatty on the fresh crab cakes at Old Country Buffet.
Oh yeah, and Jack Osbourne apparently did the rally in 2007 and will be appearing on British TV about it because he's so dang special. At least he's not an insult to the eyes anymore.
Oh, and Rich still doesn't know if he's getting time off or not, the worthless tosser.
- Tony
If anyone ever tells you blueballs can only be caused by suddenly ceased sexual activity, they are lying, and probably work for The Adventurists. The email was a new newsletter, which is well and fine, but it really said precious little about the facts we're all waiting to hear: When the hell can we sign up for this damn thing?
The newsletter, under the heading of Mongol Rally 2008, informed readers that the "first batch of places" would be available "in the next few weeks", which is possibly even less information than we had prior to this. I suppose it's better than nothing, but man oh man. Blueballs.
A couple of interesting between-the-lines notes: first off, at least we know places are still coming. I was getting worried. Second, they make reference to the "First batch" of places, which implies the presence of one or more batches, logically. Not that this matters to me, since I will be pouncing on the first batch like a fatty on the fresh crab cakes at Old Country Buffet.
Oh yeah, and Jack Osbourne apparently did the rally in 2007 and will be appearing on British TV about it because he's so dang special. At least he's not an insult to the eyes anymore.
Oh, and Rich still doesn't know if he's getting time off or not, the worthless tosser.
- Tony
Monday, October 8, 2007
Update: There's no update
Hi everyone! This is an update to inform our faithful reader(s) that we don't have anything to talk about! Hooray!
In keeping with the shoestring unpredictability of the whole mess, the Mongol Rally website still hasn't updated as to when positions will be available, even as the enigmatic "middle of October" draws nearer. We're still waiting for word on when we'll be able to become a real live team.
On the Rich side of things, he's asked for time off but hasn't talked to anybody about it yet. Thanks to corporate efficiency, he expects to hear results by April at the latest. Got to love retail bureaucracy!
That's really all we have to submit. It's not much, but I feel bad not updating on a regular basis. Stay tuned for our next exciting update, when I talk about some of my favorite socks.
-Tony
In keeping with the shoestring unpredictability of the whole mess, the Mongol Rally website still hasn't updated as to when positions will be available, even as the enigmatic "middle of October" draws nearer. We're still waiting for word on when we'll be able to become a real live team.
On the Rich side of things, he's asked for time off but hasn't talked to anybody about it yet. Thanks to corporate efficiency, he expects to hear results by April at the latest. Got to love retail bureaucracy!
That's really all we have to submit. It's not much, but I feel bad not updating on a regular basis. Stay tuned for our next exciting update, when I talk about some of my favorite socks.
-Tony
Monday, October 1, 2007
The first step: registration
Now seems like a good time to announce that your favorite Mongol Rally 2008 team, Team WOOOO, is not actually a Mongol Rally 2008 team. Yet.
The next step of our grand odyssey is to actually sign up for the rally. Why haven't we done this yet? We can't. As it turns out, the Rally has gotten so big, they have to limit the number of teams that enter in a year. I'm not really sure why this is - perhaps they hate money. When dealing with Brits, who knows.
The 2007 rally allowed a maximum of 200 teams. According to Wikipedia, the first 100 or so places were registered for in 22 seconds, and the final 50 were selected by lottery. Whew.
Registration for 2008's rally hasn't started yet. According to the Rally's website, registration opening "sometime around the middle of October". For those of our readers who don't interact with society much, that's only two weeks or so away. So soon, we meet our first challenge: snagging one of those precious spots. I intend, of course, to be sitting at my computer, possibly two of them, refreshing like mad as early as an hour before the scheduled opening. Team WOOOO will not be thwarted by mere failure to register.
Once we get registered is when things start happening. First of all, the registration itself costs us £387, paid online at registration, and split between Rich and myself. In God's money, that's about $750 between the two of us. Not a bad chunk of change. Having this money pre-paid, however, should motivate us to actually go through with this whole thing. Who wants to pussy out of a great adventure when it means losing $350 out of your own pocket? Not me.
After that payment, and the assurances that this whole thing is really going to happen, we'll start our other tasks. Rich will start scouring the whole of the UK for the car that speaks to him with the perfect mixture of sass, rust, and sheer pluck that we need for the Rally. Our agreed-upon budget for a car is £200 between the two of us, so you can imagine the sorts of finds we'll have. As he's doing that, I'll start the long and frankly terrifying process of finding corporate and private sponsors to get us on with this thing. We've already had a few people offer their support; thanks you truly from the bottom of my heart, those of you that know who you are. Rich would say the same if he had a heart to have a bottom to.
Until that fateful day of registration, however, there's not a whole lot for us to do. Rich will ask his time off, I'll continue to spread tendrils of internet presence, and we'll both try to get on with our lives, in quivering anticipation of the day that Team WOOOO becomes a real live team.
Wish us luck. Actually, don't, since the "lucky" thing would be to not go at all. Wish us success.
- Tony
The next step of our grand odyssey is to actually sign up for the rally. Why haven't we done this yet? We can't. As it turns out, the Rally has gotten so big, they have to limit the number of teams that enter in a year. I'm not really sure why this is - perhaps they hate money. When dealing with Brits, who knows.
The 2007 rally allowed a maximum of 200 teams. According to Wikipedia, the first 100 or so places were registered for in 22 seconds, and the final 50 were selected by lottery. Whew.
Registration for 2008's rally hasn't started yet. According to the Rally's website, registration opening "sometime around the middle of October". For those of our readers who don't interact with society much, that's only two weeks or so away. So soon, we meet our first challenge: snagging one of those precious spots. I intend, of course, to be sitting at my computer, possibly two of them, refreshing like mad as early as an hour before the scheduled opening. Team WOOOO will not be thwarted by mere failure to register.
Once we get registered is when things start happening. First of all, the registration itself costs us £387, paid online at registration, and split between Rich and myself. In God's money, that's about $750 between the two of us. Not a bad chunk of change. Having this money pre-paid, however, should motivate us to actually go through with this whole thing. Who wants to pussy out of a great adventure when it means losing $350 out of your own pocket? Not me.
After that payment, and the assurances that this whole thing is really going to happen, we'll start our other tasks. Rich will start scouring the whole of the UK for the car that speaks to him with the perfect mixture of sass, rust, and sheer pluck that we need for the Rally. Our agreed-upon budget for a car is £200 between the two of us, so you can imagine the sorts of finds we'll have. As he's doing that, I'll start the long and frankly terrifying process of finding corporate and private sponsors to get us on with this thing. We've already had a few people offer their support; thanks you truly from the bottom of my heart, those of you that know who you are. Rich would say the same if he had a heart to have a bottom to.
Until that fateful day of registration, however, there's not a whole lot for us to do. Rich will ask his time off, I'll continue to spread tendrils of internet presence, and we'll both try to get on with our lives, in quivering anticipation of the day that Team WOOOO becomes a real live team.
Wish us luck. Actually, don't, since the "lucky" thing would be to not go at all. Wish us success.
- Tony
Team WOOO needs time off work!
Because Tony was feeling lonely after a lifetime of neglect, he's badgered me into adding content to the blog. "But Riiiiiich," he whined, "nobody will read the blog or believe you are real and that I actually have friends unless you post on the blog! People will realise that I am a huge loser!" he added. So here I am.
Last night it occured to me that with my HIGH FLYING CAREER and all, it would probably be sensible to check I can get the time off before cementing any plans to drive to the middle of goddamn nowhere. So current Team WOOO status is: Asking for time off.
I have the vacation time to cover it, and if the company wont let me take it then I can do what they call "Career break" which is when I can have my contract reduced to 0 hours, then get it fully reinstated anytime I come back within a couple of months.
Hopefully I can fiddle this otherwise the project is dead on the ground and Tony might hang himself.
- Rich
Last night it occured to me that with my HIGH FLYING CAREER and all, it would probably be sensible to check I can get the time off before cementing any plans to drive to the middle of goddamn nowhere. So current Team WOOO status is: Asking for time off.
I have the vacation time to cover it, and if the company wont let me take it then I can do what they call "Career break" which is when I can have my contract reduced to 0 hours, then get it fully reinstated anytime I come back within a couple of months.
Hopefully I can fiddle this otherwise the project is dead on the ground and Tony might hang himself.
- Rich
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Team WOOO: In the Beginning
In the beginning, there was an idea. It was a bad one.
In the beginning, Tony saw something called the Mongol Rally. And he saw that it was good. Tony thought to himself, "This sounds like a terrible idea. I should do it. Why, I'm young, handsome, and unattached. What better way to spend my next summer than bouncing through the desert in a terrible British car with a stranger from the Internet? Jolly good." He didn't actually think "Jolly good" to himself, because he is not British.
Tony contact Rich. He said, "Hey, you are going to buy us a crap car and we're going to attempt to drive it to Mongolia.". Because he had years of experience in not standing up for himself, Rich replied, "OK". And thus, Team WOOOOO (you can put however many Os you like, so long as it's more than two) was born. And thus this blog!
The purpose of this blog is to chronicle our journey from concept to fruition. We'll be keeping our adoring fans updated on our quest to get registered for the Rally, get money, buy a car, find sponsorships, get visas to countries we didn't know existed a week ago, beg for donations, and maybe even actually do some driving. The rally is many moons away, but the way is fraught with danger and excitement. And that's before we start on the trip.
Here's a few links to get us started:
http://mongolrally.theadventurists.com/ - The official website of the Rally itself. Find our more about this most fantastic of adventures.
Team WOOOOO on GoSleepGo -Our project entry on GoSleepGo. If we get the most support by the end of this contest in January, we get $1000 bucks towards our expenses. Neat!
Tony on Facebook - If for whatever reason you want to know more about me. Rich doesn't have one because he's a loser.
- Tony
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)