urbanjedi wrote:
except you guys could all come out on Fri night. I know in the past Eric and Lou have offered to help house people from out of town
Yeah - I might look into that - depends on finances. That means I need off work Friday night too. It's not only difficult to arrange that, it is a huge financial drain to miss that much work. I probably make 60% of my weekly income on those 2 nights. I am already giving up 1/3 of my weekly income just to take off Saturday. How many other people are taking off a half week of work (unpaid) for anything other than GenCon? Heck most won't even do that for GENCON - most take off 2 days (maybe) and probably use vacation time to still get paid.
Loss of income is by far the biggest expense to me. Add that to actual cost of gas, food, entry, etc. If I take off Friday and Saturday, and I count loss of income with all the other expenses, it ends up being close to a $500 weekend.
For some reason the community in large still refuses Sundays as a reasonable day to have tournaments.
That being said, it's no fun to work until 1 am Friday night, then get up at 4 or 5 am to drive 4 hours to an "all day" tournament, that usually ends at 5pm, and I'm left wondering "Why didn't this start later?" Especially since we're doing it on a Saturday, and most people don't work the next day. So if there were a more sensible time to go late and crash somewhere it would be Saturday night. That seems like a better plan to me (in my fantasy world that I know will never happen). Start the tournament later, go late, get all the competitive stuff done - then we can relax and stay up all night doing fun stuff, and it won't matter. Sleep in, have a lazy trip back, get home at a reasonable time for a good nights sleep.
Don't get me wrong, that 1 hour is valuable, and certainly a step in the right direction.
It's just a tough cookie to swallow to be the only one who it is costing that much income.
I am just venting - I do stand by having the tournament on a day and time that gets the most turn-out. At the end of the day that is the biggest concern. And Jason, Lou, Eric, and all the Michigan guys (Not to mention Brad and others outside of MI) have always been more than gracious.
I should just be happy I have steady work. In this economy, many are struggling to get any (or at least consistent) work. So even if it cost me a bundle - I still have a good job to come back to, so I can start filling the coffers again.
I guess I gotta look at it as money well spent either way - because it is always fun.