TimbukTOO Team Room

[Izzzmeister]

Sorry, another on-the-run post!
Welcome to the galley, Roger Gwinn! Eventually, you’ll learn to enjoy the whippings! 13 of 29 members (44%) logged 179,681 total meters Thursday which, with Roger’s 60,000, added 239,681 meters, putting us in 8th Place!

Milestones achieved: Walter W first to 200K, Jerry H achieved 150K as did Kyle J, Kenny H reached 75K, Roger G contributed over 50K, while John S & Glenn Y hit 25K!!
Approaching milestones: Walter is amazingly nearing 250K (-10,221m), Jim eyes 150K (-22,155m), Joseph pulling for 100K (-8,096m), Andy (-7,116m) leading Keith (-7,972m) towards 75K , while Brent approaches 25K (-3,444m)!

Posted Meters:
Walter W - 42,195 Third FM!!!
Jim C - 21,097 Sweeeeet! HM!
Jerry H - 21,097 HM!
John S - 21,097 HM as second row of the year!
Kyle J - 20,419 Impressive!

Joseph W - 10,457 Another big season developing…
Kenny H - 8,000 Contributing regularly…
Cindy R - 7,324 Yet another…
Lee C - 7,000 On schedule…
Keith J - 6,992 Man, oh Man!

Glenn Y - 5,163 PULLing for us!
Brent C - 5,000 Back to back!
Andy I - 3,840 Four in a row!

[damselfly]

All hands on deck! 11 of 30 members (37%) logged 122,047 total meters Friday!

Milestones achieved:
Yisroel H hit 100K, Joseph W hit 100K, Pat M hit 75K, Brent C hit 35K, Bob G hit 25K!!

Approaching milestones:
Jim is approaching 150K (-9,655m), Andy is approaching 75K (-4,053m), Adam is approaching 75K (-5,000m), Brent is approaching 50K (-7,347m), Bob is approaching 35K (-6,109m), Gary is approaching 25K (-5,000m)

Posted Meters:
Brent C - 21,097
Yisroel H - 15,553
Pat M - 15,524
Jerry H - 14,000
Jim C - 12,500
Adam M - 10,000
Bob G - 10,000
Joseph W - 8,210
Kenny H - 7,100
Gary D - 5,000
Andy I - 3,063

[damselfly]

Congratulations to Brent, the latest TimBukTooian to meet the Marathon Challenge with a half marathon today!! Way to row, man!!

[bcurry]

Thanks

My right hip cramped up with 1000m left, that sucked. Weirdest cramp ever, outside of my hip

[damselfly]

12 of 31 members (39%) logged 232,725 total meters Saturday!

Welcome back to returning member Mike Beggs!! Glad to have you back in the boat!!

Milestones achieved:
Walter and David hit 250K, Roger and Adam M bested 75K, John S hit 50K, and Elisa H hit 25K!!

Approaching milestones:
Jerry is approaching 200K (-13,112m), Kyle is approaching 200K (-19,681m), Roger is approaching 100K (-6,903m), Kenny is approaching 100K (-8,656m), Elisa is approaching 35K (-6,488m)

This week's frequent rowers (Sat 5/5 through Fri 5/11):
Jerry H - 7
Pat M & Walter W - 6
Andy I, Jim C, Joseph W & Keith J - 5
Adam M, David W, Gary D, Kenny H, Kyle J & Matthew R - 4

Posted Meters:
David W - 63,825
Roger G - 33,097
Kyle J - 25,000
Walter W - 21,097
John S - 21,097
Jerry H - 15,500
Elisa H - 12,500
Adam M - 11,000
Joseph W - 10,543
Pat M - 10,066
Kenny H - 7,000
Mike B - 2,000

[damselfly]

TimBukTooians are continuing to shine in the Global Marathon Challenge!! On the honors board for full marathons we now have Walter (with 3!), Andy, and the Izzmeister. Thirteen Tooians appear on the board for half marathons: Joseph, David, Walter, John, Matthew, Kyle, Izz, Kenny, Jerry, Lisa, Roger, Brent, and Jim. Izz, Kenny, and John have 2 each; Walter has 3 (nicely balancing his FMs ); Jerry has 4; and David has tallied a whopping 12 HMs!!

Nicely rowed, team!!

Anyone wishing to participate in this challenge note you have till the 15th to row either a half or a full.

[Izzzmeister]

Captain’s Message
When I (inadvertently) took over the Captain’s chair two years ago, it was to hold the team together. A private e-mail message from the Captain was perceived by a team member as an insult, so he contacted those who were close to him to immediately leave the team in protest. About 8 people left immediately and, by the time the second and third wave ended, 16 rowers had left. In less than a week, TimbukTOO had sunk from 8th Place among teams to 14th and was in general turmoil.
I tried to step in to make peace between the sides, and to stabilize the remainder of the team. One side admitted that he was probably being too sensitive (though he wouldn‘t send me a copy of the supposedly offensive statement), that it was most likely his illness and consequent confusion affecting him, but he needed some time to make peace and/or return. The other side was busy trying to hold together 2 businesses in the midst of a recession, was hurt that after years of investing energy into TimbukTOO she wasn’t given the benefit of the doubt, and also left. This left me reluctantly holding the reins.
In the beginning, I went after those that had jumped ship. Some returned, only to jump a few days later. I invited friends and acquaintances and rowing buddies to join, but when they did join it tended to be for short periods of time, and they contributed nothing to the team. And when they left, it upset the committed team members.
I realized, after this trial-and-error, that we needed to concentrate on stability. If the team was stable, building slowly but steadily, it could provide an environment that would be positive, fun, safe, encouraging, meaningful and strong.
We began inviting just those that had expressed interest in joining a team, or in TimbukTOO (or TimbukTWO). We stopped pursuing dilettantes and team-hoppers.
At that point the team, which had stabilized at about 12th Place, slowly started growing and climbing. We cracked the Top Ten about a year later, and we finished last season in 9th Place. But more importantly, many team members lowered their weight and their need for medication, increased their energy and productivity, and contributed both meters and spirit to our team. Consequently, our team was amazingly stable, picking up probably 15 new people last year while losing maybe five.
Two days ago, 4 people picked up and left our team, providing no explanation. I decided to go back and see if there was something said or done that could have concerned them, or motivated them to leave. The only thing I found was, in my (rushed, last-minute) Friday entry, I greeted new team member Roger with: “Welcome to the galley, Roger Gwinn! Eventually, you’ll learn to enjoy the whippings!” While veteran team members are used to us facetiously comparing our “TimbukTOO boat” to a pirate ship or a galley ship or a boat of sailors on shore leave, etc., it’s possible that a few new members were shocked by the violent imagery of this “inside joke” and left.
Here’s my request: If I say something you find offensive, if I don’t say something I should, please privately drop me a line. I don’t read minds, as my wife can clearly attest, so please inform me about anything I need to know to make your TimbukTOO experience safe, enjoyable and meaningful.
I apologize to anyone I hurt or jarred with any of my posts, and I wish to reaffirm that each one of you is valuable and important to myself and the TimbukTOO team. So grab an oar, the water’s fine!

On to Timbuktu!
Cap’n Izzz

[Izzzmeister]

A sad goodbye to relative newcomers Walter Washington, Kenny Holliman & Roger Gwinn. We hope you return and stay!
7 of 28 members (25%) logged 143,131 total meters Sunday!

Milestones achieved: Keith J & Bryan S passed 75K while Glenn Y achieved 50K!!
Approaching milestones: Pat within reach of 100K (-5,234m), Andy nears 75K (-1,016m) while Nancy is in range of 25K (-2,601m)!

Posted Meters:
Bryan S - 80,000 Great 2-week total!
Glenn Y - 21,097 Wow!!! HM!!!
Keith J - 15,403 Two rows or one?!
Joseph W - 10,136 Five in a row!
Pat M - 8,458 I’m impressed, Izz Mazz!
Nancy W - 5,000 First 5K?
Andy I - 3,037 Sixth row this week!

[wyattwyatt]

nothing here but gratitude and respect to izzz and lisa for their selfless work to recognize and motivate. thanks!!

i appreciate the clever wit and the gentle kidding and there are days where i probably would not row if it were not for their leadership and motivation.

so again, and louder, THANKS!!!

[CONLEJM]

Ditto,

Izz and Lisa are doing a great job keeping us informed and motivated. I appreciate the humor, wit and wisdom that you both bring to the board.

Thanks for all you do!

[lcantey]

I personally find reading the write-ups and responses to be an enjoyable routine that I look forward to each day and were the reason why I decided to join team TimbukTOO. I certainly hope whatever reasons they had were unrelated and if not come to see the spirit in which they were intended.

Thanks to both of you for your tireless energy keeping the boat afloat.

Lee

[Quatroux]

What we need is a good team challenge... and some bumbo*.

FYI I adopted a new dog two weeks ago and have cut my daily meters down to allow time for it to take me for walks. These things walk a lot. It must be the extra two feet.


*pirate drink not baby seats

[princemishkin]

I'd also like to add my humble thanks it Izzz and Lisa. Your efforts are much appreciated from me and I'm really glad to be back on board.
I always look forward to reading the team updates, I find them entertaining!

Cheers guys!

[tobyj1]

Izzy, for heavens sake it is a bit of fun, ignore keyboard warriors- what is it with forums (fora?).

I was looking for a team you were welcoming and yes I am rowing more because of the team aspect and the chivvying, the galley slaves allusion is pretty obvious I didn't think there was a hidden SM theme!!

"Crack on" (sorry bad pun).

To answer your question two rows for the 15k off the Island using hotel machine, posted when I got home, Sunday off then a HM.

Thanks to you and the Damsel.

Keith

[brick1101]

Finally getting back to the Erg after moving 4+ tons of Nelsonville Sidewalk paving bricks from Ohio to Alabama and then installing a mess of those bricks into a sidewalk.
That said, I'm sorry to read here about humor being taken the wrong way. I was reminded of one of my old journal entries which shows how things can be misread. Here it is...

Being of age in the 1970’s, one publication I loved to read was The National Lampoon. The wit and satire was so perfect for that time in history. Perhaps one of the most brilliant things they ever published was the 1964 Kefauver High School Year Book parody in 1974.

This was followed by a Sunday Newspaper parody of the Dacron, Ohio Republican-Democrat in 1978.

In order to fully appreciate the parody of the newspaper, you had to be familiar with the characters in the High School Yearbook as they are all in the “news”.

For today’s entry I’m going to copy the “Dear Dorothy” feature from the newspaper parody entitled:

Friends Indeed?

DEAR DOROTHY: At a luncheon at a friend’s house I discovered that there was no toilet tissue in the bathroom and as I needed some I had no choice but to use a hand towel. I put the hand towel into my purse fully intending to take it home, wash it, and return it the next day. However, a while later my friend asked to see my new handbag. Needless to say she found the towel and accused me of stealing. What should I do now?

EMBARASSED: PORTLAND, OREGON

DEAR EMBARASSED: Anyone who entertains and doesn’t have the sense to check her toilet tissue supply isn’t considerate enough to have friends. If she’s really your friend I’d hate to meet your enemies!


DEAR DOROTHY: I had a few friends over for lunch the other day and as we were visiting, I noticed one of the gals was acting very peculiar. I suspected something right away and asked to see her purse. She was very reluctant to give me her purse and with good reason - she stole one of my towels! I’m shocked and don’t quite know what to do.

ANGRY: PORTLAND, OREGON

DEAR ANGRY: Anyone who steals from her friends is no friend at all. Drop her like a hot brick!



DEAR DOROTHY: I am very generous about loaning things, but I’m really miffed. I loaned a neighbor my expensive good guest hand towels for a luncheon party. When she returned then the next day, one of them was stained and smelled of urine. What could be wrong with her?

REVOLTED: PORTLAND, OREGON

DEAR REVOLTED; I think your friend needs a hygiene lesson. And you need friends like her the way a cat needs swim fins.