ASLOK Thoughts in the Age of Covid

Plans for attending ASLOK XXXV?

  • Wasn't planning on attending anyway...

    Votes: 46 40.0%
  • Will be there, masks or not...

    Votes: 17 14.8%
  • Will be there, but only if masks are required...

    Votes: 1 0.9%
  • Will be there, but only if masks aren't required...

    Votes: 4 3.5%
  • Won't be attending due to Covid, but had been planning on it pre-pandemic...

    Votes: 20 17.4%
  • Might be there - depends on how the pandemic develops by the Fall...

    Votes: 20 17.4%
  • Might be there - depends on non-pandemic things like $, vacation, spousal approval, etc...

    Votes: 7 6.1%

  • Total voters
    115
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Actionjick

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It is a terrible idea. Brett will have to collate orders, get the shirts, prepare shipments, etc....all on his own time. He has a PayPal account. If you want to help him out send some money his way. But this T-Shirt idea is nonsense.
Not really if the virtual angle is pursued. I can see it as an idea for VASL tournaments. No shipping hassles for the TD and the " attendee " picks out the color and style of shirt, hat, underwear, whatever from wherever he has it made.
 

Michael Dorosh

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Not really if the virtual angle is pursued. I can see it as an idea for VASL tournaments. No shipping hassles for the TD and the " attendee " picks out the color and style of shirt, hat, underwear, whatever from wherever he has it made.
I do believe there are "print on demand" sites where you can warehouse the artwork, and the site takes care of the rest - shipping, etc. No collating. No overhead. Just collect the money. That is exactly how print on demand booksellers work. So the complaints by Ganjulama seem not to have any merit.
 

RandyT0001

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The Purist

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I just want to see it when it happens, Cary. :)
Saw a Bobcat take out a black squirrel last spring. Squirrel was so intent on his foraging he did not see it coming. Fast as lightning and over in a blink.

The T's done via an eStore would be the way to go in this case. It could actually be less work than normal.

There is no harm is Zac (Pixelgeek) checking it out and letting Bret know what's involved. If it is only a matter of providing the logo/pattern and everything else is up to the buyer then great. One more step into the modern age ( and one less thing for the TD to do). ?
 
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Pitman

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ASLOK on hold for now.

Thanks to everyone for all the feedback. Since I posted this query it seems that the US has only had bad news regarding the Corona virus. As such I'm not optimistic at all that we will be able to hold ASLOK this year. I reached out to the hotel and bought us another couple of weeks to decide, but at the moment I am planning on cancelling barring a sudden change in the news. I would expect to come to a final decision by mid-July.

Presuming we do end up cancelling we will likely run a VASL alternative for those interested. Right now we're leaning towards 2 waves of Minis (call them Thursday/Saturday) with the Thursday minis leading to Grofaz play and then Saturday minis for those either not interested in Grofaz or who get knocked out by Saturday. I haven't figured out if we'll do shirts this year or not. More details to come by mid-July.

For anyone that has pre-registered, we will offer to either refund your $ or roll over to next year at your option.

Thanks to everyone who has inquired about finances. At the moment, I'm optimistic that the hotel will basically let us roll over our commitment until next year. Fortunately the hotel really likes our group and values the relationship going forward more than attempting to leverage a one year windfall from us this year. So I think we will be OK financially, but we will see what the fallout is in a couple weeks when I cancel as anticipated.
Bret, thanks very much for approaching this with a view towards protecting everybody. Instead of t-shirts, do masks! :)

Re your last point--if there is financial fallout (I hope there won't be), my offer of a contribution to help defray costs still stands.

In a cruel irony, the pandemic has made my professional life harder, in several ways, and at the same time it is depriving me of one of my favorite ways to get away from that sort of stuff. I'm sure many others have had similar experiences. I can't wait for all this to be over.

Thanks again.
 

Actionjick

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Saw a Bobcat take out a black squirrel last spring. Squirrel was so intent on his foraging he did not see it coming. Fast as lightning and over in a blink.

The T's done via an eStore would be the way to go in this case. It could actually be less work than normal.

There is no harm is Zac (Pixelgeek) checking it out and letting Brent know what's involved. If it is only a matter of providing the logo/pattern and everything else is up to the buyer then great. One more step into the modern age. ?
Kent has a black squirrel population with several urban legends how they got here. Haven't seen any bobcats.
 

Actionjick

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Bret, thanks very much for approaching this with a view towards protecting everybody. Instead of t-shirts, do masks! :)

Re your last point--if there is financial fallout (I hope there won't be), my offer of a contribution to help defray costs still stands.

In a cruel irony, the pandemic has made my professional life harder, in several ways, and at the same time it is depriving me of one of my favorite ways to get away from that sort of stuff. I'm sure many others have had similar experiences. I can't wait for all this to be over.

Thanks again.
The virtual shirt idea easily can be applied to masks.
 

Fort

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Now you have. This was my backyard, last night.....
Biology FYI:

Fishers (a mustelid) prey on Lynx. Quite often, lynx remains found in its den show signs of a fisher being the killer.
Conversely, bobcats are known to prey on fishers.
The lynx is larger, but less heavily built. The bobcat is a tough brawler.
 

The Magnus

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From Canada Post's website (and personal experience bears this out):
Interesting. We have gone over to buy 90% of "everything" via the web instead of maybe 50%. We get 1-2 packages a week from outside Sweden (why not shop where it is the cheapest), mostly from Germany, some from Denmark, UK, and China. Occasionally USA, but seldom as we have to pay customs. All works at least as well as before, except China which is somewhat unreliable but so it was before the Pandemic.
 

Michael Dorosh

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Biology FYI:

Fishers (a mustelid) prey on Lynx. Quite often, lynx remains found in its den show signs of a fisher being the killer.
Conversely, bobcats are known to prey on fishers.
The lynx is larger, but less heavily built. The bobcat is a tough brawler.
Huh - apparently fishers are common here in Alberta, but I don't recall ever hearing the name before. Very interesting. Google tells me they are reclusive so perhaps that's why they are not on my radar.
 

Michael Dorosh

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Interesting. We have gone over to buy 90% of "everything" via the web instead of maybe 50%. We get 1-2 packages a week from outside Sweden (why not shop where it is the cheapest), mostly from Germany, some from Denmark, UK, and China. Occasionally USA, but seldom as we have to pay customs. All works at least as well as before, except China which is somewhat unreliable but so it was before the Pandemic.
China has become a steady source of supply for war reenactors on a budget and I've had good luck buying from there - often very fast, and shipping was cheap. But once COVID was full force, very unpredictable as you point out. I ordered an inexpensive hair clipper thinking that if barbers are off limits for a long time, it might come in handy, but it took over 3 months to arrive, by which time we are already into the staged recovery. (You couldn't get stuff like that locally, either. Not even dog grooming kits. Also thermometers.)
 

The Magnus

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China has become a steady source of supply for war reenactors on a budget and I've had good luck buying from there - often very fast, and shipping was cheap. But once COVID was full force, very unpredictable as you point out. I ordered an inexpensive hair clipper thinking that if barbers are off limits for a long time, it might come in handy, but it took over 3 months to arrive, by which time we are already into the staged recovery.
Exactly my experience. In March I bought some electronic stuff via Wish, maybe 8-9 groups of items from 8-9 different companies. The most expensive item I got within 1 week. Fantastic. Most other items arrived within a month or so. The cheapest item got here a couple of weeks ago. And I am still waiting for two mid-price items. I never buy from there if I need something quickly, but their prices are unbeatable.
 

Actionjick

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China has become a steady source of supply for war reenactors on a budget and I've had good luck buying from there - often very fast, and shipping was cheap. But once COVID was full force, very unpredictable as you point out. I ordered an inexpensive hair clipper thinking that if barbers are off limits for a long time, it might come in handy, but it took over 3 months to arrive, by which time we are already into the staged recovery. (You couldn't get stuff like that locally, either. Not even dog grooming kits. Also thermometers.)
Just get a bowl that fits over your head, a pair of scissors and go for the Moe look from the Three Stooges. I used to have Larry style hair but now much more like Curley.
 
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