Finally, one of the biggest meetings in Kart has finally happened. The meeting of the glitchmen has been
completed. Since November 1997, This meeting has been planned, cause at one point, there was a thought that David
may never be back online, and of course cause of his talk about his local competition with adam and others, I figure he'd
like to get a taste of the national picture in kart. Really the first ideas of actual gaming meetups on our circle
can actually date back to 1995 with the cambellsville bunch meeting up with a group of people from Seattle for
some Super Mario Kart competition! Seattle ended up winning, however this set the standard for all future encounters
between gamers. Everyone that saw this site was definitely thinking that one day, it would be great to meet their competition
just like Jared Rose and his bunch did at that time. Recently, I read up on some stuff that went on in the Golden Era
at Twingalaxies, and it seemed they had a history of big meetings of gaming rivals. It seems this idea indeed has
been around for ages, it appears.
The Failed Attempt
As some of you may know, back in 1998, I visited team indianola (Launspach and Engel), and got to compete with them for
a short time. It was bad timing, so I could not make the extra trip to Ohio that I once wanted to do. Just was well
I guess, cause it would have only been for a day, but it did affect David's Motivation to kart, which of course in
turn could have drastically changed the future. I remember trying to clear all the contest idea with David's Dad. Basically,
David did, but he couldn't quite, so of course I used my "Historian Skills" and worked it out. I sorta felt
sheepish when the idea ended up going belly up in Indianola. I wasn't sure how I could live that one down if I ever
was to make a visit. Seems though that it ended up not being too much of a problem =).
Preliminaries To The Trip
This time we wanted to "plan" this a bit better, so it isn't another one of those failed attempts. So much for that. At first
we were gonna target the 15th-26th area and meet in Iowa with Twin Galaxies. They ended up having to go to E3 around
that time, so that was out. Davids Parents ended up taking off on the 16th for their vacation, and of course, they didn't
know me was well as they do now, so I'm sure it would be in their best interests for them to be around when I was, so
that meant David needed the vacation days a week earlier, and so did I. It was close, but after botched stuff
at the ticket purchase, I was ready to go. It figures I'd get promoted at my job at the same time all of
this goes down. So you can say once again there were obsticles to clear, but of course if I would not have cleared
them, I would not be making a page rightn now about this trip. So the meeting of the Glitchmen is on!
The Night Before Meeting
Before that even, David IM'd me for what I thought might be the last time before the meeting. Of course I click
his spoof chat invite window, so the window with his phone number crashes along with the rest of AIM... DRAT! Luckily,
I stuck around AIM after my nightly starcraft session, cause David was freshly online after a power outage in his
area that left 5-digits without power. If you haven't guessed already, Ohio is a weathermans nightmare with weather
you just can't count on to be good or bad for that matter on a given day. Anyhow, it was good for him to be on, cause of course
I did get his number just in case something unexpected happened. Of course I asked about some last second touchy areas
at the location I was visiting. It was just the usual, don't take a bat to your controller in the living room, and
say that your %#)#($*#$* god after each WR you set stuff. With that info, and only 3 hours to sleep til the
takeoff time, I was off in dreamland.
On The Way To The Plane
Man I HATE MORNINGS. I got myself packed and out the door pretty quickly. I had most my stuff packed before I woke, so
that did save some agony. I made the greyhound bus station with the help of my brother pretty easily. We even had time
for him to get some chow, and for me to get alot of reading material that I was glad I got. Realize that I went
cover-to-cover through a readers digest on the way up there! The Greyhound trip from Eugene to Portland was pretty boring.
There was this grouchy driver that was already late that couldn't drive a lick. It took her 3 tries to clear the bus station,
and get to the road. Ok, one time was to blame on a car, but after the other 2, she said, "greyhound is accepting applications
now =)" So I ended up losing alot of time due to this bus problem. Well when I get to the greyhound station in
portland, the excitement starts. I first call for a shuttle, and find out they are backed up for an hour. I only had 1.3 hours
to get to the plane, so this didn't seem like a great idea to me. Things were looking pretty bad for me to make it
to the plane, that is for sure. That is til I meet a guy in yellow with alot of luggage. Professor Chys Techawaro,
from Bangkok was one of the most interesting characters I've ever met. Anyhow, it seemed he already had a
cab set up, so I helped him take his luggage out to the front of the place. He seemed to have this predisposition
for cabbies and thought they all rip people off. It took awhile to work out a deal with the cabbie and that guy.
Man, why is it always me that has to employ his "historian skills". I tell ya, my life as the top man in the
Kart Community definitely prepared me for this trip, that is for sure. This "professor" was very unique that is for sure.
He was particular with what hand you loaded his luggage with and the method you held it. Very strange stuff, but my goal
was to get to the airport before I was late, so as long as that happened, the rest I could live with. Anyhow, I agreed
to go to his religious temple first before I head to the airport. Of course, once he gets there, there is once again
arguments about fares and all. While this was going on, I was running with his luggage and putting it in the guesthouse near
the temple. Eventually, I got tired of it, and told the cabbie to just take what he gave him and I'll take care
of the rest. The cabbie felt a bit guilty, but I basically told him I want to get to the airport, and this
problem before me is pretty 2nd priority and I'll take care of it. So you can say I made a friend out of the cabbie and
the religious dude on one fail swoop. So if anyone wants to contact the professor, I do got his phone and beeper
numbers right here =). No, seriously I do, just ask me! Anyhow, finally the cabbie drops me off, and I pay my
fare, plus 6 of the guys, and I give the cabbie the rest of my 1's for the trouble. I tell ya, if I was a cabbie, this
would be one hell of a scam to pull. I'll have to remember that for the future =).
Plane Boring
Well, no time to be bored quite yet, cause I had only a few minutes to get to my plane. First, info directed me to TWAs area
so I can pick up my tickets. From there, I got the tickets and all ok, but I only had a couple minutes to
get frisked and get on the plane. Ya know, the throw the bag in the xray and walk through the metal detector
bit. I, of course made it, with just a bit of time to spare on the boarding. From there, it was quite boring. First,
waiting to take off in a hot plane, and then a familiar spiel of safety regulations. Yep, George Carlin came to mind
while I was on this plane. The flight to my first connection was pretty boring. I read my whole readers digest
cover-to-cover, and well caught maybe 30 minutes of some relaxation time. The food well was airline food, but at
least it was the stuff I basically wanted, so that was kewl. Anyhow, when we got to St. Louis, they had to be held
in a holding pattern cause of something in the runway. Well that is great. Anyhow, 39 minutes of layaway isn't all
that long when your 11 minutes late, and your next plane is a 20 minute walk from where you get dropped off. Man, I was
walking fast. BTW, I never take anything else but carry-on when I go on trips. I don't trust others with my
luggage =). However, my carry-on is quite bulky and heavy, so you can imagine hurrying with as hot as ST. Louis was
now. They do have walking escalators here, but the people are so slow on them, that it was actually faster for me
to walk on still ground. Anyhow, got on that one, and well for the snack on this flight... 1/2 ounces of pretzels. Hmmm that
might be able to feed a hampster =).
Will the WONN waiting for me please stand up?
Well finally, my travel in the air is over. Kinda Strange to first start your journey even before 6AM and here it is
nearly 9pm, and you are finally done. Anyhow, I got out of the plane, and walked into the waiting area wondering
which of these people are David Wonn. I looked towards the end, and I looked right at him. It was funny, cause, he was supposed
to wear his DK shirt, but he didn't. I wore my Pleasant Hill shirt though, but I don't think that was the giveaway. Anyhow, I looked
away briefely cause I heard someone else behind me say something, but I knew that was not them. Anyhow, I turned back
around, and that is when David knew I had to be looking for him. Anyhow, we intro'd ourselves and shook hands. It was
great to finally get this meeting to happen after all of these years. A note to all our readers. Just remember just
cause someone tests in the 10,000th percentile in Math, doesn't mean they always remember where they park =). Since
he was last at Port Columbus, it has changed tons. It got way bigger, that is for sure. We first tried to exit another direction, but
learned we gotta backtrack to get to the car. He commented on how they doubled the width of the exit ramps at the
airport. We also joked about how it tells you to turn on your lights, AFTER you exit the ramps. Sorta funny, if you ask
me =). Anyhow, we made it to the gate, and I was gonna split him the cost of the parking. He said he got it covered, and said
the meal is on me too tonight. I sorta felt gulity, but I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth =). Anyhow, on the way
home, we decided to hit Mcdonalds' drive thru. Seems that the affects of David Wonn are already apparent when I noticed their
order on a screen feaure is backed up like crazy. I immediately blamed him of course =). Anyhow, we had a good laugh about that
as we waited for our order. Amazingly, they got his plain sandwitch right. Anyhow, we headed to his place from there
wtih haste. I must say, the neighborhood reminded me alot of my days at Kensington Park Drive back when I was
young. All the yards and houses were superbly taken care of, that is for sure. Anyhow, when he went to park, he had
to make sure not to hit his oldest sisters vehicle, but of course allow his parents to get out of the garage as well. Anyhow, we
immediately v-lined to the dining room to eat our takeout. It figures that they would forget my BBQ sauce, even though I stated that
I wanted extra of it to boot. Oh well, they had some in the fridge, so that worked just fine.
The First Night
Anyhow, as we were chowing down, I got to meet his whole family. His 2 sisters, Michelle and Rebecca and got to meet
his mom and dad. They were of course very friendly, and it seemed that all my worries about them not liking me
can be put to rest =). I made small chat with them for awhile, before Dave and I got done with our meals. After that,
I got a small tour around the house, and from there decided that the den where the computer is would be the ideal room for
me to sleep. After that, it was down to the basement where all the games are. Finally, what Dave has been waiting
for. A gamer that is as hardcore as him when it comes to the console games. We decided that first off we'd do some battle in
both karts. I thought for sure that he'd cream me at the SMK one, but I was showing signs of great playing at first.
I told him how Tyler and I used to play, and that we'd go to 15 and win by 2 just like in volleyball. Anyhow, til about 8, I stayed
right with him, but I lost it from there, and he won 5 games straight to get to 15. About the same thing happened,
in Kart 64 Battle. I knew David was the better gamer, so it wasn't suprising that I was getting beat, but at least
I was able to show him that I knew how to evade the attacks about as well as he did, and I had my own way of trapping
him into compromising situations out on the courses.
Gaming Insanity
Yep, I'll admit, we gamed alot, and especially in the first couple days. We played a veriety of games, from all
different systems. Yes, we even broke out the atari! I told him that I used to enjoy playing warlords for the
atari, so we first tried that. He was clearly better once more, but trust me, I gave him a decent set of games.
His idea about playing "suicide mode" was great. That proved even more a challenge at times, cause the CPU had a
habit of killing itself without trying to. I think that way of play might have even been more fun than trying to play
the correct way. The 2v2 stuff with suicide mode was really strange. Passing the ball to eachother, but getting
out of the way of it at the same time looks real strange. We also played maze craze (I think that was the name of it).
Anyhow, he was right about that old game being addicting too casue of all the modes and different mazes. He was
clearly better at most modes, but I did take a few rounds from him here and there. Among other games we tried
were many titles for the Nes like Ikari Warriors, which without continue codes is I'd say closest to impossible to beat
that I cna think of, unless of course, you are turning tanks into helecoptors, or utilizing the many glitches he
did. I was quite fortunite to "accidentally" trigger them all. We even played about 3 hours of Mario Party and
Super Smash bros. He was better at those too by a good margin as well. I did take some rounds from him in
Mario Party believe it or not, and even in some of his favorite mini-games! Anyhow, while playing some smash bros., I did
notice I was starting to get a bit tired. This was one of the few nights that I was actually tired before he was. Kinda
strange concidering he is a graveyard worker =).
