Kickoff vs Ship Poll

[Steve W]

The last survey went so well I thought that I would start another. The question is:

What is more stressful to you: Kick off or ship date? Please feel free to include reasoning.

[Bcahn836]

The kickoff for me doesn't have a deadline the ship date does. The kickoff brings more anxiety the ship date brings alot more stress, because you must worry about soo many things like is my design going to work did we make the right decisions and are we going to be done in time. The kickoff is like Christmas morning you can't wait to see what you get.

[Ryan M.]

Ship date.

Being a programmer, I don't have a whole lot to do on kickoff, or even for a few days. We talk about what our robot will do, etc, but I don't really care.

Ship date and the week leading up to it are a continual madhouse of yelling at who ever is using the robot to get it over to the computers, compiling while waiting, downloading code, waiting for whoever decided they were going to work on the bot while the code was transferring, moving it to the practice field, running it, finding out the autonomous mode setting switches were wrong, switching them, waiting for whoever decided they were going to work on the bot, testing it again, running back to the computers to fix the code, and repeat.

But it doesn't stress me.

[Aignam]

Kickoff is full of excitement. You're giddy, you're nervous, you're anxious, you have that feeling in the pit of your stomach that is only comparable to that of standing in the line waiting for your ride on the rollercoaster. You don't have a worry in the world, though---things will be better this year. You'll finish the robot in week 4 and have plenty of time to debug, program, practice, and relax. This year is going to be better.

Ship date comes. Now that's stress. So, the robot isn't quite functioning properly, the programmers can't get the code to not send the robot into the wall, your robotic arm fell off, your drivetrain has some kinks, you're 20 pounds overweight. Oh, and the delivery truck is coming in two hours. Yet, somehow, you'll make it.

That's FIRST for you.

[Koko Ed]

Kickoff features the joys of discovery. Ship date features the fear of utter failure.

[Elgin Clock]

Originally Posted by Bcahn836

Christmas morning you can't wait to see what you get.

And the Ship date is like those last few days before Christmas, when you are stressed out as to if you got something for everyone.

Cause if not, you have to build a last minute gift in the pits.. if that makes sense.. sort of.. idk.

[Conor Ryan]

i agree, but ship date is a relief if your a builder, but it brings on the anxiety of the next competition

[jonathan lall]

I don't see how Kickoff can at all be construed as "stressful." I compare it to opening Christmas presents, which is quite the opposite. I think there's a poll about that very connection somewhere actually.

[Elgin Clock]

Originally Posted by jonathan lall

I think there's a poll about that very connection somewhere actually.

<me> looks at the top of the thread...</me>

[dlavery]

Originally Posted by jonathan lall

I don't see how Kickoff can at all be construed as "stressful."

Just try looking at it from a different viewpoint - like that of the folks at FIRST. They have to get everything ready for the kick-off, finish packing the kits, ship out all the materials to the remote kick-off sites, complete the game design, publish the documentation, send out the field drawings, complete all the corporate agreements, confirm registration of all the teams, proofread the game rules for the 1435th time, purchase JVN's birthstone, coordinate the satellie connection for the broadcast, procure all the spare parts that will be needed, prepare to handle the inevitable questions from teams, and about 750 other things. From their standpoint, Kick-off is a masive stress point. Ship date is a walk in the woods in comparison.

(just a gentle reminder not to limit yourself to just one viewpoint - every problem can and should be examined from different angles)

-dave

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by dlavery

, purchase JVN's birthstone,

-dave

Is this a game hint?

[Jeff K.]

Originally Posted by Andrew

Is this a game hint?

I doubt it, there is nothing on it on the internet

I typed the whole phrase 'JVN Birthstone' into google and yahoo, nothing showed up, but this one old site that's for sale now, that was probably selling items for families and such. http://www.jvn.org/ochnl.asp?keywords=Family&t=p&chnl=1 is the site.

...but y does he state JVN birthstones?

[Paul H]

John V Neun's birthstone...he's a forum member, it's a joke.

Unless the game involves stones of some sort.....hmmmm

[Franchesca]

I see it two different ways:

1) Kick-Off: Simply because you know that you are about to start 6 weeks of an incredibly stressful time period. No more going home early (or attempting to), no more regular meal time, or bed time, or bath time for that matter. You know that you are going to have to work harder to maintain your grades. You know that you are going to spend all day at school or another vicinity with a bunch of stressed out, caffeine addicted teenagers. And you know for a fact that some where down this 6 weeks period you are going to loose it so bad ... you want to call it quits. So thinking about those things and trying to get as much sleep as I can possibly force my body to before Kick-Off definitely stresses me out.

2) Ship Date: Simply because I am scared that what happened last year to our team will happen again this year ... the guys were working until 3:00 in the morning to get this robot ready to be shipped ... and this year I will actually have to be there . And naturally it is a very stressful time because you are trying to tie up all the loose ends and make sure everything is in place and that you haven't left anything out and to try to breath in between. But at the same time, you know that its over so with a bit of nostalgia and a definite strong feeling of relief you await the best part of the season ... the competitions. That's the true Christmas morning alike to me.

But, this is just me and maybe I just think backwards.

[Karthik1]

Originally Posted by Paul H

John V Neun's birthstone...he's a forum member, it's a joke.

Unless the game involves stones of some sort.....hmmmm

Its not a joke JVN's birthday is in February, and Amethyst is the birthstone for February.