Why the heck do they require to have the dang pool noodles for bumpers at this time of year!? no one has them in!! I finally had to call the director of comm. ed. swimming lessions and get some there!!!
Is it just us or did others have a problem finding these dang pool toys when there is still snow on the ground?!
A lot of people do have problems. There are online sites to buy them–a search here on CD may reveal where people get theirs.
Of course, the southern/western teams have no problem…
We’ve never had problems :D. I think we also ordered like a 5 year supply of noodles for bumpers or for cheering devices.
We get awfully weird looks up in MN’s below-zero weather when we ask stores if they have pool noodles.
Thankfully we found someone who had some to give to us.
HAH you had the same problem… and now with the snow that is falling right now… People are more than likely still thinking “what the heck was that girl going to use pool noodles for?!”
If they every ask you that, then say, its for making a robot! Then they will really look at you like you are crazy.
I walked into ace hardware w/o knowing i had my safty googles on my head… I looked really out of place trying to find the right screws… ahhh that was a fun day… but then i told them i was building a robot and i got a discount! 
We just assume we’ll need them, and buy in summer
we are a rookie team… shrugs We didnt know
This is a learning curve for your team. Enjoy the experience - this is the only rookie year 2511 will ever have. Congrats on the discount for the purchase at Ace, that’s awesome!
Jane
We got ours at the dollar store, but we do live in California…
We have them at a variety of stores here in Arizona in January.
Our local Ace Hardware gave the team $250 of merchandise! Thanks Ace
We seem to always have some around from last year… or parents are willing to give up there noodles and just buy new ones in the summer when stores stock them again…
This is obviously too late to matter by now, but we were able to find some at valley pool and spa… I think that’s where we got them. Or you can just buy them online.
We bought some for real cheap back in October or around then.
Planning ahead is important for us northern teams.
coming from lunch after working on the robot, and still unknowingly wearing my safety glassses to my 4th hour always gets some weird looks, and half the time no one ever tell me im weraing them, i guess i just wear them so much i forget they’re there. i guess thats a good thing, lol
You know, us folks from the real world sometimes have a project that needs to be completed, and we’re missing one item or material that seems to be made of Unobtainium. Nobody local has it, so what to do?
Pool noodles are a way of teaching kids how to find something that doesn’t want to be found. When your job (or more) depends on it, having learned how to do this in High School might just be a good thing.
FIRST is far more devious than you give it credit for. The guys who think this stuff up are not your run-of-the-mill geniuses, they are the really, really brilliant ones. Dave. Woodie. Dean. Even Amanda. Think about what these folks have done, it is literally awesome.
So, go find me a Sonic burger in NY City…
Don
We stock up in the summer
being in california it wasn’t exactly a problem
though the pool noodles were great for solving the problem of boredom
We lucked out and had bought about 15 noodles over the summer at, of all places, the dollar store (we live on the beach, so we always have a full stock). We just whipped some out of basement storage and were ready to go. You can bet that we’ll be buying more at the dollar store this summer!:yikes: