jimbob_texas

I'm there, and I've signed up to RO. The Infinity Area 4. Wow - who'd a thunk it? It's amazing what a little initiative and planning can do, isn't it? jr

I shot with the ROs on Saturday. Y'all are in for a treat. Yes, the cave, the snakes, the tether stages are all cool, and this match is a treat. At the risk of coaching anyone , here's some sage advice: clean your gun and mags, keep your gun covered, and keep it clean. I'm not saying the red dirt gets everywhere, but it got everywhere I could see without a mirror and/or flashlight. I'm your CRO on Stage 1. Looking forward to seeing everyone this weekend. jr

10 rounds. I hear next year will have an Open division, but I don't know if that means more than 10 rounds. How much fun would it be to see Open gunners reloading every 10 rounds?

Perhaps this will help satiate the bloodlust for seeing the non-pro shooters. Ladies and gentlemen: Rhonda's Cans. As for the journalists on this thread, please use the spell-check. jr

Carina - nice job, kid! Gorgeous day in North Texas with fun and challenging stages. It was quite the history lesson today. Thanks to all who made the match possible. jr

Props to the San Angelo crew - no doubt. They deserve ALL the credit for setting this match up and running it. Like many other shooters, I don't have the luxury of changing my schedule at the last minute. I'm all for the idea of setting up next year's match NOW.

Well, that's the nail in that coffin. Maybe the lack of attendance has everything to do with the lack of logistics. Best of luck to those who do attend this match!

Squad 10 was great. It was a real pleasure to meet some new folks, and get to know the rest better. Even if we are an ill-behaved, foul-mouthed bunch of Texans, we're still fun. The match was a little bit of a whoopin', for sure. But it didn't kill us, so ostensibly, we will be stronger. I think the mud took away some people's game, particularly those who rely on foot speed to get from point A to B. Personally, I was scared to death of my footing (I'm kinda famous for losing it). Congrats to all who won, and thanks to all the staff, particularly the longsuffering ROs. You have my gratitude and admiration for contending with those conditions. jr

Social experiment for the L10/Open Nationals. I'll be Twittering via Blackberry throughout the trip. What's that? You don't Twitter? Go to http://www.twitter.com , sign up for an account (it's free), and follow "jimbob_texas." You can even have updates sent to your mobile device as text messages. All the cool kids are doing it, and because each post is limited to 140 characters, it's short and sweet. Later! jr

Reiterated from another thread: Just to be perfectly clear on several points: 1) We were booked at the Holiday Inn in Owasso, not the match hotel. FIVE rooms. In JANUARY. 2) We booked live with the property, not with an online reservation service. 3) We stayed at same property in July. 4) We verified at that time with said property, live and onsite. 5) Their booking agency cancelled our reservations, and informed us after the fact of that action, without verification. 6) We complained. Thursday night for 2 hours, and Friday morning for 2 hours. They told us, "tough." 7) They called me today to inform us that we'd been reinstated. See number 6. 8) I used bad words in describing where I'd rather stay, what I thought of their "customer service," and what they could do with their 5 rooms. I have only shared this information in an effort to prevent anyone else from sharing the same heartache, consternation, frustration, and anger that we have endured. Your mileage will likely vary, and I hope nobody else is inconvenienced as we were, without hope of compensation or even consideration for our difficulties. I'm certain that many others will enjoy a fabulous, hospitable experience, as will we - at another vendor's property. I am projecting nothing on your experience, merely offering the benefit of our experience. Thus endeth the parable. jr Please CLOSE this thread. It serves no purpose other than to share a personal experience for 5 people. CLOSED

Just to be perfectly clear on several points: 1) We were booked at the Holiday Inn in Owasso, not the match hotel. FIVE rooms. In JANUARY. 2) We booked live with the property, not with an online reservation service. 3) We stayed at same property in July. 4) We verified at that time with said property, live and onsite. 5) Their booking agency cancelled our reservations, and informed us after the fact of that action, without verification. 6) We complained. Thursday night for 2 hours, and Friday morning for 2 hours. They told us, "tough." 7) They called me today to inform us that we'd been reinstated. See number 6. 8) I used bad words in describing where I'd rather stay, what I thought of their "customer service," and what they could do with their 5 rooms. I have only shared this information in an effort to prevent anyone else from sharing the same heartache, consternation, frustration, and anger that we have endured. Your mileage will likely vary, and I hope nobody else is inconvenienced as we were, without hope of compensation or even consideration for our difficulties. I'm certain that many others will enjoy a fabulous, hospitable experience, as will we - at another vendor's property. I am projecting nothing on your experience, merely offering the benefit of our experience. Thus endeth the parable. jr

Oh, man. You get your room back? Same hotel? FYI - these are Holiday Inn properties: InterContinental Hotels Group Brands include; InterContinental Hotels & Resorts®, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts®, Hotel Indigo®, Holiday Inn®, Holiday Inn Express®, Express by Holiday Inn®, Staybridge Suites®, Candlewood Suites®, ANA Hotels & Resorts®. jr

We just had our reservations (that we made in January) cancelled by Holidex, the offshored Holiday Inn reservation "service." Not only were we cancelled, but the rooms were given away, and we can't get them back. As a consequence, we're now staying at the Best Western across the street. Their senior customer care representatives can do nothing about the situation, and offered to make reservations at another brand - which we had already done. In other words, "tough. You're on your own." Oh, wait - they did offer that we could come over and enjoy their free breakfast. We stayed in this same hotel in July, and verified our reservations at that time. This reminds me of the Holiday Inn experience last year about this time. The air conditioning was out in several rooms, others had water leaks. I changed rooms twice, as did others. The first night there, several vehicles had windows smashed and were burglarized. We left and went to the Airport Radisson. First, you might want to validate your reservations. Second, you should consider taking your business elsewhere. Third, why is Holiday Inn the vendor of choice for a certain national-level event?

That sucks You got an email or something? Did you try calling the hotel directly? Yeah. Long story/short: email saying it was cancelled. Hotel no help, Holidex no help. Will talk to the manager this morning, or get room at another brand. Whee. jr There is a Candlewood Suites for the same price in Owasso.. Mike Been there, done that. Booked. It's a Holiday Inn property, too. We now have rooms at the Best Western across the street. Hopefully, it's at least clean. Meantime, Holidex (the online booking service they use - offshore operation, btw), who cancelled the reservation, has gotten an earful. They're going to call the Holiday Inn to attempt to reinstate us. At this point, I'm tempted to tell them to take their hotel and, well, you know. Update: "Sorry, sir. There's nothing we can do." I think this may be IS my last Holiday Inn experience. After last year's fiasco with room changes and car break-ins at the match hotel, it's beyond me why anyone does business with them. Sorry for the thread drift, but let's see if I can salvage it: Folks, I'd advise you to call and verify your reservations, no matter where you choose to stay. jr

That sucks You got an email or something? Did you try calling the hotel directly? Yeah. Long story/short: email saying it was cancelled. Hotel no help, Holidex no help. Will talk to the manager this morning, or get room at another brand. Whee. jr

Here's some fun. We got a notice that our hotel rooms at the Holiday Inn Express in Owasso have been cancelled. Nobody WE know cancelled them, but we're pretty much out on the street. Go Holiday Inn!

Squad 10 Open - looking forward to meeting you, Flyin40! I would apologize for my running buddies up front, but I hear you've met Dave (SgtSVI) already so you won't be too shocked. I guess we'll have to try to console XRe somehow since he got stuck with us against his will... I can't wait, it's going to be a blast. Well our squad has 6 so far from the forums. The Balls, XRE, SgtSVI, Me and you. How about the others??? Are they on the forums too?? Flyin Also Catfish, Jimbob_Texas, Kearsage and Calamity Jane - I don't know the rest of the squad, but I'm sure we'll fix that! Howdy. See y'all there! jr

Since when do you need a swimsuit to go swimming? Just take your phone out of your pocket first... And your Oakleys off of your head! And make sure someone isn't capturing the moment on video...

Some of you veterans may be familiar with the now-famous tailgate dinner at the Ridge Motel on Saturday night. Without raining on the parade, I'd like all to know that this isn't a free party. It's not a sponsored event - the food and drink there are coming out of people's pockets. If you plan to drink and/or eat, it's BYOB and/or BYO meat. Last year got a little out of hand with folks just showing up, consuming the goodies, and saying good night. We're all about sharing with our friends, but it's not a bottomless pit. Dave will be smoking as much meat as his teammates can consume, beyond that is dependent on what others are willing to contribute. There will be a couple of grills available for use, and there should be room in the ice chests (moreso as the night goes on ). We're more than happy to have anyone come over and consort with our rabble, so come on by and enjoy our silliness. Thus endeth the public service announcement. jr

Rocky terrain (limestone/dolomite - small rocks), but if you have big tires on your cart, you'll be fine. 100 yards or so from the grassy parking area to the range, bays are pretty close together, but there are a number of them, including some bays that may not be used for this match. I'd bring a cart if I had one. A chair and an umbrella (for either sun or rain!) are good ideas. Great facility, water, restrooms, concessions, etc. jr

Welcome to the dark side, young apprentice. It's a hoot, ain't it? jr

You should be ashamed for laughing. I made the colorblind comment, so I'll take a window seat on that flight to hell. Reminds me of the stage at Nationals last year, where you had to keep that stupid can below your waist. jr

...aaaand I spoke too soon. It looks like squad 15 has been broken into two squads. I suspect FEMA got wind of the perfect storm and is working to avert disaster. Pity. jr

As of today, 90 degrees with a 30% chance of rain. Gosh, I wonder what it's like to shoot at USSA in the rain? I'm going to go ahead and apologize in advance for Squad 15. Between the DFW bunch and those Las Cruces boys, it's going to be an interesting group.

Poor babies. Deprived of their gun laws. What gibberish.