A busy weekend

07 Nov 2005  All the work we put into the BANG LanParty the last month paid off.

It was a real success, maybe not externally but surely internally: only 9 participants showed up...

It was an internal success because everything was so well organised. The plan was to start at 15h, 4 hours before the lanparty started, and end at midnight the next day, 5 hours after the lanparty ended.

We actually started a bit earlier than 15h, because I called ALMA (I had reserved us about 15 tables from there) around noon, and they told me the person I arranged everything was on holiday and we would have to reschedule. Instead of 15h, we had to start moving the tables at 14.30h.

I rounded up whoever was around to move the tables, and we started moving 15 smaller ones. Congrats to gunnie for being on time, Basik for showing up, and s-king for lending a hand when he didn't have to :)

When those tables were moved, we also took 3 larger and heavier tables from ALMA (with their consent)

After moving all the other stuff (computers, switches, power-cables, projector, ...) and positioning the tables, connecting everything and doing a networktest, we bought some softdrinks and put them in the fridge.

Everything was setup by 18.30h or so. The first participant arrived at 18.55h. (His name was Evert ;)

We charged 2 euros for entrance, and they got 2 "drinking tokens" for free (which cost 1 euro each, so its actually free entrance if you buy 2 drinks)

The lanparty itself was really fun. I think we were with about 16 people in total.

Games that were played include Enemy Territory, Unreal Tournament, Quake 4, Starcraft and Crack Attack.

We ordered pizza around 21.00h and then played some more. I think pretty much everybody stayed untill 7.00h on saturday. I went to sleep, like most people :)

Gunnie stayed up all night, guarding everything. When I got back around 12, there were only 5 or 6 people left, and I had missed breakfast :(

Next time, I'm bringing a sleeping bag and I'll sleep on the floor, just to not miss breakfast.

Another thing to keep in mind next time, is that we try to divide the power usage equally over all outlets. Maybe we can attach power-distribution boxes to each table or so ?

I have some nice pictures of the inside of a power distributor that was smoking and stinking, and that had melted...

We started cleaning up at 19.00h and were done at 21.00h. Nothing exciting happened after that: I went to sleep early :)

On sunday, I was doing the dishes when suddenly the power went out. At first I thought they had cut us off because last friday some guy from Index.is (they do the power-consumption measuring) came by and checked our meter. He said we had used up 900 Megawatthours and that it was probably an error. Well, I surely hope so, we don't have a particle accelerator in the basement or anything, so I don't see how we could have used up almost a terawatthour.

Anyway, it appears that the power went down in the entire street. So I dig up some paperwork from Nuon (our power deliverer) and call them up. The call goes something like this:

*them* Hello, welcome at nuon.

*them* If you have a question regarding electricity, press 1.

*them* If you have a question regarding gas, press 2.

*me*

*them* Please contact your regional agency.

I'm impressed by their customer-service!

So I dig up some other number and call them (on the paper it says: 24/24, so I assume you can call them anytime) The call goes like this:

*them* You have reached the regional agency. We are closed. Please call

People are so friendly these days. I was starting to think if I was ever going to hear a real voice on the other side (it appears that I wouldn't be having that pleasure...)

I call the next number....

*them* Welcome! Please enter your postal code so we can help you quicker.

*me*

*them* Welcome! Please enter your postal code so we can help you quicker.

*me*

*them* You have selected 3001. Our engineers are currently working on a problem in HEVERLEE (which happens to be where I live, yay!) and are expecting to finish at 16.00h. If you still wish to talk to an operator, press 1.

Then, something wonderful happened! They DIDN'T hang up! The message kept repeating, giving me the pleasure to hang up on THEM!

The power went back up at 16.00h, just as they promised.

The rest of the day was uneventful.

Today is monday, and I just got back from returning the tables to ALMA. Gunnie, Basik and harry helped. It was heavy work, but we managed. The people from ALMA said that next time we should ask if we can borrow a cart...

... just in time.

I returned the key at 9.00h but didn't get my deposit back yet. The people from the WAAG will check if we cleaned everything up, and I can go back at 14.00h to see if they are pleased with our work. Let's hope so :) I'd like to have my 250 euros back...