Geez, break-out the pitchforks and torches, why don't ya!
nmorris279, you can't make-up your own rules, and then bitch about people not following them! -
If you cannot follow the rules don't get on the train!!!!
When people were actually breaking the rules Chad laid-out for the path of his train, which would have delayed the train for
months for the personal benefit of a
few, where was your righteous indignation then, when we needed it?
That's total BS, and you know it! I didn't receive it the beginning of that week (it hadn't even been
mailed to me yet -
it was still at the prior stop then!), but instead got it just before the 3-day holiday weekend.
And early in this thread, I was not trying to "set the rules", but rather to prevent a violation of what
Chad set forth for the train's path when he first started this.
Do you not understand that what I did was for YOUR benefit? Had I not done so, what was being proposed would have delayed the train for you and the vast majority of participants for
months, just so a handful of members could "double-dip", getting two visits of the train before you even got a single shot!
But if you really think I was wrong to stop that, I suppose I could always just conceed the point
NOW, stop the train's present course, and send it to loop back to those folks, and we can all just wait a few months for those people to "double-dip" before allowing the train to continue back on it's current course. If you're lucky, perhaps you will see the train before it starts
snowing!
Is that
really what you want me to do???
If not, then stop bitchin' about me protecting you from that!
Anyways, I've been out-of-town since Easter weekend. I did not expect to be away quite that long. But then, I did not expect a tornado to hit my town, nor for a delay at the prior stop to result in the train not arriving here until the day before the start of the holiday weekend, either.
But for those who still wish to shake their pitchforks, I am sorry I did not cancel my Easter trip in order to deal with a late-arriving "replacement" box containing mostly non-superhot varieties that I wasn't even interested in! (Including a lot of garden-variety stuff like Cayenne, Fresno, Jalapeno, Serrano, etc. More on my efforts to improve the quality of the box's contents below.)
In any event, the train has also been at my station undergoing some minor repairs. Specifically -
First off, I am surprized that no one bothered to reply to my question about the train's contents that I asked in my last post??? As I indicated previously, I discovered in the box 6 different varieties of seeds, in bags with
absolutely NO indication of what they were?! 5 of these are in identical 2x3 zip-lock baggies, while the 6th is in a 2x3 baggie with a white box on it, and the words "Rite On Parts Bag" & "C-Line Products, Inc. # 47223", and also a hole punched in the top above the zip-lock. Here is a pic of the seeds in question -
I have been going through both the posts and the box, trying to track-down from whom and what these seeds might be!
But even then, we still might not be able to figure-out which identical-looking bag belongs to which specific variety!
So I have been wondering what to do with all of these unlabeled seeds???
I considered just consolidating them all together to save space in the tightly-packed box, and to free-up some bags.
But each of these bags appears to contain a
specific variety of seeds (just unlabeled). So mixing them all together seems like such a waste, plus the last thing the box needs is yet
another (4th) bag of mixed seeds!
Then I hit upon an idea to put these unlabeled seeds to better use - and I created the "Seed Lotto" Game!
First, I labeled each unknown bag with SP#'s (SP = Seedswap Pepper), see here -
How the game basically works is that each player selects one or more #'s that they want to play. They can then take up to 3 seeds from each SP# they selected (keeping track of which is which). They then grow them out, compare notes with the other people who also selected the same SP# as they did, and then all try to guess what it is they're growing!
To add some spice to the mix, I'm also adding some special seeds from my own private stash (which I of course I already know what they are!)
I will also see if I can track-down what specific varieties the other guys are, and at the end of the season, after everybody has guessed, I will announce what they were actually growing!
Perhaps there may even be some prizes involved, like Purple Bhut seeds or something? (I should have some of those available by then!)
I figure this will add some extra fun to the seed train! (particularly for the newbies!)
I also figure this is a better use for all these unlabeled seeds than creating yet another bag of "mixed".
And hey, if you don't like the game...you don't have to play!
I've added the game + instructions in a bag along with the rest of the train.
BTW, I also spotted yet another bag that at first glance appeared to also be unlabeled, but when held up to a light at just the right angle, you could barely make-out in nearly invisible light blue pen - "Mix". I have therefore re-labeled that one with black marker.
In reviewing the contents of the box, I also spotted one of the more unusual varieties that was obviously mislabeled - PI 260250 is not even a kind of pepper(!), but rather Trifolium pratense L. (aka Red Clover). See -
http://www.ars-grin....50&inactive=Yes
http://www.ars-grin....taxon.pl?300623
http://sun.ars-grin....ix=&in_page=224
I have marked the bag to indicate that the ID is incorrect, and have also contacted smokemaster to try to get the correct ID for this one, as it appears this sample originated from him.
Second, looking back at this thread, I was happy to see that Smiter_Q, after his being harrassed off of participating in this thread, and his decision back in December to "take a break" from THP as a result, and it being known that he has been difficult to reach since then, that the members here were kind enough to give him an extra chance to respond, when his turn finally came up on the train!
Well actually, that's
NOT precisely what happened. In fact, the exact
OPPOSITE occurred - in looking at the posts Feb. 17-18, it appears poor Smitter_Q may have been given virtually no time to respond before being skipped-over!
Indeed, the action was so abrupt, that it appears to have caused another member to accidentally mistake it for implying that Smiter_Q could not be trusted with the seeds, causing that member to then post something in response, defending Smiter_Q's integrity! -
I`ve traded with smiter and he/she was stand up. Didn`t screw me.
But to no avail, as the very next post announced that he had been skipped-over, and the box shipped to someone else instead!
I feel for poor Smiter_Q, as the very same thing nearly happened to me!
I am endevouring to contact him, as he is not that far away from me. Given that he is located in the same state as I am, and particularly given that he is geographically located between myself and the next person, I was thinking it may be most appropriate to route the package thru him on it's way to South Texas. If I am unable to reach him in time, I have also asked teamcole to see if he can route it to him when it comes back up on it's way to Bodeen.
Given that it's the previous person's responsibility to contact the next in line, and not the other way around, and some folks like Smiter-Q had actually signed-up for this last
year, I think perhaps we may be getting a little too quick on the trigger finger here in some cases It may be advisable to agree to some guidelines as to a minimum time to wait before someone is skipped-over, to prevent anyone else who has been waiting for months for this from getting screwed-out of their turn because they didn't respond instantaneously. Perhaps 1 week after receipt?
Third, with regards to the contents of the box, hot stuff and coheed196 were
definitely right when they said that there's a lot of bhut in there! 5 bags of generic bhut, to be exact. Plus 4 bags of cayenne, 2 bags of fresno, etc. Some duplication, a lot of "Garden Variety" peppers, but a
serious lack of selection of superhots. To be sure, there are a few interesting things in there. But for a swap that started-out with 650+ seeds of highly desireable superhot varieties, plus some exotic Pimenta de Neyde, let's be honest here, the contents took a
major hit when all those lovely seeds disappeared!
I see that some of the members have tried to improve the quality of what's in the box since. For example, it sounds like coheed196 added a
lot of interesting things! (unfortunately, it also looks like some of his best stuff got picked-clean before it got down here.
). But there's still a long way to go.
I am doing what I can to improve the quality of the train, and would encourage others to do likewise. So before adding more of the same things, ask yourself, "Does this train
REALLY need a 6th (or 7th, or 8th) bag of generic bhuts?" Try mixing it up!
And if you're a newbie, and all you've got growing is Walmart Jalapenos, then go ahead and throw in what you can, that's
GREAT! But if you're like many of us, and also have some more
interesting things growing, then skip the cayenne, and try throwing in some of your "good stuff" instead!
Especially superhots! I wish I could throw some of those in there myself, but unfortunately all my superhot plants are still babies and are too young to produce.
But in order to practice what I preach, of the varieties I am adding to the train,
NONE of them are in the train already,
NONE of them are garden-variety seeds,
ALL of them are pure strains (no F#'s or mutts), and
ALL of them are isolated seeds!
And just to take it up a notch, I'm also doing something I haven't really seen on the train yet (other than "mystery" cayenne, and some samples apparently originating f/smokemaster)...
...in addition to seeds,
I'm also adding some dried pods!
My biggest problem right now is trying to get everything to fit inside the small Priority Mail box!
Improving that quality of the contents of the box won't help you or I, but it
will help those down the line. And that's the whole idea behind the unique way that Chad set-up this great swap!