May 7, 2001

There were problems with the Yahoo groups sites this week regarding the posting ability. This temporarily affected not only each tribe, but all other Yahoo groups as well. Each tribe experienced a bit of a delay, but got over the hurdle and continued on with their challenge.

Prior to releasing the challenges, Binnie, our list mom, gives each tribe a hint to as to what the challenge for the week might bring. This usually sends each tribe into a tizzy as everyone tries to decipher what the next challenge could be. "Binnie and her Damn cryptic clues. It's just easier to wait until midnight and get the actual challenge!!" was overheard at one of the camps as the brain-wracking sessions began.

This week's challenge was to create a "HotTips" datasheet with 20 hot tips in categories such as travel, hotels, souvenirs etcS The tribes were also allowed one final sentence to complete the tipsheet. The only limitation was that each tribe could only post 1 tip per topic. They could not combine multiple tips into 1 sentence, however they could provide several sentences for each 1 topic.

It was a bit more toned down in the camps as each tribe feared they had revealed too much of their inner tribal thoughts to the opposition. Some members just decided that this was all part of the fun and they shouldn't leave anything out so that the rest of the TheMouseForLess group doesn't miss any of action. Each tribe seemed to be a little thrown back by last week's report. (This is your game guys, let's have fun with it!)

Kungaloosh, celebrating their first victory, all congratulated themselves on a job well done. They were all very proud of their webpage and there was much rejoicing. "Rah, rah, sis-boom-bah" and "Frothy, pink drinks for everyone" could be heard whispering through the trees.

They quickly attacked the new challenge and set up a tips database. Each member was called to put into it only the best of the best ideas that each had. They didn't want each other to feel that each member had to provide a tip for each topic. Polls for each topic were set up once there were enough tips for each listed. The deadline for tips to be submitted was set for Tuesday evening for a Wednesday vote.

They were determined to be finished for Thursday. It may have been the "Yahoo lag" but members of Kungaloosh feared they were losing their steam when, by Tuesday morning, there weren't as many tips posted as were expected. "We need more tips or the tip-off will be a vote-off!! Are you the WEAKEST LINK? It's been almost 24 hours and the tips in the database are few and far between. We'll need to finish up (and) start the voting on Wednesday morning in order to get it done by Thursday night!!" was cried out to members of the tribe. The urgency raced through the camp as one member tried to rally up the others. Another member calmly assured the tribe to "calm down, we're all working on it. I'm sure you'll see lots of tips appear before the end of the day tomorrow. right team?" They finished setting up their polls and the voting began.

The Diva's started out by setting up and giving each other directions on how to use and setup the files. The ladies decided to use the acronym "Go Get The Magic For Less" for the first letter of each tip. They quickly started braindumping ideas. The ladies are already down by 1 team member and started to wonder where other members of their group were during the week. As real life tends to pull them away, they quickly sent out a call to dormant members. This didn't stop these ladies from firing away on ideas. They also decided to set up polls to determine what they would like to have as their hot tips. They set their deadlines for tips and requested that they needed volunteers to set up the polls. Each of the volunteers were assigned polls to set up and the ladies quickly voted for their tips that would be used.

One member took it upon herself to be the "self-appointed editor". She didn't want to appear bossy to the others, but her initiative was welcomed. These ladies wanted everything to be perfect. After all, they are down 1 member already, they did not want to lose another. There was much cheering coming from this tribe "Locked, Stocked, and Ready to ROCK!! Go Divas, Go Divas, Go Divas, it's your Unbirthday, Go Divas..."

There were several great tips making it a very difficult choice to pick just one. Once each tribe had decided on their 20 tips, each tribe set out to provide their final sentence. The Diva's were quite impressed with their final thought and one member was overheard to cheer "Unless someone on the Looshers comes up with my final sentence, I think it will blow them away! Go check it out..." and as for the Kunga's they felt their final remark was that they "still need is one losing line" .

After much proofreading and editing, each tribe was ready to post. The Kungaloosh tribe tried to outwit the Diva's again by placing a one-liner in place of their file: something to the effect that they will have to wait until Thursday to see their tips. The ladies briefly wondered "why the Kungaloosh tribe was allowed to taunt them, when they didn't have the ability to upload to the TheMouseForLess file site in advance-a big oversight on Binnie's part. Each tribe was directed to post their files accordingly, only to be quickly changed to be represented as "tribe #1" and "tribe #2". This was to keep things anonymous to the DD voters.

Once the voting began, it was sadly a small turnout. This may be due to the earlier issues with the Yahoo groups. The Kungaloosh tribe once again prevailed as the. The Diva's would once again be taking the walk to tribal council. This time, however, instead of picking a member out by number, they had a volunteer. Fab graciously volunteered to leave the tribe to continue with her obligations to "The Laughing Place" (www.laughingplace.com) and working on the set of "The Country Bears" movie. Members offered Fab their best wishes and thanks, as did Binnie and the other survivors.

At tribal council, the announcement was made that Fab would be leaving the Divas. Binnie sent the official email to all members and removed Fab's ability to post to the group. She has been placed with Beth on digest so when judgement day comes, they will be well informed.

There was the usual cheering and hazing at tribal council, although there was a small turnout by the Kungaloosh tribe. There are stronger alliances being made in this group and they're becoming more apparent to the other members. The Diva's seem to be keeping each other going as a whole for now. Binnie asked each tribe what they would like to see in the future and the vote was almost unanimous for a trivia showdown. Who knows? Maybe we'll seeS..