My Klondike Derby had dropped well below 100 compared to the initial 390 that I was anticipating before two delayed starts.  So, I went to Wal-Mart to pick up mediocre ropes at low low prices and I got to fulfill the child-abductor archetype by tooling around the children’s toys area with a cart full of rope.  Victory!  12″ tennis balls were on sale for a mere $4 and I bought everyone in the store, all one of them.

The look of the attendant while checking out with a few bags of candy, a giant tennis ball, black sheets, and 400 feet of rope is its own reward.  I should have gotten a home pregnancy test and a box of shotgun shells too.