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Category: February 2006

Tokyo Kamikaze and Boxing [02/27/06]

[Office Olympics - Winter 2006]

Japan hosted Tokyo Kamikaze (that's No Limit Texas Hold 'em played with Yen). Norwegian Elaine, an avid poker player, represented our team. I wasn't at the event, and I haven't heard any real exciting stories about it, so I don't have much to say. Elaine was beat out by Irish Rand who went on to win Gold at the finals table. I was in the other conference room covering the Boxing event.

For Boxing, Norway was represented by Bruce, The Norse Force. Bruce had just had surgery the week before on his shoulder for a skiing injury, so he wasn't in full health. For this kind of boxing, though, he assured us he was able. After all, you don't need your shoulder much for Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots!
Bruce won the first round against the Brit Phyllis. This was one of the few events the Brits hadn't medaled in so far. In the other conference room, Brit Patrick was on his way to a Bronze.

In the second round, The Norse Force battled Kiwi (New Zealander) Dolo. The winner would be the one who knocked the other's block off 3 times. It was two to two and a fierce match ensued. Pop! Pop! Both robots heads sprang up simultaneously! The judge declared Bruce the winner, but both Bruce and Dolo claimed it was too close to call and they asked to do it over. "Noooooooo!!" I thought. "Bruce was declared the winner!!" But they played it over again anyway. This time Dolo proved to be too much for The Norse Force. She went on to win the Gold. Both losses of the day were to Gold medal winners, so I guess that's not too bad.

Go Norway!!

Penguin Shuffle [02/26/06]

[Office Olympics - Winter 2006]

I competed in the Penguin Shuffle. I was nervous going in. Norway had won only 1 Bronze medal in the first week, and we needed to win several medals this week to be in the running for an overall medal. Plus, I just wanted to win something for myself! happy

Given my love for penguins, I knew this event was for me. There were five heats where athletes spent three minutes putting quarters between their knees, "shuffling" to the other end of the conference room with their arms at their sides, and dropping the quarters into bud vases. Three LONG minutes. But I'd been practicing, so I was feeling pretty good about it.

As an aside: The night before, I had a dream that they'd changed all the rules. It was a race, and there were four parts. I can't remember the first part, but the second was to paint a small thin piece of wood. I was late to the game, and all the other athletes were doing the third and fourth parts while I was painting my piece of wood. After the wood, I had to run over to a sink, and fill small beige balloons with asparagus. Then I had to go to a pool table and throw the balloons into the far corner pockets. Luckily, when I got to the real event, they hadn't changed the rules.

In the first heat, two-time Gold medal winner, Swiss Dean competed against Irish Suzy and Austrian Lupe. When they announced "On your mark; Get set; Go!" everyone was surprised by Swiss Dean. He was hopping!! He put in an amazing performance, even getting a quarter in the vase as time elapsed. His final score was 11 quarters! Suzy had 6, and Lupe had 2. Here's Dean hop, hop, hopping:
Swiss Dean down on the ground
In the second and third heats, three athletes got 4 quarters in the vase with the others getting less. Then it was my turn. I would be "shuffling" with Russian Hector. Let me tell you... 3 minutes is a long time to walk with quarters between your knees and drop them into bud vases. By the end of the heat, I was exhausted!! But I'd gotten 5 quarters in the vase!! Good for a Bronze medal if no one beat me in the 5th heat. Below, you can see my quarter dropping technique. The tongue plays a big part in aiming!
Kim with her tongue sticking out
The final heat proved to be too much for the French and German athletes, and I remained the Bronze medal winner. Yay!! The host team, U.S.A., provided penguin adorned cardboard medals with colored ribbons attached. This was Swiss Dean's third competition, and he was presented with his third Gold medal! Can he be stopped!?
Medal Ceremony: Suzy, Dean and Kim
Go Norway!!

Unconscious Mutterings [02/26/06]

[Memes - Unconscious Mutterings]

Unconscious Mutterings
  1. Baby step:: FlyLady
  2. Wasted:: drugged
  3. Reggie:: Bush
  4. Pitiful:: sad
  5. Acting out:: punishment
  6. Tomato:: soup!!
  7. Bad night:: tired
  8. Trip:: vacation
  9. Finance charges:: credit card
  10. Sport:: football

Dublin Darts [02/26/06]

[Office Olympics - Winter 2006]

Dublin Darts was hosted by Ireland. It's weird that another section was Ireland this time after we were Ireland in the Summer Games.

The Olympics came at a good time for the Irish team. Stores were already putting out their St. Patrick's Day decorations, so it was much easier for the Irish to find hats and things than it was for us Norwegians to find Nordic gear. I looked for a real Viking hat last weekend, but there wasn't one to be had.

I missed the Dublin Darts event because I was competing on a different floor. Nords Hank and Jesse were our dart throwers. Hank said he shot poorly, but Jesse fared well. It was a team event, though, and it wasn't enough for a medal. See Hank and Jesse throwing darts in their paper Viking hats below:
Hank and Jesse shooting darts
The U.S.A. team earned the Gold, Great Britain earned the Silver and the Irish team took home the Bronze. People begain noticing that Great Britain was winning something in just about everything. We Norwegians hadn't given up, though.

Go Norway!!

Biathlon [02/25/06]

[Office Olympics - Winter 2006]

I missed the Biathlon event, so I had to piece it together through pictures and accounts from the Norwegian athlete, Gary. Athletes were to shuffle around the conference room table on skis then shoot ten disks with a high tech pistol through a hoop. Then they had to do it again. They were timed with each second worth a point. Each disk shot through the hoop resulted in a point subtracted from their score. The athletes with the lowest scores won medals.

Six athletes skied before Nord Gary. Three had a score of 40. Three had higher points. Nord Gary had a plan. I don't know exactly what the plan was, but it was a plan. I think it might have been "go really fast." Here's Gary going really fast:
Gary on Skis
Gary finishes with 29 points!! French Lisa takes her turn and gets the popular score of 40. Then Russian Ann goes really fast. Her time was 30, but she made two shots through the hoop so her final points were 28 beating Nord Gary by 1.

With three athletes to go, there were no guarantees that Nord Gary would stay in medal range. Next up was "Pass the Pasta" Gold Medal winner, Swiss Dean, seen below with a very confident look at the starting line.
Dean went really faster and got three shots through the hoop for a total score of 22. That put Nord Gary at Bronze. Two more athletes to go: German Chris and Brit Paul. German Chris knocked Gary out of a medal with a score of 24, and Brit Paul knocked Russian Ann out of a medal with 26 points. Just goes to show... it's not over 'til it's over!!

Go Norway!!

Ice Fishing [02/21/06]

[Office Olympics - Winter 2006]

Norway hosted the Ice Fishing event. Athletes were challenged to catch as many fish as they could in one minute. Our hopes sat on the shoulders of Nord David. It could have been a one round game, but 4 fisherpeople tied for 1st place with 6 fish caught. Nord David was knocked out only reeling in 4 fish. In the second round, athletes from Ireland and Switzerland were knocked out with Irish Diane winning Bronze. Three rounds later, Brit Pam out-fished German Jesse by catching 2 fish in 15 seconds to Jesse's 1 fish.

Here's Nord David fishing:
At the end of the summer olympics a couple years ago, all medalists received a medal. This year, no real medals were to be awarded because people complained about having to donate money for the summer olympic medals. Some host countries, however, furnished their own medals. Not to be outdone by others, we Norwegians gave the winners fish on fish hooks. There was a bronze painted fish, a silver glittered fish and (of course) a goldfish! See the medalists below with their fishy medals.
Go Norway!!

Curling [02/20/06]

[Office Olympics - Winter 2006]

The curling event was played by shoving blocks of ice toward a target at the other end of a plastic covered conference room table. Each team had three players who each shoved a block of ice. The players not shoving ice could wipe up the wet spots (or in some cases, squeeze soaking napkins to make the playing field more wet). Two teams played against each other each match.

The scoring was strange, and the rounds to determine Gold, Silver and Bronze were less than satisfying (Great Britain got a bye in the second round and went straight to Silver. huh?) But I'm happy to report that Nords Craig, Neal and Rob came home with a Bronze medal!!

Go Norway!!

Ski Jump [02/20/06]

[Office Olympics - Winter 2006]

I was not a witness to the ski jump event. This year, as in the real olympic games, we have events at the same time at different venues. During the ski jump in the 8th floor conference room, I was up in the 9th floor conference room covering the curling event. More on that later.

For the ski jump event hosted by Switzerland, athletes had to run a car down a ramp, through a loop and up a ramp and hope their car traveled the farthest.
Nord Gary was our athlete. You can tell by the look on his face that he didn't do well.
Gary with a disturbed look on his face
As you can see, emergency vehicles were on hand to help out those who suffered the agony of defeat.
Emergency Vehicles
Norway was again denied a medal, but we haven't given up our Viking Spirit!

Go Norway!!

Unconscious Mutterings [02/19/06]

[Memes - Unconscious Mutterings]

Unconscious Mutterings
  1. Right time:: clock
  2. Funeral:: death
  3. Calculate:: numbers
  4. Believe me:: trust
  5. Chat:: IM
  6. Anniversary:: when?
  7. Let you down:: sorry
  8. Shout:: shout, let it all out
  9. Sweatsock:: long
  10. Prayer:: church

Shuffleboard [02/14/06]

[Office Olympics - Winter 2006]

Hockey pucks adorned with the Australian flagToday's event was hosted by Austria. It was Shuffleboard on the conference room table. Each athlete got 3 hockey pucks adorned with their nation's flag and had to slide them to the other end of the table. There were taped off sections at the end and each section was worth a certain number of points. The farther the puck went, the more points the athlete got. Sliding off the table meant no points, and they were allowed to knock each other's pucks off the table (and sometimes they knocked their own off!).

It seemed there were many ties to be broken during the event. We called the tiebreakers "Puck Offs." One time, the crowd raised a rousing chorus of "Puck Off! Puck Off! Puck Off!"

Norway was again denied a medal, but Nordic Hank (pictured below) did an outstanding job playing the game. Germany won the event, and Australia is in the lead for the tournament as a whole.

Go Norway!!

Pass the Pasta [02/13/06]

[Office Olympics - Winter 2006]

A bowl of pastaToday's event was Pass the Pasta, and it was not without controversy. Athletes were challenged to pick up uncooked pasta with a plastic fork (a certified Olympic device), carry it to the other end of the conference room, and deposit it in a styrofoam bowl. The athlete with the most noodles in their bowl moved on to the final round. Nordic Donna had the most of all contestants in the first round... 32 noodles in 2 minutes!! She made a valiant effort, but didn't do as well in the final round, and Norway was denied a medal. Neutral Switzerland's Dean won the Gold.

Macaroni MedalControversy surrounded Ireland. The Irish athlete filled her bowl as she was supposed to, but for some reason, the noodle counters failed to count her noodles before emptying her bowl. She advanced to the final round as a consolation. Sadly (for this year's Irish), she still didn't win a medal.

Italy was the host country, and they provided Gold, Silver and Bronze macaroni medals to the winners.

Below: Some of us Nords from team Norway (Elaine, Kim (me!), Gary, Shantel and Donna in front). Go Norway!!

Unconscious Mutterings [02/12/06]

[Memes - Unconscious Mutterings]

Unconscious Mutterings
  1. Unorthodox:: church
  2. Skate:: ice
  3. Hold on:: don't despair
  4. Europe:: old architecture
  5. Reminder:: note
  6. Gold:: medal
  7. Calcium:: milk
  8. Rated R:: movie
  9. Saturday night:: Live
  10. Tell:: secret

Olympic Torch Bearer [02/11/06]

[Office Olympics - Winter 2006]

Kim bearing the torch
The opening ceremony for our Winter Office Olympics was short and fun! Here's me just before I ran into the auditorium with the torch to begin the games. Go Norway!!

Dream Journal - Convenience Store and DJ's Car [02/11/06]

[Dream Journal]

I was in the shower. I started, but I needed soap, so I went to get some. There was a convenience type store outside of the shower. Jennifer Paris from work was telling me I should buy some cheese crackers with cream cheese in the middle. There was one package left, but I didn't want it. Then I went to the butter section. I couldn't find the butter I was looking for, though. Then I went to the shampoo section and found some shampoo and conditioner.

Later, I realized that part of the dream was really me at the hospital with my Dad. A couple of people at work saw me there, but I didn't see them. They told me they'd seen me later.

Later, I was in my friend DJ's car. He drove on a detour from the main street through a long driveway at a house. The people from the house kept coming out and getting in the way of DJ driving. There were 3 of them.

At the end of the drive where it went back to the street, I was alone and needed to find DJ's car again. There was a traffic jam, and DJ was in the second lane in front of me. A guy in a red hot rod was mad at DJ for waiting for me. I think his name was Mike. He was driving aggressively around DJ's car, and I couldn't get to the car. I ended up jumping on top of the hot rod's roof. That made Mike madder. I was able to hop from Mike's roof to DJ's roof and swing down into DJ's car. Then I slouched down in the seat and hid, but I kept peaking over the edge of the window.

Mike finally drove away ahead of us. His tail lights were very bright and round and colored like traffic lights: red, green and yellow.

Then Mike stopped and said something to Bill Murray. Bill went in the middle of the road in front of us and pointed a gun at us. Then both DJ and I slouched down.

Gearing Up - Winter Olympics [02/10/06]

[Office Olympics - Winter 2006]

The Olympic Torch
A year and a half ago, my section at work took home the Office Olympic torch for winning the Summer Olympic Games. We were Ireland then. Now it's time for the Winter Olympic Games, and we're Norway. I'll be carrying the torch into the Opening Ceremonies this afternoon and handing it over, so I took this one last shot of it burning above my cubicle. You can see the Norwegian flag proudly waving in anticipation of the games.

Games this year include ice fishing, ski jumping, pasta passing, and trike racing (le Trike de France). Let the games begin!!

Mississippi State Capitol [02/09/06]

[Louisiana/Mississippi 2005]

Here's the other capitol I visited on my November vacation:

Mississippi State Capitol Building

You Found Me How? [02/08/06]

[You Found Me How?]

Searches to my site:

Louisiana State Capitol Pictures [02/05/06]

[Louisiana/Mississippi 2005]

Second gallery done:

Louisiana State Capitol

Dream Journal - Cop Prostitute and a New Room [02/05/06]

[Dream Journal]

I was moving into a new room. It was very small and had a twin bed. I was putting things into the drawers of the night stand. I had some new-to-me shirts. They were hand-me-downs or gifts or thrift store shirts.

Later, there was a cop dressed like a prostitute in red and black. She was arresting me, but I didn't know why. Apparently, one of the new-to-me shirts I was wearing had cocaine hidden in it by the previous owner. It was hidden in little blue ribbons.

In another part of the dream, I had a bigger room. A fire truck had to drive through it, and I realized that I would need to keep the floor clean or the fire truck would run over stuff when it needed to drive through.

Unconscious Mutterings [02/05/06]

[Memes - Unconscious Mutterings]

Unconscious Mutterings
  1. Taking sides:: in the middle
  2. Couples:: holding hands
  3. Right of refusal:: veto
  4. Marla:: Thomas (I know it's Marlo, but that's what came to mind)
  5. Mutliple:: mispelled
  6. Trinity:: Street
  7. Sneeze:: Achoo
  8. Sweatpants:: warm
  9. Steve:: Martin
  10. Fabulous:: Five

Dream Journal - Entrance Conference and Zoo [02/05/06]

[Dream Journal]

At work, I went to a building across the street for an audit entrance conference. I wasn't going to go at first, but decided after another lady left, I'd go, too. When I got to the lobby, I had to sign visitor paperwork and get a badge. There was a lot of paperwork, and it took me a long time. There was a place where I was supposed to put the purpose of my visit. The lady told me something specific to write, but it didn't make sense, so I wanted to write something else. When I decided what I would write, I couldn't find where I was supposed to write it. I flipped through the book over and over to find the place she had put my name.

I realized I was wearing a flannel night shirt, and thought that was probably inappropriate for an entrance conference. But I was going to go anyway.

There were lawyers' offices in the same building. I saw celebrity names in the visitor logs. They were visiting the lawyers. I mentioned this to someone later, and they said that the lawyers took care of unwanted babies. So I asked if that meant that all those celebrities had unwanted babies. She said, "Yes."

The building turned into a zoo. There was a crowd around a pond, and someone was leading a discussion about puffer fish in the pond. They were taking the puffer fish out and rubbing their bellies. Then the crowd dissipated.

The cats that live on my porch were wandering around the zoo. When it was time to go home, I wanted to round up the cats. I kept calling out "P.K." Lots of other dogs and cats came, but not P.K. I ended up going home, but I wanted to come back later to find her.

When I got home, both cats were there, so it was okay.

Later, I went out to drive somewhere. There was a washing machine in the front yard wrapped in gift wrap. It was a present from my Mom to my Dad. The trailer someone used to bring it was behind my car. The trailer was made of white plastic, and it was very easy to push out of the way.