Smackdowns

As I think I've mentioned before, I like to do smackdowns at work. These have traditionally been Spelling Smackdowns but due to popular demand I had put together a Smart Smack as well which is like a trivia game, but based on what I was interested in. The following are the write ups for potentiall the last of both of the games ever.



From an email sent 11/10/08, RE: Smart Smack Results



I know you’ve been dying to find out the results of the 1st Annual So you think you’re smart Smackdown from last week.



Since it was the first Smart Smack, the first round was of medium difficulty to allow the contests to get their feet warm in our time of global warming. We had a good showing and from right to left we had:

- Brian: one of the brian interns, not to be confused with “not brian” intern david, actually no one knows his real name, I just made up the david part.

- Siobhan: for those of you still not in the know, it’s pronounced “sh von”. I’m petitioning the high court to get the spelling changed. She engaged in a quiet game of smack talk.

- Marie: it was evident by some of the other contestants that they weren’t aware of the level of smack Marie brought to the game. Be for warned future contestants, Marie is all about the smack portion of Smart Smack (not that I’m saying she doesn’t bring the smart portion either, just more smack).

- Andrea: again, if you’re not in the know, Andrea’s secret passion is to play trivia games like these as a full time job. Until there is such a profession, she concedes to playing a role, like the rest of us, in saving the earth.

- Dawn: calm and quiet, not swayed by the smack, Dawn and Annie were the anti-smack twins choosing to focus on the Smart component of the Smart Smack.
- Annie: calm and quiet, the smack being thrown from the other side of the room fell by the wayside as the Dawn and Annie force held their own.

- Danielle: new to the smackdowns of GRT, Danielle was a welcome addition, proving that youth still had a firm hold on the smart component of the Smart Smack.



Round one (5 questions): Composed of standard issue questions based around energy and the environment, people felt fairly comfortable. The multiple choice format allowed individuals to fly through the questions quickly. Everyone knew that Mexico City is considered the most polluted city in the world. While only Andrea knew which country produced the most energy in the world. And Marie and Danielle were the only ones who knew what the leading source of energy is in the US. By the end of the first round, it was still anyone’s game, with no one taking a serious lead.



Round two (8 questions): Lulled into a false sense of feeling pretty smart, round two brought the random questions as promised by the genius moderator. Composed of a mix of multiple choice and fill in the blank questions, it was surprising to find that no one knew what a “perfect” number as defined mathematically was from the multiple choice list. However, Brian proved a strength in science that no one else had, correctly identifying what Europa was. Dawn and Annie were the only ones to correctly identify the correct city for the birthplace of the American stoplight. Apparently no one knows cockney rhyming slang. And Siobhan was the only one to know how many Platinum NC buildings there are in MA. (Marie!!! You could have had it.)



Round three (11 questions): Entering into the arena of current events, questions were structured around key issues in the recent election: war, energy, prop 1, and Sara Pallin. Contestants were all over the place in identifying where Iraq and Pakistan were located geographically in the middle east. Most people knew at least one or two states of the 9 that don’t have personal income tax (answers that included states that taxed dividend and interest income were counted). No one knew Tina Fey’s birth name. And in the end, the winner was determined by their ability to correctly match up the green building rating system and the relevant country (BREEAM, GREEN STAR, HKBEAM, HQE, PROMISE, GBAS, AQUA).



During the entire Smart Smack, score was kept on the white board. At certain periods, bonus questions were thrown out. These questions were not rewarded with points, but instead the recipient was awarded a “tie breaking” advantage. In the final round, it was pointed out by Andrea, that one of her correct answers was not recorded. The comment was noted by the moderator who stated that it would be addressed at the end of the game if needed.



By the end of round three and the end of the game, everyone’s score was close, but it was Andrea and Marie tied for first place, with Marie having a “tie breaking” card. Therefore, after the game, the moderator and the two contestants in question went through all the answers to verify the accuracy of the score. In the end, it proved that indeed a point was missing from Andrea’s tally and instead of Marie breaking the tie and winning, it was Andrea who came through victorious.



Congratulations to Andrea for being the first official Smart Smack champion. She proved that she had some smarts and some smack to beat out everyone else. Thanks to all that participated and may we all be just that little bit smarter.



And by the way. I believe I only received one correct answer to the qualifying question (which I luckily forgot about or else there would have been no one to compete). The correct answer is War Time, which only Dee responded with (I think).



What was Daylight Saving Time originally called when it was first instituted year-round?

A. Sunlight Time

B. Summer Time

C. War Time

D. Conservation Time

Best of luck and see you in November!







From an email sent 11/14/08, RE: 4th Periodic Spelling Smackdown Results



The fourth periodic Spelling Smackdown was just completed and in record time (I think in just a half hour). And this time around there were a lot of patterns. Well at least one big one. There were six contestants this time round, with one observer/smack talker/back-up pronouncer (Colleen). In order, we had:

- Aaron: This marked his inaugural Spelling Smackdown and he chose inadvertently the first chair which allowed him to kick off each round.

- Dee: A past participant who showed potential, often making it into the near final rounds in past games and known for her wordsmything (yes, I apparently made the word up as Outlook won’t tell me the correct spelling).

- Annie: The defending champion and Birthday girl. It was agreed by all that instead of giving her some sort of pity win through second chances, that whoever won would owe her a gift. With the understanding, of course, that if Annie was able to retain the championship title, she’d owe something to herself.

- Dawn: One of the original participants, and I believe a spelling bee champion from grade school.

- Britt: The only individual who has participated in all four of the GRT Spelling Smackdowns located at Nexus. A diehard contestant.

- Jacob: The newest hire of GRT. This marked his inaugural Spelling Smackdown.



The first round went fairly quickly, knocking Dawn out of play early in the game with one of the few official spelling words that is an acronym: laser. For all those interested, according to our trusted source Wikipedia, the word laser originated as an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.



Second round, at the medium level, showed everyone strong and able to move onto the third and final level with no sweat (showing). This strength was short lived by everyone but two individuals at the third level, hard. The letter ‘i’ proved a stumbling block for all in some form or other. Once the dust settled, Aaron and Jacob were left standing (well sitting and on opposite sides of the table – the first and last contestants of each round) to duke it out. It was Nexus versus TA. Who would come through victoriously? Would Aaron do Nexus proud and maintain dominance on the Spelling Smackdown’s for Nexus (Game 1 & 2 winner: Paul, Game 3 winner: Annie)? Or would newbie to the company, Jacob, prove a force to be reckoned with and break out his, until now, unknown spelling prowess.



First pass, both correctly spelled very challenging words. Second and third pass proved rewarding for both as well on slightly easier words. Fourth pass proved too challenging. Aaron misspelled his word putting the pressure on Jacob to correctly spell the final word. It proved to be too much and Jacob misspelled his word as well which allowed Aaron to reenter the game and have another chance. It was still anyone’s game. Again, Aaron misspells his word leaving it all up to Jacob to determine the fate of the game. And this time, after collecting himself (and having a bite of his salad), he came through and correctly spelled the final word.



The torch, well rather the hand, has officially been transferred. Jacob is our latest champion and indefinite holder of the hand. After great sportsmanship showed by all (lot’s of handshaking and congratulations and very little smack, Marie would have been disappointed) folks started breaking down the game and the largest pattern was found. It appears, although it has not been validated, that every winner of all four Spelling Smackdowns have been the newest hire of GRT. Paul, we believe was the latest addition to the team and perhaps this was why he was able to win two games – we hadn’t hired anyone new (that was participating). Annie goes down in history for participating in the largest recorded GRT Spelling Smackdown on her very first day. And now Jacob, has won. Will the pattern continue? Only time will tell. Cheers from your wonderfully poor speller and Spelling Smackdown moderator!

See you later

And perhaps never again. Last week was my first week working both jobs. In theory it should have worked. I had already started wrapping things up at the old job so there really didn't seem like that much more to do. And new jobs always have a warming up period, especially when you're working part time. The other strange thing is that the two offices are one block apart. I had scheduled two and a half days at each place. It was all nice and organized. In theory.



I ended up working on things for both jobs every day and running back and forth between the two offices most days. Thursday night I got hardly any sleep as my mind just would not turn off. Remembering to do this little thing or that little thing for the old job and whirling with new ideas for the new job. I just couldn't get to sleep. And then once I did, I had to get up really really early for a training the next day that I was doing. By friday afternoon I was spent. And I still had too much to do left. But the weekend had arrived. And I slept and slept.



Saturday night a friend had a lovely party to celebrate the elections. A friend had brought their little baby who had the cutest onsie. It had "I'm ready for a change" on the front. And the next day I went down to New Bedford with friends to see the Phantom Tollbooth. It was a children's production so there were little kids everywhere. I was able to get some knitting done in the dark and am using the age old approach that a mistake is no longer a mistake if you repeat it. So am copying what I did on the first sleeve with the second. No one will be able to tell the difference. I'm working on another Peapod sweater for another baby born this fall.



By the time we got back Sunday night I was tired enough to go home, but too hungry to make it. My blood sugar had dropped. So in the end we had a girls night at A's where she taught me some make up tricks as she gave me a make over.



Which brings me to Monday morning when I had to enter back into the world of work. I realized, it was just too difficult so I got on the phone and ordered internet (and cable while I was at it). The cable guy just came yesterday afternoon to do the hook up and here I am with all these new toys.



There are so many channels. And so many shows I had no clue about. I watched a few Top Chefs that a friend loves. I think my favorite discovery from last night was Whatever Martha. It's this brilliant show where these two women just sit and watch old Martha Stewart shows and just tear them apart. It turns out one of them is Martha's daughter who comes across like a Carrie Fisher. Kind of tough and sarcastic. Not what you'd expect. It's the only way to watch Martha Stewart.



Well, I just wanted to say farewell as I don't think I'll ever see anyone again. I'll work remotely at home watching the endless entertainment I now have. Cheers!

Time: Daylight and Zones

Two posts that I wanted to write I realize have a common thread - the elusive subject of time. Today is my second day at my new job. It was strange this morning as it was the first time where I went directly to the new office (yesterday I put in an hour at the old office first). So I get up like usual. I get ready like usual. I wait for the bus and transfer to the subway as usual. I even get off at the regular stop and use the same escalator as usual. Except now I turn left instead of right. The two offices are just one block apart (their backs abutt each other). It was so familiar and yet so different.





Now I am facing the wonderful task of getting up to speed while still juggling the old job. It's keeping me busy which is good. But you know how new jobs go, no matter how easy or difficult, you just have a mild headache at the end of the day from absorbing so much new information, no matter how mundane or complex. Today I'm finding my head swimming with the simple task of time zones. My big project I'm working on first is in Abu Dhabi. Except the current team is in the UK. Coordinating meetings and figuring out when to email and talk is crazy. Plus there are some folks I need to engage that are on the west coast as well. So I'm desparately trying to remember 3, 4, and 5. Five hour difference between UK and here. Three hour difference between SF and here. And four hour difference between UK and UAE. Then there's all the math. Needless to say, I've been using the good old stand by of counting on my fingers. Plus on top of all that, my office computer was set up in military time.