kmkat and her kneedles

42. It's another name for random.

Look at this message I found in my Ravelry inbox yesterday morning:

Is that awesome or is that awesome! I immediately sent her a reply that blathered on about how much I like that book.

* * * * *

Took the Jeopardy qualifying online test last night. 42 was not the answer.

* * * * *

I just looked out the window and DA YEEP IS WORKING! Smokey is currently plowing the driveway, which had not been plowed* since before Thanksgiving. Every time he went out to attempt to plow there was something else wrong with Da Yeep. (This is what happens when a 20-yo vehicle sits for six months. He was never able to get it really ready for winter because of his back surgery/recovery and all the other tasks that got postponed because of it.) But now the battery and the electrical cables and the accelerator cable and who remembers what else are apparently all functional.

As much as I love where I live, I (and we) curse certain parts of it every winter, mainly the hill that is the driveway.

* * * * *

Hip surgery has officially been postponed and is tentatively scheduled for Monday, April 22. Thanks for all your good wishes and kind thoughts and thoughtful opinions. The majority seemed to favor waiting until all the snow and ice are gone, which will make recovery and the required rehab exercise easier. (A good friend likened the surgery to having a baby. She said, "I had one baby in January and one in May, and the May one was waaayyy easier because we could get outside." Having had a December and a May baby myself, I found that thought to be absolutely true.) Those who are even slightly familiar with taxes also thought that skipping a tax season was not the best option.

If I could do whatever I wanted with no thought to consequences, I'd have the surgery ASAP. But I am being an adult about this. 

In the meantime, my PA put in an order for two cortisone injections to keep me relatively pain-free and mobile for the next three months. First one is next Tuesday.

* * * * *

Have I bored you yet? I am always a little surprised when bloggers talk about the details of their life being boring. I find such minutiae of others to be a way of connecting with their lives. We all experience some of the same things, but some stuff is unique to each of us. 

But if minutiae bores you, you probably stopped reading this blog a long time ago.

 

* The ever-helpful folks at Typepad suggest other Typepad blog posts that may be related to what one types in their post. Apparently my reference to plowing caught their attention. This is what they thought you might find interesting:

Related articles

The Art of Plowing

That rumored side trip to NYC.

My husband loves our summer camping vacation in the mountains. He starts talking about the next one about a week after we get home from the last. He studies the calendar, calculates his work schedule, pesters me about what dates I absolutely positively have to attend to county or accounting business, and hops on the internet the instant one can book a campsite at our favorite national forest campground. Thus, this vacation has been planned since last July and the dates have been set since December.

Imagine my dismay when I got an email in early May that I had qualified for [another] Jeopardy audition -- to be held in New York City on June 28, smack in the middle of our vacation. I had taken the online test back in early March; when I hadn't heard anything from them after a month I figured I had not done well enough to qualify.

[Background] This is the fourth time I have qualified to do the audition. 1999, 2005, 2008, 2011. I blogged about the last one with lots of photos. This one was very similar. [/background]

Consternation quickly gave way to plotting and studying airline schedules. I could fly from Cheyenne, WY through Denver to La Guardia for 30,000 air miles (I had accumulated over 40,000 on my Visa card) and #1 Son said that I could stay with him for the two nights I would be there. A quick, cheap trip; a visit with Andrew; and a good story FTW!

The flight from Cheyenne to Denver was in a 19-passenger puddle-jumper.

 

There was one  bit of the 20-minute flight that was so bumpy that a ball of yarn jumped out of my knitting bag and rolled all the way to the other end of the plane. Happily, I am not a nervous flyer so I just sighed and had the flight attendent/copilot -- small crew! -- retrieve it for me when we landed.

The flight from Denver to New York was on Griz's plane.

 

 

We had to get up at 4:45 a.m. to start the drive from the Big Horns, in north central WY, to Cheyenne, in southeastern WY. I got to La Guardia at about 10 p.m. -- the time change accounts for two of those hours.

 

Next came a bus ride to Grand Central Station in Manhattan and a subway ride to the Upper East Side and a three-block walk to #1's dorm, but my back protested strongly after about half a block of that short walk. I called and asked him to come carry my [very small] suitcase and tote bag for me. I was waiting for him, sitting in the median in the middle of Park Avenue at 96th Street. For him, no problem at age 26; for me, no way at age 60+.

The audition was at a Sheraton hotel in mid-town the next afternoon. The group was small, only 23 of us.

The auditioners arrived. We waited.

 

Killing time while waiting is always such a problem for me.

 

The audition crew never tells the auditioners how we did on the 50-question test or if our interview and mock-game-playing skills were impressive enough to land us a spot on the show. There were 100,000 people who took the online test back in March; 2,000 were invited to audition; there will be roughly 400 spots available on the show over the 18-month period in which we are all eligible.

Time to wait for that phone call/email/letter. Keep your fingers crossed for me, m'kay?

* * * * *

That evening #1 and I went out for dinner at DBGB, a restaurant that was recommended to him by a friend in training to be a chef. If you go to the linked site, watch the slide show. We were seated just past the pillar in the center of the restaurant, and my view was of the wall with lots of cubbies and an assortment of copper cooking implements.

 

 
#1 studies the menu.

We had steak tartare with quail's egg (raw), grilled chibatta, cornichons, and some bitter greens to start. Andrew had never had steak tartare so wanted to try it; I am a big fan of extremely rare beef so it was a go. My entree was the chop salad with lobster, his was a burger with barbecue pulled pork and jalapeño mayonnaise. We drank beers we had never heard of before and I had an excellent glass of pinot gris. 

No photos of the food; I felt enough like a country mouse without pulling out my camera to photograph a raw quail's egg atop a neatly shaped patty of raw beefsteak.

The only fly in the ointment was that I had lost my wallet the first night we had left Wisconsin; I was able to locate it by phone at an Applebee's in Forest Lake, MN and they mailed it to me in Buffalo, WY -- complete with all the cash and credit cards!* -- but I had already cancelled my Visa card before I thought to call the Applebee's. So there I was in NYC, without a credit card and relying only on the cash that Smokey had given me.

The tab in at DBGB took almost all the cash I had, but I eventually made it back to Cheyenne with five dollars in my [new] wallet.

And that is how I made a side trip to NYC whilst camping in the mountains.

* I was so impressed with the honesty of the young man whom I dealt with that I sent him part of that cash as a reward. Sometimes I get lucky, even when I don't really deserve it.

Mutterings; cold; Jeopardy!

1. Arrival :: Flight
2. Vomit :: Drunk
3. Fit :: Wii
4. Stutter :: Engine
5. Lifestream :: Field and Stream
6. Tread :: Lightly
7. Desire :: Elms
8. Freezing :: Ice
9. Permit :: Fishing
10. Crinkle :: Foil

* * * * *

Warmer today, temp > zero, although not by much (+8℉). Snowing, of course. That's what always happens when it warms up. Perhaps I prefer the cold; we don't have to shovel cold. Oh, wait, we don't shovel -- that's what Da Yeep and snowblowers are for!

* * * * *

I got this a few days ago. I cannot take the January test because I am in their files until September as a potential contestant, but maybe some of you are interested. Imagine the headlines: Knitter Conquers Jeopardy!

Easygoing. Cthulu. Mutterings. Fred.

Your Travel Personality Is: Easygoing

When you travel, you're looking for a lot of downtime. Vacations are your chance to recoup. All you need is a scenic spot and plenty of time on your hands. You'll figure out the rest. You're not one to make lots of plans when you travel. You just follow whatever path seems right.

What's Your Travel Personality?

Which creature of the night are you? Your Result: Cthulu Spawn   You are really an alien thing, aren't you? I can't describe you because you are beyond. We say "left field" and you say "Krn Grth Thchrang." You are the wild card of the bunch, the unknown quantity
Werewolf
Sorceror
Demon
Vampire
Incubus/Succubus
Ghost
Which creature of the night are you? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Now that is one interesting combination. Easygoing and Cthulu Spawn. Huh.

* * * * *

Sunday = weekly mutterings:

1. Travel :: expense
2. Expensive :: good
3. Backspace :: key
4. Traffic noise :: New York
5. Now see here :: mister
6. Vegetables :: green
7. Chat :: IM
8. Your calling :: me?
9. Weekly :: Reader, My
10. Oh! :: My! God!

* * * * *

This portion of the original post has been removed by request of Fred. 

Everything you always wanted to know about Jeopardy.

I made it to the Jeopardy audition on time Monday afternoon. One point for me.

I had managed NOT to spill my lunch on myself earlier in the day. Add another point.

My power socks (my favorite hand-knit ones) were dirty so I had to wear non-handknit ones. Deduct one point.

The Polaroid they took of me turned out not half bad. Add one point.

I didn't know all 50 answers on the test. Deduct some points, but pleaseohplease, not too many.

I managed to be energetic and personable during the interview. I think. Add a bunch of points, okay?

The audition was held at the Hotel Ivy, a new establishment just a few blocks from my office.

I was in the 3 p.m. group.

This is Glen, who is a contestant coordinator -- maybe even the head contestant coordinator -- for Jeopardy. He may have said that. He said a lot of things, veryveryfast. He was entertaining and good at his job but, my gracious, he could talk fast. Actually, both Jeopardy people that spoke were very energetic and talkedreallyfast. We don't generally talk that fast in Minnesota. But they were fun and entertaining and really, really tried to help us all do our best.

I remembered Glen from one -- or maybe both -- of my other auditions. He's been doing this for awhile. He told us some of his employment history in the game show industry. Given when some of those shows were on the air, I calculated that Glen must be at least 50. An extremely well-preserved 50; he looked about 30.

So.

You want the play by play? I can tell you all about it, but I can't tell you any of the questions on the test. They made us swear and sign in blood that we would never reveal any of the questions because they use the same test in different cities. If I tell you they will take away my birthday and kill my dog. And come after you all. I'm just being kind, really, by not disclosing the questions.

 

There were 20 people in my group. That is considerably fewer than were in my previous group auditions. I don't know why and I didn't ask. It didn't seem important.

First, we took another 50-question test. It was administered from DVD -- the category and question came up on the screen and Johnny Gilbert read the question. We had 8 seconds to write the answer on our answer sheet. I kept a loose score in my head; I think I got all but about 6 or 8 of the questions right. Pop culture and sports are my weak spots. My Shakespeare kinda sucks, too.

 

Then, while two of the staff scored the tests in another room, Glen entertained us and we asked questions. I asked if I could take photos for my blog and was absolutely floored when Glen said, Sure, why not?

Then it was time for the mock game and the personality interview.

 

Three people at a time stood at the front, each with a buzzer in hand, and played Jeopardy. Glen kept encouraging them to Speak loudly! Pump up your energy! Have fun! Keep clicking!

The three people that are standing in the above photo are, if I remember correctly, a stained-glass artist and mother of six (ages 21 to 30-something; she declared emphatically in answer to a question during the interview that she was NOT suffering from empty-nest syndrome); a teacher from St. Louis, MO; and a recently retired English teacher from Duluth, MN.

 

This is Glen, Corina, and Carlos. Glen and Corina asked the interview questions. Carlos ran the computer and video equipment. There was another woman who didn't say a lot and whose name I don't remember.

 

This is Miriam, a grad student at the University of Minnesota who is studying for her Ph.D. in (something like) speech pathology and a man from St. Cloud, MN, who has a garage door company and a 10-month-old daughter. He said in response to the interview question that was asked of everyone that he would use his winnings if he, A, got on the show, and 2, won big, to buy a condo near the Twins ballpark. If he could persuade his wife that it was a good idea.

Miriam asked for my blog URL. Hi, Miriam! Hope you get on the show!

There were a total of five sessions on Monday and Tuesday at the hotel, plus some other, presumably larger, auditions at the Mall of America. Somewhere between 2,000 and 4,000 people *qualify* to appear on the show every year; *qualify* means they pass the test with a good enough score to be invited to this audition. Not all of those people do well enough in the mock game and interview to be invited onto the show. Watching the others play the game and be interviewed, I judged that only roughly a third of them were television-worthy -- able to keep the game moving, no dawdling over choosing the next category, enjoyable to listen to. But the Jeopardy people didn't tell us one way or the other if any of us made the grade; they just told us that we could assume we were ALL in the active file, the file from which they choose contestants. Only about 400 people actually get to appear on the show every year. We all did the math and said to ourselves, It could be me!

Prospective contestants stay in the active file for for eighteen months. I plan to sit right next to my telephone until September, 2009.

* * * * *

Matthew lent me a cable that lets my camera talk to my computer. Oh, happy day! I have taken a fair number of pictures in the past few weeks while I didn't have my camera cable. Pictures make it possible for me to write this blog. With out them I would have to rely on words alone and that just doesn't do it for me. In the coming days I'll be able catch you up on my comings and goings and blatherings since February 24th, the last time I was home. And left my camera cable behind.

Me. Me. Me.

Today is the day.

I have qualified twice before for Jeopardy -- passed the test, played the mock game in front of their staff, been interviewed by the Jeopardy contestant searchers -- but have never been called to appear on the show.

In 1999 they held an open audition at the Mall of America. I stood in line with hundreds, perhaps thousands, of other people to take the 10-question pretest. Everyone who got eight or more correct passed to the next level, where, in a large room with about a hundred others, we took a 50-question test. Those who got at least 35 correct were *qualified* to be on the show, but now needed to demonstrate that they could stand up and press the buzzer and ask the question and talk intelligibly in front of people. In groups of three we played a mock game of a few questions and were interviewed, just like on the show.

In 2005 my husband happened to be watching the show and saw that they were holding a contestant search in Chicago on the Monday after April 15th. He got me on the list, then called to tell me what he had done. (Thank you, Smokey!) I visited my brother-in-law and sister-in-law, who live near Chicago, and BIL drove me to the audition at Navy Pier. It which was exactly like the one in Minneapolis, minus the part about standing in line and taking the 10-question test. During the initial 50-question test I happened to be sitting between a young man who had recently graduated from Yale and a young woman who was a grad student at the University of Chicago. Neither of them passed the test, but they got acquainted during the sessio and I think they went out for coffee afterward. They may have gotten an unexpected benefit from the whole experience.

This time the 50-question test was online on January 31. I had signed up a few weeks before, after getting an e-mail from the Jeopardy people announcing the test. Yes, I am on their mailing list. Actually, I had signed up a year or two ago for this same online test that was being given at that time, but we went out to dinner that evening and I got home too late to take it. This time I was careful to be seated at the computer with no distractions and in plenty of time. And apparently I passed.

PRINT OUT AND BRING THIS LETTER WITH YOU – ADULT INTERVIEW

Congratulations!  We are happy to confirm your appointment to participate in the full audition for Jeopardy!. That will consist of playing a “mock version” of Jeopardy! to assess your game-playing skills, a short personality interview, and being re-tested with a new 50-question test. If you pass all the requirements to become a contestant you will be entered into the contestant pool for one year.  However even though you pass the test, we cannot guarantee that you will be invited to do the show.  In fact, even though you are invited to the studio, there is no guarantee that you will appear on the show.  You will be responsible for all expenses such as parking and travel to and from the audition center.  If you are invited to Los Angeles to do the show you would also be responsible for expenses to come to Los Angeles.

Maybe the third time will be the charm?!

Wish me luck!