Game On

It's just about here. Everyone's favorite time of year when they get to pick the brackets and see which of their favorite college teams make it to the final 4. I have to admit, my interest in basketball is small to say the least, but I do enjoy picking (randomly) the teams that will go on to the end. I have to say that Mandi bested me last year by quite a margin if I remember correctly, so I'll have to try and do better this year. On most of these sports things where you pick stuff to see who wins she seems to be much better at it than I am...

Something that is quite frustrating is to go and buy a product from the store, come home and set it up to be used, and to have it explode right there on your table after no more than 5 minutes. Then you have to deal with that awful stench of burnt metallic parts and everything, and at some point you have to find the time to go back to the store and return it for a new one. And of course, you inevitably have a pressing need to use this product, which is why you bought it in the first place. Not that I have any personal experience in that, I'm just saying, that's what always seems to happen.

If you check the comments page on the last post, you will see a couple of fun little riddles to be solved. I have indeed been remiss in posting any of these recently, mostly because I misplaced the sheets that I was pulling them from, and I had about exhausted the ones that I had answered myself. I guess I might have to go find them, and of course, there is the 365 day calendar with some random word games incorporated which I could pull from. Maybe a brainteaser would work as well. At least on those I could get a definitive answer on, and I have been reading some fairly intriguing ones recently...sounds like a plan, although that plan won't come in to effect until later.

The question of camp is a difficult one. They have been some of the best times that I've experienced in the past couple years. That week of hard work and hard play has been an immense highlight. There has been so much that has happened in those 2 weeks that I've been there thus far, it's hard to remember all that's gone on. I've referenced some before, with the miserably awful firework choice to light the pyre, Paul correctly answering a question in celebrity jeopardy: the bible edition, beating the campers in football 2-0 on a mark grayson safety, finding a camper in the staff cabin with his aunt after running a double c for a few minutes, watching xbox being played in the ark on the screen...tons of others, and that's just from two years of camp. I can't say what will happen this summer. There are a lot of things that will need to happen, and I'm not sure when I can squeeze everything in. There is the necessity of finding a job, which this past interview might have helped out considerably in and there is the need to finish my master's thesis, which is coming along slowly. My mom wants me to go to Japan along with the rest of our family to visit her mother, who is quite old. People from church would like it if Mandi and I were able to go with them to the Dominican Republic for the mission trip our church does yearly. I just don't know what time I will have. Knowing the importance of getting to Japan to see my grandmother, if there is 1 thing that I can do this summer and only one, it's going to be that. If at all possible, my knee-straps and I will be coming to camp. It's just to hard to tell at the moment. I'm hoping that somehow it works out that I can go.

For any of you soccer people out there, just a warning for this week's soccer action. ESPN 2 and ESPN Classic will be broadcasting the premier soccer tournament of Europe as the 2nd leg of the 1st knock-out stage is played this Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday's marquee matchup is Liverpool vs. Barcelona (last year's champions) with Liverpool holding a 2-1 advantage from the away leg. What this means, is that as long as Liverpool ties or wins, they will advance to the next round. If Barca wins 1-0, Liverpool still will advance on the away goals rule. If Barca wins 2-0, Barca will advance. If Barca wins 2-1, they will play extra time, and if Barca wins by 2 goals or more by any margin, Liverpool will be eliminated. It'll be an excellent game. Wednesday's highlight is the Bayern Munich vs. Real Madrid matchup, with Real holding a small 3-2 advantage from their home leg. It's essentially wide open, with Real needing to tie, or score more than 2 goals to advance. That game will be on Classic at 5/4 central. I don't know how many other soccer fanatics other than myself look at this...but if you're not too into soccer, I'd invite you to check out the Liverpool - Barcelona game. Granted it's at 2:30 in the afternoon...but maybe you might not be at work that day or something...not that I'd think about doing that...

Oh, what the heck, here is a neat little riddle for your enjoyment. There is one clear solution, once you know how to think about it. Here is "The Man in the Elevator" riddle:

A man lives on the tenth floor of a building. Every morning he takes the elevator down to the lobby and leaves the building. In the evening, he gets into the elevator, and, if there is someone else in the elevator - or if it was raining that day - he goes back to his floor directly. Otherwise, he goes to the seventh floor and walks up three flights of stairs to his apartment. Can you explain why?