Census

Let's get down to business. In only 8 short days we will be walking the red carpet to our Virtually Groundbreaking People's Choice Awards, beginning at 8:00 CST. But before we can settle back into our seats and enjoy the show, we have to roll up our sleeves and get to work wrapping up left over details from our last year together.

I got a lot of great input yesterday about all the things for which you would like closure (16 things to be exact). I've tried dividing them into "buckets," so each day this week we could address a different theme. Here's how I'm thinking it will shake out. Tuesday, people; Wednesday, service initiatives; Thursday, programs; Friday, miscellaneous and a free for all of questions for one another; Saturday, post your recipes and find out more about the Highlowaha cookbook; and Sunday - yes, Sunday - we will post a few slide shows of pictures from the Olympics and Pen Pal Weekend.

Maria Shriver: Bust. Maria never took me up on my offer to eat lunch together... even though my letter arrived in a bright blue tube with metallic shred, stickers, and ribbon. I'm guessing there is no chance it will happen now - what with all California's furloughed employees and all. I'm guessing she's heavy in the middle of talking Arnold off the ledge. How about you? Did you ever make good on your goal to arrange a lunch with: (1) someone you know, (2) someone you would like to know, and (3) an aspiration person (which is what Maria was for me)?

Frito Lay: Bust. I posted the invitation to Frito Lay on my January 12, 2009 blog. I wrote the post because I was under the distinct impression they had software that searched the internet for any instance when their company name was mentioned. There's a technical term for what this software does, but right now it escapes me. At any rate, either they don't own the software that I thought they did or they are a combination of risk averse and conventional thinkers. National Potato Chip Day is March 14, so maybe we'll use it as an opportunity to approach Proctor and Gamble about giving Pringles the main stage. Frito-Lay, if you're out there, we wish you'd take us up on our January 12 offer (http://www.highlowaha.com/2009/01/frito-lay-chip-in.html).

Babies-R-Us: Pseudo Bust. A representative from Babies-R-Us actually called me after reading my account of the debacle-of-an-experience I had in a New York store on November 9, 2008. We played two full rounds of phone tag and, in the end, never spoke in person. I don't know that the effort was quite enough to get me back in one of their stores anytime soon, but it has made me less compelled to share my scissor saga.

Shannon and 100 day t-shirt: Success. On January 24 a new reader, Shannon, asked our group for input as to what she might use to make her son's 100 Days of School t-shirt. In true form our readers generated a long and healthy list of everything from fish, to buttons, to safety pins, life savers, and so much more. Shannon was nice enough to send me a photo of her final product. Take a look. Congratulations Peggy for offering up the winning idea!
Ray: Completed (or will be soon). In mid-January we had discussion about giving Ray a birthday. Ideas were shared about which day of the year we ought to assign as his official birthday. Is it the day he was named (National Tug-of-War Day), the day of his first appearance, or the 18 of a month, because of our affinity for the number eighteen? Today we shall decide. It is, after all, Unfinished Business Week. I've made an executive decision that the date should be nothing predictable. It should be 100% random, because that's when the real magic happens. So... I have in my head (and notebook) an equation (ie. # = # = # x # - # = #... you get the idea). In a Mad Libs kind of way, as suggested by someone weeks ago, I will use the numbers you generate to solve for Ray's Birthday. It'll be fun. First 10 answers get used. How about one answer per reader and let's agree to answer them in order.

• Your age when you got your driver's license
• Number of siblings you have
• The date of your favorite post in the past two weeks
• Your area code
• Length of time you've lived at your current residence
• Your favorite grade of school
  
• Number of times you check the blog on an average day
• Number of tickets you've received in the past year
• Number of Oreo cookies you typically eat in one sitting
• Number of planes you've been on in the past year.

Once completed, I will plug your numbers into my equation and calculate Ray's birthday. Check back tomorrow to find out the date.

Unless you have a question about people, on which you would like to follow up with another reader, we're done for today. Tomorrow we will tackle Service Projects.

Signing off until then...