Above the flood

If you didn't guess from last week's trivia's questions, I spent a good portion of last week in Kansas City (on the Missouri side). I was attending the National Society of Women Engineers Conference. It was my first time to attend the conference and it was quite amazing! Consider gathering a couple thousand collegiate and professional engineers of every flavor in one place and then offering sessions on technology and career development. The lines for the bathroom were a bit long, though. Kansas City was a bit cold and dry for me. I also managed to get myself lost a couple of times in the myriad of highways (that end mysteriously before you turn left to get on again?). I ended up in Kansas (the state) at least once by accident. Unfortunately, my conference kept me too busy to visit any LNS's or LYS's in the area. I did manage not to get delayed by rain coming back to Houston. And then it rained and rained and rained. Luckily no flooding in our area. This morning, it wasn't so much foggy as it was a migrating mist. As I was driving into work, I saw some strange things on the grass. If it had been cold, I would've thought they were patches of ice, but it is not cold enough for ice. I wondered if they were little bits of plastic, but they looked too perfectly star shaped for that. When I got close, I realized that they were cobwebs, hanging flat in the tall grass, covered in dew droplets.

Trivia contest winner: (drumroll please) Shannon L.!

Below are the unanswered questions (and answers):

Question 13: What was the first word said from the Moon?
Answer: Houston

Question 14: What Shuttle Mission is scheduled to launch on July 1, 2006?
Answer: Discover’s STS 121

Question 15: Nasa Rd. 1 outside of Johnson Space Center was briefly renamed for what Astronaut in 1998?
John Glenn (It was named John Glenn Parkway from October 13-November 13, 1998)

Question 16: The Astros currently play in Minutemaid Park - what was the previous name of the ballfield before it was called Minutemaid Park?
Answer: Enron Field

Question 17: How many times have the Astros appeared in the World Series?
Answer: once

Question 18: In Superman II, what do the evil Kryptonians mistakenly think Earth is called?
Answer: Planet Houston

Question 19: What two universities did your favorite designer (ok, the designer who writes this blog) get degrees from?
Answer: Texas A&M University and Georgia Institute of Technology

Question 20: What are the mascots for those universities?
Answer: TAMU: Reveille (a collie); Georgia Tech: Buzz (a yellow jacket)

Question 21: Which was established first, Texas A&M or the University of Texas?
Answer: Texas A&M

Question 22: Which UT is older?
Answer: The University of Tennessee

What musical contains the song that contains the line "Everythings up to date in Kansas City/They've gone about as far as they can go"?
Answer: Oklahoma!

What American city is second in the world for number of fountains (after Rome) giving it the nickname "City of Fountains"?Answer: Kansas City

In other news, I entered a haiku contest on another blog, and although I didn't win, I did get honorable mention (top 30 or so out of 400+ isn't too bad, I think), so here's a link to the winners: http://www.januaryone.com/archives/2006/10/haiku_you.php#more

Now that the online show is over, hopefully I can buckle down on some new designs! I have wonderful plans, but we all know what happens to the best plans!