LUNA-TICS TEAM ROOM: Year-round "Looney" fun.

[Kona2]

Wowzer, mates! Another teammate has made it to the 200K milestone in the Holiday Challenge!

Lotta lakes in Readfield, a small town in Maine that Rebecca calls home. It's in Kennebec County, so named for the Kennebec River, an early trade corridor to interior Maine from the Atlantic coast. It was the route followed by 1,110 American Revolutionary War soldiers during you guessed it... Benedict Arnold's expedition to Quebec in 1775. Benedict was a busy dude.

Congratulations, Blaze (aka Rebecca), on earning $ 6.40 in Concept2 donations thus far and earning your antler lights, and the coveted Holiday Challenge pin !! Way to row !!

[Kona2]

Wowzer, mates! Another teammate has made it to the 200K milestone in the Holiday Challenge!

With names like Starfire (oooo, that would be a good reindeer name!), Jetstar, and a Rocket V8 engine, you may or may not know we're talking about Oldsmobiles. And what a rocket history this former auto brand had! Wiki says: In 1959, Oldsmobile models were completely redesigned with a rocket motif from front to rear, as the top of the front fenders had a chrome rocket, while the body-length fins were shaped as rocket exhausts which culminated in a fin-top taillight (concave on the 98 models while convex on the 88 models). The 1959 models also offered several roof treatments, such as the pillared sedan with a fastback rear window and the Holiday SportSedan, which was a flat-roofed pillarless hardtop with wraparound front and rear glass. The 1959 models were marketed as "the Linear Look", and also featured a bar-graph speedometer which showed a green indicator through 35 miles per hour (56 km/h), then changed to orange until 65 miles per hour (105 km/h), then was red above that until the highest speed read by the speedometer, 120 miles per hour (190 km/h). Power windows were available on the 98 models, as was two-speed electric windshield wipers with electrically powered windshield washers. The 88 still relied on vacuum-operated windshield wipers without a washer feature. 1959 Oldsmobiles were offered with "Autronic Eye" (a dashboard-mounted automatic headlight dimmer) as well as factory-installed air conditioning and power-operated front bench seat as available options. Seems pretty space aged for the late 1950s, until you think about John Glenn orbiting Earth in 1962!

Ransom Olds, founder of the Oldsmobile Company, decided to take some of his money and buy a bit of Florida that he could make into his town. Originally this was called R E Olds-On-The-Bay. It morphed into Oldsmar, and still has car shows that feature....Oldsmobiles. And, it's Oldsmar that teammate Dana calls home.

Congratulations, Buckaroo Bonzai (aka Dana), on earning $ 6.02 in Concept2 donations thus far and earning your antler lights, and the coveted Holiday Challenge pin !! Way to row !!

[brotherjim]

Congratulations to everyone during this challenge. So nice to see so many reindeer, I was so surprised.
An aside- I have cancelled my internet at home about 3 weeks ago and Jay and Tammy have been posting for me. I am fortunate to be at school with Bobbie right now putting semester grades in so I can read and check the internet. OH BOY!!!!!

[Dnoeske]

And then R E Olds traded the town for a hotel..... Oh,we'll... Guess sunshine and beaches are not for everyone.

Thank you so very much for the research-- and the lights!! As a first year rower I wish to thank you!! This is the most fun I have had all year. Watching the amazing stats of others--- trying for of my first reindeer, dreaming of earning lights, and now a try for that coveted red harness and to be a part of the donations earned --- how rewarding is that ??

You have all made this year so much fun!!!

[BAZzy]

Go team luna-tics. So many reindeer!

Hard too imagine many of you are bunkering down in the snow, and we are pulling the kayaks and paddle boards out of the shed and heading for the lake!

Cheers, BBB

[Kona2]

Wowzer, mates! Another teammate has made it to the 200K milestone in the Holiday Challenge!

Just in time to make getting through the next snowstorm just a little bit easier on the life of Pi, Tony earns some antler lights! Weather reports say that light snow falling in Duluth....of course, that may be standard for Duluth winters most days....even better reason to have your own flying reindeer!

Congratulations, Pi (aka Tony), on earning $ 6.01 in Concept2 donations thus far and earning your antler lights, and the coveted Holiday Challenge pin !! Way to row !!


Saw that Tony had earned his antler lights yesterday - delayed acknowledgement!

[Kona2]

Wowzer, mates! Another teammate has made it to the 200K milestone in the Holiday Challenge!

Hooboy! Wind Dancer is sure showing us how to play the wind currents over the Netherlands as his reindeer zips right through the 200K milestone.

Congratulations, Wind Dancer(aka Peter H), on earning $ 6.00 in Concept2 donations thus far and earning your antler lights, and the coveted Holiday Challenge pin !! Way to row !!

[Kona2]

Congratulations, Tim G, on rowing over 400,000 m in the Holiday Challenge thus far! Tim G's reindeer, Blitzen, now has a tail wag in addition to the flashing red harness and antler lights.

Way to row, Tim G ! Your reindeer has earned a bit of swagger to his reindeer walk!

[Kona2]

On snow alert here at Reindeer Central.....reindeer might get some opportunities to see how well they fly in the wind and snow today. Yikes. Of course, as Baz notes, it is SUMMER in the southern hemisphere and summer euphoria is in full force. The only boards people in the Rockies are getting out of the shed are the snowboards... And thanks, Dana, for telling us the rest of the R E Olds story. You go, girl - that next milestone is not so far away!

Jim - great to hear from you, and thanks to Jaybird for keeping up with those meters! Internet access can be pretty iffy in some cities, and I know you were having some troubles with finding good access. Public library is also a good place to be able to check internet in most areas (I see that Malvern library offers this, too), if you can get to and from the library. The computers at our local library are always in use, but can be reserved for a block of time by anyone with a library card.



Day 27 or 28 of 33


Season meters as of 231/365 = 101,896,638 m

Total meters on the day = 300,340 m

Oars in space (participation) = 21 percent

MILESTONES...Bragging Rights...Celebrations:

4.25 MM bg
1.65 MM Rosi
1.55 MM Sam
900 K Nataliya
700 K Andrew
600 K Mike M
250 K Tony
250 K Teresa
200 K Eric

Thanks, as always, to everyone who rows with us. All meters are equal in this rowing business - we just try to help motivate each other to reach personal milestones! And, yikes, sometimes spend more time on the stories than on posting the numbers. Oops - missed getting yesterday's stats posted.


From 12.17

Steven D 1,000 m
Sam 3,000 m
Jim m
Chuck E 5,000 m
Zander 5,400 m
Teresa m
David T 6,000 m
Marty 6,000 m
Paul S 6,000 m
Tammy 6,500 m
Karyn 6,687 m
Andre 6,877 m
Kristine 7,000 m
Nataliya 8,000 m
K2 8,056 m
Dana 8,363 m
Pat S 8,634 m
Baz 10,000 m
Brian M 10,000 m
Peter H 10,000 m
Tim G 10,000 m
Tim K 10,000 m
Ronnie 10,050 m
Ian 10,140 m
Greg C 10,313 m
Roger 10,500 m
Cathie 11,000 m
Michelle 11,000 m
Ross 11,056 m
Rosi 11,500 m
Danno 12,000 m
Ted 12,000 m
Greg H 12,499 m
Tony 13,332 m
Marie 13,600 m
Jay R 13,734 m
Dennis 14,500 m
Rebecca 15,000 m
David A 15,760 m
Anita 16,000 m
Jay 16,000 m ....and a fine 500K in the Holiday Challenge so far....wowzer
Eric 16,612 m
Harold 18,000 m
Ed 20,000 m
bg 33,069 m

From 12.18:

Tim K 1,000 m
K2 m ... how seasonal!
Jim 3,588 m
Brian M 5,000 m
Andre 5,131 m
Pat S 5,400 m
Sam 5,500 m
David T 6,000 m
Nataliya 7,000 m
Stephen W 7,000 m
Anita 7,500 m
Danno 8,000 m
Tim P 8,015 m
Andrew 8,325 m
Baz 10,000 m
Mike C 10,000 m
Mike M 10,000 m
Peter H 10,000 m
Jane 10,359 m
Cathie 11,000 m
Dana 11,268 m
Ted 12,000 m
Dennis 13,500 m
Chip 13,556 m
David A 14,589 m
Tim G 17,500 m
Kevin N 21,400 m
bg 26,292 m
Chuck B 28,084 m

[Agadway]

Woohoo and hooyah !! Marking a milestone feels pretty special - and when it's a ONE million meter milestone (on top of getting reindeer, getting antler lights), it's even better! Congratulations, Adam, on achieving a ONE million meter rowing season! We wish you many, MANY more !!

Thank You!

Adam

[Kona2]

I see we have two new reindeer....stay tuned....and welcome back to Christa and Katerina.

[Kona2]

Another rower meets the Concept2 donation milestone... and frees a reindeer!

Never know what will happen on a given day! Some of us know the Christmas carol "Good King Wenceslas". The carol tells the story of a King and his page who see a poor peasant struggling through the snow on a harsh winter's day, a day that happened to be the Feast of Stephen (December 26th). The King tells the page that they must go forth and bring food to the peasant who lives waaay out in the woods. The page grows weary of trudging through the snow and is ready to give up. The King says follow in my footsteps, and saves his page. Turns out that the Christmas carol was based on the historical Duke of Bohemia, Wenceslas I, who was the founder of the City of Pilsen. Wenceslas ruled for about 15 years, and then was done in by his brother (Boleslav the Cruel) in what was certainly an evil plot. Still, how did the Duke get to be a King of caroling fame? Wiki says: His martyrdom, and the popularity of several biographies, quickly gave rise to a reputation for heroic goodness, resulting in his being elevated to Sainthood, posthumously declared king, and seen as the patron saint of the Czech state.

Christa lives in Pilsen, the fourth largest city in the Czech Republic. Pilsner Urquell Brewery was the maker of the first pilsner beer and its this brewery that is often the destination of those who visit Pilsen. There's more than just beer to this city, as you might expect. Pilsen has been selected to be one of the two European Capitals of Culture for 2015 (along with Mons, Belgium). This brings prestige for the city and some financial support and investment in cultural projects. Other items of interest are the Puppet Museum (a reindeer named Pinocchio?), the Great Synagogue (reported to be the 3rd largest in the world), and Techmania, a new technical center.

So, it's not surprising that a couple of reindeer could be found in Pilsen. There are many great local heroes here (we talked about Emil Zatopek, namesake of Anita's reindeer Zatopek previously). Christa's reindeer is named Nissa, after her smiling dog Nissa....and Nissa means elf in some Scandinavian languages. Elves, King Wenceslas...we've got the makings of a good holiday season right here!

Congratulations, Christa, on earning the Concept2 donation and freeing your reindeer, Nissa !

[Kona2]

Another rower meets the Concept2 donation milestone... and frees a reindeer!

Hooboy! If you look carefully (or even mostly carefully), there are bunny trails of interest wherever we've got places to talk about. Remember getting quizzed on state capitals, and you get to Illinois....and you say, Chicago! And you're wrong (or at least I usually was). It's Springfield that's the capital of Illinois. The first bunny trail of the mind happened with the capital of Illinois. Turns out that Illinois has had three capitals: Kaskaskia, Vandalia, and Springfield. Kaskaskia was founded in the early 1700s by French Jesuits, and was an important territorial settlement. The General Assembly petitioned to move the capital from Kaskaskia to an area closer to the interior of the state, and a site later known as Vandalia was selected. Rumor has it that some of the state's prominent men made some profit out of this move to largely unsettled land. And, after time passed for awhile, another petition occurred to move to Springfield to make the capital even CLOSER to the geographic center of the state. Reminds me of the Alaskan discussions of whether Juneau or Anchorage or Fairbanks or Willow should be the capital city?!

Springfield, IL is home to teammate Katerina, just as it was once home to Abraham Lincoln. Springfield is in Sangamon County, so named for the Sangamon River....and Sangamon comes from a Pottawatomie word meaning "where there's plenty to eat." Many of the area tourist attractions have much to do with historical sites associated with Lincoln. But it was the presence of another historic house that caught my attention for yet another bunny trail: the Dana-Thomas House. A young architect was commissioned to remodel a Victorian mansion into a building that blended into its surroundings...and that architect was Frank Lloyd Wright. Mind boggling to think of going from Victorian style to Frank Lloyd Wright Prairie style.

Many opportunities for reindeer names here...and started to name this one Sangamon (until I found out that meant where's there's plenty to eat - which didn't seem right for one of Santa's reindeer). So in honor of Wright and his different way of designing the spaces we live in, going to call this reindeer Frank.

Congratulations, Katerina, on earning the Concept2 donation and freeing your reindeer, Frank !

[Kona2]

Welcome to new teammate Brandon N ! Glad to have you rowing with us. Here's wishing you many good rowing sessions and lots of camaraderie!

[Kona2]

Wowzer, mates! Another teammate has made it to the 200K milestone in the Holiday Challenge!

Zander's reindeer, Bolt, holds the world reindeer record for the 100 m and 200 m reindeer dash! He's using that speed for those quick takeoffs needed when the roof is short!

Congratulations, Bolt (aka Zander) on earning $ 8.18 in Concept2 donations thus far and earning your antler lights, and the coveted Holiday Challenge pin !! Way to row !!