Potpourri and a Prank

I know there's been a lull here at VoteNoMalley.  Honestly, there just hasn't been that much to talk about, especially when it comes to Martin O'Malley.

Sure, Hillary Clinton told him not to go to the Middle East to settle the latest violent outburst.  She was going to solve this one.  I was surprised that O'Malley restrained himself from publicly criticizing New Jersey Governor Chris Christy in the horrific aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.  I guess miracles can happen.

So, did I mention that my oldest daughter had heart surgery?  After living with a 5 year old with cancer, minor heart surgery seems so.....minor!  She came out of it just fine.  The surgery was 4 hours long, recovery about the same, and they sent us home at around 10:15 pm.  From Johns Hopkins.  Downtown.  But I guess that's better than staying overnight.  The surgery was on a Friday and she was back in school on Monday.

Thanksgiving was uneventful.  And that's a good thing.  We went to a wedding this weekend.  That was fun. Great food.  Great music.  Great friends.  I was off of work all week.  Somehow I still have like 15 days of vacation and I can only carry-over 5 days.  I guess I'll be taking off every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for the remainder of the year.  I did a little painting around the house - mostly doors and door frames.  Things just aren't as white as they used to be.  Plus 13 years of grubby hands all over them.

I ran 4 or 5 times last week for a total of 20.5 miles.  In spite of this, I still managed to gain 9 pounds over 11 days.  Perhaps it was that wedding, post-rehearsal, and Thanksgiving.  Imagine how much weight I would have gained had I not run those 20 miles.

Since I didn't really have anything else to say, I was thinking about some events in life that I thought would be fun to share.

Back in the olden days, I worked in a different group and we had weekly meetings.  At the beginning of every meeting we had an ice-breaker - a Q&A, a puzzle, a game, etc... Everyone took a turn.  One week it was a very good friend of mine's turn.  She has a great sense of humor, so I'm sure she won't mind this little roasting.  She's totally into pop culture, though not as much as she used to be, and seems to think that the entire world is just as interested.  She gave us 20 questions about celebrities, pop songs, and TV shows on Bravo!.  Needless to say, I was unable to answer any questions.  And neither was anyone else.  She was shockingly surprised and chastised us for being out of touch.  Whatever.

The next week it was my turn.  And I had a plan.  All of my friends know that I love history.  Early American history.  So I created 20 questions about history events that the average person would not know.  But then I took it a step further.  I shared the questions and answers with my coworkers and had them each remember to answer to one question.  So the stage was set.

The meeting started and I handed out the test and everyone had about 4 minutes to answer the questions.  I'm watching the expressions on everyone's face.  My pop-culture friend has an absolute look of puzzlement and disgust on her face.  I could read her mind.  "Who knows this shit???"

When we finished, I asked the first question.  I don't remember the exact questions, but these questions would qualify.

1) Who was John Adams' first Secretary of State?  One co-worker chimes in - "Was it Thomas Pickering?"
Yes!  Yes it was!  Everyone maintains composure.  My friend is stumped.  How did he know that, she wonders.

2) What 2 major battles of the Civil War were fought over the same few days?  Another answers, "The Battle of Vicksburg and the Battle of Gettysburg!"  Yes, that it correct.  A couple of snickers.

3) In what state was Elbridge Gerry, the 5th Vice President of the United States born?  "Ah...Massachusetts."  Some of us are now having difficulty controlling ourselves.

4) On what day did the United States Constitution become effective?  A question like this blew our cover, because our supervisor, a nice lady with no interest in history gave the exact answer - March 4, 1789.

My friend then slammed her hands on the table then threw them up into the air and hollered at us that she was on to our joke.  At this point we couldn't contain ourselves anymore and we all burst out laughing.  Perhaps one of the greatest pranks I've ever pulled.