Robotics Weekend


Nikolai was a little flush right after his race; Abigail was a little more rested, having completed her run about 30 minutes prior.

By Allan Olson
It was another Saturday spent covering Robotics, and it was a fast-paced yet long affair. I tried to capture some special moments for not only the local teams, but other teams as well. That was not an easy task, due to the effects added by colorful lights and a smoke machine, but I did the best I could within the limits of my camera’s capability.
After a couple years covering these events, I’m starting to get familiar with other competitors – in particular, which teams have some awesome builds and can nearly win a full round solo. Regardless of any single team’s ability, each team is treated equally by one and all teams in the competition, across the board. Every team has something to offer, and it all works out in the end when the top teams get to pick their final alliances. Part of the fun of covering these events is that people know that I’m there getting photos of them, and some even looked to me Saturday to see if I was doing team photos again this year. 
After all the fun, though, it was nice to get home to family, minus Marcus, who went to the event with Nikolai and me but left earlier with a friend for the night. At home, after I rested my feet for a little bit, we all sat down to play a mad game of Scrabble. The board we are using was acquired for a great price at a garage sale earlier this summer. For some reason, we hadn’t touched it all summer, but recently I challenged my wife to a game, and we were later joined by Nikolai, who ultimately won. My wife and I had played a game earlier in the week and I somehow managed to come out as the leader in points. On Saturday, the girls were on a team and they almost defeated the parents and their brother, except the mom came up with one final big move and, due to the lone point deduction they had left in their tray, they managed to lose by a full point. (Full disclosure: when the kids are playing, mom and dad don’t play cutthroat, and do our best to help them maximize their points in each turn.)
I finally had a chance to sleep in on Sunday, with no obligations until noon. Of course I was awake by 6:30 a.m., basically my normal time to arise. As much as I tried to get back to sleep, it didn’t happen, so by 7:30 I was up for the day. I started by processing photos from the last couple days. 
A couple hours later, I was outside messing around, trying to figure out where my septic tank is hiding. I dug a couple of holes, and Nik helped me with one, too. That one was clearly the wrong one, and we uncovered the propane line – yikes, that was close! I went on YouTube again, watched a different video and determined I was too close to the house. I contacted my neighbor for assistance, and we set a time for the afternoon. In the interim, we headed into town to visit the gun range and to pick up Marcus. We sent a few bullets down range to get the rifles sighted in, and then made a trip into Bemidji before returning home. Then I contacted my neighbor, and after a little bit of probing and shoveling, we found the tank. Now, I just need to get back on the list to get it pumped.
That evening, I volunteered to cook supper, and if I do say so myself, those bacon cheeseburgers were mighty tasty.
Another big happening for the week was the end of the high school cross country season for Nikolai and Abigail. Nikolai did very well, and for it being her first varsity meet Abi did pretty well herself. I think she was pleased with her decision to join cross country with her brother instead of volleyball like last year. Hopefully, I can convince them both to continue running through the off-season to improve their times next year. If they ever make it to state for this activity, that will mess up my deer hunting – but hey, I can hunt anytime, so we will cross that bridge when we come to it.
Of course, this weekend’s plans are – deer hunting! As they are for next weekend, and possibly the following weekend, as well. That remains to be determined.

Please remember to watch out for the buses that are carrying our most precious cargo. Also, snap a photo or two to preserve a lifetime of memories. Thanks for reading, and have a great week! Feel free to drop me a line at cltimes1@arvig.net or stop by the office for a visit.

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