started the day with a very nice hike with my friends Nina and Micah.. and their 1yo daughter daughter Helena and dog Skios. We picked up in the Huntington town forest which was beautiful.. and easy walk . I haven’t  seen them in a while  and it was nice catching up !

From there I headed in to work to help;p on decorating the BETA bus.. It goes in to service tomorrow. I worked on the lights .. They’re sound activated and look pretty nice when music is on. We had a pretty good crowd there today.. Kyle. Katie, Ruby. Mary, Rebar, Kristina, Lochie.. lots of fun.. and even some test dancing !

Cant wait to ride !

nite all, note sam

-me

today was the Vermont FIRST Lego League Championship, the biggest one the State has ever held with nearly 30 Teams competing from all over the state. The event was in the Shapiro field house  at Norwich University in Northfeild VT . My ferried Ray and I left early from Richmond and got down there about 8. Mike C and his team had done a *fantastic* job at preparing for the event. The field house was packed with more than 500cheering  kids, coaches, parents, judges and officials.  There really is nothing like an event like a FIRST championship for showing how fun STEAM (science technology engineering art and math) can be !

The event began with some opening remarks from Mike C and a few visiting dignitaries.. Then the competition began !. The teams took turns competing and cooperating to navigate a course and perform as many of the predefined tasks as their robot could accomplish. 

There were soooooo many friends of mine there. .. many folks I hadn’t seen in years.. and some new friends like Carlos, Elisa and Genje

After a day of competition.. it was time for the awards.. The excitement in the room was incredible !

We have another event coming up on Saturday Feb 11 at CVU from 10-3. . This time it will be  the Vermont FIRST Tech Challenge Championship . Bigger teams, bigger robots.. and lots of cheering kids. 

Please come join us. !. I guarantee it will leave you smiling !

nite all, nite sam

-me

Busy day today.. We’re getting ready for a big show and tell next week at work.. we’re putting 3 new study hall demos out on the floor. My friend shannon is putting the finishing touches on a new battery demo.. looks good !

Tonight I met up with my FIRST friend Michael who’s up from Massachusetts for the FLL Robotics championship tomorrow. .. We took advantage of his visit to gather our friends Maggy and Max and bring them to the Generator to see our FRC Robotics team working. I think they all liked seeing the teams progress !  From generator we went over and had a great meal at Great Northern.

Later on , I went over to the hive to catch the end of a movie night that marie was hosting. I didn’t get the memo that everyone was to come in pajamas… 

pretty cozy !

Nite all, nite sam 

-me

We got a little more snow last night… which is nice. I was able to take 3 cross country laps around the front field before work.. I have to remember to exercise when Dianes out of town.. she’s usually the one who gets us out on the roads or trails.. 

It felt good to be outside !

nite all. nite sam

-me