I can hardly believe I've been writing this annual letter for four years
already. I can remember back in 2005 when I was telling you folks about my
new hobbies of hang gliding and geocaching. Ah, fond memories. This
year you won't be able to sit on your bums and just read about what I've been
doing. I'm trying out a new format for this year's letter. Go get
your pencils so you can take Moe's 2008 Quiz. The answers can be found at
the end, but no looking until you're done. ABSOLUTELY NO CHEATING!!!
Section 1
Match the trip destination with the description (Write the letter of your answer
on the blank)
A. New Zealand
F. Cape Cod, Massachusetts
B. Australia
G. Montreal, Canada
C. San Fransisco, California
H. Springfield, Massachusetts
D. Sunday River, Maine
I. Newport, Rhode Island
E. Finland
___ While I didn't see any kangaroos during my stay in this country, I
had a wonderful Christmas dinner in a hostel and saw some spectacular views in
the Blue Mountains near Katoomba.
___ I ran my first marathon in four and a half hours at this this Ocean
State city.
___ I spent most of my time in this country's capital, Helsinki. This
country is know for it's saunas and I partook in a traditional sauna here, after
which I ran naked into the freezing ocean waters.
___ While this mountain's name might make you think about moving water,
the water was all frozen during my snowboarding trip here.
___ I ate excellent French food in this city while attending some
meetings for my job.
___ In this city I ate a ginormous cream puff at the biggest fair in New
England.
___ This beautiful country was the location where I jumped out of an
airplane, learned about the native Maori people, bungee jumped off the highest
bungee in the southern hemisphere, got rescued by a helicopter when my hiking
group got stranded on a glacier, and saw more sheep than I ever thought existed.
___ I traveled to this city to give a technical presentation at the
biggest video game developer conference in the world. While I wasn't doing
work related things I saw the sites from a trolley car.
___ This well known beach area on the east coast was the destination for
multiple day and weekend trips.
Section 2
Multiple Choice (Circle your answer)
In spring I met Emily. We had our first date at a Vietnamese restaurant
where I dropped a big spoon full of soup on the floor. Luckily this didn't
scare her away. How did we first meet? A) Russian Mail Order Bride Catalog
B) Online dating service
C) Grocery store
Emily: A) is an ESL (English as a second language) teacher at Worcester State
College
B) is an artist
C) as lived in or visited over 10 countries
D) all of the above
I wrote my second published work this year. It is a chapter for Shader
X6. This book is: A) a kid's coloring book that focuses on different shading techniques
B) packed with a collection of insightful techniques and innovative approaches
to complex computer graphics problems
C) Ya, whatever B said
I've been volunteering with the Big Brother Big Sister volunteer organization
for over a year now. During this year I've done the following activities
with my little brother: A) played video games
B) swimming
C) hiking
D) soccer
E) flew a kite
F) sledding
G) imagined I was a troll and he needed to get over the bridge at the playground
H) all of the above and more
During this past year my buddy Eric who I'd been living with for years went
back to Wisconsin. The reason was: A) living with Moe had driven him to the brink of insanity and he needed
to escape
B) he missed his family and friends in Green Bay
C) the purple chicken told him to do it
I ran my first Marathon this year. I spent four months of intense
training to go from barely being able to jog three miles to being ready to run
26.2 miles. As I made the final turn and was running towards the finish
line I: A) looked back to see that I had a good lead over the second place guy
B) started wondering if there was another marathon in the area that I could run
in the afternoon
C) felt one of the best highs of my life as I knew that I had accomplished my
goal of completing a marathon
This past year I spent some of my spare time writing articles for my Hobby
Robotics website (www.glacialwanderer.com/hobbyrobotics). Most days
over 300 people visit this site and on some days I've had nearly 3000
visitors. Some of the inventions I've posted to this site are: (circle the
3 correct answers) A) A computer controlled wood cutting and engraving machine
B) A time machine
C) A device that detects lightning and triggers a camera to take a picture of
that lightning
D) Using a microcontroler and a microphone to detect sound so I can trigger my
camera's flash to take a picture of a popping balloon or drips of water
E) Intergalactic spaceship
F) Perpetual motion machine
Maurice Ribble
Answers:
Matching: B I E D G
H A C F
Multiple Choice: B D C H
B C ACD