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Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Amy Dittbrenner, Come on down!

Amy Dittbrenner, Come on down!


That’s right folks, I am doing service in the name of Game Show Great, Amy Dittbrenner.

So I thought to myself, what kind of service can I do for Amy that I can somehow tie into a game? And then I thought, what kind of service can I make others do, so that I can take credit for doing service, which is somehow tied into a game? Voila, born is the November Challenge.

So I sent out a “test” a couple of months ago. Thank you all for participating in the service challenge. I thoroughly enjoyed serving my fellow man vicariously through each one of you. I have to say, some of you answered the test weakly, but that is ok. I know you were busy doing your own service project. And some of you were busy taking BMW drivers down a notch or two.

Just a reminder, I did give a full month to participate, no complaints.

The November test questions were weighted and I did accept bribes. Winners are announced below.

I have explained the intent of the questions below. I also copied some of the best answers. I apologize for the length of this but it is about you guys so I am sure you won’t mind reading it. And Amy will enjoy it because it is all service in her name.

1.Do you have a log-in for familytree.org?

Well, the intent here was to have everyone sign up on the new church web site. However, this question got flagged from the get go. Does anyone know what Mitzi’s calling is in our ward? She is the genealogy specialist but you wouldn’t know it by this question she wrote…apparently there is no familytree.org associated with the church. Char realized this and was convinced the rest of the test was all trick questions. Everyone got a point. Moving on.

2. Between Oct 28th 2012 and now, did you do an unexpected service for your spouse? If so, what?

You should have read this and said to yourself, “self, I should do an unexpected service.”

The best answer goes to Lani and Hock with this sickly sweet service: I put love notes in his lunch each day, took bath duty, ironed shirts…..awwwwww

And Kriss and Ed (bonus point to Tiff and Ryan): He hung my medicine cabinets & I got all the Christmas decorating down from the attic and decorated with Ryan’s help.

3. Did you give out a pass along card or do any missionary work?

As we know, the field is white, already to harvest, so thrust in your sickle. Kriss and Tiffany need to duke it out on who can really claim Hector.

4. Out of college, Grandpa's first boss in construction was very kind to him. Why?

First, for those of you who said “trick question, Grandpa didn’t go to college.” Well, he did not graduate from college but he did complete 2 years before starting a job in construction. Now, had you picked up your phone and dialed 801.472.3545, and posed this question to the gentleman who answered, you may have come up with the right answer. Big Bucks, no whammies to those who answered that Grandpa’s mother nursed his boss when he was an infant.

5. How many FHEs have you held since Oct 28th?

Well, the intent here was to give you just a little more encouragement to have FHE.

6. Who was Canada's first prime minster? What was his formal name?

Alex, I’ll take “Former leaders of the greatest countries in the world” for $1000. Who is “Sir John A MacDonald.”

7. How many days did you hold family scripture study since Oct 28th?

See #5.

8. For the Dads--did you do a one on one date with one of your children since Oct 28th?

Easy, you could have claimed a trip to McDonalds if you needed to. Too late to revise your answers.

9. How did you magnify your calling this month?

Absolutely, the number one best answer goes to Bill Johnson who answered, “got to know more of my scout’s names.” Magnification of calling by at least 100X.

Runners up Chuck and Ashley answered with: Chuck went grocery shopping for a family. Having done this yesterday, I really admire a man who can shop for a whole family.

Other runners up, Lani and Hock answered with: Stalked a less active YW despite risking my life because she has a crazy untrained dog that wanted to eat me alive... But at least I got her cell number out of it ;)

10. Did you sing to someone outside of family and church members since Oct 28th?

Char and Bill really needed a gimme at this point because Char thought every question was a trick question. What is interesting is that neither one of them mentioned Kids Are Music. Char gets points for the following: I volunteer in Cole's school class and I go in to read a story about a special characteristic every month. Last month it was commitment and follow through. The book was Horton Hears a Who. Thanks to Seussical, I SANG THE ENTIRE BOOK! It was a hit!

11. Do your neighbors enjoy warm out of the oven treats? How do you know?

Hmmm, I don’t know. Well, how about I bake some brownies, take ‘em to the neighbors and kick some butt on this test by signing off on #3 (missionary work), #9 (magnify your calling—aren’t we all member missionaries), #11 and why not throw in #10 for good measure (because you sing the warm brownie song).

12. Where was Grandpa first stationed overseas? What was the first car he owned?

Survey says: Dial 801.472.3545. New Guinea was the number one answer. Model T.

13. Did you vote? Who did you vote for? Warning: This is a pass/fail question.

Well of course, the intent here was to encourage you to do your civic duty and vote. Bill failed this question because he pled the 5th on who he voted for. Almost threw out his test. And the rest of the country failed as well. Oh well.

14. Where did Grandpa and Grandma go on their first date?

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“ Pat, I’d like to buy a vowel please.”

“I”.

“There is one I”.

_ _ _ _ I _ _ _ _ _ _.

“THE CIDER HOP.”

Brilliant, you must be related to Game Show Amy.



Note: The following 5 questions are from a Ken Jennings quiz. He is perhaps the only other Mormon Game Show Great on par with Amy.

15. Beethoven's Eroica was his third and Haydn's Surprise was his 94th of what type of musical composition?

Survey says: Symphony

16. What Nevada county, home to the city of Las Vegas, shares its name with a famous Western explorer?

Alex, What is “Clark?”

Game Show Great showing why she is great with this extended answer:

More info: Due to the large amount of gold mining in Arizona and Nevada, Senator William A. Clark built a railroad line in the area. With this he also brought a large amount of money to the area. One of the stops along his rail line was the Small village of Las Vegas. Because of his improvements and money he was bestowed with the honor of having the soon to be county named after him. And that is how Clark county Nevada was named.

17. Last month, where did the Curiosity rover gather soil samples near the foothills of Mount Sharp?

Big Bucks, no whammies….Mars

18. What's the feline name of the club where Liza Minnelli performs in the movie Cabaret?

Survey says: Kit Kat club

19. The fourth chapter of what classic novel is titled "The Shoulder of Athos, the Baldric of Pathos, and the Handkerchief of Aramis"?

Three Musketeers.

I am sorry, that is incorrect. The correct answer needs to be phrased in a question, What is “Three Musketeers”

And you killed yourself on the daily double.

20. What do the answers to the questions 15-19 have in common?

They are all chocolate bars but half points to Char and Kriss for these answers:

Char: Wikipedia / 15 and 19, both "take place" in the 1700's—so that takes care of what half the answers have in common—unfortunately, you did not get half points.

Kriss: Shows that I have lots to learn and can find most everything on the internet.

21. What is the favorite dessert of the youngest member of your home teaching family?

The intent here was that you would say to yourself, “self, I don’t know what the answer to this is. I should go do my home teaching and find out.”

22. What is the favorite dessert of the youngest member of your visiting teaching family?

See 21.

23. Who really owned Radar?

Ok, we have it writing, never to be disputed again. This really proves how good Game Show Amy is and what sacrifices she is willing to make to be Game Show Amy.

Amy answered: “Mitzi”...you can tell if I am admitting this that I really want to win!

So it is settled. But no, Char leaves some doubt with this answer: Amy owned Radar the original, short lived bunny. Mitzi owned the more popular 2.0 version that we had for a long time

24. Favorite flavor of Ice cream for Ryan, Hock, Ashley, Mike, Wayne, Bill, Ed?

Ryan- PB cup or cookie dough

Hock- strawberry

Ash- mint chocolate chip

Mike- chocolate

Wayne- vanilla

Bill- rocky road

Dad- mint moose tracks

Tiffany gets bonus points for guessing and getting the majority correct. She guessed Moose Tracks for me due to my Canadian heritage…I let this one slide…”A” for effort. Others went to the source and got the correct answers.

I admire Amy Dittbrenner. She is an extremely hard worker, great mother and always seems to be encouraging others. In fact, she would have done a much better job at getting everyone to participate in this challenge than I did.

Several years ago, we took a family cruise together. This was just after the big win on Deal or No Deal and Amy and Wayne generously donated some funds to the family’s shore excursions. I wanted to repay that and this service challenge gave me the opportunity. Here is how the families ranked in the service challenge:

1. Hocks (10 points)

2. Dittbrenners (8 points)

3. Johnsons (7 points)

4. Eddie Gates (6 points)

5. Tie--Conley and Chuck Gates (4 points each)

I will be sending out a link to the GE rewards site. You have the amount of points listed beside your family name to spend at the store. Merry Christmas.

Amy, you are the Game Show Great and it really is just a reflection of the way you live. Thanks for being a great example.

Love ya

Mike

3 comments:

  1. Most entertaining service post of 2012! I so wanted to participate, but the past month of work and Elders Quorum has been the most demanding ever. But, I did get to vent by punching a guy's BMW without being the bad guy in the exchange.

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  2. Seriously creative. Way to go! I love that Char thought they were all trick questions.

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  3. Best service ever! The competition was intense ;) Michael is once again online as we speak browsing our options! Thanks Mike!

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