With Gary doing his magic with the music, the mood was set for fun on wheels. When a break was needed there were goodies of all kinds! Then it was back on the floor to expend some of those calories, eh? (Unfortunately the Minnesota gang missed all the fun due to a car breakdown on the road to Chicago. Does anybody really know what a "electronic throttle body" really is??)

"DARPA is the research and development arm of the U.S. Department of Defense. To mark the 40th anniversary of the Internet, DARPA has announced the DARPA Network Challenge, a competition that will explore the roles the Internet and social networking play in the timely communication, wide-area team-building, and urgent mobilization required to solve broad-scope, time-critical problems. The challenge is to be the first to submit the locations of 10 moored, 8-foot, red, weather balloons at 10 fixed locations in the continental United States. The balloons will be in readily accessible locations and visible from nearby roads.

This is real, the prize is $40,000. The DARPA website says "A $40,000 cash prize will be awarded to the first entrant to submit the latitude and longitude of all ten balloons."

Congrats, Gar!!

TOM: Four letters. Oh, this is good!

RAY: Seventh is seven, seven letters. September, the ninth month, has what? Nine letters. Saturn, is six letters and is the sixth planet. And fifth is fifth. And I'll add one more. Boron is the fifth element in the periodic chart, and from that point on you're on your own. Pretty cute, eh?

This Week's Brain Challenge, "Throckmorton Bottomfeeder and the Spiral Tower " from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER:
The inspiration for this came from a fellow named Walter Newton and it's from my medieval castle series.

An obscenely wealthy hedge fund manager named Throckmorton Bottomfeeder IV decided to build for himself and his trophy wife, a modest little 40,000 square foot home. It was a stone castle complete with an observation tower at one end that was almost 100 feet high - perfect they thought to spot from afar the first wave of angry and disgruntled investors, the kind with the pitchforks and the torches.

The Bottomfeeders had employed the finest masons in all the land to ensure that their castle was as close to the real thing as possible. As the tower was constructed by a very talented and skilled crew of masons working on the outside, another even more skilled crew constructed a spiraling stone staircase that climbed the inside wall of the stone castle until it reached the observation deck at the top.

Finally, after many months, the castle was completed just in time to coincide with the end of the Bottomfeeders' lengthy vacation. And as you might expect upon their return, the BFs, as we will call them now, scrutinized the construction, pored over every detail and found everything perfect. The workers were brimming with pride. Then they came to the tower and Lady Bottomfeeder stood there in awe. Her eyes followed that spiral stair all the way to the top. Then her jaw dropped. 'This won't do. You must take it down at once to fix it. It's all wrong. You'd never see anything so ill-conceived in Europe. Why, we'll be the laughingstock of the entire world

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

There will be food, games, and who knows what else! But, as you know, there will always be fun!! Ooohh yes, of course, there will be SKATING!!

TOM: Ah.

RAY: She was figuring that the owner of the car lives right there.

TOM: Sure. It's a residential neighborhood, and it's late at night.

This Week's Brain Challenge, "Seven Perfect Words " from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER:
RAY: Here's a list of words. What do they have in common? And for extra credit, suggest another word or two or more that might be added to the list.

Carbon
Mars
Four
Seventh
September
Saturn
Fifth

Here's a hint: The order of the words does not matter.

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

Final decoration preparations are underway for this great event this Saturday!! (Below are photos of this preparation.) Get out those poodle skirts, chiffon scarves, and leather jackets, and then bring your spouse, kids, and friends, and come to Mainstreet USA Skate Center to skate/dance/hulahoop at a 50s Hop!! Club Aire, Mainstreet USA Skate Center, Sonic Drive-in/Bartlett, and Balloons by Tommy have teamed up to sponsor this food drive for the Hanover Township Food Pantry.

Help fill up this much-used Food Pantry with desperately needed food and supplies!! Simply bring in at least one non-perishable food item or another item on their list (click here for their list), and you can enter our drawing for prizes. Prizes include an iPod, Rollerskating Lessons, Rollerskating Party, Gift Cards, and more!!

Games and contests!! Such as a Hula Hoop Contest, Carhop Course, and more!! Plus, the first 50 people receive mini fuzzy dice!
Let's Rock and Roll!!

TOM: Exactly.

RAY: The traveler who started with three loaves ate two and two-thirds loaves, too. In fact he ate most of his own bread. He contributed only one third of a loaf to the vagabond. The other guy, the one who had the five loaves to start off with, he also ate two and two-thirds loaves and contributed two and one-third loaves to the hungry traveler. So that's how the coins should have been divided in the ratio of seven thirds.

TOM: Yeah.

RAY: Or two and a third to one-third, or seven to one. So the guy who said the division was not fair was right. In fact, he should have received only one coin while the other guy received seven coins.

This Week's Brain Challenge, "How the Dispatcher saved the Day " from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER:
RAY: An old guy is driving home. It's late at night. He's be-bopping along the highway and he's some considerable distance from home. Suddenly, he feels himself having a heart attack. He says, "Oh my God. It's the big one." Thinking quickly, he takes the first available exit.

As luck would have it, he winds up in a residential neighborhood. It's very late at night. He pulls over to the side of the road behind some parked cars. He's fading fast, but he has the presence of mind to pull out his cell phone and call 911.

He says to the dispatcher, "I need help. I'm having a heart attack."

TOM: And she says, "Where are you?"

RAY: And the conversation goes something like this: "I don't know where I am."

"What exit did you take?"

"I don't remember."

"Were you going north or south or east?"

"I don't remember."

"Can you tell me what street you're on?"

"I'm in the middle of the block. I'm parked. I didn't see any street signs." She says,

TOM: "Boy, are you screwed!"

RAY: Not quite. She says, "Start blowing the horn. Someone will come out of the house."

No one comes out. She then asks him to do one more thing. Minutes later, an ambulance is on its way there and saves his life.

What did she ask him to do?

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

Get out those poodle skirts, chiffon scarves, and leather jackets, and then bring your spouse, kids, and friends, and come to Mainstreet USA Skate Center to skate/dance/hulahoop at a 50s Hop!! Club Aire, Mainstreet USA Skate Center, Sonic Drive-in/Bartlett, and Balloons by Tommy have teamed up to sponsor this food drive for the Hanover Township Food Pantry.

Help fill up this much-used Food Pantry with desperately needed food and supplies!! Simply bring in at least one non-perishable food item or another item on their list (click here for their list), and you can enter our drawing for prizes. Prizes include an iPod, Rollerskating Lessons, Rollerskating Party, Gift Cards, and more!!

Games and contests!! Such as a Hula Hoop Contest, Costume Contest, and more!! Plus, the first 50 people receive mini fuzzy dice!
Let's Rock and Roll!!

TOM: Get out.

RAY: And here's why. The trip on the jackass used up exactly the same amount of time that the whole trip would have taken on foot, because the jackass goes only half as fast as Tommy can walk. So the jackass used up X amount of time, and walking would have used up the same amount of time. So the plane trip had to have made the trip longer by the duration of the plane trip. The trip would have been absolutely shorter if he had walked the whole way. But with only one jackass and no plane, it wouldn't have been anywhere near as interesting. So who's our winner?

TOM: Our winner this week is Bob Long from Orlando, Florida, and for having his answer selected at random from among all the correct answers that we got, Bob's going to get a $26 gift certificate to the Shameless Commerce Division at cartalk.com, with which he can get our brand-new multicolor Car Talk reusable shopping bag.

RAY: Yeah, this is a grocery bag with Car Talk designs on it, right?

TOM: Yeah, and it's reusable.

RAY: Yeah, after my brother uses it for groceries he can put it over his head and go out on a date.

TOM: Like I said, it's reusable. Congratulations, Bob!

This Week's Brain Challenge, "A Lost and Hungry Vagabond " from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER:
RAY: This was from my loaves and no fishes series, and it was inspired by a puzzler sent in by Tom Nyman.

A lost and hungry vagabond happened upon a pair of travelers one of whom had three loaves of bread while the other had five. All of the loaves were the same size and weight.

The two travelers decided to share their bread with the vagabond, and that the eight loaves should be shared equally among the three of them. When they had finished, the vagabond reached into his pocket and pulled out eight coins. He handed three coins to the traveler who had had the three loaves and five to the other one and disappeared into the inky shadows.

The next morning, right after no breakfast, the one who had received the three coins said to the other one, 'I don't think he should have given three coins to me and five to you. It's not fair.' And he was right. How should the coins have been split up?

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

Get out those poodle skirts, chiffon scarves, and leather jackets, and then bring your spouse, kids, and friends, and come to Mainstreet USA Skate Center to skate/dance/hulahoop at a 50s Hop!! Club Aire, Mainstreet USA Skate Center, Sonic Drive-in/Bartlett, and Balloons by Tommy have teamed up to sponsor this food drive for the Hanover Township Food Pantry.

Help fill up this much-used Food Pantry with desperately needed food and supplies!! Simply bring in at least one non-perishable food item or another item on their list (click here for their list), and you can enter our drawing for prizes. Prizes include an iPod, Rollerskating Lessons, Rollerskating Party, Gift Cards, and more!!

Games and contests!! Such as a Hula Hoop Contest, Costume Contest, and more!! Plus, the first 50 people receive mini fuzzy dice!
Let's Rock and Roll!!

This Week's Brain Challenge, "A WWI Biplane and a Jackass (The Four-Legged Kind!) " from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER:
RAY: This is from my back-to-school series.

On Tommy's most recent departure from his senses, he bought himself a WW1 vintage biplane, the kind he flew when he was a boy. His purpose was to fly this plane from One Horse, Nevada, to the nearest town, distance and name unknown.

Now this paragon of aeronautical engineering can fly twenty times faster than Tommy can walk. So he takes off and starts flying. When he reaches the halfway point, he lands the plane. And, get this, he sees a guy walking with a jackass.

Tommy says, 'You can have the plane, give me the jackass.' Even though the jackass can travel only half as fast as Tommy can walk, Tommy completes the journey on the jackass, with his fine Italian loafers never touching the ground.

Here's the question: If Tommy had traveled the whole distance on foot, no plane, no jackass, would this odyssey from One Horse have taken less time, more time or the same amount of time?

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

In a day where video games and television have replaced active play, now more than ever, daily exercise and activities promoting physical fitness are vital to a healthier America. Nearly everyone is searching for ways to help children make more health conscious decisions by encouraging physical activity and healthy lifestyles.

October is National Roller Skating Month and the Roller Skating Association International (RSA) is encouraging children and adults alike to get exercise through a safe, healthy and fun activity ? roller skating!?

Studies show that skating is equivalent to jogging in terms of calorie burning and fat reduction; just an hour of vigorous skating can burn up to 590 calories in a 150-pound person. Indoor roller skating is also one of the safest sports ? safer than football, basketball and outdoor roller skating!

Many athletes in various sports got their start in roller skating. NBA 2004 Slam Dunk Champion, Fred Jones, credits roller skating with strengthening his leg muscles, which helped result in a successful college career at Oregon and a position with the Indiana Pacers. Olympic gold medal speed skater Chad Hedrick started his career on roller skates before switching to ice skates to compete in the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. Olympic speed skater Apollo Ono also began competing in speed skating with inline skates before switching to ice blades to compete in the 2002 Winter Olympic Games.

"The whole world should do it. There's nothing like roller skating to the blast of the music while folks dance and show off some tricks. Just have a good time." - Jurnee Smollett, actor from "Roll Bounce".

Celebrities and superstars enjoy roller skating, too! Grammy winner and pop music star Beyonce Knowles hosted her 21st birthday party at a rink in Atlanta. Bow Wow, Mike Epps and Jurnee Smollett, all avid roller skaters, recently starred in the roller skating-themed movie, gRoll Bounce.h Janet Jackson and Kim Bassinger both host star-studded birthday parties at a skating center in California. Singers Missy Elliot and Ciara each featured roller skating in recent music videos. The musicians from Matchbox 20 shot one of their videos in a roller rink where they skated on quad skates.

Roller skating centers have always provided high energy, fun and entertainment for people of all ages. The roller skating industry promotes family values and community involvement to offer a good, clean environment for all. Today, skating centers are full entertainment centers with more interaction on the skate floor, fast paced skating and hip music coupled with alternative activities inside the rink like laser tag, video games and much more. Although skating is still the focal point, the environment is one of a full-service family fun center.

See what everyone is talking about ---visit a roller skating center today!

(NOTE: Whip It is rated PG13 for sexual content including crude dialogue, language and drug material, so although we like to include all families this movie is not suitable for our younger members!)

To make the day really complete, some members plan to go on to see the Windy City Rollers vs. Portland bout that evening. As you know Rick volunteers with the Derby team. Doors open at 6pm. We can get tickets at the door (which we plan to do) or you can buy them in advance. The bout starts at 7pm. The address is UIC Pavilion, 525 South Racine, Chicago. They accept cash and all major credit cards except American Express. For specific Box Office questions, call 312-413-5740 during regular business hours. General admission is $21. With student ID, students are $16.

Cyndi says that she's driving to the UIC Pavillion, and she'll be happy to take two people with her. Just let her know this Saturday. Also, according to Rick, parking is $6.75. Just in case you want to drive instead of taking the train.

Trains downtown from Barrington Station if desired. Weekend metra tickets are $5.00 both ways and can be purchased onboard. The distance from the Union Station to the UIC pavilion (for purposes of sharing cabs) is listed as 3 miles. Here's the train schedule.
Bartlett to Chicago Union Station
Train # 2714 2716 2718 2720 2722 2724
Meridiem PM
Bartlett 12:05 02:05 04:05 06:05 08:20 10:20
Chicago Union Station
01:09 03:09 05:09 07:09 09:24 11:24
Chicago Union Station to Bartlett
Train # 2721 2723 2725
Meridiem PM AM
Chicago Union Station
08:40 10:40 12:40
Bartlett 09:39 11:39 01:39

Bring: Money for lunch, and movie admission. Bring money for cab, train fare and UIC pavilion if you are going on to the bout that night.

TOM: They were brothers, too, just like us.

RAY: And their other brother was Gaston, Chevrolet. And they were, of course, Swiss. They took that symbol, the Swiss flag, and they decided to stylize it a bit, so they leaned it over a few degrees and stretched it out. That has become the Chevrolet symbol. It is because they were Swiss that they used it.

This Week's Brain Challenge, "Cars with Something in Common " from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER:
RAY: This puzzler came to us from Greg Olson. Here it is.

There are two guys sitting around, and one of them is looking at a piece of paper. He says, "Hah! This is interesting."

The other guy says, "What's interesting?"

And, the first guy says, "Well, this is a bunch of names of cars, past, present, and future, and there's something interesting about it. I'll read you some of them:

AMC Eagle
Ford Falcon
Dodge Charger
Ford Bronco
Plymouth Colt
And, my personal favorite...Daihatsu Rocky."

The other guy says, "So what?"

But, there is a big deal. What is it that's unique to the names of these cars?

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

Here's the link to simply download this teeny but powerful button/icon/bookmark.

TOM: How many would you have used?

RAY: I would have used about eight.

TOM: I was only going to use four.

RAY: The ice cubes were placed on the sub-floor but the slate was placed above it. As the ice cubes melted, the slate lowered itself into the hole.

This Week's Brain Challenge, "An Automotive Poison Dart " from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER:
RAY: I was in the jungle in South America and I had to remove a poison dart from my index finger. I had out my Swiss Army Knife, and I was doing a little surgery on my finger. And as I was about to put my Swiss Army Knife away, I noticed that it has on it the symbol of the Swiss flag, which is a white cross. And I realized that a certain automotive logo comes from this.

TOM: You might say a stylized version of the Swiss flag.

RAY: So the question is what automotive company uses the Swiss flag? And how come?

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

Highlights include the Super Hoop by Super Gary, Carhop Races, limber kids doing the limbo, the Greaser Couple (Jim and Trudi), the Cruizin' Crew (Gary and Alison), Ms. Kitty, Marv the Marvelous, Good Golly Ms. Molly and Brother Bop, Linda the Crazy Carhop, Sonic Carhops, Evan and his camera, Gary Greenback Dollars, beads, 5-yr old that has been hula hooping for 10 years, the wind, balloon animals by Tommy and Amy, skating/dancing to 50s songs, drawings, professional hula hoopers under the age of 10, adults learning how to hula hoop for the first time.

NOTE: Photos will be up as soon as our computers and their pals stop having temper tantrums and decide to play nice together. (Hopefully tonight??) Thanks for your patience.

This is actually segments from a Japanese game show, with dubbing by an American TV show, MXC (Most Extreme Challenge).

(Thanks go to Gary, Head Data Miner at Indigo Dragon Productions for this. Where on earth does he find this stuff??)

TOM: Because it was three months ago.

RAY: Yeah, he'd had an oil change three months ago and if this is the first time he's driven the car, he's in deep trouble.

This Week's Brain Challenge, "The Kitchen Carpentry Cure " from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER:
This puzzler was sent in by Jerry Galloway. He writes: "My friend had purchased a piece of slate to put into the floor in the hearth in front of his fireplace. The slate was 3/4 of an inch thick, by 10 inches wide, by 48 inches long, and weighed on the order of 175 pounds. He had cut a hole in the oak floor that was the same size as the piece of slate."

He had to plunk it right there, and get his fingers out of the way as fast as possible!

The depth of the hole was exactly 3/4 of an inch, the same as the slate. And, of course, there was the sub-floor underneath. When he put one end of the slate into the hole in the floor, he realized that he would have to drop the other end to get the slate into the hole. He realized that if he dropped the brittle slate, even half an inch, it would break.

Not only that, but it wouldn't go in the hole, anyway. There was so little clearance that he couldn't even use that thin fishing line to lower the end of the slate. So he sat there for the longest time, drinking beers and pondering this dilemma.

After his 5th or 6th trip to the kitchen he returned with something that solved the problem in elegant fashion."

What did he find there that allowed him to lower the slate into the hole without risk of breaking it?

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

In some areas, there were so many stumps, and because the roads got washed with rains and became muddy, it was possible to get into an area where you couldn't move at all. Between the ruts in the road and the stumps all around your travel was impeded, and when that happened you were stumped.

This Week's Brain Challenge, "Cop Stop Conundrum " from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER:
The inspiration for this puzzler came from Jeff Jacovelli from Cyberspace, Montana.

A fellow is driving his car and gets pulled over by a cop. The cop says, "I happened to notice as you were driving by that your inspection sticker expired six months ago. I'm going to have to give you a ticket."

The fellow replies, "You're not going to believe this, but this is the first time that the car has been driven in seven months. You see, I was let go from my last job and while the security people were escorting me from the building I fell down a flight of stairs and broke my hip. I've had a pretty rough go of it, what with the surgery, the steel pins and the rehab. I've been home all these months. I haven't gotten the inspection sticker because it expired while I was convalescing.

"Just yesterday I got a job offer, and I'm heading for an interview tomorrow. But I figured I better go get my inspection sticker because I knew it had expired."

The cop seems to be buying this whole story. He says, "I do feel pretty bad for you. That's a sad story, and I hope you get the job. But I'm going to have to see your driver's license to make sure that that hasn't expired."

The fellow opens the door to the car, undoes the seatbelt, gets out and reaches for his wallet to get his driver's license.

The cop says, "I'll definitely need to see that license because I'm writing you a ticket."

The car had been driven during the period of time that the fellow said it hadn't been driven.

What did the cop see?

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

This puts a whole new perspective on commuting by car.

We have a few questions, however. First, what kind of mileage do they get? Second, are the headlights for night driving/skating? Finally, do they come in Gary Green?

Want to see them in action? Click on either of the two photos to see a video of the commercial, featuring the skates. (Thanks, Linc, for letting us know about these!)

The answers: (1) Chip, (2) strike, (3) grand slam, (4) driver.

This Week's Brain Challenge, "Familiar Phrase " from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER:
RAY: There's an expression that we've all used in our lives and I want to know from whence it came: "I'm stumped."
TOM: That's appropriate, too.
RAY: And we've used it on this show more than anyone has.
TOM: We certainly have. What is the derivation of the expression "I'm stumped"?

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

For each of the following pairs of sports, what do they have in common? (1) Golf and poker, (2) bowling and baseball, (3) bridge and baseball, (4) golf and Nascar.

During in Week #2, the records were all marked 5 for $2, which averages out to 40 cents per record. And that average price is the problem. Because if you averaged the price of the records for sale in Week #1, the true average is 41.67 cents.

To make $25 in the record sales in Week #2, the clerk should have priced the records at 5 for $2.08 to reach a total sales figure of $25.

This Week's Brain Challenge, "Who's Getting More? " from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER:
RAY: As you might guess, Tom and I have a signed contract with National Public Radio. Thank God it's signed, or we'd be out on our sorry butts.

And, as you might expect, we each get paid the same amount of money every week. But there are provisions in the contract that allow NPR to either reward us or punish us financially.

Last year, Tommy got a raise of 10 percent. I think they cited two things that primarily were responsible for that: perfect attendance and improved grooming. And I got a pay cut of 10 percent. The reason they gave was "poor puzzler performance."

This year, however, they raised my salary by 10 percent, and they had the good sense to reduce Tommy's by 10 percent.

The question is, who's making more money now, and why?

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

So, here are photos that might help.

We need an S.

So it suggests that the missing word starts with the letter S. Interestingly, the word unrest uses the second letters of all of the words. So U from bugles, N from unrest, R from grotto, E from letter, S from esteem. And T from the missing word.

So, if you continue, my last word is a five-letter word and is formed from the last letters of all the other words. S-T-O-R-M. Now some may argue as Louie did that the answer could be storms, or stormy, and it could be either one but my answer, and I'm sticking with it, is storm.

This Week's Brain Challenge, "Records for Sale" from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER:
The owner of a record store hires a pimply faced, high-school kid to work on Saturdays. He says to the kid, "You know what to do. But I got one little extra thing for you. I've got two piles of used 45-RPM records that I'm selling for my friend Sam. Each pile consists of 30 records.

"The records in the first pile are two for a buck. The other pile is three for a buck. I don't want you to put the money in the register. I've got to give it to Sam. Put the money into the cigar box under the counter."

At the end of the first day, the owner comes back to the store, finds that all of the records have been sold and there is $25 in the cigar box. The two-for-a-dollar records sold for a total of $15, and the three-for-a-dollar records sold for a total for ten bucks.

Encouraged by the rapid sales, the next week Sam shows up with 60 more records. The owner gives the kid the same instructions. This time, the kid says, "I noticed last week that people were taking two records from one pile and three records from another pile, so I decided that this week I'm going to sell five for two bucks."

The fellow who owns the record store says, "Seems like a good idea." At the end of the day, though, the owner opens the cigar box and there's $24 in there. He says, "You're missing a dollar!"

The kid says, "No, I sold all the records."

The question is, where's the missing dollar?

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

Below is the YouTube video of the Evian commercial.

This Week's Brain Challenge, "What Comes Next?" from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER:
This was submitted by Alison Bodkey and it's very brief. Here are five words. What would the sixth word in the series be?

Bugles, unrest, grotto, letter, esteem

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

If your schedule doesn't let you participate in the actual work at the rink itself, consider other forms of help. For example, we already have an invitation for home-cooked dinner after a day's work. Helping improve and promote all aspects of rollerskating is what Club Aire is all about!!

Below is a YouTube video clip of Downhill Inline Freestyle Slalom Skating. (You might want to either turn down the volume or mute it.) Are they doing the ultimate balancing on one skate backwards through cones??

Well, since the dawn of humankind, early, since homo erectus, front brakes on vehicles have had flexible rubber hoses going to them. In order for the wheels to turn left and right, you can't have a rigid brake line going, you have to have a flexible tubing.

With the vise grips, Marty clamped off or restricted the flow of fluid to the left front brake - the one that was on the pavement. And then he got in the car, started it up and stepped on the brakes.

When he stepped on the brakes he stopped the right wheel from turning because pressure is going to the right front wheel but no pressure is going to the left front wheel. And even though some pressure is going to the back wheels, he managed to get enough power going to that left front wheel for which there was no braking action and that got him out.

So he actually reversed the curse or the differential. And backed himself out of the ditch and made it just an hour and a half late for that special dinner with his wife and she's now divorcing him, but that's another story.

This Week's Brain Challenge, "Paging Inspector Clouseau! " from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER:
This is from my pharmacological etymology series and was submitted by Michael Wortman. He writes very simply:

'Why is this sentence interesting?

"I do not know where family doctors acquired illegibly perplexing handwriting, nevertheless extraordinary pharmaceutical intellectuality counterbalancing indecipherability transcendentalizes intercommunications incomprehensibleness."

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

If you know of any other clips, etc., that show rollerskating, just send Nancy an email. We'll add it to the list!

Below is a YouTube video clip of the trailer for "Roller Boogie". (If you want to view the music video of Cher singing the main song, where she rollerskates, click here.)

Below is a YouTube video clip of the the big skating scene in the movie. Let's see, who should we sign up to do the handstands??

So if there's a one in ten chance that it is a one, there's a nine in ten chance or nine-tenths chance that it isn't. Or point nine (.9).

And in fact the chance that all six digits on the odometer reading are not one, is point nine (.9) raised to the power of six. And if you multiply that out, which I did of course, point nine (.9) to the sixth power comes out point 531441. Or 53 point 1441 percent. OK, so 53.1441% of those million numbers have no one (1).

And if there are a million numbers, 53% of those is 531,441 numbers that contain no one (1) in them.

This Week's Brain Challenge, "Stuck between a Ditch and a Divorce! " from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER:
This was submitted by Marty Kaponowski. Here it is:

'It was a dark and stormy night. I was late getting out of work and I was hurrying a wee bit. Truth be known it was my wife's birthday and if I got home too late... well, need I elaborate?

'I had decided on a short cut, a seldom used dirt road in the middle of nowhere. I took a turn a little too fast and found myself in the fight of my life trying to avoid crashing into a tree. When I finally came to a stop my car had three wheels touching the road, but the right front corner of the car was resting on the underbody and the right front wheel was dangling over the roadside drainage ditch about a foot from the mud and the twigs below.

'I wasn't about to call my wife, obviously. And if I called for a tow truck my wife would problably have had the divorce papers filled out before he could even hook me up. I was on my own and I knew it. Boy, I wished I'd had a four-wheel-drive truck but I didn't. Instead I had a front-wheel-drive Corolla with one of those front wheels in the ditch.

'Now everyone who's ever been stuck on ice or mud or whatever knows that the wheel with the best traction gets none of the engine's power with all of it going to the other wheels. So when you're on ice, the wheel on the ice spins like crazy and the wheel on dry pavement just sits there. And in this case the one dangling over the ditch was the one with no traction. What to do, what to do?

'I opened the trunk and looked for inspiration. I thought about using the jack in some clever way, but I didn't have one. I opened the toolbox that I keep in the trunk and I found the following: a can of Bumble Bee tuna, a screwdriver, a pair of vice grips, a roll of electrical tape, a flashlight and a tube of hemorrhoid cream and no Fillipo Berio olive oil. So the question is which one of these did I use and how?'

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

This Week's Brain Challenge, "Number One! " from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER:
This is from my higher mathematics series and it's a twist on a puzzler I gave some months ago. The idea for this puzzler was sent in by Tim Davis.

He writes:

"How many times does the mileage on an odometer not contain the number 1 at all?"

For example 999,999 doesn't have it. So the question is, how many times does the mileage appear going from 000000 to all 9's (999,999), with no 1s at all?

To refresh your memories, we had a puzzler last Fall asking how many times the number 1 will appear on the odometer that goes from all zeroes, 000000, to all nines, 999999, once it completely turns over. For example at mile 000111, the number 1 appears three times.

The answer to that puzzler is 600,000 times. There are a million numbers to get from all zeroes to all nines. And each one of those numbers is six digits. For example the number 100,000 is six digits, one 1 and five 0s. And because there are a million numbers and each of them is six digits, there are six million digits used.

The number 1 appears 1/10th of those times, because there are ten digits, 0, 1 , 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and there must be 600,000 ones that appear, in those million numbers, as well as there are 600,000 twos and threes and so forth.

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

(Roller Fever, The Complete Book of Rollerskating, Scholastic Book Services, 1979, Linda Konner)

If you know of any other clips, etc., that show rollerskating, just send Nancy an email. We'll add it to the list!

This Week's Brain Challenge, "Rattlesnake Canyon ! " from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER:
This was sent in by Russell Howe and it's from my inland streams and waterways series. Russell writes:

"I live in Santa Barbara, California, and in late August, I was with a group of people who were taking a guided hike through Rattlesnake Canyon.

"The rattlesnake population in Rattlesnake Canyon is one rattlesnake per nine acres. We crossed a stream that was obviously low. The rainy season in Santa Barbara begins in November and no rain had come to the area since the previous April. So May, June, July and now August, no rain.

"The guide told us that every fall, just prior to the start of the rainy season, the stream level rises. She wondered why and did some checking. Was it because rain had occurred in some distant place and the off-flow had finally made its way to the stream? No.

"Was it because someone upstream, like maybe a factory that had been using water for whatever purpose, stopped using it? No.

"Was a dam opened up or did something like that occur?"

What could possibly explain why the water level would rise prior to the start of the rainy season?

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

You need to RSVP to Bob by June 20 so he can get everything together. THANKS, BOB!!

If you know of any other clips, etc., that show rollerskating, just send Nancy an email. We'll add it to the list!

Below is a YouTube video clip of the "Pettin' in the Park" number that contains the rollerskating skit, which starts at about 2:55, and lasts about 1 minute. (Note: In the clip below, the risque rainstorm/raincoat number was "cut from the film when it was re-issued after arrival of strict Production Code enforcement in 1935". )

He felt something. He went around and put his hand on all the tires. The purpose of having the air in your tires is to keep your muffler and such from dragging on the street. But the proper inflation is also important because it maintains the tire's ability to dissipate the heat that's created because of the friction that's made between the tire and the road. And if you don't have enough air, the under-inflated tire gets much hotter and it will eventually lead to the disintegration of the tire, and blowout. So when Dad went around and felt the tires, he felt one that was decidedly hotter. And he said that's it.

This Week's Brain Challenge, "Equate This! " from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER:
This was sent in recently by Jihad Adwan and it's a simple mathematical puzzler... though if you tried you could go way off track with it.

I'm going to give you the numbers, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Now you can use each number only once in any kind of mathematical operation you see fit. And, whatever operation you use, you can also use that operation only once.

And when you do whatever you do with these operations -- addition, subtraction, parentheses, square root, etc -- you must end up with the number 26.

I'll give you an example. You could have 5 times 4 over 2, in parentheses, plus 3. Now that would be wrong because that equals 13, but you get the idea.

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

Add to this list if you know of any other clips, etc., that show rollerskating. Just send Nancy an email, and tell her about it, and we'll add it to the list!

Here's the entire film courtesy of Joost, the Charlie Chaplin Collection. (There will be a minimal amount of ads, but they are short in duration. )

Below is a YouTube video clip of Charlie Chaplin in "The Rink" (1916). (Note: Skating starts at about 2:50 in this video clip. This video clip shows skating, but it's kind of grainy.)

This Week's Brain Challenge, "Low Pressure Zone" from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER:
This was from my nouvelle pneumatic series and this was sent in by a long-time listener, Chuck Lederer. He writes:

"Last month I dragged my father-in-law to see my son's high-school championship basketball game in Kansas where we live. It was about a 75-mile drive each way and I brought along two Best of Car Talk CDs just to make the road trip as painful as humanly possible. Fortunately the weather was mild and there was no rain on either leg of the trip.

"After the game, Dad and I began to make the long trip home. At the halfway point the low tire pressure warning light came on on the dash. Most high-end cars will tell you which tire is low but my cheap little car did not.

"As soon as I got the chance, I pulled off the highway into a rest area and examined each of the tires in the dark. They all looked the same to me. I crouched down and listened for a hissing sound. No luck.

"I decided to press on hoping the light would just go away. Within a minute the light was back on so I exited the highway and went to a convenience store that had an air hose. There was no gauge, just a warning sign about extremely high line pressure and the need for a tire pressure gauge to avoid dangerous overinflation.

"With great reluctance I asked Dad if he had any ideas. He slowly got out of the car and in the inky shadows of the parking lot, walked around the car pausing for a few seconds at each tire. Dad got back in the car after a minutes and said, 'It's the left rear. Put about five seconds worth of air in it and see if the light goes off.'

'I did and it worked. Now he couldn't possibly have seen anything that I didn't see, but how did he know which tire was low?'

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

Elk Grove Village Parade
Saturday, June 20
Meet at rink at 3:45pm
Parade kick-off time: 6pm
Parade Theme: "Star-Spangled Salute to America"

Streamwood Parade
Saturday, July 25
Meet at rink: 9:15am
Parade kick-off time: 10:30pm
Parade Theme: "Our Community Cares...Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle"

This Week's Brain Challenge, "Words to the Rescue! " from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER:
This is from my marital relations series and it was submitted by Tom Busemaier. He writes:

'Last week my darling wife misplaced her car keys on about five different occasions. And, her on the brink of a full blown conniption.

'I was in the kitchen trying to wash down the last of a box of Oreos with a quart of cold buttermilk when I heard her getting ready to tip over the desk in her study. I sprang to the rescue. I immediately spotted her keys, pointed to them and succeeded in calming her down using a four-word sentence.

'But here's the interesting part. That four-word sentence consisted of all homonyms and three of them were the exact same word. What could this sentence have been?'

Now for those of you who don't remember, homonyms are words that sound alike but are spelled differently, like cite, c-i-t-e, s-i-t-e, and s-i-g-h-t. So what four words could have been used that made her calm down?

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

Add to this list if you know of any other clips, etc., that show rollerskating. Just send Nancy an email, and tell her about it, and we'll add it to the list!

Gene Kelly, "It's Always Fair Weather"

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, "Shall We Dance"

"Mr. Microphone" Commercial (skating at about 40s)

Next on the list was the couple with one child. They take three of the seats, leaving one seat. The next six people on the list are all married couples who don't want to split up. You wouldn't want to fly without your wife.

This Week's Brain Challenge, "Do-It-Yourself Battery Jump" from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER:
This puzzler came in from a fellow who is some kind of a builder. He writes:

"I was hired to build a cabin in the woods 20 miles from civilization, so I set off early one morning before sunrise. And because there was no electricity at the site I brought along my generator, radio, etc. I also packed an extension cord, my electric drill and the bits, and my socket and wrench set. When I was finished for the day, I tried to leave but my battery was dead. I had left my lights on all day.

"I look behind the driver's seat and I find the following items: jumper cables, a roll of duct tape and a quart of Fillipo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil. By this time it's getting dark, the coyotes are howling and the buzzards are circling.

"If only there was a way to get power from the generator which is making 110 volts AC and get that into my dead battery, which is 12 volts DC. The question is: how can I do it with only the items at my disposal?"

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

Sandhill crane in the burned field

Sandhill crane in the burned field

Deer family on the lookout

Deer family hightails it

George and Gracie Goose

Greg the Groundhog

This Week's Brain Challenge, "Standing By in Chicago" from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER:

This was sent in by a fellow named Rob Kyff. He writes:

Last New Year's Eve a friend of mine was trying to fly from Chicago, Illinois to Hartford, Connecticut on short notice and found himself on the standby list. As the departure time began to draw near he decided to approach the ticket agent and plead his case.

So with the most pathetic and helpless look he could possibly muster, he enquired about his position on the list and what his chances were of getting on the flight. She told him he was number 15 on the list. Disappointed, his jaw dropped and his shoulders slumped noticeably.

Without waiting for him to ask, she volunteered the following information: 'Immediately above you on the list is a married couple, the Baggiagalupos. Ahead of them are two other couples, the Smiths and the Joneses. Ahead of those three couples is another couple and their teenaged daughter. And finally the first five spots on the list are occupied by an elderly couple with their three grandchildren.'

'Oh,' he moaned. 'Well, how many seats are actually available?'

'Let me see,' she said as she scanned the passenger list. 'Uh, looks like four seats.'

He walked away dejected and resigned to spending New Year's Eve sleeping on the floor of the airport. But when they closed the door of the plane, he had a seat.

How did that happen?

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

Elk Grove Village Parade
Saturday, June 20
Meet at rink at 3:45pm
Parade kick-off time: 6pm
Parade Theme: "Star-Spangled Salute to America"

Streamwood Parade
Saturday, July 25
Meet at rink: 9:15am
Parade kick-off time: 10:30pm
Parade Theme: "Our Community Cares...Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle"

Sugar Cookies
Makes about 5 dozen 2-inch cookies or 2 dozen 4-inch cookies

1-1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 t. vanilla extract*
1 t. almond extract*
1 large egg
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. cream of tartar

Mix first five ingredients in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours.**
Heat oven to 375‹. Lightly grease cookie sheet with shortening or spray with cooking spray. (I use the non-stick air-bake cookie sheets and skip this step altogether).
Divide dough in half. Roll each half inch thick on lightly floured surface. Cut out desired shapes and place about 2 inches apart on cookie sheet.
Bake 7 to 8 minutes for 2-inch cookies, 10-12 minutes for 4-inch cookies or until the edges are light brown. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

One 2-inch undecorated cookie has 65 calories, 3g fat (1g saturated).
* Experiment with different flavored extracts: Orange, lemon, anise, etc. It doesn't have to be vanilla and almond.
** I've kept dough in the fridge for 4 days and it worked out just fine. This cookie project is most enjoyable when undertaken in small steps with plenty of advance planning. Make the dough one day, bake them another day, refrigerate or freeze them and decorate them sometime next week, etc.

Flood icing
1 cup powdered sugar
2 t. milk
2 t. light corn syrup
1/2 t. almond extract
1 t. lemon juice
Gel paste food coloring (you can probably use liquid food coloring, but you might have to add more powdered sugar so it's not too runny).

Piping icing
Make a batch of flood icing (above) and add powdered sugar in 1 T. increments until stiff (2 T. seems to work nicely). You want it fluid enough to pass through the piping tip, but stiff enough so it won't run or droop.

To decorate
Pipe the outline using #3 tip, let sit for at least an hour to harden. You are creating "dams" for the flood icing, so make sure your seams meet up so the flood icing won't escape.

Flood icing into the "troughs" you made. This is best done using squeeze bottles to squirt the icing and toothpicks to guide it. It will set up fairly quickly so to ensure a smooth surface complete one section at a time. Add sugars & sprinkles while still wet. For added dimension, add more flood icing or piping icing embellishments when the first layer is dry. The icing will keep for a day in the fridge if you keep it covered -- another good reason to use squeeze bottles.

Let cookies set up overnight, loosely covered in plastic.

Cookies will keep in the fridge up to 4 weeks and in the freezer up to 3 months when packaged air tight in plastic (never use cardboard, your cookies will absorb the cardboard taste). It would be best to decorate shortly before serving because both the freezer & refrigerator cause the flood icing ingredients to separate slightly and the colors look splotchy. They still taste great, but the look is compromised. The fridge doesn't cause as much separation so your cookie monsters won't even notice.

This Week's Brain Challenge, "The Case of the MPG Gone MIA " from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER:

RAY: This is from my teen driver series and it's also automotive in nature. This was sent in by a fellow named John Anderson from Superior, Wisconsin, and I'm sure he won't recognize it at all. He writes:
"A few years ago, a friend of mine was a service manager at the local Toyota dealer. He had a customer with a fairly new Camry who complained regularly of lousy gas mileage. He was getting between half and two-thirds of what it should have been.
"The shop checked everything they could think of, from dragging brakes to low tire pressure, to slipping transmission. They did a computer analysis of the engine. They checked for a faulty thermostat and all the other bogus stuff that they hear all the time on Car Talk that could contribute to bad gas mileage.
"After several visits, they could find nothing wrong. They even interrogated the owner, you know with the bright lights like they do in the police stations.
"'Do you drive above the speed limit?'
"'No! No! Never,' he says.
"'Jack rabbit starts?'
"'Never!'
"'Excessive idling?'
"'Never, never, never, I swear I never do these things.'
"'Do you have a teenaged son who drives the car?'
"'Well, yes, but very little. Because the car is so new, I've limited his driving. In fact he uses it just to drive to his friend's house to study and play the oboe. His friend's mother has told me it just sits there in the driveway for hours on end. If they do go anywhere, they use her son's car.'"
After listening intently the service manager suggested the customer go to the parts department and purchase an item and install it on his car himself. The customer could easily do this without even opening the hood. The item costs less than $20. The customer did it and of course it worked perfectly! His mileage was restored to normal.
What did he buy?

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

This Week's Brain Challenge, "Got change? " from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER:

RAY: This is from my money and finance series, and was sent in by Frank Ford. He writes:

"I work in a small music store that specializes in stringed instruments. We generally don't have many, or any, customers early in the day. But one day, recently, there was fellow who walked in right at 11 A.M. when I opened the door for business.

"He bought a set of light gauge guitar strings and an assortment of flat picks and a few other things. The bill came to $13.59 including the sales tax. He opened his wallet and immediately began to apologize. "He said, 'Oh, I'm sorry, all I have is a 50-dollar bill,' implying that my cheesy little music store probably couldn't make change this early in the morning.

"'No problem,' I said as I grabbed the bill from his hand. I was a little suspicious, however, so I checked his $50 over carefully. It was legitimate. As I gave him his change, we each noticed something that made us both smile and say, 'Hey, that's kind of cool.'

"The question is, what did we notice?"

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

This Week's Brain Challenge, "The Magliozzis Employee of the Month" from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER:

RAY: This is from my satellite communications series. Pay attention!

Like lots of employers, Tommy and I have recently become very concerned about the rampant use of cell phones in the workplace and the obvious effect on productivity.

Several years ago at the shop, Crusty organized our workers and we inadvisedly agreed to three-hour European lunch breaks and 45-minute morning and afternoon cappuccino breaks.

We didn't think productivity could sink any lower, but then we began to notice that all of the guys were on their cell phones constantly. So we laid down the law. No more cell phone use during business hours, except for the aforementioned 4.5 hours of break time every day. And no exceptions. If we catch you on your cell phone when you're supposed to be working, you're fired!

Everything went as expected for about two weeks. Then one day we assigned Crusty the job of finding a tanzanite earring that had found its way into the defroster vents of Lady Schnerdling's Jaguar. And as always he got right to work. Within a few hours Crusty had the dashboard in pieces. He had torn out the instrument cluster, the radio, the heater controls, and most of the duct work. It was a mess of wires and cables everywhere.

It was just after lunch when we saw Crusty sitting in the Jaguar's driver seat, out of view (or so he thought) and then it happened. He took out his cell phone and began to use it. As Tommy and I rushed to kick Crusty to the curb for violating the no-cell-phone rule, we saw something that stopped us in our tracks.

He was using his cell phone alright, but instead of a harsh rebuke and a pink slip, Crusty got a high five and an 'Employee of the Month' citation. So, how did Crusty escape our wrath?

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

Re:Team A.F.R.O.
Dear Gary
Hi !!!
Thank you for your email. I am very happy. We are skating together every Saturday night. Night time from 11PM Saturday night to 6AM Sunday morning is as adults. One all night fee is equal the fee for 3hours. So a good reasonable price. In the past we were obliged to wear a helmet on ROUND 1 (skate link). As a result of the bad appearance, everyone put an Afro wig to the stylish. That is the origin of Team A.F.R.O. Fortunately now it is no longer wearing a helmet mandatory.

I am glad to skate together in the future.

Nissy

Method 1: Click here for a visual pseudo-engineering way to see what a "trillion" looks like.

Method 2: Here's the way a fitness geek would imagine a "trillion.
Assume a standard human walking stride (or step or pace) is 3 ft., give or take. There are about 1800 paces/mile. The moon is about 240,000 miles away, which means 240,000 miles * 1800 paces = 432,000,000 paces. To walk to the moon and back takes about 432,000,000 * 2 = 864,000,000 paces. So, that means that for 1 trillion paces, you could walk to and from the moon about 1160 times.

Or if you prefer, you could walk to and from the sun 3 times.

TOM: A cardinal.

RAY: Right, and they were Pope Paul VI, Pope Paul II, and Pope Benedict XVI. They are all three former cardinals whose names are on plaques with the players in Yankee Stadium. They all celebrated mass there, so it's a big deal.

This Week's Brain Challenge, "Deep in the Woods" from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER:

This was sent in by Jeff Moulter.

About twenty years ago, a young couple I knew, Throckmorton and his lovely wife Gretel, decided to escape the rat race and moved to a really remote area of Vermont.

About two weeks after they arrived at their little sylvan Shangri la, Gretel called her mother in Maine and told her that they were all settled in, and they just loved their new home, especially how out of the way it was.

Wouldn't you know it, the very next day the power went out. After two days with no well water or lights, the charm started to wear off a little bit. Winter had just begun in earnest and the daytime temperatures were well below freezing. So they decided to visit the aforementioned in-laws in Maine until the power was restored.

Now in the two weeks that they were in Vermont, they had not yet met any of the neighbors. And since so few people were affected, it was unlikely to be reported in the news when, and if, power had been restored. They were so new to the area, they didn't even know the name of the power company. The in-laws were far enough away that dropping by to check was obviously out of the question.

The question is, how would they know when power had been restored?

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

MAINSTREET USA IS A GREAT PLACE TO SKATE!! PASS IT ON!

The rink floor itself is about 120 X 70 feet. It costs $14 for 3 hours. (So no more whining about the cost of skating sessions here in the States.) Apparently (if we read the Japanese correctly), the rink is open from 10am (earlier on weekends) to 12midnight, and you can skate anytime during those hours. Sounds like a fantastic idea!!!

In the following video, watch the guy in the tan pants, brown sweater, and tan hat.
(And notice all the protective gear!)

This Week's Brain Challenge, "Deep in Center Field" from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER:

RAY: This was conceived by Michael Freedman, and preobfuscated and submitted by Howard Weinstein.

Baseball fans old enough to have seen games either in person or on TV at Yankee Stadium during the fifties and sixties saw a fairly unusal sight: three monolithic stone monuments on the playing field in the deepest part of center field. Looming like giant tombstones, they memorialized early Yankee manager Miller Huggins, and immortal players, Babe Ruth and, of course, Lou Gehrig. During one game in the fifties a Yankee outfielder let the ball get by him and it rolled between the monuments. As the outfielder scrambled for the ball, Yankee manager Casey Stengel shouted from the dugout, 'Ruth, Gehrig, Huggins. Somebody get that ball back to the infield!'

When Yankee Stadium was renovated in the mid-seventies, a larger monument park was built behind the outfield fence. Many more monuments and plaques were added honoring the great names from Yankee Stadium's long and storied history. Now most of those honored Yankee players. But oddly enough, three plaques honored former Cardinals, men who never played for the Yankees. How could that be? And for extra credit can you name those former Cardinals?

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

MAINSTREET USA IS A GREAT PLACE TO SKATE!! PASS IT ON!

" International Indoor Roller Dodgeball (IIRD) is designed as a safe fast pace sport for children and adults, males and females.
No Sting: The game uses low-bounce foam balls originally designed for children to play safely indoors.
Non Contact: There is no contact permitted between opponents as seen in other sports like roller derby, hockey, or football.
Like 'old school' dodgeball the game does involve throwing balls in order to hit opponents. However, for this version of dodgeball the emphasis is on endurance, agility, coordination, balance, and team work. Roller Dodgeball can be played indoors at any skating rink. The official court layout allows the skaters to play on an existing roller derby track. However the playing area for roller dodgeball includes the area outside the derby track as well."

Mainstreet USA Skate Center is listed as a rink that welcomes roller dodgeball players. Did you know that a quick game of roller dodgeball is played on Friday nights at Mainstreet USA. Teens love it! (Besides, it let's them use all that excess energy!)

It's the equivalent of walking gingerly on the ice so you don't fall on your butt, as opposed to running on the ice, where you would certainly wipe out in an instant.

So what he did is, he opened the back and he pulled the coil wire off so the engine wouldn't start. He got back in, and with the thing in first gear, he turned the key--and all that worked now was the electric motor that would ordinarily start the engine, but he was using the electric motor to take him up the driveway in first gear, albeit slowly. And he crept up the driveway with just enough torque to get him up without slipping at the top.

This Week's Brain Challenge, "Digital Watch Dilemma" from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER:

RAY: This is from a guy named Melvin Anderson, and he writes about himself in the third person.

"Melvin had been briefing the boss at a staff meeting since he arrived at the office, too busy, in fact, even for a cup of coffee. Worse than that, he'd skipped breakfast that morning because he got up late, got dressed in a hurry and sped off to the office in his '65 Mustang convertible. The top was up, of course, because it was cold. It was January. No wonder he felt hunger pangs since he got to work.

"When he finally finished his busy meeting, he glanced at his brand-new digital wristwatch, which he got for Christmas. Yikes! No wonder I'm hungry. It's 12:01, lunch time. Melvin hurriedly donned his coat, hat and gloves and raced out the rear entrance of the building heading for the lunch counter across the street. He darted between traffic lanes and parked cars and almost fell into the doorway of the lunch counter. The door was locked. A sign hung inside the door, 'CLOSED, We Open at 11:00 A.M.'

"He rechecked his watch, which was working just fine, and realized why the lunch counter was closed." What did Melvin discover?

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

And here you see the end result! WHOOOOWWWW!
(Not shown are the whirling eyeballs.)

And when she turned on the radio, she noticed that it was not set to a local station. In fact, there was noise coming across. So she tried another station, and another, and another. And in every case, the presets were set to stations that were not local stations, so this car clearly was from out of town. And if the story were absolutely true that Miss Johnson never left town then how could she have listened to these stations?

This Week's Brain Challenge, "A Slippery Move!" from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER:

Many, many years ago, I lived in Vermont. One Saturday morning, the phone rang. It was one of my fellow teachers, and he needed a hand moving a cast iron stove into his house.

He explained that he was going to pick it up at the factory, and he'd be back in a few hours. He asked if I could help. I said, "Sure. Go get the stove. I'll be waiting."

I immediately got dressed and engaged in every manner of household activity, hoping that I'd have some kind of an accident. Nothing worked, and as I waited, I noticed a wonderful thing began to happen: The snow that was falling down changed to freezing rain.

I said to myself, "This could be good. He's never going to be able to get up his steep driveway when he returns." I'd be off the hook. And maybe by tomorrow, when the ice has melted, his brother-in-law would be home to help.

Sure enough, there I am, hiding behind the drapes when he pulls up. I peek out and I see that he's slipping and sliding and can't get up the driveway. Every time he lets the clutch out, the wheels spin like crazy, even with the additional weight of the cast iron stove.

He gets out and throws some sand under the wheels, but it doesn't help.

He gets out again. This time, he opens that little engine compartment door that the VW Microbus had in the back. He does something, which takes a second or two, and then he closes the engine compartment door. The next thing I know, he's climbed the driveway and calling me to come over and help him move the stove!

The question is, what did he do?

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

The kids loved trying this!! They thought it was so cool!

A cat died and went to Heaven. God met her at the gates and said, "You have been a good cat all these years. Anything you want is yours for the asking."

The cat thought for a minute and then said, "All my life I lived on a farm and slept on hard wooden floors. I would like a real fluffy pillow to sleep on." God said, "Say no more." Instantly the cat had a huge fluffy pillow.

A few days later, six mice were killed in an accident and they all went to Heaven together. God met the mice at the gates with the same offer that He made to the cat.

The mice said, "Well, we have had to run all of our lives: from cats, dogs, and even people with brooms! If we could just have some little roller skates, we would not have to run again."

God answered, "It is done." All the mice had beautiful little roller skates.

About a week later, God decided to check on the cat. He found her sound asleep on her fluffy pillow. God gently awakened the cat and asked, "Is everything okay? How have you been doing? Are you happy?"

The cat replied, "Oh, it is WONDERFUL. I have never been so happy in my life. The pillow is so fluffy, and those little Meals on Wheels you have been sending over are delicious!"

NOTE: No animals were harmed in the making of this joke.

This Week's Brain Challenge, "Too-Good-To-Be-True Used Car !" from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER:

This is from my barely automotive puzzler series. Here it is:

A woman and her husband decide to go shopping one Saturday for a used car. (This is the automotive part of the puzzler). So they go to the neighborhood used-car dealer and a young man is shows them the various cars in the lot.

They don't seem to be really excited about any one of them. Finally, the used-car dealer says, "Oh, how could I have forgotten this one? I have just the car for you. I know you are going to love it."

He takes them over to a late model Japanese car. "You are not going to believe this. This car belonged to my fourth-grade teacher, Ms. Johnson. It's a wonderful car, and she treated it very well, and had all the service done here. Interestingly, she never left town with the car. All she ever did with the car was drive from home to school and back, and on Sundays she went to church. She never used the car on Saturdays."

They look over the car and it looks magnificent. So the woman asks the obvious question: "Why did Ms. Johnson sell the car?"

"Well, as luck would have it,' he says, 'She was called out of town on very short notice to care for a sick relative in the Midwest someplace so she came in here last week and sold us the car, and of course, it's your good fortune that it's here. But this is a wonderful car."

The woman gets in behind the wheel, and starts up the engine. It sounds fine. The husband sits in the passenger seat and they fiddle with the controls. She fiddles with the controls on the dashboard, tries the wipers, blows the horn, and looks around the car.

'Geez, honey,' her husband says, 'It's a great color, too. I think we ought to get it."

"I don't think so,' she says, as she turns off the key. 'He's lying to us."

The question is, how did she know? The answer is not that the salesman was moving his lips.

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

"The mission of Pari Roller is to organize and promote the Friday night skating tour and to encourage roller skating as a leisure activity, as a sport or as a means of transportation. The association is a-political, not-for-profit, and non-religious--in short, independent!

Pari Roller is now totally independent from any commercial or political structure. Its only partner is the Paris police department, which along with Pari Roller ensures the security of the participants and the spectators. These are what make the event successful.

Of course today, due to the growing popularity of the Friday Night Fever skate tour, things are changing. But the basics remain the same. The tour is free and open to anyone who can control his or her speed. It is a space of freedom."

GET YOUR BERLITZ TAPES OUT!

During our two weeks that we were gone the GPS logged a driving time of 28 hours, and a maximum speed at 72 miles an hour, so far so good, right?

Now here's what happened next. We then jumped on a plane. And flew home from Hawaii to Alabama, which is 4,000 miles. Of course, on the flight the GPS was in my suitcase and turned off, but when it was turned back on it realized it had traveled some 4,000 miles. Thus the computations were correct, a total of 4,452 miles for an average speed of 159 miles an hour. Pretty cute, eh?

This Week's Brain Challenge, "Quonset Hut Quandary!" from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER:

This came from Tom Clemala. Let me set the scene: it's World War II, an RAF airfield north of London. A dimly lit Quonset hut filled with air crews just returned from bombing runs over Germany.The meeting opens with the chaplain leading the men in prayer for their lost comrades. He is followed by the flight operations chief, who begins the debriefing by asking the airmen, "From what direction were you attacked by the German fighter planes?" Without hesitation or dissent, the reply was, "From above and behind." The flight operations chief hastily scribbles the information on the back of top secret maps, and hands it to a junior officer with the instructions, "Get this information to the departing air crews. It may save their lives!" As the officer turns to leave, from the inky shadows, a hand grasps his arm and he hears these words: "Hold that order. The information you're about to give will lose lives rather than save them." What did the guy from the inky shadows know that the flight operations chief didn't?

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

This Week's Brain Challenge, "The Curious Case of a Gonzo GPS?!" from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER:

This is from my Open Road series and it was sent in by John Robinson.

He writes: 'I have always been a gadget nut. And when the first portable GPS units hit the market in early 2000, I just had to have one. Since then I have upgraded 5 or 6 times.

We travel a lot in our RV and it's perfect for exploring new and exciting lands. I have never experienced any technical problems with any of the units until now.

After returning from a trip and resting for a week we headed out on a new adventure. When I went to reset the trip information on the GPS, I discovered what I believed to be a major problem. The GPS was telling me I had driven some 28 hours on the last trip, my maximum speed was 72 mph, but my average speed was 159 mph.

I don't know a whole lot about math, but I do know you can't have an average speed that's greater than the maximum speed. So I reset the unit. I even contacted the manufacturer, ran lots of diagnostics and the unit seemed to perform perfectly.

As a last resort I used that time-honored method of throwing it down the stairs. When I went to pick up the pieces, I figured out what had happened and there was nothing wrong with the unit or its calculations. What could possibly account for this strange behavior of my GPS?'

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

Remember that when the answers are posted on the website, you don't have to list your real name if you want to be anonymous. Simply use an alias ("aka").

Your skating friends thank you!

This Week's Brain Challenge, "Batter Up!" from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER:

This is from my wide world of sports series, this one being baseball, and it was sent in by Doug Miller. There are five ways a player can reach first base without hitting the ball. Name them.

For example, if you were a Yankees fan years ago you might have heard something like this from Phil Rizzuto: Joe Pepitone takes his lead off first base. What are the five ways that Pep or any other player could wind up on first base without hitting the ball?

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

This Week's Brain Challenge, "A Flat Tire Saves the Day!" from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER:

This is from my employer/employee relations series and the idea for this was sent in by Jim Robson.

Here it is:

Tony was always late for work. Of course, he always had some excuse but the boss didn't care anymore, he was fed up! Out of sheer frustration the boss confronted Tony one day and laid down the law. 'If you come in late again with one of your bogus excuses, you're fired. No ifs, ands, or buts!'

Well, the very next day, Tony wheels into the parking lot late for work and naturally the boss is there waiting for him. What does he say? 'You're fired!'

Tony says, 'No, no, wait! I got a story to tell you and it's the absolute truth. I got a flat tire during the night. I don't have a spare, but luckily I had just enough air left in it to get to the neighborhood tire shop. They found a nail in it. They fixed it up and got me back on the road as fast as they could.'

'Oh yeah?' said the boss. 'And maybe you wouldn't mind answering a few questions. Did they plug it or patch it?'

'Oh,' Tony thought for a second. 'Uh, uh, uh???? they patched it.'

The boss asks, 'Did they take the wheel off the car to patch it?'

'Yeah, yeah, yeah, they did,' Tony said nervously.

'Did they then take the tire off the wheel to apply the patch?'

Tony was beginning to sweat. If he gave the wrong answer, he knew he was fired. 'Yes, they did,' he stammered.

'Last question,' said the boss. 'Which tire did they fix?'

'That one,' said Tony, pointing.

'I believe you,' said the boss. 'Your job is safe. For now!'

The question is, what did the boss see that suggested Tony's story was true?

Now here are a list of disclaimers, hints and preconditions:

The boss didn't see a receipt on the dashboard from the aforementioned tire shop. Nor did he see a can of 'Fix a Flat' on the seat. He didn't see the donut or any spare tire. It was the same tire and it matched all the others. He didn't see any clean lug nuts and besides the hubcap kept them out of sight. And no, it was not flat again!

So what did the boss see that spared Tony the axe?

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

This Week's Brain Challenge, "A President Once Again!" from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER:

RAY: This is from my presidential inauguration series and it was sent in by Skip Whitford. Here it is:

On March 4, 1893, Grover Cleveland was inaugurated as our 24th president. It was the second time he was inaugurated. He had also been our 22nd president. Being inaugurated as our 24th, he succeeded his successor, Benjamin Harrison, who was our 23rd president.

There was another president who succeeded his successor. Who was it?

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

This Week's Brain Challenge, "Two Ways Home on a Dark and Stormy Night! " from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER:

RAY: This came in from a fellow named Forest.

It was a dark, cold and stormy night. Two brothers (not us!) decided to meet after work for dinner and a few holiday drinks. Each of them had arrived in his own car and by the end of the evening, only one of them was sober enough to drive home.

Luckily they shared an apartment (see it isn't us!) so they could easily get home in one car but the restaurant didn't allow overnight parking. And there was no overnight street parking. With only one of them able to get behind the wheel, they realize towing or pushing one of their cars home was also out of the question even though their house was just three blocks away from the restaurant.

The sober brother has an idea. He would drive one car for a block, leaving his brother at the restaurant with the other car. Then he would walk back, drive his brother's car and his brother two blocks. Park it, walk back a block to his own car, and drive that two blocks home. Then he would walk back to his brother's car and drive that the remaining block home. Get it?

But his brother, the guy who is three-sheets to the wind, says he has a better idea. He said it would be far less walking if the sober brother drove the first car the three blocks home. Then walk back to the restaurant, and drive the second car, and the tipsy brother, home. He said it would be only 1/3rd of the walking. The sober brother agreed. How can this be?

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

This Week's Brain Challenge, "A Pumping Puzzler" from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER: This was sent in by Burt Fury. Here it is:

One day I pulled into a gas station, just off I-85, outside of the historic village of Hillsborough, North Carolina, where I live. As I began to pump gas, I glanced over at the gentleman at the next pump and observed something that led me to believe that he was not from the state of North Carolina. In addition, I knew immediately what state he was from. He was about to speak to me but I spoke up first and said, 'Let me guess, you're from blank.'

'Yes!' he replied. 'How did you know that?'

The puzzler is, what did I observe and what state was he from?

Now, I did not see his license plate or inspection sticker or other marking on his car that would give me any clue as to what state he was from. Nor was he wearing any clothing, such as a baseball cap or college sweatshirt, that would have led me to believe he was from a certain state.

MAINSTREET USA IS A GREAT PLACE TO SKATE!! PASS IT ON!

Six sixes are 36, five fives are 25. One times one is one. And since C-A-B is less than a thousand, A-B must be less than 32 because 32 squared is one thousand twenty-four.

So there are only nine possibilities then for A-B. And we narrowed it down from 99 to 9. It can be 10, 15, 16, 20, 21, 25, 26, 30, or 31. Those are the only nine possibilities, and we eliminate a bunch of them right away. Ten, twenty, and thirty we eliminate because 10 squared is a hundred, it would have to be 110. Twenty squared is 400 and 30 squared is 900. Fifteen is out because it's 225.

The only one that works is 25. If A-B is 25, then C is 6. 625 is the square of 25.

This Week's Brain Challenge, "When Muscles Aren't Everything " from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER: Ray says: Back in the 60's, I had the misfortune of living across the street from the world's biggest, and most insufferable, motor head. American muscle cars were just coming into their own in the '60s and this guy had jumped in with both feet. Hardly a week went by without my having to listen to this guy's latest automotive exploit.

Just outside of town there was an abandoned stretch of highway. It was straight and flat for miles and the perfect place for my neighbor and his kind to race each other in their Chevys and Dodges and Pontiacs and Fords.

I was never invited to race my car which had a four-speed manual transmission and a three-cylinder engine. It was a Saab.

One day I challenged my neighbor to a race: my Saab versus his muscle car. I just had one condition: we race in reverse. That's right, backing up. He thought about it for a second and then said, 'Sure! What do I care? I'll go backwards, forwards. I'll race you any way you want.'

Now I didn't possess any particular prowess so far as driving in reverse. Nor was I aware of any particular handicap on his part. So at high noon there we were. Engines running, our rear bumpers inched up to the starting line, awaiting the signal. And, then, we were off.

Within a minute, he was far ahead. But little by little I closed the gap until finally I caught up to him and passed him. His engine was straining. It was on the verge of self destruction, with the tachometer at the red line, as he watched me cross the finish line first.

How did I beat him in reverse with my Saab?

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

Remember that when the answers are posted on the website, you don't have to list your real name if you want to be anonymous. Simply use an alias ("aka").

Your skating friends thank you!

Date & Nut Bread
1 C Chopped dates
2 tsp soda
2 C boiling water (pour water over dates and soda)
2 T butter
2 C sugar
2 eggs
4 C flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
1 C nutmeats (walnuts)

Combine dates and soda and pour boiling water over them; let cool. Cream the butter and sugar, then add eggs and mix well. Combine with the date mixture. Stir in salt and vanilla. Add the flour gradually, blending well. Add nuts last. Grease and flour 5-4X8 loaf pans and fill half full with batter. Bake 1 hour at 350 F. Let stand 10 minutes before removing from pans.

This Week's Brain Challenge, "It's Math Time" from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER: Ray says: This puzzler is from my mathematical series. Every two-digit number can be represented as AB, where B is the ones digit and A is the tens digit. Right? So for example the number 43, A is 4 and B is 3. Imagine then that you took this two-digit number and you squared it, AB x AB, and when you did that the result was a three-digit number, CAB. Here's the question: What's the value of C? So, for example if AB is 43, CAB might be 943. Of course this is a totally bogus answer, but you get the idea.

So again, what is the value of C, so that AB(squared)= CAB?

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

The answers will be posted on the website. Note that you don't have to list your name if you want to be anonymous. Simply use an alias ("aka"). This info will really help your friends!!

Check out this video (from Rollersports.tv) showing superb roller dancing of an original dance by Bornati/Bornati (Italy) at the Gold Coast 2007 competition. This is just a sample of the international talent. It really makes you wonder why rollerskating is not yet an Olympic sport, doesn't it?

This Week's Brain Challenge, "A Brake Job by Any Other Name Just Ain't the Same" from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
PUZZLER: This is from my mistaken identity series and it was sent in by a fellow named Dick Boland. He writes: The front brakes on my old pickup truck started grinding on the Friday before Labor Day weekend. I delayed my long-laid plans so I could take Saturday to do the brake job. I got up Saturday morning and took a leisurely stroll to the parts store a couple of blocks away from my house. I told them in English, which was the same language they spoke at the store, the year, make, model and engine size of my truck and that it was a 4-wheel-drive. I had them fetch me brake pads, new rotors and a caliper hardware kit.

I got home and jacked up the front of the truck and put it on stands, had a late lunch, watched a DVD, and then removed the wheels and the calipers. Aha! The old inner pad on one side was the grinding culprit and completely shot. So I knew what was going on.

I opened up and laid out all of my new parts and discovered that not one single new part matched any of the old parts. By this time, of course, the parts store had closed early for the holiday weekend and my truck was jacked up in front of my car in the driveway. So I was effectively under house arrest for the remainder of the holiday weekend.

The cause of the whole debacle boiled down to a single syllable. Here's the question. What is the make of my truck and what is the last digit of the model year?

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

This Week's Brain Challenge, "America's Favorite Pastime", from the Weekly Puzzlers from Car Talk
This came from a fellow named Harold Pressberg, who says this puzzler occurred to him after looking at the box score of a game between the Mets and the Cards. He was checking the stats for a certain relief pitcher of the Mets who came in at the start of the 7th inning. Now when you look at the box score, it says things like Innings pitched, 1. Hits, 0. So he pitched an inning and allowed no hits. Runs, 1. Earned runs, 1. Strikeouts, 1. Bases on balls, 0. So, in other words, he pitched one inning, and in doing so, he recorded 3 outs, gave up no hits or walks, and was still charged with an earned run. How was this possible?
Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

Fuzzy Math
"I saw one recent Saturday afternoon, a boy and his mother at the neighborhood diner where I often go for lunch. From my vantage point, I could see that they were working on some arithmetic problems. Maybe some homework, I thought. The problems seemed simple enough, and the kid was getting all the correct answers. For example, 25+8, and the boy wrote down 33. The next one was 12+5. The boy answered 17. Then, 35+13 was 48. Then his mother posed the last two problems; 45-8. The kid says 47. I would have said 37, but the boy said 47. The next one was 42+15. The kid says 43, but I thought it should have been 57. His mother accepted both of those answers. And when I saw how the kid was dressed, I did too."

Think you know the answer? You can either (1) email Nancy with your answer, (2) check back next week here for the answer, or (3) cheat and go to Car Talk website for the answer. Thanks go to Car Talk for this Weekly Puzzler.

Gluten-free Pumpkin Cupcakes
(NOTE: Nancy says not to use the Bob's Red Mill mix. It's got garbanzo beans in it that overpower the taste of everything. Instead, she uses a combination of flours.

Mini Pumpkin Pies
Use the recipe for pumpkin pie filling on the back of the can of pumpkin. For the crust, mix crushed Trader Joe's Gluten Free Ginger Snaps with a little melted butter. You can also just put one whole ginger snap on the bottom. Either way seems to work fine.

For those of us who are pumpkin-carving challenged, this pumpkin by Nancy R. speaks for all of us skaters! (She donated this pumpkin to Mainstreet USA rink. Look for it.)
Want another party? Next Friday night is the Halloween Party at Mainstreet USA! Click here for more info!

Here are some of the shirts that Linda likes for the ladies (of course, personalized with our names):

Classic with a plain back (no picture) or with a printed back of either

Betty Boop's Drive-In,

,

or 50s Carhop.

Here are even more nominees (in random order). Don't see your favorite skating song so far? Send us your nomination (info@ClubAire.org).

For those with strong stomachs, here's what was left after the hawk finished its lunch and flew away into a nearby tree.

Our own Gail was adament that we tell her story. Here is Gail's story, in her own words...

Don't have the triple axel or sit spin down yet. As a matter of fact, I won't be doing any skating for a while--I broke my wrist a couple of weekends ago. Can you do me a favor? Please remind everyone to WEAR THEIR WRISTGUARDS. Sorry to shout but I'm so mad at myself. Had I been wearing mine, I'm quite sure I wouldn't be in this crummy cast. Everything takes me twice as long to do--typing, getting ready for work, cleaning, cooking (don't get me started on bathing and hooking a bra!). But mostly I'm upset that I have to hang up my roller skates and ice skates for a while.

Here's what happened: My regular rink is closed for August, so I decided to check out Northbrook's ice rink. I had stopped wearing my wristguards a few weeks prior because I felt self-conscious that no one else was wearing them. Plus, I thought it looked 'cuter' to wear the little knit gloves like the other women and girls. (Of course, I didn't take into consideration that the little girls are only three feet from the ground and the women learned how to skate when they were young and are much better than I. And the women who are beginners aren't unwisely doing moves before they've found better control and, in general, acting like they're trying to get in the next Winter Olympics.) Anyway, I lost my balance and fell backwards. It was such a fast fall that I still don't remember exactly how I went down. I do remember falling on an outstretched palm and feeling the bone crack. Typical of me, I immediately went into denial and told myself that I probably just jammed my wrist. So I got up and started shaking my hand around and telling myself to just "walk it off." I continued skating--even falling one more time--until I noticed my left wrist and arm swelling up and that I couldn't move it very much. I went to the emergency room and, well, the rest is history. I had a break in the radius bone--the most common wrist break according to the doctor (and probably the exact kind of injury wristguards were intended to prevent!).

So if anyone needs any reminders why it's wise to wear those bulky, unattractive, sweat-producing wristguards, tell them my story!
Wear your protective gear!!

Here's Gary, taking a short (hopefully) break from skating, but still there to offer help to his friends. Thanks, Gar!

We'll see you there!!

DO NOT TRY THIS!!! Kids or adults!
"We Skate Anywhere: Part I, The Houseboat:

"We Skate Anywhere: Part II, The Tracks:

There seems to be a casting call for extras for filming in Michigan. Click here for more info from AnnArbor News. It seems that they "care looking for individuals from 18 to 50, all walks of life, from the most eccentric to punk rockers to roller derby fans to rock 'n' roll people," Remski said. "We want expressive individuals. If somebody has pink hair, bring it on." Anyone interested should e-mail info@realstyleonline.com. Include the subject line: "Whip It Extras." The body of the e-mail should include the person's picture, a contact number and a date of birth. Remski said the picture is "essential" in determining who gets a call. Extras receive a nominal fee, Remski said. Remski said the extras will be used from July 30 to Aug. 13. Casting calls will be set up in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti as early as next week."

Fast forward two days later.

On Saturday night we were returning from Chicago, and at about 9:45 pm, when it was already dark, came down the road near our place and in the headlights Nancy saw another turtle on the side of the road. We stopped, and I found a Blanding's turtle building a nest. I called our wetland consultant (Jason) to determine what to do, and he said to wait until she was done, mark the nest site, move the turtle back to our place, and then the next day he would come out to remove the eggs. Typically 3/4 of all turtle eggs are dug up by scavengers such as racoons within three days, so it is important to save eggs of Blanding's turtles because of their status as a threatened species.

After standing there an hour waiting for her to finish, a neighbor came out to see what we were doing. I told him I was protecting a nesting turtle, and he related that his daughters had found a turtle the week before, kept it at their house for a few days, and then released it. After another hour when she finished, we inspected the turtle shell and determined this was the same turtle our neighbor's daughters had captured and released, and was also the same turtle Nancy had saved two days earlier. So now a second time we took her down to our marsh and released her.

The next day Jason came to remove the eggs, and found a nest with 23 eggs. Apparently there has never been a Blanding's turtle nest found before with this many eggs. So Nancy not only saved a Blanding's turtle from possibly being hit in the road, but saved a bunch of little Blanding's turtles as well. Jason incubates turtle eggs as a hobby and then releases them, so they are in good hands. Jason noted that if you attempt to remove eggs from a nest, you must not rotate them. Rotating them will kill the young turtles. Therefore, when he opened the nest, he used a marker to put a dot on the top of the eggs, and then removed them to a container with filtered sand. He covered all the eggs with sand and put them in an incubator at 80F. If the incubator temperature is set below 80F the turtles will be predominantly male, whereas if the temperature is 85F or so they will be predominantly female.

We will post pictures when they hatch, which usually takes 2-3 months.

• Bob makes spaghetti sauce that makes you ask for second & third helpings. His lasagna (with his homemade sauce, of course) makes you sit back and sigh in such utter, total contentment after dinner.
• Evan builds bridges. Actually two bridges (really, they are boardwalks or walkways) over two places in the marsh at his home. Lots of work, sweat, mosquitos, and sore muscles.
• Lynn walks in charity "marathons", and cooks (and shares!) delicious low-fat, low-cal dishes.
• Ken plays golf, is a total White Sox fan, and collects and shares jokes. (His jokes keep everyone's spirit up. Thanks, Ken!)
• Gary does so many different things, it's hard to list them all, such as listening to polkas on his cell phone (particularly the Whoop de doo Polka), collecting ringtones, finding unique toys and gadgets, video production.
• Dorothy travels to Peru, her dream second home.
• Alison loves to garden (she brings in absolutely stunning floral arrangements to share!).
• Trudi's husband is a blacksmith (ask about the black rose that has beautiful fragrance).

• June 14, 21, 28: Club Aire Lesson/Practice
• July 4-27: Rink closed for maintenance
• Aug. 2: Club Aire Lesson/Practice continues
• Check this page weekly for future dates & events

Directions to Mainstreet USA can be found at Mapquest.

Club Aire has been warmly welcomed by this rink in Streamwood. We are excited about working with them to share the fun of rollerskating with everyone, regardless of age or ability. Rollerskating is a passion we want (and need) to share!

Come in, lace up your skates, and join us for some fun!

SEE YOU SATURDAY!!

Skate to the music,
Skate from the heart,
Skate for the fun of it!

Getting together at Barnaby's was a great way to close out this chapter. Even Pat and his wife Helen drove all the way from Minnesota just to enjoy lunch with the club members, many of whom personally expressed how much they have missed Pat's insightful teaching and have missed learning from the Master. Over pizza, pop, and other unhealthy goodies, we shared a memorable time with friends, and we all vowed that we would all continue skating, wherever, however, and forever.

Gary, Linda, Pat, Evan, and Nancy thank everyone for being not only supportive members of Club Aire, but truly great friends. Through a common love of skating, we have developed friendships that mean more to us than words can express. The true sadness we have felt in the closing of the Orbit Chapter of Club Aire is parting company with people whose presence we cherish and who have become an integral part of our lives. Thank you all for making Club Aire successful. It has been a true joy to skate with all of you at Orbit.

CLUB AIRE ROCKS!!

P.S. If anybody has any great (or even good or bad) photos of the final skating session or party at Barnaby's, we would very much appreciate if you would send them to Nancy@ClubAire.org. Thanks everyone!