UNH District Robotic Event 3/7-3/9

University of New Hampshire
This competition was located at the beautiful college of New Hampshire. Aces
High was very successful at this competition with coming in first place overall
for the highest scored points and second place in the alliances. Aces High had
won all but one match throughout Thursday and Friday up until the final matches.
Our autonomous was successful for every match except for one of our matches in
the semi finals and one of our matches in the finals. Our robot went all the way
and was in an alliance with team 131 and 3597 during the finals. We had won our
first match but then lost our next two matches causing the other alliance to win
the competition. We had some troubles with our robot throughout the competition
with our arm not picking up the robot but we didn't stop fighting through it.
Aces High used all the great minds of our team to fix the troubles and be able
to make the robot able of picking up and shooting balls at amazing accuracy. We
also had a specific sign that the human player used to let the drive team know
when they were at a correct spot to shoot. Our human player would focus on the
robot and when it was located at the correct distance from the shooting targeted
goal, he would fly his hands up in a sign of "GOAL!" Our whole team in the
stands decided that it would show good team spirit and support for our team to
participate with the human player. in other words, every time the human player
would put his hands up in the air, so would everyone else on our team in the
stands. We would all stand up and put our hands up and cheer. Aces High is not
several different students focusing on different things. We are a team, a
family, that works as a unit and supports and cheers for everyone not the team
for our best results. Our team not only spent all our time at the competition,
but we also had a new favorite diner to visit, which we visited for two
breakfasts and two dinners. It gave us a time to spend with each other and talk
about not only the competition but other things that brought us closer as a
team. Aces High understands that to work together, we have to understand each
other and know each other and our trip to the University of New Hampshire gave
our team that chance. Even though we didn't win the competition in its whole, we
tried our hardest and scored an amazing amount of points. Aces High also did
amazingly for the chairmans award. We were scored exceptionally excellent for
everything about our presentation and our outreach. Overall, Aces High went to
UNH and gave it our all and succeeded. We did what we want and can't wait to go
to Hartford regional and play our hardest again.
Ciera Tseka

 WOW!!! Wish everyone could have made the UNH trip. You made one amazing robot. We were 11 and 1 in qualifications for number 1 seed and ended up Finalists and winners of a very well earned Motorola Quality Award.

FTC is competing today in Westport and I will forward the results to the whole team as soon as I know them. They are playing for a chance to go to St Louis. Go Aces High Too!!!

 1. Our performance earned us enough points to almost guarantee a spot at the district championships in Boston so plans need to be made for that. Also the top 16 point earners (Not including the 14 automatic qualifiers) in New England will go to St Louis, so we should look ahead to that as it approaches.

It was a busy three days but the team did well!!

Our Robot is named Ms. Stacy!!

Our trophies for Quality award and Second place in the event.  Way to go Aces High 176!!

Moving/Brunch

SO... last week we had the handy man, electrician, painters and professional photographer at the house to make it more stage ready to sell!  All the time I get to clean, lift and move items to the basement.  House looks great...if unlived in is what you like.  That's what it takes to sell a home then so be it!! Oh yeah...the house is finally listed!!  http://www.coldwellbankermoves.com/property/details/3850651/MLS-G675032/14-Spier-Ave-Enfield-CT-06082.aspx?StateID=11&RowNum=1&RegionID=0&SearchID=32207899&IsRegularPS=True

The girls at brunch!

We also had a very exciting weekend...on Saturday we had absolutely nothing to do!  It was great.  We actually spent the day watching the last season of Breaking Bad on Netflix!!  Loved that show!  Sunday we went to brunch with some friends!  This was our last, un-busy weekend for a long time! 




My besties...always have to have the funny pic!

The guys-Kurt, Stephen and Jay

Moving

Well, this week included a visit from the handyman named Mark.  Stephen and I shopped for all the home supplies and Mark  spent the day repairing the items that came up in our inspection report.  They included the following:  needing to replace two shingles on the roof, replace an outside water faucet, dishwasher not screw into the garnet countertops, face plate covers, repaired some electrical outlets....etc.  That about covered it.  What sucks is that we could of done most of the stuff ourselves but because the above items showed up in the inspection report we had to have them fixed by someone who is licensed. Oh well.  Its done and now just waiting for the painters to come on Thurs.  This coming Friday we have the professional photographer coming to take pictures of the house.  In the meantime I've been de cluttering the house (according to the stager) so it sells better.  Basically anything you can pick up needs to be moved to the basement.  I'm not sure what they are going to tell the buyers when they see all of our stuff piled in the basement. 
We are on our way! The sign is posted in front of the house!!

Signs up in front of the house.

Suffield Shakedown Scrimmage 2/15/14 Visit to NY 2/16/14 and Jay visit 2/18/14

Wow..what a long robotics season!  In week six (or they call week zero) Feb 18 2014 is bag day.  By midnight on the 18th you must cease all work to the robot and bag it.  That we did.  The team still didn't have the robot ready in time for the scrimmage.

The scrimmage-On valentines day Stephen and I spent from 10am-11:30pm setting up for this scrimmage.  I celebrated my Valentines Day over a hotdog we split from Costco.  Not the most romantic Valentines Day I could ask for, but at least we spent it together...setting up the robotics scrimmage together!!!https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.575089912580591.1073741855.292052257551026&type=3

 Set up included all the food stations, pit areas, field set up and our team provided dinner for everyone that helped!   The weather has not been cooperating all week!  4 inches of snow one day, 10 two days later and another 10 inches 4 days later...The Saturday of the event we also had snow warning for another 8-12 inches...The scrimmage consisted of 30 schools across the East Coast that had signed up for the event, but because of all the snow, teams did cancel because schools were closed not leaving enough build time to complete the robots.  A few school districts canceled all weekend events due to the pending storm and other teams just arrived late. We even had to cut the event short due to the snow storm.  We had dignitaries attend the event and even Governor Malloy spoke just before our opening ceremonies!  Team Beta honored Stephen and I with a trophy for all the hard work we did hosting this scrimmage! Of course this event couldn't of happened without all the dedicated parents and volunteers that helped out! Check out all the wonderful pics on the teams Facebook page!

During the scrimmage on Saturday, we had our friends from Indian visit-Toni and Marcy!  They came to the event wanting to check out all the hoopla Stephen and I talk about all the time!  They loved it!  They were only in town a couple of days so on Sunday we headed to NY!  We always take the train from New Haven and visited Grand Central Station, China Town, Little Italy, Mulberry Street Bar,  Times Square and had dinner at the Hard Rock Café in Time Square!  We had a blast!  Long day but well worth it!  Marcy and Toni just loved haggling with all the people in China Town!  They came home with so much stuff, I had to make a mail drop the next day!  It was so good seeing them!  I think I even got Marcy hooked on the Alex and Ani bracelets!!!

Monday we had the realtor and stager come by.  We spent hours filling out paperwork and walking through with the stager.  We have a few things to make the house more warming for buyers when they come to check out the house!  Maybe even a new coat of white paint to brighten things up!  Still not sure when we will have the house on the market.  Hopefully we can get any repairs/painting done this coming weekend so we can have the professional photographer come in.  We are hoping to be moving the middle of April...we will see.  Back to Chicago we go!










On Tues, Stephen and I headed to Liverpool NY to visit with our friends Jay and Joann.  Jay was just recently released from the hospital after having a softball tumor cut from his brain!  I couldn't believe 5 days after his surgery, he was up walking, talking and running around.  All the excitement was short lived as Jay learned this tumor would grow back rapidly and was cancerous- the doctors gave him 8-10 months to live!  I cant remember what type of tumor Jay called this but I guess its common in oriental twins...which he is (fraternal).  The news did damper his spirit but he just wants to start treatment to fight this cancer.  Doctor says as soon as he heals from the brain surgery they can start treatment.  Puts things into perspective!  Jay is the healthiest person I know...works out everyday, very active, never has drank or smoked in his life.  We hope the best for him!!!

Very busy weekend with more snow in this weeks forecast...Master snow blower Shelly to the rescue!!

Week 6 Build Season Aces High 176 2/10-2/18/14

Our Robot partial put together...

Week six-or also referred to week ZERO-and we still do not have a functional robot...its making me nervous because our scrimmage is 60 hours away (Feb 15, 2014).  AND...school is canceled for tomorrow (2/13/14) because we are expected to receive 10-12 inches of snow.  Because everything is canceled, we can not get into the school to build our robot!!

Scrimmage business

The robot room!

Stephen got the 3000lb carpets moved from Windsor Locks High School to Suffield High School for the scrimmage...half the battle is over.  The next three days will be crazy!!  Tonight we probably will be at the school until midnight!  Build Build Build!!!

Jay and Joann

This week was also a very sad week...One of our dear friends Justin Conover didn't wake up yesterday morning 2/11/14 and they took him to the emergency room.  He had a tumor the size of an orange removed from his head.  Justin is recovering wonderfully from the surgery but the tests came back on the tumor and its cancerous and will grow back.  He's been given 8-10 months to live.

Also my dear friend Anna Sadlowski's mother passed away...This is what was posted.    

Anna and her family

It's been a whirlwind of emotions for my sister Anna and I over the last two days. Our mom passed away on Tuesday morning at home peacefully and we know our lives are never going to be the same. It was terrible to get such news and to be ...stuck in mid-GA with that ice storm coming. I looked into flights and finally decided to go west of the storm and take our chances driving home. Luckily, we made it straight through safely and had the opportunity to make arrangements for my mom. My sister and I would like to thank everyone for the kind words, thoughts, and prayers. Although we have taken a hit to our immediate family it is very comforting that our extended families, work families, and friends have been there for us the entire way. It's been a long day and will look at everything with fresh eyes tomorrow after a good night's rest. Her arrangements will be in the Post Tribune tomorrow but I will list them here...
A Memorial Gathering will be held on Saturday, February 15th, 2014 from 2pm-6pm at Calumet Park Funeral Chapel, 7535 Taft Street, Merrillville, IN 46410. Burial to be held privately by the family.
www.calumetparkfuneralchapel.com.
Our mom was a big champion of helping with local animal shelters so in lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to your local animal shelter on her behalf.
We look forward to visiting with family and friends and exchanging great stories for our mom, Miriam, who will be missed by all who knew and loved her.
A special thanks again to everyone who has expressed worry and concern for our family. We may have lost her earlier than ever expected but we gain the comfort that she's watching over us.


All the sad news just put things into perspective.  I surely gave Stephen a huge hug when he got home from work today!!

Week 5 Build Season/Moving Feb 3-Feb 9 2014

Wow...what a busy week!  Every other day we've had a snow storm-first one three inches and the second one 10 inches.  Of course we had the 10 inches on the day we had 7 people scheduled to come to the house all involved in our moving process.  Unfortunately only 3 showed up due to road conditions.  Moving is...well moving slow!!!  We will get er done!!!

Among all the moving paperwork, visits, emails and phone calls, we are in week 5 of our robot build season.  Stephen is busy making parts and assembling the robot while I am busy coordinating our scrimmage.  10 days left of build season and 8 days until the scrimmage.  Everything is coming along...I will feel better when we have the official field picked up...tomorrow!  I've already starting purchasing the food-my garage has about 25 cases of soda and water in it!  Signage is being made, VIPs invited, press release scheduled, supplies being acquired and packets being printed...whew!  I'm still a little nervous because we do not have a functional robot..  We will see how smooth next weekend is!!  If your in town, stopped by Suffield High School Feb 15th 2014 around noonish to see the robots in action!!!

Suffield High School
1060 Sheldon Street
West Suffield, CT 06093

 

Super Bowl Fun 2/2/14

Sad Faces-Denver didn't win

This year I was very excited about the Super Bowl!!!  Being a long time Denver fan, I was sure the orange and blue would take home the trophy.  Well, as we know Denver lost to the very aggressive Seahawks!  There were a lot of firsts in this game:
The first time the game was held in NY/NJ-it was actually warmer during the game then it was in the home towns of the participants.

The game was played with the number one defense Seahawks vs the number one offence Denver-and as in the past, the team with the better defense usually wins!

This was the most watched super bowl ever.

The super bowl was the fastest scoring super bowl ever-opening play when the snap went over Manning's head.

Bruno Mars (the half time show) spent more time on the field then Manning

 

Im sure there are many more stats I have forgotten...but I do know after the first quarter, I was just hoping we would score! 

Had so much fun with these gals

I guess there is always next year...forever a Bronco Fan!!