SocialMeeting

Suggestions for future socials

If you like the idea, please let us know!

Outdoors

-Sledding (but where?)

-Snowshoeing and/or cross country skiing at Quarry Hill. They also rent equipment.

-Paintball

-Mini golf

-Canoe trip (this would have to be at least a half day trip to the Root River)

-Ice cream social

-Kite flying

-Picnic

-Frisbee golf

-Walk

-Roadside or river litter cleanup

-Geocaching - perhaps we can borrow some devices and have several practice caches set up, or perhaps we can team up to find some more challenging targets. Probably also a multi-hour social.

-Snow tubing and/or skiing at Steeplechase (No good, Steeplechase is closed for 2007-2008 season)

Indoors

-Bowling

-Whistle Binkies / Westfire / Beetles / Whisky Bones / other locations with adult beverages and now smoke free!

-Lounge 51 Games

-Movies, such as Deja Vu

-Discussion of experience of being an election judge, next time we meet someplace that's not too loud

-Board and card games. Some members are fans of Robo Rally and Munchkin

-Ice skating at the Rec Center, skate rentals available

-RC helicoptor/plane flying at the Rec Center. Tuesday nights, 7-10 pm. Bring your own UFO. Free.

-Rube Goldberg device, built out of whatever we brought

-your suggestion here, please

Winter geocaching in Bear Cave Park, Stewartville

Saturday March 1st
1-4 pm
Cost: gas, food?
A simpler event than what we did in August, in that there won't always be puzzles for you to solve before you get the coordinates, and we'll be using pre-existing geocaches. It will be more complex in that it's winter. We can go out afterwards for warming food/drinks if anyone is interested.

The possible caches, overview map
Specific possible caches (Selected caches that have been found since snow has fallen this winter, so they should be do-able)

    -Vitis Vulpina
    -Bear Bait, someone should solve the puzzle in advance to see if it ends up being in the park or not..., also so we spend less time with cold fingers outside
    -Total Recall, another puzzle cache
    -Rise to the Challenge
    -SYAA
    -How Sharp Are You?, another puzzle cache
    -Scotcharo Bars
    -Dora's Spooky Forest
    -Stewartville Auto Dealer (themed cache, does anyone have a matchbox type car for trade?)
    -Frisbee Golf
    -Hidden Hill Coin Exchange (themed cache, does anyone have any foreign currency for trade?)
    -Over the river and through the woods
    -Don't Disturb the Neighbors
    -Elmer's Cache, another puzzle cache
    -Lake Florence?

Then if anyone is feeling masochistic, there was one cache that hasn't been found since the snow flew... Bear Cave Hideaway

At least one person besides Tina might want to bring printouts of these caches for both the coordinates and the clues, or you might want to program them into your GPS ahead of time if you have one. Don't worry if you're borrowing a GPS, we'll make sure you have the coordinates we're hunting for.

Parking appears to be at:
N 43 51.752 W 092 30.353
Which according to the map is on 10th St NW, just east of 11th Ave NW, on the west side of the park.
Other caches list parking as being available via Florence Park or ball park parking, since the gates to the park will be locked during the winter. If anyone has good parking information for this area, please share.

Trading of small items (take something, leave something) is typically done at a cache, along with signing the log. The trade items should be fairly small. Specific trade items called Travel Bugs are also trackable, and should be moved on to other caches according to their goals. Tina has two travel bugs that need to move along, they are Kwaak and Need For Cold. Kwaak's goal is "To hop around", while Need For Cold's goal is "This Travel Bug likes to stay cold, so its goal is to continue North or to chilly environments", both of which should be easily achievable in any cache large enough for them in Bear Cave Park. We may be able to pick up some travel bugs at the caches we find, but we won't know for sure what's in the caches until much closer to the date.

What to bring

-Warm clothes and boots
-GPS
-2 AAA batteries if you're borrowing a GPS (Garmin Geko 201, manual can be found here if you want to read it in advance)
-Cache coordinates and hints
-Pen/pencil
-Small trade items and/or travel bugs

Sign up

Name	# of self/family/friends	# of GPS units
Tina Wood	3	2-3
Bill Marshall	1	10
Your name here

Ice skating at the Rec Center, North rink

Sunday February 17, 6-9 pm
Cost: $4/adult, $3/youth (youth=ages 5-18)
Skate rental available for an extra $2/person

Intro to curling, Saturday February 2nd, 2008

Saturday February 2nd
1-3 pm
Owatonna
Cost: donation towards ice maintance if you're willing, gas, food?
It's ~1 hour drive each way, we can run past 3 pm if people are interested, and/or we can also go out for food afterwards.
The two hour session will include both classroom and hands-on instruction, hopefully we'll also have time to attempt a game. From feedback last year, we will post most of the background/classroom information here, so we spend less time having to listen to Tina talk and more time on the ice. That does mean you have more homework (reading) to do prior to arrival, however. There need to be at least 3 people besides Tina signed up by Thursday January 31st, otherwise we'll cancel due to lack of interest.

What is curling? Curling is a sport played on ice, involving both physical skill and strategy. The basics can be picked up quickly by anyone, from kids to retirees. For the purposes of this introductory session, please do not bring children who do not have at least a 2 hour attention span. Those weighing <90 pounds may find it frustrating, as you have to shift 42 pound stones.

There is no direct cost for this instruction, although donations towards ice maintenance would be happily accepted. Indirect costs include gas to get to Owatonna, a meal or snack out afterwards if anyone desires, and signing your life away (waiver). You also have to put in the time in advance to clean the bottoms of a pair of tennis shoes that you can *carry* into the curling barn for use on the ice, and read the classroom material. Once there you will use the stones, slider, and broom provided by the curling club.

What to bring:

-Clean tennis shoes to be CARRIED in (you must wear a different pair of shoes/boots to get to the curling barn). Attack the soles of your shoes with a letter opener or other mildly sharp and pointed object, removing every little stone from between the cracks. Then wash the bottom of your shoes using soap and water. Dry thoroughly. This is to remove anything that can scratch or melt the ice surface. I recommend doing this the night before.

-Wear loose, warm, layered clothes. We're going to be on ice, and want to use as much flexibility as our bodies have. Jeans don't work well, sweat pants are a much better choice.

-Family, friends, coworkers (sign them up ahead of time)

-A smile!

Other items to note:

-There is no smoking in the curling barn

-You MUST have clean shoes to be allowed on the ice

-Curling is a gentleman's sport. Good sportsmanship will be practiced at all times, and therefore cursing is not allowed.

-Carpooling is encouraged. A good place to carpool from is the south east corner of the Cinemagic (Stadium 12) theatre, near Westfire.

-Tina's not a certified curling instructor. If you want a certified instructor, there are certified instructors who occasionally teach at Burnsville (http://www.dakotacurlingclub.org/), but these happen rarely. Usually people join the sport by attending semi-organized or impromptu introductory sessions taught by other experienced curlers, such as this one.

Directions: The drive takes about an hour. Do NOT use Mapquest to find the Owatonna Curling Club, you'll end up in a residential district. The curling barn is in the Steele County Fairgrounds, immediately north of the 4 Seasons Ice Rink. To get there:

-Take Hwy 14 West to Owatonna

-Take the County 45 (Cedar Avenue) exit (I believe this is the second of the three Owatonna exits), go north (right)

-Take the second right (east), onto County 39 aka 18th Street SE. This is an intersection with a stoplight.

-Go one short block, turn north (left) onto South Elm Street. You should now be going by the grandstand at the Steele County Fairgrounds (on your right).

-Just after the stop sign, and immediately north of the Four Seasons ice rink, turn left (west) into the parking lot. It's the unassuming building set back from the road with a sign that says "Owatonna Curling Club", and the traditional multicolored concentric circles (called a house).

-Come on in! Please wipe/stomp your feet as much as possible as you enter, keeping debris out of the curling barn is important.

To sign up, please add yourself to the sign up sheet (below). If you need wiki write access, please email the list. Otherwise you can send an email directly to Tina with this information, she can update the wiki for you.

Name	# self/family/friends	Carpooling? Driver/passenger/either
Tina Wood, Dick Redman	2	Yes please, either
Tim, Alex Massaro,	2	Probably not, leaving from Zumbrota
Your name here	x	xx

Prep material
Never seen curling before, and want an idea of what the sport even looks like? Try watching this video, relavent content is from approximately 0:40-2:20.

Please read the following introductory/classroom material prior to arriving at the curling club so we can spend more time on the ice.
Very short overview, please also follow the links to read the PDFs on: all of USA Curling, the first page of Delivery, the first page of Sweeping, the first page of Strategy, and all of Curling Spirit. You're welcome to read them in depth and/or read the other links as well.
Some additional materials may be posted.

Social: Arcade and Games, Friday November 16th, 2007

Video games, MAME, and whatever board/card games you bring to MJ's house. Friday, November 16th, 6:30-11 pm.

MJ currently has:

     - MAME cabinet with light gun and DDR pads

     - Attack From Mars pinball

     - White Water pinball

     - Fish Tales pinball

     - MegaTouch Force 2006

     - Pachislo (Japanese "skill" slot maching)

     - electronic dartboard for a bar

     - Xenon pinball - being fixed/cleaned/restored, may or may not be playable

     - Robotron 2084 video game - needs some work, may or may not be playable

But that could change by the event, because he actively trades. Pictures can be found here. If there's something in particular that you want MJ to make sure he's got up and running, email him using the link from the bottom of his webpage.

There is only room for 10-12 in the arcade room at a time. Please sign up:

Name	# of self/family/friends	hang out in arcade room	hang out with board/card games	board/card games you will bring	food/beverage you will bring
Tim M	x	Y	x	x	Pop
Jon T	x	x	x	x	x
Aaron A	1	x	x	Roborally, Great Space Race	x
Steve Fox	2	x	x	x	Bowl of lard
Mike Nelson	x	x	x	x	x
Your name here	x	x	x	x	x

Geocaching and potluck, Saturday, August 4th. 2007

Geocaching please email Tina if you can make it, but we have room for last minute geocache crashers

Who: K-LUGgers, family, and those strange enough to be willing to count themselves as friends of K-LUGgers

What: Geocaching and/or potluck social

When: Saturday August 4th. 9:30 or 10 am for geocaching (see below), 1 pm for social

Where: Essex Park, 5455 W River Rd NW, Rochester map

Follow the driveway around to the right, park in the parking lot, and we'll meet in the vicinity of the shelter.

You can participate in either event, or both. Sign up tables below are independent.

Schedule

Geocaching

9:30 am Training in GPS usage. Need all those loaning and borrowing GPSr's to be present for this. If you're loaning out equipment, it would help if you knew how to operate it well enough to teach those who are borrowing. Anyone who wants to refresh their memory on how to use their own equipment is also welcome to attend for a warm-up cache hunt.

10:00 am Instructions, division into teams, distribution of coordinates, start caching!

1:00 pm Geocachers regroup at the shelter area, winners of bragging rights determined

Potluck social

1:00 pm Social begins at the shelter area

Geocaching

Bring your friends, family, GPSr's, something to drink and a rain coat because it'll be either hot or raining while we run around, plastic bag for CITO (cache in, trash out), plastic bag for retreiving your geocaching finds (using temporary caches, so no trade items required), paper, writing utensil, plus your knowledge of computer history and other intellectual trivia.

Please use one row per team if you have lots of people coming who would like to cache together. I'll group people into teams as equipment and time to hide caches permit, unless you leave other instructions.

Name	# of self/family/friends	# of GPS units for s/f/f	# of GPS units to loan out	Geocaching experience level
Tina Wood	1	NA (organizer)	NA	NA
Eldon Nelson	2	0	0	None
Chris Abbey	0, 1, or 2.99... depending on when the baby decides to show up, and how Cory's feeling on the day of	1	0	found ~20, hid 1
Tim Massaro	1-2	1	0	not much
Clayton Arndt	2	1	0	some
Bill Marshall	3 (2 short distance only)	1	3	x
Kevin Arhelger	2	x	x	x
Elzain?	x	x	x	x
Will?	x	1	x	x
Your name here	x	x	x	x

Potluck social

Bring your friends, family, food w/ serving utensil, ladder/monkey golf, frisbees, kites, boomerangs, juggling stuff, badminton net, folding chairs, etc, plus your own beverages and place settings. If it's not already been claimed by a group when we get there, there's a bunch of picnic tables and a shelter, but don’t count on their use.

Name	# of self/family/friends	Food	Games/toys
Tina Wood	1	fruit salad	frisbee, boring kite
Eldon Nelson	1	chips and salsa	-
Chris Abbey	0 or 2.99, as above	not sure, will update later	?
Kevin Arhelger	1-3	No Idea	Soda Bottle Rockets, Juggling Stuff
Tim M	1-2	chicken?	x
Your name here	x	x	x

Questions? Email Tina or Kevin Arhelger. Need help signing up on the wiki? Email Tina or Steve Fox. Hope to see you there!

"July" paintball - Date TBD, may not actually be July

Paintball at Skyline Raceway. Exact date and time will be announced when known.

Number of players: Ideally we need 6 or more players, although on weekends sometimes there are people at the field that can fill in but we cannot count on that.

Eligibility: All players must sign a waiver before play, no exceptions. If you wish to bring your kids, they must be at least 12 years old to play. Anyone under 18 must have a parent/guardian also sign the waivers. I can provide waivers directly to anyone who would like to complete them before the event.

Directions: Skyline Raceway is located just off of 40th Street. Take 63 south (Broadway) to just past Fleet Farm and take the 40th Street exit and head up the hill, it is about 1 mile on your left with big signs marking the entrance.

Cost: There is a $10 field fee per player which covers the cost of your rental equipment, other than that you only need to purchase paint. Only field paint is allowed, you cannot stop off at Wal-Mart and grab a bucket of paint. The cost of paint is $65 per case. A case consists of 2000 balls, the case is separated out into four 500 ball bags. You do not need to purchase an entire case, you can buy a single bag if that is all you are going to shoot. Several players can easily split a case of paint an play for quite some time on that amount. The paint they use at the field is excellent quality.

Equipment/Clothes: If you already have your own equipment you are welcome to bring it and use it as long as your marker meets the chronograph requirements (feet per second). Otherwise just use one of the rentals. The field does not use CO2, so if that is what you are using, then be sure to top yourself off before you arrive. As for clothing, wear something baggy, the balls will not break on you as easily. Also make sure that it is clothing that you do not mind getting messy in. The dye does wash out, but with some materials it can be a bit stubborn. For those really concerned and it hurting padded vests are available for your use at the field. Also for the guys, you might want to consider protecting the goodies, getting hit there will sit you down for the day…

Type of play: The field at Skyline is what is known as a “Speedball” field, there is no woods and there are no trees. Picture a field almost 50 yards long and 30 yards wide enclosed by nets. In the field are large inflatable obstacles called bunkers, each end of the field is a mirror of the other end so the sides are equal. Each game lasts 3 minutes, it is very fast paced and very fun, it really gets your heart pumping. This is very different from “Woods Ball” where you may not even see another player for 20 minutes. You will get shot! You will shoot other players! You will have fun! We have people of all ages and skill levels playing together, husbands bring even their wives to play, so bring your significant other and shoot them! You know you want to :)

Here is a link to the MDC Sports website with a few pictures of playing at Skyline to give you a better idea.

Want a discount at Skyline? Here is a printable coupon

More questions? Pester Paul Kessler.

July 2007 "technical" meeting

Social/potluck of sorts/outside time

Thursday July 12th

6 pm

Park near Steve Fox's house, same place as our June social last year

Bring your friends, family, food w/ serving utensil, frisbees, kites, boomerangs, juggling stuff, badminton net, etc, plus your own beverages and place settings. Sign up below. No wiki privileges? Contact Tina or Steve Fox to get privileges or to write in for you.

Name	# of self/family/friends	Food	Games/toys
Tina Wood	1	vanilla ice cream	frisbee, boring kite
Steve Fox	3	unsure	ladder golf, frisbee, duct tape
Dennis De Lorme	2	Pizza	chairs
Tim Massaro	1	Diet Coke & Mentos, Cookies	Frisbee Glove
Jon Tollefson	5	?	Kite
Aaron Albertson	1	?	Probably
Your name here	x	x	x

Bowling, Saturday March 24th, 2007

The March KLUG social will be bowling at Recreation Lanes (100% smoke free), on Saturday March 24th. Bowling will be noon-2 pm (Thunder Alley style, with loud music, blacklights, strobes/light show), arriving slightly early will allow us to get a lane together, get bowling shoes, pick out balls, etc, and take advantage of the entire 2 hour window for bowling.

Introduction to Curling, Saturday January 20th, 2007

The January KLUG social will be an introduction to curling. As the nearest curling barn is in Owatonna, it will require a minimum of a half day commitment. It will be Saturday January 20th from 1-3 pm (plus 1 hour drive each way). This may be extended slightly past 3 pm if there is continuing interest and stamina as well as ice availability, and/or socializing afterwards at an Owatonna restaurant. (IBM Crew suggests hitting Cabellas restaurant for Buffalo Burgers afterwards!)

The event on the 20th was a success, here are some CurlingPics

What is curling? Curling is a sport played on ice, involving both physical skill and strategy. The basics can be picked up quickly by anyone, from kids to retirees. For the purposes of this introductory session, please do not bring children who do not have at least a 2 hour attention span or are under ~90 pounds (you have to shift stones that weigh 42 pounds).

The two hour session will include both classroom and hands-on instruction.

There is no direct cost for this instruction, although donations towards ice maintenance would be happily accepted. Indirect costs include gas to get to Owatonna, a meal or snack out afterwards if anyone desires, and signing your life away (waiver). You also have to put in the time ahead of time to clean the bottoms of a pair of tennis shoes that you can *carry* into the curling barn for use on the ice.

What to bring:

-Clean tennis shoes to be CARRIED in (you must wear a different pair of shoes/boots to get to the curling barn). Attack the soles of your shoes with a letter opener or other mildly sharp and pointed object, removing every little stone from between the cracks. Then wash the bottom of your shoes using soap and water. Dry thoroughly. This is to remove anything that can scratch or melt the ice surface. I recommend doing this the night before.

-Wear loose, warm, layered clothes. We're going to be on ice, and want to use as much flexibility as our bodies have. Jeans don't work well, sweat pants are a much better choice.

-Family, friends, coworkers (sign them up ahead of time)

-A smile!

Other items to note:

-There is no smoking in the curling barn

-You MUST have clean shoes to be allowed on the ice

-Curling is a gentleman's sport. Good sportsmanship will be practiced at all times, and therefore cursing is not allowed.

-Carpooling is encouraged. A good place to carpool from is the south east corner of the Cinemagic (Stadium 12) theatre, near Westfire.

-I'm not a certified curling instructor. If you want a certified instructor, there are certified instructors who occasionally teach at Burnsville (http://www.dakotacurlingclub.org/), but these happen rarely. Usually people join the sport by attending semi-organized or impromptu introductory sessions taught by other curlers, such as this one.

Directions: The drive takes about an hour. Do NOT use Mapquest to find the Owatonna Curling Club, you'll end up in a residential district. The curling barn is in the Steele County Fairgrounds, immediately north of the 4 Seasons Ice Rink. To get there:

-Take Hwy 14 West to Owatonna

-Take the County 45 (Cedar Avenue) exit (I believe this is the second of the three Owatonna exits), go north (right)

-Take the second right (east), onto County 39 aka 18th Street SE. This is an intersection with a stoplight.

-Go one short block, turn north (left) onto South Elm Street. You should now be going by the grandstand at the Steele County Fairgrounds (on your right).

-Just after the stop sight, and immediately north of the Four Seasons ice rink, turn left (west) into the parking lot. It's the unassuming building set back from the road with a sign that says "Owatonna Curling Club", and the traditional multicolored concentric circles (called a house).

-Come on in! Please wipe/stomp your feet as much as possible as you enter, keeping debris out of the curling barn is important.

To sign up, please add yourself to the sign up sheet (below). If you need wiki write access, please email the list. Otherwise you can send an email directly to me with this information, I can update the wiki for you.

Primary date: Saturday January 20th

Name	# including family	# of nonfamily	Carpooling? Driver/passenger/either
Tina Wood	1	0	Not this time
Jim Evans	1	1
Eldon Nelson	1	0	either
Tim Massaro	1	0
Amber