Thursday, January 03, 2008

Taking bets (with a prize!) on TA orientation

Anyone want to place bets on how many hardy souls will show up to the mandatory all-day teaching assistant orientation I have organized for Friday? Forty-six TAs* registered, but one of our vice chancellors just sent out an all-campus e-mail that included this warning:
The National Weather Service has issued a Hazardous Weather Outlook for Interior Northern California predicting heavy winds (40-60 mph)** and heavy rain (3-5 inches).***
I'm taking bets from my bloggy readers. Winner gets a choice of either a novel or a pound of See's candy in the mail, should he or she choose to disclose a mailing address (sorry, North American readers only--I can't go broke on postage). In the event two people are equally close to the final number, the person who guesses closest without going over the number wins. (It's so very The Price is Right, I know.) You have until Monday, January 7 at 9 a.m. Pacific to post your guess, at which point I'll reveal the number of attendees.

You can post your guess in the comments or e-mail me at trillwing -at- gmail -dot- com.

*This is our tiny TA orientation. The one in the fall draws about 600 first-time TAs.

**Have I mentioned the neighbors have coastal redwood trees in their front yard? Tall trees + shallow roots + high winds = fun times! Also, we have a mostly dead cherry tree in the backyard that I'm hoping will hang on through the storm. UPDATE: a tree did fall down, blocking the street and very narrowly missing my car, but it wasn't a redwood. Still, it was a sizeable tree.

***The e-mail mentions that researchers should check on the campus livestock and sensitive equipment on the weekend. No mention is made of checking on TAstock or sensitive teaching consultants.

15 comments:

Sara said...

I'm going with 9. Seems low, I know, but the excuses will probably pretty valid.

Anonymous said...

hey leslie. i never win these things, but there is no time like the present. let's go with 30. I think the word mandatory will scare some TAs into coming at least at the beginning.

see you,
Paul

Innisfree said...

Ian says 37. I'm guessing 32 since there will most likely be some sick people as well.

Dr. Brazen Hussy said...

29!

Unknown said...

I'll go with 27.

Annie's Mom said...

My guess is 18. :)

ScienceWoman said...

17. Californians are wimps when it comes to the weather. :)

Leslie M-B said...

So far the following guesses have come in via e-mail:

Tymmy: 13
Janet: 19
Andy: 17
Jan: 24
Fernando: 4

In the case of a tie, I'll have someone draw a winner from a hat.

Rhonda said...

I'll say 33.

Leslie M-B said...

Another off-blog guess:

Danielle M: 23

Unknown said...

Six.

The History Enthusiast said...

I say 12.

P.S. I miss See's Candy! I grew up on the West Coast, and every year we used to get their summer mix. Good times.

P.P.S. I grew up in a coastal area where we had lots of those really bad wind storms. Best of luck as you batten down the hatches!

Anonymous said...

I'll be optimistic and say 38. The storm hasn't hit us yet, so I'm still inclined to disbelieve all of the gloom and doom in the weather reports.

Bardiac said...

37. I've been known to be stupidly optimistic in the past, too.

susan said...

I think 5.