Duct Tape from Monaco

Roll # 82 from Monaco and Steve K. makes it happen! In this picture is the whole kit and cuboodle for a perfect roll collection. He has the roll of tape. Then he has a picture of the person from Monaco that signed the roll and his story of getting the roll. It does not get any better than this.

Steve and his wife are world travelers from Sauk City, WI. They go on trips to help with Habitat for Humanity and church groups to work in communities and help out. This is the sixth roll they have collected for the World Duct Tape collection. Previous rolls were from, Nepal '16, Guatemala '17 (hope the people they worked with their are OK and not harmed by the volcano eruption going on) Trinidad '17, Iran '17, Fiji '18 and now Monaco '18.

Appreciate all the time and effort Steve has put in to collecting rolls to add to the World Duct Tape collection. Think of all the people and stories that go with the process.

So think about it and maybe you are up to the challenge to get a roll of Duct Tape for the collection. Send it to me and I will send you a 1 of 200 engraved World Duct Tape Collection challenge coin and the postage. Check out the current list of countries I have rolls from to date at.

ducttape2thefuturelist.blogspot

Togo - You cannot make this stuff up.

Well if after driving to and from Ames, Iowa with the World Duct Tape collection in my truck and a sign on the tailgate saying, "Om'ers U R following the - World Duct Tape Collection -ducttape2thefuture.blogspot " and only getting 4 hits to the site I guess that I am pretty much blogging this for my own reading and enjoyment. But here goes...

Keep these number in mind, 4 days, 833 (teams of 7) 470 volunteers from 33 states and 15 International countries. That is over 5,000 people at this year 2018 Odyssey of the Mind World Finals in Ames, Iowa.

Now this is the story of roll number 68 Togo.

Two years ago, 2016, The OM World Finals were held in Ames, Iowa and as usual I looked at the list of visiting countries in the booklet. I circled the ones from which I did not have a roll of Duct Tape. These would be on my radar throughout the competition to "meet" and see if I could obtain a roll of Duct Tape from them for the collection. The night of the Coaches Recovery party things began to look up as I saw two young men dressed in what I will call fine colorful flowing robes. I approached and asked if by any chance they were from Togo? They enthusiastically replied, "Yes!" and the dance was on. Our discussion was problematic as their English was minimal. I showed them the Duct Tape List and roll of Duct Tape I carried with me. Then the Duct Tape Coin. They were getting the jist of it. They were in and would send me a roll of Duct Tape from Togo when they got home. We exchanged email addresses and I was on cloud nine.

When I returned home from Ames in 2016, I fired off an email to Amal Cheero and got a response. He responded and went back to "normal" life. About a month passed and I reached out to Amal again. He said he had the tape but checked into the cost of sending it to US was over $60. We decided that to avoid the cost why not just meet up at World Final in Lansing, Michigan in 2017. I said that would be great. I would bring the World Duct Tape coin I had engraved for him with me. The 2017 OM Finals approached and I contacted Amal. There was a problem with OM funding in Togo and the trip for the team was canceled at the last minute. Togo would not be attending the 2017 OM World Finals. Bummer.

Returning home after the 2017 I reached out to Amal again and he was still hopeful that he would get his role in the collection. I told him that I would be sending him $20 to cover the cost of the tape and the World Duct Tape Coin. I went to Walgreens and learned about sending money by Western Union (another story). Quite a process to say the least and pricey, cost $10 to send $20! Anyway he got it. I kept in touch every couple of months and as this years 2018 OM Finals neared it sounded that the Togo Team might not be funded again this year (I know what some might be thinking). Sure enough when I got to Ames this year Togo was not listed in the program. Bummer. So as per usual I circled the countries I did not have and began my quest.

I rolled out the Duct Tape display and set it up in the center of the area where OM'ers were pin trading and team registration was going on.

I got a few nibbles. Explained theDuct Tape collection and handed out the list of countries and my contact information. After a few hours I folded up the display and later displayed it in the lobby of the hotel that the officials were staying at to spread the word. Went very well.

OK so now it was down to business and down to the judging work that had to be done for the next three days. Fifty - four Problem 1 Division 1 team 8 minute performances later my judging duties were done. I decided to relax by going to the Problem 1 Division 2 performance area and watch their last few teams compete.

I sitting there and an OM'er that competed earlier in the day sat down to watch some fellow performances also. We chatted it up a bit between team performances and talked about the problem. He knew I was a judge because I had on my Officials shirt. We had sat and visited for a good 20 minutes. The subject of Duct Tape never came up. Then I looked down at his wrist. I was dumb founded!

He was wearing a wrist band from Togo! I could not believe it as Togo was not listed in the program. When I asked where he got it he explained that the previous day he and his team were in the student union and this lady was lost and the team helped her find her way. She said she was by herself from Togo to work on getting funding to bring future teams to the OM competitions. She gave a wrist band to each team member. Now I had to fill Spenser, from Atlanta, Georgia in on the Togo story.

Spenser was the nicest of guys. Great guy to talk to about the World Duct Tape Collection and learn about his team and the way they solved the problem at the Division 2 level. During the conversation I met his whole team and their coach Leslie. Spenser made my day so I returned the favor and gave him my Official shirt. Coach Leslie, upon learning about the Duct Tape collection and Duct Tape Coins said that her daughter worked in Sudan in some government capacity and she would contact her. On getting the role signed she thought that her daughter might be able to get some ranking official in the Sudan government to sign it. Leslie and her team get the Duct Tape collection.

So think about it. Remember those numbers I started this blog post with? That's over 5,000 people at this years 2018 OM World Finals. What are the chances of me sitting down at random next to and talking to Spensor who has a bracelet from a person from Togo here with no team and not listed in the program? Pretty sure this is one of those "you cannot make this stuff up" moments.

So it is good news and bad news. The good news is that I have role #68 from Togo in the collection. The bad news is that it is still in Togo with Amal. And what a story it is making. 2019 OM Finals will be held in Lansing, Michigan. Watch for that post.

P.S. Spensors team from, Grace For All in Atlanta, Georgia won 5th place. Congrats!

One of their props used. The team showed me how it worked. Their skit centered around a diner. The cubes were all hinged together and moved at the same time.

When rotated one way it spelled nothing.

When rotated the other way you got this and if you are thinking Diner, Roach, Prez
Very cool.

Heading to the 2018 OM World Finals

If you are reading this post it is a good bet that you are following a green Dodge Ram pick-up truck with plastic wrapped cargo. The World Duct Tape collection on its way to the Odyssey of the Mind 2018 World Finals in Ames, Iowa May 23 - 26. Where over 40,000 kids from all over the U.S. and many world countries will compete to solve problems and make memories to last a lifetime. They will also be doing some serious pin trading and that is where I in true OM fashion have take the path less traveled. I am collecting rolls of Duct Tape from all 200+ countries of the world. To date I have the rolls from 80 world countries and the stories to go with them.  For the latest list of rolls in the collection just visit the blog  ducttape2thefuturelist.blogspot

There are many stories and pictures about the World Duct Tape collection on this blog read on and enjoy a story or two. Maybe you can get a roll from a country I do not have and send it to me.  If not maybe I'll see you in Ames!

Getting the Duct Tape collection ready to "roll"

Collection rolls of Duct Tape from world countries is a journey not a race. Hard to believe that it has been two years since the last OM Worlds in Ames and here is a picture of all the rolls that I have collected since then. Eighteen rolls and a great story to go with each of them. The stories get logged and then published on this blog, but I don't put rolls on the world map for awhile.

So I rolled out the collection and got to work today. Since I will be taking the collection to OM Worlds in Ames, Iowa again this year I refreshed myself with how the whole display goes. Tricky but got the hang of it pretty quick.

To mount the new rolls I have to split the two halves, United States rolls and World Countries in half and lay down the World side. This way I can mount each roll and run a string from the roll to the pin in the country the roll came from.

Wow! With rolls from 80 different world country this map is just about full. I will be getting another world map and working on how to  modify the case and place a piece of 1/2" plywood as a leaf in-between the two halves. This way I can go all the way and get the remaining 120+ countries to finish the collection. That is going to be an OM worthy problem to solve.

OK all put together and looking pretty full on the world map side. And heavy.

All closed up and wheels on ready to "roll". OM World Finals here we come. Will be displaying the collection around the main pin trading area if the weather is nice. Stop, say hi and take a look at the one of its kind WORLD DUCT TAPE COLLECTION.  Check out the list of rolls in the collection at ducttape2thefuturelist.blogspot

Bahrain announces its largest oil. gas find and Duct Tape roll #80

And here is a picture of that roll of Duct Tape from Bahrain! Fellow OM'er Steven Lewarn has a co-worker in Bahrain that got the roll and brought it with him to Canada where he gave it to another co-worker that brought it to Steven during a visit to New Jersey. Steven sent the roll in a nice gold box that arrived in the mail while me grand children were here for Easter. When they got it out of the mailbox they were very excited and wanted to know the whole story about the World Duct Tape Collection. 

Pictured with the roll of Duck Tape from Bahrain is Steven's engraved 1 of 200 Duct Tape coin that I will bring with me to OM World's this year in Ames Iowa and give it to him there. You too could get one of these rare coins. Just check the list of countries I already have rolls from at.  ducttape2thefuturelist.blogspot  Get a roll from a country not on the list and send it to me with your story and I'll send you a 1 of 200 Duct Tape coin engraved with the name of your country, the date and roll number in the collection.

Dick Anderson.  11672 Center Hill Rd.   Darlington, WI. 53530

P.S. The off shore discovery in the Khalij al-Bahrain Basin covering 770 square miles in shallow waters of the country's western coast of 80 billion barrels of shale oil is the largest oil and gas find in the middle east.  Experts and officials expect the newly discovered oil field to be "on production" within five years.

A new role from the South Pole

How "cool" is this? Another role from Antarctica this time the  South Pole. This roll comes from my daughter's next door neighbor, Chris. He works for the UWMadison and has been to Antarctica several times working on specialized ice drills. This time it was in connection with the ARA (Askaryan Radio Array) project that is an extremely large detector under construction near the South Pole. ARA is designed to detect and measure high-energy neutrinos from spacey observing the radio pulses they generate as they pass through the ice.

They will be drilling arrays of 5 holes each 200m deep and then placing detectors in each hole. The groups are arranged in a hexagon pattern with 2km between each array for a total of 185 holes. No small feat considering the weather conditions.

In a nut shell. The drill looks like this and uses hot water to drill an 8" diameter hole over 600 feet deep.

 This is the reel that holds the 600 + feet of hose that delivers hot water to the drill. The reel was so large that it had to be designed to be tilted 45 degree so it can fit into a C 130's cargo hold for the flight to the South Pole.

The entire Drill Rig needed to be built as a stand alone unit and was mounted to three sled for movement on the ice. Fuel and snow melter in the front. Generators and hydraulics in the middle and the reel in the back.

This is the kind of stuff Chris is working on and he thought about the World Duct Tape collection as he used roll after roll of this special pipe tape everyday drilling. He said it was the only tape they could fine that would stick to the wet and cold environment.

I spent a lot of time reading up on the ARA project and if you are interested and want to learn more about this project and process of drilling ice check out this link ara.wipac.wisc.edu/home

Collecting Duct Tape has helped me learn many new things about the world that I never imagined. Collect a roll for the collection I don't have, send it to me and I will send you one of these 1 of 200 engraved challenge coins for your effort. I will also post your story of getting the role on the blog.

If you want to know all the countries already in the collection click on the link for the latest list ducttape2thefuturelist.blogspot.com.      Happy collecting

12 "easy" steps to getting a roll of Duct Tape for the collection

Greetings fellow followers in the quest for Duct Tape. It has been a great year for Duct Tape collection and I thought I would share my latest addition to the World Duct Tape Collection, roll number 79 from the Bahamas and the 12 "easy" steps in getting this roll. This may help others that have thought about getting a roll to add to the collection but need some help in how to go about it.

Step # 1 DETERMINE THE COUNTRY YOU WANT TO GET A ROLL FROM
Click on the link to se the latest list of countries I have to date.
ducttape2thefuturelist.blogspot.com

Study the World Duct Tape list of countries that I do not have rolls from. Decide on a country to visit that is not on the list. I thought the Bahamas would be a nice place this time of year to get a roll from.

Step # 2 DECIDE HOW YOU ARE GOING TO GET THEIR.  Think BIG!

How about a Disney Cruse? That should work nicely.

Step # 3  BEGIN THE JOURNEY.
Remember you are on a journey to get the roll and make a memory.

Step # 4 TAKE ALONG FRIENDS AND FAMILY.

Step # 5 TREAT YOURSELF NICE.
You want to have some nice memories to go along with the details of the story as to how you got your roll of Duct Tape to add to the World Duct Tape Collection.

Step # 6 LET THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE UP TO.
Enjoy some good food and get to know your servers and tell them what you are up to. Eddie was a good source of information on where to get Duct Tape when we docked at Nassau the next day. Also there were people from over 60 countries working on the ship. So something might come up in the future as they sail the world from port to port.

Step # 7 PREPARE YOURSELF.
Start the morning off with a good cup of coffee. A roll of Duct tape isn't going to just jump off a store shelf and sign it's self for you. Obtaining a roll will take,  determination and considerable effort. It is not a job for the faint of heart or anyone not willing to solve problems.

Step # 8 TALK TO THE LOCALS.
Officer #3193 was patrolling the Main Street in Nassau as they were fencing off the streets getting ready for the Boxing Day celebration and parade. In the Bahamas the day after Christmas is Boxing Day, a national holiday when most shops are closed. (Boxing Day came about as a tradition where slave owners would give the boxes that Christmas gifts were shipped in from England to their slaves. Slaves would use the box material to make things for their family.) The officer was helpful but told me that it was likely that all the shops that sold Duct Tape would be closed for Boxing Day. Also that the Main Street back to the port dock would be closing at noon. If I should need to travel inland I would have to keep this in mind as travel after noon would be limited. If I missed getting back on the ship because of a roll of Duct Tape that would be more of a memory than I bargained for.

OK, just as he predicted the three shops within walking distance of the port and Main Street were closed.

On to Plan B. I thought that maybe I could stop in at a hotel. Explain the World Duct Tape Collection and what I was doing. Hoping that perhaps someone in their maintenance staff would have a roll of Duct Tape I could get. Results, no hotels, no luck.

On to Plan C.  Maybe I could get a lead on a roll of Duct Tape through one of the jewelry stores on the Main Street. My plan was to show them a Duct Tape Coin and ask about getting it engraved then bring the conversation around to my quest for a roll. These were all very high end shops. At Guccini Jewellers I approached the counter and showed them the coin. They informed me that they did not do engraving at the store but would call the people they did engraving business with. They were closed for the holiday. Bummer, it was 11 am and time was running out. This was not going to be easy.

As I walked I saw a sign for Hard Rock Cafe and thought what the heck. Inside I began to explain what I was looking for when another clerk said, "you are looking for the silver tape." Yes, I beamed! "You can get that at Super Value. Just take the #1 bus. Let the driver know you want to buy the silver tape he will let you right off at the place. For $1.25 you can ride anywhere.

So Plan D.  Take bus #1 to the Super Value and buy a roll of Duct Tape from the Bahamas for the collection. In the picture you can see the bus and some of the barricades going up to block off traffic and people for the Boxing Day parade. After asking several times as I walked where the bus stop was I found it. A bus stopped and I asked if it was the #1 bus? They said no. The large number 7 on the back corner should have been a clue. I persisted and was assured by some others at the stop that a #1 route bus would be along soon. Sure enough the next bus was #1. As I got aboard I followed the Hard Rock clerks instructions and told the driver I needed to go to buy a roll of silver tape. A local rider heard me and piped up, "You want silver tape? You need to go to the Super Value man. They got  it. My cousin works there. I am going there. This is the right bus." OK. The sun was shining and the rays of hope were upon me. I sat down with the man and introduced myself. He said his name was Elvis. I told him about the World Duct Tape Collection and showed him a list and how the Bahamas was not on the list. He said he was going to the store to buy a duck! I'm not kidding. You can't make this stuff up.

Elvis with the duck and Duct Tape "we" bought at the Super Value on Mackey Street in Nassau. The humor was not lost on either of us as to the connection between a duck for dinner and Duct Tape. Elvis invited me home for dinner to meet his family and learn about his country and customs. Tempting but I had to decline as I needed to get back to town and on the ship.

Step # 9  HAVE A LOCAL RESIDENT SIGN THE ROLL.
Elvis signing the roll from the Bahamas

Step # 10 HAVE A PICTURE TAKEN WITH THE PERSON THAT SIGNED THE ROLL.
Elvis and the memory of getting roll #79 from the Bahamas at the Super Value. It doesn't get any better than this. I will try to send Elvis this picture.

Step # 11 SHARE THE ROLL. SHARE THE STORY
My son and his friend with roll #79.  Hopefully they will someday get a roll for the collection and have a story of their own to share.

Step # 12 SEND THE ROLL TO ME DICK ANDERSON AT 11672 CENTER HILL ROAD IN DARLINGTON, WISCONSIN 53530
When I get the roll I will engrave a 1 0f 200 World Duct Tape Coin as shown above and send it to you. So there you have it.  To see an up to date list of countries in have to date click on the link
ducttape2thefuturelist.blogspot.com

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE WORLD DUCT TAPE COLLECTION