Here are the results for the "Year in the Life" metagame. The winner is Jim Gutt. First, I've included all the "life changes" submissions without names for those of you who'd like to guess from home. It's followed by the submitter's names in the same order and a breakdown of everyone's points. I've been having email trouble recently, so if anyone sent me something and I didn't include it, I apologize. 1) I started taking classes at UT, got a job at a Cognitive Psychology lab, moved... twice, improved my Go rating from 5 Kyu to 1 Dan, and shaved my head. 2) Well a year ago I was hoping to make management at my place of work, instead I spent 2 months in NJ in the middle of winter. Then I spent two months in the deserts of Kuwait watching DVDs, playing spades and wishing there was AC in my tent that I shared with 40 other people. Then I went to Iraq north of Baghdad for a 7-10 trip which became a 40 day trial in a desert that made Kuwait look like the land of milk and honey. Then I moved to Baghdad were I lived in a brick oven where I had two options, one sleep inside and cook, or two sleep on the roof where I was bug food and enjoyed the airport traffic that was a quarter of a mile away. Now I am enjoying the good life, I have a trailer with heat and AC, get 3 good meals a day, and interrogate the best and brightest Iraq has to offer. It has been a year, not much of a life though. 3) Got laid off from my job of 24 years! Got a new job soon after... Returned to my old school (college) for Homecoming to see people I hadn't seen for 20+ years... 4) Traveled extensively, started playing basketball, stopped reading novels, became a long distance runner. 5) I have moved in to a new house, have started bike commuting along the levee, and started teaching Astro 1101. 6) I became a language geek and a buddhist. 7) This year I... Cut off the long hair I've had for over 8 years, visited a prison inmate, and watched my high-performing department be given to a competing manager. 1) JP Rodman 2) Daniel Hammond 3) Jim Gutt 4) Jeff (Jeffles) Sumner 5) Brad Shaefer 6) Russ Williams 7) Wendy Wheeler Voters/guessers: JP Rodman Jim Gutt Russ Williams Wendy Wheeler William Chow Marty Hoff Points: Name Vote Guess Total JimG 4 3 7 Daniel 6 0 6 Marty 0 4 4 RussW 0 4 4 Whendy 0 4 4 William 0 4 4 JP 2 0 2 Jeffles 0 0 0 BradS 0 0 0 The "Vote" column is for doing well in the vote for most significant life changes. See my original email for a description of how the vote points were determined. I did not award points for guessing Daniel's submission since he sent it to the list. As it turns out, it would not have changed any rankings. I also didn't award myself any points for guessing, but I did still vote and get points for votes. Daniel won the vote for most significant changes hands down, but JimG came in second and managed to get enough guess points to pip him. Daniel was ranked first by all voters except for RussW. Geez, Daniel's dodging bullets in the desert and these guys won't even let him win the metagame. ... ;) [Editor's note from RussW: either me or JP is smoking crack, because I am pretty sure I also voted for Daniel!] Jeffles and BradS made impressively vague submissions with noone guessing them correctly. (though several people were kicking themselves afterward...) Tim was kind enough to read the submissions in odd voices so the rest of us could vote on them. Thanks Tim. It was good to hear from you all. Best of luck, JP