Popsicle 200

Another month, another short term bicycling goal. This month the goal was to reach 200 miles ridden for the month. I was at 191 miles this morning and 200 miles seemed to be a nice round number to reach.

The hard part was getting to 200 miles. That is because the weather here has finally turned winter-like the past week with each day getting more and more winter-like. By winter-like I mean cold and windy.

The sun was shining in a clear sky and it looked to be much warmer than it actually was. After going on some errands in the morning I decided to go for a bicycle ride.

Man! The wind was brutal. It cut like a knife. I quickly regretted shaving my face this morning.

I thought the wind was from the NW but I found it was more from the west once I got out of town. Riding north the wind cut right across me. I would have been better off riding into the wind where I could have hunkered down.

My ride lasted all of 4 miles. 4 long cold miles. I was becoming a popsicle by the time I returned home.

After watching the movie, "Black Narcissus" (good movie about English attitudes in an Asian mountainous exotic locale, mixed with religion, faith, belief, tolerance, relationships, and repressed desire), I decide to try to ride the final five miles I needed to reach 200.

I dressed warmer this time, both because it was cold and also because the sun was closing in on sunset in the western sky which now had some high light clouds. This all resulted in the loss of what little heat the sun provided earlier. The air temperature of 1 F and the wind speed and subsequent wind chill of near 20 below F were the same as earlier.

To my riding attire I added long johns which kept my legs warm, an extra light glove inside my regular gloves, and a scarf to protect my neck from the wind. They all helped, so while I was cold when I returned, I wasn't a popsicle.

Helping my situation: I rode west into the wind at the start, and after a mile jog to the north, back east with the wind which allowed me to warm slightly, in addition to being a boost to my ego to ride at a very fast pace with the wind pushing me along.

So I made my goal for the month.

It doesn't look like I will be riding a bicycle for a week. The weather forecast is for near ground blizzard conditions tomorrow, then colder temperatures with highs this weekend to be in the double digits below zero F. Brrr!!!

More trivia night

Monday night was another trivia night. Rod stopped by to get me on his way to the bar. A good thing I didn't have to walk to the bar as the air temperature was around zero F and the wind was blowing strong causing a wind chill of -26 F. Brrr!!!!!

Almost everyone from our team was there. The only person missing was Rod's wife. Bonnie, her husband, Rod, Alan, Austin and I made up the team this night. As it was so windy outside I suggested our team name to be the "Mighty Wind". The others agreed.

There were 35 to 40 people in the bar. They weren't smoking as much as the previous week. My clothes still smelled of cigarette smoke when I got home.

Last week Austin told of installing his new washer / dryer combo in his house. This week his story was his selling the old washer and dryer for $50. He had call after call all weekend. The first call was at 5:45 am Saturday morning. When the guy asked if he could come over right then to look at them, Austin say "Might as well, I am awake now."

The guy wanted to buy the washer and dryer but didn't have $50 on him. Austin said he would take a check, and after searching his clothes and car the guy couldn't find his checkbook. Hmmmm... maybe he shouldn't have gotten up so insanely early!!

We felt good about our answers in the first game but ended up tied for second place with 14 correct out of 20. As usual the judge and lawyers won with 15 correct. *Grrr!*

The second contest was harder and we had a number of questions we had to brainstorm or guess an answer for. Surprisingly we got 13 correct, but that was only good for third place. The team of three consisting of two part-Indians (and with whom we had tied for second place earlier) won outright beating the judge and lawyers team. The winners had 16 correct.

The prizes for the "quarter in the bucket" trivia questions were lame: a set of screwdrivers, shower massager(?), and other odd items. Bonnie played each quarter game even if it seemed to me that sometimes she hadn't a clue what the answer was. For the question "What card game did Vanderbuilt invent in 1925?", our group told Bonnie to say 'bridge' since she had a quarter in her hand ready to guess. Bridge was partially right, and she was asked "What kind of bridge?" Austin came up with "Contract Bridge" for Bonnie to say and she won. Bonnie chose a set of bookends made of football helmets. They were generic helmets with no team name. She gave them to Austin. Like I said, the prizes were lame this week.

Harold Sterling Vanderbilt, 1884–1970, born Suffolk co., Long Island, N.Y., gained note as a sportsman. He won the America's Cup yachting races three times. The modern game of contract bridge was largely invented by him. A grandson of the younger Cornelius Vanderbilt.

For the final "quarter" question I gave a try to win the bucket of quarters. My guess of "7 Day bicycle races" was wrong to the question (as I remember it) "What sport was invented in the 1920s that was based on speed-walking and dance competitions?" The answer: roller derby

In my defense I had a little to drink as our team used the gift certificate for drinks we had won several weeks ago.

Other people were "feeling good" as their answers were humorous or a bit naughty. For the question as to "What is a prestidigitator?" (One who is good at sleight of hand - which we got correct) another team answered "dry humper". Earlier while everyone was trying to figure out the answer the woman on that team had laughed and laughed and laughed and everyone stopped until she was done. (We thought she was going to fall off her bar stool.)

For "What is gynephobia?" (The abnormal fear of women - we got it wrong) other answers couldn't be repeated verbatim. But those answers were in the minority as most people tried to give good answers.

I led our team wrong for at least one answer. Earlier in the afternoon I had watched the recent movie, "Troy". For the question "What Greek warriors burned their breast to improve their archery skills?" The only answer I could think was the Spartans. The correct answer was Amazons. What?!

The Greek variant of the name was connected by popular etymology to a- (privative) + mazos, "without breast", connected with an aetiological tradition that Amazons had their right breast cut off or burnt out, so they would be able to use the bow more freely.

I, and the rest of our team, associated Amazons with South America not with the Greeks. Guess the Amazon River is to blame. I did enjoy the movie "Troy". I might have enjoyed it even more if there were Amazons in it.

I did know that Wonder Woman's shorts were blue with white stars on them.

2007 Ag Expo

I visited the Ag Expo again this year. You may remember my visit from last year. Even though the Expo is three days long I visited the Expo only on Friday - the final day - as I spent the preceding days riding a bicycle to take advantage of the good weather before the cold and wind came. And come it did! Brrr!!!!

The North Dakota State Fairground buildings were used and they were full of vendors. I signed up at a number of vendors giving away a free prize. None have contacted me so I doubt I won anything - just got my name and address on marketing lists. I passed on the giveaway contest of a free shotgun. No desire to have one.

As usual lots of big farm machinery. One combine looked to be the size of a small house. I guess some of the kid on me has disappeared as I had no desire to climb up in any cabs to sit behind their steering wheels.

One difference from last year is there were more vendors selling cattle squeeze chutes and other cattle supplies. I see some nice, well thought-out, squeeze chutes selling from $3500 to $4000. Out of my price range.

I gathered brochures and literature. Nothing was on display that I needed or was interested in. I spoke with a few vendors but Kalispell is out of range as the nearest vendor locations were well east of the mountains.

Mainly I walked around and occasionally took a piece of candy from the ubiquitous bowls to entice you to get closer to the vendor's sales pitch. It was Friday afternoon, near the end before the vendors were done and many seemed to be tired and sat listlessly.

After checking out the vendors my brother and I went over to the livestock barn to see the cattle competition. We entered the building as a competition ended so we had to wait while the cattle were led from the pen back to their resting areas. Three bulls that won the "Pen of 3 Bull" competition were waiting to be photographed. I also took a photo of them.


The cattle in the building were calmer than I expected and most were calmly standing or laying, some chewing their cud. The main activity were the people preparing their animals for the next competition. These people were actively vacuuming the wood chips and sawdust off their cattle. Other people, having finished vacuuming, were using an electric razor to trim the cattle's fur.


Even though the outside air temperature was chilly, and the indoor temperature wasn't all that warm, fans were all around blowing air to keep the cattle cool.


Among the hubbub I noticed a young girl somehow laying and sleeping on a chair.


I notice some cattle's tails were shaved. They looked to be big French poodles.


My brother and I stayed to watch the final competitions of the day. These were the overall Supreme Champion heifer and Supreme Champion bull. To one side of a pen created by portable cattle panels were metal bleachers. One had to be careful when sitting as people earlier had tracked mud and manure onto the bleachers.

As we entered the bleachers we were handed a ballot for us to vote on which animal we thought was the best. My brother and I didn't vote as we didn't feel qualified. It appeared a minority of people voted. I did notice most of the audience seemed to be family members or friends. Wonder if that had an impact on the result? I do know the audience favorite for the heifers agreed with the judges earlier choice. And the overall winner, again was the same heifer. She did well having won $2000 total in what I saw. She must have won more as this event was composed of the earlier winners of each bread.

The winner is the girl and heifer second from the right.

First were the heifers. There were 12 contestants representing the best of the various breeds.

1. Angus
2. Charolais
3. Chiangus
4. Commercial
   
5. Gelbvieh
6. Hereford
7. Limousin
8. Lowline
9. Maine Anjou
10. Red Angus
    
11. Shorthorn
12. Simmental

Seven of the twelve heifers were managed by young women. These heifers weighed from 800 to 1600+ pounds. First the animals were lined up and stood a bit. Then they circled the pen a number of times so the three judges could see them move. Then all stopped and stood in the circle while the judges walked around each animal. Once that was done another circle of the pen before they lined up again for a final inspection and a wait for the results.

I was surprised at how well these animals behaved. The animals had to be bored with lots of standing then being led around. At some time or another the handlers had to circle their animals around to get them back into position so they'd stop figiting. Some animals needed more circle turns than others.

The handlers would use their staff to touch the animals legs to get them to move their legs so as to stand a certain way. Or the handler would use their foot and touch the animal's hoof to get them to move their front leg back slightly.

Otherwise they stood there and stroked the animals belly with their staff to calm them.

The photo on the right show show the handler used his foot to get the animal to reposition his leg.

Most all the animals looked great, and I couldn't say why one was better than the other. They all had straight backs, long bodies and round rumps.

There were only 9 bulls competing. Of the 9 bulls only one was handled by a woman. The bulls had the same size and weight range as the heifers. And the bulls seemed to be docile.

Examples of circling the animal around, and stroking their belly. This bull was tired of standing, then tired of being led around in a circle as you can see the handler had to pull to get the bull to circle.



Once the competition was over, and the prizes awarded, it was the end of the expo. It was a quarter to six and most of the vendors had packed up and gone. Mainly what was left was the machinery to drive out or remove from the building.

Upstairs the food court area still had a number of people sitting around the tables. Most of the Expo attendees were men. Most were middle aged and looked like North Dakota farmers and ranchers. Most tables had a number of beer bottles as beer was sold at this food court.

Here are some photos...

Pine tree trimming

What is a visit to my mother without me trimming trees? I know, I know... I've heard all the jokes about "no trees in North Dakota". Well, my mother's yard has a number of trees. While my brother takes care of most of the tree trimming, he leaves the ones where I have to climb way up high to trim them. You may remember my tree trimming from last year.

This year the tree that needed to be trimmed was the long-needle pine tree in the backyard. For some reason the top yard or two of the tree died. That's right... the top. And it's a tall tree - higher than a two story house.

I have been eyeing that tree ever since I got home but it wasn't till Monday that I remembered the tree on a nice day. Nice day.. meaning decent temperatures and little wind.

My brother placed a ladder at the base of the tree so I could climb up into the branches. From then on I snaked my way through the branches until I was near the top where the tree trunk was dead.

Of course near the top of the tree I found it was breezier than on the ground. The wind didn't blow constantly - just off and on in an effort to catch me off guard. Every so often I had to stop cutting with the hand saw and hug the tree to feel safe.

After I cut through the tree, and the top fell over, it rolled along the outer branches until it fell upon the electric and cable wires between the power pole and the house. NO!!! Of all the places to fall off the tree the top had to fall the one small place where the wires were close to the tree. It must have been my lucky day as the top bounced and then flipped off the wires without breaking them or getting caught on them. *whew!!!*

As I worked my way back to the ground I cut off the dead branches in among the other branches. As this is a long-needle pine tree there are always lots of dead branches.

My brother was working on gathering up the cut branches as I worked in the tree, but I still had plenty to help pick up after I reached the ground. I even took a rake and gathered up lots of dead pine needles that were spread across the snow.

Another year, another tree trimming job. I hope this pine tree survives. We need every tree we can get in North Dakota!

More trivia fun

I attended another trivia night this past Monday. Bonnie, Rod's sister-in-law, and his brother-in-law were not there as Bonnie was feeling sick. Knowing Bonnie wouldn't be there Alan wasn't sure any of us would appear so he did not come. It looked to be just Rod and I for our team. Then just before the first game started Austin, a friend of Rod and I, showed up.

Lots of people were there for the trivia contest. Or at least enough people to make the small bar seem full. All the tables were taken so we sat at one of the small high round tables along the north wall.

Of course, with more people that meant more cigarette smoke. By the time we left after the contests were over the air was thick with smoke.

We chose the team name, "What, me worry?" That was because Rod had decided to put Mad magazine's Alfred E. Neuman's picture on the label for his Raspberry Wine, and with only the few of us we weren't confident of winning.

The first trivia contest started out badly for us. We didn't know Ozzie and Harriet's two sons' names (Ricky and ...?), nor Kojak's first name (we guessed Thaddeus and the answer was Theo). We did know Herman Munster's first name. What was your zodiac sign if your were born January 1? I know some Zodiac signs, but unless I know someone with that sign, I don't know the sign.

Fortunately Rod's wife, Barb, arrived partway through the first contest and she knew a number of answers including that Capricorn is the Zodiac sign for January 1. Before we handing in our answers we went over with Barb the questions asked before she arrived.

Some answers we guessed at. In hindsight "yellow" probably wasn't the right answer for the color of scallop's eyes. Yellow?! What were we thinking? Why not guess "blue"? At least Rod and Austin had the excuse of having a beer or two by this point. As I don't drink beer I have no excuse as to why I went along with their suggestion of yellow as an answer.

Still we did not win. We got 12 out of the 20 questions, good enough for third place. The judge and lawyers won yet again with 16 correct answers. Don't you just hate lawyers?

The second contest went better as we knew - or thought we knew - most of the answers. We did better with 14 right, but not as good as we thought we had done before learning the answers. 14 correct answers was good enough for third place. The judge and lawyers again had the most answers right (18) but could not win again the same night.

No winning for us this night. As Bonnie was the holder of our winnings from last week, and she was not here, we will have to wait till next week to cash in our winnings.

Rod and Austin spent some quarters on the half dozen quarter trivia questions, but didn't have the right answers. I didn't have any idea as to the right answers so I didn't guess. Do you know when M&Ms were invented and sold? That quickly became as guessing game of years. Occasionally there hints of "higher" or "lower" or "getting warmer". You could tell the people who had a few too many to drink as they would repeat an earlier incorrect answer, or not give a year anywhere near an earlier guess that was "warmer".

Barb left after the contests were over. Austin, Rod and I hung around a while and talked about bicycles and North Dakota bicycle tours. Austin had bought a recumbent bicycle this summer to add to his collection of bicycles. We also talked about cross-country skiing as I asked Austin if he had an extra pairs of skis and boots I could borrow. The forecast was for snow Monday night and Tuesday and I had hopes of enough snow to ski on. Nope. Not enough. We only got an inch or two.

About the time we were winding down our conversation and getting ready to leave I noticed a young attractive woman as a nearby table. She hadn't been there earlier - that I noticed. My earlier look around the bar had found most women looking old from too much cigarette smoke and beer. This 'newer' woman had not been aged that way yet. And she hadn't those extra pounds from the beer calories. But, she looked to be a little over half my age. Too young for me. Besides, a bar is not a place to meet women.

So it was off to home and to hopes of winning the trivia contest next week.

First Aniversary

One year ago today I started this blog. Wow, a year has passed. I have written 355 posts over the past year. That is almost one each day. Lots of words and pictures. We'll see if I can keep it up and not run out of things to write about this next year.

Lately I haven't had much to write about as I haven't been doing much other than watching lots of movies and riding my brother's bicycle. I've seen more movies than I can remember, and what I remember are blurring together.

I have seen a number of Jean Harlow movies from the 1930s and have come to be impressed by her movies. I had her pegged as a glamor girl and sex symbol and not an actress, but have come to find she is pretty good, and pretty funny.

The romantic comedies from the 1930s are far better than most of today's romantic comedies. Maybe that is due to the passage of time and style of comedy; maybe it is because the 1930s women seem to be strong, witty, and equal to strong leading men in their own way, while many of today's romantic comedy women seem to be self centered and neurotic and their leading men are wimpy and not the leading ladies equals.

I also mentioned bicycling. After 10 days the middle of January of not riding (due to the time it took to rid the virus from my brother's computer and the cold snowy weather) I have gotten back on the bicycle the past week. I need some physical activity to counter the time watching movies and reading. I rode 111 miles this past week - not back for the third week of January in North Dakota! But then the weather here has been nice as it has been sunny and cloudless most of the time and relatively warm with high temperatures in the 20s F each day.

Tonight I visited my friend Rod for supper and to help him bottle his raspberry wine. Between football games Rod's wife, Barb, made a delicious supper. Barb is a big football fan while Rod and I don't care to waste time watching football. Rod made bread for our meal. Also very good. As I am a more adventurous eater than his family, Rod made a Thai peanut sauce for the two of us to go with the chicken his wife had cooked. Again, very good.

With the meal Rod served wine from a local Minot winery, the Pointe of View Winery. This winery was North Dakota's first winery. (There are more wineries in North Dakota now). According to the wine's label, North Dakota was the last U.S. state to have a winery.

Rod served two wines from the winery, a mead (honey wine) and a Cherry wine. Both were good, though sweet and with a slight syrupy feel to the liquid, especially the mead. These are not wines one overindulges on.

Then it was on to filling the bottles with the Raspberry wine Rod had made. After we taste tested the wine, Rod readied the wine while I rinsed the bottles with a sulfate solution to act (I believe) as a stabilizer and preservative. Then after Rod filled each bottle I corked them. We filled over 25 bottles of wine.

For helping I got several bottles of the wine along with a bottle of apple wine Rod had made earlier this Fall.

Rod has three more batches of wine brewing: cherry, blueberry, and banana. When Rod takes up a hobby he goes all out.

After we finished the wine making Rod showed me recent photos he had taken. Another of his recent hobbies has been bird watching and taking photos of the birds. With his camera's telephoto lens he has gotten quite a number of interesting bird photos. I never realized the variety of birds here in this area.

Frost had started to form on the pickup's windows by the time I drove home. The frost was starbusts and not solid so I didn't have to search for my brother's ice scrapper to clear the window before driving. Besides the distance was short. Still I had to be careful as I found the overhead street lights would light up the frost as I passed underneath them.

A pale blue dot

This photo was taken by Voyager 1 in 1990 as it sailed away from Earth, more than 4 billion miles in the distance. Having completed it primary mission, Voyager at that time was on its way out of the Solar System.

We are small in the universe.

For more information: http://www.bigskyastroclub.org/pale_blue_dot.htm

Rubiks Cube robot

I thought I'd try to embed a link to an interesting YouTube video. This video shows a Rubiks cube human champion competing against a robot (RuBot) to see who can solve the Rubiks cube first. Amazing how machines have progressed! Reminds me a little of the Terminator movies.

This supposedly was filmed at the 2006 UK Open Rubik's championship.

In case the following image doesn't play when you click on it, here is the web address: http://www.youtube.com/v/a-X1-qgzGJs

Average Montana lawmaker

Today I came across this breakdown of the average Montana legislator.

Montana's average state legislator is a 54-year-old married man with two kids. He's likely retired or self-employed, and he attended college but not the military, according to information collected from lawmakers.

In contrast, the average Montanan is much younger, has fewer kids, never went to college and is a woman, according to Census data.

Some Democratic/Republican stereotypes are fulfilled, such as...

• Of the 28 legislators who are military veterans, only eight are Democrats.
• About a third of Democrats are single, compared with only about 7 percent of Republicans.
• The GOP averages about three kids per legislator, while the Democrats average only about 1.8.
• Women account for about 37 percent of Democratic legislators, while only 12 percent of Republicans are female.
• about half of House Democrats have been teachers or worked for the state.

Something the article doesn't mention is that the legislature is almost evenly divided (I believe the House is 50/49 Republican and the Senate is 26/24 Democrat), while the Montana population is more Republican than Democrat. Another instance where the legislature doesn't match the average Montanan.

For more details, click here.

Trivia win

Monday night I had joined Rod, his in-laws, and Alan at the Landing Bar to play trivia. I has missed playing trivia the previous Monday as I was working on my brother's computer virus problem. (The cold air temperature, 40 mph wind and snow, and sub-zero wind chill hadn't persuaded me to take a break from virus hunting.) The rest of the group had attended last week's trivia contest and did well though they came in second in each game. Last week Rod's sister-in-law won one of the "quarter in the bucket" trivia games and won some alcohol.

There were more people at the bar this night to play trivia. More people meant more smokers. We had a different waitress so I wasn't distracted by any tattoos.

The first trivia game was hard. We left many of the answers blank on our first pass at answering the questions. Do you know which U.S. state is named after a Greek island, or which wedding anniversary is the crystal anniversary?

Eventually we came up with answers to all 20 questions. We didn't do so good as we only got 9 out of 20 right. We would have had an easy question right if we left the answer as "pigeons" instead of "pigeons/skeet" to the question as to what the clay targets are called in trap shooting.

The winning group - at 16 correct answers - was the team with the 6 lawyers and one judge.

The second contest went better as we felt the questions were easier - or at least we had an idea about the answers. When the final results were tallied the lawyer/judge team won again with 17 correct, but as they won earlier they could not win again. Second place was tied at 14 correct answers between another team that is usually pretty good, and our team (called "5 below" because we were five people and the outside temperature was below zero).

It was down to a sudden death answer. The questioner took an answer we both got wrong (How many layers of a tobacco leaf are used to wrap a cigar?) and we had to provide another answer. Our initial answer of four was wrong. I didn't know the answer but pushed for an even number. We decided to go with 6 and not 8.

The correct answer was 3 (so much for my 'even' theory!); but as our answer of 6 was closer than their answer of 7, we won. What we won was a $20 certificate good for drinks next week. Yes!

Rod was slightly disappointed in our win as we hadn't scored higher but I felt we did good as we won in sudden death and came up with a good answer under pressure.

Based on my two contest appearances it seems as if the questioner likes to ask about London cathedrals (St. Andrews this week), phobias, and islands. Rod thought he may ask again this night about European rivers so he studied them. Alas, no European river questions. So I am not sure if it would be worthwhile to study phobias for next week's contest.

My superhero identity

I took a quiz and found out the superhero I am most like is Spiderman.

Is it because I answered "yes" to the question as to whether I like redheads? Good thing I did, else the superhero I would be most like would be Robin! Yuck!

And what's up with the 65% chance of being... Supergirl?! Yikes! (good thing I answered a definite 'no' to the question whether I ever wore a push-up bra!)

Your results: You are Spider-Man

Spider-Man 75% Robin 72% Superman 70% Green Lantern 65% Supergirl 65% The Flash 55% Hulk 50% Wonder Woman 40% Catwoman 40% Batman 30% Iron Man 30%

You are intelligent, witty, a bit geeky and have great power and responsibility.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero are you?" quiz

My super-villain identity

If I hadn't answered a strong 'yes' to whether I liked cold I could have been a super-bad villain like Dr. Doom! Mr. Freeze?? What a wimpy villain I am!!

Your results: You are Mr. Freeze

Mr. Freeze 71% Dr. Doom 70% Juggernaut 68% Poison Ivy 67% Apocalypse 64% Lex Luthor 57% Dark Phoenix 57% Venom 54% Magneto 53% Catwoman 53% The Joker 52% Two-Face 52% Mystique 48% Kingpin 45% Green Goblin 44% Riddler 40%

You are cold and you think everyone else should be also, literally.

Click here to take the Super Villain Personality Test

Introvert/Extrovert faces

I took a face preference test from the BBC's web site to see if I preferred introverted women or extroverted women. It appears I don't follow the trend of introverts preferring introverts.

(BBC face preference test)

Results

The aim of this experiment is to test people’s preferences for faces with two different personality traits: introversion and extroversion.

• Introverts are reserved, quiet and happy to be left on their own.
• Extroverts are sociable, talkative and enjoy group activities.

Your choices:

We asked you to rate yourself on a five point scale for extroversion.

You rated yourself as an Introvert.

You seem to have a preference for extrovert faces. This means you might also prefer partners who have this personality type.

The first chart (30%/70%) are my results. Now only do I prefer extrovert-looking women, my preference is higher than the average person's. What this means, I don't know.



We expected you to choose faces with the personality qualities that match your own.

• If you are extroverted we expect you to have picked mainly extrovert partners.
• If you are introverted we expect you to have picked mainly introvert partners.

Extroverts, who are at ease with strangers, may be more likely to smile and appear relaxed. Introverts, who are by definition more reserved, may show less expression in their face when interacting with new people.

This has important implications for how we choose our partners. Professor Robert Zajonc of Stanford University has found that long-term partners tend to have similar personalities. It may be that they grow more similar through shared experiences.

But it is also possible that people seek out partners with a similar outlook on life.

My Brain Sex id

The BBC has an online test you can take that measures the "sex id" of your brain. The test actually is quite interesting to take.

Here are my results, and a few of the words describing some of the six parts of the test. I didn't include all six parts for you to read as knowing parts of the test ahead of time may influence your choices if you decide to take the quiz.

Apparently the final result has my brain being a slightly more female than male. This is even after I tested definitely male on some sections of the test.

I wonder since some tests are multiple choice questions, my answers of which - due to the limited number of questions - just may just be lucky guesses as to the correct answer, and therefore tipped the final results one way or the other.

One section (rating eyes) I scored high in empathy. Another section, 'empathizing' I scored low. The 'empathizing' section is based on my answers to questions as to how I perceive myself. So which is right? Did I get lucky with my answers to the eyes? After all, for the empathizing/systemizing section I feel I got the systemizing part correct since the result fits my way of doing things, and my success as a software engineer.

Angles

This task tested your ability to identify the angle of a line by matching it with its twin. This is a spatial task, which looks at how you picture space.

Your score: 17 out of 20
Average score for men: 15.1 out of 20
Average score for women: 13.3 out of 20

If you scored 13 - 17: You found this test neither hard nor easy. This suggests your brain has male and female traits when it comes to spatial ability.


Spot the difference

This task tested your ability to identify which objects changed position. You lost points, if you incorrectly identified objects.

Your score: 79%
Average score for men: 39%
Average score for women: 46%

If you scored between 67 - 100%: Those with a female-type brain generally score in this range. Your ability to remember where objects are may serve as an advantage to you when you're trying to find your way around places. You're more capable of recalling landmarks to get from one place to another.


Hands

You said your right thumb was on top when you clasped your hands together.

Right thumb on top: This suggests the left half of your brain is dominant. Many studies have tried to establish whether there is a relationship between handedness and brain dominance. Some scientists believe that if you are left brain dominant, you would be more verbal and analytical.

However, these theories are debatable and leave much to be said about the small percentage of people who are ambidextrous.

My comment: I am not sure about this result as I generally am left handed, therefore a right brain person.


Emotions and Systems

This task looked at whether you prefer to empathize or systemize.

Empathizing

Your empathy score is: 4 out of 20
Average score for men: 7.9 out of 20
Average score for women: 10.6 out of 20

Empathisers are better at accurately judging other people's emotions and responding appropriately. If you scored 15 and above, you are very empathic and would be an ideal person to comfort people in a time of crisis. Women in general are better at empathizing.

Systemizing

Your systemizing score is: 16 out of 20
Average score for men: 12.5 out of 20
Average score for women: 8.0 out of 20

Systemisers prefer to investigate how systems work. A system can be a road map, flat pack furniture, or a mathematical equation – anything that follows a set of rules. A score of 15 and above suggests you're good at analyzing or building systems. Men in general are better at systemizing.

Eyes

This task tested your ability to judge people's emotions.

Your score: 8 out of 10
Average score for men: 6.6 out of 10
Average score for women: 6.6 out of 10

If you scored 7 - 10: Your result suggests you are a good empathizer, sensitive to other people's emotions. Women generally fall into this category.

Men often think a person's eyes are sending signals of desire when that's not the case at all.

My comment: they aren't?!

Fingers

We asked you to measure your ring and index fingers. Your ratios came to:

Right Hand: 0.96
Left Hand: 0.94

Average ratio for men: 0.982
Average ratio for women: 0.991

It's thought that your ratio is governed by the amount of testosterone you were exposed to in your mother's womb. The ratio of the length of your index finger to the length of your ring finger is set for life by as early as three months after conception. Even during puberty, when we experience intensive hormonal changes, the ratio stays the same.

Men generally have a ring finger that is longer than their index finger, which gives them a lower ratio than women, whose ring and index fingers are usually of equal length.

My comment: does this mean I have more testosterone than the average guy?!

Faces

This task looked at how you rate the attractiveness of a series of faces. The images you looked at were digitally altered to create slight differences in masculinity.

Your choices suggest you prefer more feminine faces.

Interestingly, women's preferences are said to vary across the menstrual phase. A more masculine face is preferred during the 9 days prior to ovulation, when conception is most likely.

3D shapes

This task tested your ability to mentally rotate 3D shapes.

Your score: 10 out of 12
Average score for men: 8.2 out of 12
Average score for women: 7.1 out of 12

If you scored 10 - 12: Are you an engineer or do you have a science background? People with these skills tend to score in this range. Past studies have concluded that people in this range have a more male brain.

Nearly a third of men who took the 3D test got full marks, whereas less than 10 per cent of women managed the same.