Ode to a Man and His Charts

Hello and welcome to a pre-tax Saturday here at the Wannaskan Almanac. Today is April 11th. This is your friendly reminder that tax day is next week on Woe's Wednesday, April 15th. 

I woke up this morning to a text from my loving husband. It read, "Here is a statistical estimate based on the last two days of scouting for tomorrow's remaining matches," followed by several charts.

Ahhh, the romance...

It's robotics season, and he's in St. Cloud with Team 2883: FRED at the Granite City Regional. Even though we don't currently have kids in robotics, he continues to volunteer and mentor students who do scouting and data collection.

I love his love for robotics. It's a thrill to see him enthusiastic and passionate, and apply all his engineery, researchy skills just for fun. In times like this, I'm inspired to wax poetic. However, I'm not a great poet. So I tapped into the power of AI. Thoughts, artistic direction, and editing are mine, while AI gets props for swift wordsmithing and assembly.

Ode to a Man and His Charts

by Kim Hruba with AI assistance

He lives in the logic of a well-built frame,
Where robotics and passion both share a name.
With a methodical hand and a patient eye,
He watches the gears and the data fly.
No stone is unturned, no diligence missed,
Every chart is a map, every trend is a list.

He finds the beauty in a statistic’s flow,
Teaching young minds everything they should know.
As a mentor, he’s steady, determined, and kind,
Igniting a spark in a student’s mind.
He shows them that numbers have stories to tell,
And handles the chaos of scouting so well.

He gets their buy-in with genuine grace,
Makes sure every kid finds their own rightful place.
He proves their contribution is key,
Building a team—and a legacy.
In the heart of the pit, where the gears start to spin,
He lives for the FIRST spirit, the push and the win.

With Team 2883, every battle’s a test,
As he urges the students to give it their best.
Each regional victory, a test of his soul,
With the golden ticket to Worlds as the goal.
And when they succeed, when the banner is won,
The patient composure is finally done.

The tears start to fall as the victory unfolds—
A heart full of pride for the story he told.
Oh, how I admire this husband of mine,
Who makes every statistic and data point shine.
I’m impressed by his effort, his soul, and his time,
I'm so proud of the man who makes data sublime.