SpiceQuest April (2024) -- Of Bots and Buckets

Suzanne-Spiceworks · 2024-04-01T02:01:15.727Z

Welcome to another SpiceQuest!

In this series, we call out current holidays and give you the chance to earn the monthly SpiceQuest badge!

Bots and Buckets1344×768 132 KB

Image by Suzanne from Spiceworks (AI-Generated)

(Each task can be done at any time. They don’t have to be completed on a certain holiday.)

This month we are celebrating the following holidays:

1. April Fool’s Day

April Fool’s day is a day of fun and lighthearted pranks. I found it interesting that in some countries you can only play pranks before noon… if you let it go on longer than that, you’ve gone too far. I suppose it depends on what the prank is, but let’s not get too crazy out there.

Related Task: tell us an April Fool’s prank that you participated in, or one that you saw that you enjoyed (from any year).

Alternatively, if you aren’t really into pranks, the first week of April is also Be Kind to Spiders week, so you can tell us about your favorite spider.

Alternatively, if you are one of the very few who aren’t into pranks OR spiders, April 3rd is Cheese Weasel day, which is a day to give cheese to techies, so you can tell us what kind of cheese you want to give your coworkers, or your friends in the community.

2. Robotics Week

April 6-13 is Robotics Week in the US, which seems like a cool tech thing the community might enjoy. Personally I love watching SciFi shows with robots, but also following developments with robotics in real life. And seems like a good week to play Robo Rally.

Related Task: tell us your favorite movie/book/television show featuring a robot. (Also, vote in the poll below.)

Alternatively, if you don’t have any opinions about robotics, April 8 is also Zoo Lovers Day. Tell us your favorite zoo animal.

3. Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day

Another enduring holiday. Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day is on April 12th. Seems like a good day for some cheese and bread, grilled. And of course, the eternal philosophy… if you add something to a grilled cheese, is it still a grilled cheese? If so, where does it stop? How many things can you add before you have to call it something else? What things are okay? Butter? Mayo? Ham? Are any kinds of cheeses and breads okay, or is grated cheese on frybread right out?

Related Task: tell us how you make your grilled cheese, and if you want to, share your grilled cheese philosophy.

Alternatively, if you don’t like grilled cheese or the philosophy hurts your brain, April 12 is also Hamster Day. Tell us your thoughts on hamsters.

4. Go Fly a Kite Day

Go Fly a Kite Day is April 17, and always makes me think of the song from Mary Poppins “Let’s go fly a kite…”

Related Task: tell us the last time you flew a kite, or watched someone fly one.

Alternatively, if you’ve never flown a kit, April 17th is also Haiku Poetry Day. Write us a fun haiku.

5. Bucket List Day

April 24th is Bucket List Day. For people who don’t know, a “Bucket List” is a list of things that you want to do before you “kick the bucket” (die).

Related Task: tell us something on your bucket list.

Alternatively, if you don’t like bucket lists, April 27th is Tell a Story day, so you can tell a story about something that happened recently, or a fond memory instead.

Remember to post proof of your completion of each of the quest challenges in the comments below, so that we can grant you a SpiceQuest badge when the SpiceQuest is over. All entries must be posted by April 30, 2024.

Note: As always, all entries are expected to be safe for work.

What are your favorite fictional robots/androids/cyborgs?

Astro Boy
BB-8
B9 (Lost in Space)
Baymax
Bender (Futurama)
Borg
C-3PO
Crow / Tom Servo (MST3K)
Cybermen
Cylons
Daleks
Data (Star Trek)
Hal 9000
Iron Giant
Johnny 5 (Short Circuit)
K-2SO
K-9
Marvin the Paranoid Android
Mechagodzilla
Mega Man
Murderbot
R2-D2
Robby the Robot
RoboCop
Rosie (Jetsons)
Sonny (I, Robot)
Terminators
Transformers
Ultron
Vision
Voltron
Wall-E
Other (tell us below)
None (I don’t like robots)

0 voters

Feeling nostalgic? Look back on old SpiceQuests HERE .

Suzanne-Spiceworks · 2024-04-01T15:25:47.267Z

mr-burnz · 2024-04-01T15:53:35.569Z

temmu · 2024-04-01T16:13:51.348Z

April Fools - forum I precipitated in was offering free laptop to help Linux users. I helped plenty. - Ha! was an horrible prank!

Robotics Week - Robbie the Robot - Forbidden Planet - great movie

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Grilled Cheese Sammich Day - always had tons of kids at my place. Saturday, would grill dozens of grilled cheese sammiches and served with tomato soup!

Go Fly a Kite Day - in jr. high, made a 4’ box kite from scratch, launched it, tied it to 20’ antennae mast and let it fly… for a long time!

Bucket List - Visit our national parks - been to Grand Canyon, for example

James404d · 2024-04-01T16:37:52.922Z

April Fool’s Day
Related Task: tell us an April Fool’s prank that you participated in, or one that you saw that you enjoyed (from any year).
Years ago, my boss left his Nextel Push-To-Talk in my office. I taped it to the ceiling of his office.
Robotics Week
Related Task: tell us your favorite movie/book/television show featuring a robot. (Also, vote in the poll below.)
All of them really. Star Wars being the top of my list.
Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day
Related Task: tell us how you make your grilled cheese, and if you want to, share your grilled cheese philosophy.
My standard is butter on sourdough with cheddar dipped in tomato soup. My fancy style is buttered Italian bread with pesto and mozzarella inside.
Go Fly a Kite Day
Related Task: tell us the last time you flew a kite or watched someone fly one.
Probably 15 years ago when my kids were really young.
Bucket List Day
Related Task: tell us something on your bucket list.
More international traveling.

ode2joy · 2024-04-01T17:24:43.835Z

1. April Fool’s Day
Already posted my favorite prank here. It’s my favorite, simply because it totally backfired on my dad the prankster.

2. Robotics Week
I like robots, but love animals even more. As for my favorites, I can’t decide between Pandas, Koala Bears, or Sloths. Sloths might win out, if only because I actually got to pet one once.

3. Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day
I’m a traditionalist. White bread soaked in melted butter (it has to be real butter and not margarine to get the perfect crisp) with 2 slices of cheese in between. No other fillers allowed or it becomes something else.

4. Go Fly a Kite Day
Unless you count what has been driving my high-profile SUV in the crazy non-stop wind over this past week, I haven’t flown a kite or seen one flown since 2011 when my husband and I went to a hot air balloon festival, and they also had kite-flying demonstrations there. I had never seen anything like these kites, and most took multiple people to fly them. These are two of my favorites:

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5. Bucket List Day
I’ve been lucky enough to cross off most of my Bucket List items already. The last one remaining is to visit Alaska, as it is my last remaining US state to see.

Ecrawf099 · 2024-04-01T17:58:45.691Z

April Fool’s Day

I don’t normally pull pranks. However, I was pranked by the receptionist this morning with the old, “Your shoe is untied” bit. Fell for it… hook, line, and sinker. Does that count?

Most spiders are our friends. I will just about always “catch and release.”

Robotics Week

R2-D2 is my favorite robot.

Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day

Grilled cheese is nothing more that buttered bread and lots of cheese… any kind. Your choice, and the sky is the limit.

And the thought that someone wouldn’t like grilled cheese… well, it makes me sad.

Go Fly a Kite Day

Las time I flew a kite was a couple of years ago with my grandson.

Bucket List Day

May not seem like much, but the main thing on my Bucket List is taking a cruise to Alaska.

ich-ni-san · 2024-04-01T19:23:18.814Z

1. April Fool’s Day

I tried to doctor our parking lot security video so that it looked like a boulder landed on the sales manager’s car. The video wasn’t too good and the sales manager was more confused by it than anything. Sorry, that’s the best I’ve got.

2. Robotics Week

Book: Murderbot was an easy choice. Movie: I’d have to go with Robot from the original Lost In Space series. As young kid, I wanted a friend like Will’s.

3. Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day

Cheddar on Texas Toast. I like it with either grape jelly, or bread & butter pickles, or if brisket is available, a little shredded brisket.

4. Go Fly a Kite Day

It’s probably been 25 years since I’ve flown a kite. My daughter was young and wanted to fly one.

5. Bucket List Day

Maybe: Get a pilot’s license, drive a fast car on a road course, watch humans land on Mars.

patti8216 · 2024-04-01T19:30:49.539Z

April Fool’s Day
Long time ago…changed the boss’s new email notification to the 3 Stooges whoop–whoop-whoop sound. LOL he had to ask for help to change back.
Robotics Week
Started reading Isaac Asumov’s I, Robot in 5th grade. Love the stores but have to say Baymax is my favorite.
Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day
Gouda and ham. Best ever.
Go Fly a Kite Day
Last weekend with the grandkids. One of the tails ripped off, probably in the midwest somewhewre now.
Bucket List Day
Machu Pichu and Easter Island.

GeorgeSVFC · 2024-04-01T21:48:23.366Z

April Fool’s Day: When my daughter was 7, she caught on to pranks. Her best was plastic wrap inside the salt shaker: got the piece sized just right so it was invisible. It actually took me a few minutes to figure it out. She was in stitches!
Robotics Week: I’ve always (as long as I can remember) loved robots. R2-D2 is my long-standing favorite. I really enjoyed the LEGO BOOST 17101 set… maybe it’s time to get it out again!
Grilled Cheese: I have fond memories of a diner in Gunnison, CO that had the best grilled cheese with french fries (we stopped there on the way to my grandparents’ house).
Go Fly a Kite Day: Introducing my daughter to kites was fun. We found a great shop in Ocean Shores, OR that had a pocket kite we still keep in the car.
Bucket List Day: Top of my list is to have a long vacation or live in Italy.

jameswalker20 · 2024-04-02T15:55:21.375Z

April Fool’s Day: I use the quarter-sized cricket sound generator. I love seeing people twitch looking for ti. It has been done to me, but I found it reasonably quickly.

Robotics Week: I am surprised that @Suzanne-Spiceworks left off Gort from The Day the Earth Stood Still. Here is The Rocky Horror Picture Show Science Fiction Double Feature Picture Show. It makes reference to robots.

Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day: I heat buttered bread in ridged pan. Then I put cheese on both and then put the slices together. Using a spatula, I push the sandwich against the pan. I flip the sandwich over and repeat. Then I remove it and let it cool slightly.

Go Fly a Kite Day: I used to fly kites a lot. The last time I flew one, it went high enough that it neared powerlines. I let go and watched it get tangled in the line.

Bucket List Day: Go to Ireland and back to Switzerland.

mike-eaton · 2024-04-02T16:39:55.169Z

1. April Fool’s Day

A few years ago, I put a sign on our copier at work indicating that voice commands had been enabled. I wasn’t thinking that our IT guy would fall for it as he wasn’t the intended target, but he fell for it.

2. Robotics Week

It’s hardly original but I’d have to say the original Star Wars with R2D2 and CP3O. I was around 8 at the time and got to experience the whole thing as a young kid which was super cool.

3. Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day

It’s been a while since I’ve made a grilled cheese but it’s just butter, thick wheat bread and cheddar cheese. I found out that there’s a r/grilledcheese sub and they have STRONG opinions.

4. Go Fly a Kite Day

Here’s a Haiku about our new Tripp Lite series cloud-connected UPS:
Silent guardian hums,
Cloud whispers power secrets
Safety in bytes’ dance

5. Bucket List Day

I’ve actually been taking some notes on a bucket list. I’m just a handful of states short of visiting all 50 US states so we’ll go with that.

charlesd3 · 2024-04-02T16:40:48.609Z

April Fool’s Day

Related Task: tell us an April Fool’s prank that you participated in, or one that you saw that you enjoyed (from any year).

A: Fake Broken screen or Sticky note their whole workstation if it’s an office environment.

Like @jameswalker20 said, on the What’s Your Favorite April Fools’ Day Tradition? post.

Fool’s Errand: This was done to new people working in fast food, "Newbie, go into the refrigerator and get the ‘plain sauce’. This was not limited to 4/1. Again, this was a walk-in freezer.

Robotics Week

April 6-13 is Robotics Week in the US, which seems like a cool tech thing the community might enjoy. Personally I love watching SciFi shows with robots, but also following developments with robotics in real life. And seems like a good week to play Robo Rally.

Related Task: tell us your favorite movie/book/television show featuring a robot. (Also, vote in the poll below.)
A: Wall-E or Cyberpunk Edgerunners

Alternatively, if you don’t have any opinions about robotics, April 8 is also Zoo Lovers Day. Tell us your favorite zoo animal.
A: Rhino

Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day

Another enduring holiday. Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day is on April 12th. Seems like a good day for some cheese and bread, grilled. And of course, the eternal philosophy… if you add something to a grilled cheese, is it still a grilled cheese? If so, where does it stop? How many things can you add before you have to call it something else? What things are okay? Butter? Mayo? Ham? Are any kinds of cheeses and breads okay, or is grated cheese on frybread right out?

Related Task: tell us how you make your grilled cheese, and if you want to, share your grilled cheese philosophy.

A: I keep it simple. Cheese on bread and use butter instead of oil.

Go Fly a Kite Day

Go Fly a Kite Day is April 17, and always makes me think of the song from Mary Poppins “Let’s go fly a kite…”

Related Task: tell us the last time you flew a kite, or watched someone fly one.

A: I think I was 7 or 8. Aaaaahh, good times.

Alternatively, if you’ve never flown a kite, April 17th is also Haiku Poetry Day. Write us a fun haiku.

A:

I flew a kite then

My age was eight or seven

Pure joy ‘twas golden

Bucket List Day

April 24th is Bucket List Day. For people who don’t know, a “Bucket List” is a list of things that you want to do before you “kick the bucket” (die).

Related Task: tell us something on your bucket list.

A:Skydiving

cynlis · 2024-04-02T17:09:07.068Z

1. April Fool’s Day

Many, many moons ago, I worked with a pair of siblings and they were always playing jokes/pranks on one another. They asked me to pick up lunch that day from a fast-food chain, maybe Wendy’s. They asked me to get 4 Round Robins. I’m not familiar with what a Round Robin is so I asked and they told me that it’s the same as a chocolate covered ice cream on a stick, but without the stick and it is round. They also told me that they don’t usually have it on the menu but you can ask for it, and if the person taking the order is not familiar, you can tell them they are the special item in the manager’s freezer. So, I went to the drive-thru, placed the order, asked for the Round Robins, instructed the clerk where to find them, and they told me that there was no such items. I think I may have even argued a little bit before I realized the date.

2. Robotics Week

Although am a huge BSG/Cylon fan, I was a kid when the first Star Wars movie was released. R2D2 & C3P0 were so amazing and quickly became an obsession of mine. I still have my original action figures from the 70s and I keep them highly guarded.

3. Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day

I love a good grilled cheese sandwich and have found they are always better if someone that loves you makes it for you. Bread, cheese, butter, hot pan!

4. Go Fly a Kite Day

Again, growing up in the 70s, we flew kites often. When we went to get them at the toy store, Baby Bat was the only one I would pick. My dad always wanted me to pick something pretty like a butterfly or a dragonfly, but no, it HAD to Baby Bat.

5. Bucket List Day

I do have a bucklet list. Top 3:

Machu Picchu
Galapagos Islands (Fernandina, Isabela, Santa Cruz, North Seymour, Baltra, South Plaza)
Ireland

shreddie · 2024-04-09T14:25:43.422Z

1. April Fool’s Day

I really like a nice Provolone. As well Aged Cheddar is quite nice, like a nice Balderson Aged Cheddar. Those are my choices.

2. Robotics Week

Favorite Zoo Animal is Hippo. They are just sooo amazing - Big, powerful and yet faster than you think. Closely behind is lemurs as they are fun.

3. Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day

Grilled Sourdough with Provolone, Aged Cheddar (Or if slumming it - Marble) and to keep it Geeky - Nice, thick, well-smoked bacon.

4. Go Fly a Kite Day

It has been a very long time since I flew a kite. There are many days that I want to tell some co-workers or neighbors to go fly a kite, but because that is not very nice or neighborly, I just keep it to myself.

5. Bucket List Day

I want to own a new (newer-ish) Toyota Tacoma

mweed · 2024-04-09T16:25:06.163Z

1. April Fool’s Day

April Fool’s day? You mean March 32nd?

I gave up on the Cheese Weasel Day bit after trying for years. We have lots of spiders around our house. We get the big yellow and black garden spiders that make really big webs, and lots of various species of wolf spiders. The part you have to be careful about when you go to shoo a big wolf spider out in the spring is to make sure it’s not carrying a load of babies. You’ll see what just looks like a chubby wolf spider, but when you go to move it outside, you discover the hard way that there are hundreds of teeny tiny little baby spiders riding on it’s back . . .

2. Robotics Week

Well, it’s kind of a cheat here. My favorite robot would my robot, Bob the Pleo. Who just happens to be the main character in the book I wrote.

3. Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day

OH! I just love a good grilled cheese and hamster sandwich! Oh, that’s not what the holiday is all about?

4. Go Fly a Kite Day

I get pretty high winds you would think would be great for kites, but too much is as bad as not enough. Always had trouble with stabilization. I prefer the Chinese dragon style kite because even though I can never keep it stable, it flying all over the place and doing circles in the high wind looks intentional.

5. Bucket List Day

Mine is a Home Depot bright orange 5-gallon bucket.

Item 1: See total solar eclipse. Check . . .

Item 2: Attend SpiceWorld. Done that a few times.

I guess I’ve done it all!

lucy9840 · 2024-04-15T12:28:37.562Z

April Fool’s Day: I’m not ken on pranks but I have seen some fun news stories pop up over the years. One I remember was the local radio station giving out a time check that was an hour later (eg at 7:15am they said it was 8:15am) - caused a lot of gridlock in the city as people raced to get to work thinking they’d overslept then realized they’d been “got” when they arrived at work flustered an hour early!
I’d rather participate in Cheese Weasel day, which I’ve never heard of but I would like to introduce people to some of the regional UK cheeses like the crumbly white Lancashire, the traditional Double Gloucester or the delightfully green Sage Derby!
2. Robotics Week: I’m not a fan of scifi so I’ll go for seeing the magnificent elephant in the zoo!
3. Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day: We don’t call it grilled cheese here in the uk, you have either “Cheese on toast” which is bread toasted on one side, then cheese is added on the untoasted side and popped back under the grill (broiler) till its bubbly and slightly browned - alternatively a cheese toastie is what most americans called grilled cheese, a toasted cheese sandwich - no grill is involved!
4. Go Fly a Kite Day: I don’t remember the last time I flew a kite, but I do remember that they often didn’t work! I’ve made some “box kites” with children fairly recently that seemed to work much better than the flatter traditional style ones!
5. Bucket List Day: I used to have a bucket list but don’t really keep one any more as it was depressing me how little on it I’d actually got round to doing & then some things no longer appealed. I suppose I do still have a sort of “one day wish list” - One day I would like to ride the railway through the Canadian Rockies, I’d also like to visit the WW2 battlefields (but not in a big tourist group, probably in a small group with a knowledgeable guide)

Suzanne-Spiceworks · 2024-04-15T13:34:01.912Z

LucyF:

We don’t call it grilled cheese here in the uk, you have either “Cheese on toast” which is bread toasted on one side, then cheese is added on the untoasted side and popped back under the grill (broiler) till its bubbly and slightly browned - alternatively a cheese toastie is what most americans called grilled cheese, a toasted cheese sandwich - no grill is involved!

That’s interesting. Here, at least from my experience, we don’t normally have toasters that you can put cheese in… they are the top-loading, pop-up kind, so it would just drip off and fry the machine. So, when we make grilled cheese, we do it in a pan. Butter one side of the bread, put cheese on the other side, let it toast in a pan while you are buttering one side of another slice. Put the unbuttered side on top of the melty cheese, then flip the whole thing over to toast the other side.

Repairatrooper · 2024-04-15T14:37:38.252Z

How can you leave out old stair fearing ED209?

Suzanne-Spiceworks · 2024-04-15T16:07:04.494Z

Sorry. I missed several, it seems.