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Have you ever heard somebody say something or someone threw a monkey wrench into it or maybe just a wrench into it? Here’s the meaning for that phrase from the free dictionary. “Sabotage or frustrate a project or plans, as in The boss threw a monkey wrench into our plans when he said we’d have to work Saturday. This transfer of industrial sabotage-that is, throwing a tool inside machinery-to mess things up dates from the early 1900s.”
But think about how throwing a wrench into those first industrial machines as factories got going in the early 1900s would have really messed things up. My husband actually has a personal story about somebody throwing a wrench into something. He bought a tractor online a few years ago and it kept having problems. He got a tractor mechanic to come work on it here on the farm. When they tore into the parts that weren’t working right, they found a wrench. Not sure if it was left by accident or intentionally, but it did throw a wrench into the workings of the tractor.
I took part in a Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt this weekend. It was great fun, but it’s about over now. Only a few more hours, but you might have time to race through before midnight Mountain Time if you go now to Stop #1 but even if you don’t race through it in time to enter the giveaways, you can still enjoy all the great posts. I did.
I’m also heaving a big sigh of relief that my site didn’t throw a monkey wrench into the scavenger hunt. The way the hunt works is that one post links to another and then another like a huge chain. Well, if one link of that chain breaks, big time trouble for all those doing the hunt. This is maybe my fourth time to participate in one of these events. I suppose the first one went okay, but then…
One year we had guests who did the posts on our sites and then we were guests on another site. My guest had made this wonderful video for her post. It was cute. The only problem was that when several hundred people came racing through the hunt to watch that video, my website blew up and couldn’t handle the traffic. Link broken. Thank goodness my website maintenance guy was paying attention and knew when the site went down. Somebody turned the video into a YouTube video and all was well since they don’t use as much gigabytes or whatever. That’s probably not the right word, but the website didn’t crash anyway. So, whew! My link was back up and I got to entertain scavenger hunters on my site again.
But then…
The next time I joined the hunt, can you believe that on the day the hunt was supposed to start, a squirrel decided to commit suicide by climbing into the transformer on our electric pole? No electricity. The electric company workers showed up pretty quickly and I’m feeling relieved until they decide our meter hasn’t been working right and we weren’t getting a proper amount of electricity into the house. No wonder the lights were dim once they came back on. It was a total brown out. They decided to fix it, but had to call more workers to bring more supplies. While I was glad they were fixing it, I had to wonder how this could have happened right on the day of the scavenger hunt. They did get it fixed and again I’m breathing easier.
But then…
Right in the middle of the busiest time of the scavenger hunt as readers are chasing down those clues, including the one I had on my blog post, the powers that be that handle the registration of websites, etc. picked that very day to take my site down because I hadn’t updated my e-mail address. I didn’t know I had to update my e-mail address. The one on record had been nixed for years. So, they were right that if you need a current e-mail address on your domain (website address) then I was out of date. The thing was why did they have to pick that very day to take me down? Without notice. Of course, they had sent notices. To that old e-mail I hadn’t used for years. No response from me and down I went with no earthly idea why. The one day all year that I especially needed a working website! Sigh. Worse, it was late on Friday. No way I could get in touch with the powers that be to get it fixed or so it seemed. After some crazy telephone calls with Lisa Bergren, who sponsors the hunts, and Jane Kirkpatrick who had what was supposed to be my link on her site, they patched the chain around my site. Then amazingly enough, my website maintenance man, maybe I should say magician man, helped me find a way to contact those powers that be even on the weekend and the next day I was back online.
So you might understand why I was a little nervous about joining in with the scavenger hunt fun this time. I decided going in that if something on my site threw a monkey wrench into the fun, I would never try it again. But no monkey wrench (as long as I make it a few more hours). Only smooth sailing and fun.
Thank you all so much for joining in with the fun too.
If you did the scavenger hunt this year or have done one in the past, what did you like best about taking part?
Comments 16
The only scavenger hunts I’ve ever been on were at parties. The kind that went door to door. The website ones look so complicated that I’ve never tried one. 😟
Author
Sorry you thought they were too complicated to throw you name into the giveaway hats, Karen. I don’t use Rafflecopter often for my giveaways but I do for the Scavenger Hunts. I think some people would rather enter that way than leaving a comment. It is easier for the author with the Rafflecopter and the winner is picked by the Rafflecopter too so you can’t be biased for somebody you know. Not that I am – I always play fair unless I have three winners and for some reason the same number comes up twice when I do the Random number thing. Then I limit that winner to the one prize and pick a new number. That has actually happened once when I had bunches of entries. I decided that reader was really the one to win the prize. But rafflecopter picks the name out of the entries without the person running the giveaway knows anything about it. That was probably way more than you wanted to know about the giveaway process. LOL.
I’ve never done a party scavenger hunt, but that sounds like fun too.
Thank you for understanding! I believe it’s Suzanne Woods that uses Rafflecopter and I have not had success with it. Perhaps I’ll try again the next time you have a scavenger hunt. Back in the 50’s scavenger hunts were big at birthday parties and sleepovers. Each team or couple would be given a list of items to scavenge and a time limit. We’d go door to door asking for the item. Of course, whoever returned with the most items was the winner. Believe it or not, if the person wanted the item back they would trust us to bring it back and we did! 😊 of course the list usually had items that most people didn’t care about getting back like a safety pin, a bottle top, a button or a Bobby pin, etc. That game would never work in this day and age! If the owner doesn’t recognize the person at the door they don’t answer, or the same if they’re not expecting someone. Everything was safer back in the 50’s! It was a great time to grow up 😊
Author
I miss that time when things were so much easier and trust was easy too. Before the Tylenol poisonings and everything you bought had to be double sealed. Before you worried about kids playing outside all day without adult supervision. Before the internet. Well, before a lot of things. But there were bad things then too. But as kids during that time, we don’t think about them. We just remember the happy childhood things and that’s good when we are thinking of our growing up years.
I enjoy visiting my favorite authors and discovering new ones during the scavenger hunt.
Author
That’s a great reason for chasing through the scavenger hunt, Caryl. Most of us authors are always coming up with new stories and it’s fun to find one the you are excited to read. I hope you found some books that will be great reading this winter.
I’ve done a few of the scavenger hunts. They’re a good way to find new-to-me authors and keep up with some of my favorites, too. And they’re fun!! (Except I usually get lost somewhere in the middle and have to go back to the beginning and start over! I’m a little techno-challenged!) Have a wonderful week!
Author
That’s funny, Kathy. It is easy to get “lost” along the way and forget if you visited stop 12 or stop 15 last. But it’s easy to go back and find your way through again. The good thing about the posts is that they are still there on most if not all the sites so you can still go back and read one that was of extra interest to you.
I’m glad you enjoyed the hunt and I hope you have a good week too. It’s raining here but I guess we need a little rain with the sunshine.
I really enjoyed the historical references and trivia that you all use for your books. I found several new authors to look up at the library (to see if they have their books), and added several new books to my Have-to -Read list. Thank you (and the other 29 authors) for having the scavenger hunt!!
Author
I’m glad you found some new authors to give a try, Angela. That’s really the underlying purpose of the scavenger hunt, but it’s fun too. And the prizes were amazing. Well worth throwing an entry in for you readers. My winner was a reader from Canada that I hadn’t seen here on my blog before. So, maybe I found a new reader too. I’ll have to have a giveaway in November for those of you who do come and visit regularly. Hmm, wonder how I could make that fun?
I liked the fact you didn’t feel rushed, having the clue available before the actual start of the race. It gave one time to look at the new authors & to enjoy more information about the authors. Found several authors I’d read before, but lost their names. Rejoined several newsletters. It was a pleasure rather than a mad rat race.
Author
You do generally have plenty of time to make it through the hunt. I didn’t read all the posts on a first go through. I came back to it several times during the weekend until I got them all read. Fun reading. We do sometimes read a book by an author and then it’s “what was that writer’s name?” I understand that, Betty. Glad you found some new authors to try and some familiar authors to keep up with on their newsletters.
I like finding new authors to read. The prizes are fun, too-but I read voraciously and am always in need of books.
I have read a few of your books and most of Jane Kirkpatrick’s books.
Author
Jane Kirkpatrick always has great historical backgrounds in her stories, Tina. I thank you for reading some of my stories.
I’m glad you enjoyed the hunt and finding new authors to read.
I loved reading the interesting information that the authors chose to include on their websites. I did like it better that when a participant linked to a website, it was the website of the author sharing information, possibly an additional prize, and a clue. Entering all the “contests” on the different websites was fun, too, whether I won anything or not. Thank you for participating!
Author
Glad you enjoyed the hunt, Suzanne, and there were certainly a lot of chances to win. You weren’t my winner, but I hope you won something along the way. But just the fun of reading all about those book was a win, in ways. While I didn’t sign up for any prizes, I did enjoy reading the different authors’ posts.