I sat down today with Kari Hockett, the corporate partner services coordinator for the Tacoma Rainiers. The 22-year-old Seattle woman was a contestant on the long-running game show “Wheel of Fortune.” It’ll air either on Dec. 20 or Jan. 4.

Below, Hockett says what puzzles she solved, what her go-to letter is and how things on TV aren’t always realistic.

Q: The first question I’ve always wondered: Is Pat Sajak as short as he looks on…?

A: Yes. Oh yeah.

Q: And is the wheel as big as it looks on TV?

A: No. The wheel is tiny! I was shocked. It weighs a thousand pounds, but it’s maybe two times the size of a table. They amplify it on television, and that’s the first thing you notice. You walk on set, and the set is a lot smaller. The wheel is front of the podiums, and it’s tiny. There’s a lot of space around it to make it look bigger.

Q: Tell me about Pat. How’s Pat?

A: We didn’t really get to talk to Pat very much except during the show. He stands on a podium during the show. I don’t know how short he is, but he’s not a big man.

Q: What about Vanna White?

A: Vanna is super nice. She came in in the morning in her pajamas while all the contestants were sequestered inside. She gave us a little pep talk like, “You’re going to do great.” There was about 30 of us there for the show, and she was just smiley. Very real. She had no makeup on and said, “I just wanted to meet you before I got all gussied up.” When she was on the stage, she was very robotic and did her thing.

Q: Does she look absolutely horrible with no makeup on, or does maybe the plastic surgery keep her looking the same all day?

A: She has aged well. She is the tiniest person I’ve ever seen in my life. Her legs are about the size of my hands. She’s this little itty bitty thing, but she is really in pretty in person with no makeup on.

Q: How did you get on the show?

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The Tacoma Avenue neighborhood is coming together again next week to continue talks about forming a neighborhood association to tackle crime in the area.

They'll meet at 11 a.m. Thursday at the Grand Cinema.

"I think we should talk about what kind of shape our group is going to take, get your feedback/additions to the list of tasks we can undertake in our crime fighting, define our goals, etc.," said Holly Minniti, one of the organizers. "I'll have a pretty basic agenda, but hope to give a lot of time to discussion on our direction."

Here's another fun story I'm going to chase down today, courtesy of Jason Hagey:

A man testified at Tuesday’s Tacoma City Council meeting in favor of the noise ordinance being considered. He says he moved into Lakeside Landing apartments because of their proximity to Tacoma Community College, where his son takes Running Start classes. He didn’t realize it when he signed a lease, but later discovered there are LOTS of geese living in the apartment’s namesake lakes. The foul are enough of a problem that the apartment managers have lined the lakes with speakers which they use to blast sound at the geese in hopes of driving them away. This happens from 6:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. He’s asked them to start later in the morning, to no avail. He can’t move because he’s locked into a contract. He’s hoping the noise ordinance will apply to the goose-blasters. His tale elicited chuckles from the City Council and the audience in the council chambers.