I am enjoying rolling over and not rising early in this late summer. I am still not fully recovered from the jet lag, colonoscopy, and nonstop activities since I returned from NYC. I put the brakes on for Saturday and focused on home things, reading, and coding. I invested the morning in laundry and writing the blog. I think my writing has improved, and I am again enjoying finding the words for the story of the day before. It is not a duty or a discipline.
Also, I am ignoring more and more of Grammarly’s suggestions as I like my voice better than its simplifications. For example, in the previous sentence, Grammarly wants ‘because’ instead of ‘as,’ but to me that sounds less like me. I find ‘because’ to sound like a child, and it screams to me ‘Becaaaauuuussse.’ I almost never use ‘because.’ I don’t like it. It is a thing for me.
Returning to my story, I make coffee now, drinking liberal Equal Exchange again and noticing it has more flavor now. This is not a change in the coffee but a return to taste for me. I have lost much of my sense of taste, not from COVID-19, but from a mouth infection and I am happy to have it slowly return.
I managed to finish the blog by 10:30ish and remember to publish. When I head to Facebook to post it there, I often get distracted by what I find there, both good and bad, and forget to publish my link. Saturday, I remember and even get the email version out. And while, dear reader, you would think I would have this down cold after so many years and thousands of posts, nope, every day is a new day. And that is a good thing.
Sheets, underwear, socks, pants, shirts, and other items are cleaned, and some are even put away. I return to my new Scythe faction I have been painting, the Sultan faction from the add-on and stand-alone board game, Duel of Molech, which was dry. I wipe off the extra black oil paint, and this polishes the silvers. The black has faded some, but the 3D pop is still strong. Done. Later, I will lightly spray them with a dull coat, again using Mr. Clean brand rather than Army Painter’s Anti-Shine, which I find dims the colors and metallics (dull coats from paint stores also do this). A mist spray; just enough to remove the shine and lock in the oil.
(You can see the metallics are not strong even with this light dusting. I often dry-brush them again to brighten them, but these fit the picture. Done.)
I dressed, updated my plans with Rev. Steve, and selected tequila and tacos for lunch at Amelia’s Exquisite Mexican Restaurant in Hillsboro (their official name). I picked the Kolchak T-shirt, which Steve liked, and I got many questions about it, and I think I bored many young people with suggestions to try the show (the opening credits are great, here). It is Saturday Market, and parking is complex, but I manage to find a spot nearby and walk into the Saturday Market, and Steve finds me there, still resisting the sweets, veggies, and breads that look lovely. Instead, we return for a small drink and a plate of excellent food.
We catch up and cover what I am learning about the surveillance state that AI and various corporate entities have created. Unlike something I see on the show Star City, it is not the government that you need to fear, but the greed, complacency, and basic stupidity that a lack of transparency creates when handling deeply personal information (your location and whereabouts). Stalkers have killed people using Flock and similar technology.
I also shared with Rev. Steve (retired) that I am exploring quantum computing and programming in Rust, a programming language and ecosystem I am not very familiar with. All this is from the HOPE 2026 hackers’ convention. Plus, Steve and I chatted about travel and enjoyed each other’s company wtih drinks and food.
With the food and drinks done and dessert passed upon, we settle the bill and head in our separate directions. I head to a London Fog (tea with milk and sugar) and read for two hours more about complex numbers and their use in quantum mechanics and, more importantly for me, their connection to quantum computing. I began to see some of the underlying mathematical structures that align with the metaphor and with my understanding of collapsing wave functions. This reminds me of some of my work on fractals and on solving run-of-the-mill equations, including complex-number solutions. I did not know that the polar version makes the equations easier to work with. I remember back in the 1980s seeing the same thing in Differential Equations.
I also find the work a bit boring, and I remember that from the 1980s, too. The tea helps. The music in my AirPods also helps. A hardback chair and a public space also mean not nodding off. I have not used all these study tricks in a long time. I also recall some of the mathematics, but I have not needed this stuff since classes back in the early 1980s.
Somewhere while driving, I need the wipers, as it rains hard enough to be heard by Deborah on a call. We in the Pacific Northwest are tired of the endless California days and want our rains back. It is the same every August. We are all delighted to finally get a soaking. Next week, we have at least four days of rain. Yay!
Aside: The grape and wine people are rushing to get the crop in before it is rotted or soaked with rain next week. It is The Crush! It is possible to wait it out and let the water wear off in drier weather. Winemaking is about choices.
More Aside: Grapes need to suffer to make good wine. Water is not flavor for wine. It dilutes and spreads yeast too thin, either burning through the sugars too fast or stopping before the work is done; not a helpful return of the rains for wine people.
I pack up and head home. Corwin surprises me by visiting, but then I remember he has some deliveries. Hank the dog is happy to see me, Pee Dog to me. Hank and Corwin stay for a few Slow Horses Season 2 episodes. I heat up Irish Stew from Costco and feed Pee Dog some cheese. We get a few episodes in. Corwin heads out with Hank, who managed not to be Pee Dog today and enjoyed lots of petting.
I wrote some Rust in the evening. I tried to understand some standards and forms in Rust. I learned that Rust contains complex structures and the ability to link programs in pieces. There are also cross-compilers for it. Rust contains object-oriented structures like C++ and Python. I see I have lots more to learn. I also found that Unix 7 has fully incorporated Rust into its programming language model. All interesting. It has been a lot of learning today.
After that, I tried to read a spy story, but fell quickly asleep instead. Thanks for reading!
Alohawild (Michael Wild's) Website 