Last night I finished my Nero Wolfe, which became a sad story about a desperate man. Some Buried Caesar was an enjoyable story, though a bit dated (published in 1939 and originally serialized in an abridged form). I also completed the first episode of For All Mankind season 2 (set about ten years after season 1’s completion). I also watched the alternative history provided by Year Also. It took me a while to recognize some of the season 1 characters now in new roles and with different makeup and clothing. Many are in leadership roles or have moved on. I like this new season so far.
Next, waiting until 9 before I start any heads-down items, returning to my office and exploring various means to run Python to support simulated quantum computing. I plan to work in notebooks in JupyterLab. This is a mix of running code and using markup language to make a robust document of my work.
While I have done this before, somehow years ago, I did not remember how to get it going. I spent time searching for how to make these books work again. Next, I had to update my Apple with the current versions of all of this. Last time, I used a special Kaggle set of notebook capabilities that included access to supercomputers. I issued command after command to update my Apple with the newer updates. I also saw that the Intel issues have been handled in Python (special code that only worked on Intel hardware is now controlled by checking the hardware at runtime—I do not have Intel hardware).
I looked for tutorials, but they were all outdated, and I eventually discovered that Wikipedia has a page on using markup language. And with that, I then turned to quantum computing. The open-source Python library QuTiP looks like the best fit for my work (IBM and other players in building quantum computers have their own options, but I like starting with open-source, and Python is easy for me). This requires other moving parts, and I install them too (Cython, the C version of Python for speed, graphics libraries, and testing processes). I ran the test and later saw that one of 12,000+ tests failed. Close enough, I think.
With that done, I was getting tired and felt I had just managed to get started. I did declare a QBit and was happy to see that it fits the structures I had learned in the book, Quantum Computing. I did my usual version printing (often helpful when something suddenly stopped working). I managed one markup section too. Better. I saved the book on my laptop.
I soon went to bed after folding and putting away the last of the laundry (Friday is laundry day) and finishing the dishes. I did make some peanut butter toast while I was doing all of this, cut into squares, not triangles. I found an old loaf of high-grain-content bread in the back of the freezer, used it, and moved it to the front so it can get used up. With the basic tasks done, my coding done, and me getting sleepy, I turned to a new book. Deborah picked out a beach town in California bookstore, The Madman’s Guide to Stamp Collecting by Robert Irin.
The book, in the first person, is a collection of thoughts and quotes about the madness of collecting. It was fun to read, and I think I will enjoy it. Thank you, Deborah! I reached page 23 before I was nodding off.
I was coughing, and my lungs were catching something, which made breathing suddenly uncomfortable. I am hoping the switch to heat has not caused any issues at the house (mold or something). But the AC was running for a month and would have had that problem, no. I think it is just the season change and the dryness of the heat. I will be careful.
Moving back to the morning, I rose to rain and Oregon Mist later than I will admit here. Let’s call it before 8. It is now dark in the house all day, and lights are turned on during the day. My desk light is full spectrum, and I sit under it while I write to help reduce any seasonal effects (depression). It also helps with model building and painting figures, as the colors are not changed by warm lighting.
I write the blog after making fresh coffee and toast (again cut in squares with peanut butter). I write the story of the previous day and validate the transactions in Quicken, and yields for high-quality corporate bonds are headed to 6%, with mid-term junk around 7.25% (sorry, I had to wipe some drool). Yes, soon, for nothing, one can likely get 7-8% on your money, and some of it is not taxed in my state.
Aside: One is tempted to dump the whole IRA balance into Treasuries at this rate and let the interest earned float in a high-yield (junk) low-expense index fund (Vanguard), withdrawing as needed. No- or low-risk and highly liquid is my favorite flavor of liquidity; getting it at 7-8% would be like chocolate syrup with a cherry added. Wow!
Please note: If this is possible, it is very, very, very… bad for Wall Street and the U.S. economy. But I would cash in still; I am still, despite my liberal soul, a capitalist. I am already at a 60/40 stocks-to-bonds split. Also, the Treasury is paying 4.66% for I-Savings Bonds already. The max is $10K purchase a year, so not an IRA investment. But it is telling that this is paying so well and is deferred interest
With the blog published and laundry done, I decided to get out of the house and try BJ’s Brewhouse for lunch. They have a good $13 lunch special. I sit at the bar, and Tateyana is my bartender. Eric and Mo, my usual waiters, have tables elsewhere, but they say hello. I have a beer with my lunch, which later leaves me with leg cramps and other issues (no more beer for a while). I read another chapter of my quantum computing book and decide I need to get some coding going, as it will be hard to retain all of this without using it. There, I decide on QuTip and the notebooks for some coding. I regret the beer and switch to coffee and a scoop of ice cream (a small pazookie comes with it, but I just wanted a single scoop of vanilla).
With more stuff spinning in my head, I return home and read and fall deeply asleep in the chair (food, beer, and reading). I wake with pain. My legs are cramping, as are my feet. My usual reaction to beer. I climb out of the chair and try to get going again. Laundry, reheating pizza for dinner, and more reading.
And I think that covers Friday. Thanks for reading!
I will also note that the cats are missing. I used to watch the “cat patrol” as different cats walked along my fence at different times. I learned that Hawkeye, the cute cat across the street that often came to me for petting, was taken by a predator and is gone. Please do be careful, dear reader, with those pets! They are not at the top of the food chain here in the Pacific Northwest (nor are humans, too, when in the Ocean or in the woods).
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