Let’s start with the more embarrassing issue. My colon is 25 cm shorter because of cancer surgery that removed my descending colon and then reconnected everything. No plastic bag for me (so far). With this replumbing, things sometimes back up, and I suddenly need to be close to a bathroom. It, hmmm, passes quickly and soon I am better. I also got some Liquid I.V., and that helped when mixed with water. And while it’s embarrassing, I prefer this to the other options and just accept it as the price of being alive. I spent the afternoon enjoying this process.
To clarify, dear reader, I have one more scan to be declared cured (yay!), but still get to enjoy colonoscopies every three years (can you buy them in a six-pack? Can we mix the prep in a margarita?). The previous scans and blood tests were good, with no signs of colon cancer. Almost there!
I woke up around 7, and the sky was gray and then got lighter. Later, the clouds burned off, and we got a hot sun and blue skies. The last day of September in 2026 was wonderful. I made coffee and found a chocolate croissant I made a few days ago (it’s going stale, but still so good), plus a banana. I wrote the blog while I ate and drank my breakfast.
The morning was filled with words, writing, and watching the hummingbirds and other birds. The squirrels are storing their winter supplies in the backyard lawn. I did see one squirrel wedge a small apple in a tree. Something for later, likely when it ferments a bit. The birds and squirrels never seem to want the apples when they are fresh. It rained overnight, and the roses were happy to get the water and the sun. More blooms are opening. A few more before it is too wet and dark for the roses to do anything but rot.
I finished the blog and microwaved a potato. It was looking a bit green, so I peeled it, and that worked well. I also mashed it with a fork and a masher. I sliced off some more sourboten from Costco, heated it in the gravy, and put it on the potato. If not for the colon issue, it would have been excellent (but it made things worse). I watched more of season 3 of For All Mankind, and the show is going deeper into personalities and sci-fi alternative history. Not sure I am liking this season.
I wanted to read more of the book Quantum Computing, and take Air VW the Gray, fully charged, to the coffee house. Insomnia Coffee, where I can focus more, and it feels like studying again, but wtih coffee. But nausea gets worse, and instead I rush home, don’t throw up, and spend some time reading in the bathroom instead.
I am learning that even measuring a qubit uses matrix operations, but these matrices don’t correspond to the rules of quantum gates, as they are used for measurement and thus collapse the rules to make the measurement. The author uses IBM’s free access to simulated qubits to run examples repeatedly and show error issues in the systems (some simulator implementations, including QuTip, have noise-simulation levels).
I learned that, though I remembered it, I did not understand the implication: an H gate creates a superpositional state, a random, unknowable state until measured, but, unlike shaking a box full of dice twice, if you apply the gate twice, you remove the superposition and return the qubit to a known state. These processes and meanings are anti-intuitive and follow their own rules.
I rested, but rose without a nap and headed to the pharmacy, picked up a prescription and the Liquid I.V. I needed. It is cheaper at Costco, but that was a longer trip and walk than I should risk then.
At home, I found my way and soon was feeling better. I heard from Mariah and Emma that we would meet at BJ’s Brewhouse at 6:45. I agreed, as I was feeling much better.
I was there ten minutes before them, and Eric was our waiter again at the bar tables. I did not have my usual beer, thinking it might be too much at once, and picked an Old Fashioned with Buffalo Trace. Emma had the red ale, and Mariah had a few Old Fashioneds, but with the house whiskey. I had the flatbread and a house salad. Mariah had the tri-tips while Emma went for some Italian-style.
We had a nice chat, and I talked about my trip to Nashville and New Orleans. I had coffee with dinner. We talked about travel, school, and work. Emma and Mariah were headed out to a show with more friends. It was good to catch up.
I headed home while they headed to a show. At home, I read more about quantum computing and the start of the American Civil War in The Demon of Unrest. The kitchen had dishes piled up, and I sorted them and washed some. I turned off the light at 11:30 to sleep. I slept through the night until 4 and could not sleep for an hour; I had just decided to get up when I slipped into a waking dream (now forgotten about traveling).
