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Going backward, I was up until after 11. I had started cooking some eggs, but they were not ready, hard-boiled, and peeled until 11:30. Next, having put on my PJs at 10, I crawled into bed, my mind drifted, and soon I boarded the dream bus and did not wake until sunrise Friday morning. I also wrote the postcard for Mom Wild and put it out, preventing the recent morning rush to get it out before the post arrives on Friday.

Also, I spent part of the late evening exploring how to split data sets into training and testing collections using routines supplied in Open-Source Python libraries. I was still looking for the original source of the Titanic data set, but I have located two copies that match. This dataset describes the victims of the Titanic wreck, including their identification and whether they survived. It makes a good practice set for Python coding of AI-based classifiers.

This then led me down a rabbit hole on testing and validating interesting software options. Still, as usual, the write-ups used too many computer terms (yes, this even happens to me), and I was having trouble decoding their use and application. My interest was piqued, but I am a harshly practical person when it comes to coding, and unless I can find a clear explanation, example code, and a compelling benefit case, I will soon disregard it.

But I am aware that these obscure processes are specifically helpful for the last-mile work. I have learned that it is easy to develop an 80% solution for a classification problem (simply copying some code found on the Internet), but achieving above 90% requires taking special actions to improve accuracy. And with the overfitting issue (where your AI model becomes overly reliant on a few data elements in the test set that are not present in the real dataset), it can easily become a game of thumping moles rather than genuine analysis.  I suspect that this hard-to-follow testing method would be one of the ways to reliably improve an AI model to high success rates. More studying required!

I was doing the Alice-in-Wonderland reading, as I have offered to give a talk on using the Titanic data set for the HOPE_16 conference. I am preparing a short talk on an introduction to Python and AI.  I’m not sure they will accept an introductory talk in such an over-the-top hacker audience, but I’m waiting to see.

Before this, and I regret not getting a photo, Dondrea, Z, and I shared a meal at The Cheesecake Factory. We sat in the bar area and had happy hour items followed by massive desserts. The food was good.

We mostly chatted about the American Civil War (ACW, gamers play both the ACW and the English Civil War, and thus, the clarity is required), as Z was starting that in class. Z asked what our favorite war was to study, an interesting question. I went with WW1 and Dondrea, Vietnam. Dondrea views Vietnam as a defining example of small wars with modern technology, a phenomenon now prevalent worldwide. I also view WWI in a technological sense. I perceive the start of WW1, its execution, and its aftermath as a lesson in the misunderstanding of technological change and political systems that deny the future and are then replaced (or, in the case of Russia, executed). For me the best examples of technology impacting the world are the rise of ironclads in the ACW (in a moment all navies were obsolete) at Hampton Roads 1862 and WW1 Jutland 1916 were bew technology failes to let the Royal Navy to decisivly defeat the inferiero German Imperial Navy in what was a clash of fleets–the only one in the war. We discussed Gettysburg in ACW and some aspects of Vietnam.

Moving further back, I picked up Subha at her house and drove to meet Scott at Cedar Hills McMenamins. Subha, I won’t tell her story for her. She was available for lunch, and Scott and I worked with her for years. It was great to have her join us for lunch. We caught up with her and she decided to try the turkey sandwich with soup and salad, the lunch box special at McMenamen. Our new go-to. She had coffee while Scott and I had beers.

Before all of this, I spent the morning doing the blog, getting ready for the day, and updating my transactions in Quicken. I had risen just after 6 as I had trouble sleeping. More pollen-driven discomfort, and it was warm yesterday (80F+), making sleep difficult. I was tired most of the day.

Thanks for reading!

 

 

I rose and nearly forgot to get a card out to Mom Wild. I rushed a postcard out to the mailbox and made it before the mail was picked up. I had slept late again and did not rise until after 8. I had slept poorly, as the sunrise was bright without clouds, which is not a usual sight in May in the Pacific Northwest (PNW).

Our sunrises should be damp, gray, with green colors seemingly glowing from rain and our limited gray light. Folks can deny climate change all they want, but I am a witness to climate change. For over twenty-five years, I never saw a sunrise in May in the PNW, no, really. Until the last two years, May and June were marked by “Pineapple Express” storms and Oregon mist; every day and every morning were gray. I have never seen the sun so much in May.

With the sun blazing, I started on the blog in my office. I see the hummingbird and other small birds enjoying my plantings while sitting at my desk. It was a short blog as yesterday was not busy; I continue to take it easy after being ill over the weekend. But I am now bored with this, and now I start to get some things done.

First, I purchase a ticket to the HOPE_16 2600 The Hacker Quarterly convention in Queens near NYC. I have always wanted to attend. Deborah was OK with me doing that alone (school starts in August and Deborah will be busy), but the invitation is open for her to hop a plane from Detroit to JFK and join me for a long weekend. I found a Delta flight direct to JFK from Portland for just over $400, and that was not for the cheap seats, done! The hotel, a Fairfield Inn, is a few miles from St. John’s University, which is hosting the convention, and there is a local bus that makes the connection work. I also read that there is a dive bar open until 4 within stumbling distance of the hotel and becoming a thing at HOPE. The hotel, at a stunning $250 a night, is the most expensive part of the trip. HOPE does provide housing in dorms, but I am getting too old for that, and I suspect they do not have AC. I will be in Brooklyn for a week, traveling on Tuesdays starting on 12 August. HOPE is over the weekend.

With the blog done and Tripit.com updated with my August travels, I soon find my way to the shower. Shaved, dressed, and all that, I board Air VW the Gray and head to BJ’s Brewhouse and have my favorite red ale and a California club sandwich with a side of fries. I have tried some other BJ’s Brewhouse locations, and I find this one’s food to be better. The steaks are delicious and perfectly grilled. The prime rib and pork chops (now relegated to only Sundays) are excellent, but a caloric disaster. My sandwich was almost too large. It had the avocado, but also a grilled split chicken breast instead of the usual lunchmeat, just stacked on the sandwich. Only two pieces of excellent toasted bread. The bartender was mostly quiet, and I spent my time on my lapt and enjoyed the solitude of a late lunch. The bartender asked me if I was on my lunch hour (meaning, did she have to rush my check), and that got a smile from me: “No, I am retired.”

Much of my surfing and searching, using my iPhone’s hotspot (I trust no local networks), was related to healthcare. The COBRA coverage runs out in December, and according to my planning, I should start looking for a replacement mid-2025 (or, in other words, now). I am looking at $1,300 a month (I am currently paying about $740 in COBRA) with me finding independent dental and vision coverage for an additional couple of hundred dollars. F**king lot of money. It would be bizarre to return to the workforce solely for coverage, but that is what Corporate America wants, and these prices drive us all to work. Another reason to get Social Security started in 2026 for my 62nd birthday; I will need it to cover the cost to bridge health care until I am 65. Unless Elon and company strip the SSA of workers to prevent the ability to have new claims, “Sorry, but we have a year backlog.” Or Trump and the nutty folks in the Senate refuse to pay the National Debt with the Red hats cheering, only to discover that most of the Debt is owed to the Social Security system, and eliminate SS that way. However, to coin a tired phrase, I suspect cooler heads (and a desire to be re-elected) will prevent most of that.

More to come on that. I paid the bill and returned home. I found on Apple+ that Natalie Portman had done an Indiana Jones or The Librarians style movie for Apple, The Fountain of Youth, and I gave it a try. I felt the pull of a Dan Brown-like rewrite of history and the Hollywood version of exploring taking over. Slicing a bit out of the somehow now intact HMS Lusitania wreck (now sitting upright, in near perfect condition, and with funnels still attached and still showing Cunard Red!), refloating it, and finding a nearly intact staircase hinted back to Clive Cussler’s Raise the Titanic! book and movie. And then, there are secrets in the Great Pyramid that man is not meant to know, which is actually a theme from H.P. Lovecraft’s ghostwriter stories for Houdini. More on that here. Of course, the young billionaire, who resembles a mix of Elon Musk and Tom Cook, is involved and paying the bill (ala the shipwreck hunters for the late Paul Allen). Without giving spoilers, it was entertaining and amazed me with its adventure telling. I would not recommend it sober, but it was not terrible.

Between the movie (I stopped it for a while and finished it when I got back — no reason to miss anything for this one), I reheated the couscous and baked chicken I had made the day before. It was still good. I still have some couscous sauce left.

Back to playing games at First United Methodist Church near the fountain in Beaverton during choir practice. It was just Z and me for this game, and Z picked a small map for the board game, Concordia. This one is from Salsa, and we had to adjust it as we don’t play with the salt commodity (I don’t find it adds much and often distracts). We play fast and furious, as this is a favorite, and we both know how to play. We include the Forum in the game, and I collect a lucky set of choices that lets me grab personality cards faster. Z claimed that a few mistakes caused a loss of points at the end, but I was running fast to keep up the whole time, and my winning score, over 50 points, was from grabbing the Farmer and Weaver personality cards. I paid high for the Farmer, and then my Forum ability let me get Weaver cheap (turning my Senator into an optional Console card). We looked over The Age of Steam for a future game, and played only a round of Furnace (the base game).

Z had a great time, and it’s always lovely to revisit Concordia. I will review the new complex boards so we can give them a try; the Rome board is quite different. It also reminds me that we need to get a game night going.

The EV got me home without events. The pound cake is all gone. I haven’t stopped by the store to pick up some items to make a cheesecake (for an unbirthday) and an orange-flavored cake. Instead of eating pre-processed sugar food made by some uncaring multinational with suspect ingredients, I make my own. But this evening I had only leftover chocolate in the fridge. Still, it was good, but not helpful when trying to sleep. Cakes and warm Sleepy-time tea are a better choice. Cakes will soon be made!

I went to bed, tried to sleep, and somewhere around 1, I slept until 4. I woke at 5:15 to Deborah’s text (I usually sleep through it — I don’t mind waking for them), and finally surrendered to Thursday at 6.

Thanks for reading!

 

 

 

 

I rose late, nearer to 9 than my 6. I had woken at 3 and 4 and was uncomfortable, but finally slept in the bright light that has been visiting Oregon this May. Never has it happened before in my memory. My roses are usually drowning with huge blooms that melt in the gray and rain. But this year, we seem to have moved to California, and my roses are covered in near-perfect blooms, some so heavy the canes are drifting to the ground.

I managed to find my focus and write a short blog about Monday on Tuesday morning. The coffee was waiting for me, the automatic turn-off already thrown, and the pot slowly cooling. I do my usual updates and text Deborah a few times, as she is working from home today since her sprinklers are being serviced for the summer. I manually water the plants and let the lawn go brown — water costs are high in Oregon. The roses survive the summer, being more like weeds, and any planting has to survive being ignored or my travels.

I heard from Jack and he asked me to join him shopping for shirts and maybe a sports coat. We agree that he will pick me up at 2ish. I finished up, showered, shaved, and dressed. I had a NYC bagel (thanks, Joyce) with lox for breakfast, along with coffee, before I did all that.

I managed to scrape the tree topper, my second try, from the printing plate without breaking it or dropping it. I then washed it in the misty alcohol. My shipment of 99% pure rubbing alcohol has not arrived yet. I managed to wash it and let it dry for a while.

The print showed lines in the structure that moved in about 1/2 mm, creating a stripe in the structure. I have read that this is due to the movement of the print, known as wobble, and that I may need to adjust the tree topper print to be at an angle and add more structure to it. This will stabilize the print and remove these unslightly marks. The base was also printed strongly this time, and the inside was blocked by this. This kept alcohol and the resin, which are toxic, still inside. Soon, my bare hands were full of resin. Yikes! I will have to do the work to remove the structure in the garage in gloves, a mask, and other protective gear. More leanings. I managed to chip the base as I had to cut the base out of the supportive base. Humm. This is really looking like an angle print as I described above. I cured the star and recovered the chips. I also handled the previous print, and one part did not glue properly. I will try again. I may have to move to a two-part, stronger glue. I will try again with the jeweler’s cement. The material may be too powdery to join this way. Hmmm. More learning.

With that mess cleaned up. Ugh! I headed out for a quick lunch. I picked Popeye’s nearby and had three pieces of a caloric disaster, but lots of protein. The fried biscuit was terrific, as was the Cajun gravy on industrial whipped potatoes. I had spicy food and could taste it. I was happy to taste most of it.

It has been about a year since my recovery from brain surgery on May 20, 2024. My tastes have been off since the doctors had to salvage my nerves that control the left side of my face, eye, taste, and swallowing. I am happy to blink my left eye, taste the bitter liberal coffee, and swallow. Eating cheap fried chicken is a bonus!

Jack arrived a few moments early, and soon I was whisked away in his older model BMW four-door. While I am liberal, I believe that maintaining a gasoline-powered vehicle is taking advantage of the already sunk costs of the petroleum-based infrastructure. And we look cool.

JCPenney’s was our only stop at the Washington Square Mall. Their men’s shop (with none of the salesmen I remember selling me a suit — it’s now self-service only) is still full of decent choices and seems to be waiting for the friendly men to come back and sell us a suit. I missed them. However, we still found excellent choices of dress shirts, and Jack soon had me loaded up with five. There was no gray wool jacket, but we did try and found that Jack matches a standard size. Something that never happens to me. Only a few items were on sale. I was tempted to try on a suit, but I have three new ones that no longer fit. No reason to add to that!

Jack was offered a JCPenney’s credit card and got a discount. He will be back to check out some ties. With Jack’s goods safe in the BMW’s trunk, we headed to The 649. We crossed Beaverton again in heavy after-school traffic, a mess with buses and soccer moms/dads driving like insane people. Crystal was bartending and making some fantastic drinks. One was an espresso martini, and I told them that it is a new favorite of Deborah’s. We had beers and sat outside, chatting, and missed Happy Hour food (which ends at 4:30 on weekdays).

Jack got me home without incident (though my credit card disappeared somewhere between the beer and home; I failed to put it back in my wallet, F**K). I made baked chicken thighs with Moroccan-style spices plus salt and pepper. I heated a jar of the North African couscous sauce. I heated a pack of nuts, raisins, and dried cranberries from Trader Joe’s with Garam Masala and other spices in butter. I then added couscous to toast in the mix. Lastly, I added hot water and removed it from the heat. Dinner was excellent. I ate it while talking to Deborah, who was finishing her day and talking to me. It is lovely to start and end a day together.

I read the newly delivered 5E conversion of the Judges Guild adventure: The Caverns of Thrace. The Kickstarter was delivered today (without the tariffs from the China-based printing). The book is an inch thick and contains many ideas I have used in my own adventure writing for Dungeons & Dragons, mostly echoed in my Glass Factory story, with its multiple levels and submarine. I hope to form a player group to try this. It is also, from what I can read, not inconsistent with the new version of Dungeons and Dragons.

Time disappears soon, and I am in my PJs and reading Tom Mead’s book now. I return to my Apple and consider joining Hope_16 in August in Brooklyn. This is the hacker’s convention hosted by 2600 The Hacker Quarterly, and I have hoped to go for years. Events always seem to get in the way. But on Wednesday, I bought a ticket to Hope_16, booked flights and a hotel, and will be there; Deborah might hop a plane for part of my week in the NYC area.

The house is warm, and I nod off. I woke up to a nightmare that included being forced into tight spaces and possibly being roasted to escape some inexplicable but deadly risk. Yes, terrible, and clearly, I was having an asthma attack while sleeping, and was uncomfortable while sleeping.

I rise, the house is cooler now, and I get a glass of water. I am feeling better and will soon sleep, but I wake up often.

 

 

 

 

 

I rose around 7:30 and was happy to not be sick. I was sneezing, and my eyes burned from the pollen festival held by the local fauna. I contacted Joan S later, and we agreed to reschedule a movie as I should take another day and go slow. I now had no plans. I also heard from Richard that he is still traveling; therefore, there will be no Tuesday morning board game. I had a quiet Memorial Day.

The cough and unevenness resurfaced as the morning went on. A headache and a few visits to the restroom, with my colon reminding me it was still unhappy, made this a low-activity day. I limited the day’s plan to some light housework and printing on my 3D printer.

I made a NYC bagel (thanks, Joyce) with some lox I found in the freezer and defrosted. That went well with the coffee, liberal coffee — fair trade, made in a half-pot in my new coffee maker with a timer. This time, I forgot to make it last night, and managed to assemble it in my messy kitchen sink full of dishes (and the dishwasher full of clean ones).

I wrote the blog, read some emails, did some doom scrolling with the Trump and Republicans trying to grab back the headlines, but they seemed to be failing, and updated my Quicken transactions. I checked, and 2600 The Hacker Quarterly does not have new issues yet; my story is in that one or the next. I finished the blog, started the laundry, did all the dishes, and started the dishwasher. As a distraction, I rewatched the previous Mission: Impossible movie, number 7. It is a long 3+ hours. I reheated frozen green pea and ham soup I made and froze a few weeks ago for lunch. I was out of paper towels, but I found a packet of paper napkins that I could use instead.

I can’t remember when I watched the start of the two-part close for this season. There are rumors that the actor who plays the doctor quit or was fired, and that the show will be canceled or put on hold for a few years. I thought some episodes were great, while others drifted away from sci-fi to being too simple for a show that can also terrify.

I enjoyed Mission: Impossible 7. I have seen it a few times. I put on 6 and liked that, and now I see the connections between the two movies. Watching 6 and 7 made it clear the series is ending.

I put on gloves and took the tree topper I had printed and broken. I rewashed it, cut off the supports without further damaging it, and then cured the broken pieces, which were three large pieces. I later used my jeweler’s cement to glue the pieces together. The cracks are hard to see. This glue, which slowly hardens, is strong after 24 hours. It allows you to make adjustments for about an hour and often longer. It is a resin and is as strong as CA glue and dries clear. It is perfect for glass and gems, for example. It is dissolved by lacquer thinner and is not suitable for high-temperature use (an aerospace product is required for that).

The topper spills a mixture of alcohol and resin, which becomes a white, messy substance on my curing station. Ugh! This is not toxic as the resin is now hard but dissolved as powder in the alcohol. I’ll clean this mess up with a paper towel (the paper towel used for the modeling is never mixed with the kitchen for all the obvious reasons). I place the container of alcohol, about 3/4 of a gallon, out in the sun to turn all the dissolved resin into powder. This makes the resin-poisoned alcohol safer to handle and removes the toxic issues.

(David Austin’s Wedgwood climber)

Corwin stops by at around 4:30, and we split the leftover Chinese-style food. We discuss his new business ventures in window washing and roof treatment. He and his partner are still working out the details. Corwin is very hopeful.

Corwin was then off to deliver food, the pay had been less this holiday than he hoped. I got his car insurance for his birthday. Holidays are a mixed bag for food delivery, as Memorial Day is often a day for grilling.

I read and watch more, put away the laundry, and finished the MI-6 movie. I went to bed, got up, and ordered some stamp collecting supplies (stamp mount strips of various heights, for those who speak stamp collecting), and then went back to reading. I woke dreaming some of the story, still holding my Kindle. I put down the book. I had figured out the first murder and murderer (having seen a version of the murder, I think, in CSI Las Vegas), but the story is more complex. I am not sure where this is going.

(An orphaned rose I got cheap–they lost its name and sold it cheap)

I managed to sleep until it was bright and sunny at 6AM on Tuesday morning.

Thanks for reading.

 

 

 

 

I managed to start my Sunday feeling OK, but my nose was running, and I sneezed often. It felt like Spring-Summer in Oregon without the rain, which gets the pollen out of the air. With this many pine trees, the rain helps! But no rain for days and warm days, my eyes are burning, and my tissue use is way up. I am starting to place tissue boxes all over the house. More will be needed!

Sunday means church, and I fill in as an usher when I am there. Though I am not traveling as much as last year, I am out about one out of four Sundays and often miss two or three in a row. I rise around 7 and start writing the blog, having to make coffee as I push through a story of a busy Saturday. I text and talk to Deborah as I get going. We always enjoy starting or ending one of our days together.

The coughing and sneezing were worse, and I considered passing on church and resting, but decided to push on. I surprised myself by finishing the 1000+ word blog without mangling too many of my words with Grammarly. We have found a way to stop breaking each other’s updates. I assume that I am writing more complete and correct sentences, and the coders and data scientists at Grammarly have analyzed all the flow data and updated their product. It seems better. The constent offers to incorrectly update a whole paragraph that simplifies the meaning and drops the style and skill are gone. Or I have been beaten into submission and now writing differently…I suspect they improved.

My memory of the church service was a blur as I ushered. I was busy helping here and there and whispering to some folks in the back as the service went on. I tried to stand in the back with the doors open so I could see the hallways and the entranceway. I watched folks who got up in the service, always looking for an emergency. Often, an emergency starts with someone getting up in the service.

Michael R delivered the sermon. His delivery shows that he is still more comfortable with the written word than presenting, something I understand. It isn’t easy for some of us. From what I can distill from what I saw when I was not ushering, his message was that the church is a family, and we won’t leave you alone. We Methodists will ensure you are well and safe, like a friendly but slightly annoying relative. Michael R suggests we are never invisible or unseen. It is the same way he imagines with God. God cares for us, and will always be there, even when it is annoying.

In joys and concerns, I mentioned that I was now a year from brain surgery  (May 20, 2024) and was happy to be here  (and not having a memorial a year after my passing!) and asked for prayers for those facing grief, cancer, or major medical issues (like brain tumors). Happy to be here!

Jack was handling locking up, which allowed me to head out and go home. The sneezing and coughing were worse. Also, details best not be shared; my colon decided to empty over and over. I was grounded and had one moment that required a shower but not a clean-up. Nothing like that with coughing and sneezing to convince you it might be the flu. I stopped.

I did get my 3D printing off the printer, but I broke the star I printed because it was more fragile than the supports. Ugh! I put it aside after washing it. I can easily assemble it from the pieces, as the pieces are large. It is not a delamination where layers separate. I will have to be more careful with huge hollow prints in the future.

I fried a grilled cheese sandwich in butter. I had made the bread the day before. Once the bread started to brown, I added some water to the pan. This hot steam heated the sandwich through and melted the cheese. I then flipped it a few times to dry out any bread that might have gotten wet. I cut it with two cuts across, creating four mini-sandwiches. I had some of my homemade frig pickles with it.

I spent the day watching TV, not my usual Sunday, and ordered Chinese-style food from Happy Panda. I finished the second season of Severance. I can’t share much–no spoilers, but I liked the ending and some interesting conclusions to questions the show brought to the viewer’s mind that were finally answered. Watching two seasons of twelve episodes is a long haul, but it is recommended.

I next tried a movie. The NYT recommended ten movies that folks missed, and I selected Black Bag from the list. It started with a messy dinner party of people arguing, and one even stabbed, but soon, the movie became a British spy movie set in the present day. I enjoy spy movies and books, and this one did not disappoint. While a terrible start, it is worth pushing through—excellent. Available on Peacock.

I was not getting worse, and my colon settled back to near normal. I went to bed normally, but early, leaving the laundry not put away for another day, dishes undone, and a few other messes still in place. I put away lots of leftover delivered food in the fridge. It is unlikely house elves will help clean up, but there is hope.

I read more of Tom Mead’s book. I rose a few times to take my inhaler and some painkillers. That helped me settle down, and soon, I was again on my dream bus, going to forgotten locations with a friendly driver. I think there were spies and Severance stuff. It all fades now.

Thanks for reading.