The last presentation for the conference this evening was about Artificial Intelligence (AI), discussing Machine Learning, a branch of AI, and was being given in Paris, France, for the Melbourne, Australia virtual conference. Instead of me and other flying and meeting, we met at the virtual conference powered by software called OnAir. It mostly worked.
Before this, I visited a few other presentations that led to a meeting of ten people who wanted to discuss the subject more. I met the West Australian Police who would love a demo of our use of reporting in our system at Nike–I will try to get them a demo. I also discussed other details of reporting with Australian based electric utility companies. We were all wide-eyed as we tried to use microphones and cameras to create a presence in the conference through the OnAir software. We were all learning and a bit nervous.
It was not perfect, and Steve, who I have met only on-screen and by phone and runs the conference, kept using a broadcasting ability to talk over the conference to give us some direction, and I think a bit of courage. I had to mute him once to hear a speaker who just ignored the interruption. Steve was just telling us to talk to each other–software developers can be a bit introverted. The conference was strange, sometimes boring as the recorded sessions were sometimes too long, and it was wonderful to meet and share this weird experience with so many people across the world.
I am part of panels that discuss software development using old and new tools on Monday.
I slipped out and made dinner. I made Chicken Kiev (frozen from a box) with green beans (also frozen) with rice to collect the butter from the Chicken Kiev. All simple, and I could do that while I was listening. I was talking on a panel when the groceries were delivered. I ordered from Safeway.com and had them deliver late tonight. Corwin put away the items while I continued on with the virtual discussions.
I started the morning sleeping into 930ish and then caught up on some Bering Sea Gold reality TV. It is one of the few shows I watch now. I started laundry and got dressed late. I then relaxed and read and finished The Devil in the White City: A Saga of Magic and Murder at the Fair that Changed America that Dondrea recommended. It is a great book, and I knew some of the fair’s stories–it is good to learn some more. I ordered an original 1893 Guide to the fair from eBay for about forty bucks. I wanted to see the original as I might need to include this in some stories I might write.
Aside: I have been to Jackson Park, the site of the Fair in 1893, as it is where the industry museum was built after the fair. My father and I went once by train to Chicago to see King Tut and the industry museum. There is a captured WW2 U-Boat there and a simulated coal mine.
So my day was slow with laundry and reading until the conference hit. Then I was back to the corporate guy and trying, like all the other computer folks, to make the virtual conference worth the investment.
I had one other adventure today, I received a carton of replacement parts for the gas grill. The Corvid-19 emergency meant it took six-months to get the parts. So I pulled, broke out, or simply replaced the burners depending on how corroded the originals were in the grill. The grill is now ready for another couple of years of use.
Today the reports record three-hundred twenty-five people died from the virus in the USA.
Today started easy with sleeping into 9ish this non-work day. I have a computer conference, all online and virtual, starting on Sunday afternoon–today is a day to relax and play a bit.
I made coffee and relaxed and read about the events of the day. I ignored politics other than checking the polls and seeing how much new “fly” news there is. The rains have come this weekend so it feel more like home now. I just wish the virus would wash away with the rains.
I am happy the election is approaching, and we received our second Voter’s Pamphlet from Oregon today. It lists all the candidates, something about them, and all the processes for our mail-only election. Unlikes the crazy people who say by mail involves all sorts of shenanigans; actually, it is a lot of work. We get the names of all the candidates and a little write-up and photo the candidate supplied. Now comes the work. Should I think about that Green Party candidate for Secretary of State? Let me see what is this about the Libertarian Party. Then there are the judges, those are searches on the Internet to determine more about them. Often they running unopposed, so I will not vote for them. Voting by mail allows me to check who and what I am voting on. It is work. Also, if you do it wrong, they call you if there is time to correct it. Susie had to go to the state elections and sign her ballet one year.
Today, I grabbed three games, Vindication, Pax Pamir, and Scythe. Oddly, when I sent Evan the list of games, Apple’s spelling correction translated my mistyped word for Scythe into Yggdrasil, the Viking version of the Tree of Life. It did startle me, and could not figure out how Apple made that connection. I wondered if the spirit of Loki had invaded the iPhone. It may explain so much.
Evan and I met again at Mox Board House in Portland off of Burnside this morning. We played Pax Pamir first. I set up the game for the Wakham version with two players, a three-player game with one automatic player, the Wakham. The game plays against you in this setting. I had watched many videos and had practiced this a couple of times. I was ready to play a full-on Wakham game.
Aside: Wakham is the area in Afghanistan that separates east from west and was the neutral territory between Russia and British interests. At least that is what I have read.
We were crushed by the Wakham automation player in Pax Pamir. I have the rules down for the game, and Evan had played before. It seemed that we needed to play very efficiently to beat the Wakham and to have a chance to win. It is also not a collaborative game, so the Wakham automation appeared to take advantage of the fact that Evan and I were allied to different factions, British and Russia. It then always supported the third faction, Afghans.
It is a hard game to love. We found the game mechanical and hard to know what to do. I think we will try it again with more players someday, but I am afraid there are better games. It may be hard to find enough players who know the rules well enough to discover the game’s strategy and beauty that I think is there. It plays on a little rug with cool metal coins–it is lovely to look at.
We still had a chance to win at this point in the game.
Vindication was the next game we played. We ordered lunch at this time. I had a salad and soup. It was a giant salad of apple and fennel with walnuts and local blue cheese in crumbles. Evan had the special, curried pork sandwich.
At about this time Mox was almost max-ed for tables. The very expensive private rooms were all in use. So it was a good Saturday for them.
This time I remembered that Evan nearly beat me in last weekend’s game, and thus I changed my strategy. Previously, I bought most of the proficiencies and scored in mastery. This time Evan swept those up. I, as usual, built up a pile of early honor (victory) points so I could Vindicate my character and be more efficient. This is my general plan for the game (it is the name of the game, literally). I then, instead of chasing mastery, decided to own the hexes in the game. I noticed we had many monasteries on one side of the board (in the game, the monasteries let you improve yourself). I activated myself to get two knowledge cubes that I then used the monastery to convert them to two cubes of conviction that I used to knock Evan from owning a hex or claim two new hexes. I continued to collect two victory points for this, and this tripped more and more end-game-conditions (Vindication end-game is triggered by randomly selected cards as players get more honor points). The game ended, and I received an unstoppable twenty points for owning ten hexes.
This plan worked because randomly selected hexes made it a workable plan. You have to be ready in Vindication to change plans to match the new circumstances you find in each game. Marc, the game designer who I have met many times, should be proud of how this game can play well but differently each time.
Next time Evan will be ready for this. We also decided to play some of the other variations that I have never tried in the two years I have owned the game. Vindication will continue to hit the game table!
This is at the set-up. We just got lunch so I took a pic before the game started.
The last game we played Scythe, one of the greatest new games. We play this one every weekend if we can. As usual, I let Evan pick sides and mats. I picked Russia, again, as it plays well against Poland, he picked Poland, and I was randomly assigned the Patriotic mat. It is not the best for Russia, but I made it work. I initially had trouble getting the resources to do what is called bottom actions. I think I missed something, but I have seen Russia struggle at the start when played by others in the campaign version (that is another add-on for Scythe: Fenris). We played with the alternative encounter deck.
I managed to get the Factory and get a small bonus for that. I produced all my mechs fast so I could get all the cool special abilities for Mother Russia. The building of mech for Russia improves combat and allows movement from and to the factory from a controlled city–very useful. Russia, unlike the other factions, can do the same action over and over.
I completed buildings and upgrades (both things I usually don’t do as they take too long and require too many resources), often doing the same action over and over, and won two battle stars. I slowly walked my popularity to the second level and earned my last star and ended the game. Evan was at the top level for popularity, this scored Poland extra points, but I ended the game with a move action to spread-out, which gave me enough points and the win.
This is the end of the game map. You can see that I have painted all the figures and mechs. This is the special Kickstarter version and I added in the painted workers from a third-party source.
I had dessert and then headed home. Susie and I met Mariah at Golden Valley Brewery. I had the Chicken Pot Pie and an Octoberfest beer. Susie had some appetizers, Bree heated with walnuts and other goodies and a pretzel.
Susie was very happy to get out of the house and have a beer and good food! The place was maxed-out with people waiting for tables. The staff was being extra careful and keeping distances, but some of the customers were not being careful. I am not sure we will do another Saturday night out–but it was nice to see Golden Valley Brewery busy.
It was late when we got home and this will be late too.
Today six-hundred thirty-five people are reported to have died from the infection.
This weekend I am in an online conference in SAP in Melbourne. I had a visa, flights, hotel, and even flights for Susie and Corwin. The flights are refunded, and the conference has been re-imagined as an online event. The virtual conference begins on Sunday night (Monday in Melbourne). I took a day off Monday; I will be up late both nights and share a panel online with a few others and talk about software late Monday. The talk was recorded about a month ago, so I will just answer questions and then enter a virtual conference room and chat more with people. I did this to help the people who put on the conference because I want someday that there will again be an SAP conference in Melbourne. This is what I can do to help fight the impacts of Corvid-19!
I do not know when I will get back to Australia.
Today started about 7ish. I was able to sleep in for an extra 30 minutes or so. I spent the day in Zoom meeting and reading and writing emails. The work on the project is moving now at a faster pace as we are starting to begin the count-down to the go-live on 27Dec2020. It was nice to see my friends that handle go-lives show up in Zoom meetings now. I have been on this current project for three years and we get to bring in the people who run systems, old friends. It is beginning to feel real.
Lunch was mac and cheese with kielbasa added in. I sliced up some sausage we did not use in last night’s dinner and fried it a bit. I then added the browned kielbasa to Deluxe Mac and Cheese from Kraft. It has that scary orange color.
I also managed to slip out today for a short walk. I finally made the full distance of my usual walk and was a bit tired when I got back. I plan to keep walking now that we have air that is reasonable and it is not hot. Rain is never an issue!
I forgot we decorate our manhole covers and they come with warnings.
We also have instructions for our street drains.
You know that you are in the Pacific Northwest by just looking at our drains. We are serious about not killing trout! Don’t even think about polluting.
I had a few crises of the moment this afternoon and we had to do a few text-only meetings to get those under control.
I found all the figures, 28mm Dungeons and Dragons scale, for Scooby-Doo and gang today in the UK. They are out of Shaggy’s figures but have a special post-apocalyptic version that I think I can modify back and create a normal-looking Shaggy. They are on the way.
I have the Scooby-Doo version of House on Haunted Hill board game and want to replace the paper standees with figures. This is a game with a story, and everyone takes on a role from the gang on the cartoon, but one person is the villain; nobody knows who it is until some events have the bad guy come forward. In this case, it is a cartoon-like story instead of a ghost haunting.
I stopped a bit early today and read some more.
I also saw the last roses before the big rains and lack of sunlight will slow everything down.
Dinner was pancakes, bacon, and scrambled eggs with cheese.
Today nine-hundred ten people in the USA died from the virus.
I turned to Methodist Hymnal #144 when I opened the book, This Is My Father’s World. I know I just did this song, but I like this version, so I decided to do it again.
I find that Thursday is the day I have the most resistance to writing this blog. I want to relax or go out to dinner or watch some shows. Writing just is not that welcome on many Thursday nights. Tonight ended with me watching the end of American Football as it is NFL Thursday Night. Susie and Mariah and sometimes Corwin were watching the game. Today is the second Thursday, and so Theology Pub started at 7ish.
The topic was temperance, and this often morphed into politics as the President in no way could be described with that word, temperance. It was good to get the nine or so people online, most drinking adult beverages, and talk about how to use temperance in our approach to life. We concluded that temperance and virtue did not require sacrifice and are values we have agreed to share and strive for.
We miss going to the bar and having these discussions. Eating and drinking and having the public watch us discuss and often disagree while still happy to see each other was one of the best things. Folks would ask us about our church group, Theology Pub, and be glad we came. Seeing a church group talk about Theology in a bar I think gives people hope and even a feeling of peace. I hope that Cascade Brewery makes it through the Covid-19 shutdown, and we can again meet there in their bar and see everyone again.
Before this, I went to the liquor store and bought some bourbon and some locally made Dead Guy Ale. I wanted this for the NFL game and for Theology Pub.
I made Jambalaya for dinner from a box. I added a cup of rice, can of Mexican style stewed tomatoes, chopped green pepper, kielbasa, ham, and bratwurst. This makes enough for four.
Work finished about 5ish, with a few more meetings and discussions. I also had to do training on how to use OnAir, a platform for online conventions. I am on a small panel this weekend in Australia to talk about software, all virtual now. Originally, I had a paid trip to Melbourne to do the presentations. We are trying to keep the conference alive for next year by doing a virtual one.
I had various status and alignment meetings all afternoon. Susie was up about noon to take her Thursday pill. She then had scones, made yesterday, and a banana for breakfast. I had just finished a can of soup, beef veggie, and made grilled ham and cheese for lunch. I was not paying attention and nearly ruined the sandwich.
While cooking, I found a nice video on how to play the Pax Parmir board game, so I watched that for my lunch break instead of not burning my sandwich (oops). Pax Parmir rules and processes are unusual for most players of board games. I am trying to get them down. The 2020 videos are quite good, and they make it pretty clear now. Someday I will get to play this game again.
The morning was status meetings and some more design discussions. Thursday is a rush of the meeting trying to get everything put away for Friday, which is supposed to be Zoom-free day for Nike. I have just one status meeting on Friday, a critical status meeting that is an exception.
Thursday, like Tuesday and well Wednesday, has early 7ish meetings making it a rush in the morning. I managed to make the early meetings and also make coffee and have a banana for breakfast. The meetings stopped about 10ish, so I slipped in a walk today. My legs are still very stiff, but it seems to be working–it hurt less today and last night.
Over nine-hundred twenty people, eleven in Oregon, were reported to have passed away today in the USA from Covid-19. Today was the second-highest day in Oregon for deaths and new infections.
Today was a working day with a few breaks. It started at 6ish, but I decided to make it 6:30ish and managed to sleep an extra 15 minutes. The first meeting was at 7:30, so I had to rush a bit–but that is the cost to get 15 minutes. The sleep is not that important–it the feeling of control I think of stealing a few extra minutes makes it worth it. Thinking all day that “I decided to sleep in” makes the day a bit easier.
I slipped in a banana (I think missed a joke there) and coffee for breakfast, many cups of coffee, while I listened and talking here and there on Zoom calls. I am reading and approving these discussions and documents while listening, multi-tasking with the video off. These are the final choices for Nike’s go-live coming up in a few months and for the big one more than a year away. A year may sound like a long way off. I have waited three years to get to this point, so I had tears in my eyes a few times–it is emotional for me. I know what these mean–we are setting the direction for Nike’s future and the future of the computer systems.
I also completed the initial software install of a system going live soon. We are now installing the customizations and starting up the processes to get the new systems in place this December. This timing means I am working through part of the Christmas holiday this year. Again, three years to get here, so I am excited to get a new system in this crazy year, a system that handles master data (it is boring to most people), for Nike’s new systems. Our master data system has to go up first as it supplies data to all the new systems as they go-live early 2021.
My legs are working better today. I think walking is working. I went for another twenty-minute walk between a few Zoom calls.
Lunch was reheated goulash from a few nights ago. Susie was up late; she was so tired after so many poor nights. I had a break, so I slipped in making scones to my work today, Ginger Lemon, from King Arthur box mix–my go-to–and they came out perfect. Susie was thrilled that I made her scones, and they were still warm when I served them.
I slipped out again and drove to the post office to buy stamps. I needed to pay for the work done on the backyard (a lot of $), and I needed to mail the check today. I also wanted stamps for my voting by mail, something appropriate. I have Scooby-Doo and Bugs Bunny stamps ready now. I will likely use Scooby-Doo stamps on my ballet that way, I can imagine Mike Pence saying, “I would have gotten away with it if it wasn’t for you meddling kids!” Susie will likely use the opera Bugs Bunny stamps.
My voting stamps
The mail contained a finish of a Kickstarter project. I received some updated parts for my copy of the board game Pax Pamir 2nd Edition. The game designer has replaced the engraved tribe markers with painted markers that are easier to use. It also came with a few corrections to some cards. The Kickstart process and other like websites have improved board games and role-playing games by providing a means for updates and add-ons to be pre-purchased so the game designer can know the product will be a success. This game is not sold usually in stores. You have to get it through a Kickstarter project, or, as in my case, get the update to my existing copy.
