Jack's Diary

[alligatorob]

166.5 this morning

Down half a pound isn't it? You are doing fine, I don't expect to lose much if anything this week.

I'm glad I decided to stay on part-time because the stock marking is tanking. Fortunately, I have about 45% in bonds, and that means that while I've lost a lot of money, I haven't lost as much as I would've if I had more in equities.

At times like this I studiously avoid looking at my accounts, don't want to know. My completely uneducated guess, less than a WAG, is that it will rebound before the election, after that I have not even a guess. At this point I believe (hope anyway) that we are over reacting to the corona virus, but I could be wrong about that too.

Always enjoy your posts.

 

[Petal001]

Oh that’s a scary jump on the markets and I think it will bounce back once things settle . It’s actually a good time to invest I guess.

 

[jackbenimble]

Rob, Petal - I heard that Corona cases in China are down. I think that scrap of news might be something the investors jump on. I might shift a small amount say 5% to equities. I suck at market timing, so I'm not going to go more than that.

 

[jackbenimble]

I had a good morning/early afternoon. Got the shopping done, car fixed, got to the gym, and while walking around due to not having a car for a bit got my walking in as well. Efficient right? I ran into a couple of people I hadn't seen for a while at the gym, so that was nice. C called me and we are going to jam tomorrow. Actually it had been a while and I was wondering if I was kicked out of "the band" if you will. But either way it's good, if I'm solo I can play the songs I like.

 

[jackbenimble]

I'm kicking around the idea of going to a Japanese meetup, but I think I'm going to stay clear of that until the virus is under control. My Japanese will be all the better when I do go. Speaking of which, I've been listening to a Japanese podcast where they sprinkle in English words to help you, and I swear my level of understanding has improved. Today I heard a podcast that I thought I listened to last summer, and this time I got understood like 90% at least. They aren't all like that, obviously. But it feels like it was a lot harder to follow them last year.

 

[jackbenimble]

As far as chess, every time I play level 4 (computer thinks one second per move) on the MacBook, it roughs me up. Level 3 (computer things 3 moves ahead) I can usually beat if I pay attention. Level 4, sometimes it feels like it's taking more than one second - like it's taking enough time to resolve the algorithm instead of cutting it short. Sometimes it moves pretty fast - maybe they mean on average?

Anyway, I feel like I will never beat level 4 in my lifetime. Although I just googled and saw a guy who beat the highest level while watching TV! But a few other people said they couldn't beat level 3 so probably I'm just averagely bad.

I saw an interesting video where Bill Gates (a 1600 rated player which is quite good) played Magnus Carlson, the world champion in chess. Carlson beat him in a handful of moves, the whole game probably took less than a minute. But it was pretty entertaining. You can tell Gates knows what he's doing by his opening moves. But Gates bit on a bishop sacrifice by Carson, then failed to spot a checkmate in 1 when he grabbed an unprotected knight. But Gates played fast as he should have, because nobody watching TV is going sit around watching him ponder moves.

The chess is around 14:00 in the video. It's worth a look just for the laughs.

 

[jackbenimble]

So, after another day of a bit of walking, a visit to the gym and not eating at night, poof, I was at 165 this morning. I actually hit it briefly several days ago, but this feels more solid. I would still officially say I'm at 166 or so, but I like the trend. Clearly the key is the combination of staying off the snacks (especially at night) and getting a bit of exercise in. Who woulda thunk it?

The way I've beaten (at least for now) the late night-eating urge is to either pick up the guitar and play it, or think about it, which in this case is paralysis by analysis in a positive way.

On the downside, I think the abdomen exercise I've been using at the gym bothers my knee. It's a kind of thing where you swing your legs up in front of you and back down. I'm going to cut that and go back to the elbow-to-knee crunches.

 

[jackbenimble]

I'm kind of sad that the Celtics (basketball) lost another close one in OT to a contender last night. They lost in the final second to LA last week. Houston is a very strong team all of a sudden. I wouldn't be shocked if they emerge from the West.

I keep trying to watch this TV show called Terrace House, which is a Japanese reality show about 6 young people, 3 males, and 3 females, who are put together in a luxurious house for a week. They video it all and cut off to commentary at various points during the show. It would be good because it's really every-day Japanese instead of some of the artificial stuff from textbooks and anime. But I just can't get interested. I've never been into reality shows, for whatever reason.

One show I have been watching is "Marco Polo" on Netflix. That's more to my taste. Unfortunately, for Japanese it's not so great. The language is very flowery at times (due to the fact that it's a lot of talking between the emperor and his minions). Also, the Japanese subtitles aren't a direct translation of the English, and they don't precisely match the dubbed Japanese either, to the point where completely different words are often used. So there's a lot to unpack with every sentence. As you might imagine it takes a while to get through an episode.

I'm going to C's for a jam today. It's been a while, so I might run through the songs we usually do during the morning. I'm kicking around the idea of taking the T, which would mean some automatic walking gets built into the day. Also have to get to the gym.

 

[jackbenimble]

So, weight-wise it was a decent week. I was at 165 for two or 3 days, 166 for another couple of days. But yesterday I cracked and had some sugar cookies and grapes late-night, and tipped the scales at 166.5 this morning. The trick of playing the guitar didn't work, but I'm re-implementing it today.

Actually, I finally went to the guitar last night to stop playing chess. I had the day off and somehow this chess thing has been just addicting me. I spend the entire morning, except for a quick shopping trip, playing against the MacBook at level 3 moves ahead, which seems about right for me.

The night before, I actually got onto chess.com and played a few games. I lost my first one to a 576-rated guy, but it was a 5-minute limit and I ran out of time. My next game was to a 1070 rated guy. I blundered my knight, and he pressed the attack with two knights and a queen. However, I managed to fend off the threat. and then he inexplicably blundered his queen and I went on to win it. It was exciting and I was absolutely exhilarated. Like John Bartholomew (a youtube chess guru) says, at these levels, blunders are a very common part of the game, and if you avoid them, you are going to do well.

But then I went on again last night and played a 1270 rated guy. I was doing ok in development but recaptured with my knight instead of a pawn in the opening, allowing him to walk up and fork my knight and bishop with his pawn. I hung in there in hopes of a blunder, but he didn't - at least that I noticed - and I finally resigned, as I as missing the Celtics game and it was pretty hopeless at that point.

My chess orgy from yesterday - especially the loss on chess.com - may be a good thing. I absolutely cannot be spending chunks of time playing chess. That's why I've avoided it all these years. I have plenty of other hobbies and more productive things that aren't as addictive.

 

[jackbenimble]

Work wasn't bad this week, at least. Things went well for the most part for the new RH image for the new image install down in (random state) that J went down there to put in. There was a problem getting an important utility program to load a driver, but I had the guy run it from a command line so I could see the errors, and there was a permissions error. Fortunately, on Linux, unlike windows, permissions are easy, and once I granted access to those directories, it worked.

It looks like this may have been a long-standing issue with this utility on Linux, as the rep said this one never works on Linux and they always have to log into it remotely from their laptop to run it. I was keenly interested and asked my what I did to fix it. It was a good thing we got it working because then he was able to rename a couple of systems, which was actually causing our base software not to receive data.

I did have to deal with V, the lady who created the image and the one I have so much trouble with. She almost got under my skin a couple of times. That permissions issue caused her to launch into a whole bluster about how she tested it and she wanted to get into the session and fix it (it was already fixed, but there was another issue when accessing it remotely). She got in there and of course didn't know what to do, and J was getting sharper and sharper with her until she finally got off the line. He complained about her too, said she was a "piece of work" and "talks in circles" which is true now that I think about it.

The other thing was the image I did, which was having trouble with Windows activation, could be activated by calling into Microsoft and entering an activation ID. They only have one PC like that anyway, so it's not like that call into MS will have to part of a production procedure or anything. I think the issue was an upgrade BIOS.

 

[jackbenimble]

One good thing I did yesterday was getting to the beach. It was pretty cold and the wind was kicking up, but it's always good for my head to get out there.

The other major thing I did was put a halt to the chess madness (I hope). At midnight I was like, well, one more little game wouldn't kill me like I had been doing all day. Instead, I left-turned and tuned up the guitar, and started learning "No woman no cry" from a YouTube lesson.

In this world, there are two kinds of people (not really, that saying has always cracked me up). It's more like degrees or spectrums, not a binary thing. What I'm trying to say is, for example, instant-gratification vs. delayed gratification. How would you describe yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is instant and 10 delayed? I would say I'm about a -5 on that scale.

That can work to your advantage, though. If you're addicted to something good or productive, then use that. That's worked for me a lot in the case of programming and fixing bugs. You want that gratification in terms of seeing it work.

But there's a lot to be said for self-discipline. I need to get a *little bit* of that mental muscle working, especially on off-days. I have wasted so much time in my life. Can I turn it around - or at get into positive territory on the delayed gratification scale? I really need to start making progress there. Playing guitar is the key. That's how to put a halt to bad habits like chess and eating late. It keeps your hands off the keyboard and out of the fridge. That's what I need to get addicted to.

 

[jackbenimble]

As far as getting to the gym, that's a bit of a chore. But, I think I'll switch from playing Japanese podcasts to music on that. It will make it more fun. That's what I'll try for now. Or maybe switch up gyms?

As far as Japanese, one thing I can do on weekends is get to Panera. When I'm there, I tend to stay more focused. I at least have to get the listening questions walked through at least once.

If only I could get as addicted to those things as easily as I can to chess.

 

[Petal001]

Jack how odd that I never saw all the entries on your diary . Well done on playing the guitar . I like no woman no cry.
Think it's good to delay your japaneses meet up. Beach walk I am alwYs jealous when you mention them .

I imagine I'm on a 5 Maybe on your scale

 

[aiminglow]

Was that a minus five? I can't believe that a man who is engaged in such long-terms pursuits as learning a second (or third? or more?) language, learning to play an instrument (even better than he does already), and striving to master chess - which can be a quick game, sure, but is usually a game for those who are prepared to proceed with slow, deliberate strategic steps - I can't believe such a man isn't at least a 7 or 8 on that spectrum.
But I can see how - regardless of the place on the spectrum - that you tend, as I do myself, a little towards obsessively wanting to get it right (whatever "it" is), so good for you for being able to walk away from the chess games when they were getting too much into your head and your time. I like this very much:

Playing guitar is the key. That's how to put a halt to bad habits like chess and eating late. It keeps your hands off the keyboard and out of the fridge.

And the walking as well - which reminds me it's time I was off on my walk for the day!

 

[Cate]

But there's a lot to be said for self-discipline. I need to get a *little bit* of that mental muscle working, especially on off-days. I have wasted so much time in my life. Can I turn it around - or at get into positive territory on the delayed gratification scale? I really need to start making progress there. Playing guitar is the key. That's how to put a halt to bad habits like chess and eating late. It keeps your hands off the keyboard and out of the fridge. That's what I need to get addicted to.

Can you turn it around? Yep. Playing the guitar is such a good thing. I love "no woman, no cry" & have it on my regular playlist. You know how to put a halt to your bad habits & I think you're a pretty smart cookie. Walking on the beach, playing the guitar.....all sounds good to me!

 

[jackbenimble]

Jack how odd that I never saw all the entries on your diary . Well done on playing the guitar . I like no woman no cry.
Think it's good to delay your japaneses meet up. Beach walk I am alwYs jealous when you mention them .

I imagine I'm on a 5 Maybe on your scale

To me, a 5 is impressive, coming from where I'm at...

 

[jackbenimble]

Was that a minus five? I can't believe that a man who is engaged in such long-terms pursuits as learning a second (or third? or more?) language, learning to play an instrument (even better than he does already), and striving to master chess - which can be a quick game, sure, but is usually a game for those who are prepared to proceed with slow, deliberate strategic steps - I can't believe such a man isn't at least a 7 or 8 on that spectrum.
But I can see how - regardless of the place on the spectrum - that you tend, as I do myself, a little towards obsessively wanting to get it right (whatever "it" is), so good for you for being able to walk away from the chess games when they were getting too much into your head and your time. I like this very much:

And the walking as well - which reminds me it's time I was off on my walk for the day!

Thanks, Aminglow. I hope you got your walk in!

 

[jackbenimble]

Can you turn it around? Yep. Playing the guitar is such a good thing. I love "no woman, no cry" & have it on my regular playlist. You know how to put a halt to your bad habits & I think you're a pretty smart cookie. Walking on the beach, playing the guitar.....all sounds good to me!

Thanks, Cate. Putting a halt to bad habit is not exactly my forte. However, I actually did learn No Woman No Cry, except for the timing of the lyrics. I found a good video to play along with that adjusts the pitch of the original recording and I'm working with that to get the timing of the lyrics right. You're right, it's a great song.

 

[jackbenimble]

Just relaxing to a Bob Marley playlist on youtube. He had a lot of huge hits. I think the songs are pretty basic in terms of chords. I know "Three little birds" is only 3 chords as well, I've played that for a long time.

Weight-wise, I was at 164.5 yesterday and the day before, at 165 tonight. I'm still getting pulled into the chess. I almost made it through the whole day, but I logged into chess.com sometime after midnight and played 3 games. I found I'm usually winning at level 4 because the computer makes such daft moves. So I bumped it up to 5 and suddenly lost when I didn't see an attack vector for his queen and wasted a couple moves chasing a pawn. It really killed my chances.

 

[jackbenimble]

Well, this Corona virus thing has suddenly become very real. I'm kind of pissed off at my work for not giving guidance to work from home, and I was in all week except Friday. Even my brother-in-law who has never worked from home in 40 years at the same place, has been doing it.

My mom, who is 92, refuses to let me or my sister help with the shopping. She is like "I'm not going to live like that". I think it hasn't registered with her yet. She was telling me "don't be crazy", but hopefully the message will sink in. My sister is going to talk to her again, and my sister in-law sent her a youtube video with suggestions for senior citizens.