So today's entry is supposed to be about how at last, the house will be listed imminently. But no... the painter came over, took a look, and estimated about 10 man-hours to do the remaining work of finishing off the hallway and painting the ceiling above the hallway. And of course, that can't be scheduled until next Monday. Argh. The painter got on my good side immediately, merely by showing up on time. He was actually 10 minutes early! Contrast that to the window washer, who showed up an hour late - he called after 30 minutes when he was "10 minutes" away.
I just want to list the house, because the more it drags out, the more I have to do stuff like mow and edge the lawn (well I have to do that anyway of course), and pick up and clean constantly. For example, by next week I'll need to sweep off the deck again, weed the most conspicuous dandelions, and probably vacuum the interior.
Today's house errands included replacing three light fixtures, which were missing when I moved in, and using some touch-up pens along the stairway railing. These pens are pretty cool - they are a set of brown markers in different shades, and really help disguise various marks and nicks. I guess the extra days are nice since I now have plenty of time to move my "unclutter boxes" into the garage.
Looking ahead, one good thing about the Orlando area is that housing is cheaper, on average. Here in the Seattle area, the median home price is $355,000, while it is $204,500 in the Orlando area. NOTE: It appears the original Orlando Sentinel article isn't available, so I had to pluck from the Google cache. I'll see if the article is around elsewhere.
Monday, May 09, 2005
Sunday, May 08, 2005
Scrabble - Gail Game 1
My friend Gail showed me a really nifty online Scrabble gaming service: the Pixie Pit. Scrabble is one of my favorite board games (backgammon is another), so we started up a game, and then I started another one with Lindsey. This is play-by-email, and you have 7 days to take your turn, to avoid having the game expire. Gail and I played a little faster than that, completing our first game just hours after starting:
This was a huge blunder on my part - I totally spaced out and played BITE such that two I's were adjacent to a double letter score. X is the best letter to have in the whole game, because it forms so many two letter words: AX, EX, XI, OX, XU. It is usually easy to play X for big points on a double or triple letter space.
By now I had picked up the Q, W, Z, and C, which as you can imagine aren't that great to have at the same time. I decided to make it very difficult to get to the bottom left triple word score by playing CEDE.
Ouch! Gail bingoed with EISWEIN, a sweet German wine, according to the Scrabble dictionary. At this point, I was behind by 100 points and didn't have a good rack of letters. I wasn't able to use the right middle triple word score, so I decided to dump the Z and open up the upper middle triple word. My reasoning was, if there were two triple word scores reachable, I stood a chance to get to one of them. So I played DOZE.
After Gail played AGGER, I decided I had to use up the middle right triple word score. The best I could do was play SLOW. The benefit to this was the O in SLOW was under a triple letter score, which I was hoping to use my Q on.
Ah, there went the upper middle triple word score. At least I was able to get rid of the Q on a triple letter score.
At last, a bingo of my own! After getting rid of as many letters along with the J as I could, I drew a good rack including a blank. This play let me climb back into the game.
Gail opened up the corner triple word score, but I couldn't take advantage with my letters. I could have use it up spelling EF, but then I would only draw one tile and keep the V, which I wanted to dump. I was also able to spell WEAVE through a double word score, and score 8 more points, but I decided cutting off the triple word score was more important.
This is why the S is so important in Scrabble - it lets you hook other words to score more points. Gail was able to use the lower right triple word score with SONAR and on her next move, play SCANT through a double word. Argh!
At this point, we're just getting rid of the last few tiles. I'm glad I had a letter to extend DOZE with and basically score the Z again. We are tied - talk about close! This game could be decided by who goes out first. At this point in the game, I should know the tiles Gail has. The game keeps track of outstanding tiles for you, but when the tile bag empties, it doesn't display the remaining letters anymore. It is good information to have, but on the other hand, I likely wouldn't have played something other than UN/DOZEN.
I had an L at the end, so Gail scores 1 more point, and I lose 1 point. (In tournaments the usual practice is to add twice your opponent's remaining tiles, so the score could also be 356 to 348). Dang, I was planning to front hook AGGER with my L for 8 points and go out. Oh well, great game!
- Gail: BAIT (12) = 12
- Karl: BITE (12) = 12
- Gail: XI (17), XI (17) = 34
- Gail - 46; Karl - 12
This was a huge blunder on my part - I totally spaced out and played BITE such that two I's were adjacent to a double letter score. X is the best letter to have in the whole game, because it forms so many two letter words: AX, EX, XI, OX, XU. It is usually easy to play X for big points on a double or triple letter space.
- Karl: BUTT (7) = 7
- Gail: BUTTY (10), HOAGY (24) = 34
- Karl: HE (10), OD (3), AE (2), CEDE (14) = 29
- Gail - 80; Karl - 48
By now I had picked up the Q, W, Z, and C, which as you can imagine aren't that great to have at the same time. I decided to make it very difficult to get to the bottom left triple word score by playing CEDE.
- Gail: BITES (9), PITIES (12) = 21
- Karl: EVADE (18), BE (4) = 22
- Gail: EISWEIN (64), BEE (5) = 69
- Gail - 170; Karl - 70
Ouch! Gail bingoed with EISWEIN, a sweet German wine, according to the Scrabble dictionary. At this point, I was behind by 100 points and didn't have a good rack of letters. I wasn't able to use the right middle triple word score, so I decided to dump the Z and open up the upper middle triple word. My reasoning was, if there were two triple word scores reachable, I stood a chance to get to one of them. So I played DOZE.
- Karl: DOZE (34) = 34
- Gail: AGGER (16) = 16
- Karl: SLOW (21) = 21
- Gail - 186; Karl - 125
After Gail played AGGER, I decided I had to use up the middle right triple word score. The best I could do was play SLOW. The benefit to this was the O in SLOW was under a triple letter score, which I was hoping to use my Q on.
- Gail: AD (9), OKRA (24) = 33
- Karl: QUOD (34) = 34
- Gail - 219; Karl - 159
Ah, there went the upper middle triple word score. At least I was able to get rid of the Q on a triple letter score.
- Gail: PARRY (30) = 30
- Karl: JILL (22) = 22
- Gail: LOFT (14), NO (2) = 16
- Karl: LOFTS (7), UNTRIMS (83) = 90
- Gail - 265; Karl - 271
At last, a bingo of my own! After getting rid of as many letters along with the J as I could, I drew a good rack including a blank. This play let me climb back into the game.
- Gail: ON (2), FROWN (22) = 24
- Karl: FAVE (14) = 14
- Gail - 289; Karl - 285
Gail opened up the corner triple word score, but I couldn't take advantage with my letters. I could have use it up spelling EF, but then I would only draw one tile and keep the V, which I wanted to dump. I was also able to spell WEAVE through a double word score, and score 8 more points, but I decided cutting off the triple word score was more important.
- Gail: SONAR (18), JILLS (12) = 30
- Karl: WOMEN (20) = 20
- Gail: FAVES (11), SCANT (13) = 24
- Karl: OH (10), ONE (3), HOE (12) = 25
- Gail - 343; Karl - 330
This is why the S is so important in Scrabble - it lets you hook other words to score more points. Gail was able to use the lower right triple word score with SONAR and on her next move, play SCANT through a double word. Argh!
- Gail: AIR (5) = 5
- Karl: UN (3), DOZEN (15) = 18
- Gail - 348; Karl - 348
At this point, we're just getting rid of the last few tiles. I'm glad I had a letter to extend DOZE with and basically score the Z again. We are tied - talk about close! This game could be decided by who goes out first. At this point in the game, I should know the tiles Gail has. The game keeps track of outstanding tiles for you, but when the tile bag empties, it doesn't display the remaining letters anymore. It is good information to have, but on the other hand, I likely wouldn't have played something other than UN/DOZEN.
- Gail: FIN (6) = 6
- game over
- Gail - 355; Karl - 347
I had an L at the end, so Gail scores 1 more point, and I lose 1 point. (In tournaments the usual practice is to add twice your opponent's remaining tiles, so the score could also be 356 to 348). Dang, I was planning to front hook AGGER with my L for 8 points and go out. Oh well, great game!
Friday, May 06, 2005
Skydive Snohomish
My friend Gail is in town, en route to Vancouver where she will take care of some paperwork for the next few weeks. Since it was a beautiful day, Krisanne was planning to skydive, and invited us out to watch in the mid-afternoon. She planned to do a "hop and pop" or two (these are low altitude jumps with minimal freefall, because you deploy the canopy shortly after exiting the plane).
Skydive Snohomish
I drove us (Gail and myself) out to Harvey Airfield in Snohomish, which we were told is the largest private airport in the nation. Krisanne gave us a brief tour before signing up for a flight. The drop zone was basically a roomy building with furniture all around the edges: couches, TV, videos in one corner; lockers along the wall; hooks with packs and other gear taking up more space; a vending machine; and the administration desk, where the flight dispatch and payment occurs. The center space is used by people packing their canopies.
Krisanne gearing up...
Paul, one of the DZ helpers, drove Gail and me to the east landing field, where Krisanne would be landing. We got there early and had plenty of time to chat with Paul about skydiving - he filled us in on some of the associated costs. It is expensive, but then as a triathlete I can hardly point fingers about expensive gear. ;) Soon, we spotted the plane, and heard the engines cut slightly, slowing the plane down enough to safely allow people to jump out. I saw Krisanne leap out - which from the ground just looked like a spot falling back from the plane. Since this was a low altitude jump, the canopy opened almost immediately and it was easy to see her floating in the sky.
Flying
We were standing on the middle edge of the field, watching Krisanne fly down and cut altitude with S-turns, corkscrews, and 360's. It looked like a lot of fun and I bet the view must have been great. As she got closer, Paul filled in some information about the landing pattern: flying with the wind, then a turn crosswind, then another turn into the wind and the landing.
Landing
This was actually pretty scary, from my perspective. Not only was she headed towards the edge of the field near a road, she was coming in very fast at a very sharp angle - I thought for certain she was out of control and going to crash. But, a few seconds before touchdown, she flared her canopy and landed while running - stuck her landing on her feet with us as witnesses! (Later at dinner Krisanne said that is called "ground rush": beginners often think they are coming in too fast to land, and wind up flaring the canopy too high - then they fall to the ground and get injured). All I can say it from my inexperienced eye, the proper technique for landing looks way too fast!
Take Me To Your Leader... Or Back to the DZ!
After landing, she bundled up her canopy and met us halfway. We congratulated her and walked to the bus to be driven back to the DZ. On the brief ride back, we were all buzzing over how well it went.
At the DZ, we went outside to watch Krisanne pack her canopy. It was a slow process, but she is getting faster with more practice.
Checking Lines
First she straightened everything out and checked the lines,
Folding the Canopy
then carefully inspected the canopy while folding and interleaving it,
Squeezing out the air
then knelt on or body hugged the canopy to squeeze out air,
Stuffing into the pack
stuffed it into the pack,
Rubber banding the Lines
and finally rubber banded the lines back and forth. The rubber bands help slow deployment a little - obviously you want the chute and lines to deploy, but too fast is quite jarring. Krisanne also checked the pilot chute, which is what helps deploy everything else.
Krisanne was ready to jump again, so after a few minutes, she boarded the plane while Gail and I headed out to the field to watch again. Unfortunately, the bus was held up by a train, and we got to the field just as she landed - too late to take more pictures.
Check out Gail's blog entry on this day, for more details AND a video of Krisanne landing!
Skydive Snohomish
I drove us (Gail and myself) out to Harvey Airfield in Snohomish, which we were told is the largest private airport in the nation. Krisanne gave us a brief tour before signing up for a flight. The drop zone was basically a roomy building with furniture all around the edges: couches, TV, videos in one corner; lockers along the wall; hooks with packs and other gear taking up more space; a vending machine; and the administration desk, where the flight dispatch and payment occurs. The center space is used by people packing their canopies.
Krisanne gearing up...
Paul, one of the DZ helpers, drove Gail and me to the east landing field, where Krisanne would be landing. We got there early and had plenty of time to chat with Paul about skydiving - he filled us in on some of the associated costs. It is expensive, but then as a triathlete I can hardly point fingers about expensive gear. ;) Soon, we spotted the plane, and heard the engines cut slightly, slowing the plane down enough to safely allow people to jump out. I saw Krisanne leap out - which from the ground just looked like a spot falling back from the plane. Since this was a low altitude jump, the canopy opened almost immediately and it was easy to see her floating in the sky.
Flying
We were standing on the middle edge of the field, watching Krisanne fly down and cut altitude with S-turns, corkscrews, and 360's. It looked like a lot of fun and I bet the view must have been great. As she got closer, Paul filled in some information about the landing pattern: flying with the wind, then a turn crosswind, then another turn into the wind and the landing.
Landing
This was actually pretty scary, from my perspective. Not only was she headed towards the edge of the field near a road, she was coming in very fast at a very sharp angle - I thought for certain she was out of control and going to crash. But, a few seconds before touchdown, she flared her canopy and landed while running - stuck her landing on her feet with us as witnesses! (Later at dinner Krisanne said that is called "ground rush": beginners often think they are coming in too fast to land, and wind up flaring the canopy too high - then they fall to the ground and get injured). All I can say it from my inexperienced eye, the proper technique for landing looks way too fast!
Take Me To Your Leader... Or Back to the DZ!
After landing, she bundled up her canopy and met us halfway. We congratulated her and walked to the bus to be driven back to the DZ. On the brief ride back, we were all buzzing over how well it went.
Folding the Canopy, in Only 53 Simple Steps
At the DZ, we went outside to watch Krisanne pack her canopy. It was a slow process, but she is getting faster with more practice.
Checking Lines
First she straightened everything out and checked the lines,
Folding the Canopy
then carefully inspected the canopy while folding and interleaving it,
Squeezing out the air
then knelt on or body hugged the canopy to squeeze out air,
Stuffing into the pack
stuffed it into the pack,
Rubber banding the Lines
and finally rubber banded the lines back and forth. The rubber bands help slow deployment a little - obviously you want the chute and lines to deploy, but too fast is quite jarring. Krisanne also checked the pilot chute, which is what helps deploy everything else.
Krisanne was ready to jump again, so after a few minutes, she boarded the plane while Gail and I headed out to the field to watch again. Unfortunately, the bus was held up by a train, and we got to the field just as she landed - too late to take more pictures.
Check out Gail's blog entry on this day, for more details AND a video of Krisanne landing!
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Listing My House
I am asymptotically approaching listing my house. The closer I get, the more it seems like "just another day" is needed. Lately I've been playing phone tag trying to get a maid service to come and clean (especially the kitchen and bathrooms), and get a painter to finish off the hallway section I can't reach. It has been a lot of calling, leaving messages, scheduling time to do walkthroughs, waiting for returned phone calls, etc.
I think if I had enough time to remove various key personal items, and if insurance would reimburse me, it would be easier to have the place burn down and get a check to cover everything else. Argh!
It would be perfect timing for me to stay through late June, and basically not have to fly back for IMCdA. I just want to get my house listed so I can tell my boss it has been listed. That way I can show steady progress towards relocation - listing the house is the next major step.
As for the painting, I am again contemplating finish it myself. I need a telescopic ladder, whatever that kind is called, one that opens to more positions than two (flat or A-frame) like my current one. Then I can lean it up against the walls and reach.
I think if I had enough time to remove various key personal items, and if insurance would reimburse me, it would be easier to have the place burn down and get a check to cover everything else. Argh!
It would be perfect timing for me to stay through late June, and basically not have to fly back for IMCdA. I just want to get my house listed so I can tell my boss it has been listed. That way I can show steady progress towards relocation - listing the house is the next major step.
As for the painting, I am again contemplating finish it myself. I need a telescopic ladder, whatever that kind is called, one that opens to more positions than two (flat or A-frame) like my current one. Then I can lean it up against the walls and reach.
Board Games
I met with my board games group for a few hours in the evening. Last time we met, we tried playing RoboRally, the game we started with years ago. RoboRally is fun, but I think we must be playing wrong because we've never actually finished a game. Basically everybody is dealt cards they use to move their robots through a hostile map, towards the goal of picking up flags - first robot to touch them all wins. Half the challenge/fun is stepping through the moves, because robots can interfere with each other. For example, if your robot moves into a square before my robot does, mine will push yours out of the way. Meanwhile, your robot will continue executing moves, with other unintended side effects. After nearly three hours of play, five people picked up the first flag (including me), and only one had picked up the second.
Tonight, we broke out Starfarers of Catan, which we hadn't played in ages. It took a good hour to setup and review the rules, and separate the zillion little pieces that go along with the game. Like the other Catan games, Starfarers involves rolling dice to randomly produce resources, using those resources to buy upgrades, and exploring and colonizing the map. You can also establish trade relations with alien species, represented by cards that give bonuses. My big break was setting up trade and picking a bonus that gave me extra resource production. This wound up being the deciding factor as I was then able to out-produce everyone else and coast in for the victory.
I almost blundered away the game by setting up another trade route and choosing the wrong card! Not that the bonus it conferred was bad - if I would have chosen another one, the game would have ended at least four rounds earlier. Instead, I gave an opponent several more turns to catch up and try to pass me, which he almost did. My victory came almost accidentally - I was attacked (random encounter from a deck of cards) and the aftermath awarded me a victory point, which gave me the necessary total for winning.
The games group is fading away - after I leave it will be down to just three of the original people. We joke about playing some games via email, but I can't think of any good ones like that. The three that will be left are all really huge into World of Warcraft, so I suspect they will fill the time by playing more WoW. ;)
Tonight, we broke out Starfarers of Catan, which we hadn't played in ages. It took a good hour to setup and review the rules, and separate the zillion little pieces that go along with the game. Like the other Catan games, Starfarers involves rolling dice to randomly produce resources, using those resources to buy upgrades, and exploring and colonizing the map. You can also establish trade relations with alien species, represented by cards that give bonuses. My big break was setting up trade and picking a bonus that gave me extra resource production. This wound up being the deciding factor as I was then able to out-produce everyone else and coast in for the victory.
I almost blundered away the game by setting up another trade route and choosing the wrong card! Not that the bonus it conferred was bad - if I would have chosen another one, the game would have ended at least four rounds earlier. Instead, I gave an opponent several more turns to catch up and try to pass me, which he almost did. My victory came almost accidentally - I was attacked (random encounter from a deck of cards) and the aftermath awarded me a victory point, which gave me the necessary total for winning.
The games group is fading away - after I leave it will be down to just three of the original people. We joke about playing some games via email, but I can't think of any good ones like that. The three that will be left are all really huge into World of Warcraft, so I suspect they will fill the time by playing more WoW. ;)
Monday, May 02, 2005
License Tab Renewal
I'm sure everybody is familiar with license tab renewal - today I decided to perform mine. My tabs expire this weekend and even though I'm leaving the state in a few weeks, I don't want to get pulled over.
Washington requires emissions testing every other year, and this was my year, so I drove over to the emissions testing station and waited in line. Maybe soon I'll have a hybrid car and might be able to skip this part... or perhaps the east coast isn't as environmentally friendly and allows high-emissions belching vehicles out on the roads. ;)
As usual, the wait was about 20 minutes for a 5 minute test. There are two phases: one with the engine off, when they apparently test if your gas cap leaks, and one with the engine on. I idly wondered how many cars fail every year, and how much does it cost to "fix" them so they pass?
When I got my results - my car passed - I read the back and noted that if your car is newer than 1981, and the cost of repairs is greater than $150, you can get a waiver for free warranty repairs. What do you know, this is actually about reducing pollution and not extracting more money out of drivers - besides the $15 cost of the test of course.
With my Vehicle Inspection Report in hand, I drove over to the licensing office. After a short wait the clerk asked me if I wanted to keep my current plates. Apparently Washington shuffles license plates around too, and for whatever reason, this was my time to change them. As in, get a new license plate. For a fee of $20 I could keep my current plate, but since I don't have a vanity license plate, I didn't see the point in keeping good old 878HAZ. So now I have 456TQG - woohoo (but haven't put them on yet).
Now, I don't see the point of changing license plates. I have the same car and am the same owner... what is the point of changing? Besides creating data-entry work? It surely can't be to make the people with vanity license plates pay more - just charge them extra anyway and be done with it. Or are there so many deadbeats in the state that forcing new license plates out there is the only way to catch people with out-of-date tabs?
Oh well, I guess I can keep my old plates as a souvenir of Washington. They do have a silhouette of Mt. Rainier of them! ;)
Washington requires emissions testing every other year, and this was my year, so I drove over to the emissions testing station and waited in line. Maybe soon I'll have a hybrid car and might be able to skip this part... or perhaps the east coast isn't as environmentally friendly and allows high-emissions belching vehicles out on the roads. ;)
As usual, the wait was about 20 minutes for a 5 minute test. There are two phases: one with the engine off, when they apparently test if your gas cap leaks, and one with the engine on. I idly wondered how many cars fail every year, and how much does it cost to "fix" them so they pass?
When I got my results - my car passed - I read the back and noted that if your car is newer than 1981, and the cost of repairs is greater than $150, you can get a waiver for free warranty repairs. What do you know, this is actually about reducing pollution and not extracting more money out of drivers - besides the $15 cost of the test of course.
With my Vehicle Inspection Report in hand, I drove over to the licensing office. After a short wait the clerk asked me if I wanted to keep my current plates. Apparently Washington shuffles license plates around too, and for whatever reason, this was my time to change them. As in, get a new license plate. For a fee of $20 I could keep my current plate, but since I don't have a vanity license plate, I didn't see the point in keeping good old 878HAZ. So now I have 456TQG - woohoo (but haven't put them on yet).
Now, I don't see the point of changing license plates. I have the same car and am the same owner... what is the point of changing? Besides creating data-entry work? It surely can't be to make the people with vanity license plates pay more - just charge them extra anyway and be done with it. Or are there so many deadbeats in the state that forcing new license plates out there is the only way to catch people with out-of-date tabs?
Oh well, I guess I can keep my old plates as a souvenir of Washington. They do have a silhouette of Mt. Rainier of them! ;)
Sunday, May 01, 2005
Krisanne's Party
Krisanne threw a party to celebrate leaving her job. What was really interesting was meeting a few of her skydiving friends. She's told us a few stories, but attaching a few faces to names will help in the future.
I talked to Jeff and Karen for a bit, who have 4200 jumps and 1200 jumps, respectively. This blew my mind, to have so many jumps. I don't remember how many years each has been in the sport, but any way you slice it they both have jumped 8 or 10 times each weekend all year. And that just isn't always possible due to weather and so forth. So some weekends must have been really packed!
They both had several funny quotes (paraphrased):
They were actually very interesting to talk to, I'm not making fun of them.
What I found interesting was they both looked with disdain on wind tunnels. To them, those are destroying the integrity of the sport (hence Karen's quote). Wind tunnels are a method of "cheating" that allow you to get good without putting in the jumps, and they both feel skydiving is really about learning things in one minute chunks as you hurtle to the earth. The tunnel is a quicker way to gain skill, if you can afford it. Note: tunnel time is actually cheaper than skydiving, if you calculate the per minute rate, but only if you live near one and don't have to book travel and lodging.
I guess every sport has a dedicated hard core "oldtimers" group that look with disdain upon on the "newbies" with their flashy new methods and money. Hehe.
I talked to Jeff and Karen for a bit, who have 4200 jumps and 1200 jumps, respectively. This blew my mind, to have so many jumps. I don't remember how many years each has been in the sport, but any way you slice it they both have jumped 8 or 10 times each weekend all year. And that just isn't always possible due to weather and so forth. So some weekends must have been really packed!
They both had several funny quotes (paraphrased):
- I think you two (speaking to Francesca and I) are crazy. Triathlon is hard work, skydiving is easy! - Karen
- Of all the people I've taken on a tandem jump, only a few said they never want to jump again. But everybody said they were glad they jumped this one time. - Jeff
- I used to be active and an outdoors type. But ever since I got into skydiving, I've gotten lazy and out of shape. - Jeff
- The whole point is to learn the skydiving skills... while falling. - Karen
They were actually very interesting to talk to, I'm not making fun of them.
What I found interesting was they both looked with disdain on wind tunnels. To them, those are destroying the integrity of the sport (hence Karen's quote). Wind tunnels are a method of "cheating" that allow you to get good without putting in the jumps, and they both feel skydiving is really about learning things in one minute chunks as you hurtle to the earth. The tunnel is a quicker way to gain skill, if you can afford it. Note: tunnel time is actually cheaper than skydiving, if you calculate the per minute rate, but only if you live near one and don't have to book travel and lodging.
I guess every sport has a dedicated hard core "oldtimers" group that look with disdain upon on the "newbies" with their flashy new methods and money. Hehe.
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