Journal 2014-04-25

I am back in Ottawa and currently I am trying to find the best way to interact with Blogger.  The challenge is to be able to do this from work as well as home, or, for that matter, on the road, in a café, and so on.  I would also like to be able to get the word count and the software in Blogger does not do this automatically.  The only option seems to be to cut and paste the text into some third party web page or Word and use their native utilities.  Of course, if I am going to do that then I might just as well do all of the writing in Word and simply cut and paste the text into Blogger and it looks like that is what I will do.  Oddly enough I can see Blogger at work but it seems to generate some “errors on page” messages.  I think that I will just write in Word and then email the text to myself.  Perhaps I will encrypt it just for fun.

Yesterday I went to the first presentation of the Writer’s Festival here in Ottawa.  Most of the presentations are being held in a church beside my apartment, so it couldn’t be handier.  This presentation was on “Inheritance” and it was a little superficial for me.  I would have liked to discuss more of the mechanics behind conceiving of and writing a book like that.  It was also a little late starting which annoyed me.  The sound people were also a little annoying because they seem to want to traipse about without regard for the people who are actually intent on watching the presentation.  I just have to mellow out.

I also went and bought an additional yoga mat to facilitate working out in my apartment.  It is extra thick, I had another one that Anne left for me but it is too thin by itself and kneeling on it hurts my knees.  I can also do some meditating there.  In addition I got an exercise ball.  It is a little small but should do the job.  I suppose I can even try it out as an ergonomic stool.  I also had to buy a little skull cap for bike riding because I forgot mine in Winnipeg and the weather is still a little cold here for riding my bike to work in the mornings. 

Tomorrow I will ride to MEC again and pick up a larger back pack because the one I got is just a little too small.  I can also check further on what camping equipment I will need for the East Coast trip .  

I am currently working through 4 or 5 MOOCs, two of which I am not sure about continuing.  I think two will be wrapped up as of this weekend.  I also want to continue working through R Programming in Datacamp. 

Journal 2014-04-20

This is my first blog entry in a while.  I have just moved to Ottawa and have been living there for about a month.  Right now I am visiting Winnipeg over the Easter long weekend and I am sitting at the Falafel Place trying to determine how well the writing goes in a cafe setting.

Of course, the reason I live in Ottawa is due to the closure of my lab in Winnipeg, I have to work another 15 months before I can retire without penalty so I have rented an apartment and am commuting to and from Ottawa while my family remains behind.  I will return every long weekend plus Anne will be coming out in the Summer so that we can take a tour of the east coast by car and bike.

It has been cold in Ottawa this spring so I haven't been able to ride my bike too much, although I do use it to go to work.  I am also walking a lot more but I am a little concerned that I may have trouble with my feet.  I just developed a deep blister on my left foot and I have to be careful with that because my feet do not seem to heal that well, no pun intended.

In addition to the riding and walking activities I am trying to find more cultural things to get involved with.  I am right downtown so I can access a lot of things that are going on.  I volunteered to work at the Ottawa Fringe Festival, which fortunately takes place in June.  I am also planing to take in some writing workshops and perhaps a writers group or meetup.

I am am taking a continuing Ed course on Buddhism/Meditation at the University of Ottawa and I may look for more related courses or perhaps something on writing.  I am still not sure about Francais or Music lessons as I may not have the time for that.  I also have a lot of stuff to read.

There is a gym for me to use during the lunch hours at work.  I am trying to cut down on the gym time because I was working out at the gym twice a day for most of the winter, I need a break from that..  I have a persistent rotator cuff injury in my left shoulder that will probably only get better with extended rest.  I has been bugging me for a couple of years now.  I'm not even sure how I did it but I think it was from a fall that I took from my bike during a sudden storm with freezing rain.

I do have some weights and exercise stuff that I can do in my apartment, although the place is rather small.  I can do more exercises such as dips, push-ups, ab stuff.  Perhaps even some Karate-do practice as well.  Overall the time should pass relatively quickly.   I am trying to look at it more like a sabbatical year and an opportunity to prepare for retirement than anything else.

The office environment is brutal.  I have no office, only a little cubby in the admin office.  This means no privacy and incessant chatter, mostly in french.  Management has really done very little to prepare to receive me at the laboratory.  They have a vague idea of an unfunded, unstaffed records management project but there is no plan.  I am basically going to be left to amuse myself.  There are four staffing actions underway but they could actually take months to fill.  I don't expect to have too much to do so I am going to be doing some reading and, hopefully, developing the discipline of writing a little more.  After looking at some different options I think that I will just journal as much as I can using blogger.  The editing capabilities are fine and it is in the cloud and everything.

One book that I am going to read is about Historiography of Science.  I think this is a good place to start because it will provide the academic structure for non-fiction writing.  Any topic that I may choose to write on should be thoroughly researched in terms of its history.  I am currently leaning towards something to do with genetics/emergence/complexity or perhaps even the philosophy of science or statistics.

I am also hoping to further develop some programming and statistical analysis skills as I think that data journalism would also be a very fruitful area for writing.

Live coverage of PST debate at Free Press News Cafe

Coming to you at 6:00 on Wednesday, May 29.  A debate with 4 participants on the PST increase.  These were Jim Carr, CEO Business Council of  Manitoba, Steve Ashton, Minister of Infrastructure, Earl Porter, Mayor of Portage la Prairie, Shannon Martin, PC Candidate for Morris.  Hosted by Free Press journalist Dan Lett. The whole event was planned as part of the Community News Commons training.  So I am trying to get coverage sort of like taking notes.   The topic is the recently proposed 1% increase to Manitoba's Provincial Sales Tax.

Cloudy evening, threatening rain.  Nice temperature, around 20c.  About 20 people in attendance.

DL: Introduced the group and started by asking SA when the idea for the PST was created.

SA:  Talked about the last 10 years of balanced budgets and sustained growth.  Need to invest more into infrastructure, in particular, flood protection.

DL: Critics say that the money is not going just to flood protection, also into a pool for unspecified infrastructure.

SA:  Today announced 250 million for Lake St. Martin.  Need to work on highways but it would also include hospitals and schools.

DL:  Yes. The premier indicated that he was not interested in a tax increase earlier in the year, the recent  election the NDP campaigned on it.  What changed, and when?

SA:  Tough decision but the pressures of the 2013 budget made it necessary.  They have a ten year plan that will address infrastructures needs.  Rejected an austerity approach.  Looking to 2016 to bring the budget back into balance.  Need the revenue.

DL:  Jim Carr the Business Council came out quite early recommending the increase along with a referendum. What is your perspective, you seem to have been surprised on budget day.

JC:  There is no unified plan about spending responsibility for infrastructure, what level of government. The province needs to work in a coordinated way to address infrastructure concerns. They presented a plan earlier on a consumption tax.

DL:  Other provinces increased taxes for debt reduction whereas Manitoba has been spending money.  Were you surprised by the budget.

JC:  Hundreds of millions of federal dollars available but province had no way of matching it, this was a concern.

DL:  Never enough money for infrastructure.  The mayors recently made an united effort to get money for municipal infrastructure.  Is raising the PST an acceptable method of addressing municipal infrastructure.

EP:  Wants the money spread out with a ten year plan.  Problem is that it is difficult to plan.  Small municipalities get left out.

DL: Municipalities consistently reject tax increases, but now seem to be supporting it.

EP:  If the tax increase was per capita we would be all for it, but as it stands they may be left out.

DL:  The conservatives are not in favor of a tax increase, where would they get the money.  Austerity?

SM: Austerity is realistic, current government has problems in their budgets.  Issue is twofold, raising the PST and also how.  They are breaking the balanced budget law.

DL:  The NDP are gutting the law. They are changing it legally.

SM:  There is a process and the government is not following it.

DL:  Conservatives came up with a 1% across the board spending cut.  That would be very significant.  How do resolve that type of austerity.

SM:  The government is making those cuts now, they are paying 90 million more in financing costs than five years ago.

DL:  What services will be cut.

SM:  Growth in upper levels of government.  Not all departments would be hit the same way, hard to know until you look at the books.

DL:  Jim you have experience in government do you think the opposition has come back with a workable plan.

JC:  In favor of 1% but the government should continuously review programs for savings.  Those savings will not address the infrastructure issue.  Our position is exactly the same as the mayors, the increase is ok as long it is just for infrastructure.

DL:  So many groups have come out against the increase.  Why not have the referendum.

SA:  There is no way to cut across the board without affecting services.  Have gone from 85 to 465 million on highway infrastructure.  Need to spend 4 billion over 10 years.

DL:   At least half a dozen groups are not supporting the increase.

SA:  Addressing the need of the average Manitoban.  Manitobans will see this increase all being re-invested in infrastructure.

DL:  Lots of people agree but they are not supporting it.

SA:  We have spent a lot of money on flood protection.   We have had a lot of growth in the province.  Lots of partnerships.  Challenge is to connect with average Manitobans.

DL:  In general elections NDP has had popular support and yet did not want to go to a referendum.

DL:  Did you contemplate a referendum.

SA:  We have made changes and the act allows to proceed without going to referendum.

DL:  Did the government contemplate a referendum.

SA:  The decision speaks for itself, decided to go with a ten year plan.

DL:  Mayor Porter would you have preferred a referendum.

EP:  Can be done with a dialogue with the community.

DL:  Support the referendum.

EP:  The government should follow the law, but could sell it if it was exclusively for infrastructure.

DL:  The conservative felt that there shold have been more consultation, debate and referendum.

JC:  The BB legislation indicates that no referendum is required if the total tax is not included.  The government could reduce the business tax and then increase the PST.

SM:  The government promised a BB by 2014 and they have changed their promises and are not following the law.

SA:  The Conservative plan did not work

EP:  While you guys argue our infrastructure is falling apart

DL;  The municipalities want the money but are not supporting the increase.

DL:  The majority of federal money will be spent on infrastructure.

EP:  The municipalities have to pay PST on their projects.

SA:  Province has to have funding in place to get federal money.

DL:  Next referendum will be the election.  Can the Bus. Council support the government.

JC:  The government has the authority to change the law.  Not in favor of Bill 20 which guts the BB bill.  That will allow the government to spend PST on hospitals and schools instead of infrastructure.  Will support the government with or without a referendum if the money is used for infrastructure.

DL: No one seems to believe that the conservatives can find this money.  What is the most salient arguement that the conservatives have for not holding a referendum.

SA:  We have had growth.  Second highest growth in the country.

SL:  When does money have to be on the table for Build Canada.

DL:  Is a PST referendum winable.

JC:  When should a government go to a referendum.

SA:  We elect governments to make decisions.  It was a tough decision and we made it.

DL:  How much of the 280 million will not go into infrastructure.

DL:  If the government could show where it is going they would have support.  How much will go into hard infrastructure.

SA:  Its all going to go to infrastructure but not all to municipalities.

SA:  Want to be able to point to specific infrastructure tasks.

DL:  Is the Bus Council satisfied with the way the government is implementing.

JC:  Not our role.  We are indicating our position and that's all.

EP:  Seems that they have lost communication with the community.  Rural Manitoba is being left out.

DL:  Are you saying the Conservatives would never consider a tax increase.

SM:  Too hypothetical.  The government is talking accountability and yet going against the spirit of the law.

DL:  Are you confident that the government has enough time to show people the value of this legislation.

SA:  Quite happy with the government's record.  Infrastructure from 85 to 468 million, etc.

MOOC addict

Well I have been busy for the last few months with the various MOOCs that I have been taking.  In the last three months I have been involved in the following:

Calculus of a Single Variable:  Excellent graphics and presentation, the assignments were unrealistic.
Bioelectricity:  Disappointing and frustrating.
Irrationality:  I had read the books so I thought I would take the course.  Very advanced production but somehow I did not get into it.  Probably it was because I felt like I was being manipulated by the instructor.
Digital Signal Processing:  Interesting course and the presentation was not too bad given that the instructors are European.  Once again, the assignments were unrealistic and frustrating.
Control of Mobile Robots:  I have dabbled in robotics myself so I found this to be interesting.  The math was a little too involved for my level of interest.
Data Analysis:  Useful course, heavy reliance on examples with R.
Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering:  Once again, fairly heavy depth mathimatically, but useful nonetheless.
Introductory Human Physiology:  Very informative.  The tests were too nit-picky so I didn't bother with them  but I found the lectures quite interesting.
"Pay Attention" ADHD through the Lifespan:  Good but stretched out, should probably be a six week course instead of 12.
Web Intelligence and Big Data:  I was disappointed in this one.  It was too ambitious in its scope and left too many gaps for the student to fill.
Synapses, Neurons and Brains:  Quite enjoyable and very informative.  The unit quizzes were quite fair, I haven't seen the final yet.
Medical Neuroscience:  This is a great course.  A tremendous amount of information and very well presented with lots of excellent diagrams.  The workload level is very high and the quizzes are very difficult.  I haven't had an exam yet but I'm not looking forward to it.  Unfortunately the tests seem to be more of the type that cause un-learning as opposed to learning.  There is also a draconian participation requirement for the course forums.  I refuse to post simply for the sake of posting.
Mathematical Biostatistics Bootcamp:  A strange survey of topics, probably not in-depth enough coverage of material.
Computational Neuroscience:  So far it is has been highly mathematical and it is has been one of those courses were you seem to be expected to know the material before they teach it.
Introduction to Data Science:  This was disappointing.  The organization of this course left much to be desired.  Lots of problems getting software to work to do the assigments, not enough guidance.
Statistical Molecular Thermodynamics:  I took this to review some of my Chemistry background.  I am not going to do the assignments and tests.  So far it is very good with lots of demonstrations.

The above courses are all offered by Coursera, which seems to be my preferred source of MOOCS.  The Computer courses offered by Udacity tend to have a more consistent user interface and less issues with the programs needed for the coursework.  During this time I was also taking a course offered by the Santa Fe Institute called Introduction to Complexity.  There were technical issues with this course and the delivery was uneven but overall it was quite good.  I haven't seen the final exam yet, so I can't comment on how fair the assessment is.

On top of these I was attending a course locally on Citizen Journalism that was about 7 hours a week for six weeks.  So I have been busy.  There are still some courses on-going and always some new ones coming up but it will be a little more reasonable from here on. One good thing is that I decided to buy a new laptop because the old netbook just couldn't cut it anymore.  It was starting to give me random hard  drive errors.  So I got a new Lenovo ThinkPad Twist.  It has Windows 8, which is just kind of an unnecessary complication.  What is really good is the keyboard, it is well designed for serious typing.

So, yes, I should have been writing more but I think it is fair to say that I was just too busy.  I want to try and write more and hopefully contribute to the Community News Commons as well.

My Hockey Life - So far

Hockey has been a big part of my life in many ways, so I should spend some time going over my memories. The first thing that I can remember is my Dad making an outdoor rink in our back yard. It wasn't terribly big, probably only about 10 feet by 20 feet, and there were no boards. It was just an ice surface to start learning how to skate. I was into right away, pushing around a kitchen chair on the ice until I got enough strength and balance to move around on my own. Then a little hockey stick was added along with a puck and I was on my way. This started when I was five.

We only had that rink for one year because it killed the grass, but my neighbor put a rink in his garden and it was all fenced off so it was a great place for us to play little hockey games. They had a light on their garage that shone onto the rink so we could play after dark. This is where I really got started playing hockey on the ice. Of course, we also played street hockey both on the front street and in the back lanes. In the beginning we only had two pieces of snow for goal posts but in a few years there were small road hockey nets available. I played this for many years, mostly in the spring and fall when there was no ice available. We also played some floor hockey in school, which I really enjoyed.

By the time I was seven or eight I was already wandering down to the corner rink to go skating, although I was too small to play any pick up hockey or shinny. I lived about a block and a half from a small park with a wading pool called Pascoe Park. In the summer we would go there to play on the structures and in the wading pool. In the winter the wading pool side was closed and a temporary hockey rink and pleasure skating surface were erected on the other side of the building. We simply referred to the building as "the shack".

Those were the days of the Baby Boomers and there were always lots of kids around. Before I started playing organized hockey I recall skating at the rink only to be kicked off while the organized teams had games. There were three teams playing out of Pascoe Park, they were 11, 12 and 13 years olds. Keep in mind that this wasn't even a community centre, just a little satellite park for Weston Memorial Community Centre, which had all of its own teams. So there were lots and lots of kids. Anyway, after watching these guys play I was certainly gung-ho to try it also.

I should describe The Shack: There were two sets of doors, one facing north and one facing south. The south facing doors opened to a fenced-off area that had the play structures and wading pool. The north facing doors opened to a field that had a baseball diamond and soccer field and an area where the hockey rinks were installed for the winter. One the west side there were sliding doors that opened to a storage area that housed hoses and equipment. On the inside there were two bathrooms, two small changing rooms and a small office for the "Park Man". The rest of the area was an open rectangle with a row of double sided benches that had uprights between them for hanging coats and so on. The floor was concrete but in the winter it was covered by mats made out of leather and rubber. These mats had seams with metal stitching them together so I think that they were originally some kind of large belt, probably used in a power plant. The place had a particular odor, like a swimming pool, sorting of musty with a vague hint of chlorine.

So I skated a little bit at Pascoe Park but the next winter, when I turned 8, there was an opportunity to go to the Community Centre and play for the 8 year old house league team. I think I went to two practices and played one game but then I lost interest, it wasn't very well organized. I do recall having a wind-up at the community centre where we watched a film of highlights from the previous years Stanley Cup - the winners were the Toronto Maple Leafs, they haven't won since.

The next year I did not bother with organized hockey, just playing at Pascoe Park instead. One time during a quiet afternoon there was just one other skater and myself and the Park Man. Inside his office was a trunk that contained some equipment, in this case, goaltender equipment. He let me put it on, there was a mask, chest protector, shin pads and gloves and also a stick. I went out into the net and let the other kid take some shots at me. That was my first experience goaltending.

The following year I signed up to play organized hockey at Pascoe Park, I was only ten but they placed me on the eleven year old team. I wasn't getting much ice time, in those days the favored few would get all the ice time. After a few games I volunteered to play goal and they let me. So I must have played about ten or twelve games, mostly outdoors. The thing was that I didn't have all of the equipment.  All I had was my skates.  So I strapped on the big goalies shin pads, a chest pad, a helmet and cage and the blocker and catcher.  No armpads, no pants, no elbow pads and no jock!  I was a little bit prone to dodging shots, and I would get mad at myself for being such a coward.  Anyway, we had a decent season and we lost in overtime  in the playoffs.

The next year I played at Weston Memorial.  Except I was playing forward and did not get much ice time.  Our team was ok and we actually made it to the finals of the "Christmas Knockout" tournament, which meant we got to play in the old Winnipeg Arena.  That was a big thrill, although we lost the game.  The next year I had the option of going to play for West-End (instead of Weston) and since I hadn't enjoyed sitting on the bench in Weston, that's what I did.  There was a good coach there and I really enjoyed playing on that team.  I had a really good season and we made it to the city championships before losing in the final.  On the way we beat my old Weston team.

The next year most of the players from the West-end team joined a AA team in the area and I did not make the cut.  This meant going back to play for Weston.  I tried but it was a disaster there.  At 14 I knew my hockey career was over.  I spent the next two years doing what I loved the most about playing hockey and that was playing shinny at Pascoe Park.  Once I turned 16 we moved away from Weston and I really just hung up my skates, although I did go skating maybe 10 times or so until I was in University.  I played a little bit with some friends when I was 19 or 20 but I didn't really get serious again until I was in my late twenties.

I started playing some old timers hockey and in some recreational leagues.  I even played for a couple of seasons in the Police League and spared in the Charleswood Men's League.  I also participated in the number of RCMP hockey tournaments. However I found these leagues to be difficult to play in.  So many different skill levels and different attitudes towards the game.  Some people were out for fun and some people were out for blood.  Eventually I just settled on playing pick up hockey on Friday afternoons at the River Heights Arena.  After a year or so I was running the ice time there and was organizing pick up hockey year round in various locations.  From about 1992 to 2007 I probably played 100-120 games a year.  About 1997 I also took up refereeing for minor hockey.  I really enjoyed that.  It was great to be involved with the kids, and if you love the game it is the best seat in the house.  I reffed up to 2007 but by that time my hips were so bad that I was having trouble skating.  I figure that I reffed over a thousand games in that time frame, probably close to fifteen hundred.

So I had to retire from hockey in 2007, although I had one more chance to be involved in 2010 when I coached the Tuxedo Lightning Midget A2 team.  That was a great bunch of kids.  We had a terrible season but started coming on in the playoffs and won a few games before bowing out.  My only regret was that I was no longer able to get on the ice and skate with the players.

My surgeon did not encourage me to play hockey after my hips were replaced.  I felt as though I could have but eventually I just would have injured myself.  It was definitely time to hang them up.  Overall I had many years of enjoyment and camaraderie, and, other than the progressive degeneration of my hips, no major injuries to contend with.  I really have so many happy and positive memories about my years playing hockey, that I am extremely grateful.  I never got to be in the "show" or be a star, but I sure had a lot of fun.

Weston Stories I

I grew up in Winnipeg in a neighborhood called Weston.  The reason that it was called Weston is that it was located adjacent to the Canadian Pacific Railway's Weston Shops, which was a huge maintenance facility.  Most of the people who lived in Weston either worked for the railway or had family members that did.  My mother's grandfather, father, brother, uncle, as well as my father all worked there at some point in time.  It was a booming place in the post World War II days.

Weston was kind of an interesting little enclave because it was bordered by the Weston Shops to the North. To the south and east it was bordered by Notre Dame Ave. and McPhillips Street, both of which featured a great deal of industrial buildings.  On the west side it was bordered by Keewatin Street, on the other side of which was another neighborhood called Brooklands.  The overall effect was to create distinct borders around the neighborhood so that it seemed to me to be a little self-contained town inside the city.  Sometimes people would refer to it as "CPR Town".

When I was born my parents lived in an Apartment complex called Blake Gardens that was situated right beside The Weston Shops.  These apartments had been built to accommodate the large influx of workers and families into the area after World War II.  This was the height of the baby boom and my earliest recollection of that time was going out into the open area between the apartment complexes with my mother and seeing the place just full of kids playing and parents talking.  That was one thing about growing up in the baby boomer era, there were always lots of kids around.

Weston had three schools, two elementary and one Junior High School.  One elementary school was called Weston school and it was on Logan at Quelch.  Logan was the main thoroughfare through Weston.  The other two schools were paired together and were called Cecil Rhodes I and II.  Cecil Rhodes I was the junior high (grades 7 to 9), and was also called the "old school" or the "big school" because it had been the first and only school in the neighborhood for many years.  Located across the school ground from it was the elementary school, which was called the "little school", although it was probably larger.  The Big School was on Cecil Street bordered by Elgin and William Avenue.  The elementary school faced Elgin Avenue and was bordered by William and Worth Avenue.

Weston had a community centre, there were numerous shops and Mom and Pop grocery stores.  One thing that it did not have was a library.  This gave rise to one of my favorite memories of Weston and that was the Book Mobile.  Every Tuesday, like magic, this large mobile home converted into a mobile library would appear at a gas station at Logan Ave. and Blake St.  You entered in the door at one end and returned your books.  Bookshelves lined the length of the trailer on each side from floor to ceiling.  You picked your books and then checked them out at the door at the opposite end of the trailer.  There were always two librarians and they operated this nifty microfilm camera that took pictures of your library card and the card from the book that you were checking out.  I took many, many books out of that book mobile over the years.  It brought me great enjoyment and it is something that I don't think exists any longer.

I recently lost 70 pounds...how I did it.

First of all, I have never been a thin person, although I am fairly tall (6' 2' - 6' - 3" range).  I didn't mind too much because I felt good and I was very physically active.  Usually I would experience a stretch of weight gain and then lose 20 or 25 pounds.  I basically stabilized around the 265 mark.  Then, in my mid-forties, my  hips started to go really bad.  My primary activity was hockey and I just couldn't continue playing.  I tried to keep up with alternate activities such as going to  the gym, swimming, cycling, etc., but it's not the same.  As my hips became worse I could hardly ride a bike and walking was out of the question.

One thing that I did which paid dividends in the long run was cut back on my coffee intake.  Then I switched to decaf coffee and finally I eliminated the cream and sugar.  I went from about 8 to 10 cups a day of double cream double sugar to 6 cups of black decaf.  I think this is hugely important because caffeine plays hell with your blood sugar levels and makes it difficult to maintain a diet.  This coffee transition took me months to do and while I was doing it I did not worry about my weight.

Also during this time I was recovering from my hip surgeries, so I tried to be active but I ate pretty much as much as I wanted.  I also think this was important because I certainly felt weak after the surgeries.  My activity was primarily cycling with some weights thrown in.

In the summer of 2012 I maxed out with my weight, probably around 305 and that's when I started dieting seriously.  I bought digital scales for measuring weight and food portions and I signed up for a web-based diet and exercise utility called "Lose-It" which allowed me to track weight, calories from food and exercise in a very convenient manner.  I weighed myself every day and maintained the entries for food and exercise diligently.  Lose-It allows you to set goals to make it easier to monitor how much you can eat and it automatically adjusts the calories allowed based on your current weight.

I set my weight loss goal so that I would lose a pound a week from calorie reduction, so that is about 500 calories a day.  Then I worked out like crazy.  Not super-intense, lots of moderate cardio and weights.  I was typically losing about 3 pounds a week this way and I almost never lacked energy or experienced hunger pangs.  In fact, I lost over 75 pounds, but my goal was 70 so I have allowed myself to come up a bit.  I am just under 235, which was my goal weight and I am currently tweaking my activity and caloric intake to see what a maintenance lifestyle will look like.  The weight came off over a period of 6 months.

While doing this I was 52 years old and had both hips replaced two years prior.  I think that if I could do it, then anyone can.

Distractions from writing: MOOCs

I have become addicted to MOOCs (Massively Open On-line Courses).  In the last year and a half I have probably taken close to twenty of them.  Usually they are about 6 to 12 weeks long.  I sometimes take as many as 7 or 8 at the same time.  Of course I mostly just watch the lectures and don't bother too much with the exams or assignments, although I do them if I think they will bolster my learning - as opposed to simply providing a grading mechanism.  I do find it strange how much people obsess over marks in a non-credit course.  To me it is all about the learning and, at my age, I'm not going to cram for a test when I know that I won't retain that detail and don't need it anyway.

It is interesting to see the evolution of these courses.  I started with an Introduction to AI course offered by Stanford.  That program immediately morphed into Udacity and Coursera.  I have taken many courses in both of those programs.  I have also registered for a few other MOOC providers, such as Ed X but I haven't taken any of their courses yet.  I recently started a Complexity course offered by the Santa Fe Institute.  All of these are quite good and the level of sophistication is improving.  There have been a couple of courses that  I did not think were that good, but they were still ok.

These courses are here to stay and they will improve learning overall.  The only thing that I am worried about is what will happen when there is the inevitable move to monetize the courses.  I have noticed that some courses are now offering some type of recognized certificate based on a fee payment in addition to the course requirements.  I think that will detract from the spirit of the MOOC.

I guess the one down side for me is that I spend so much time with these courses that I am not writing and I need to strike a balance in that regard.  Hey, I'm actually taking a MOOC on ADHD, which for me, seeing as I am taking about seven or eight courses at the same time right now, is totally ironic.

Sleep time.

On Chess

Well, I started playing Chess when I was about 8 or 9 when I found an old Chess set at my Granny's place and my Uncle Bill showed me the moves. I think that I played one game and then fooled around with the pieces for a bit and then that was it. Somehow I became interested in the game again when I was about ten or eleven, I found a book in the school library which was, I believe, by Irving Chernev that had numerous games of chess in descriptive notation. I figured out the notation and started playing through the games. So I started playing more with Uncle Bill and with other kids. Most of the time I could beat the kids, but I didn't beat Bill for a few years, probably not until I was fourteen or so.

Of course what really got me hooked was the Spassky-Fischer match in 1972. I seem to recall that I initially hoped that Fischer would get a dose of humility in this match, but, as it progressed, I became a supporter of Fischer. After that match I was playing fairly regularly against Bill and  I even played in a simultaneous exhibition against a local Grand Master, Abe Yanofsky, which I lost.

Then there was an international Tournament at the University of Winnipeg in 1974, I think it was called the Pan-Am Championships. I attended this event and helped out by monitoring the demonstration boards. I also played in my first organized tournament. I'm not sure if I even won any games, perhaps one. That tournament took place in the summer so when I returned to school that year I played a lot more at school and I would usually win.

The next year I went to high school and joined the Chess club there and I was fairly successful in the weekly games. I also participated in the High School Chess Championship for a couple of rounds, but dropped out because I was having headaches. After that I lost interest in Chess for a few years, playing only sporadically and not very well.

I got the bug again in my third year of University, and I don't remember how it happened. I probably saw some people playing in a cafeteria and it got me interested again and I played fairly intensely for another couple of years. During this time I would play at the University and also went in a couple of open tournaments, both of which I won prizes for in my rating group...which wasn't very high. I often would even play at parties, winning almost all the games, until I got too relaxed from sipping wine. Sometimes I would go down to the Winnipeg Public Library and play some games there as well. The hi-light at this point was winning a game against an International Master, Fletcher Barager, in a simultaneous exhibition at the University of Winnipeg. There were only about six people participating so it was actually a pretty good win.

After that I drifted away again and didn't return to chess until the late 1980s, when I, once again, got the bug and started playing. This lasted for about another two years and I don't recall playing in any tournaments in this time, but I did go down and play at the Winnipeg Chess Club once in a while. I participated in another simultaneous exhibition with GM Abe Yanofsky and lost yet again. It resulted from a simple blunder when I had a fairly good position, something that happens all too often.

Then there was another hiatus that ended around 2002 when I started playing with some people at work. I brought a chess set and clock and enjoyed many games of blitz chess at work during coffee breaks. More significantly at this time I picked up a Chess Program - Fritz and joined an on-line Chess Club - Chessbase which has enabled me to play many thousands of blitz games over the last 8 or 9 years. I realize that what has caused my lost of interest over the years was simply a lack of people to play in a convenient setting. The Internet has truly revolutionized Chess from that standpoint. I don't think that I am a better player because of it, all I do is play Blitz most of the time and that isn't the best way to improve. However the Internet has also made a vast quantity of games available for review and also allows you to watch major tournament games in real time. It is really quite remarkable.

I have always enjoyed reading about Chess and its history, so I have a fair number of Chess Books. I did go into another tournament about a year ago, it was a rapid Chess Tournament (each player has a 15 minute time limit). I did ok, I won a small prize, but I certainly could have done better. Although I have been playing for some time, I am not particularly good, but I am better than average. Many Chess players continue to play at a strong level late in age, so perhaps I can look forward to improving some more. I see myself continuing to play for the foreseeable future.

The Karate-do years

Recently I was browsing Youtube and I encountered a video filmed in a Karate dojo. It engendered a peculiar response from me, an unusual response similar to what I was experiencing years ago when I stopped practicing Karate-do. At that time I had been practicing for twelve years and it had got to the point where every time I went to the dojo, or even contemplated going to the dojo, I would get this feeling of heaviness and unease. I ascribed this feeling to chronic fatigue syndrome - due to the fact that I had practiced very hard for many years. It is interesting to me that this feeling actually hasn't diminished in the 17 years since I stopped practicing because viewing that video brought back the same feeling.

I began following Karate-do in 1980, at the age of 20. I was at the University of Winnipeg and looking for an activity that would challenge me physically. I had always had very poor flexibility and I thought that pursuing an activity like Karate-do would improve that problem. Of course, I had seen the Bruce Lee movies as a kid, so there was always that mystique about the martial arts in general. I had also taken a course at the U of W on Sports Injuries and a girl in that course had mentioned the Karate Club at the University of Winnipeg. From the age of 16 to 20 I had primarily relied on Curling as my activity, sometimes Curling 200 games a year. However, that game was beginning to frustrate me because it simply wasn't enough exercise. Then I hurt my back one day warming up for a Curling game and I decided that I had to do something much more physical while I was still young. So, in the fall of 1980, I signed up at the Karate Club at the University of Winnipeg.

This program was taught by a U of W alumnus named Harold Abosh. Harold was a student of Tug Wilson, who was, in turn, a student of Mas Tsuruoka. Mr. Tsuruoka was a native born Canadian who had returned to Japan to live after the second world war. He had learned Judo in Canada but began training in Karate-do with an Okinowan master named Dr. Chitose. Later Mr. Tsuruoka returned to Canada and started teaching Chito-ryu in Canada.

The classes were conducted in a small Judo room in Riddell Hall at the Univeristy of Winnipeg. The floor had tatami and there were mirrors along one wall. The only ventilation for the room was to the indoor parking garage! I practiced for one year and found the training very intense and demanding. We would train two days a week to begin with and then added a Saturday morning class as well. Sometimes the Saturday morning classes would have only two or three students. I persevered, however, and soon there was a nucleus of several dedicated practitioners. Foremost were Bill Young and myself. In the next year we were joined by Terry Hendricks and my friend Ivan du Plessis and Anne Gaultier After the second year we had a very dedicated bunch and were practicing three times a week all year round.

Having a good dojo is like having any good sports team, you need a good coach and dedicated players and that certain chemistry. I think we had that for a few years at the U of W club. The number of students increased, as did the intensity level. Mr. Abosh also put on some Karate camps in the fall as well as special winter training. We participated in the Manitoba Karate Association Tournaments and were very successful at our levels and we also hosted clinics where Mr. Tsuruoka would come from Toronto to do seminars.

I found Karate-do to be difficult because of my large frame and terrible hips. I worked hard in the dojo but also practiced outside a great deal and did a lot of additional conditioning in the gym and running, but my progress was slow. After 5 years of hard work I was a brown belt, close to obtaining a black belt but not there yet. Then there were pressures from the University of Winnipeg because they were uncomfortable with Mr. Abosh's direction of turning the Club into his own business. He certainly deserved to have that type of success but the University was not comfortable with it and the pressures began to affect everyone, soon there was an incident or two where I was put in a position with Mr. Abosh that made it impossible for me to continue on training at that club. These kinds of breaks are always difficult but Anne and I left and started training at a new club.

The new club was the Japan Karate Association of Manitoba. The instructor was Phil Dingman and it was located on the third floor of an old warehouse building in Winnipeg's exchange district. The Japan Karate Association or JKA follows a lineage established by Gichin Funikoshi, an Okinowan master that brought Karate-do to Japan in the early part of the twentieth century. His students eventually fanned out across the globe teaching Mr. Funikoshi's style, which came to be known as Shoto-kan. At the time I began training Mr. Dingman was affiliated with a Japanese master named Mr. Yutaka Yaguchi.

Of course these types of dojos have to pay the bills and the dues are high, and there are many gradings. What I really liked about this dojo was that Mr. Dingman was able to bring in many well known Japanese Masters for clinics. I saw Mr. Osaka, Mr. Tanaka and Mr. Yaguchi. After two more years of very hard work I was awarded the Shodan, it was 1987 and I had been training for 7 years.

That same year I had begun teaching Karate-do at the Kirkfield-Westwood Community Centre. I would teach three classes a week for ten months of the year. I quite enjoyed the teaching and I ran this program for 5 years until 1992 when my oldest son was born. At that time I had been having some trouble with the hall at the Community Centre being left very dirty for Saturday classes and Anne said she wanted me at home more with Adam, so I retired from Karate-do. The truth is that I had been experiencing the physical tiredness and malaise that I mentioned earlier. I had slowly been getting back into playing recreational hockey, so it was time to leave.

In total I spent 12 years involved in Karate-do and I do not regret it. Although I was not naturally gifted for the activity I learned a great deal and I think that it developed my character. In the end it is all about working as hard as you can and the people that you meet. It really doesn't matter which path you choose, as long as you enter deeply along the way.

My First Experience Coaching Hockey

This year I coached my son's Midget A2 hockey team and it was my first experience as a hockey coach. I played a lot of hockey over the years, but most of it was unorganized. Most of my experience with organized hockey came as a referee. I refereed minor hockey for about 8 years up until 2006 when my hips became so bad that I was beginning to have difficulty skating. When I gave up skating it meant giving up the recreational hockey that I played and also refereeing. Between these two activities I was probably on the ice about 10 hours a week, so it was a big part of my life.

At the time that I retired from hockey neither of my two sons played at all. I had taken them to the rink and to skating lessons when they were younger but they just weren't interested in playing. Then, suddenly, about three years ago, Steven, who is my younger son, became interested in playing at the age of 14 and then one year later, at 15, he was playing midget hockey. Not playing all that well, but playing. So I became a hockey Dad during the period when I was hobbled by my hips and during the time I was having the surgery to replace them. Needless to say I did not see myself getting involved too much with the teams, although I did help out a bit now and then by time keeping.

Last fall Steven transferred to a new team and I volunteered to help out as a Manager or whatever, but it turned out that the team needed a Coach. Although I hadn't coached hockey, what I had done was taken some hockey coaching courses way back in the early nineties. I took them because I had thought that I would be able to coach my kids when they were older, but, of course, they never played. So I thought that I would be able to do the basics. I had coached soccer for one year and also instructed Karate-do at my own club for 5 years, so I wasn't exactly new to coaching in general. It turned out that the courses that I had taken were no longer valid so I had to spend a weekend taking a new program that forms the basic requirements for coaching hockey in Canada. Of course, I had a lot of background in minor hockey from refereeing as well. Still it was a challenge because I could not get on the ice with the players during practice because I was still recovering from my surgeries. I didn't know, and still don't know, whether I can skate. I'm planning on trying again this fall.

Anyhow, I felt that this limitation would be mitigated by the fact that the players were older and did not need that type of one-to-one instruction so much. Also there were two other Dads who could help with practices but could not commit to full-time coaching. Essentially I would plan out the practices and then go over it with the other Coaches and then let them run the practice on-ice while I would supply the outlines of the drills with "chalk-talks" from the bench. It wasn't the best arrangement, but it worked. One or both of them also helped on the bench during the games.

One of the problems that we had was that we got off to a slow start with only one practice before the season started. This was due to the fact that I didn't find out that the team needed a coach until about a week and a half prior to the season starting. During that time I had to go to a coaches meeting, go to an ice draft for practice times and attend the weekend coaching clinic. We lost our first game, although it was close, but that set us up for a poor start and we had a loosing record for most of the season. In the meantime I had also arranged to have name tags for the sweaters, which was an additional few hours of running around.

Once the season started we fell into a routine of about 1.5 games to each practice. Attendance is difficult for the players at this age because they have jobs and girlfriends and hockey is simply not as high a priority for them. None of the players at this level would be moving on to any elite level of hockey, so they were basically in it for fun. Given that, I thought that overall our players did attend fairly well but it was erratic enough that we couldn't build much momentum. After each game I would try and analyze an area for us to work on and then research some coaching manuals and the internet for drills that I thought would be interesting and help the players develop individually and as a team. This is where I felt that not being on the ice was a limitation for me. I also didn't feel as though I could generate the enthusiasm which I could have if I was going out to practice with them. For some poorly attended practices the players decided on their own to simply scrimmage for fun.

The games were generally pretty good, we would usually have about 11 or 12 players out. Our goalies attended well and played quite well. Overall I would say that conditioning was a problem for these guys, they could have been in better shape and I think we lost a few games because they ran out of gas. We didn't really have practices to do extra conditioning and I don't think they would have tolerated it that well anyway. I tried to adopt the philosophy of keeping players together as much as possible and we used a rotational basis for the lines, which is fair for all. We did have a couple of players who took a lot of penalties and that cost us, but that is hockey I suppose.

By the end of the season we were playing better and , although we finished in last place, we had won a few games and were improving. We lost one game by default because I allowed one of the goalies to play out because he wanted to try it. I didn't see any problem with it, but apparently that is against the rules so we had to forfeit a game that we won on the ice. The players also forfeited a game after that because not enough of them showed up. That was a low point, but the team rallied into the play-offs by playing their best hockey of the season. We won a couple of games and could have done better except for a few bad bounces.

I kept statistics and summarized the games for the players on Facebook, the page is "Tuxedo Lightning Midget A2". Overall, I think it was successful, there are things I would do differently of course. I think that the kids were great, they were a lot of fun. Most of all I suppose that I am grateful that I had the opportunity to participate in the game this way. I would do it again, but there certainly would be changes.

Words

Here, in no particular order, are a collection of words that I want to remember or always forget:

Polysyndeton: A writing device where the same conjunction is repeated over. And, and, and...

Anaphora: A writing device where the same word is repeated over and over again. Then, then, then...

Synecdoche: A literary device whereby a part of a thing represents the entire thing, such as "hands" for a ships crew or "sails" for ships.

Metonymy: A literary device where a part of a thing is used to represent the entire thing with which it is closely associated. For example, "crown" for royalty.


Tergiversator: hedger, a respondent who avoids giving a clear direct answer

Notes on "The Body Language Handbook"

Body language derives from basic responses originating in the limbic system. Essentially it is the "fight or flight" response adapted to social situations, except the author adds one more possibility: freeze. Therefore there are three basic responses: freeze, flight or fight.

These three responses are manifested in four general strategies: barriers, adapters, illustrators and regulators. A barrier is any step that we take to increase the amount of social space around us. An adapter is anything that allows a person to gain or regain the social space. An illustrator is an action that we use to punctuate our statements and regulators allow us to control another person's pattern of speech.

These key responses are tempered by five factors that influence how the body language is manifested: self-awareness, sophistication, personal style or grooming, situational awareness and, finally, the sense of another person's entitlement and what is proper.

One has to be aware that some messaging is intentional and some is not. Intentional messaging can be affected by perceived threat. The intensity of the situation can also have an effect.

Thoughts on the Golden Mean

I was listening to a history book on Brunelleschi and Ghiberti and how their competition was a defining moment in the birth of the renaissance and there was a discussion of how Brunelleschi discovered how to apply linear perspective to modeling. Brunelleschi seemed to be an intense student of how to represent perspectives in art and architecture and he studied the aesthetics of building shapes from the classical period. He was certainly aware of the Golden Ratio. I was intrigued by the idea that a man so obsessed with how humans perceived would be drawn to this ratio, because he was not just one to employ the pragmatics of perspective, he also seemed to understand that there were innate human cognitive processes involved in perception and aesthetics.

It dawned on me at that point that the attraction of the Golden Mean to the human eye may have a basis in how our brains actually process information. In other words the reason that we find that ration attractive is that it resonates with the transformation of information from our senses to our brain in such a way that it is a simple and pleasing experience to look at such an object. It may be that the transformation of information in our brain iterates from the basic formula of the Golden mean.

Notes on "How to Spot a Liar"

How to Spot a Liar by Gregory Hartley and Maryann Karinch

The main author is Hartley and he is relating his experiences in military interrogation to day-to-day challenges.

Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous system:

Sympathetic creates the flight or fight response with all of its attendent outward signs, turning pale, sweating, dilating pupils, etc.

The parasympathetic system corresponds to higher cognitive functions that indicate the body is trying to restore equilibrium, during this phase there may be a flushed appearance, etc.

Four types of lying: omit, commit, embellish the truth and transfer. Styles of lying depend on many personality factors such as the person's rapport skills. Also whether they are a "big picture" or detail person. It is useful to use a classification scheme such as Myers-Briggs to help set parameters on a persons reactions (a form of "baselining").

Baselining is important to understand the person's responses to various questions. It is useful to ask straightforward questions that activate different parts of the brain: calculation, music, memory, imagination.

It is essential to have a strategy as to how to approach the person. There are several interrogation strategies: Direct, Incentive, Emotional, Fear-up, Fear-down, Pride and ego (up or down), Futility, We know all, Reptetition, Establish Identity, Rapid Fire, Silence.

There are many questioning styles but it is important to have a strategy and to take notes that allow you to follow-up on leads and uncover information until the leads are dealt with.

Eye movements: memory left, construct right.

Educating Intuition - Notes from the book

Hogarth, Roblin M. Educating Intuition. The University of Chicago Press. Chicago, 2001.

Intuition is that unconscious decision making process that we all are capable of to some extent or another. The question that the author addresses in this book is whether we are capable of actively refining our intuitions. In order to tackle this concept the author had to delve into many aspects of cognition, especially as it relates to the work of experts. He divides our thought processes into two streams: the deliberate and the tacit. The tacit corresponds to the innate reasoning that we generally consider to be intuition. Although we are not actively conscious of it, the author has positioned the steps involved in tacit reasoning in relation to conscious deliberate reasoning and outlined a process by which we can consciously improve our tacit reasoning. The overall map of this process is diagrammed below (from p.196 of the book). Essentially the process involves becoming conscious of tacit reasoning and then selecting experience and feedback that will allow development of that reasoning while being aware of potential cognitive biases (examples given are the regression to the mean and the gambler's fallacy) through what he calls "circuit breakers". He feels that learning can occur in the tacit system once we have consciously learned to apply the scientific method in reflecting on our intuitions, particularly with respect to the use of falsification.

Since I am interested in the Scientific Method and the relationship that intuition has to it, I found it interesting that the author turned the relationship around so that the Scientific Method becomes a way that we can consciously select experiences that train our intuition. Then our intuition leads us to to new insights which can then also be confirmed by the Scientific Method. Once again, I tend to relate these ideas to the deduction/induction process where the "tacit" reasoning corresponds to induction and the deduction to the "deliberate". This book seems to suggest that there is an element to human cognition whereby we are constantly seeking patterns unconsciously, which then are brought, seemingly unbidden, to the fore when we are consciously attempting to understand something.

The diagram of the model and further quotes follow.

p.158

...experts and novices use different problem-solving strategies. Novices tend first to identify a specific goal and then work backward through the details of the problem to find a way to reach the goal. Experts, however, tend first to take in the details of the problem they face, then determine (through a process of recognizing similarities) the general framework that best fits the data, and, finally, work forward from that framework to explore possible solutions (goals). The process that novices follow (working backward) is more deliberate; the process that experts follow (working forward) is more intuitive.

p. 212

...the strength and weakness of tacit learning is the fact that it is tied to what has been experienced . It is necessarily limited. On the other hand, deliberate processes can produce impressive intellectual achievements.

One such achievement -- known generally as scientific method (i.e., the methods and rules of scientific reasoning) -- allows us to learn more effectively from experience.

On a section regarding the testing of intuitive thought, p236-237:

The key advice for testing can be summarized as follows: When you have what you think is a good hypothesis (or belief or idea), ask yourself what could change your mind. What evidence would you need to see to be convinced that you are mistaken?

p.239 "Exhbit 20" Improving skills of testing

1. Get into the habit of searching for possible disconfirming evidence.

2. Continue to generate alternative ideas -- understanding is rarely complete. Ask yourself what you would expect to see if different ideas were true. How can you check these predictions?

3. Be aware that taking action may prevent you from ever being able to check your idea or hypothesis. That is, taking action may prevent you from seeing the outcome of the action that you didn't take. Act, or don't act, but don't fool yourself.

4. When possible, check your ideas with other people.

5. Don't expect to find "smoking guns" -- except in well-defined situations.

6. To what extent are your beliefs in ideas dependent on particular pieces of evidence? How valid is that evidence? How would your beliefs change if that evidence were less reliable or even missing?

7. What evidence would lead you to change your beliefs?

8. Could what you see be due to chance? In whole, or in part? (Recall regression toward the mean and the gambler's fallacy [see pp. 123-125].)

9. To what extent do you want your specific idea to be true? Does this color your understanding?

10. Remember that, in dealing with people, it is usually possible to check ideas or hypotheses only at the level of actual, observed behaviour. We rarely, if ever, have access to underlying motivations.

11. Seek feedback!

LOST - 4815162342

I recently had a period of time, while convalescing from surgery, that afforded me the opportunity to spend some time just watching movies or t.v. I had undergone hip replacement surgery--my second in six months--which meant a certain lack of physical mobility along with a certain lack of mental motivation, and watching some shows would seem to be just what was required. What to watch? Well, Lost had just finished its run and it seemed to have been successful. It had lots of fans and seemed to wrap up well. I had never seen even a single episode as it is the type of production that frustrates me because of the delay between episodes and the potential to miss an installment altogether.

So I set out to watch all 6 seasons straight through and it took me about three weeks. I probably averaged about 4 hours a day. I have seen many comments on The Internet regarding the complexity of the plot and how it was resolved. Sitting through it in that way kept many of the subtle aspects of the plot fresh in my mind, although I didn't re-watch any episodes to analyze them for fine details.

So here is my take on this series, first the good things. I think the setting was one of the strongest aspects of the production. It was filmed on location in Hawaii and having that consistently beautiful backdrop was a major plus for the show. I thought that the character development, particularly the use of "flashbacks" to help establish the complexity of the characters and their entangled relationships really helped the viewer to "bond" with the characters. I liked the sci-fi aspect of a discovered retro-seventies research project that had gone to seed. Although I didn't mind the fantasy aspects of the spirits on the island and the island itself, ultimately I think it went too far. The pacing of the plot development was very rapid and quite addictive.

On the down side I would have to say that the pace of plot also resulted in many sub-plots dangling. In many ways I would liken this to a Ponzi scheme in the sense that, as a viewer, one is led to believe that elements of the plot would be resolved but they never were, the show simply pushed on trying to keep the viewer on the hook with new twists while resolving outstanding plot issues where they could. The use of flashbacks to flesh out the characters and the plot is a great tool, but I am always wary when the writers start resorting to time travel anomalies or parallel universes because it means that ultimately I have to accept their resolution to the plot whether I find it acceptable or not. It is also a problem when the writers start down the path to the supernatural, often, as it did for Lost, this path leads to an escalation that ultimately undermines the credibility of the plot development. At the end of the day I would also have to say that the program was much more graphically violent than it needed to be.

The resolution of the fate of the main protagonists was satisfying. The resolution of the parallel universe/time anomaly aspects much less so. The supernatural aspects of the island were not really dealt with that well. So while having the Lost experience was enjoyable, and am glad that I watched the entire run, it also left me feeling somewhat cheated -- sort of like I want to re-write major chunks of it on my own.

Second Hip Surgery

I haven't posted since before my hip surgery on May 11th. Things were kind of busy leading up to the surgery and after it was done I didn't feel much like writing. I decided that I would just take six weeks off and relax as much as possible. "Relaxing" this time meant watching videos, reading, sleeping, etc. Although I didn't feel like reading as much this time as I did for the first hip.

This surgery was certainly different than the last in terms of recovery. I did not loose as much blood and therefore felt better and stronger since the first day. The joint itself was also much more stable for walking and other activities. The only real challenge was lifting the knee forward and upward as in going up stairs or getting into a car. Otherwise things went very well. My wound continued to drain as the last time, so I had to stay in the hospital for 5 days and it healed slowly so I had to wait over 3 weeks before I could shower, but otherwise things were good. I did not need to take any drugs, even in the hospital I did not use any of the patient controlled analgesia.

During my recovery it was much more comfortable getting in and out of bed and looking after myself. I could also drive after three weeks, although, as I mentioned, the movements getting into and out of a car were the most uncomfortable. Sitting, as usual, was also uncomfortable, even in a comfy recliner. The best way to relax was semi-reclined in bed.

I suppose my overall fatigue level was somewhat higher. I certainly napped regularly and slept well. Since I was walking better I could go to the gym earlier and start working out. In the beginning it was somewhat uncomfortable using the stationary bike and my cardio and strength have dropped. These did not rebound as quickly as I had expected them to. Perhaps this is because I was so weakened from my first surgery that once I had started to improve things seemed to go more quickly.

I also did not have as much ability to concentrate so I did not read as much. I spent more time watching videos. A movie is actually a little too long so I started watching tv shows. Eventually I decided that it would be interesting to watch "Lost". It seemed to be a popular show and it had just finished while I was in the hospital. So I watching the whole six seasons straight through. I'll post about Lost later.

No major complaints about this surgery at all. I have noticed that my first surgery hip has become more stiff because of inactivity but hopefully it will continue to improve also. I'm starting work today, although it will be for half-days for a little while. By next week I should be back in the groove. I still have some healing to do, bending over to put on shoes still hurts and sitting for any length of time is not so good. It all gets a bit better every day.

Notes on Mental Leaps

A theory on how the mind extends knowledge. p.15

A multiconstraint theory - similarity, structure and purpose guide the formation of analogy through the stages of selection, mapping, evaluation and learning. p.17

"Scientific analogies have at least four purposes: discovery, development, evaluation and exposition." p.189

"A metaphor uses cross domain analogies. It is speaking about one thing to say something about another." p.213

"Allegories are extended metaphorical stories." p.215

"A metaphor always connects two domains in a way that goes beyond the normal category structure." p.217

Samuel Butler once said "Though analogy is often misleading, it is the least misleading thing we have." p.262

Similarity of objects, similarity of relations, similarity of relations of relations.

Why I am not writing

I feel obliged to make excuses because I have not been writing enough. I have, of course, been reading but I should be writing a little bit more. I will try.

Just finished reading "Mental Leaps" by Holyoak and Thagard. This book is all about analogy and creativity and I will be discussing the book and analogy shortly. I have also been working some more on Bayes' Theorem which I will also make an entry about. One thing that is slowing me down at this point is that I wish to embed some images and equations in these posts and I have also been trying out some different equation editors. I am trying out Open Office a little more, hopefully I can get its equation editor to work well. The Word equation editor is ok. The third party editors seem to be a bit of a pain in the butt. I have found an open source version that I may try out.

I am just going to make the diagrams in Powerpoint and try embedding them as html or I will convert them to an image and embed them that way.