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A 54-Day “Get Strong” Novena

Novena FON

Today begins a 54-Day Novena which will end on 01 Janury 2021, a feast day celebrated by the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church: The Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.

More information about Fr. Richard Heilman's “Get Strong” Novena can be found here. Special meditations and Bible readings will be offered for each day of the Novena, but the most important part will be daily recitation of 5 Decades of the Rosary.

I've done several of Fr. Heilman's 54-Day Novenas and have found each one to be an edifying and worthwhile experience. I'll be doing this one, too.

And the adventure continues.

Published on 09 November 2020, ~09:40 Central Time.

#RoscoeEllis #blog #SeniorLiving #Monday #Catholic #prayer

by Roscoe

Another CC Win with White

White Win

Logging onto the site of one of my server-based Correspondence Chess Clubs this afternoon I found that I'd won another game with the White pieces. Though my 34. Nd4e6+ had placed the Black King in check, it was an attack from which he could easily escape in two ways. But however he did it, my next move would have been to capture his last remaining Rook, giving me an overwhelming material advantage. Faced with this inevitability, Black rightly resigned.

Position of pieces at game's end is shown at the top of this post, and our full move record is below:

1. d4 d5 2. Ng1f3 Nb8c6 3. c3 Bc8g4 4. h3 Bg4xf3 5. exf3 e5 6. dxe5 Nc6xe5 7. Bc1f4 Qd8d6 8. Bf4xe5 Qd6xe5 9. Qd1e2 Qe5xe2 10. Bf1xe2 Ng8f6 11. O-O Bf8c5 12. b4 O-O 13. bxc5 Rf8e8 14. Rf1e1 c6 15. Nb1d2 b6 16. Nd2b3 Nf6d7 17. Nb3d4 bxc5 18. Nd4xc6 a6 19. f4 c4 20. Nc6b4 Nd7b6 21. Be2f3 Re8d8 22. Nb4c6 Rd8d6 23. Nc6e7 Kg8f8 24. Ne7f5 Rd6f6 25. Re1e5 Rf6e6 26. Re5xe6 fxe6 27. Nf5d4 Kf8f7 28. a4 Kf7f6 29. a5 Nb6d7 30. Ra1b1 Nd7c5 31. g4 e5 32. Rb1b6 Kf6f7 33. Bf3xd5 Kf7f8 34. Nd4e6+ 1-0

And the adventure continues.

Published on 08 November 2020, ~14:00 Central Time.

#RoscoeEllis #blog #SeniorLiving #chess

by Roscoe

Good news / bad news

First the good news: This is probably meaningless to anyone other than me and my doctor, but the bathroom scales were surprisingly kind to me this morning. The body weight has finally, for the first time in many weeks (months? I may check that.) dropped down into what I consider my healthy, feel-good range! Yay! Go me!

Then the bad news: It's really not so terribly bad, and not that unusual. But at 06:20 I'm up from one of the most insomnia-filled nights to come my way in a long time. This particular insomnia was most likely due to my disappointment at watching so many folks falling blindly for the psy op (psychological operation) and shenanigans being perpetrated by those attempting a coup against America.

That coup will collapse of course, in time. I suspect weeks, maybe months for the legal aspects to straighten out. But my disappointment and sadness at so many shallow-minded people falling for it will linger. And my tendency toward misanthropy finds justification.

At least my body weight is headed in the right direction. There is that.

And the adventure continues.

Published on 08 November 2020, ~06:50 Central Time.

#RoscoeEllis #blog #SeniorLiving #health

by Roscoe

Welcome to the world, Guinevere!

Guinevere 01

This new little great-granddaughter, born just two days ago in the Philippines, brings our total great-grandchild count to seven. We have three in the US, two girls and a boy, and now four in SE Asia, four boys and one girl.

Due to travel restrictions caused by the Communist Chinese flu, and lockdown/quarantine measures and related economic tightening in place world-wide, we have yet to see any of our great-grandbabies face to face or hold any of them in our arms. Our hearts ache at that.

But we love them all dearly, as do their parents, their brothers and sisters and cousins, and their grandparents who are fortunate to live near them. Each one of our great-grandbabies is surrounded by a loving, caring family. That is a great blessing for which we are so thankful! And we look forward with eager anticipation to the day when we can be together with them.

It's interesting to note here a cultural difference between America and the Philippines. Statistics show that as a result of the forced lockdown under which much of the world has been living for nearly a year, the US divorce and domestic violence rate has skyrocketed. While in PH we're seeing a major baby boom right now.

Life does go on and...

The adventure continues.

Published on 05 November 2020, ~09:30 Central Time.

#RoscoeEllis #blog #SeniorLiving #Friday #babies

by Roscoe

Social sites?

Social sites

Yeah, I visit a few.

These are the ones saved in a folder of my phone. Some I visit much more regularly than others. Some I visit for different reasons than others.

When we're mostly quarantined under this plandemic we get our socializing from where we can, ya know.

I imagine many of you visit at least some of these places, too.

The chess clubs and websites I belong to are saved in another folder, and I often spend as much time or more with my games there than I do with the social sites pictured above. And honestly, I find the chess-heavy days healthier and more edifying than the days spent largely on the social sites.

And so the adventure continues.

Published on 05 November 2020, ~16:15 Central Time.

#RoscoeEllis #blog #SeniorLiving #Thursday #technology #social

by Roscoe

Blogging changes

Those large-ish ... listed and logged daily posts that I've been posting here recently will remain where they are, but all new ones, starting with today's, will be posted to my new Listed|Roscoe blog which is still very much under construction but which is operational.

The new blog will have (unless it becomes a spam magnet) a guestbook for those who wish to leave comments, and will have two easy ways to subscribe: either by email or by RSS feed.

Links to new posts at this Roscoe's Notebook, which I'm now going to refer to as a micro-blog, and at my new Listed|Roscoe blog will both be found in the sidebar of my website if one chooses to look for them there.

And the adventure continues.

Published on 16 October 2020, ~12:50 CDT, this is my post number 87/100/365 of the https://100daystooffload.com blogging challenge.

#100DaysToOffload #blog #RoscoeEllis #micro-blog #changes

by Roscoe

Foggy morning, football night, one Thursday... listed and logged.

Thursday morning: For some strange reason (maybe getting older has something to do with it) waking from good, long sleeps seems to take longer than it used to. Last night, for example, brought me a restful eight hours punctuated by a one-hour insomnia break. That's about the best I can hope for these days. And I didn't really pull out of the mental fog until I woke from a mid-morning nap after 10:00. Interesting, that. The morning's health metrics and financial checks were all good.

Thursday night: Another quiet day comes to an end. The chess work went well. Sylvia called me out to the front porch this afternoon to watch two police cruisers meeting in the middle of the street, then parking, and the officers going across the street to have an extended conversation with the horrible old man that everyone in the neighborhood hates. We speculated about what was being discussed, then we tired of watching and came back inside.

Tonight has found me listening to the Jonesboro, Arkansas shootout – the college football game between Georgia St. and Arkansas St. via the TuneIn Channel of my Roku box. Luckily the Channel is stable and playing well tonight. The guys calling the game are doing a good job and the game itself is a high-scoring affair with a lot going on. So it'll keep my attention until I fade for the night, which will probably be happening soon.

Prayer, etc.: 08:20 – prayer to St. Michael the Archangel 10:30 – daily prayer for President Trump 15:35 – Thursday Prayer of the Association of the Auxilium Christianorum 16:35 – Lk 11:47-54 21:30 – 5 decades of the Rosary, the Joyful Mysteries

Diet: 08:30 – bowl of oatmeal, and an apple 11:30 – peanut-butter sandwich 13:05 – bowl of vegetable soup and a croissant 13:50 – fried rice, bacon and eggs 17:00 – snacking on cheese

Chores, etc.: 08:30 – began following favorite news sources, and napping 11:00 – tuned into The Rush Limbaugh Show 13:30 – watch game shows with Sylvia 17:00 – scan news shows 18:30 – Wheel of Fortune 19:00 – found radio broadcast of college football game – Georgia St. Panthers vs. Arkansas St. Red Wolves 19:50 – shall give up for the evening trying to adjust the settings of an app that isn't responding as expected. Have been working on this off and on throughout the day.

Chess: 13:00 – moved in all pending CC games

And the adventure continues.

Published on 15 October 2020, ~22:00 CDT, this is my post number 86/100/365 of the https://100daystooffload.com blogging challenge.

#100DaysToOffload #blog #RoscoeEllis #list

by Roscoe

A Wednesday that seems about right... listed and logged.

This Wednesday finds me waking from one of the best sleeps in a long, long time: six solid hours with no interruptions. A longish, lucid type dream was with me when I woke but I can't remember and of the details. I only remember waking in the dream, rolling over to sit on the edge of my bed, and sitting there for awhile. And that's where I was as I woke. There was nothing disturbing about that, but I did find it interesting. The morning financials and health metrics were all good. It was gratifying to see the body weight down a few pounds and the BP nice and low.

Wednesday night: This was a quiet, mostly uneventful day around this joint. Peaceful, I like that. The most excitement was found in my chess games: one of which I'm on the verge of losing, another I'm only a few moves away from winning, and all the others are still far too early to tell. The two and a half hours spent working on them in the middle of the day seemed about the right amount of time. And now seems about the right time to head to bed. So I shall start heading in that direction.

Prayers, etc: 07:30 – prayer to St. Michael the Archangel 10:50 – Wednesday Prayer of the Association of the Auxilium Christianorum 17:35 – Pater Noster... 18:20 – Ave Maria..., Gloria Patri... 19:06 – Lk 11:42-46 21:15 – 5 decades of the Rosary, the Glorious Mysteries

Diet: 07:10 – fruit cocktail 08:00 – bowl of oatmeal 13:25 – tuna helper 16:00 – munching on cheese 17:15 – tuna helper 19:00 – 1 banana

Chores, etc.: 07:00 – begin following news sources 12:00 – checked with H pharmacy re: my med refills 13:30 – watch game shows with Sylvia 15:00 – turning to Newsmax TV and murdering as many house flies as I can 19:10 – watching old episodes of Doctor Who

Chess: 10:55 – began working on my CC games 13:25 – moved in all pending CC games

And the adventure continues.

Published on 14 October 2020, ~21:25 CDT, this is my post number 85/100/365 of the https://100daystooffload.com blogging challenge.

#100DaysToOffload #blog #RoscoeEllis #list

by Roscoe

A pretty good Tuesday

Tuesday morning: Last night's sleep was a good one: 8 hrs. long with only one brief interruption. And it probably would have been longer if that stupid old man across the street had not been out with his leaf blower in the very early morning hours disturbing the peace and waking everybody in the neighborhood. Today's health metrics and financials all checked out okay.

Tuesday night: This has been a pretty good day, all things considered. If only our stupid Mayor and Communist County Judge would ease up on their mask mandate and social distancing rules and let our businesses open up... and if our churches were allowed to open fully and operate without any restrictions... yeah, that would make things better.

Prayers, etc.: 08:00 – Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel 11:30 – Tuesday Prayer of the Association of the Auxilium Christianorum 14:15 – Lk 11:37-41 15:15 – Archbishop Vigano's Prayer for a Resurgence of Christianity in America and the Re-election of President Trump 21:00 – 5 decades of the Rosary, The Sorrowful Mysteries

Diet: 09:00 – 1 muffin, bowl of oatmeal, bacon 10:00 – fruit cocktail 13:00 – pork roast and vegetables 17:00 – pork and gravy on bread and butter

Chores, etc.: 09:30 – monitoring favorite news sources, blogs, etc. 11:00 – fill weekly pill boxes 11:45 – tune into The Rush Limbaugh Show 12:00 – updating ledger book and paper planner 14:00 – tune to Seb Gorka's America First radio show 16:30 – watch OAN on Roku 18:00 – and I've got a live NFL game tonight!

Chess: 15:00 – moved in many CC games, still working on others

And the adventure continues.

Published on 13 October 2020, ~22:45 CDT, this is my post number 84/100/365 of the https://100daystooffload.com blogging challenge.

#100DaysToOffload #blog #RoscoeEllis #list

by Roscoe

A long Monday... listed and logged

Thoughts on waking: From start to end, last night's sleep was 7.5 hours long: no complaints about that. Nasty sinuses woke me frequently until I dabbed some Vick's salve into my nose. That gave me the night's longest period of sleep until waking with the first alarm. Health metrics and financials were all okay.

Thoughts at night: It's been a long day and I'm satisfied with what I've been able to get done. After two days away from my more “serious” CC games, it was good to be back at them today. As for the others, a couple of them are in pretty thorny end games. At least they keep my mind away from the news for most of the day.

Prayers, etc.: 06:40 – Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel 07:00 – Day 9 of the KofC Novena for the Cause of Life, meditation and prayer 09:30 – Lk 11:29-32 12:00 – Monday Prayer of the Association of the Auxilium Christianorum 22:00 – 5 decades of the Rosary, the Joyful Mysteries

Diet: 07:17 – 1 banana 07:45 – bowl of Oatmeal 09:00 – 1 Arby's RB sandwich 10:30 – ice cream bar 13:00 – 1 Arby's RB sandwich, fried rice, pepper steak and vegetables

Chores, etc.: 08:15 – monitoring favorite news sources, and napping 11:00 – the haircut, finally 12:15 – started the weekly laundry 15:45 – printed out local voter's guide 18:30 – Wheel of Fortune 19:00 – KofC Council Zoom mtg. 20:45 – watch old X-Files episode

Chess: 13:30 – work on my CC games

And the adventure continues.

Published on 12 October 2020, ~22:30 CDT, this is my post number 83/100/365 of the https://100daystooffload.com blogging challenge.

#100DaysToOffload #blog #RoscoeEllis

by Roscoe