Roscoe's Story

SeniorLiving

A BIG Deal!

Big deal

Remember that “mini-stampede” of folks I blogged about yesterday? About folks leaving the big social networks of Facebook and Twitter, looking for other places where they can speak freely, where they can post without fear of being censored for not being politically correct?

I'd say 10 MILLION folks leaving in two weeks qualifies as more than a “mini-stampede”. I'd say it looks more like a mass migration. I'd say it's a big deal.

And the adventure continues.

Published on 14 November 2020, ~13:10 Central Time.

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by Roscoe

Following the herd?

The past few weeks have seen, and the weeks ahead will continue to see, a mini-stampede of conservative folks leaving the giant social networks of Facebook and Twitter, looking for places on the Internet where they can speak more freely, without fear of censorship.

Given the fact that much of my family seems to be permanently stuck there, and so many folks I personally know from the Philippines use Facebook almost exclusively and will continue to do so, I'll keep my account active there. I already cancelled my Twitter account many weeks (months?) ago, and have no interest in ever going back.

The social networks where I keep an active presence can be found listed in the sidebar of my primary website. Folks leaving Facebook will probably find MeWe their most comfortable landing spot. Probably.

As for me, I'm satisfied with the social sites I haunt, and have no plans to look for any more.

And the adventure continues.

Published on 13 November 2020, ~21:10 Central Time.

#RoscoeEllis #blog #SeniorLiving #Friday #socialsites

by Roscoe

It is discovered that...

Hot cocoa

... that the great-grandbabies love hot cocoa!

And thank God that children and grandchildren post pictures on the Internet so that grandparents and great-grandparents who live far away can share in the joy and happiness of such moments!

That means SO MUCH to us, especially in these times of forced lockdown and separation!

And the adventure continues.

Published on 12 November 2020, ~11:00 Central Time.

#RoscoeEllis #blog #SeniorLiving #Thursday #greatgrandbabies

by Roscoe

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

Not very pretty, but I like it.

Win 05Nov

When I checked my messages this morning I learned that I'd won another Correspondence Chess game. My opponent playing Black resigned from our game with his 56th move, giving me the win by default.

Some say that only wins by checkmate are pretty, and the earlier and more unexpectedly they come, the prettier they are. I don't say that, not at all. A win by late game resignation when a checkmate is inevitable, such as this one, is enjoyed very much.

The position of pieces at game's end is shown in the graphic above, and our full move record is below:

1. d4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 Bd7 5. O-O h5 6. Bg5 Be7 7. Ne5 Ne4 8. Bxe7 Qxe7 9. Nc3 Nf6 10. Re1 Nc6 11. Nxc6 Bxc6 12. e3 g5 13. e4 O-O-O 14. exd5 Rxd5 15. Nxd5 Nxd5 16. c4 Nb4 17. d5 Bd7 18. a3 Na6 19. Qd4 Rh6 20. Qxa7 e5 21. Rac1 f6 22. d6 Qxd6 23. Qa8+ Nb8 24. Qxb7+ Kd8 25. Qxb8+ Ke7 26. Qg8 Qe6 27. Bd5 Qxg8 28. Bxg8 Rg6 29. Bh7 Rg7 30. Bb1 Ba4 31. Bc2 Bd7 32. Kg2 Bc6+ 33. f3 g4 34. Be4 Bd7 35. b3 Rg8 36. c5 c6 37. b4 Ra8 38. Ra1 Kd8 39. Rf1 Ra6 40. Bg6 Be6 41. Bxh5 gxf3+ 42. Rxf3 Bd5 43. Rd1 e4 44. Rxf6 e3+ 45. Kg1 Rxa3 46. b5 Rc3 47. Rxc6 Ke7 48. Rxd5 Rc1+ 49. Kg2 Rc2+ 50. Kh3 e2 51. Bxe2 Rxe2 52. Ra6 Re6 53. c6 Rh6+ 54. Kg2 Ke6 55. Rd8 Ke7 56. c7 Rxa6 1-0

And the adventure continues.

Published on 05 November 2020, ~13:00 Central Time.

#RoscoeEllis #microblog #SeniorLiving #Thursday #chess

by Roscoe

Sometimes in chess...

Drawn game

... we can mutually agree to call a contest a draw. We can shake hands and step away from a game we decide to call even. No winner, no loser, just a match in which we've both given our best and realize that neither of us will possibly checkmate the other. Not this time.

One such Correspondence Chess game ended today when, after 63 moves, I offered my opponent a draw with my 62nd White move and he accepted.

The position of pieces at game's end is posted above, and our full move record is below:

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nbd2 e6 4. a3 c5 5. dxc5 Bxc5 6. e3 d4 7. exd4 Bxd4 8. Nxd4 Qxd4 9. Bb5+ Nbd7 10. O-O a6 11. Bxd7+ Bxd7 12. Nf3 Qxd1 13. Rxd1 O-O-O 14. Ne5 Ne4 15. Nxf7 Rhf8 16. Nxd8 Nxf2 17. Rf1 Kxd8 18. Bg5+ Ke8 19. Bh4 Ng4 20. h3 Rxf1+ 21. Rxf1 Ne3 22. Rf2 e5 23. Re2 Nc4 24. b3 Nxa3 25. Rxe5+ Kf7 26. c4 Bc6 27. Be7 Nc2 28. Bd8 Nd4 29. b4 b5 30. Re7+ Kg6 31. cxb5 Bxb5 32. Re4 Ne2+ 33. Kh2 Kf5 34. Rg4 g6 35. Bg5 Bc6 36. Bh4 h5 37. Rc4 Bd5 38. Rc5 Nf4 39. b5 axb5 40. Rxb5 Nxg2 41. Rb4 g5 42. Bg3 Ne3 43. Bf2 Nf1+ 44. Kg1 Nd2 45. Rb5 Nf3+ 46. Kf1 Ke4 47. Rb4+ Kf5 48. Bc5 g4 49. hxg4+ hxg4 50. Bd6 Nd2+ 51. Ke2 Nf3 52. Bb8 Ng1+ 53. Kf1 Nf3 54. Kf2 Be4 55. Rb5+ Ke6 56. Kg3 Bc6 57. Rb6 Kd5 58. Kxg4 Kc5 59. Rb3 Bd5 60. Bf4 Bxb3 61. Kxf3 Kd5 62. Ke3 1/2-1/2

And the adventure continues.

Published on 04 November 2020, ~13:50 Central Time.

#RoscoeEllis #microblog #SeniorLiving #chess #Wednesday

by Roscoe