viewAs I move through the chores of this day...
.. I note that there are so many more bottles arrayed in front of me now than when I posted about filling my pill boxes earlier this summer. Yes, filling the morning and evening pill boxes is a chore that will probably be on my task list for the rest of my life. And it seems the older I get the more bottles I have to contend with. Most of the new additions are vitamins and supplements that have come as recommendations for strengthening the immune system to better ward off the covid pestilence that is among us.
I also note that someone is peeking at me from across the room. That would be my brother-in-law Rico, an engineer on a tanker ship, looking around the big boat anchor on my TV screen. We keep a family photo album set as the screen saver on the TV, and it cycles through the photos in the album when we're not watching any shows.
And the adventure continues.
Published on 17 August 2020, ~16:05 CDT, this is my post number 57/100/365 of the https://100daystooffload.com blogging challenge.
#100DaysToOffload #blog #RoscoeEllis #health #family #SevenTwoProject #photograph
by Roscoe
viewToday's healthy exercise in the fresh air was ...
... provided by my backyard fence.
Part of the backyard that borders the alley behind my property is secured by a six-foot chain link fence inside of which are some really big and monstrously dense bushes. I like the extra security those bushes provide, but their branches tend to poke through and reach over the fence. If I don't trim back the protruding foliage every so often, those darned bushes would overwhelm the fence and block the alley. And we can't have that.
At an earlier work session I trimmed the corner and first two sections of fence. The result of that work can be seen in the picture at the top of this post.
Late this morning and into the early part of this afternoon I took my trusty hedge clippers and rake back into the alley and finished the job. The photo below shows the much cleaner length of chain link fence we have now.
And I can log this as today's fresh air workout. As those of you who use the old fashioned manual hedge clippers know, they do work the arm, shoulder, and chest muscles.
The adventure continues.
Published on 01 August 2020, ~18:15 CDT, this is my post number 51/100/365 of the https://100daystooffload.com blogging challenge.
#100DaysToOffload #health #SeniorLiving #SevenTwoProject #photograph #yardwork #blog #RoscoeEllis
by Roscoe
viewA Win with White
After two months and two days of correspondence chess play and 54 moves, Black resigned this game today giving me the win with the White pieces.
He was certainly right to do this. Depending on his next move I could capture his h-pawn with either my Rook or Bishop. Then it would be a simple matter of forcing checkmate after squeezing his King against an edge of the board with my remaining major pieces.
The screenshot above shows our board at game's end and the full move record is below.
- d4 d5 2. Nb1c3 e6 3. a3 c5 4. dxc5 Bf8xc5 5. e3 Ng8f6 6. Nc3a4 Bc5e7 7. g3 Bc8d7 8. Na4c3 Nb8c6 9. Ng1f3 a6 10. Bf1g2 O-O 11. O-O Qd8c7 12. Nf3d2 b5 13. b4 a5 14. Bc1b2 axb4 15. Nc3xb5 Qc7b8 16. a4 Nc6e5 17. Rf1e1 Bd7xb5 18. axb5 Ne5d7 19. e4 Qb8xb5 20. Nd2b3 Be7d6 21. exd5 exd5 22. Bg2f1 Qb5b6 23. Bb2d4 Qb6c7 24. Ra1xa8 Rf8xa8 25. Qd1c1 h5 26. h4 Nf6e4 27. Qc1e3 Qc7xc2 28. Re1e2 Qc2c7 29. Qe3d3 f5 30. Qd3c2 Qc7xc2 31. Re2xc2 Ra8a3 32. Nb3d2 Bd6xg3 33. fxg3 Ne4xg3 34. Bf1b5 Ng3e2 35. Bb5xe2 b3 36. Rc2c8 Nd7f8 37. Bd4c5 Ra3a2 38. Rc8xf8 Kg8h7 39. Bc5b4 b2 40. Rf8e8 Ra2a1 41. Kg1f2 g6 42. Be2d3 Kh7g7 43. Bb4c3 Kg7f7 44. Re8b8 Ra1a3 45. Nd2b1 d4 46. Bd3c4 Kf7g7 47. Nb1xa3 dxc3 48. Kf2e3 g5 49. hxg5 Kg7g6 50. Ke3f4 h4 51. Bc4d5 c2 52. Na3xc2 h3 53. Rb8xb2 h2 54. Nc2e3 1-0
I'm going to count the screenshot at the top of this post as a photograph and name it as an entry in my too often neglected Seven Two Project.
And the adventure continues.
Published on 24 July 2020, ~18:00 CDT, this is my post number 47/100/365 of the https://100daystooffload.com blogging challenge.
#100DaysToOffload #chess #SevenTwoProject
by Roscoe
viewAh, postcards
A few days ago jetgirl wrote about her fascination with postcards on her blog. Reading her delightful post brought back fond memories of years ago when I used to send and receive them on a regular basis.
I am a Correspondence Chess (CC) player you see, and have been for longer than most Fosstodon folks have been alive. Before the advent of personal computers, most of us mailed our moves back and forth to each other on postal correspondence cards. At the top of this post are pictured the front and back of one such card. (Yes, I still have a small stash of them.)
It was common practice for us then to have two games in progress at the same time with reversed colors with each opponent. In Game “A” for example I may play the White pieces, and in Game “B” I'd be Black. You'll notice on the front side of each card there is a small board diagram. When preparing to send a card we'd fill the diagram with the board position of one of our games, usually using red ink to denote each White Piece and Black ink for the Black.
On the back of each card you'll see there's ample room to list the three most recent moves in algebraic notation for each game.
Now we all use the Internet, most often via server-based chess clubs, to play our CC games. But I do miss using the postal cards... sometimes.
And the adventure continues.
Published on 17 July 2020, ~20:30 CDT, this is my post number 45/100/365 of the https://100daystooffload.com blogging challenge.
#100DaysToOffload #postcards #Postalchess #SevenTwoProject
by Roscoe
viewHappy Birthday, USA!
From my front porch to where ever you are, I wish you a safe and happy American Independence Day.
The adventure continues.
Published on 04 July 2020, this is my post number 41/100/365 of the https://100daystooffload.com blogging challenge.
#100DaysToOffload #SevenTwoProject #photograph #flag #holiday #IndependenceDay
by Roscoe
viewHey, Dummy! Lose the stupid hat and put on a shirt!
Reaching back into the archive of old photos recently provided by my sister, I find... me. Very long ago and far away.
I'm guessing this picture was taken in 1965, more or less. Sometime in the mid 60s anyway, when I was in high school. I can vaguely remember making that hat by taking an old felt fedora, wetting it repeatedly, and slowly stretching it over... a big bottle of some kind, I think. Have no idea about the pins, buttons, or doodads decorating it.
The photo was taken of me standing in the front yard of the big family house in the small town neighborhood where I grew up.
And now the adventure continues.
Published on 02 July 2020, this is my post number 40/100/365 of the https://100daystooffload.com blogging challenge.
#100DaysToOffload #SevenTwoProject #photograph #ThrowbackThursday
by Roscoe
viewFlag Corner
Many of us are conducting more of our business online these days, and that sometimes involves participating in online webinars or meetings with our presence shared via webcams. The webcam in my home office is situated so that this corner of the room shows as the background.
This morning I hung another flag to make the corner more appropriately express my loyalty and attitude.
And the adventure continues.
Published on 29 June 2020, this is my post number 39/100/365 of the https://100daystooffload.com blogging challenge.
#100DaysToOffload #flags #photograph #SevenTwoProject
by Roscoe
viewSummer of '66?
Or maybe it was the summer of 1965, I don't remember. But that skinny boy in the picture above was me standing in front of the family house over a half-century ago when I was a Junior or Senior in High School.
My sister has taken upon herself a project of digitizing some old photographs and slides that our parents had collected when they were alive. And she's emailing the image files to me and our remaining siblings. How nice of her! She tells me there are approximately 400 pictures all together.
Earlier this year I “sort of” committed myself to a #SevenTwo photo sharing project. With my January birthday placing me well within the ranks of septuagenarians, I decided to post two photos every every week for the remainder of the year. But that was before the CCP-flu pandemic put the world on lockdown and me under strict self-quarantine. Not being able to leave the house with my camera I quickly ran out of current images to post and that project fell by the wayside.
Maybe with these old pictures my sister is sending I'll be able to do a #ThrowbackThursday for awhile, satisfying one picture to post per week of the #SevenTwoProject. And if I stretch my imagination a bit, maybe I'll be able to scrounge up something else for the other picture. Hmm...
The adventure continues.
Published on 25 June 2020, this is my post number 36/100/365 of the https://100daystooffload.com blogging challenge.
#100DaysToOffload #ThrowbackThursday #SevenTwoProject #photograph
by Roscoe
viewSylvia on her couch
13 April 2020 ~ 15:50
Earlier today I chatted over FB Messenger with one of Sylvia's older brothers in the Philippines. This is the first time he and I have “spoken.” Nice guy.
Of her four brothers, I've now spoken with two, and have gotten on very well with both. I met her youngest brother face to face years ago when his boat docked near Houston, and we've chatted over the Internet several times since. And now I've chatted with her oldest brother: he's almost exactly my age.
He told me he was watching TV with his daughter and asked how we were doing. I told him we were watching TV, too: me in my recliner and Sylvia from her big red couch. He was happy to see the photo I sent him of her there, mask in place and cuddled under her brown blanket.
#SevenTwoProject #Sylvia
by Roscoe
viewSo now I'm a masked man.
03 April 2020 ~ 13:00
At least I can be a masked man when I have to be, when situations require me to mask due to CCP-flu pandemic regulations.
Sylvia made this mask for me as well as a matching mask for herself. Thank you, Sweety.
Since she and I are both senior citizens, and since our local health-related restrictions are becoming stricter, we will probably need our masks on those infrequent times when we have to be out in public.
#SevenTwoProject #SeniorLiving #mask #pandemic
by Roscoe