Roscoe's Story

Wednesday

In front of my house this morning...

Truck

... is seen one of the big fleet of trucks, scrapers, caterpillers, and other assorted machines that are busy moving up and down my street. The city is in the process of repaving here and, as those of you who have seen this done before know, that's quite an operation.

We've been told this work will continue until December 18. So things will be rather noisy and sometimes smelly around here until until then. And driving out of and into our driveway may sometimes be tricky. But watching this work from my front porch is an extra source of entertainment.

That work did have me frustrated for about 2 ½ hours today. The crew tearing up my street managed to break the Google Fiber cable buried under the pavement. I was without Internet for awhile and was... umm, let's just say I'm MUCH happier now!

And so the adventure continues.


Posted 02/Dec/2020 ~ 14:30 Central Time #RoscoeEllis #blog #SeniorLiving #Wednesday #truck #Internet


by Roscoe

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving

Here's wishing a happy Thanksgiving Day for all my family and friends.

And here's a tip to help make the day happier: TURN OFF THE NEWS! Seriously. It's mostly fake news, lies, and fear-mongering anyway, designed to keep you in a panic mode so you'll keep watching and listening (and watching those commercials).

As a former news junkie myself who is in the process of pulling away from that hubbub and hooplah, I find that the further away I get from it the happier and less stressd I am. There's no way to totally avoid it, of course, but a few minutes a day spent with reliable sources is all we need. It's all I need, anyway.

Much healthier for mind, body, and soul is focusing on little things, simple things. Smiling and waving to neighbors, listening to good music, reading, prayer, really relaxing.

I hope you all can find moments of simple happiness on this Thanksgiving Day. I know I will.

The adventure continues.


Published on 25 November 2020, ~ 20:45 Central Time.

#RoscoeEllis #blog #SeniorLiving #Wednesday #Thanksgiving #happiness


by Roscoe

Chess and Music

Chess music

Making this Wednesday the best day of the week (so far) I've decided to spend this afternoon working on my Correspondence Chess games with relaxing Boomer music playing in the background.

And with the exception of a gameshow break mid-afternoon (she and I have gotten into the habit of watching Lets Make a Deal together), this THIS is how I intend to spend the next several hours!

The adventure continues.


Published on 18 November 2020, ~12:50 Central Time.

#RoscoeEllis #blog #SeniorLiving #Wednesday #chess #music


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