Enclosed In January

An update, some windows, and a love story.  Or two.

Welcome!
I like this door...it has three latches so it seals quite well.

Ginger will enjoy lying in the sun here.

She is already enjoying a bit of cheese from Jim.
"I love him," she said.

The room is very bright.  Just like me!
I love the height of the big slider (not so much like me)...so much more light!
Winter sunsets, with the sun setting down the lake, will be awesome.
Summer should be OK, too.

If we add another tub, we can do a Cialis commercial.

You can see how much the temporary protective film on the windows
curtails the view.

From the corner away from the kitchen.
In the warmer months, 
the transom windows will provide ventilation.

Marc and Jim, toasting to love.
Or maybe just loving to toast.

The compound from the garage balcony.
Yes, the outhouse will be disappearing.

"Jim is much nicer than Randy." 

Later that same night...

Much later, that same night.

"Jimmy, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

Wide angle lens provides an interesting perspective.

The little cabin in the woods.

Jim provides scale.

The sliding doors work!

Chimney chase on the leeward side.

Outside the guest house.

Inside the guest house.

A nice sawhorse deck and ladder
provide access to the entry door.

This will be the "Oh Wow!" view upon traversing 
the entry hall and entering the kitchen.

Sunshine when we left.

None on the Thruway, but at least 2 feet at the camp.
Elevation makes a difference!

Brain Gains and Drains

My Dad was one of the most intelligent people I've ever met.  That didn't matter once Al's Heimers moved in on him.  We all missed him long before his life was over.  I would not wish Dad's later years on anyone.

Mom is currently somewhat comfortable in a local Senior Living Center.  Her quality of life is not high on the scale.  She knows who I am most of the time, but her dementia steers her into a fantasy world as often as not.  Though it would be incredibly interesting to understand what she is seeing as she reaches out to grab the air, I hope I never find out.

In spite of all the excellent things my parents have provided for me, both by design and by accident of birth, the membership card for the risk group for end-of-life mental decline club is not at all appreciated.  In fact, it scares me.

My wife Mary is aware of my membership, and is also less than pleased.  There are many other organizations she might have preferred, provided a choice.  But since none was given, Mary has taken it upon herself to improve my chances of remaining a non-active member.  (Hush if you have data to the contrary!)

Mary confided her concern to Santa, and a brand new calendar appeared in my stocking.  It's the Daily Brain Game Calendar, made for exercising the muscle between one's ears.  The mantra is, "Use it or lose it!"  Every day provides a new little bit of mental gymnastics...pattern recognition, find the word, un-funny riddles...brain teasers of every type.

Here is an example:

Well, let's see...the spaces alternate, so that's pretty straightforward.  The domino count goes 2-4-6...hmmm...then 1.  What pattern there?  6 to 1?  What about if 2 is added each time...then 6 would have become 8...there are dominos with 8 spots, but not all sets have that, so maybe this set ends at six.  But the overrun would go to 8, and if the 6 is subtracted, that would have been 2...hmmm...I just don't know.  

So I turned it over and looked at the answer.

Huh? That's not right.  That's not what the numbers do.  How can that be?  Really?  I don't get it.  

Mary reminded me that whenever I don't get the right answer on some quiz, the first thing I do is to assert that the answer provided is wrong, or at least that the question was flawed.  Well, yeah, I guess that's true...especially when the provided answer is incorrect or the question is not well written, which is coincidentally the case in almost every instance where my answer does not match the official one.

So unlike normal people who just shrug and throw the calendar page away, I contacted the company.

Hello, 

My wife gave my failing brain a daily brain game "calendar."  For Friday, January 6, there was a domino progression.  The answer says, "The values increase by 2 on each domino, and are placed alternatively on the top or bottom row." 

No, they don't.

What I see is 2-4-6-1 and then "?"  How is 2-4-6-1 increasing by 2?  6 to 1 does not follow the pattern, so how is the answer 3 supposed to follow a non-existent pattern?  Thanks.

I'm waiting for their reply.  Do you think they'll be able to support their wrong answer?  I'm completely open to hearing their incorrect explanation.

Regardless of the shoddy thought process provided for this particular entry, I'm thankful that Mary has been thoughtful enough to provide my 98-ounce wimpy brain with a gym membership.  But I don't think she anticipated one side effect.

"Can you help me with this job?"
"Sorry, I've gotta finish exercising my brain!" 

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Surprise!  Happy Neuron responded:

Hello Randy,

Thank you for your email.

I'm sorry for the confusion.

In our dominoes the value 0 is possible. So the increasing order is 0-1-2-3-4-5-6-0-1-2-3-4-5-6-0 etc.

With this order, increasing 6 by 2 gives the number 1.

This is rather unusual for domino puzzles but this is the way they were designed.

All the domino puzzles have the same logic. I hope that now that you have this information, it will make it easier for you for the next ones.

I hope you enjoy our calendar.

Kind regards,

Carl

So, of course, I had to thank Carl, particularly after his admission that the calendar entry was seriously flawed.

Carl,

Thanks for nothing!  ;-)

I had not considered the zero panel.  Thanks for reminding me that it could be in the progression.

Randy 

It is good to be magnanimous.