Tuesdays with Media: 2048

Since I mostly watch TV and movies on my computer, I often play a simple puzzle game while I watch.  I like to keep my hands busy and puzzle games won't distract from the story, so it's a good fit.  I used to play FreeCell Solitaire, but a little over a year ago, I discovered 2048, a simple-yet-satisfying puzzle game.

The basic layout is a 4 x 4 grid and you start with two numbered tiles, usually two 2s, which are randomly placed on the board.  To play, you use the arrow keys to move all the tiles the selected direction: hit left, they all slide left; hit up, they all slide up; etc.  When two identical tiles are pushed together, they merge, becoming a tile with the new number being the sum of the two base tiles.  So, you push two 2s together and you get a 4, you push two 4s together and you get an 8, and so on.  The goal of the game is play until you have a tile that reads 2048.

One thing that's interesting about this game is that once you win, you have the option to keep playing.  I've actually made it to 4096 several times, but I can't quite make it to 8192 yet.  But ultimately, the final score doesn't matter because I only play so that my hands have something to do while my eyes and mind are otherwise occupied.

But you want to see it in action, don't you?  Well, take a gander:



I refuse to apologize for all of the time you'll soon be wasting.  Have fun!

2048 was created as a school project by teen programmer Gabriele Cirulli.

Eaten Alive

Since I had work off on Friday, I went and visited with the Larsens for a Day Before Independence Day celebration.  Ian grilled hot dogs and corn on the cob and we ate fresh-cut watermelon.  Later on, the kids wanted to do some baking, so we made some double chocolate cookies that are always a hit -- I let each kid drop one cookie on the baking sheet and they were both eager to eat the cookie that they made.

While I was there, I spent a little time outside with the kids.  They love running around outside, but it's extra fun when a visitor does it with them.  I was only outside for about thirty minutes, but I got bit four times by mosquitoes, twice on my right leg (I was wearing shorts).  I thought the bug bites were strange, since I didn't notice too many bugs the last two summers, but didn't think much else on the matter.

The next day, I spent the bulk of the day at the Simcik's, helping them clean out their garage.  When they first moved to Maryland, a lot of their stuff was just shoved into the garage.  Now, after three years, they're trying to find everything a home.  I was happy to help and it was great to spend time with my good friends -- I even made a dessert that I hadn't tried before to share (it was really good).

Unfortunately, we were working outside and since it was hot, I was wearing shorts again.  When I made it home, I counted fifteen mosquito bites, ten of which were on my right leg below the knee.  In an attempt to fight against the itching, I took an antihistamine and went to bed.

The next morning, I was so groggy from the medication that I couldn't get out of bed. My church meets at ten, but I was in and out of sleep until after noon.  And while the allergy medication did help take the edge off the itching, it had worn off by the time I could function, so I never got to enjoy it.

While staying cool is important, the next time I spend time outside this summer, I'll either wear bug repellent or long pants.  Possibly both.

Moved, Again

Yesterday, I went back to my old apartment and helped Samuel move out.

Samuel was much harder to move out. Not in moving his belongings, but in finding him a new place to stay.  He's working two jobs right now, but he's still not making very good money.  Even with the ward promising to support him by paying part of his rent, he couldn't find anything that he qualified for, since most places have income requirements as part of the application.  Add to that the fact that his family is up for an interview with the American embassy next month to be granted approval to move here, he also needed a place that could quickly adjust to having an additional three people in it.  Things were looking bleak when the week before he had to be out, he found an apartment that is large enough to accommodate having his family, doesn't require an income check as part of the application, and is affordable with the ward's help and -- and this is important -- comes with a roommate.  Samuel did some coordinating with his fellow countrymen and found someone that was willing to be his roommate on the condition that he'll move out when Samuel's family is approved to move here.  The lease is in Samuel's name this time, so that will help his renter's history for the future, too.

With the details finally worked out, we still had to move him.  When I moved, I rented a U-Haul so I could get everything in one vehicle.  Samuel didn't have that option, so we simply used some pickups that ward members had.  Unfortunately, it was forecast to rain hard that day.  Thankfully, it rained hard in the afternoon and by the time we got to the scheduled time for the move, the skies were clear.

The move went very quickly.  Samuel and I shared a one bedroom apartment, with nearly all of his stuff crammed into the dinning room.  I mostly just went through to make sure that he didn't leave anything behind.  Good thing I did, because he left behind several things.  I also went through and did some basic cleaning to help the apartment staff out.

As I was finishing up, Mark (who had stayed behind to help) told me that before I approached Samuel to be my roommate, that he had thought of the same plan, but we were already planning on Samuel moving in before he could bring it up to me.  I took that as further confirmation that our time as roommates was divinely inspired.  Mark also pointed out that having Samuel there was a benefit to me as well, since I had my portion of the rent lowered.  I agreed and pointed out that having someone in the apartment that likes to talk was probably good for me during my bouts of unemployment since it often helped me feel less depressed by being forced to talk to someone -- it's not that I didn't like Samuel, it's just that being unemployed was very depressing and when I get depressed, I tend to shut down and turn inward; having him around helped with that.

So, I wish Samuel the best.  We were roommates much longer than either of us planned on, but it all happened the way it was supposed to.  Good luck, 'mate.

Tuesdays with Media: Song Names

I've mentioned before that I often use Pandora to discover new instrumental musicians to listen to while I'm at work.  For the most part, I just focus on whatever project I'm working on, but if a song is really good, I'll take a moment to write down the song name and artist so I can find it again later.  At my current job (which I've worked at now for seven months), I have two large Post-It notes stuck to my cubicle wall, filled with song names.

What's interesting about this is that some songs have names that change how you interpreted the song from when you first heard it.  Take Antoine Dufour's song "Mother," it doesn't sound particularly motherly to me, at least at first -- thinking more about it, there's a lot of care taken with every string plucked, every chord strummed, just as mothers take care with their children.  Or take Andy McKee's song "Samus' Stardrive," which I just thought was a thoughtful, moving song, perhaps about a lost love, but the name makes it clear that it's about a video game.  And Stephen Bennett's song "In Memory of Joe LoMastro," just sounds exciting, like you can't wait to take on the world, but it's about a man's passing.

Now, just because these song titles don't match what I imagine, doesn't make my interpretation wrong, just different from what the artist intended.  Having my own stories interpreted differently than what I intended, I know that that's fine (at least it is for me).  But what about when a piece's title is distracting?  I recently discovered Kaki King, who has a fun, often pounding, percussive style to her playing, though she can also make songs that sound ethereal.  I remember when I heard one of her songs, played on a lap guitar, that had a strong electronica-feel to it.  I decided I liked it enough to want to write the title down and was surprised by what I found: "Gay Sons of Lesbian Mothers."  What on earth does that have to do with the song I just heard?  There are no words, so it's not like she can force that interpretation on me ... unless I see the title, I guess?

My point to all of this is that what a song is named can be a glimpse of what the artist was trying to convey with their music, but it doesn't have to be what we get out of it.  Song lyrics will get in your head even if you ignore them, but the same is not true for instrumental song titles.  Good thing too, because I've never seen the German TV show for which Don Ross' "Klimbim" is named so if I had have his interpretation, I'd be lost.

Time of Transition

I went to my new ward yesterday.

I had a little trouble finding the meeting house.  I need to go back and look around, but I don't recall seeing a sign facing the street saying what kind of church it was.  Having not seen the building, I passed where my GPS said it should have been and had to turn around.  What stood out to me was that I noticed that a large satellite dish, which I then saw was attached to a church.  The parking lot was large and mostly empty.

Inside, the ward was definitely smaller than my last ward.  One thing I found odd: they never opened the curtain to the overflow.  They didn't need to, but I still found it surprising.  Apparently, my ward building is also the Stake Center, but my ward is the only one that meets there regularly, which I find odd.  Perhaps its the most centrally located building but there's not enough membership in the area to warrant another ward.

A good portion of Sacrament Meeting was taken up with reorganizing most of the ward leadership.  We got a brand new Elder's Quorum Presidency, a new Relief Society Presidency, a new Primary Presidency, new Ward Mission Leadership, and a few other auxiliary leaders.  I don't know anyone, but this seems like a good time for a new member like myself to move in, what with everything in flux.  I do wonder how long I'll have to wait before I get my first calling.

Not a lot of people introduced themselves to me.  I made a point to meet the Bishop and I got to chat with one of his counselors for a bit.  I didn't get his name, but when I mentioned that I was a technical writer, he commended me for doing a job that is so important (not the usual response I get) and he mentioned that he spent some time in Solana Beach and spoke highly of Oceanside when I said that was where I grew up.  The member of the Stake Presidency who was visiting also introduced himself, as did one of the counselors of the new Elder's Quorum Presidency, but that was it.  There were a few other people that welcomed me to the ward, but none of them told me their names or shook my hand.  Maybe they need to warm up to me a bit?  I don't know, but it does seem a bit strange.

Or perhaps with so much of the ward leadership in flux, one new guy was easy to get lost in the shuffle.  I'm hoping that next week things will be a bit friendlier.

Apartment Pros and Cons

I like my new apartment, but there are some things that were nicer about my old place.  Here's a list of pros and cons regarding my new home.

Pro
It's close enough to my office that my commute is only about twelve minutes long.

Con
I have to figure out a new morning routine since I don't have enough time to listen to the scriptures on the way to work.

Pro
I'm halfway underground, which should make a huge difference in my heating/cooling bill.

Con
I'm no longer on the top floor, so I get to hear my neighbors whenever they move around, despite them not being particularly noisy.

Pro
The rent is much lower than my previous place, meaning I don't need a roommate in order to live comfortably.

Con
I'm not in as nice a neighborhood.  I don't fear for my safety or my property, but there's a reason this place is cheaper.

Pro
I get free access to a pool and a small gym.

Con
Being that the neighborhood isn't as nice, I don't have access to several miles of non-busy streets to go running on, so I may end up using the gym more often than I'd like (I ran for about an hour yesterday, but nearly all of it was spent on the sidewalk of a main road).

Pro
I've already found a tasty and inexpensive Chinese/Japanese restaurant within walking distance -- the only Chinese or Japanese places near my old place were either expensive, not very good, or both.

Con
I have yet to find any Korean restaurants in the area.  My old place had five or six Korean places nearby and they were all great.  Maybe I just haven't found it yet...

Pro
I'm where the Lord wants me to be.  I'd put a "Con" about how I'll miss my old ward, but that would make my complaint appear to have equal weight to the Lord's desires for me, which it does not.

So, while I'll miss certain things about my old place, it's nice that I've so quickly found things that I like about my new home.

The Big Move

I guess I've put it off long enough.  So, how'd the move go?

I stayed up late the night before, packing.  I didn't quite finish, but I was ninety percent done, so I figured I was close enough.  I then slept fitfully, probably due to the stress of moving the next day.

The morning arrived and I realized that I hadn't planned for picking up the U-Haul, so I made a few calls and found someone who could give me a ride so I wouldn't have to leave my car at the rental place.  Picking up the truck was a little weird: there were no signs that this place rented out trucks other than half-a-dozen trucks parked out front, the building looked like it was abandoned, and I signed a hand-written contract.  If that wasn't strange enough, I made it half-way to my apartment when I got a call asking me to come back since they had rented me the wrong truck.

When I finally got back home, I made it just as the first mover, my friend Mark Simcik, arrived.  We started moving some things, but with my left arm still out of commission from my seizure, we mostly just planned things out.  Soon enough, the missionary Elders arrived and moved the four major pieces of furniture for us, before they had to leave.  Luckily, that's right when another family from the ward came to help with the rest.  Ian showed up towards the end, but he brought pizza, so he was heartily welcomed.

When it came time to drive to my new place, the father of the other family asked if we would need any help unloading.  We accepted his help and drove to the new place.  After some traffic issues, we made it and started unpacking.  The unloading went much faster and right at the end, the first two Elders from before showed up to lend a hand one more time -- apparently, they were in the area to help out with a baptism, so I'm certain they got tons of extra blessings for all of the work they put in that day.

One problem that I discovered when we first got to my new place was that the power was off.  I had planned ahead and had contacted the electric company, asking them to start the service in my new place.  They assured me it was all taken care of, but such was not the case.  And, because it was the weekend, my power stayed off until I could call and talk to someone on Monday, which is when it was actually activated.  I asked Ian if he would mind me staying at his place over the weekend, which he was happy to accommodate.  I packed a bag, threw it in Ian's truck, and we went to deliver the moving truck.

The first place that we went to (address provided by Google) was just a gas station with a drop box for the key.  With only my hand-written contract, I decided to try for something a little more official.  There was an actual U-Haul center not far away, so we set off again.  When we got there, they had no record of me renting the truck.  They had the truck on file, but not my rental agreement.  I showed them the contract (actually, a carbon-copy of the contract), which they didn't know how to process.  After a few calls to managers were made, they figured it out and gave me an official, laser-printed receipt saying that I had paid my balance and that I owed nothing.  Happy with the result, we drove back to my old place for me to pick up my car (and to drop the other Brother off).

My weekend at the Larsen's was enjoyable, as expected.

On Monday, I got to have a long commute again, since I was driving from even farther away than I was used to when living at my old place.  I called the electric company as soon as their office was opened and I was promised that the power would be turned on as soon as a technician could get there.  I went by my apartment on my lunch break to see if the power was indeed on, which it was.  I set the A/C to something reasonable so that everything would be nice and comfortable when I got home from work.  That was a good plan, since it was particularly hot and humid that day.  Unfortunately, maintenance had done a lousy job of preparing my apartment, because when I got home, it was hotter inside than out.  The thermostat said it was 92 °F and what little air was blowing out of the vents felt only slightly cooler than my skin temperature.  I called emergency maintenance to come take a look and when the technician arrived, he discovered that my apartment was equipped with a "manual override" on the heater, which had been left on.  So the A/C was on, but so was the heater.  He also found that the air filter was filthy and in desperate need of replacing.  With these issues taken care of, the place finally started cooling down and was a comfortable 75 °F when I went to bed that night.

So, I'm all moved in.  It wasn't as easy as I was hoping for, but it was still mostly straight forward.  Now I just need to learn the area I'm living in now and I should be all set.  With my sense of direction, that should only take a year or two.

Moved

I successfully moved into my new apartment this weekend with the help of Ian and the good people of the ward that I moved out of.  Unfortunately, it took until Monday morning for my electricity to be activated Monday night for my internet to be turned on.  Because of all of this, I'm barely posting today and skipping tomorrow.

Sorry.

Expect more details of the move on Wednesday.

Dare I?

Here's an interesting dilemma I'm facing this weekend: I should be moving into my new place tomorrow, but my muscles are still recovering.  How much do I do?  Dare I do any of the heavy lifting myself?

That's right, I found my new home last week.  I was surprised, but last Saturday I was prompted to submit an application and yesterday I signed the lease.  It's not perfect -- no place is -- but it has all of the features that I was looking for and it's ten minutes from the office.  Best of all, the Spirit confirmed that I should move into the ward associated with this apartment.  I am sad to be leaving the good people of the Ellicott City Ward, but I'm excited to meet the new people who are going to be a part of my life.

Hopefully, I'll hear back from the Elder's Quorums of both my current ward and future ward so I;ll be able to move without having to put myself at risk.  That's gotta be a weird introduction: "Hi!  Thanks for helping me out with this move.  I only have a few items, so it should go quick.  By the way, I injured myself earlier this week, so I'll simply be supervising.  Great to be here!"

Seizure Update

When I have a seizure, I black out, so I have to guess as to what happened.  Like this last time, I came to and had a sore neck and pair of legs and my left shoulder was so sore that it took multiple days for me to even be able to move my arm again (and that's not even pain-free).  But since I was unconscious during the actual event, I'll never know for sure what happened.

Looks like I'll need some help moving this Saturday...