MORNING ROTATION

I suspected the doves have some internal clocks that tell them when the rotation would happen, which happened yesterday around 9:15 A.M. This morning I camped out by the window since 7 and the rotation occurred around 8:45. Alas I didn’t have the camera ready to catch the birds together. It happened quickly, one came in the other flew away, no peck on the cheek, no “Catch you later, honey”.

HATCHING DUTY SWITCH

Five years ago a pair of mourning doves built a nest outside the window of my home office. I vaguely recalled that the birds took turn hatching the eggs. About a week ago, another pair built a nest but I didn’t happen to see more than one bird at a time. This morning I recorded the birds switching hatch duty. The smaller one is probably the female dove, which, through a simple contest with my Facebook friends, is named Rose. The male bird has no name yet. I hope the chicks will meet a better fate than those from five years ago...

WHAT IS YOUR (WORD) GAME?

As I spend most of my time at home, I find myself much involved in various word games on the smartphone or the laptop computer.  Before the pandemic, I regularly played Lexulous, as a Facebook app, with the only player I can count in the environment, and Words With Friends.  Through one of those ads that kept bombarding the WWF interface, I checked out Scrabble Go and am kinda addicted to it.  I may be wrong but it seems the tiles in Scrabble Go are purposely distributed as really lousy, to nudged players toward using the diamonds collected, or worse (for the players) cough up real money to buy power-ups etc.  The ads are a pain, too, but I just used that down time to close my eyes briefly.  In the Scrabble Go world, good players seem to be difficult to come by.  For me, a good player is someone who moves regularly and not once a day, but also someone with an average point per move similar to mine.

At times, opponents in Scrabble Go took too long to move so I recently resorted to playing Duel games.  Instead of having all the time in the world for each move, there's a time limit, go pass that limit and you lose your turn.  The board is also smaller and the game is limited to five moves.  It sounds stressful and it is.  Not a great way to relax but I hate waiting.  I do wonder if the players are real people.  Words With Friends have that, computer players, somehow I find it unappealing.  I remember in the old days playing chess against computer opponents.  The first few levels the computer would take forever to move, or make quick, totally dumb moves.  Then at some point it got really smart and never make mistakes so there's just no point of playing.  Some of the opponents in Scrabble Go Duel are like that.  They are really awful and try to spell long words but miss the high-score tiles altogether.  Then there are "people" who use fancy words that are found only in some medical dictionaries.

I miss playing the crossword puzzles in the free newspaper Metro New York, which not long ago combined with the other free daily news, AM New York.  I actually play the puzzle in both papers but I prefer Metro's because the grids are larger, easier on these old eyes.  I was really happy that the combined newspaper kept the larger format, same puzzles.  Now that I'm stuck at home as a non-essential non-employee, I cannot pick up the newspaper any more.  Recently I went online and printed out the puzzle for that day, plus the day before.  Yeah, I'm an old-fashioned guy who still prefer pencil and paper.  When you do the puzzle interactively, it's too tempting to click some button to get the answer.  I have lots of pencils anyway.  I rescue them whenever I see one laying on the street.  Happy Word Playing!

THE NEW NORMAL, UGH

The new normal is the new phrase in this trying time.  I hope it won't stay too long and we will eventually go back to the old normal that I was familiar with.  Something as simple as a grocery trip is all too complicated.  I used to just go to the store and buy what I need.  Ordering for delivery or pickup never crossed my mind, but last week I used the service, to avoid spending too much time outside of the house.  At first I thought delivery service was a no-brainer but it turned out delivery would take longer, list a week away.  So the next best thing was pickup service - you order what you want, you pay for it ahead of time, then you go to the store between certain assigned hours to pick the items up.  Simple, right?  There was a mention of a verbal confirmation will be made but it just didn't click in my head what that means.  So I went to the store, with mask and gloves, and learned that they were still one day behind with the order.  I get it, people not working, maybe things didn't get delivered, whatever.  I guess at least the store is still open, that there's a system for people to order online for pickup or delivery.  I'll be back out tomorrow to get the stuff, once verbal confirmation is received.

ZOOMIE ROOMIES

Zoom.us video conference service gained much popularity during this COVID-19 pandemic.  Free for 40 minutes  or available at some reasonable price, the web-based service is used by people quarantined in their houses to interact with other people quarantined in other houses.  I've seen Zoom meetings between members of orchestras, yoga teachers and students, the list goes on and on.  Just prior to me losing my desktop support job, because there's nobody around to need my support, I kept overhearing the manager of the group talk about users wanting to use Zoom.  Now it's everywhere and tonight I had some fun playing a trivia game over Zoom.

It is quite a lot of work to organize the game but I think we got the right people for the job.  Someone came up with all the questions and answers, the format, and someone else tallied the scores and sent the various teams into their Breakout Rooms so they can talk among themselves.  I named my team Zoomie Roomies, to reflect the fact that my team of four are split into two different physical rooms, two per room.  We were roommates of sort, but over Zoom.  I think I coined the phrase Zoomie to refer to users of Zoom.us service, but maybe someone already did that.  It does give me an idea for a cartoon, in a day when the current pandemic is over but we will have other issues related to Zoom.  Stay tuned!

LEARN WITH MAC GEEK GAB

I regularly listen to the Mac Geek Gab podcast.  Cool intro music but what I like the most are the quick tips etc.  Mind you, most of the time I cannot apply the tips but it's still good to know.  My Mac is not at the latest and greatest version of Mac OS X so those tips simply don't apply.  Other tips like WiFi meshing or RAID setup also don't help because I don't have the hardware.  At least not yet.  They do talk about iDevice's iOS and I finally found an applicable tip, namely the Shortcuts app for iPhone and such.  It's sort of like programming for the masses.  I haven't done much with it but quickly cobbled together two Shortcuts "scripts".  One is to turn off Bluetooth then turn on Low Power Mode.  I name it Save Energy.  Supposedly I should use that script each night before going to bed.  In the morning, I would run the Normal Energy script, which undoes those settings.  Just something to explore the Shortcuts app.  There is an Automation portion of Shortcuts that I haven't explored.  Logically, these scripts should run automatically at certain time of the day, as long as the iPhone is on.  Something else I will explore is what to play or act when the iPhone sees my car's Bluetooth system.  Happy Exploring!

NYS ON PAWS

Quarantine and loneliness can go together well.  A few weeks ago Governor Cuomo of New York State stated that the State was to be on P.A.U.S.E., where the acronym translates to some contrived meaning that basically says only essential businesses can stay open.  Shortly afterward the wordsmith in me thought of New York State on P.A.W.S.  My contrived meaning is Pets Are Wovewy Sidekicks, where Wovewy = Lovely, just the way pet owners talk to their pets, kinda like baby talk.  I wouldn't know since I never have a pet but I watch pet videos every now and then.  My little joke/pun is actually behind the time.  I thought the government would declare that everyone needs to have a pet.  On their own, people already ran out to animal shelters and cleared out all dogs and cats etc.  It's totally understandable.

A friend mentioned the lack of nipple rings but I'll them out for now.

DR. STRANGELOVE OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB

New York City's current dilemma is so depressing I finally decided to take my mind off current events by watching a movie.  I used the Crackle app on my iPhone and after some scrolling picked Dr. Strangelove, aka How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.  It is one of those movies that I saw snippets of back in the day of channel-flipping.  It is also the movie that got me to love the tune When Johnny Comes Marching Home.  Maybe it was the suspense and action that were pulsating on-screen, the tune is so memorable.

Without reading up about the movie, of all the times I saw short sections of the movie I didn't know that Peter Sellers played a few different roles in it.  What a talented man!  I knew him mostly as the clumsy Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther movies.  The Strangelove movie deals with nuclear annihilation but had its funny moments.  My favorite part is when Group Commander Mandrake asked a Colonel to shoot the Coca Cola vending machine to get him some coins so he could make a call to the President of the United States, to give the President the code to recall the B-52 bombers on their way to attack Russia.  The Colonel told Mandrake that if there really is no imminent nuclear war then Mandrake will have to face the wrath of the Coca Cola company.  Such absurdity is in many places throughout the movie.  Someone trying to reach some important general by phone and he was busy on the toilet seat and didn't even want to take the call afterward.  The Russian chairman insisting that he's more sorry than the U.S. President about the impending nuclear holocaust.  Some high-ranking general believing in conspiracy theories and putting in motion something that ultimately doomed the world.  Not a good choice of a movie that would cheer me up, even with the funny moments.  One man can really doom the world if not enough people try to stop him.

THE HISTORY OF LOVE

I picked up the book The History of Love, by Nicole Krauss, off the front porch of some house in Park Slope when I went for a run there last month, some day around Valentine's Day.  It is a common practice in that area of town, people just put stuff out on their porch to give away, sometimes with a sign that says "Free", other times none.  Sometimes I even carry books to the area and donate to the few Little Free Libraries in the area.  On that day, I failed in my mission to declutter because I think I also picked up some other books.

The History of Love sounds like an ambitious title, so grandiose, so historic.  It's sorta like the movie Inception, a book within a book.  Yes, there are characters inside the book that are connected to a book called, surprise surprise, The History of Love.  The beginning was pretty sad, much about an old man with no relatives counting the days until he dies.  So depressing, maybe that's why I couldn't get far.  Then a girl named Alma was introduced into the story, I didn't catch on right away that she was in the same universe as the old man.  As a matter of fact, in the same city, this great New York City of ours that is mostly a ghost town because of COVID-19.  In theory, with NYC on lockdown I should have plenty of time to read etc but I was just not in the mood for it.  Eventually I did and finished the book after a few nights as before-bed reading.  Once I saw how the story turned out, that the girl was trying to find the real people behind the book, that she would eventually meeting the old man, I went through the book much faster.  I did have to read the Wikipedia entry afterward to make sure I didn't miss anything.  In the old days, that would be a Cliff Note or Monarch Note.  Yup, I pretty much got the gist of the story.  Supposedly a movie was made out of it, but I am reluctant to see it so soon.  I'd rather see the movie, if I ever will, some time later when what I remember of the book is gone or mostly gone.  I think it's more enjoyable that way.

In the spirit of decluttering the house, I am thinking of offering the book to my local Buy Nothing group, although I am not sure if anyone will want it.  Who knows, when my local library first closed down for the immediate future I thought about raiding the nearest Free Little Library but I never followed through with the idea.

HURRY UP AND QUEUE UP

Like many New Yorkers, I have been hunkering down at home but yesterday I had to make my grocery trips.  I heard about the need to queue up outside the store, to keep the inside of the less crowded to maintain proper distance among the shoppers.  I finally experienced it and it was not so bad.  First it was the Chinese supermarket on my block.  It was rainy but there was an overhang outside the building to keep the people on the queue not as wet.  It was a good thing that the store had an employee at the sole entrance/exit to maintain order.  Some shopper, intentional or not, just blissfully walked into the store.  The people at the front of the store should be closer to the entrance but I guess there was no overhang there so they were some 20 feet away instead.  I recall when we lived under the Communist regime of Viet Nam, standing in queue was a new reality too.  Lots of things were rationed, we had to stand in queue to buy rice, sugar, etc.  As a teenager, I made a little money by getting in the queue to buy stuff for some of the neighbors in the apartment complex.  The queues then was a lot worse than what I experienced yesterday.  It didn't wrap around the block, even with people maintaining six-feet distance.

The queue at the Walgreen across the street from the Chinese supermarket was also short.  Maybe it had to do with the rain.  I don't mind rain at all and have this crazy idea that disease doesn't get distributed as easily when it's raining.  Not just because droplets don't stay in the air as long but many people don't like rain and rather stay indoor.  While I was standing in queue, some guy drove into the parking lot then asked if that was the line to get inside.  He then got upset and drove away.  You would think everyone knows this new reality by now but obviously some don't.

Even though the waiting, at both stores, didn't seem too long, it does add up.  When you need to make a grocery trip, allocate extra time for the queue.  It didn't happen at Walgreen but at Sun-Hing the line to pay was long, or at least longer than usual.

PICKUP LINES IN THE TIME OF COVID-19

Many people got creative now that they have a lot of times on their hand with having no places to go, to job to earn money from, nobody to hang out with, too.  Musically-talented ones wrote song parodies and even perform with guitar and such.  Heck, I myself took a shot at cartooning but I am not rich yet, still waiting for that rich patron to visit my Patreon web site.  I still have another cartoon idea but how about some puns and such.  There's a list of Covid-19 pickup lines going around so I decided to make my own lines.  Not that I need it, just something fun to do with the extra time on my hand.

COVID-19 pickup lines

Roses are red
Violets are blue
When pandemic ends
Let me be your boo

With curves like yours, I wouldn’t flatten any

How do I love thee?
Let me count the plies

I want to be forward with you
That’s just how my TP rolls

We are made for each other
Like macorona and cheese

I hope it’s only your smile that is infectious

With ventilators in high demand, I am afraid to look at you because you are so breathtaking

Let me serenade you while you wash your hands

I see you have P.P.E. but don’t you need some T.L.C. also?

I am sure under that N95 of yours there is a pair of luscious lips smiling at me.

FLATTEN THE CURVE - FINALE!

That's all, folks!  Gojira saved the day!!!  Just my silly idea of how one city can Flatten the Curve.  Of course, in the real world it doesn't work that way.  We just have to do our part and interact with as few people as possible.

FLATTEN THE CURVE - FRAME 3

Here it is, the long awaited conclusion to FLATTEN THE CURVE.  Well, actually no, I plan to have two more frames...

https://www.patreon.com/posts/flatten-curve-3-35299735

FLATTEN THE CURVE - FRAME 2

FLATTEN THE CURVE - FRAME 1

I need to get back into a routine.  One that includes me sitting down and draw cartoon(s) first thing in the morning.  It didn't happen today that's why only now I have my second post for Patreon.  The kicker is not that I lack ideas, I have many ideas, but somehow I just couldn't get started.  The fact that my wife uses my office as her work-office (she's lucky enough to still have a job and can work from home), so I don't have my stuff where I need them to be.  For instance, it took me a while to find the paper that I need to draw on.  I found something similar, but I need my stuff in one place, some place easy to find.

Without further ado, here's my idea of what the Japanese would do if their city got attacked by a Big Curve, frame 1 of more:

PATREON FIRST POST

There, I made my first cartoon for Patreon.  This one is a freebie!

https://www.patreon.com/posts/35220182

PATRONIZE ME!

When I was first told I won't be needed at the office any more because most, if not all, people will be working from home.  There's just no need for a desktop technician to be around, unless said technician can also work from home, but I am a contractor with limited access so that wouldn't happen.  I jokingly thought maybe it's time to follow-up on all those work-from-home spam email I regularly get.  I am sure there are a bunch of them in my Spam folder, thank you Gmail.

Actually, there is a more honest way to make a living from home, or at least make some beer money, even though I don't drink beer (or any alcohol for that matter.)  I heard much about Patreon, the platform for creative types to get patrons, subscribers who foot the bill for the creators to keep the creative juice going without selling their souls to the big corporations.  Or something like that.  It cannot hurt to try, I suppose.  I do have a lot of free time, my kid is all grown-up.

I am all set with Patreon, payment arrangement made, Patreon widget added to this blog's sidebar, why, I even have a couple of cartoon ideas to draw.  I suppose in the beginning I should try to cast a wide net and offer the 'toons to everyone.  I do worry that it won't be fun and game if I have to constantly bang out materials to keep patrons happy but let's get thing up and running first.

HIGHLIGHTS: CLASS OF 1982 WILLIAM COWPER JHS 73

Even before the current self-quarantine/lockdown scenario in New York and across the U.S., I already put in a lot of work for the general Newtown High School group on Facebook.  It helped that I inherited a stack of yearbooks from a popular teacher after his passing.  Besides scanning the yearbook pages, I also arranged for occasional luncheons and do research to help the members locate old friends.

With even more time on my hands, I also scanned pages of the yearbook for my own Class of 1985 at Newtown and even went back to JHS, namely William Cowper JHS 73 Class of 1982.  I know, the school is now named after a popular teacher who passed away in an accident, but for some reason the name has a hard time sticking in my head.  The yearbook, named Highlights, is not complete yet but you can find the first 10 or so pages at the following link:


https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.10150384086182542&type=3

TECH TIP: CHROME ENABLE-FEATURES PASSWORDIMPORT

I love discovering useful features of common software.  At all my previous workplaces, Internet Explorer 11, warts and all, was the default browser.  Or at least on the Windows 7 computers that I upgraded to Windows 10.  As a result, the need to transfer Chrome passwords from old machines to new machines was simply not there.  On a recent project, the need arose and I learned from another technician the -enable-features option.

On the old computer, go into Chrome Settings and export the passwords.  The user would have to supply the Windows password.  The file is saved as Chrome Password.csv in the place you select (flash drive, personal folder etc), guard it with your life!

On the new computer, make a copy of an existing Chrome shortcut then add to the Target field -enable-features=PasswordImport , as shown below.  Launch the Chrome copy, go to Settings then Password, you now have the option to import the list of passwords. Have user visit a few sites that require password to verify the import worked then delete the .csv file.  Also delete the copy of Chrome shortcut, just to keep things tidy.

FORD!

This week in Route-Art: Ford!  Actually, it was last week, but with this self-quarantine thing going on it is difficult to tell time.  To be exact, it was this past Saturday.  On Facebook, I help run an alumni group for my high school and other than uploading pages from the few yearbooks I acquired over the years, I try to do something different every now and then.  I've been using Posterino to make photo-grid of the teachers' faces, word-cloud of the teachers' names, and on Saturday it was a favorite teacher's birthday so I decided to use my skill in route-art to enliven the group's Wall.

The teacher's last name is Ford and there is a street not too far from me by the same name.  I wanted to do my run there, so I can name the run FORD BY FORD, but it is not close enough to walk over and would require a bus ride or a car drive.  Social distancing was already announced then so I decide to do it in my own neighborhood.  Little did I know that run would be one of my last runs for the immediate future.  These days I do rope-skipping in the backyard in the morning, then some time after lunch it's yoga in the dining room, both activities are done with my son.  Last but not least, I would do a mile or three on the elliptical in the living room.

Hope you enjoy this little Relive video of my Ford run!  Relive now offer for free one music track to add, sorry that's the best I can do.  After the run, I regretted that I didn't use kerning to keep the rest of letters closer the F.  Oh well!