News 2024

July 30, 2024  Permission to Board

Received official certification and seal finally, I'm an American Sailing Certified Sailor. Next steps TBD (as noted on the Now page). Meanwhile, I rafted the Suarez (Colombia) and Snake - Hells Canyon (ID/OR), spent a little time on a SUP and eFoil, and will be canoeing in Algonquin soon.

March 4, 2024  Strong Stuff

February was a wonderful journey, physically, socially, mentally, environmentally, emotionally. In its fullness there were some profound realizations. And from just a single day -- within one period of that day, a few moments of that day, just one of those enlightenments, I'm publishing here. For my continual reflection - and perhaps yours:

As if in each of us

There once was a fire

And for some of us

There seem as if there are only ashes now

But when we dig in the ashes

We find one ember

And very gently we fan that ember

Blow on it

It gets brighter

And from that ember we rebuild the fire

Only thing that's important is that ember

That's what you and I are here to celebrate

The ember gets stronger

Flame starts to flicker a bit

And pretty soon you realize

That all we're going to do for eternity

Is sit around the fire

Those last three lines. Yeah. Strong stuff.

February 4, 2024  Crossing Words Update

This is a follow-up to my March 2023 post below) regarding the NYT crossword solving. I subsequently kept at it April, May and June. Then halfway through July travel deserved more attention so I slacked off on keeping up with daily solving. I picked back up Oct and Nov, slacked in Dec, and crushed it in Jan. So it seems I'll ebb and flow in both available time and periods of break and obsession. I feel the on/off periodization also helps build long-term knowledge growth. 

I had logged enough solves to know my expected time to spend, and to date they are: M=20 minutes, T=30, W=50, Thu-Sat=1.5 hours, and Sun=2.5 hours. (Reading the clues and entering letters/words takes about 12 minutes minimum if taking almost no time to derive answers along the way.) I've developed a routine of working up to a certain time limit give the day and then kick into hint mode so as not to burn too much time.

Statistics are: 8-12 gold solves per month earlier on and recently 16 gold solves in January (boom!), first Friday solve came in April, and first Saturday in May (that was a glorious day). I've solved 3 Sundays w/o hints. I had a 5-day streak in April, then finally a 6-day streak in November. Hard days (Fri, Sat and Sun) solves are happening more frequently (still very tough) and feel especially exhilarating when they happen. Often times those Fri and Sat ones start off with just 2-3 words after initial walkthrough and I feel like it's going to be a complete slaughter, but sometimes they reveal. And sometimes it takes putting it down and coming back later or the next day. Those solves are addicting. And every time I learn something, a new word, historical info, random facts, spelling variations. Excellent mental exercise and sometimes conversation material.

There's been definite improvement. I've come a long way since the March 31 post, using less hints along the way, decreasing solve time, and solving not only a Sunday but amazingly Friday and Saturday puzzles too. I've exceeded my expectations and now feel like I have arrived. I'm no speed demon, but I can confidently call myself a NYT crossword solver. Goal achieved!

January's record is below. Blue = solved but used hint(s) (revealing mistakes or letters) and gold = completed without hints.