Getting Certified

This year I have been studing the Python programming language. I passed two entry level exams (one from Microsoft, the other from the Python Institute). Today was the day for me to take my mid-level exam. I wanted to take the test while on vacation. However the local community college in my vacation town only offers the test once a month. The dates did not line up. So I took the exam near home at bit early.

I scheduled the exam for a day off from work. I chose the earliest possible time. Woke up early today. Shaved my beard so it would not mess with the mask I had to wear. Then I headed to the exam center. I filled my car up with gas first. When I got to the parking lot, there was one other guy parked there. He got out of his truck and went into the building.

I stayed in my car. I did some last minute studying. Then I headed in. The guy from earlier was waiting in the hall. The exam center had not opened yet. They other guy was taking a SANS exam. I told them their training was really expensive. He said he took the training, which provided him with a book he could carry into the exam. He said the GI Bill wsa paying for everyhone.

During the test, I found a couple tricky questions. I think I answered them correctly. However there were a few questions that I actually missed. When I had completed all questions, the exam computer did not tell me score or whether I passed. It said to see the instructor at the front desk. The instructor recognized me from my prior exam, and said I always pass. He sounds like he is getting to know me.

Momoko and I went out for a Mexican lunch to passing of the exam. I now am digging in deep to my Statistics class from an online school. This will allow me to skip the stats course in my college, which is filled with group projects and group grading which I abhor.

Tiny Christmas Tree

This year, Kit Kat was in charge of setting up our Christmas tree. Unfortunately, she was busy completing her graduate program in college. So the tree did not get put up. Momoko then thought the children could stand up a tiny Christmas tree. She said she purchased one for each of the kids in the past.

Little Kat said he gave his tree to Kit Kat. Thought Kit Kat does not remember that, she thought her tree was somewhere in her closet. Once final papers were submitted for the college semester, she looked and found her tree. We had her put it on top of a TV tray in front of the fireplace.

I used this as an opportunity to place my gifts under the tree. Little Kat followed suit the next day. My brother and Momoko later put their gifts under the tree. Momoko put this year's family ornament on top of the tree. It is a mask to symbolize our COVID-19 trials this year.

Just Say No to College Group Projects

I am still trying to get eligible to enroll in a class at Little Kat's 4 year college. In the mean time, I am going to the night school at another local college. I figure while I am waiting, I can sign up for a class at this night school for next spring.

I need to take a statistics class because it is a prerequisite for all the other good classes I want to take. Since I will be out of town in the beginning of the spring, I decided I could only to an online course. I found one such class.

Before enrolling, I spied on the class syllabus from the last semester. I did not like what I saw. They put you in groups and want you to interact with your group to learn stuff together. I am sure that benefits instructors, as they push off the learn to other students. It also benefits slackers, as they can be pulled up by their peers.

Unfortunately for a person like myself, groups are essentially a total waste of time. Nobody has any time for that. I therefore hatched a plan to try to skip this class. When I was an undergraduate originally, I took an engineering statistics class. I hope I can use that to bypass this class.

Scheduling Certification Exams

I had got approval from my boss to take a week off from work to study for and take a certification exam. This was to coincide with a trip I was going to take with Little Kat. Well I figured I had better get my stuff lined up. The exam date is less than a month from now.

I determined which books I wanted to purchase for exam prep. Now I probably don't need all these books to pass the exam. But my company is weird. They only pay for books if they are required to pass an exam. So I guess I need them to pass the exam. Understood?

It would have been easy to just order all the book directly from Amazon. But that would have been one huge package. That is no fun. Instead, I ordered through Amazon. But I bought books from third party sellers. I mostly chose used books to keep the price low. Now I am going to get a ton of packages this month.

The trouble happened when I tried to schedule and pay for my exam. The exam seems to be offered only one time next month. And that day it outside of Little Kat and my trip abroad. So that will not work. Instead I decided to sign up for a test administered close to home the weekend before we take off. The only problem is that I need to study now, instead of the week off work I planned to train.

Coding Python 24x7

I have read through 12 books on the Python computer programming language. They are stacked up on my desk. Around half of them have notes for future programming I need to do based on ideas from the books. Purchasing print books was expensive and also bulky. I have a new plan: read e-books.

My college has access to Safari Online. This is a digital library of almost all the computer books I could ever read. Right now I am going through an e-book that has around 80 projects for me to complete. To get this done in a reasonable time, I am trying to do 8 projects a day. It is challenging.

There are at least 9 other Python e-books that I would like to read. Not sure when I am going to get the time, especially when most of them require you to also write programs along with the reading. It does not help that I am going to school to learn Data Science at the same time as well.

I plan to sit for a Python certification exam in one month. The company will pay for that certification. And if I say I need some books to prepare, they will cover the cost for those too. Therefore I plan to buy 7 more print books at a price of around $200. My boss said that is okay. The company will pick up the tab.

Mexican Lunch

Kit Kat had gone to a Mexican restaurant that the family frequented in the past. Momoko and I decided to eat lunch at the same place on the day after Thanksgiving. We assumed they would be opened. That was only partially true. They opened late (4pm). We instead had to opt for Wendy's and go home to watch Love and Redemption, a Chinese drama on Rakuten.

Today we got up early for the weekend and ate Chik Fil A for breakfast. And again we watched some Love and Redemption. After watching the first half of the Big Noon college football game featuring Ohio State and Michigan, we went to lunch.

We returned to the familiar Mexican restaurant. On the walk from the car, I advised Momoko to walk around a slow senior who used a cane. We got seated at our favorite table. I asked for the lunch menus because they are much cheaper. Later I found that they usually don't allow lunch prices on the weekend. Not only did they give us the lunch special price, they gave us one meal on the house.

Retaining Wall Moved

Today I put the finishing touches on the retaining wall section that I moved. It previously was directed diagonally, ending very close to our back chain link fence. That prevented me from easily walking past it down the hill on the other side. Instead I moved the 8 foot section to be perpendicular to our chain link fence.

I realized that as I nailed the wire mesh into the wood lumber, I used nails that were too long. They stuck out in the back of the wall. That seemed like a dangerous hazard. I was not going to unearth the crushed rock and pull the nails out. Instead I just hammered some thin wood to the back of the wall. This covered the exposed nails.

Today I needed to collect leaves on the hill, which is located on the other side of the retaining wall. First I used the leaf blower to send them in a pile near the bottom of the hill. Then I ran my lawn mower past the new wide entry between the chain link fence and the wall. Easy. I wish I had done this a long time ago.

In the future, I may add another 8 foot section to the retaining wall. There is the start of some erosion higher up on my hill. A retaining wall extension could prevent that from happening.

Search for Drainage Rock

I went to my local store to pick up some drainage rock. Getting close to completing the relocation of part of the retaining wall in the back yard. There was a sign for the rock in the store. But there were no stones. I asked a worker there. They said if it is not where I looked, they don't have it. Fail.

This morning I got up and went to Chik Fil A. Got an early lunch and drove it to the sister store 20 minutes north of us. Ate my lunch in my car. Then I went in. There were a lot of cars in the parking lot. I almost went home to try the next day. Glad I did not. I found the rock. Took a while to find a sturdy cart to haul the rock to my car.

Many of the bags were falling apart. I set those aside. I grabbed 10 good bags, because that is all I thought I could carry. Loaded then in the back of the Benz. On the way home, I heard a pop from the back of the vehicle. Not good. After I unloaded all the bags and stashed them behind my big shed, I investigated the car. Apparently half of the back floor popped up. I guess the weight was too high. I lowered it back down.

I had a surprise after digging holes for my posts. The concrete in the big shed must have gotten moist. It was all caked up like a big rock. I used a hammer to decompose it. Cemented in the two small posts before the rains come tomorrow. I think I will wrap up this retaining wall move this weekend at the latest.

Squid Game

I have been busy with school and studying Python programming on the side. But Momoko finally talked me into watching Squid Game on Netflix. It is the #1 show in just about all countries right now. Momoko and I had watched a prior Chinese version of the show.

At work, we were to dress up for Halloween at one of our Zoom meetings. I ordered a squid man costume via Amazon. It was supposed to arrive 2 days before my meeting. It did not get delivered. The new estimate was 4 days later, with a note that "if it does not come by then, I can ask for a refund". Fail.

I tried to locate any old costumes I owned. I found a mask that had severely deformed over the years. It broke apart. I tried to glue it together using some fabric on the back. That was a failure. But I was able to rip off the fake hair, and make a Chewbacca costume with it. The people at work thought I was an Ewok.

Aleks Math Failure

Little Kat is in the first semester at his 4 year college. He started off doing okay in Math. But then he got a couple failed grades. Momoko thought it was a mistake/fluke. Little Kat found out that the software that teaches him is on a forced schedule. If he does not keep up, he fails.

We got to the bottom of the problem. Little Kat was only doing math for the two times he went to college for his math class. That was less than 3 hours a week. Little Kat signed up for tutoring. And he pledged to spend 1 hour a day extra, in addition to the class time, to catch up.

A day later we found out that the first Module in Aleks was closing. Then Little Kat got locked out of his Module 1 topics. This would not work for me. He can't not learn math basics. That will result in utter failure. I had Little Kat ask his instructor for help. The instructor said the module was locked. Little Kat tried again by email, but the instructor refused.

Today Little Kat and I called the Math department admin. We explained the situation and asked how we could get Aleks unlocked. She said our only chance was to go to the math department chair. Little Kat and I constructed a terse but compelling email to the chairwoman. Little Kat got lucky. She said that if he finishes the current module in Aleks, then the past one will become unlocked for him.

Gold Mine Full of Books

I am starting at a new college this semester. It is the night school of the campus where I got my bachelor's degree. This college usually does not require you to purchase a textbook for most classes. I found out why. They give you access to O'Reilly's online book library. Our class text is available there.

While browsing chapter 1 online in our text, I found that the code was not easy to read. Therefore I purchased a print copy of my textbook. But I realized there were a whole lot of technical books available to me online.

I consulted my Amazon book lists. There were tons of technical books, mostly about the Python programming language, that I wanted to buy. More than half of them are now available to me online for no extra cost. I am like a kid in a candy store. So many books to read. So little time.

Retaining Wall Repair

 

A long time ago, I hired Little Kat to build a retaining wall in our back yard. He needed money. And our hill needed support from erosion. He did a pretty good job. However over time, the dirt and rocks have started eroding under the lower plank of the wall. I decided to correct this problem myself.

I went to the hardware store and purchased some steel mesh. Then I dug out the dirt and rocks from the high side of the wall. Then I laid the mesh down behind the wall to ensure new drainage rock would not fall through, even if dirt under it washed away.

One section of the existing wall was crooked. The planks were too low on one side. The edge of this section also came close to our chain link fence, making it hard for me to pass by to the lower side of the wall. So I have decided to move that one section to higher ground. That's a lot more work, but will be beneficial in the long run.

Dinner and an Acura TLX

I was scheduled to meet my old buddy from college for dinner. Drove to his house and was about 10 minutes early. He texted me saying he was running 15 minutes behind schedule. I told him no rush as I brought my Kindle for reading. The only weird thing is that the Kindle needs an Internet connection to even work. Luckily the iPhone can generate a hot spot.

My buddy came out and we took his car. He had a rental because his Acrura SUV was in the shop at the dealership. They gave him an Acura TLX sedan as a loaner. It was hard to get in due to the low height of the door jamb. Inside it was roomy enough. It felt like a brand new luxury car.

We headed to a seafood restaurant to the east. As soon as we exited off the main highway, the traffic was stopped. The radio station said there was an accident and all traffic was blocked. 30 minutes later I saw a couple tow trucks drive by. Eventually we eeked by and got to our destination. After dinner, I asked that we take the long way home so that I could enjoy the luxury car for a bit longer. My buddy got lost a few times. The back seat had surprising head room too.

Little Kat Graduates

This past summer, Little Kat completed his final requirements to graudate from community college. He ended his career there on a high note. Both his last semesters, he earned a 4.0 GPA. Not bad considering he took some technical courses.

This week Little Kat received a package in the mail from his community college. I thought it looked important because it said "don't bend". However the size seemed a bit small for a diploma. It was at most 8x10 inches. It was indeed the diploma though.

I guess Little Kat will need to earn a Bachelors degree from a four year university to get a bigger diploma. He has started working on that. For now, I suspect he will frame his small community college diploma on the wall. I have my two diplomas from my undergraduate and graduate degrees hanging on the wall in my study.

Chainsaw Time

A huge branch fell off a neighbor's tree and landed in our yard. Luckily it did not damage. It was a close call. I used my hand saw as best as I could to cut up the pieces. The main trunk of the branch was too huge. I dragged it behind the shed.

My brother spotted a dead tree on our property right behind our fence. I contracted a company to come cut it down. Also asked them to trim a huge branch growing into our house. They came and cut the dead tree with a chainsaw. They also climbed the other tree and cut the branch with a chainsaw.

I decided to finally purchase a chainsaw of my own. Ordered it from Amazon. It was an off brand. But it was 25% off and cost around $100. It came but the directions were not too clear. Took a while to figure out how to install the chain. Then it would not start. WTF?

Finally after another read of the manual, I determined the 3 buttons I had to press to turn it on. It was quiet probably due to it being battery powered. It made light work of the huge branch from the neighbor. Done in well under 30 minutes. It would have taken me more than 3 months of pain to do it with a hand saw.

Potential Car Trouble

My car displayed some weird symbol on the dash. I could not bring up any warning messages. Little Kat thought it might have to do with low tire pressure. After driving a bit, a screen came up complaining about the rear tire pressure on both sides.

It was hot. So I put off dealing with it to the next day. I had trouble finding the required tire pressure on the driver side door jamb. It was really low, close to the ground. I took a picture with my phone and zoomed in.

Apparently I need 43PSI in all four tires. I used Kit Kat's air compressor to fill both back tires. Got my fingers dirty taking off the stem caps. When I drove, the car still complained. Now it thought the front tires needed more air. I filled them up too.

The last straw was the car complaining about the front passenger side tire. It detected 43PSI. That is the required amount. After a long drive to my old neighborhood, the warning message went away.

Recliner Chair Shopping

My brother and I went to the county dump. We brought my old broke down recliner chair. It was stuck in the reclined position permanently. I looked up some local furniture shops. Momoko and I went shopping this weekend.

The first store was near the big city far to the North. I let Google Maps direct me there. Once close, Momoko told me to take a hard right onto an exit. It was the wrong way. After a U-turn, we found ourselves in a low income neighborhood.

This was my kind of area for shopping. I am positive the locals don't pay much for furniture. We pulled into a store in the basement of a warehouse. I was surprised that there was hardly any customers parked outside.<.br>
A salesman approached us immediately. I told him I wanted a recliner chair. I did not want a rocker or one that swivels. I told him I preferred one that had power reclining abilities. He said they had exactly one in the store.

The salesman took us to a light blue chair. I sat on it and it felt fine. I asked if I could test the power reclining. The sales guy checked, but there was no plug connected to the chair. He asked other salesmen and searched, but oculd not find the plug.

I was pleased that the chair cost only $300. Normally the low end power reclining ones go for $400. I asked the sales guy where I could pick up the chair if I bought it. He said their warehosue was closed due to COVID. He said they only deliver. Cost was $200. But he said he could cut that down to $100. I noped out of there.

Changing Colleges

This summer, Little Kat took his last college class for his Associates degree. He has been admitted to a four year college to get his Bachelors degree. Classes start in about one week.

Little Kat's degree will be in Computer Tecnology. Initially he was going to specialize in Cybersecurity. However that track is no longer offered at his college. So instead he will be focused on Network Enterprise Infrastructure.

Momoko and I are still not convinced he is in the right specialty. The goal is for him to be in the are where we think he has the best chance of getting good grades and graduating. Little Kat wants to have a computer forensics job. That is a bit of a niche. So we are having him think about a backup job if forensics falls through.

Tree Work

While on vacation, my brother called me worried about a dead tree we had on our property. He said the high winds from recent storms made this a danger. I told him I would check it out when I got home. Initially I had overlooked this tree, as it is on our property, but behind our back fence. It did look dangerous.

I indentified three tree companies and called them up. Thought I should get 3 estimates for tree removal. My brother also mentioned some other large tree branches that were growing onto our back roof. I noticed them before. So I figured I should get a quote for that trimming too.

The first company came out promptly and quoted me $1500 for everything. That seemed steep. I thought it would be half the price. The guy said they would come out with a lift so their guys would not have to climb any trees. I waited for the other two vendors, but they never even showed up to estimate the jobs.

Meeting on College

Momoko and I meet weekly with Little Kat to discuss college. Now that his summer community college class is over, we talk more about the future. Specifically we talk about his 4 year college program, degree track, and subsequent career. We gave him an action item last week to research Indeed for job details for his intended career.

Little Kat located three job titles surrounding the computer foresics industry. There were only a total of 50 entry level jobs available locally. The starting pay was good. Most needed at least one technical ceritication. Some wanted experience and/or a polygraph. There was a mix of degrees required for the jobs.

I was a bit concerned about the total number of jobs available. Luckily Little Kat has decided on a cybersecurity track. That field has a lot of other more general jobs that he could qualify for. Still, I think we need to think hard about what goals Little Kat is shooting for. And we should identify steps needed to increase his probably of success a landing a good job.

Day on Vacation

We drove to Waffle House for breakfast. There were only offering to go orders. The cook heated up my hash browns with the peppered jalapenos on the stove. On the way back to Momoko's dad's house, we stopped off for some drinks and loaded fries. Back home we watched a Jonas Brothers olympic special that was taped on DVR.

We went to our favorite Great Clips store for hair cuts. However the location had permanently closed. We visited the half price bookstore in the same shopping center. Momoko could not find any BTS merchandise. I saw a Steve Jobs books, but passed on it because it was in a $3 section, but was selling for $7. I did puchase a book on Bentley and Rolls Royce auto designs. It cost me $3.

I needed a bathroom break. So we stopped back at Momoko's dad's house. I took over the driving, and took us across town to another Great Clips barber shop. They had us in their database. My barber knew how I wanted my hair. They would not let us pay separately. Seems like they also picked up a scam from Super Clips where they charge you per minute for blow drying.

Next I drove to an On Cue gas station to fill up the car, which was below half a tank. It needed less than 6 gallons of gas due to a small gas tank. Then we dropped by a neighborhood Walmart to purchase ingredients for homemade chicken soup.

Gun Show

 

Momoko's brother in law asked me if I wanted to go to a gun show with him. I said no, but if he was going, I would tag along. He picked me up in his Chevy Malibu rental (his car got hit and is being repaired). He printed out $2 off coupons for the show. There was heavy metal playing from his playlist in his car.

We went to the state fair grounds. It was hard to drive in as all but the main entrance was closed. Once we did get on the premises, it was difficult to locate close parking. Entry to the show was a reasonable $14. We paid $12 after redeeming the coupons.

There were more than just guns at this show. There were coins and old currencies. I liked the Japanese swords. Machine-made ones were reasonable. Hand-made ones cost a lot of money. I saw a $5 sale for t-shirts. Unfortunately they only had small/medium/large sizes.

The most interesting item was a wooden plaque custom made to load bullets into a clip. It ran for $75. I asked if they could ship out of state. They said yes, if I paid a $15 shipping fee. Momoko's brother-in-law said no to a raffle that was offered. He also bargained down a wire scorpion from $10 to $5.

 We saw one last vendor in the lobby on the way out. We took the scenic path home. Had trouble finding an on ramp to the highway. We drove by our favorite theater.

Couch Shopping for Grandpa

Momoko, Kit Kat, and I were visiting Momoko's dad. His old couch needed to go. Momoko's brother-in-law took it to the dump. Our job was to find a new one. Momoko measured the couch area. She also measured where a potential loveseat could go.

We first went to a furniture store Momoko found. The parking lot was sparse. It was also janky. There were couches in the showroom lined back to front. You could only sit on the couches in the front. All the rest were not accessible.

The sales guy pulled out couches for us to try. It came down to two fabric ones. I liked the cheaper one. It cost $799 for the couch plus love seat. Delivery was $75 in cash. The sales guy thought they could be delivered either that day or the day after. 

That day we cleared room for both pieces of furniture. We did try one other furniture store. Average couch plus loveseat was over $2500 there. We ended up going with the bargain couch store. The delivery guys came on July 4. They pushed the couches through the narrow doors.

I took off the protective plastic and cardboard wrapping. I bundled them up and put them in the second big trash can outside. Kit Kat installed the feet on the furniture. The new space allowed Momoko to host dinner for the extended family at grandpas. She server homemade chicken soup.

McDonald's Breakfast Failure

Momoko and I drove to McDonald's for breakfast this morning. I ordered a sausage McMuffin. Momoko had a steak bagel. We opted for the drive through. I checked that we had two hash browns. Then we drove home.

Momoko noted that the bag felt a little heavy. Inside, instead of our meal, there were two burritos and two McGriddles. Momoko asked if I wanted either of those wrong items. Nope. So we got back in the car and headed back to McDonalds.

The drive through line was long. And the breakfast hour was nearing its end. So Momoko went into the store. I had my receipt from the drive through. And we brought back the food. The replacement bag was short one hash brown. But Momoko noticed right away and got it fixed.

All the extra time meant I did not have much time to eat before my next work meeting. So we could not watch anything interesting on TV while we ate breakfast. The moral of the story is to check all food items from the drive through, especially the sandwiches.

Oven Repair

The kids complained that the bottom oven in our double oven would not heat above 160 degrees. I called the manufacturer. They put me in touch with a local authorized repair shop. A guy came out and said we needed a new igniter.

Later I found out that the part was on back order. The repair shop had no clue when it would be back in stock. I called them after two weeks. They still had no ETA for the part. After a month, they finally called and scheduled another visit.

The tech had a hard time getting the old igniter out. He had to disconnect some parts from the back of the oven. He was unable to get the oven door off the oven. So he had a tough time working inside the oven. Eventually he detached a bunch of pieces, and could replace the part.

The guy let me go behind the oven to clean up. I sprayed a lot of Fantastic, and used at least 10 paper towels to wipe up the floor. There was assorted food, grime, and dust back there. Luckily I brought a small grocery bag with me to dispose of the junk.

I asked the tech when we should think about replacing the oven due to old age. He said our oven was a good one. It had good burner options on the stove top. It had a double oven. And the purple oven interior was a sign of us choosing the good one. He said he would personally keep replacing broken parts.

Birds Attack Car Mirrors

I started letting Momoko and Kit Kat park in the carport. They drive to school every day. And they both have problems backing into the driveway next to the carport. This works out good for them. But my car is now in the driveway. The birds are targeting it.

Every day the birds poop on my mirrors. I tried cleaning them right away. The birds come back multiple times a day and soil the mirrors. A quick fix was to put plastic grocery bags of the mirrors. That deters the birds. It also makes the car look bad.

I bought some spikes to put on top of the mirrors. They also work well. But they were hard to mount onto the mirrors. I had to use two-sided tape. That is hard to remove when I take the spikes off to drive the car. There has to be a better way.

Academic Dishonesty

Little Kat has been doing well in college this semester. There is no other option. Momoko and I are watching him like hawks. I am effectively auditing his two computer classes, quizzing him each week and forcing him to better learn the material. Going into the last week he had all As. Then he got a zero on a Python programming assignment. Not good.

The instructor told Little Kat to call him. Apparently the instructor accused Little Kat of cheating. He had two options: take a 0 for the assignment, or fight the accusation. Little Kat chose to take the 0. Initially Little Kat said he got a 0 because he used Google to find some materials outside of class. That did not make any sense. I actually know the instructor. He is not some crazy dude who would say that.

Upon further investigation, I found that Little Kat could not figure out how to complete his programming assignment. So he Googled around. He found some code that he did not understand. That code solved the assignment. So he submitted it. This was a fail. Even if Little Kat did not copy the code directly, there is no way an outside investigator could tell the difference between a copier and a guy like Little Kat who had no idea what he was doing.

Hopefully we got some lessons learned from this episode. Dig in and get help from instructors, parents, tutors if you cannot figure out your homework. Use Google, but make sure you understand what you read so you can produce your own material that you can defend. And in the worst case, just take the lower grade by not completing an assignment you cannot figure out. Let's hope the lesson sinks in.

Getting Breakfast

This morning I woke up and dialed into my first meeting of the day. Normally I stick around for an optional second meeting. But today I was too hungry. I went upstairs and brushed my teeth. Then I put a load of clothes in the washer. Finally I departed for McDonalds.

When I pulled into the parking lot, there was a big armored car trying to make a U-turn in the parking lot. I gave them plenty of room. Then a guy who also pulled aside for the truck got into line before me. I was next. The ordering line moved fast.

After I paid, I waited a while to get my food. The worker asked me to park in numero dos. She clarified that meant parking spot number two. Somebody came out immediately asked if I ordered hotcakes.  I told her no. She asked if I was sure? WTF? Of course I was sure.

Later this worker came back out. I told her not only did I not get hotcakes, but I substituted English muffins for the biscuit in a Big Breakfast. I checked and verified my order was correct. At home, I added a slice of cheese to the English muffins and sausage. Then I heated it all up in the microwave. Delicious.

Internet Providers Suck

Our previous Internet provider said they wanted to start charging extra fees if we use too much Internet bandwidth. These are some crooks. I wish we could get a normal provider who just raises rates when they want more money. Instead they are doing some shady stuff trying to make us choose some higher packages.

My initial response was to use competition. So I went to another provider. I got the cheapest Internet they provide. They had a special rate if you do automatic billing. No thank you. I said I want to receive a paper bill in the mail that I pay via check. I had to pay an extra fee for that. But I was okay. I thought we were good. I got my first bill in the mail and paid it.

This week I got a call and an email. The new Internet Service Provider said they were going to suspend our service due to non-payment. I checked my records. It has been almost 2 months since my last bill. I called them up and said they have not sent me a paper bill in a while. They told me I am forced to do paper free billing. WTF?

Apparently the original sales person either lied or did not know what they were talking about. They won't send me a paper bill in the mail. I can only receive digital notices of a bill. Not sure how I am going to respond. I might have to regroup and find another Internet Service Provider.

Python Programming for Little Kat

Little Kat is taking a python programming language class at his community college. This is a worthwhile course. I am learn the programming language myself on the side. To ensure Little Kat is doing well, I read his textbook ahead of time and quiz him on the topics each week. This has led to identification of areas where he is week. Then he can do further study.

It is 2.5 months into the spring semester at college. There is only 1 month left before finals. Little Kat just took his midterm exam. I was hoping he would do well since I spend a lot of time drilling him to ensure he is not slacking off. Unfortunately he only got an 85% on his midterm. That brought his grade down in the course.

While reviewing the questions he missed, I saw that there are indeed some tough topics that Little Kat is still very weak on. There is not a lot of time before the final. I told Little Kat in the remaining weeks I would put together sample final questions and see if he can answer them. It is time to get Little Kat to really step up his game. Too bad it is taking a lot of my time.

The Passing of our Gerbil Morgan

Last night, Kit Kat found our gerbil Morgan having trouble breathing. So Kit Kat put her on a heating pad on her lap. Kit Kat thought the gerbil would probably not make it through the night. She was right. The kids buried Morgan today.

Morgan was acquired along with Bailey from one of Kit Kat's friends. Morgan had some mishap half way through her life. It resulted in her losing some of her balance. She also normally ran around with a tilted head. He real trouble was the tumor she had that kept growing.

Morgan was a gerbil that would bite a lot. She loved to come out of the cage. She would sit on the roof of her cardboard box to indicate she wanted to come out. She would crawl around our couch. The couch cover made that easy. She begged for human food from Momoko, and would eat is and stay under the covers.

Morgan would sometimes veer toward the edge of the couch and fall off. She normally would not run far. She loved to go onto the tables next to the couch. Early in her life, she would sneak through the curtains to the window ledge. This also would invariably lead to her falling on the floor. In her younger years, she was an avid wheel runner.

Little Kat Future Plans

Little Kat is poised to complete his Associate's college degree this summer. The question is what to do next. He had a lot of trouble during his college career. So I am not convinced that further college is worthwhile for him. He does want to complete his 2 year degree first.

One option is for Little Kat to get a job. If he wants to work in Information Technology, he could possibly get some credentials like industry certifications. A good start might be the A+ certification. That is an entry level one that I think he could pass with some study. A second cert could be a cloud or cybersecurity one. He already took a Python programming class at school. These might qualify him for a job.

The other option is to continue on to a four year college. He has already applied for a Computer Technology program at a local state school. He has been accepted and wants to start in the fall. I am hesitant. He already has debt from a lot of community college. It would not be optimal to get more into debt if he can't graduate from that four year college.

We are going to have him try an initial semester at the four year college. Prior to that, I will have him study and maybe sit for a certification. In the end, we need to get him some kind of career. I pay for his car and auto insurance as it stands. But that is getting old. It is time for him to earn and take over.

Moving Out

Little Kat is on the waiting list for an X-Ray technician program at his college. They only let 18 people into the cohort per year. Unfortunately Little Kat did not complete all the prerequisites for the program successfully. He flunked his Anatomy II class last semester. So his chances of getting into the program as essentially nil.

Now that we know Little Kat's college future is elsewhere, we are going to move him back home from his apartment. He already notified his landlord of his intent to terminate the lease. Luckily we had already warned the landlord that we would have him stay in the apartment for 6 months. So the landlord was already asking Little Kat about his final month.

Momoko, Little Kat, and I visited the local U-Haul rental center last Saturday. I told the guy I wanted to rent a 10 foot box truck for next Saturday. I asked to have the truck ready early in the morning. The sales rep said the earliest I could get one would be 2pm. I told him that would be fine.

Later that day, I got a text to call the U-Haul store. And then I got an email the next day saying my reservation was canceled. I tried to call U-Haul. They never picked up my call. I then realized that the guy had made my reservation for the prior Saturday, which really made no sense.

I decided to go online and make another reservation for the day before we need the truck (Friday). I am hoping to pick up a 10 foot truck the nightly before the move. That will let us get an early start on the move. It should also give us an early warning if there are further rental truck problems.

Gamestop Revisited

Because my broker disallowed purchases in GameStop stock after the run up, I decided they were not trustworthy. I transferred almost all my funds out into my bank account. Then I went back to my very first broker (which happened to also be my late father's broker). This all took a few weeks.

Lately, Gamestop stock has hovered around $200 a share. I think it is worth around $20 a share, maybe $30 tops if they have a turnaround. I doubt there will be any such turn around of selling physical games. So I did a small short term purchase of stock options betting against the stock. Pretty much lost all my money on that trade.

Well the earnings for the quarter were today. To prepare, I bought a bunch of options betting against the stock. This time around, I spent most of my money on options were either in the money, or just shy of in the money. These options cost a lot of money, especially when the expiration was far in the future.

Gamestop earnings and the subsequent call were nothing special. They did not beat analysts' estimates. However there was no announcement that they will issue more shares to dilute the value of the stock. So who knows where this thing will go. I hope the share value goes down and my puts go up.

New Idea for Dinner

While Little Kat is away living in his apartment, I cover his dinner nights at home. I don't cook. But I go get carryout for the family. Normally I pick up things like pizza or chicken. Not everyone is comfortable eating in restaurants with COVID-19. So it is always carry out.

This week we had a new idea. Momoko and I went to dinner early at Olive Garden. It was weird at the front door. We had to scan a QR code and check in online to get seated. Momoko ordered soup, salad and bread sticks. I got salad and break sticks. It was delicious.

The great idea in our plan was to pick up some to-go menu items. They were $5 each. I bought my brother a spaghetti with meat sauce. He ate that for dinner at home when we got back. Momoko got a fettucini alfredo for a future lunch. So did I.

I also got a stuffed fettuccine to go. It was a new entree. I figured if it was good, I would order it again. At night I got hungry at home. After all, I just had a salad for dinner. Luckily I was able to heat up my fettuccine alfredo in the microwave. It heated up and tasted well for a chilled meal.

We might do this again in the future. The price is pretty good. We get to eat a lot of salad and bread sticks (plus soup) at the restaurant. Only thing that could have made it better would have been to order some premium drinks at the restaurant to go with dinner.

Authentic Mexican

Momoko and I visited Little Kat at his apartment today. We picked him up and headed to a taco truck near his place. They claim to serve authentic Mexican food there. It was hard to get parking. I squeezed into a narrow space. Some big truck parked close behind me.

I told the dude in the truck this was our first time. He recommended we get pork tacos. Me and Little Kat took his advice. Momoko got pork enchiladas. The dude said it would take 10 minutes to cook. 15 minutes later we were still waiting. Eventually we got our meal to go.

Back at Little Kat's house, I found the tacos were small. But they each had a double tortilla around them. The pork was cooked with some red sauce. There were cucumbers and radishes to the side. They had red and green sauce. The red sauce looked hot but was not. I followed Little Kat's lead and squeezed lime juice on my tacos.

Value Proposition for Harpers Bazaar Magazine

I subscribe to a number of fashion magazines. Mostly I like to see the advertisements from big fashion companies. Currently my Harper's Bazaar subscription is expiring. This was originally not a magazine I knew much about. Their parent company published other famous fashion rags. So I decided to give it a try.

The current issue is almost 250 pages. The cover is of Megan Thee Stallion. There is a big article on Martha Stewart. Apparently Lenny Kravitz is the music director. Not sure why a print magazine needs a music directory. Still, they don't just seem to do stories on young/skinny stars.

The cover price of the magazine is around $71. It is definitely not worth that much. However I am sure I paid much less. I've got an offer to renew at $12 a year. That equates to $1 an issue. Not bad but not good. I have a more competitive offer of $8 a year if I agree to a "continuous subscription". That is one where they auto-renew me. I definitely don't like that.

I suspect they are charging a nominal subscription price to make sure they are only sending the magazine out to those who really want to read it. I want to read it. They money it takes to run the magazine surely comes from all the big advertisers in it. They do need to curate the subscriber base to convince those advertisers to spend the big bucks on them.

Not sure how I will proceed. I like a good value. I love a bargain. $8 a year for 12 months of 250 page print magazines delivered to me feels like a steal. Worst case is that I will grow tired of the magazine and need to cancel it after one year.

Typical Icy Saturday

Momoko was not feeling well this morning. So she decided not to eat lunch with us. My brother and I drove North to get some Chik Fil A. The line was extra long today. We had to drive up to a single speaker to place our order. Normally they have people out with iPads taking orders, making it go faster.

A girl approached us with flyers and said the prices rose but they could not update their board. We told her we did not need a flyer with updated prices. We got our meals and went to Little Kat's apartment. The sidewalk was icy and it was treacherous to walk around the building to Little Kat's back door. I had him apply salt.

Back at home, I had Momoko drive my Benz for the first time. She took a while to familiarize herself with the controls. She set some preset seat positions in the memory at position 2. We drove off down the street. We briefly got onto a main side street. But Momoko immediately pulled off into a cul de sac. Then she turned around and came home.

Internet Service Provider Shenanigans

Comcast provides our Internet service at home. Last month they started some shenanigans. They kept alerting me that we were going over our 1.2TB monthly transfer limit. The crime is that this is some arbitrary new limit that Comcast dreamed up. If we go over, Comcast says they will fine us. They encourage us to "upgrade" to unlimited data transfers. This is a classic shake down.

The best way to deal with unscrupulous companies like this is to have options. So I contacted Verizon and said I want some FIOS Internet service. It is not that Verizon is any less of a crook than Comcast. But I will pit crook against crook to win my business. Verizon is scheduled to come by in a week and set up our Internet. We will test that out.

I am going to call Comcast with my brother and see what they can do about these data overages. If they continue the shake down, I will just tell them to cancel our service. That usually puts you in touch with the team with the motivation and authority to make you happy and keep you as a customer. We just got to make sure it is not a bluff on our part, and we already have a backup Internet solution in place.

GameStonks

This past year, shares of GameStop sold as low as $2 and change. The CEO from Chewy joined the board of directors. Stock price shot up to the high teens. Even might have tested $20. Then the Reddit WallStreetBets crew got involved. I saw the stock ramp up to over $70. It was time to act.

First I had to sell off some of my Tesla puts to generate cash. Then I loaded up on puts, betting against GameStop. Later the stock went on a rampage. I remember one morning the stock topped $500 in premarket. By the time the market opened, it was over $400 a share. Ouch.

Brokers like Robin Hood and TD Ameritrade restricted trade. They would not let users buy shares of GameStop. That put the brakes on the rise. So the price went down to $350. Next day closed at $250. I think it then went to $150.

Recently it appeared to bottom out at $50. I would have loved to still have my puts then. I sold out when the stock was just above $100. Don't get me wrong. I had a small profit. Maybe 15%. But it could have been 50% or bigger.

I was toying with the idea of going long when the stock was $100. Good thing I did not. Maybe I will wait until it is back to $5. Then I can back the truck up. But it will still be a short term trade. This company is going bankrupt, regardless of the Chewy guy.

Wii U Failure

We had Little Kat over the house one night for dinner. Afterwards we wanted him to spend time with us. So we thought we could play a game. Kit Kat and Little Kat were against board games. So we proposed a video game instead. Momoko thought we could play Smash Brothers on the Wii.

The Wii U console booted up. However the tablet that connected to it was dead. Apparently it had been dead since Momoko's niece visited us last summer. I decided that we needed to replace either the tablet or the whole Wii U system.

I was shocked that there was little supply for sale. New Wii U consoles were going for $900 to $1100 on Amazon. Even a used tablet was $140 in average condition. This must be some sort of price gouging. Before making a purchase, I checked the existing table and found it unplugged. After charging up, it worked fine.

Big Lottery Jackpots

The Mega Millions and PowerBall lottery jackpots are getting huge. So I bought one ticket for each. Unfortunately I only got a matching mega ball. It was worth $2. I tried to go back to the gas station where I bought the ticket to redeem it. The gas station was closed for rennovations.

I went down the street to another gas station. Normally I don't go there because the gas costs too much. I traded in my winning $2 ticket. Used it and some more cash to buy one more ticket for each of these big lottories.

The Mega Millions jackpot is a whopping $640M. And PowerBall is even bigger at $750M. Of course the odds are astronomical for a win. Really what I am buying is a short term dream of what I would do if I won either of them.

Loan Denied

Little Kat applied for a student loan for next semester's college classes. I acted as a co-signer for the loan. We used the same bank we did for last semester. I got a letter in the mail from the bank. They denied the application.

I called them up. It took forever to speak to a representative. They gave me 4 reasons why I did not qualify as a co-signer. This is odd. I make really good money at my job. I have some loans. But they should be "good" loans, such as a home mortgage, car loan, school loan for Little Kat, etc.

Little Kat had to call the bank to find out the reasons related to him as to why they rejected the application. He also had to wait on hold for a long time. The end result was that he reapplied for a loan with a lesser amount. Let's see what happens.

This is tricky as Little Kat only qualifies for 2 programs of loans at his school. The alternative does not let you defer repayment until you graduate. We hope not to have to take that style loan. If so, Little Kat needs to immediately start repaying the loan.

Pivoting to a Four Year College

Little Kat is getting close to the end of his Associates Degree program at his community college. Momoko, Little Kat, and I have been researching what he should do next. He could do an apprenticeship through his college. He could jump to another community college that has better programs. He could get some credentials like a certificate and then get a job immediately. Or he could transfer to a four year college.

Today we made some progress figuring out the four year college path. Last night, Little spent the night at our house. He had scheduled a call today with one of the local state schools. We were specifically talking to the person who deals with community college transfers at this four year college.

Little Kat and I went out and picked up some Chinese food for lunch. Then we rehearsed how we though the call would go. We had to have him practice many times until he could communicate his situation and the questions we had for the four year college.

Pretty much we want to know if Little Kat actually needs to get an associates degree, or whether he can jump to the four year college now. The program he wants to enter says that transfer students need an associates degree in computer technology (or related) in order to get into the program. We wanted to know if Little Kat could bypass that.

The call went well. We had some positive surprises. The person from the four year college sold their school to us. Now we need to finalize what courses Little Kat will take next semester at his community college. This might be his last semester there.