Game Night

Today I only worked out in the yard for an hour. Not too strenuous. This was to prepare for Saturday game night. We had planned to finally play Monopoly. It was Momoko, Little Kat, Little Kat's friend who is staying with us, and me.

Little Kat did not want to play with the $500 free parking rule. He was overruled by majority. We played classic Monopoly with actual cash. Momoko rolled first and seemed to acquire the most property early. Many people landed on free parking for a windfall. I scored the first Monopoly.

We only set a time limit of 1 hour. By that time, it seemed like Momoko had the most cash plus properties. Little Kat and his friend were close behind. There were a couple deals proposed by Momoko and Little Kat during the game. But they were all declined.

Wall Painting Problems

Momoko wanted us to get the main level bathroom walls painted. Previously they had some old wallpaper on them. Momoko chose a paint color that matched the floor. I hired our handyman to do the job. He initially came and spent the whole day tearing off the old wallpaper. He needed to remove the toilet and vanity to get that job done.

The next day, our handyman removed the toilet and vanity again to paint the walls. He had to apply two coats of paint because our paint was not top quality. It looked funny afterwards. But it was fine once it dried. The only problem was that the toilet no longer correctly flushed, no matter how much plunging we did.

Kit Kat called a plumber who came and ran an auger in the toilet. It seemed to flush, but later reverted back to not working. The plumber came back and said something must be wrong underneath. It would cost a couple hundred to open up and diagnose. He recommended they replace the whole toilet for a little over $500.

They came the next day. They were unable to find the toilet that we had chosen (the least expensive model). So instead they gave us an upscale Toto brand toilet. I told them I did not care what kind of toilet it was, as long as it would flush reliably. The plumber said there was some "flange damage" underneath that they tried their best to repair. Replacing it would cost a couple more hundred. That will have to wait.

Continuing Education

I am going to college part time to learn Data Science. Need to keep up with the new kids on the block. I don't think I will get another degree. Instead I want to get a certificate. I found out that there is some lesser analytics certificate. I thought maybe I would go for it.

Recently I found that I would need to take one class I do not like, and another that will be a waste. Then I can qualify for this lesser analytics cert. This does not seem like a good use of time. Instead I plan to go for the big Machine Learning cert. That will require a couple more courses.

Right now I am half way through one summer course. I will need to sign up for another follow on course that starts towards the end of the summer. No rest for us data scientists.

Kit Kat's Friend

Kit Kat's friend from high school was staying close to our house this week. So Kit Kat went over and spent some time with her. The friend dropped by to say hi to the family. She had recently got her MFA degree in New York City. I asked her about her experience there.

She said she lived in East Harlem by the East River. She lived in an apartment with three other roommates. The roommates were of varying ages. She said her bedroom was about as big as a closet. But their common areas were larger than normal.

She told us that initially she needed to live close to college due to mandatory in person classes. Then COVID changed all that and her first year was online. She said she chose her college because one of her favorite poets taught there. She took a class from this professor during her first semester.

Kit Kat's friend has another month left on her NYC apartment lease. Then she plans to come back to our area as she looks for a job. She said she has been really busy because she is in the wedding for two close friends from college. Kit Kat broached the idea of them moving in together into an apartment.