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Tuesday November 14, 2006 8:00 am Lethbridge Sunrise 7:41 Sunset 17:50 Hours of daylight: 9:09
A. Morning Musings
8:00 am It is -7 C at the moment with a high of 0 C forecast.
I am up even later this morning, but am feeling great.
Model trains: I failed to get down to the basement yesterday to work on the trains. Repeating yesterday's goal: I have now assembled 2 of the kits for the 100 ton quad hoppers. Hopefully I will complete another 2 today. Now that I have the mainline track all nailed down as well as the spur tracks for Black Diamond, Distillery Row and The Channon, I want to try running some prototypical trains and get a feel for the operating characteristics of the layout.
Literature: I should be able to finish reading "Empire of the Sun" today.
B. Plan
Immediate Health Walk & exercise 1 hr Model Trains Continue assembly of 6 quad hopper cars; lubricate CN 7824 diesel switcher 2 hr Mathematics Make notes for "Fearless Symmetry" chap 8: Galois groups 1 hr History Continue reading & making notes for "Citizens" 1 hr GO Play 3 games of 9x9 GO++ (lose all 3); Solve problems 39 - 70 of Graded GO Problems for Beginners 2 hr Literature Complete reading "Empire of the Sun" by J. G. Ballard 1 hr Later Chores Investigate water softeners for home Technology Read manual for cell phone Make notes for chap. 4 of "Switching to the Mac" Begin reading "iPhoto" digital photography - learn about using the various manual settings
Philosophy Read "The Art of Living" by Epictetus Mathematics Larson "Calculus" Read "The Computational Beauty of Nature" Chap 3 Gardner "The Colossal Book of Short Puzzles" History Watson "Ideas" Model Trains Build oil refinery diorama: add ground cover Assemble second oil platform kit Assembly of CN 5930, an SD40-2 with a NAFTA logo Puzzles The Orange Puzzle Cube: puzzle #9
C. Actual/Notes
3:20 PM I completed the assembly of the third of the six 100 ton quad hopper cars. It is now operational and on the layout. This took about an hour. I then switched activities to take apart and lubricate one of my diesel locomotives: CN 7824, a SW1500 switching locomotive. This also took about an hour.
Here are three photos:
I am making a list of stuff I need that I hope to buy the next time we are in Calgary:
- yellow wheel stops for the end of spur lines
- Kadee #38 couplers (4 pkgs)
- Kadee #5 couplers (bulk pkg of 20)
- Kingston book (on order)
- Goo adhesive
- coal loads for 100 ton quad hoppers (7)
- foam road bed (2 pkgs)
- under the track magnets (15)
- manual right turnouts (3)
- manual left turnouts (3)
- Kadee pliers for bending air hoses
- operating ground throw high level switch stand (2).
This is pretty close to everything that I can think of to complete the layout and make it operational (with the obvious exception of DCC supplies).
Notes for Learning to play the strategy game of GO.
6:50 PM My initial strategy is to proceed through the following 4 steps:
- Read & make notes from the Beginner Study Section of http://senseis.xmp.net/?BeginnerStudySection .
- Memorize the 4 patterns for a live group of 6 stones in the corner (today)
- Memorize the 4 patterns for a live group of 8 stones along the side (later)
- Memorize the 4 patterns for a live group of 10 stones in the center. (later)
- Play 3 games of GO++ on a 9x9 board, playing black against a level 2.
- Review each game as soon as it is over.
- Continue "Graded GO problems for Beginners Volume One Introductory Problems"
- Section 6 ...
Here are the results of my 3 games of GO++:
- Game 1: I lose by 9.5 points. Overall, I was pleased by this game. I slowed my pace down and considered each move carefully. However a comparison of my moves with those of the analysis indicated that most of my moves were weak.
- Game 2: I lose by 4.5 points. I actually thought I had won this game, but I forgot about the 6.5 point komi. Analysis showed little relationship between my moves and those of professionals.
- Game 3: I lose by 6.5 points. I played it even, but lost by the komi. All 3 games were close, which is a distinct improvement over yesterday. I played much more carefully throughout all three games. But I am still uncertain of what principles I should be following when I make a move.
"Graded GO problems for Beginners Volume One Introductory Problems" Level One
- Section 6 Ladders. Problems 39 - 40. I solved both problems easily.
- Section 7 Living Groups and Dead Groups. Problems 41 - 46. All easy.
- Section 8 How To Play In The Opening. Problems 47 - 50. All easy.
- Section 9 Endgame And Other Moves. Problems 51 - 60. All easy.
"Graded GO problems for Beginners Volume One Introductory Problems" Level Two
- Section 1 How to Capture Stones. Problems 61 - 70. All easy.
SUMMARY of the session: I feel that this was a positive step forward. My playing of the three 9x9 games was much better, although I still lost all three games. The problems are not presenting any difficulties which suggests that I at least understand the basic technical situations. It is strategy that is my weak area. I do not yet have a firm grasp of a few fundamental principles that would help guide my moves, particularly in the early game.
Both playing the 9x9 games, as well as solving the problems, has been very enjoyable. Actually studying, and memorizing certain patterns is also important. I must attend to this. 8:20 PM
D. Reflection