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Monday, December 31, 2007

What I got for christmas


I was sick for most of the week (still coughing a lot). April picked this up in Houston.

Friday, December 28, 2007

Futsal

Patrick started playing in a futsal league last Friday. The game is like soccer, but played on a hard floor. Unlike indoor soccer, there is out of bounds, and the player kicks it back in bounds. The field is small, so the games are 5 v. 5. the team,s first game was against a girls team. I could tell the boys were a little rusty. the game ended in a tie. the girls team played better. but the boys made up for it with more aggressive play. He has games every Friday night through the end of Feb.

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Sunday, December 16, 2007

E-license

Stardate 61121.6
I took an coaching class to get an e-license about a week ago. it was a good course, and I learned a lot, like focusing on one topic for a practice session . That's not to say you only do one thing, like dribbling, for a session. that would bore most players, and you'd completely lose a kid's attention. A session can include all the elements of the game, but you only correct on the element the session is focused on. if the session focus is dribbling, and a kid makes mistakes with shooting. You let it pass. it makes sense to me.

Other concepts were to make the start of the session simple. maybe just moving in a certain way. Then make it a little more complicated by adding a ball. Then add another player, then groups of players.

We had two instructors. the first one was full of information and communicated it well. The second was probably as knowledgeable, but tended to wander into talking about professional players. He also seems to end every other sentence with 'does that make sense?'

The E does not stand for electronic (like e-mail) in this case. It's a level, and the next level up is D, and then C, and so on.

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Tuesday, December 11, 2007

It's people like me who make the world complex

Stardate 61121.1
Jeff Atwood posted a while ago about microwave controls being too complicated (A Lesson in Control Simplicity). Basically, he prefers the old knob to the digital pad. I added a comment that I liked the digital design, and I cook with mine. Several replies to that comment stated I was one of those who made it hard for the rest of world. Thinking about it, I supposed there is some truth to that. I enjoy figuring out how to work things. I have a couple of universal remotes. I fit into scott adams (of dilbert) model of the guy who looks at a remote and wonders if he can make it do other things. you known, like mute the kids or better yet the cat, open the door when the dog wants out, etc. I was trying to find a wi-fi enabled lawn sprinkler controller (no luck).

At least a microwave with a digital interface is consistent. you have number buttons and you enter time in minutes and seconds. the start button takes a second or ten to find. the other 'preset' button can be ignored. these were added by marketdriods to try and get an edge on the competition.

Take the controls on a vehicle. the steering wheel pedals, and speedometer are all pretty much in the same place . but on my van, the light switch is where the wiper controls are on the car, so I am constantly turning on the wipers in the car when I want headlights.

I've come to the conclusion long ago that no matter how simple or complex the controls, most people will find fault with some or all of it. in star trek the next generation Picard could just say tea, Earl Grey, hot, and he would get exactly what he wanted(assuming no plot device to mess it up). he never specifies how hot, which is an ambiguous amount. i sometimes imagine he clicked some sort of 'remember my preference on this ship' box. even then, it would not satisfy all the time. perfection is unobtainable because human beings are so variable . at any one moment you could crave a particular food or just anything to fill the stomach.

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Thursday, December 06, 2007

Up to now

Stardate 61120.6
Events of the past month:

Rachel had a dog 'follow' her home (Patrick told me she carried it). It was a Pekingese mix with a collar, but no tags and no chip. Male, but not neutered. We kept it about two weeks, looking in the lost and found in the paper, and for any notice from the owner. I took it to Animal Control. I hope someone picked it up. It was a nice dog.

Halloween: Why is it I am in the neighborhood that doesn't like the idea of trick or treat? They did go all out to make sure I knew about trunk or treat. But as I was driving home, I saw plenty of kids out. It was one of my favorite holidays, but the neighborhood killed it. Maybe next year I'll put out the Christmas lights on October 31st. The stores do.

Secret weight loss tip: For the month of October I would get on the scale and get the same number: 216. The first week in November it wanted the battery replaced. I did that, and then got on. 200 lbs. 16 lbs lost in 60 seconds. Not bad. Maybe I could get on Oprah?

My sister and I moved my Dad to an assisted living facility. So far, he's ok with it.

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Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Walking Distance

Walk Score is a cool use of Google Maps, although it needs some work. The LDS ward is not a school, and it isn't even the closest one. A number of schools are not on the list, and Larry's Raxx and Grill is not across the street.

The title, when I finally figured out why it sounded familiar, is from a Twilight Zone episode.