I'm wiped out on Tuesday again, so I work on the crime modeling. I've switched to a genetic algorithm to derive the historical crime model and it seems to be working well. Again before noon I paint the outside door frame trim of one closet and the inside trim of another. The insde is hard to maneuver around and has not been painted since about 1990, but I get it done. After lunch I go walking for an hour and then call in to a Human Trafficking webinar. But nobody is on the line. Was it changed or cancelled? hat the heck. Throughout the day I do quite a few 40 repetition sets of bicep curls with very light weights to try and continue rehabbing my left bicep, tendon, or ligament which is strained.
On Wednesday I get in a good ride and on Thursday I get out for a long walk. Otherwise I just keep working away on crime demographhics work, preparing data and code for an upcoming hackathon, painting door frames, and trying to rehab my left bicepy/tendon/ligament. On Thursday I go visit my once-postponed visit and get a good checkup. And I'm happy to hear that my dentist will be visiting Japan for the first time in April. After the dental appointment I'm on a mission so I tidy up the code to run overnight and I paint more door frames.
On Friday I wake up very late - almost at 8 am. I never sleep this late unless I am sick. I regain consciousness and get out on the mountain bicycle near 9 am. I feel good today and can push against the wind when needed and spin along otherwise. After a shower I run some errands and then mow both the front and back yards. Usually the yard goes dormant and turns fairly brown during the winter, but that has not happened as much this year. Later in the day I tape off some door frames for painting but don't actually paint - one needs some time away from these things.
It is very foggy on Saturday morning so my plan for a long bicycle ride is scrapped. Instead I do a lot of painting and then go for an hour long walk. During the walk I go past a park where little kids, their parents, and their coaches are teaching the kids tee-ball (probably for the first time). I stop and watch for a few minutes with a big giant smile on my face: There's Elliott (I heard his name being yelled out) who hits the ball off the tee, runs around the bases, and gets back in line rather than touching home base. "Elliott, you have to touch home" So Elliott runs and touches home. The next batter takes a few hits before he gets a good one and proceeds to run the bases. And then I walk on home with a big smile on my face the entire way. At home I'm making SUPER progress on the crime demographics, but unfortunately, I need to start anticipating and gathering the data and code that I might need for next weekend's hackathon that I've been accepted to. (www.hacksc.com) Yes, you had to apply and be accepted. There are topics on civil rights, sustainability, equity, and mental health, but I'm hoping to push a few of my fellow geeks over into a human trafficking aspect of the event. I don't know where the rest of Saturday goes but by the time that I lie down for reading and sleep, I'm enthused for a Sunday bicycle ride and whatever else follows.
I sleep horribly on Saturday night and into Sunday morning and get up to work on some Python scripts and to read. I jump on the mountain bicycle right near 8 am and have a good ride - sometimes string and sometimes spinning. After a shower I apint a couple more door frames andam right atthe halfway point for door frames. When I want to relax I turn on the television and every channel is talking about the helicopter death of former Laker Kobe Bryant. Really? EVERY channel? I manage to find a few chanels who have not dedicated their entire days to a guy who could throw a sphere through a ring. A fixed ring, at that.
Monday is a blah day. Oh I get a ton of work done preparing for the www.hacksc.com evenet coming up this weekend, but toherwise I just paint a couple of door frames, fix a hole in the fnece where a cat and small dog have been comng through, and go walking for about an hour. I just feelblah and am so tired about hearing about Kobe Bryant. And everyone talks about the helcopter pilot being "by the book" and :never taking risks", but what was he doing when both the LAPD and LASD helicopters weren't even allowed in the sky due to the heavy fog?
It's cold on Tuesday morning but I get out for a good 60 kilometer bicycle ride. I struggle for the first 10 kilometers or so and then I find a good pace and consider making this a longer ride. But I stop at 60 kilometers. Back at home I paint two internal door frames, try to work on my brother's estate papers (which are constantly being messed up), and just relax. I don't get in the final Python programming that I expected to finish today, but I have a couple more days before the hackathon to get the codes in order.
I wake up on Wednesday with pain in my left ear and it seems to be clogged. I take some Aleve and try to rinse it out with some old ear wax removal medicine and warm water. It doesn't help. I'm stuck on the Python indexing to get this program work, but I just keep trying things and hammering away. At mid morning I go lift weights, get cleaned up, and run errands to pick up supplies. I've picked up a different wax removal medicine and I'm trying that in the afternoon as I continue to debug this Python. Maybe I need to give up on census tracts for this upcoming hackathon and focus on zipcodes - though zipcodes are too large to show what I'm trying to show. I could still use the zipcodes as an example of what can be done but the work and policy analysis should be done at a lower level. Finally the census tract effort works but it takes too long to run.
My left ear and hearing is getting better as I wake up on Thursday. After some incidentals, I get out and ride the mountain bicycle for just short of two hours. On the ride I have an idea to try to shorten up the length of the census tract simulations. After a shower and a trip to the grocery store, I start working on the idea to shorten up the census tract simulation. Initially it is showing promise but in the afternoon I run into some indexing snags that I'm not fully capable of solving at this moment. I take breaks to stand in the sun and warm up and absorb Vitamin D and also to gather things together for the hackathon that starts tomorrow. I keep mentally working through the Friday schedule of bicycle ride, mow lawn, final packing, and commute to USC for the site of the www.hacksc.com event. Later in the evening I make great progress at sizing down the problem from census tracts to zip codes. This still gives enough granularity for the county of Los Angeles and can be used to show the idea.
On Friday I work on gathering some census statistics for use at the hackathon and then go for a reltively short mountain bicycle ride. Despite the shortness, my legs are still tired from yesterday's ride. Back at home I mow the lawn and deweed the roses. After a shower I start the laundry and gather everything that I'll need for the www.hacksc.com hackathon. I'm nervous as to how it will go, but I'll just try my best and if isn't working out for me, then I can always leave early.
I ride the motorcycle up to the USC campus and convince the parking attendant that motorcycles are allowed free parking for the hackathon. At the hackathon checkin a staff member stops me and says, "This is for students only". I don't remember seeing that in the rules, but htinking quickly, I pull out my expired Long Beach City College ID from a few years ago and it serves the purpose. When I get inside I realize that I'm most likely three times the age of most people here. But I put that aside and work away on the social equity model that I've been gathering data and code for. I get it put together and "exercise" the model and it seems to be giving realistic and believeable results. I even get a chance to play with varying a few parameters in the model but they don't seem to make a heck of a lot of difference. After putting PowerPoint charts together, I have to decide whether to submit the project and then be there for the presentations (for fear that they will again check my student ID). After breakfast I ride the motorcycle back home and submit the presentation online and now have to decide whether to go back up to USC on Sunday morning or not.
At home on Saturday, after not having a wink of sleep all night while working on the Python script and the PowerPoint presetation, I don't feel tired at all. I feel a bit lost because I had high hopes for this hackathon but I'm not sure those hopes were realized. So it's a mmentally slow Saturday and I do get to bed pretty early to read and catch up on sleep.
As expected I have incredible sleep on Saturday night into Sunday morning. I wish I could have this level of sleep everynight (without having to stay awake for 40 consecutive hours previously). I jump out of bed and onto the road bicycle and get in a decent 65 kilometer ride. At times my legs are feeling the lack of sleep and at times they feel great. After a shower I run some errands, cook vegetables for the week, clean up the roses, clean up the carnations, tidy up the stove after all of the cooking, and then sit back and start drinking wine in advance of the Super Bowl. It's 2 pm and I realize that I haven't eaten anything yet despite all of the activities and the drinking. The Super Bowl is okay though there were some puzzling decisions made by the 49ers coach which puzzle me at the time and are the talk on Monday morning.
I can't take it anymore. I get cleaned up, get on the motorcycle, and ride to the urgent care facility for my left ear. At first they do a power wash of the left ear using the same ear drops (same active ingredient anyway) that I've been using for a week. They're surprised when I'm not unclogged and my hearing is restored. So then I get the complete BS action of, "Use these combined antibiotic and anti-inflammatory ear drops". I start using them as prescribed but I'm sure I'll be back at urgent care by Thursday. Throughout the afternoon on Monday I try half-heartedly to pick up some coding from before the hackathon and then watch the disastrous Iowa causus.