Something is making the news today

On my way to a business lunch over at Fan Pier (great day for lunch on the water today btw), I passed by this:

A wall of news trucks and all their cameras set up outside the federal courthouse. This is a block away. Right outside the doors was this:

With microphones and cameras on the ready. I had to pass right in front of them. After lunch on my way back to the office, the numbers had doubled. I was really tempted to stop in front of the microphones and take a picture of all the cameras, as if I was the person they were waiting to come out. But I was on a conference call so really couldn't switch to camera mode. But it would have been a great shot!

I think they are waiting for the update/verdict of the college friends of the Boston bomber who helped him dispose of evidence. 

2048

Have you heard of this game?  I didn't until last week. I was on my way home from work Thursday on a packed subway and was sitting next to a lady playing this game on her phone. I was intrigued because of the numbers and finally decided to interrupt her and ask her what the game was. She took out her headphones and answered that it was 2048, a free download and terribly addictive. 

I had no idea!  It's my new favorite game but be forewarned its hard to put down ala flappy bird (which luckily I've only ever played on others phones). 

It's like sudoku in that its a logic game involving numbers but no math. Except for 2048 there is minimal addition. You combine like tiles (ie combine two 4s and it creates an 8). And you just build up the tiles until you get to 2048 before running out of space. Or so I thought!

At first I was really proud of my score of 9,000 after playing a few rounds. And then I developed a technique that switched from random combining to something more systematic that catapulted me to a whole new level. And before I knew it I combined two 1024 tiles and made the infamous 2048 tile. I won! With a score of almost 20,000. 

Except, instead of the game telling me I won it just congratulated me on getting the 2048 tile and asked if I wanted to keep playing. Keep playing?! It wasn't the end, it was only the beginning. It was deceptive advertising. You can't call a game "level 10" and then have it have 15 levels. 

Well, last night, after a late night working, I was on my way home and started playing a game. I wanted to blog about the game but my screenshots of getting to 2048 were on my iPad at home. I figured I'd play a "quick" game on my phone that I could use to take a picture and show my mad skills. As I was sitting, waiting for my bus, which was over a half hour wait - ugh - thank goodness I had the game to distract me from the frustration of being delayed and getting home even later then I wanted to - it happened.

I got to 2048 and kept playing and I was on a mad role. I made it to 4096! I was giddy with delight, sitting there on the bench waiting. I kept playing, and the bus came and we all packed on and I ended up having to stand and I kept playing, but my zen playing had been broken and I soon found the board full and the game over with my new all time high score of 51,152!

Isn't that wicked good?  I'm really impressed but then I checked the leader board to see if my games were being recorded and found a community board and that all the top players have a score of 150,000,000. It's like I'm back at my initial 9,000 level. Still, I'm tickled pink I got to the 4096 tile. Not too shabby. 

Niece/nephew visit

Last weekend Nick and I popped up to Vermont for a visit since Karin and the kids were visiting. I still forget I'm an aunt since Karin became my step-sister later in life when I was an adult. 

It was great seeing them. Marianna is almost one and is full of personality now. Last visit she would just sleep and eat and sleep. We all would take turns holding her (when needed) since she's a heavy one. A good work out!  She's wearing 24 months to give you a sense of how big she is. She loves waving and I don't know what it is with phones and babies but she loved seeing herself. I'll try to post a video which captures this wonderfully. Apparently the tongue is fascinating. 

Mateo is four and has boundless energy. We watched a circus show Saturday (cirque d'soleil style gymnastics - no animals). It was engaging for him at first but hard to sit still for three hours. After we got done he literally did laps around the big quad outside at the college the event was held at. The performance was impressive and I had a hard time when they would drop from the straps or ropes and catch themselves at the last minute just before they hit the ground. 

On Sunday, nick and I spent a chunk of time playing soccer with Mateo. We thought it would wear him out and he just kept going and going until finally he laid down in the driveway exhausted. Only to be up running again five minutes later. I hate to say it, but it was nice to see Nick was more worn out than I was after our weekend visit. Kids are exhausting especially if you're not conditioned like the parents. 

On Monday I met up with them again in Boston before they flew home. We grabbed lunch downtown and checked out the Common, Boston Gardens and the infamous Ducklings statues. 

And of course, a mark of a good visit, on the ride to the airport Mateo states he doesn't want to go on the plane. The route reason is because he didn't want to leave and wanted to hang out more. And even Marianna started to cry as they left when she realized I wasn't joining her. Warms one's heart. 

I'm on my way home now, looking forward to a weekend home and catching up with errands and chores. I signed up for a workshop tomorrow on Time Management. I'm hopeful it's helpful. 

And as I'm reading my book (The Why Axis) on my commute home I'm getting wicked déjà vu. And then it dawns on me that it's not déjà vu it's repetition. I haven't read the book before but some of the studies and findings were on a recent fraakonomics podcast I listened to while I was commuting by bike this week. Interestingly I didn't buy this book - Nick gave it to me as a birthday gift. About 20 minutes after he received it for free in his mail pile from dad. Talk about regifting - it was a promotional mailing. Interesting book but I enjoyed the podcast more. This book is one of those you feel should be an article or two and they stretched it out to be a book. 

The last book I finished I loved and highly recommend. It's called "Born to Run". I think it was a best seller. Very interesting, easy read and full of intriguing tidbits. Like, had the percentage of running injuries gone up or down since the introduction of sneakers in the 70s?  Yup - up. There's no studies that sneakers provide any benefit. This is just a side point in the book but I found fascinating since apparently I never questioned all the marketing over the years. 

Actually the last book I was reading was The New Jim Crow". Also another really good book. But it was making me so mad about our country and our false advertising of a democratic society. The sad thing is when I got frustrated I could just put the book down but for so many people, this is their reality and they are faced with this frustration of injustice daily. I think everyone should read this book. It's really written, not preachy and good research points. 

Of course my reading has gone down with the bike riding but my podcast listening has gone up. I gobbled up a bunch of podcasts when I was driving to and from Albany this week for a project. It was interesting on the ride back yesterday, since my boss joined me (he had flown in for the meeting but we couldn't get direct flights back). Good discussions. And don't ask me why's hotel in New York makes Texas waffles!

Looking forward to my upcoming trip to Phoenix for my cousins graduation and seeing some of the family (on mom's side)!

Spring!

Spring has finally arrived and with the warmer weather and sunny skies, this week marked the first week of me biking part way into work (subway the other part). 

Last month I pulled the trigger and bought a bike basket. And I love it - it makes it so much easier to just throw my bag into the basket and hit the road instead of strapping it to the back of the bike. 

Unfortunately with the advent of biking it looks like my running plans have died. They started dying off a few weeks ago when it was raining most days. Not something I was up for - running in the rain. And now that it's sunny, I'm preferring biking instead of running. Running is still a chore whereas biking is fun and still works up a sweat. 

Of course the downside is what I'm facing now - the dilemma of working late. Work ran late and I'm getting onto the subway as dusk approaches and think it will be dark by the time I get to my bike. Ugh. Riding in the dark is not fun. I need to pack my bike lamp and be realistic that I can't always leave work on time. 

Spring!

Spring has finally arrived and with the warmer weather and sunny skies, this week marked the first week of me biking part way into work (subway the other part). 

Last month I pulled the trigger and bought a bike basket. And I love it - it makes it so much easier to just throw my bag into the basket and hit the road instead of strapping it to the back of the bike. 

Unfortunately with the advent of biking it looks like my running plans have died. They started dying off a few weeks ago when it was raining most days. Not something I was up for - running in the rain. And now that it's sunny, I'm preferring biking instead of running. Running is still a chore whereas biking is fun and still works up a sweat. 

Of course the downside is what I'm facing now - the dilemma of working late. Work ran late and I'm getting onto the subway as dusk approaches and think it will be dark by the time I get to my bike. Ugh. Riding in the dark is not fun. I need to pack my bike lamp and be realistic that I can't always leave work on time.