A day for differentiation

The necessary holiday travels and visits are done. It wasn't much this year. Now I'm back home. That's good. I kind of like these corona times. There are fewer places I need to go, less people I need to visit. More time on my own. 

I have watched some football with the boys. Last night Leeds won 5-0 against West Bromwich. 

The winter has been crappy so far. Not much snow in my part of Winterland, and the borders are closed. No skiing.

The last couple of days I have been in the office to do some fun stuff, while everybody are gone, and the bosses don't send me mails. Today I finally found the time to do some math that I needed to work my way through. Just some straight forward differentiations. But I need to be focused, to get all the signs right.

(That's the summary of what I have produced today in the picture)

The darkest day

 

Today is the darkest day of the year, and the last day at work before Christmas. Maybe it’s the last day at work this year. It remains to see, depending on the weather during the holidays, which are not so holy for me.

This year has been special, with the COVID-19 stuff going on. Many days spent in home office, which is fine in many ways, but with too small computer screens, and somewhat monotonous surroundings. But sometimes it’s good to get out of the house. So today I’ve been sneaking into the office, to my big computer screens. That’s the good thing about having the boss in a different city, and even in a different country far away. He can’t see where I am and what I’m doing all the time.

Everything that needs to be done this year is finalized, so it’s time to do some clean-up, and some updates. Today I have updated Python, all the modules. The kind of things I don’t dare to do when I have urgent stuff going on. Don’t change things that works when there are deadlines coming up.

But now it’s done, and then it’s time to go home, on the darkest day, to prepare the Christmas celebrations that I dislike as much as I did last year and the year before.

Looking forward to January.

Back from the underground

We have been in lockdown due to COVID-19 for almost three months now. I've been working from home, from the basement, as an underground man. Today it's back to the office.

It's been weird times. I've been working in the basement, with my computer connected to the big TV that we normally use to watch Premier League football. I need two screens to get my work done efficiently. With no football games there hasn't been much  competition for the TV.

There hasn't been many places to go. No traveling at work, no weekend trips around Winterland. Just stay at home, work, eat, go for an evening walk in the almost empty streets. Fortunately the spring was late this year. It’s been good skiing conditions around town almost till the end of May. I’ve been up there cross-country skiing frequently.

The lockdown has had it’s advantages too. For an introvert the situation is quite easy to deal with. And just in case, to avoid infection, we had separate bedrooms. That’s what I have always wanted. Would be great to have it as a permanent solution, I think.

New times are starting today. Noting will be exactly like before, in many ways, I think and hope and fear. 

(Two pictures, taken recently, with only a week between)

Corona is here

The Corona virus has arrived. From today we are in lock-down. Schools are closed, sports events and concerts are cancelled. We're working from home, happy for Internet.

Now it's just about staying away from people, try to avoid getting infected. Doing my best >:)

Nothing lasts

The fall his here. People have dressed up in their Gore-Tex jackets, fleece and gloves. The fall isn't too bad, at least on a day like this. I was home alone, and the weather was nice, at least before noon. It was sunny, at least before  noon, some wind, and relatively warm in the streets that are shielded from the wind. And it was Premier League on TV, the first game starting at 13:30.

I went to the town center in the morning. I went to the Apple Store, because I had to buy a new headset for my iPhone. I hate talking on the phone, but I use it a lot to listen to audio books and podcasts. My old headset was broken, so I had to get a new one.

There's nothing that lasts anymore, at least not consumer good and electronics. But there are other things that last too long. Marriage, for instance. When the kids are grown up, the parenting job is done, we should just say thank you for the time that passed. It's time to move on. Now we let each other free, and just continue as friends for the rest of our lives. That's the way it should be.

On the way back home I stopped by a coffee shop, and bought the coffee of the day. All the tables were taken, but in the end, I got a small one by the door. It was a little bit chill, a cold gust coming from the door every time someone went in or out. It's OK. That's life. What scares me the most is the cold gust when someone leaves.

There were some families with noisy kids. I think I have lost the patience with this kind of behavior. Maybe I've gotten too old, or maybe I was just very lucky with my boys. They were never fussy nor noisy.  Heritage or environment? Probably both.

Walking back home, I found myself in the middle of a pride parade. I didn't know about it. There were a lot of people. I didn't know there are so many gays and lesbians around. Or maybe they were gays with friends. I don't know. I have nothing against gays, not at all, but they never impressed me. Anyway, I read in the news some time ago that  in 2018 lesbians was the most viewed category on PornHub. This year, maybe there will be a new winner.

But who cares >:)

(Picture taken this morning, when the sun was shining, before the rain came in)

Summer

I'm walking back home on a light summer night. It's cold.It's light. It's summer in the north. It's the summer of the north at it's best. It's been a long day, with meetings at work. then a geology filed trip to watch some black smokers, turned upside down, Like my life feels like right now.

Then a five-course dinner in an excellent restaurant, with good colleagues and friends. I only missed my soulmate, who wasn't there. I wonder what shes's doing right now, if she's wet and thinking of something exciting and fun things to do.

We philosophized a little bit about how lucky we are, Among the 8-9 billion people in the world, we happened to be born and to live in this rich and wealthy country. Life isn't too bad, even is the gearbox broke down on our bus on the way back to town. I could have been worse,

On the way back home, a little bit drunk, I stopped by a pub, to write these silly words. I know I'm a privileged guy, and I appreciate it very much. I just hope my soulmate is doing fine too.

(Picture taken around midnight today, on the way back home)

An evening with the nerds

I was out with some friends and colleagues tonight. We went to hear a presentation about the 16 official world champions of chess, from the first champ Willem Steinitz, to the reigning champion, Magnus Carlsen. Two weird guys who have written a book about these 16 champs presented the story. It was an evening with nerds. The kind of stuff I like. Very enjoyable.

It was a great presentation, the kind of stuff I enjoy, besides science, of course. The lecture room was filled with these people who watch the chess world championship broadcast, for hours and hours. Very cool.

And then we went out to drink some beers, and discuss chess, and science and mathematics and physics. All the good stuff that life has to offer, except skiing, which wasn’t much of a topic tonight.

And we discussed climate change in the way climate change should be discussed. The science, not just the political crap that we hear all the time, from people who don't understand how the Navier-Stokes equations works. Discussing climate change is a lot more interesting when you talk to people who are scientists and mathematicians, and who know more than just to repeat that stupid argument that all scientists agree. Consensus is not an argument in science. Remember what good old Feynman said:

Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts.

The first beer was not so good. It had some grape juice mixed in. The second one was better, a clean pure IPA. And the I went home, and I felt this urgent need to write something.

(Picture taken tonight)

VIP zone

I'm at the Alpine Racing World Championship, working as one of the 1400 volunteers. Today was the Super-G race. I worked outdoor in the VIP zone at the race arena. That's where the important people from FIS (the international skiing federation) and the national skiing associations sit, together with their invited guests. Austrian Ski Team, Swiss Ski Team, US Ski Team, Alpine Canada, Audi, Carlsberg ...

The spoiled and well-fed brats get their three-course lunches for free. Ten steps away is the VIP stand with prime view to the finish area. We checked their VIP accreditations, and guided them to their warm and exclusive restaurant.

And we chased ordinary people away.

We told the poor guys to go to the other side of the arena, and line up to buy hot-dogs and burgers. Be happy that we let you watch the race at all. You know, we have to obey Pareto's Law (economics), also known as the Matthew Principle (Matt. 25:29):

"For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the ones who do not have, even what he has will be taken away from him."

That's life. That's how our world works. Like it or not. It's class society.

It was a nice and cold day. From my work area, I had a perfect view to the race.  Very good >:)

(Picture taken today at the race.)