Atlanta at night.

Resting

Exceptionally tired today. Decided to lay down for awhile. Had some trouble falling asleep last night for no apparent reason. Probably won't sleep but will rest.

A Nice Place to Visit ending.

Do you remember Sebastian Cabot from A Family Affair?  Before that, he played in an episode of The Twilight Zone, some of which I have been watching again.  A small time crook is killed by a police officer, and he arrives in a place where he gets everything he ever wanted.  He thinks that he is in Heaven, but he quickly gets bored with having everything he could ever want ...

A Nice Place to Visit ending.

Creepy.

Fwd: Steffen in the news again

Jason Steffen is a P.H.D in Physics who used to sit in the cube next to me when I worked at L-3 Communications,  but he later took a job with NASA.  He has gained some minor fame for coming up with a better way to board passengers on airplanes.  This method was tested on a NOVA TV program, and I saw him on this program recently.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/11/theres-a-better-way-to-board-planes/383181/

 

​'I'm currently a research professor at the Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) at Northwestern University. My research includes exoplanets, experimental searches for axion-like particles, dark energy, gravitation, and some other odds and ends. I obtained my B.S. in physics and mathematics from Weber State University (Ogden, UT) and my Ph.D. in physics from the University of Washington (Seattle).'

 

http://theconversation.com/profiles/jason-steffen-143189​

I have this huge weakness for Peanuts

Teaser Trailer.

Official Trailer

Finishing up directing the Utah Amateur Chess Championship.

Family

Salt Lake Sunset from Pizza Hut.

Trying out my new iPhone 6 plus camera.

Top scientists react to the game "2048"

One of my favorite games ...

Top scientists react to the game "2048"

Fwd: response to Bob.

From: John Coffey

Date: Wed, Oct 22, 2014 at 1:26 PM
Subject: Re:
To: Robert.

Bob,

I am not certain.  I am thinking of trying to get another defense job within 18 months.  For me it would be desirable to move someplace in the Midwest.   Ft. Wayne is heavy on defense projects but has a cold climate.  The same thing can be said for Cedar Rapids, Iowa but that is about 7 hours by car from Indiana.

Yesterday I spent 2 hours with a retirement planner, and it appears that I might not need to work again.  Still, I would welcome a chance to work again to be more financially secure.  Nevertheless, I very much want to do my own thing (projects) for awhile.  It might just be that I will work independently for the rest of my life.  I like this idea.

If I don't seek another job, then my plan is to move closer to family in about 2 years.

John Coffey

Chess at Mad Greek

Best Smart Phones

http://www.businessinsider.com/best-smartphones-2014-10?op=1

I have the iPhone 6 Plus on order.

Peppermint Patty and the little redhaired girl.

http://kathrynwhiteauthor.blogspot.com/2013/09/peppermint-patty-i-cried-and-cried-and.html

... I just love Peanuts.

Two lovely people

Crossing the Ohio at Cincinnati

Fwd: Odd Sculptue Denver Airport

My sister's dog

May have sent this before.

.
​

Re: Visiting indiana first week September

Thanks Bob,

 

While on vacation in Indiana I got laid off on my job in Utah so I have decided to extend my vacation another week.  I will likely come to your Indianapolis chess club this Thursday.  It is at least an 80 minute drive from my Mom's house in North Vernon, Indiana.

 

John Coffey

 

Fwd: Layoffs

Hi John, it's been a pretty rough day here too.  Over the past 14 years, I've been on your side of the fence three times, so I can truly empathize.  Just know that in the end, all three times eventually led me to better opportunities and with all your talent, I know it will for you too.

It has truly been a pleasure working with you.  You've been a great co-worked and friend - not to mention that I put a lot of stock in your movie reviews.  I hope you'll keep in touch!

With best regards,
John Froelich

 

Fwd: Layoffs

I am so sad to hear that john, I'm really shocked actually. It was a pleasure working with you. thank you for training me and being so patient while doing it. Oh and thanks for helping me get hired as well. Hopefully you can find something closer to your hometown or in development so you can use more of your skills than scm can offer. Good luck, I wish you the best.

Emily

On Sep 4, 2014 2:30 PM, "John Coffey" <john2001plus@gmail.com> wrote:

I just got the call. I am out. 

 

The last 3 weeks have made me a little worried, but it has also caused me to reflect that I might want to do other things with my life.   I see this as an opportunity to expand my horizons and my skills. 

 

Still, L-3 has been a major part of my life for almost 14 years.  Hardly a day has gone by in the last year that I haven't learned something new. Therefore, I would welcome a chance to work with L-3 again should the opportunity become available. 

Best wishes,

John Coffey

Fwd: Layoffs

On vacation.  

From 4 PM today.  Email to coworkers:

I just got the call. I am out. 

The last 3 weeks have made me a little worried, but it has also caused me to reflect that I might want to do other things with my life.   I see this as an opportunity to expand my horizons and my skills. 

Still, L-3 has been a major part of my life for almost 14 years.  Hardly a day has gone by in the last year that I haven't learned something new. Therefore, I would welcome a chance to work with L-3 again should the opportunity become available. 

Best wishes,

John Coffey

Layoffs

Re: Layoffs

I just got the call. I am out. 

The last 3 weeks have made me a little worried, but it has also caused me to reflect that I might want to do other things with my life.   I see this as an opportunity to expand my horizons and my skills. 

Still, L-3 has been a major part of my life for almost 14 years.  Hardly a day has gone by in the last year that I haven't learned something new. Therefore, I would welcome a chance to work with L-3 again should the opportunity become available. 

Best wishes,

John Coffey

Beyond the Mind's Eye - 04 Brave New World

 Beyond the Mind's Eye was a video that came out in 1992 that featured the latest in computer animation.  I had it on VHS.  It is primitive by today's standards, but there was a 2 minute sequence that really impressed me then and it is still fun to watch today.   It starts about 93 seconds into the video below. 

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://youtu.be/8xE9H4NC-zY

Fractals The Hidden Dimension HD 1080p / Nova

I saw this video a few years ago on television.  I found the first 35 minutes to be very interesting.  The last 20 minutes not so much...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmxJ1KDR_s0

I learned about Fractals and the Mandelbrot set in the 1980's.   Back then I had friends who were experimenting with drawing the Mandelbrot set on computers.  In those days it would take a really long time to draw a single picture on a computer.

It might be sad, but I like reading my own movie reviews...

http://letsallgotothemovie.blogspot.com/2014/01/fruitville-station.html?m=0

It might be sad, but I like reading my own movie reviews...

http://letsallgotothemovie.blogspot.com/2013/05/star-trek-into-darkness-12.html?m=0

The Mom Song Sung to William Tell Overture with Lyrics

Still my favorite:

http://youtu.be/RxT5NwQUtVM

A bumble bee found my flowers

Playing chess at Applebee's

Utah Blitz Chess Championship Standings Top Section

25 Most Indestructible Things Known To Man

#5 is by the military and I have personally used one of these.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLuCehkeqSE

Thing Charger: This looks like it would be cool to own.

http://www.thingcharger.com/?utm_source=Taboola&utm_medium=US&utm_content=SSBRICfAYT&utm_campaign=Hand_Closeup

These look like fun. Got to add them to my bucket list. Never been to Disney Land.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtfmzH4Exbc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_lcZcBcQ0o

Running the Quick Chess Tournament at the Salt Lake Community College

Eating at Chinese Restaurant with friends

June 11 Birthday

Board Meeting Utah Chess Association

I have a damaged rotator cuff

I thought that my shoulder was acting up again but last night my armed seemed to get worse and I was in so much pain that I decided to go to the doctor this morning.

 

Last night I could not play chess with my right arm.  Three days earlier I noticed no problems.

 

Today I could not extend my arm to put my key in the ignition of my car.

 

Sometime late last week I was having trouble with the trunk of my car because the mechanism that helps you lift it has broken.  I drove all over town looking for a place to repair it.  Anyhow, the trunk got away from me and hit me the in shoulder.  Today my doctor noticed a small bruise.  I didn’t even realize that I had a bruise.

 

I had an x-ray to see if I have hairline fracture, which I don’t.

 

The doctor has prescribed medicine and thinks that it might take 10 days before it starts to get better.

 

John Coffey

 

 

 

Went to pick up my friend Shawn at his work in SE Salt Lake City. We went to Valley Fair Mall and played some chess.

Watched the iOS "8" developer conference yesterday

Apple is coming out with cool stuff for iOS, but especially for developers.

 

Start with 1 Strawberry plant and you get 50.

Bengal Kitten Settles - Signs of friendship - Part 7

Been enjoying this series on cats.

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://youtu.be/9wp3M4EUpEQ

Monday

​

Strawberry plants have taken over my lower bed

My birthday yesterday.

My friend Vince (who I only see about 3 times per year) and I had steaks at Applebee's which were delicious.    I was stuffed full of food.

 

Last night around 10:50 PM there was a mild earthquake.   I felt a rumble below my feet but wasn't sure what it was.   Then Beesley called me and asked if I felt the earthquake.

 

Applebee’s nutrition (Number of calories in my dinner last night.)

Half of Honey BBQ wings:           625.  (Since I ate less than half I am going to assume 525.)

Baked potato                                 330.  (Seems very high.  Normal baked potato is 161.)

Bourbon Street Steak                   730  (I think this is what we ordered.  Really delicious steak.)

Bread                                               250  (I am making an assumption about the number of calories in the bread.)

 

Total                                                1835

 

No wonder I was stuffed.

 

Next time I will skip the bread.

 

They don't list calories for the red potatoes.

 

http://www.applebees.com/~/media/docs/Applebees_Nutritional_Info.pdf

 

 

Funny Birthday Card from coworkers

The Returned

Recently watched an American TV series called Resurrection about how a small town reacts to a few people who come back from the dead.  This series is O.K. but I read that it was similar to a French series called “The Returned” (Les Reverants) which I just watched on Netflix streaming.    The French series is more entertaining, a little creepy and a lot less family friendly.

 

The French series is going to be adapted to American TV by one of the LOST creators.

 

The technique for getting to 2048!

Fwd: Have you seen "The Americans"?

I wasted a three day weekend watching all of season 2 which is 13 episodes.  

 

Best wishes,

John Coffey

 

From: Trout, Larry R 
Subject: RE: Have you seen "The Americans"?

 

I've heard good things about it and have some ready to watch at home. I think it was renewed and had a well received finale, but I may wait to watch it.

 

 

 

I scored 33868 points at 2048.

Neato in a maze

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fBcK6kyI-A

But there is a problem that I am having with my unit...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3QvHZdvn1M

I scored 34396 points at 2048.

I don't think that I can get any higher.

coffey-scml.png (from my work)

Got my car back after 3 days of major repairs.

This is one of the sadder things I've seen | IGN Boards

http://www.ign.com/boards/threads/this-is-one-of-the-sadder-things-ive-seen.452788273/

Judy Garland & Ray Bolger

Absolutely loved this. Found Ray Bolger's comments inspirational:

http://youtu.be/CrYJQDFxngs

Trick questions: I got 9 out of 10 correct ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gn2qKt3bcBc

Carl Sagan - Cosmos Intro

I have been researching COSMOS.

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://youtu.be/R7n71pm0K04

Selfie

Applebee’s puts weight on me!

Unfortunately, I am eating there once per week since our chess club meets there.

 

I might start looking for healthier options on the menu.

 

At first when we started playing chess at Applebee's, I thought that it was too expensive, because with tip I was probably spending about $13.   However, that is about what I pay for a steak sandwich at Crown Burgers, and I decided that I love the food at Applebee's.

 

Snow, rain expected across much of Utah Sunday | FOX13Now.com

Much snow here. Most of it not sticking...

http://fox13now.com/2014/03/30/snow-rain-expected-across-much-of-utah-sunday/

2048 is a remarkably simple and addictive game

As complex as Rubik's cube but as simple as the Number 15 Puzzle.

http://gabrielecirulli.github.io/2048/

Wish I had thought of it first.

On the PC you press one of the arrow keys to move all the tiles in one
of four directions. On my smart phone I was simply swiping instead.
The object is to combine numbers that have the same value You win
the game by getting one of the numbers to 2048, which seems nearly
impossible before the board fills up with new numbers and you run out
of moves.

The game seems really addicting. BTW, I have had the powers of 2
memorized since like 5th grade , so this game was especially appealing
to me.

Rain

It rained here for just about 20 minutes, which is typical for Utah.   Because we are on the second floor with what I think is a metal ventilation on the roof, the rain sounds loud even when it is  just a sprinkle.   The weather report is predicting intermittent rain for a few days.  Most people here are glad to see the rain because they think that we need the water.   I am hoping that it will wash all the allergens out of the air.

After work

Fwd: Chess Life

It is coming close to time for me to renew my US Chess Federation membership.  I usually do it for 3 years at a time which saves a few dollars.  Thirty five years ago I could have gotten a life membership for next to nothing in today's dollars, but now it seems a little late for that.

 

I find myself missing the magazine.  I can read the magazine online, but I never bother.   Part of me is thinking that if I spend the extra bucks to get the magazine that I will actually take the time to read it.

 

This is odd considering that everybody else in the world is moving toward e-readers.

Mucinex

Mucinex seems to help with a cold, but it is expensive.  I found an Alka-seltzer brand that had the same medicine in it but it was only $4 at Wal-Mart.

Picture in a Chinese restaurant

Allergy?

I get these moments where suddenly my nose starts running and I start sneezing.  I think that it is allergies.

 

Ketchup

In recent years I didn’t like the little ketchup packages very much because I wanted to be able to dip my fries into the ketchup.   Over the last few months I have noticed that a couple of restaurants, like Chick Fil-A, have .99 oz Heinz packages designed for dipping.   I also really like the waffle fries at Chick Fil-A. 

 

Gray Thursday returns

Last night I took back $199 of stuff to Wal-Mart that I had bought on the Gray Thursday, the day before Black Friday.   I checked their return policy, and it was still good for up to 15 days after Christmas.

 

I bought more than I needed on Gray Thursday because I wanted to evaluate a couple of cheap seven inch tablets, for which they charged me more than the advertised price on both.   I never opened the tablets because I also bought a Microsoft Surface for $200 on Black Friday.  I didn’t really need any more tablets since I already have an iPad 4, but I wanted to get my hands on some other tablets to see what they were like.

 

Match 3 in a row game iPhone/Android game.

At times I get somewhat addicted to The Lorax Truffalufa game.  I wasn’t thrilled with the movie, but the game is great fun.

 

I have heard that video games are a good way for older people to keep their mind active.

 

Commons "Mall"

I mistakenly thought that the Columbus, Indiana Commons Mall had reopened.  From what I could tell from the outside, it appears to have been converted to an office building with restaurants and shops all along the outside on the first floor.  I am not sure if there are shops on the inside, but it looked like there is still some sort of play area for kids.   The Sears store is still there in a separate building, and it appears to have never closed down.

 

This mall first opened over 41 years when I was just a kid.  I have fond memories of going to that mall.