The Carbon Cycle

I wrote this article called The Carbon Cycle.

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Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

Movie review: Primer

http://letsallgotothemovie.blogspot.com/2015/12/primer.html

Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

Fwd: My post to Facebook

If you want to install Windows 7 on pre-2012 Mac computer, then the only way to do it is with a bootable DVD using the internal DVD drive.  Never mind running to store to purchase the flash drive that all the instructions and Bootcamp tell you to use.  It doesn't work.  Neither does an external DVD drive.  If you want to make a bootable DVD from an ISO, then your best bet is a Windows 7+ PC using the Windows USB-DVD download tool.  Not using the tool will fail.  Also, Windows XP is apparently not 64 bit enough to burn the disk successfully, and the ISO I burned from the Mac didn't seem to work.   Fortunately I had a Windows 10 laptop.  And as far as that internal DVD drive is concerned, if yours never worked right from the time you bought the Mac (like mine), or currently doesn't work right, then you are out of luck.  I just had a repair shop order me a new one. 

I should add that if Bootcamp refuses to remove XP from your Mac, and then tells you to boot up in recovery mode to remove the partition, that this is an easy way to turn your Mac into a very big paperweight.  Likewise if something goes wrong with the bootcamp install, your Mac may refuse to boot.  If this happens to you, don't panic like I did and spend $65 at a repair shop to get your operating system reinstalled back to factory settings.   It turns out that if you hold ALT (Option) key on boot up that you get to a boot menu where you can get back to your operating system.

The only reason I bought a Mac in 2010 was so that I could write iPhone Apps.  Otherwise, I can't see why anyone would want to own one.  The 27 inch iMac is a very beautiful overpriced computer with a pretty operating system, but I find that operating system clunky and restrictive to use.   Also, I am too dependent on Windows to not have that as well.

Hello, I'm a PC.

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Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

Ready

Walking Dead Withdrawal

It has been 29 days since my shoulder operation.  My friend Beesley suggested that after the operation that I should binge watch something that I want to watch so as to take my mind off of any pain that I might have.

Immediately after the operation I started rewatching The Walking Dead from the pilot.  I watched it heavy for 4 days and then just 2 to 3 episodes per day after that.  Now I have officially caught up because I just watched last week's episode a second time.  

This current season isn't over. The show has three more episodes this year and then some more episodes to finish season 6 starting February 14th.

I am surprised by how much I really enjoyed watching the episodes again.  This is really great drama.  The show is also more gory than I remember it being.  If one can ignore the gore, then the drama and the characters are really wonderful.

When you watch a series that you enjoy on a daily basis, it becomes something really pleasant that you look forward to.  I am sure that television stimulates endorphins.  Now I am in withdrawal from one of my favorite TV shows. 

Hmmm, maybe I will watch the Supergirl pilot.

BTW, my shoulder is frequently sore, but that is mostly from physical therapy.  I seem to be recovering nicely.  I have about 4 more weeks to go before I can get rid of the sling.

Just for the record, I have watched the TV series LOST three times.

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Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

Shoulder. One week later. :-)

What could I have possibly ordered that would take such a large box?

The Searchers

http://letsallgotothemovie.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-searchers.html

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Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

Cooking experiment #1. On experiment #2 I put the pepperoni *inside* the biscuits and it was great.

Taken at Bloomington IN

my old house

Looks like they completely remodelled my old house.

They moved the laundry from upstairs to the downstairs furnace room which they completely remodelled.  (Personally don't like laundry in the basement)

They redid the bathrooms, even though I had remodelled them. 

They want $385 K for the house which seems completely unreasonable.  

The bought the house for $237K and probably put at least 50K into it.  The house had looked kind of old.  Now it looks more modern.

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Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

Geneva Belding

What year is it?

Seems deeply inspirational.

The first 20 hours -- how to learn anything

It's official. My new chess club.

http://www.indianachess.org/

My new "Office". Three weeks after moving I am still getting organized.

Selling my house.

After I had listed my house at $260K, the buyer's offer last week was 250K which I agreed to. However, after the inspection they claimed a lot of problems with the house which may be true. It is an old house. We were looking at a 10K roof replacement. They wanted me to come down an additional 25K, but my realtor negotiated a deal of $237.6K along with the buyer agent taking 1% less. This is effectively 240K which I just agreed to and is in the ballpark of what I was shooting for. I figured after commissions and fees I might get around $225K.


Best wishes,

John Coffey

My post to Facebook.

What I thought would take less than a day to move out of my house is going to take about 2.5 days throwing off my schedule slightly.

Thanks to my friend Robert. I could not have done this without him. I am tired and sore. I have problems with my foot, knees and shoulder.

Sent from my iPad

Tax day. Salt Lake City

My post to Facebook

I am in the process of buying a house on 860 Wheatfield Lane, New Whiteland, IN.

My choice was a difficult one because my preference was to be closer to Columbus or Franklin, but this got me the best and newest house for the least money.  The location is half a mile from the Greenwood city limits, which means that since I want to start a chess club in Greenwood, this will be convenient.  It is also 7 to 8 minutes from the Greenwood Park Mall.

It was important to me to be walking distance from things because I like to walk.  Franklin would have been better for this, but the location I chose also has 5 restaurants, a library and a car repair place within walking distance.

I would have prefered to be in Columbus somewhere, but the houses in Columbus are either way too old or way too expensive.  There are a couple of nice houses reasonably priced close to the Columbus airport,  but the neighborhood was mostly trailers and manufactured housing.

Five minutes north of the Columbus Chess Club off of HWY 31 was a reasonably priced home that I liked, but I went with what I thought was overall the best deal.

Fwd:

David,

I move in about 4 weeks.  I want to attend the quick tournaments, but have a hard time playing speed chess because of my shoulder injury.  Trying to do physical therapy, but it is

​often painful​

.  My arm and shoulder feel like they have been getting worse, not better.

​​

I play speed chess 2 to 3 times a week, but that is difficult and sometimes I have to use my left arm.

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Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com​

USCF article about Steve Dillard.

http://www.uschess.org/content/view/12989/806/

He and I were friends, but he was the kind of person who was a friend to everyone.  He was almost always cheerful.

There are many people in the second photograph of the article who I have played while participating in Louisville chess tournaments that Steve ran.

John Coffey

Whiteland, IN. Accepted counter offer today. On airplane back to Salt Lake.

Quick Tournament

Forgot to mention the couch that was part of the deal.

Bountiful Utah

Sunset Chicago

Shelves, six drawer dresser (with presently detached mirror), and two end tables I got for $100 at a church yard sale.

Fwd: Steve Dillard's passing

All,

Steve Dillard of Louisville fame passed away yesterday after being murdered by a former troubled student that he had tried to help.  A school teacher, national tournament direction, chess promoter, former president of the Kentucky Chess Association, strong Class A player, and generally regarded as Mr. Chess in Kentucky, ran over 3000 weekly or twice weekly g/30 tournaments in Louisville for at least 20 years.  Not only have I played in his tournaments since the 1990's, but his tournaments were the inspiration for me running G/30 tournaments in Salt Lake in the 1990's and then later weekly quick tournaments.

His Monday night tournaments would get 30 to 50 people.

This last Monday Steve and I had a lengthy conversation about my attempt to look for a house in Indiana. 

Steve was president of the Kentucky Chess Association at the same time that I was president of the Utah Chess Association.  We had sort of a long distance friendship and we would occasionally call or write each other to talk about chess.

He actually played in at least one of the chess tournaments that I ran in Indiana in the early 1990's.

About 8 to 10 years ago Steve visited Utah, contacted me, and attended my chess club and also met with some local players at Crown Burgers to play

He was 55.

Best wishes,

John Coffey

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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Chris Bush <chris.chrisbush.bush008@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, Mar 14, 2015 at 9:07 PM
Subject: Re: Steve Dillard's passing
To: Davis M <davis.whaley@uky.edu>
Cc: "cc: Ryan Velez" <ryanvelez@gmail.com>, Steve Dillard <stevedillard@hotmail.com>, Taylor Bagley <taylor.bagley12321@gmail.com>, Johnny Harlamert <johnnyharlamert@yahoo.com>, Matt Hassen <matt@matthassen.com>, Miami Fugatte <miamifugatte@yahoo.com>, Randas Burns <randasburns@yahoo.com>

Everyone,

Courier Journal story link on Steve's death.

http://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/crime/2015/03/14/mr-kentucky-chess-found-stabbed-jtown/24771833/

Also, acknowledgement re same from USCF.

from:		Judy Misner <JMisner@uschess.org>
to:		Mike Nolan <MNolan@uschess.org>, contactlog <contactlog@uschess.org>, "chris.chrisbush.bush008@gmail.com" <chris.chrisbush.bush008@gmail.com>
cc:		Judy Misner <JMisner@uschess.org>
date:		Sat, Mar 14, 2015 at 8:17 PM
subject:		RE: USCF 38502: Other March 14, 2015  Hi Chris,  We appreciate you informing us of the sad news regarding Steve Dillard.  He will be sadly missed.  Sincerely,  Judy Misner  USCF Director of Administration

Chris

(410) 227-9648

On Sat, Mar 14, 2015 at 12:06 AM, Chris Bush <chris.chrisbush.bush008@gmail.com> wrote:

March 14, 2015

Everyone,

In case you haven't yet heard, Steve Dillard has passed away.

Chess has lost a true maven and devotee of the craft. He had many friends, and he left us too soon. 

Apparently, he may have died sometime between Thursday and Friday.

No word yet on memorial services, but once I hear something, I'll be sure to pass it on.

I've known Steve a long time. He was a man of character, and was completely devoted to chess.

I can remember- I think it may have been in the 80s- that Steve would organize tournaments at the Louisville Zoo for Afghan war refugees (these were refugees from the Russian invasion that started in 1979). He called them "Afghan at the Zoo" and "Afghan II at the Zoo". These were outdoor tournaments. Steve was a familiar face at many national events as well. He was a tough player, too: he could always be counted on to give one a run for their money.

I've played in so many games at Meijer's I've lost count. Steve pulled me over one day and told me that I had crossed the 1000 tournament threshold. Much of that was due to the Meijer's events. 

I know we'll all miss Steve. He's been a long-time presence in Kentucky. And he was a good friend. A number of us worried about Steve last year when we visited him in the hospital. He had a close call at Bluegrass Magic Shoppe, and thanks to Ken, Steve got the medical attention at the hospital he needed. Steve struggled w/ diabetes: I don't know if that's the cause of his passing, but whatever the reason, he has left a hole behind for all of us. 

For those who want to continue to honor Steve's legacy by playing at Meijer's, I think Ryan is already laying claim to continuing the tournaments there on the KCA website (Ryan cited some conversations that he allegedly had w/ Steve about taking over from Steve:

Steve had been in talks with me and John about transitioning his tournaments, including Blue Grass State Games, to me and John. John will be there on Mondays and Thursdays from now on.

--Ryan Velez

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www.ChessPerformance.com
CTPELLC@gmail.com
502-240-9325
502-418-5312

March 13, 2015 at 8:05 PM

- of course, just recently, Ryan cut Steve off of access to his account for the adults, but I digress), but I'll be talking to the management about sharing same so that all adults will feel welcome in playing in Louisville; possibly, tournament can be rotated between Ryan/John and other TDs.

Meantime, I don't want to harp on our differences, but suggest that all of us take a minute of silence in memory of Steve.

Chris

(410) 227-9648

Property of ...

Star Trek The Next Generation

http://tv4youandme.blogspot.com/

Discussion

Utah

Star Wars Rebels: Call To Action Review

Star Wars Rebels: Call To Action Review

Sherlock

Watched the first episode of "Sherlock" starring Benedict Cumberbatch, which I quite enjoyed.  The pilot made reference to Sherlock Holmes having a website called The Science of Deduction.  It also made reference to John Watson's BLOG.  This is Sherlock Holmes for the modern era.

Chip at our chess club at Applebees.

Fwd: Warm

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: John Coffey

Bob,

Been following this issue closely since the late 1980's.  

When people say that 97% of all scientists claim that global warming is happening and it is our fault, they are referring one specific survey where the vast majority of people surveyed were not atmospheric scientists.  A few people surveyed were theologians.  Furthermore, it frames the question in the wrong way.  Almost nobody is denying that global warming is happening.

By calling people global warming deniers, people have misrepresented the position of the skeptics and really unfairly maligned them.  The is a straw man attack.   In reality, almost nobody is denying that global warming is happening, except maybe for a few crackpots.  The issues have always been how much is happening, how much of that is our fault, and most importantly whether there is negative or positive feedback.  This video outlines the position better than anything ...

Climate Change in 12 Minutes - The Skeptic's Case

​About ​

25 years ago I was reading articles by skeptics.   At that time I was concerned about the issue and wanted to find out all I could about it.  The reason there were skeptics is that meteorologists were raising objections that we were moving too fast over an unproven theory.  There were others claiming that natural feedbacks would moderate global warming.

We have what is called the carbon dioxide cycle, where carbon is sequestered in rock underground and released by natural forces such as volcanoes.  So much carbon dioxide has been removed from the atmosphere that we have gone from an atmosphere of 43% carbon dioxide to 200 hundred parts per million before it went up to 300 parts per million.  Some people speculated that it would get so low that plants would have trouble growing.  The point is that CO2 levels have been much higher in past and been on a steady decline ever since.  70 million years ago, Utah was a tropical forest roamed by dinosaurs.  The CO2 level then was 5% and we are absolutely no danger of coming close to that level now.    

All of human civilization has arisen in a brief period between two ice ages.  In the 1970's NASA claimed we were about to enter another ice age.  Now geologists say no matter what we do, we will get another ice age in about 10,00 years.  In other words, there are natural forces beyond our control.

CO2 by itself is not enough to cause significant warming.  All assumptions of disaster are based upon water vapor adding to the warming.  

Dr Don Easterbrook Exposes Climate Change Hoax

The issue of water vapor gets into the whole feedback issue as to whether it is positive or negative.  In this regard to this, see the first video and this one ... Lord Christopher Monckton ends the Global Warming Debate.  I have believed for over 20 years that the feedback was negative because I read articles to that effect, but also because when the temperatures spiked around 1999-2000 (during the peak of the sunspot cycle), it should had produced runaway greenhouse because of the positive feedback.  It didn't.  In 2007, during the low point of the sunspot cycle, over a hundred years of global warming seemed to disappear.  At this point I saw atmospheric scientists asking us to believe that we had entered a period of global cooling, which was also predicted in the mid 90's. 

Part of my concern is that I see what is politically motivated science.  I don't trust the government because this is an excuse to tax and control us, but the government is doing all the funding.  The cures for global warming aren't economically feasible.   The last U.N. report concluded that the global warming wasn't as much as we thought and it would cost too much to fix it.

How the Global Warming Scare Began

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Best wishes,

John Coffey

Show at Clark Planetarium

Quick chess tournament that I am running at the Salt Lake Community College.