Friday, November 13, 2015

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.

​​
--

Friday, August 14, 2015

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.

--

Thursday, May 28, 2015

It's official. My new chess club.

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

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

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

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

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.

Sunday, March 29, 2015

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.

-- 
Best wishes,

John Coffey


Sunday, March 22, 2015

USCF article about Steve Dillard.


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

Saturday, March 14, 2015

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




---------- 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.


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

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

--

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