Purple Blob and the Snowman - by Nona Oldner

Purple Blob and Cupid by Nona Oldner

Purple Blob in Hawaii by Nona Oldner

New Year Chess Tourney

The 2009 New Years tourney is almost finished but the winner with 3 points will be Jimmy!
What a comeback. Last year (2008), Nona won with 6 points, and Jimmy was last with 0.

This year's tourney was different. Half the games are correspondence and half are OTB. Jim beat Dad and Nona in OTB, and Dad in correspondence (I really messed up that game). Dad beat Nona in correspondence and Nona is still playing Jim in correspondence. Dad vs Nona in OTB will be forthcoming.

Calculating the points, Jim with 3 makes him the winner, Nona came in second with Dad third.

Congratulations to Jim, the 2009 winner!

Database or File?

Decision is to use a database or just plain files. The menu won't be very big. I'm thinking about a table with the meal time as key -breakfast, lunch, dinner, and the name of it as the data record. Examples:

• Dinner: Hamburgers & Fries
• Lunch: Egg salad sandwiches
• Breakfast: Grits & Eggs

The other table will be the ingredients for each. Example:

• Hamburgers & Fries: 2 ground sausage, 1 ground meat, 1 pack buns, 1 bag fries, catsup, mayo, mustard, 2 pickles, 1 head lettuce, 3 tomatoes, granola oil, creole seasoning.
• Egg Salad Sandwiches: 1 loaf bread, 8 hard boiled eggs, 1 jar mayo, 1 onion, 1 pickle, 1/2 head lettuce, 1 tomato. 1 can Pringles.

The ingredients will provide the shopping list items for the menu.

So database or file? Or start with file and then build database?
Database needs to be free or already installed as part of the computer's programs.

Currently I'm evaluating buzhug, SnakeSQL, and GadFly

Menu program

Some design analysis/thoughts for what I want it to accomplish:

1. Screen to select meals. On the screen I want to see:

• How many times this was selected in the last week. We eat lots of pastas, so 2 - 3 times a week is good. We eat Dirty Rice, but once a week is the best.
• Estimated cost of meal. Don't want a week of $20 meals.
• Start date and end date of the menu.
• Some indicator that we have the ingredients on-hand - Keeps stuff fresh
• Ought to show ingredents on hand for menu item - such as different types of pasta on the shelf, or types of Waffles, or types of toaster strudel.
• Need to select which day the menu is for - M to S.

2. Screen to input new menu items. It'll need plenty of places for ingredents.

3. Output is 2 lists, one for the fridge that shows the day and meals for the day, and a shopping list of stuff I need to either get or check to see if I need to get from the store.

Looks like a lot of this will be database work. So where's Python's db?

Awards

I have been given an award by J Kaye's Book Blog.  It is called the Well Worth Watching Blog Award.  This is my first!  Thanks All!

Python Language

I'm a programmer/analyst for a state government using SAP. SAP is coded in ABAP and all my programming is done in that language. I do payroll stuff, human resource reports, interfaces, all stuff very important for paying people and seeing their deductions are going to the correct people, but not very flashy. Nor is ABAP a good language for home use. And the State frowns on us using state resources for personal use.

Last year I learned some HTML, XML, and CSS, enough to help upgrade the famous J. Kaye's Book Blog. But doing web/screen stuff is not real satisfying for me.

So I will learn Python this year. I already have 3 projects in mind. The first is a simple 'game', really a search algorithm to find a number in a range.

Second is creating a household/menu app that will generate a weekly menu and shopping list based on choice of meals and inventory. We have been frugal shopping for 1/2 a year now and lowered the average amount spend of groceries and household items by 15%. That means I buy lost of the same stuff when it's on sale (month of pasta and sauce, month of bread, lots of meat, etc).

So I want to be able to create a menu based on meal selections and have meals suggested based on what's in inventory. I need also to be change inventory, both add-to and take-from, and the prices of those items with quantity and use quantity. Like 1 can tuna for 1 box tuna helper. I also want a list of proposed household items we need based upon use. So our 120 load big box of Gain should be out in week 3, so don't put it as a proposed shopping item for week 1 and 2. Again, the usage of these items will need to be adjustable. What else? All the screens should be easy and intuitive enough for my 12 year old daughter to handle. And it'll print me out a menu and shopping list for the week since we do better on a weekly cycle.

That ought to take me a while ;D.

The third is a chess position analyzer. It will output the analysis of the position using the acronym IMPLODe as seen in Chess Life. Will not tell the next best move or line, nor suggest any next move. Probably will need to hook up to a chess engine for a deep analysis like mate in 4 or 5. That would be important to know!
The purpose is to help look at and analyze positions - that's all.
Any suggestions, ideas, logic, what-Not-to-dos, will be very much appreciated.

This is my goal for 2009.

Supplies

Looked around at Lowes to see what supplies they had and here is what I found on Dec. 27, 2008.
Vermiculite - 8 qt bag for $3.97, Perlite - 8 qt bag for $2.97, and lettuce seeds for $1.19 a pack.  No net pots, so we'll need to order those.  I've found a site that sells the 2" for 19 cents each.  I'll post the link after we get in the pots with a review of quality, shipping, and total cost.

I'll start with gallon ice cream buckets, like the ones at Wal-Mart as the planter pots.  I've got some and the kids will help emptying more for me to use.

Hydroponics

We have decided to start with the lettuce growing. Now I need to get 1 gallon containers and net pots. Then I'll need to get the grow solution and some perilite. We are going to put these in the window sills, and I'll need to add some shelves so we can add more pots in the windows. If this goes well, then next step is a little greenhouse.

Greenhouse

We will be building a greenhouse to house the hydroponics. Reason? We need to keep bugs and harsh weather out, but allow sunshine in. In south Louisiana, we have another consideration- the heat. So any greenhouse needs to be able to provide enought air circulation so the plants will not steam and wilt.

Air circulation, no bugs, and cheap construction - this will be a challenging combo!

Chess links

This past year I started to follow the advice to start with an opening for White and 2 for Black and learn them before expanding my repertoire.

So, my opening for White is the Colle including the Zuckertort system.

For black, it is a newer opening called the Hippo.

As for 2009, I'll explore some related openings, such as the Owens and Queen's Indian and White Hippo.

Hydroponics

Here are some links I found that tell about it. Some are for DIY, some sell you stuff - ranging from okay to WTF?!.

http://www.howtohydroponics.com/dutch_pot_hydroponics.html

http://www.easyhydroponics.net/free-hydroponic-plans/index.htm

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/HS184

http://vertigro.com/

http://www.hydroponics.net/learn/hydroponic_gardening_for_beginners.asp

http://www.simplyhydro.com/system.htm

http://homeharvest.com/hydroponicsautopot.htm

http://homeharvest.com/hydroponicsmain.htm

DIY lettuce grower! This is the first one we are going to do - it's simple and will be done inside.


Update 5/9/09- Well this project didn't get started. I have done more transplanting ginger and Blue Thunder, that'll be enough for this year.

2009 Book Challenges

Challenge 1. Spiritually Speaking Challenge

Hosted by Reading Extravaganza

The rules of the challenge are:

1. Read 6 books from January 31st, 2009 to June 30th, 2009.
2. The main theme of all the titles you choose must be spiritual, metaphysical or self-help.
3. The books can be both fiction & non-fiction.
4. You don't have to have a blog to participate.
5. A new copy of 'Happiness is a Choice' by Barry Neil Kaufman will be raffled away at the end of the challenge among the participants. You don't have to do anything special, just have fun! And let's fate decide who gets the prize.

To sign up, click here.

My List:
1. Poems of Life, by Ronnie Lee -DONE!
2. The Judgement in the Mirrow by Neil Chapelle
3. Quantum Buddhism by Francois Lepine - DONE!
4. Consciousness at the Crossroads by the Dalai Lama et al.
5. How to Practise: the way to a meaningful like by the Dalai Lama
6. The body quantum : the new physics of body, mind, and health by Fred Alan Wolf

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Challenge 2. eBook Reading Challenge

Hosted by J. Kaye's Book Blog.

This challenge is for readers who love eBooks or would like to explore more in 2009. I currently have five or six eBooks and this would be a fun way to get them read.

Guidelines:
1. You can join anytime as long as you don’t start reading to your books prior to 2009.
2. Read 10 eBooks in 2009.
3. Overlaps with other challenges are fine.
4. When you sign up under Mr. Linky, list the direct link to your post where your eBooks will be listed. If you list just your blog’s URL, it will be removed.

If you’ll be posting your challenges on your sidebar, then please put the button up and link before signing up.
If you don’t have a blog, leave the URL blank.

5. You do not have to list your books ahead of time. If you decide to, you can change them as you go. Feel free to remove or add titles as needed.

Click to sign up.

My List:

1. The Blog Manual by Brad Ney -DONE
2. The Judgement in the Mirrow by Neil Chapelle
3. Dive into Python by Mark Pilgram -IN PROGRESS
4. Consciousness at the Crossroads by the Dalai Lama et al.
5. Quantum Buddhism by Francois Lepine -DONE!
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

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* the challenge is to read 12 TBR books in 12 months -- you can read those all in one month if you want, or one a month, or however you wanna do it.


* you need to have a list posted somewhere for others to see (even if it's in a comment here)* you CANNOT change your list after January 1st, 2009!!!
* you can create an Alternates list of MAXIMUM 12 books, if you want, in order to have options to choose from (you can read these in place of books on your original list).
* audiobooks and e-books ARE allowed* re-reads are NOT allowed, as they aren't TRUE "TBRs"* you CAN overlap with other challenges* OPTIONAL: you can join the Yahoo! Group created for participants of the TBR Challenge, if you want to have a place to keep your list, or just to share with others about how you're doing! :)
Click to sign up:
My List:
1. Colle-Zukertort in the Trenches by David Rudel
2. Doing Business in 21st Centuty India by Gunjan Bagla -DONE
3. Poems of Life by Ronnie Lee -DONE
4. Consciousness at the Crossroads by the Dalai Lama et al.
5. Python Web Programming by Steve Holden -DONE
6. How to Practise: the way to a meaningful like by the Dalai Lama
7. The Blog Manual by Brad Ney -DONE
8. Google Tools by Donna Baker
9. Next Generation ABAP Development by Heilman and Jung
10. The Judgement in the Mirrow by Neil Chapelle
11. The body quantum : the new physics of body, mind, and health by Fred Alan Wolf
12. Dive into Python by Mark Pilgram -IN PROGRESS