Seems like a long time ago again that I last posted. The week days tend to be very busy. Typically we either get up at 5:45 a.m. and go to the gym (where Zoe swims and I go on the running machine) or we get up at 6:30 and get ready for work. I tend to leave the house at about 7:15 and the drive to work takes about an hour. On the way I listen to Australian radio which is outrageous and hilarious in equal parts. There is no way you would get away with saying some of the things they say here at 8:00 in the morning. The working day in Australia runs from 8:30 to 5:00. I tend to leave work beytween 5:30 and 6:30 getting home an hour later. Usually by the time I get in I am completely exhausted. Zoe has most often cooked dinner so we eat and watch some Monty Python DVDs, read or play some backgammon. I am usually asleep by about 8:30 on the sofa!
On the subject of backgammon eagle-eyed readers will be wondering why the score in the epic Zoe Vs Sean backgammon ladder super-series has not been published. This is because Zoe updates the blog a lot more than I do. Suffice to say that one of us has 45 points and one of us has 14 points.
Last weekend we went out for dinner on Friday night with some colleagues from work and had some colleagues from work round on the Saturday night to ours for dinner. Zoe cooked seafood pasta containing vongole, squid and prawns. It was very tasty. We also got through a fair quantity of red wine. I had a bit of a headache on the Sunday but the evening was really enjoyable.
I am currently reading 'The Ascent of Science' by Brian Silver tying together the practice, theories, paradigms, history and philosophy of science from Aristotle through Newton to the present day. It is a fascinating book and written in a quirky original style that I really like. I am learning a lot of new things - for example I never knew quite how fast molecules in a gas travel. The oxygen molecules around us on a warm day are travelling at 1030 miles per hour! I have just finished the chapter on the Newtonian revolution. Silver is now showing how the Principia helped spawn the Enlightenment.
Today we were going to go out and buy a lamp. We thought Ikea would be a good idea. Unfortunately when we got to my car we found that I had left the lights on and the battery was completely flat. We are going to try and get it charged on Monday so I will be on the train tomorrow morning meaning a very early start indeed!
Instead we walked into the city and, after much searching, found a couple of reading lamps. We need these to aim at us when we are talking on the webcam so that people can see us.
This post has been a bit of a stream of consciousness. Hope it all makes sense.
It wouldn't be a proper post from me if I didn't finish with a few backgammon positions.
These are all from the same game. Match to 11 Sean Vs Gnu I am playing black. I got all three positions wrong. What's right and why? How much respect should one afford a 5-point board?
Position 1
Position 2
Position 3
Answers in the comments box below!
On the subject of backgammon eagle-eyed readers will be wondering why the score in the epic Zoe Vs Sean backgammon ladder super-series has not been published. This is because Zoe updates the blog a lot more than I do. Suffice to say that one of us has 45 points and one of us has 14 points.
Last weekend we went out for dinner on Friday night with some colleagues from work and had some colleagues from work round on the Saturday night to ours for dinner. Zoe cooked seafood pasta containing vongole, squid and prawns. It was very tasty. We also got through a fair quantity of red wine. I had a bit of a headache on the Sunday but the evening was really enjoyable.
I am currently reading 'The Ascent of Science' by Brian Silver tying together the practice, theories, paradigms, history and philosophy of science from Aristotle through Newton to the present day. It is a fascinating book and written in a quirky original style that I really like. I am learning a lot of new things - for example I never knew quite how fast molecules in a gas travel. The oxygen molecules around us on a warm day are travelling at 1030 miles per hour! I have just finished the chapter on the Newtonian revolution. Silver is now showing how the Principia helped spawn the Enlightenment.
Today we were going to go out and buy a lamp. We thought Ikea would be a good idea. Unfortunately when we got to my car we found that I had left the lights on and the battery was completely flat. We are going to try and get it charged on Monday so I will be on the train tomorrow morning meaning a very early start indeed!
Instead we walked into the city and, after much searching, found a couple of reading lamps. We need these to aim at us when we are talking on the webcam so that people can see us.
This post has been a bit of a stream of consciousness. Hope it all makes sense.
It wouldn't be a proper post from me if I didn't finish with a few backgammon positions.
These are all from the same game. Match to 11 Sean Vs Gnu I am playing black. I got all three positions wrong. What's right and why? How much respect should one afford a 5-point board?
Position 1
Position 2
Position 3
Answers in the comments box below!
posted by Zoe and Sean at 5:09 PM
3 Comments:
Position 1: 8/3 6/4*
Position 2: 6/4 13/12
Position 3: 13/7* 8/4
Knowing Sean he probably decided on the same moves . . . and therefore we're both wrong :-(
Michael Crane
Ooops, I didn't say why!
Position 1: 8/3 5/4*
Red has three blots on at the moment and this is a great opportunity to hoover up some, if not all, of them. Red's return shots off the bar are in my favour (41.67% hits) and in return I get loads of covering numbers and another checker on the bar with 4s.
Position 2: 6/4 13/12
Well clearly covering the blot 6/4 is correct. I then like 13/12 to give me a good chance to make my bar-point (6s, 5s and 43). Red's chances of re-entry and hitting my 7-point blot are slim, 61 & 52, making it a good exchange . . . well in my favour.
Position 3: 13/7* 8/4
Hitting isn't a choice, it's a definite, the question is, what to do with the remaining 4? I think playing on 7/3 is very wimpish and running out 22/18 is very brave (brave as in stupid!), so I move 8/4 to enhance my point making chances in a bid to keep Red on the bar while I get my runners out.
Off topic . . . just a little!
Zoe. Sean. How about sending me an article for July's Bibafax?
Michael
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