Let's Play Go

Today, I played a good game of chess with my Spanish teacher, and he recommended I try to learn Go as well. Go, from my understanding, is a Japanese or other east Asian strategic board game, simpler in rules than chess but immensely more computationally expensive.

I looked up some learning resources online, and came up with the following good tutorials:

• Online Go Server's "Learn to play Go"
• "The Interactive Way to Go"

I picked up the rules fairly quick and I think I have a decent grip on beginner-level strategery after going through The Interactive Way to Go. I managed to obliterate the "easy mode" computer on the Online Go Server, but I haven't taken the time to find a stronger computer or real person yet.

Doing Business

I just placed an order on Amazon for a Dell Inspiron N7110 replacement screen, using my own credit card. Besides the initialization fee, that was the first purchase I ever made directly. I suppose this marks the beginning of my presence in the world of business, as I will soon be repaid for this after installing it in the broken laptop I am fixing for a client.

"The Actor Games" Play Performance

Rivermont's high school theater class has been rehearsing our fall play, The Actor Games. It's a one-act comedy, a parody of the popular book/movie series The Hunger Games. Ten actors, one from each "district", are competing to be the next big star. They must go through a series of "grueling drama activities", constantly facing the danger of elimination and the Fallback Wheel, which doles out their "punishments" like having to be a cook for 50 years.

In our performance, I play the role of the Host, a sort-of narrator, sort-of emcee. (Maybe like a game show host?) Basically, I announce what's about to go on and then announce the results - who got eliminated. I also get to yell a lot, which is also fun.

Tonight was opening night! The performance was pretty good, with only a couple hiccups. There was much laughter from the audience and a good deal of spontaneous applause. It should go even better tomorrow night!

Student Hunger Drive Loading Day

Today marks the end of the 2014 Student Hunger Drive. Loading Day is the day in which all donated items must be boxed, delivered to the food bank, and unloaded onto their palettes. So, it's a pretty big day for the people operating each school's drive, in Rivermont's case my NHS chapter.

Loading Day is an all-day event. We started immediately after morning meeting making the final collection of all the school's donations. My job was to weigh the boxes and write down their weights attributed to the proper grade and house. Meanwhile, the others transferred partial boxes' contents into new boxes, folded them up, and taped them. (The tape was necessary because they had issues with boxes' bottoms falling out last year.)

As the U-Haul truck drove to the various locations we had stashed previous filled boxes, we carried them out and into the back of the truck. I then rode with the development director, along with several other NHS members, to the food bank. There, we box-brigaded the donations onto their palettes. While the food bank weighed those to get our official stats, the food bank staff quizzed us on the history of the Student Hunger Drive, which - thanks to our correct answers - earned us a bonus 100 pounds.

Meanwhile, the Hy-Vee with which we had a bulk purchasing deal delivered over 7000 pounds for us - which we fortunately did not have to transport. The food bank gave us our official numbers: Rivermont Collegiate donated 13384 pounds to the Student Hunger Drive, at least 2000 above last year. On the way back to school, we stopped at Dairy Queen and it was delicious.

I totaled up the class data to determine whether the upper school or middle school donated more. It was the upper school, and out of them, my class. The lower school, however, obliterated us both.

Credit Card

Several weeks ago, I went to the bank to set up a checking account and a debit card attached to it. The card came a couple of days ago!

This is going to make my IT business a lot easier - I'll be able to actually purchase parts and software. Previously, I had to ask other people to purchase things online for me and then deal with cash to pay them back. Now, I'll just be able to enter my details and order stuff.

They also got me registered for paper statements (which I don't want), so I'll have to talk to the bank to disable those. (They cost $3 for each statement, plus tax!)

Illowa Fall Classic 2014

Today held the Illowa Bi-State Chess Club's annual Fall Classic tournament. As in the past, it was a four-round Swiss tournament with 65 minutes and 5 second delay time control. Since there are four rounds and each game can last more than two hours, this tournament was an all-day event. Since my rating is a little under the cutoff for the U1400 section, I played in the Reserve.

I arrived early in the morning to help set up. My first game was against a 1000-rated player (about 350 below me), but it was surprisingly tough. I violated the four opening principles with wild abandon, and got into trouble in the middlegame as a result. I did manage to castle while there was a lull in the action, and things started looking up from there. I gained a pawn or two, then went on to win a king-and-pawn endgame.

The second game, after lunch, was against an unrated player. He blundered a piece away in the opening, but played a pretty solid game after that. I was much more careful to play a decent opening, so I got into a good position and stayed there. I don't remember much about the game, but it was easy and didn't last too long. (I got to finish my calculus homework!)

At the beginning of the third round, I was the only one with two points. I was paired against one of the few people with 1.5, and as is usual in the Swiss, the second-to-last round's game is the most important. This opponent's rating was actually a little above mine. He played the French, but since I know nothing about the French, I just played what seemed tactically sound. That went fairly well, and I established a strong position for a strong game. I gained a pawn along the way, but the game was very difficult. In the endgame, when each of us had a rook and a knight (plus miscellaneous pawns), he blundered and let me fork his king and rook with my knight. He resigned when I was about to promote a pawn.

The last game's opening did not go so well. My opponent - 200 points below me - played the King's Gambit, about which I know even less than I do the French. That made my development a total disaster, and I could never get my rooks connected. Though I didn't go down in material, my position was absolutely awful. At this time, we had been at the chess club for more than 6 hours, and everyone was tired. I offered a draw after I eeked out a somewhat equal-looking position, and by some small miracle he accepted.

With 3.5 out of 4 points, I won the Reserve section, the following nice trophy, and $102.

From left to right: winner of the Open section, the TD, me

The End of Crosscountry

Though this school day was an early release, I certainly did not get any more time at home. After the short school day ended, I boarded a bus with the crosscountry team over to the last meet of the season, a big state qualifier.

It was a cool, cloudy day - perfect for running, in my opinion. My race was three miles long, the same as always. Fortunately, the course was very flat, but it did take us through a muddy forest. I felt pretty good through the race; I didn't have to stop to walk or anything like that. I don't know my time, but I do know I finished below the 50th percentile. I finished second of the four people in my team who ran that race, which is my usual position.

Though I am clearly not a stellar runner, I do feel pretty good about my performance this season. Today marks the end of this season of races, and very possibly the end of my crosscountry experience forever. (Athletic graduation requirement: complete!)