I should have seen the handwriting on the wall last year, and a few years before that, and a few years before that, when my furnace balked during the coldest night of the year (I am still astonished how that happened, almost as if it waited for just such a night) and each time it cost me some $700 to have it repaired. It was that, or cough up money I didn't have for a brand new furnace. Not that I have such money just waiting in a drawer right now.
Guess what - it happened again last night. I went to bed nice and toasty and since I sleep with a feather blanket on top of a quilt, I was quite comfy although I did notice a few times in the middle of the night that my nose seemed cold. But hey, it was way below zero wind chill wise last night, with constant winds pounding the house from the north/northwest. I expected it to be cold.
So I didn't think too much of it when the house seemed to be creaking and groaning more than usual early this morning. And then the alarm blasted off at 6 a.m. and I stuck my arms out from under the blankets and brrrrrrr! It was fricking cold in the house! As if on cue, I heard a beam somewhere in the attic make an ominous snap-crackle-pop sound and I bounded out of bed and ran downstairs to check the thermostat. Sure enough. Sometime during the night or wee hours of the morning, the furnace gave up the ghost. It was 50 degrees F in the house. The windchill was 20 below zero outside.
So, who the hell do you call at 6 in the morning - come fix my furnace? I scrambled around getting dressed and started the fireplace going in the living room to for at least some heat in the place, and pulled out the local newspaper. As I shivered over my coffee, I fixed upon a contractor and called. It was too much to expect to get a live person at 6:20 a.m. on a Monday morning. I left a message. It took awhile, but a repairman did arrive at my door about 8:40 a.m.
He was able to get my 21 year old Carrier (that has given me trouble since day one) going again, and the house was warm when I got home tonight, and the furnace is still working because it has been cycling per usual, and it is now 10:46 p.m. But enough is enough. I was probably pushing my luck with that furnace at 15; now at 21 it's time and past. So, CHA-CHING, a new furnace goes in tomorrow. That I will get a $900 credit on my income taxes for it does not lesson the considerable pain of an expenditure I had hoped to postpone until summer of 2011. Perhaps five years from now I will be more comforted by the fact that it is a 95% efficient and dual action something-or-other that promises to save me loads of money on my gas bill each season. (Yeah, right). For $200 less I could have gotten a new furance similar to the one I have now. Only 200 lousy bucks? NO THANKS.
While I was frantically wondering how the hell I'm going to pay for a new furnace, my 24 year old refrigerator gave one mighty chugging heave and died. The compressor finally expired. Yep, I knew it was coming. The fridge has been making strange glug-glugging noises of increasing scale for over a year now. I just didn't expect it to die on the same day as the damn furnace! What next, I thought - will my 24 year old gas stove explode and put me out of my misery? So when the doorbell rings and the furnace man shows up, I'm packing the contents of my fridge into boxes to stash into the ice-cold garage.
Tonight after work (yes, I ran to work after the furnace man left at 9:30 a.m. - and on the ice-glazed streets of my subdivision and the non-salted sidewalks, it was quite an adventure getting to the bus stop nearly a mile away in the relatively balmy temperature of 10 below zero F), my friend Ann and I went appliance shopping. While the contents of my deceased fridge are resting in the garage in various states of dress (I don't want my milk to freeze, for instance) tucked inside several boxes, I have to wait until Saturday for delivery of a new fridge and a new gas stove. No matter how I pleaded and even attempted a bribe, delivery could not be made tomorrow, when I will be home during furnace installation. I did not want to push my luck and take another day off on Wednesday, the earliest possible delivery date, claiming a deceased fridge as an excuse, even though it's the damn truth! LOL!
Can you imagine? Geez. I emailed Ann tonight that I hope I don't wake with an icicle hanging from my nose in the morning.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Pachisi-Patolli-Parcheesi
From The National Geographic
Prehistoric Parcheesi?
Photograph by Kenneth Garrett, National Geographic
Mexican archaeologist Rodolfo Cid sits near mysterious circles carved into stone not far from the pyramids of Teotihuacan, Mexico (file picture). The circles may have been surveyor's marks, calendars, or scoreboards for a Parcheesi-like game of chance called patolli, according to National Geographic magazine.
Though Voorhies will likely never know the purpose of the Chantuto circles [see earlier post], the new theory has already changed how she sees the prehistoric foragers, she said.
"I've spent a great deal of my life thinking about these particular people," she said, and the unexpected insight into their amusements "makes them seem more real to me."
Published December 13, 2010
Here is a modern American parcheesi board, from Wikipedia:
Here is a 19th century Pachisi cloth board with playing pieces, Sri Lanka, from the British Museum:
A graphic from 1569
Codex Florentinus from Historia de las cosas de Nueva España by Bernardino de Sahagún showing the board game Patolli
from Wikipedia
Korean Nyout, a "circle and cross" game
(Yut Nori - at Boardgamegeek.com)
Prehistoric Parcheesi?
Photograph by Kenneth Garrett, National Geographic
Though Voorhies will likely never know the purpose of the Chantuto circles [see earlier post], the new theory has already changed how she sees the prehistoric foragers, she said.
"I've spent a great deal of my life thinking about these particular people," she said, and the unexpected insight into their amusements "makes them seem more real to me."
Published December 13, 2010
Here is a modern American parcheesi board, from Wikipedia:
Here is a 19th century Pachisi cloth board with playing pieces, Sri Lanka, from the British Museum:
Codex Florentinus from Historia de las cosas de Nueva España by Bernardino de Sahagún showing the board game Patolli
from Wikipedia
Korean Nyout, a "circle and cross" game
(Yut Nori - at Boardgamegeek.com)
Nahua God of Games
From The National Geographic:
Gaming God
Image courtesy Barbara Voorhies
A deity of games for the Nahua, an Aztec people of central Mexico, is pictured in a 16th-century illustration.
The Aztec played games of chance and skill, including bowling and checkers.
"The Indian casino thing, in a way, is not anything new—this has always been a popular activity," noted John Johnson, curator of anthropology at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History in California, who was not involved in the Chantuto-holes research.
Published December 13, 2010
Gaming God
Image courtesy Barbara Voorhies
The Aztec played games of chance and skill, including bowling and checkers.
"The Indian casino thing, in a way, is not anything new—this has always been a popular activity," noted John Johnson, curator of anthropology at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History in California, who was not involved in the Chantuto-holes research.
Published December 13, 2010
Ancient Games and Gaming Boards - National Geographic
Mystery Holes
Photograph courtesy Barbara Voorhies
Workers clean a 4,300-year-old clay floor at the Tlacuachero archaeological site in Mexico's Chiapas state (see map) in February 2009.
Mysterious semicircles of holes (center and lower right) in the floor may be dice scoreboards, archaeologist Barbara Voorhies, a professor emerita at the University of California, Santa Barbara, said recently. (Full story: Prehistoric Dice Boards Found—Oldest Games in Americas? New theory for mysterious 5,000-year-old semicircles in Mexico.)
If so, the circles are the oldest known evidence of games in Mesoamerica, a region that stretches from Mexico to Costa Rica.
In 1988 Voorhies found the buried floor under a mound created by the Chantuto people, foragers who lived along the coast of what's now southern Mexico between about 3,500 to 7,500 years ago.
In 2009 she found another clay floor just below the pictured floor—as well as portions of nine other semicircles. A historical account Voorhies discovered in 2009 revealed that the circles have a "striking similarity" to other Native American gaming boards.
"There's no absolute proof that my interpretation of these strange features [is right]," she said. "But it's a very strong analogy, and that's about as good as it gets for archaeology."
Voorhies received funding for her research from the National Geographic Society's Committee for Research and Exploration. (The Society owns National Geographic News.)
—Christine Dell'Amore
Published December 13, 2010
More:
Evolution of the Game?
Image courtesy Barbara Voorhies
Tarahumara people of northern Mexico used a scoreboard and stick "dice" to play games (as seen in a 1907 illustration).
When Voorhies read the 1907 book Games of the North American Indians, she discovered the Tarahumara scoreboards resembled the strange Chantuto semicircles.
After that, her previous ideas about the Chantuto holes' purpose—for example that they may have been marks left by an animal pen's fenceposts—became "preposterous," she said.
Published December 13, 2010
Photograph courtesy Barbara Voorhies
Mysterious semicircles of holes (center and lower right) in the floor may be dice scoreboards, archaeologist Barbara Voorhies, a professor emerita at the University of California, Santa Barbara, said recently. (Full story: Prehistoric Dice Boards Found—Oldest Games in Americas? New theory for mysterious 5,000-year-old semicircles in Mexico.)
If so, the circles are the oldest known evidence of games in Mesoamerica, a region that stretches from Mexico to Costa Rica.
In 1988 Voorhies found the buried floor under a mound created by the Chantuto people, foragers who lived along the coast of what's now southern Mexico between about 3,500 to 7,500 years ago.
In 2009 she found another clay floor just below the pictured floor—as well as portions of nine other semicircles. A historical account Voorhies discovered in 2009 revealed that the circles have a "striking similarity" to other Native American gaming boards.
"There's no absolute proof that my interpretation of these strange features [is right]," she said. "But it's a very strong analogy, and that's about as good as it gets for archaeology."
Voorhies received funding for her research from the National Geographic Society's Committee for Research and Exploration. (The Society owns National Geographic News.)
—Christine Dell'Amore
Published December 13, 2010
More:
Evolution of the Game?
Image courtesy Barbara Voorhies
When Voorhies read the 1907 book Games of the North American Indians, she discovered the Tarahumara scoreboards resembled the strange Chantuto semicircles.
After that, her previous ideas about the Chantuto holes' purpose—for example that they may have been marks left by an animal pen's fenceposts—became "preposterous," she said.
Published December 13, 2010
Japanese Royal Tomb Discovered
From The Mainichi Daily News:
Tomb believed to have held 7th-century empress's granddaughter discovered in Nara
ASUKA, Nara -- Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a tomb here thought to have been the burial place of the granddaughter of Empress Saimei (594-661), the local board of education has announced.
The tomb was discovered during excavation work around the nearby Kengoshizuka tomb, which is thought to be the burial site of Saimei. According to the Asuka Village Board of Education, the newly discovered tomb was likely constructed at almost the same time as the Kengoshizuka tomb, in the latter half of the 7th century.
The newly found tomb is thought to be the resting place of Empress Saimei's granddaughter Princess Ota, which would match with the Nara-period historical document Nihon Shoki, which records Princess Ota as being buried in front of the Empress in 667.
The discovery lends further evidence that the Kengoshizuka tomb was the burial place of Empress Saimei. This will press the Imperial Household Agency to revise its records, which designate a different tomb as Saimei's resting place.
Archaeologists began the excavation work around the Kengoshizuka tomb in October. While investigating the southeastern side of the tomb, they found the remains of another stone tomb. To archaeologists' knowledge, the tomb's name is not mentioned in any extant historical records or at any other discovered archaeological remains. The board of education decided to name the tomb "Koshitsukagomon," after the name of the area where it was found.
The opening of the tomb faces south, just as the one at Kengoshizuka does. It measures 2.4 meters deep, 90 centimeters wide, and 60 centimeters tall. It appears to have been made by laying a flat base stone on top of the soil of the Kengoshizuka mound, and putting a large stone that had the inside carved out into a dome shape on top of the base stone. The estimated weight of the tomb in its complete form is around 80 metric tons. It is believed to have held a lacquered wooden coffin used for people of high standing.
Located only around 20 meters from the tomb at Kengoshizuka, the two tombs are nearly adjacent to each other.
Based on factors such as the fact that the stone used for the tombs at both the new site and Kengoshizuka are made of quartz diorite -- used for tombs until around the time of Kengoshizuka's construction -- the board of education believes that the two sites were constructed as part of the same set.
A path of inlaid stones, over four meters long and about one meter wide, was found in front of the Koshitsukagomon tomb. However, it is off-center from the tomb, and it is thought that instead of being built at the same time, it may have been added during repair work. That repair work is mentioned in another historical record, the Shoku Nihongi, as having occurred in 699.
The tomb at Kengoshizuka is divided into two rooms. That fits with the Nihon Shoki, which states that Emperor Tenchi buried his mother Saimei and his sister Princess Hashihito together. However, the grave of Tenchi's daughter Princess Ota, which based on the Nihon Shoki should have been in front of the Kengoshizuka burial, had not been found -- until perhaps now.
The Imperial Household Agency currently records the Kurumagi Kenno tomb and a tomb 80 meters south of it, both located in Takatori, Nara Prefecture, as the burial sites of Empress Saimei and her granddaughter Princess Ota. The agency says it is not planning to revise its records.
There will be a briefing at the excavation site from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Dec. 11 and 12.
(Mainichi Japan) December 10, 2010
Tomb believed to have held 7th-century empress's granddaughter discovered in Nara
ASUKA, Nara -- Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a tomb here thought to have been the burial place of the granddaughter of Empress Saimei (594-661), the local board of education has announced.
The tomb was discovered during excavation work around the nearby Kengoshizuka tomb, which is thought to be the burial site of Saimei. According to the Asuka Village Board of Education, the newly discovered tomb was likely constructed at almost the same time as the Kengoshizuka tomb, in the latter half of the 7th century.
The newly found tomb is thought to be the resting place of Empress Saimei's granddaughter Princess Ota, which would match with the Nara-period historical document Nihon Shoki, which records Princess Ota as being buried in front of the Empress in 667.
The discovery lends further evidence that the Kengoshizuka tomb was the burial place of Empress Saimei. This will press the Imperial Household Agency to revise its records, which designate a different tomb as Saimei's resting place.
Archaeologists began the excavation work around the Kengoshizuka tomb in October. While investigating the southeastern side of the tomb, they found the remains of another stone tomb. To archaeologists' knowledge, the tomb's name is not mentioned in any extant historical records or at any other discovered archaeological remains. The board of education decided to name the tomb "Koshitsukagomon," after the name of the area where it was found.
The opening of the tomb faces south, just as the one at Kengoshizuka does. It measures 2.4 meters deep, 90 centimeters wide, and 60 centimeters tall. It appears to have been made by laying a flat base stone on top of the soil of the Kengoshizuka mound, and putting a large stone that had the inside carved out into a dome shape on top of the base stone. The estimated weight of the tomb in its complete form is around 80 metric tons. It is believed to have held a lacquered wooden coffin used for people of high standing.
Located only around 20 meters from the tomb at Kengoshizuka, the two tombs are nearly adjacent to each other.
Based on factors such as the fact that the stone used for the tombs at both the new site and Kengoshizuka are made of quartz diorite -- used for tombs until around the time of Kengoshizuka's construction -- the board of education believes that the two sites were constructed as part of the same set.
A path of inlaid stones, over four meters long and about one meter wide, was found in front of the Koshitsukagomon tomb. However, it is off-center from the tomb, and it is thought that instead of being built at the same time, it may have been added during repair work. That repair work is mentioned in another historical record, the Shoku Nihongi, as having occurred in 699.
The tomb at Kengoshizuka is divided into two rooms. That fits with the Nihon Shoki, which states that Emperor Tenchi buried his mother Saimei and his sister Princess Hashihito together. However, the grave of Tenchi's daughter Princess Ota, which based on the Nihon Shoki should have been in front of the Kengoshizuka burial, had not been found -- until perhaps now.
The Imperial Household Agency currently records the Kurumagi Kenno tomb and a tomb 80 meters south of it, both located in Takatori, Nara Prefecture, as the burial sites of Empress Saimei and her granddaughter Princess Ota. The agency says it is not planning to revise its records.
There will be a briefing at the excavation site from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Dec. 11 and 12.
(Mainichi Japan) December 10, 2010
2010 Women's World Chess Championship - Round 4, Game 1
Summary from the official website:
Only 8 participants are left in the World Championship. Hou Yifan, playing with black pieces, won against Katerina Lahno. Ukrainian player had a little advantage due to the extra pawn but the bishops of the opponent were very strong. Instead of making accurate draw, Katerina Lahno was probably trying to play for more and lost the game.
Humpy Koneru received a position with an advantage and managed to win a pawn. Her opponent Ju Wenjun created some counter play on the king’s side and provoked a mistake from the Indian player. Achieved a comfortable equalization, Ju Wenjun blundered both pawn and game as her position immediately collapsed. Two games, Zhao - Skripchenko and Harika - Ruan, were drawn. In the first game French player Almira Skripchenko grabbed a pawn in a middle game but it was not enough to make a full point. Harika Dronavalli got a position with two bishops in the endgame but, due to accurate play of her opponent Ruan Lufei, didn’t manage to win a game.
 |
| Almira Skripchenko and Zhao Xue |
Humpy Koneru received a position with an advantage and managed to win a pawn. Her opponent Ju Wenjun created some counter play on the king’s side and provoked a mistake from the Indian player. Achieved a comfortable equalization, Ju Wenjun blundered both pawn and game as her position immediately collapsed. Two games, Zhao - Skripchenko and Harika - Ruan, were drawn. In the first game French player Almira Skripchenko grabbed a pawn in a middle game but it was not enough to make a full point. Harika Dronavalli got a position with two bishops in the endgame but, due to accurate play of her opponent Ruan Lufei, didn’t manage to win a game.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
2010 Women's World Chess Championship
No Russian players left in WWCC 2010! Skripchenko defeats Cmilyte - I'm shocked by that as well, as these days Skripchenko devotes more time to playing poker than playing chess.
Summary from the official website on the R3 play-offs:
Four matches were decided on tie-breaks today. Hou Yifan, Almira Skripchenko, Harika Dronavalli and Ruan Lufei have qualified. The last Russian player Aleksandra Kosteniuk lost the match to Chinese player Ruan Lufei after 2 rapid games. The match ended with 1,5:0.5 score. The encounter between Hou Yifan and Zhu Chen was the second one which was determined after the rapid games. The first one was drawn but the second one finished on a favor of Chinese prodigy. After two draws in rapid games, Almira Skripchenko won both blitz games against Viktorija Cmilyte and promoted to the 4th round.
The first Armageddon game at the championship happened in the match between Maria Muzychuk and Harika Dronavalli. Ukrainian player won the first blitz game with black but her opponent succeeded to take revenge. After drawing of lots Harika Dronavalli got the right to choose the color of her pieces. She preferred to play with black. Therefore Maria Muzychuk, playing white, had to make a full point in order to win the match. According to the rules of Sudden Death game in case of a draw Black promotes to the next stage of the event. After the tense struggle Harika won by time.
Aleksandra Kosteniuk lost her title!
Durıng the tie-break match wıth Chinese player Ruan Lufei, already former world champion lost the first game and did not manage to equalise the score in the match.
Coverage from around the web:
Susan Polgar's blog - The Final Eight
Haven't found any other blogs updating their info to R3 play-off results yet (3:11 p.m. CST)
Summary from the official website on the R3 play-offs:
Four matches were decided on tie-breaks today. Hou Yifan, Almira Skripchenko, Harika Dronavalli and Ruan Lufei have qualified. The last Russian player Aleksandra Kosteniuk lost the match to Chinese player Ruan Lufei after 2 rapid games. The match ended with 1,5:0.5 score. The encounter between Hou Yifan and Zhu Chen was the second one which was determined after the rapid games. The first one was drawn but the second one finished on a favor of Chinese prodigy. After two draws in rapid games, Almira Skripchenko won both blitz games against Viktorija Cmilyte and promoted to the 4th round.
The first Armageddon game at the championship happened in the match between Maria Muzychuk and Harika Dronavalli. Ukrainian player won the first blitz game with black but her opponent succeeded to take revenge. After drawing of lots Harika Dronavalli got the right to choose the color of her pieces. She preferred to play with black. Therefore Maria Muzychuk, playing white, had to make a full point in order to win the match. According to the rules of Sudden Death game in case of a draw Black promotes to the next stage of the event. After the tense struggle Harika won by time.
Aleksandra Kosteniuk lost her title!
Durıng the tie-break match wıth Chinese player Ruan Lufei, already former world champion lost the first game and did not manage to equalise the score in the match.
 |
| Ruan Lufein and Alexandra Kosteniuk, R3 play-offs |
Coverage from around the web:
Susan Polgar's blog - The Final Eight
Haven't found any other blogs updating their info to R3 play-off results yet (3:11 p.m. CST)
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