I perfected WORDLE

On By Rick McIn uncategorizedLeave a comment

Instead of doing Wordle online once a day, I downloaded a free app and have now done the challenge thousands of times. It’s relaxing.

I used the same strategy every time:

  1. ADIEU
  2. PORTS

All the vowels — but not “Y”. (I consider going WINGY if it seems a Y might be needed.)

I usually get a good idea of the word at that point. And next guess a word

If not, I go FLOCK or FILCH or FLUKE or FLUNK or some variation.

Most often I can solve it on the 4th guess.

Each time I’ve failed after 6 guesses with the ADIEU / PORTS start I write down the word.

The only words I’ve failed on twice are EERIE AND ENJOY. My brain seems to block words starting with E.

Here are the other words I’ve missed once. Sometimes due to laziness or lack of concentration.

style, humor, raise, relax, kills, maker, visit, maybe, wages, abyss , beard, dikes, years, along, exile, urged, ovary, gaily, gates, media,  shone, cacao, array, robot, gonna, imply, ought, occur, bowed, faces, snoop, eerie, candy, handy, boxer, hedge, stays, outdo, madam, judge, comma, rigid, schwa, grows, hears, hobby, wings, sands, valve, lyric, myths, texts, table

To Kill a Troubadour by Martin Walker

On By Rick McIn books, foodLeave a comment

To Kill a Troubadour (2022) is 15th in the Bruno, Chief of Police series.

Benoît “Bruno” Courrèges is the superhuman village policeman in a small town in the Périgord region of France.

The British author has a home there. Walker is an excellent writer though I found this book somewhat overly complicated and detailed. It slowed down the story which revolves around Russians trying to disrupt Spain around the issue of the Catalan independence movement.

… a wonderful mix of crime investigation, scrumptious food, Périgordian history, Bruno’s friends and colleagues, and of course, Bruno himself.   

And readers also get a healthy dose of Bruno’s basset hound, Balzac, and Balzac’s adorable new pup, “the Bruce”.  …

Review of To Kill a Troubadour

I do recommend the book.

Visiting Manchester

On By Rick McIn travelLeave a comment

Birmingham and Manchester are both sprawling British cities, both famed for their influence during the Industrial Revolution.

While I had a poor first impression of Birmingham, I liked Manchester right off the train.

The first thing I saw was this tribute to the wounded of WW I.

War is Hell.

 Manchester acquired the nickname Cottonopolis during the early 19th century owing to a massive number of textile factories.

The Science and Industry Museum does a terrific job explaining the city legacy.

 John Rylands (7 February 1801 – 11 December 1888) was the owner of the largest textile manufacturing concern in the United Kingdom, and Manchester‘s first multi-millionaire.

The John Rylands Library, which opened to the public in 1900, was founded by Enriqueta Augustina Rylands in memory of her husband.

A tourist attraction today, it reminded me more of a Cathedral than library.

End of October, the best foliage I saw was at the University of Manchester.

To move coal and goods, canals were built across the nation. And it was walking those canals that I most enjoyed as a tourist in 2022.

I stayed at a hostel on Potato Wharf where narrowboats are stored and travellers moor. Warren Long and family once parked here for 2 nights in a rented narrowboat.

Narrowboat

I’d return to Manchester anytime.

Meru – climbing the Shark’s Fin

On By Rick McIn hiking, moviesLeave a comment

My goal in hiking is to ENJOY the experience as much as possible.

High altitude mountaineers suffer — the opposite.

I finally got around to watching Meru, the 2015 documentary film about climbing the Shark’s Fin route in the Indian Himalayas.

Mainly because I really admire Jimmy Chin, the best climber of all-time who can ALSO film his adventures.

In 2008 Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin, and new guy Renan Ozturk almost made the first ascent of the infamous Shark’s Fin. It was harsh. They suffered physically and psychologically.

Before their next attempt in 2011, both Chin and Ozturk (separately) suffered horrific climbing falls. Somehow Jimmy popped out of a monster avalanche suffering barely a scratch.

Watching the movie, everyone agrees Renan should not be going back to Meru. He suffers a minor stroke during the second climb.

Jimmy’s master work was the Academy Award winning Free Solo. (2018)

This one is no Free Solo. But it did keep me gripped from start to finish.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

“Meru is the anti-Everest,” says mountaineer and author Jon Krakauer. “This climb has seen more attempts and more failures than any peak in the Himalaya.”

Krakauer commentary throughout was a highlight for me.

The Murder List by Hank Ryan

On By Rick McIn booksLeave a comment

Excellent.

Rachel North is not your average law student. For starters, she is far older than most of her classmates and married to a prestigious Boston defense attorney. She has a background in politics and a solid understanding of law as the daughter of a lawyer.

As she enters her third year of law school at Harvard, she starts an internship that collides with her previous political career and her marriage to her devoted husband, Jack. Together with her new boss, Rachel works to get to the bottom of a cold case that has haunted her memories for years. …

Book Review: The Murder List by Hank Phillippi Ryan

BAD 1st impression – Birmingham

On By Rick McIn travel1 Comment

After a good flight from Canada, I arrived Birmingham during a booming rain storm. In the dark. Late Saturday night.

Stopping for a bite to eat, a local asked where I was going.

Liverpool, I replied.

He recommended I not stay long in Birmingham. 😀 Nothing to see here.

The empty, dark streets were a bit scary. Maps.me directed me through a parking structure.

I was relieved to finally get to my hostel about 9pm.

NEXT morning, just across from the hostel was this street art. 😀

Crime in the City

It was a grungy part of town.

Weather improving — but still threatening.

Britannia ruled the waves because men wanted to find more sunshine. 😀

Birmingham

Normally I like weird cities.

Reflection

But decided to flee Birmingham in fewer than 24 hours.

Birmingham Cathedral

En route to the train station, I did find one MUST SEE attraction.

Birmingham

Abbott Elementary – season 1

On By Rick McIn TV1 Comment

Abbott Elementary is an American mockumentary sitcom television series created by Quinta Brunson …

It stars Brunson as a second-grade teacher at Abbott Elementary, a fictional predominantly Black school in Philadelphia. …

The ensemble cast is down to earth.

It’s simple. Easy watching. But there are some great slang pop references that I feel obliged to Google.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Xi Jinping now Dictator for Life

On By Rick McIn bad news, economics, government, human rights, things getting worseLeave a comment

One man will now decide whether or not China invades Taiwan.

That could lead to a World War.

It’s very possible that the dictator will need something to distract the population as Covid continues to drag down the economy.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Economist was at the Party Congress.

Xi Jinping has no interest in succession planning

Two Nights in Lisbon by Chris Pavone

On By Rick McIn booksLeave a comment

A very good book.

It kept me guessing.

Ariel Pryce wakes up in Lisbon, alone.

Her husband is gone—no warning, no note, not answering his phone. Something is wrong.

She starts with hotel security, then the police, then the American embassy, at each confronting questions she can’t fully answer: What exactly is John doing in Lisbon? Why would he drag her along on his business trip? Who would want to harm him? And why does Ariel know so little about her new—much younger—husband?

The clock is ticking. Ariel is increasingly frustrated and desperate, running out of time, and the one person in the world who can help is the one person she least wants to ask.

Google Books

Chloe – season 1

On By Rick McIn TVLeave a comment

Not sure I can recommend this acclaimed British TV series.

It’s 94% on Rotten Tomatoes — but I found it somewhat confusing.

To be fair, however, Erin Doherty deserves all the acting awards. This is a challenging role.

A mystery about obsession, deceit, identity, and grief …

A lonely twentysomething, Becky Green, becomes obsessed with the suicide of her estranged childhood friend Chloe and assumes a new identity as Sasha to investigate how Chloe died.  

Becky starts an affair with Chloe’s widowed husband, Elliot; whereas the rest of the group including Elliot’s mother disapproves of their relationship.

Becky is a confused, unreliable narrator. Her web of lies painful to watch.

And the plot sometimes strains credulity.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.