Lee.org

At Monday gaming I played Terraforming Mars: The Dice Game for the first time. It felt like I was almost entirely playing my own game of building and only occasionally interacting with the other players. The cards and dice and such are fun, with nice quality images and such. It felt like there was a bit of slightly clunky artifice built into the game, scoring points for various things, but still it was fun learning the game. And it was certainly fun playing with friends.

I heard about Tiger Trials on Berkeley Family Friends Facebook Group. It’s an Amazing Race-like challenge happening near the Berkeley Marina on March 23rd 9am-1pm. It’s a fundraiser for Longfellow Middle School, but more importantly, it’s being written by a writer for the TV show Survivor, and sounds like a blast. Would you like to form a team with my family?  https://runsignup.com/Race/CA/Berkeley/TigerTrials

I just yesterday went to my local (El Cerrito) Honda dealer for 4 tires (they were worn, at 2/32″, and one had a slow leak), alignment, and oil change. $1325. I’m very happy with the service and price. I’ll return. I’m happily surprised that “the dealer” had a competitive price, and still offered “dealer” service! I had multiple “Ok, I guess.” experiences at Adams Autoworx in El Cerrito.

An important part of the experience is feeling like the service manager is “on your side”. I didn’t feel like Ronnie at Adams was my ally, but Guillermo at the dealership has got my back!

Here is my favorite late-night meme.

I love love love that there are many variants of this, the “shooting star meme” on Imgur. I insist that the best ones all involve the somersaulting guy and that music track, cruising around the universe. I’m going to try and collect them :-)

Rodney Dangerfield shooting star meme!

5-1-25 update:
Lou Farigno Hercules Shooting Star meme!

Is it concerning that RFK has started recommending Vitamin A for the measles?
The CDC Measles page on December 26th didn’t mention Vitamin A but today’s page does.

The key question is: does Vitamin A help fight Measles? Yeah, it helps, according to this study.

I wanted to call RFK koo-koo crazypants, but the recommendation isn’t without some merit.

I had to do some refresher into what RR and CI (relative risk and confidence intervals) mean. But if the that Cochrane study is legit, then the recommendation is fairly legit. Of course, if the immunization is safer and effectiver than vitamin A therapy, one should start with that (ie. immunize your kids!!!! Yes, the vaccine is an order of magnitude more safe and effective than going commando!!!!!). But Vitamin A treatment isn’t a K-K-CP recommendation.

I’ve been playing board games with a new group of friends lately. It’s been great!

Last night, we played:

The Mind – Cards are numbered 1-100. Players have to wordlessly try to fill the discard pile in the proper order. Fun and so easy to learn.

Love Letter – Card game with about 10 characters, each with a power. By carefully noticing what’s being played by others, you try to guess what card they have in their hand and knock them out. Mix of luck and careful observation!

Captain Sonar – a 4 player vs 4 player game where 2 submarine crews try to destroy the other sub. Thrilling, and a little complicated in how the players have to work together to drive the sub to victory.

Why did the Trump-Zelensky meeting turn on its head so quickly? I watched the meeting very carefully and here’s what I think the conversation was between Trump and JD was earlier that day.

“JD, when I say ‘All right, one more question’ we’re going to work together to throw the whole deal. He’ll go back to Europe and all the European countries will say, ‘Oh you didn’t deserve that treatment, we’ll support you and give you money’. And then, eventually we’ll get back in because, I mean, we really do want to hold the line with Russia at this buffer country. But by doing it this way, Putin thinks he has a chance with me and Europe is convinced to put in more money to hold Russia, saving us billions of dollars. And my reputation as a capricious deal maker is maintained.”

Here’s the moment the conversation turns:

The tell for me is that the discussion was going so swimmingly well for most of the meeting. When Zelensky says, “You have nice oceans and don’t feel now but you will feel it in the future.” got Trump very agitated. But that was a call-back from just 10 minutes earlier and wasn’t seen as inflammatory then.

My wildflower garden (previously) is starting to come up! Yay!

The gophers made their first pass this week. Boo!

Defense engaged!

You can now also find me on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/gadlen.bsky.social . Facebook and https://lee.org are still my primary social media, but that is shifting.

I figured out a reasonable way to find my Facebook friends on Bluesky: Each friend hopefully posted a message like I did. So when I do a Facebook search for “bsky.app/profile” and then limit that search to Posts made by Friends, it should find all of my friends switching.

My grandmother passed away 11 years ago. Her funeral was at Moore’s Home for Funerals in Wayne NJ. The home has closed its doors so I am reposting her obituary here.

(original)
In Memory of Irene R. Sonko 1912-2014

Obituary of Irene R. Sonko
Irene R. (Polachek) Sonko, age 102, went home to be with the Lord on Saturday, December 6, 2014. Mrs. Sonko was born December 3, 1912 in Hungary, the daughter of the late Joseph and the late Elizabeth Polachek. She lived in Lincoln Park. She was employed as a Factory Worker for many years before retiring. Mrs. Sonko was a member of St. Joseph’s R.C. Church, Lincoln Park.

Beloved wife of the late Lee Sonko, Devoted mother of Rita Temes, Lee and his wife Marlene Sonko and the late Marcia Sonko, Loving sister of Helen Yobbagy, Devoted grandmother of Wendy and her husband Justin Sabino, Craig and his wife Soraida Temes, Bart Temes, Melissa Sonko and Lee Sonko, Jr., Great grandmother of Alexa, Arianna, Craig, Michael, Jenelle, Julia and Tiffany and Dear aunt of Pat & Barbara.

Visiting hours will be Wednesday from 6-9 p.m.

The funeral Mass will be Thursday at 10:00 a.m. at St. Joseph’s R.C. Church, Lincoln Park and will be celebrated by Father Thomas Mangieri.

Interment will be in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Totowa.

Memorials may be made to St. Joseph’s R.C. Church, 216 Comly Road, Lincoln Park, NJ 07035