In this game I'm white playing against a bot (Chess.com has limited edition bot sets that are only around for a month or two and this set is based on technologists). My rating says 400 because it's an untimed game.

My first mistake (as I see it) is 5. Nxe5 which then allows the black queen to come out and I didn't think about the negatives of taking the free pawn. I'm losing the pawn but if he trades queens I'll also have to retake with king which puts me way behind in development. But he doesn't take my queen so I force queen trade instead.

Around move 14 I'm pretty much developed but have no plan other than getting rid of one of his paired bishops, which I do even though it straightens out his pawn structure.

As we play along I hang too many pawns but he doesn't take advantage. I do rook trade on move 24 to reduce the number of pieces.

26. ...Nf4 makes me worried about losing the g pawn. But then doing g4 sets it up for losing both pawns.

27. ...Ka4 after this move I start thinking maybe I can checkmate his king if I can remove my a3 pawn (either by his king taking it or his axb4 and I retake with a3) so I do Nd4 to block his escape.

We shuffle around a bit and I have a passed pawn and having nothing else to do I push it (31. h6) and when he moves his rook to attack it in response I move my rook to e7 to attack his pawn in turn.

Once we take pawns I realize I can checkmate with 34. Ra7 then Rxa5 and he can't really stop it. Game over.

I like this game because it's fairly even throughout. At 1400 rating I would still expect the bot to make a dumb move that hangs a piece or forces a bad exchange and he didn't do that. He did miss free pawns and stuff but I think that's kind of expected at this rating so I guess the chess.com bots are playing more like humans.

I also like that I had thoughts to mating his king midway through the game and even though I didn't have a concrete plan I sealed off his escape route early on keeping his king there until I happened to get my rook in the right place.

Sat Nov 19 2022

Sleep 0230 to 1030. (8 hours)

• I was trying to get info about Varsity Tutors and so I started filling out their survey cause I thought that was the register account process. Then I realized it was a marketing callback info so I stopped without completing but now I'm getting emails and calls. At least it's good I only gave out my home phone number. And I guess the thing is I never completed the account registration so I don't have an account I can log into to set my communication preferences.

Sun Nov 20 2022

Sleep 0330 to 1130. (8 hours)

• For some reason got signed up to Amazon Business Communications and boy do they send a lot of emails.

Mon Nov 21 2022

Sleep 0115 to 1030. (9-1/4 hours)

• AirPods Max once again won't connect to my devices so will try factory reset. I'm eyeing buying a Beats Studio3 Wireless on sale at $150. It would be my third Studio3 because they're kind of fragile as a consequence of being lightweight plastic. Mostly would use it as backup for when AirPods Max are recalcitrant so hopefully will last longer than 2 to 3 years.

Tue Nov 22 2022

Sleep 0100 to 1000. (9 hours)

• Upgraded to RapidWaver Classic (Black Friday sale for $34 including tax). By default it adds a Made in RapidWeaver floating badge on every page which you can turn off in app preferences but only for new projects. For existing projects you have to go every page and unselect Credit RapidWeaver. I don't crediting on front page but not every other page... Re-upgrading the old file seems to fix the issue.

Wed Nov 23 2022

Sleep 0130 to 0900. (7-1/2 hours)

• Received bivalent booster shot.
• Drove to mom and dad's. 3 hours with lots of slow (though not stop) traffic.
• Got my AirPods Pro working again so really unsure of getting backup Beats wireless headphones.
• Here's an article on finding if an app uses Electron (i.e. it's a web app with bundled Chrome engine). Boils down to running a terminal command:
• cd /Applications ; sudo find . -name "*Electron Framework.framework"
• ./Developer/Postman.app/Contents/Frameworks/Electron Framework.framework
• ./Fiddler Everywhere.app/Contents/Frameworks/Electron Framework.framework
• ./VMware Fusion.app/Contents/Library/VMware Fusion Applications Menu.app/Contents/Frameworks/Electron Framework.framework
• ./Authy Desktop.app/Contents/Frameworks/Electron Framework.framework
• ./Discord.app/Contents/Frameworks/Electron Framework.framework
• I forgot Discord is an Electron app. Of the above apps Authy is the only ok one since I launch, use it, then quit. The others are keep open apps.

Thu Nov 24 2022

Sleep 2330 to 1000. 1 hour nap. (11-1/2 hours)

• C3 and Steph arrived in time for Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey, mashed potatoes, a Peruvian potato/peas/beets dish, yams with honey and melted marshmallows, apple pie and vanilla ice cream.

Fri Nov 25 2022

Sleep 0030 to 0300, 0530 to 1015. (7-1/4 hours)

• AirPods Max once again not working so will have to factory reset which is also not easy. Fed up with this behavior bought another Beats Studio 3 Wireless with 2 years AppleCare ($193 total). When it works I'll continue using my AirPods Max but I need a backup for when it doesn't work since it can take a day or two of trying for factory reset to finally work.

Introduction to BattleTech is $18 ($30+shipping if you want a physical copy of BattleTech Beginner Box).

• CAT-35001 Total Warfare (2006) - all the BattleMech scale combat rules
• CAT-35010 BattleMech Manual (2017) - gathers all the Mech combat rules from various rulebooks
• CAT-35092 Tamar Rising (2022) - Clan Jade Falcon occupation zone from 3151 to mid-3152
• CAT-35136 Technical Readout: Clan Invasion (2019)
• CAT-35223 Era Report: 3145 (2013) - history and background material
• CAT-35400 Total Chaos (2012) - Compilation of Chaos Campaign tracks from various PDF releases
• CAT-35410 Battle of Tukayyid (2020) - The Clans vs ComStar. Chaos Campaign track with other material
• CAT-35621 Turning Points: Misery (2010) - Wolf's Dragons vs House Kurita. Turning Points are Chaos Campaign tracks.
• CAT-35680 Alpha Strike: Commander's Edition (2019) - Alpha Strike + AS Companion. Scaled down BTech for miniatures play with lots of units.
• CAT-35900 Shattered Fortress (2019) - splat-type book detailing 3146-3160 (end of MechWarrior: Dark Age)
• CAT-35901 ilClan (2021) - Battle of Terra
• CAT-35903 Empire Alone (2022) - Wolf Empire and Free Worlds League from 3151 to mid 3152
• CAT-35S003 Battle of Tukayyid Supplemental (2020) - 200 record sheets plus BattleForce material.
• CAT-35SN212 Touring the Stars: Tyrfing (2016) - Touring PDF series each are about 15 pages and describe a planet with some RPG and BTech stuff.
• CAT-35SN501 House Arano: The Aurigan Coalition (2019) - the setting of a computer strategy game.
• CAT-35TP016 Turning Points: Irian (2015) - Republic of the Sphere campaign
• CAT-35TP024 Turning Points: Tyrfing (2020) - Rumors of a Star League era cache bring forces from all five houses
• CAT-35TR101 Recognition Guide: ilClan v1 (2020) - First in a series of 24+ PDF supplements each detailing about 20 Mechs with record sheets. The best will be compiled into a future print volume.
• CAT-BTCCSW Chaos Campaign: Succession Wars (2019) - freebie campaign rules for linking BTech scenarios, for example adding supply and repair rules.
• BattleTech Legends (2021) - 52 personalities and their Mechs
• BattleTech: Primer - freebie PDF introduction to BTech
• Combat Manual: Kurita (2016) - Alpha Strike supplement
• Combat Manual: Mercenaries (2016) - Alpha Strike expansion
• Field Manual: 3145 (2013) - splat-type book with concrete game material
• Pseudotech: Arcade Operations (2022) - April Fools PDF with optional arcade-type rules for BattleTech
• Spotlight On: Crescent Hawks (2016) - small supplement detailing a mercenary unit featured in early BattleTech computer games
• Technical Readout: Succession Wars (2017) - a compilation volume containing Mechs from TR 3039, 3050, 3058, 3075 for use with BattleMech Manual.

So what we're getting is the main rules (Total War), Chaos Campaign for linking scenarios, some books that combined have lots of scenarios, a few splat or info books, a bit of Alpha Strike miniatures play. Mostly current timeline or so (end of Dark Age, start of the next era).

I guess not a bad place to start and $18 is a great price. BattleTech is such a large universe and a product line that's been in pretty much continuous production since first release. And with all the PDFs lots of compilation books and such. It's really all quite confusing and I'm not eager to jump back in so I think I'll be skipping this.

We have five options:

UHC - EPO $1017.79
UHC - Medium PPO $822.44
UHC - Premium PPO $1115.19
Kaiser Northern CA $702.96
UHC - HSA Medical Plan $623.60

Of which UHC EPO and Kaiser are in-network only. I know that Sutter Health is out of network for UHC so those two plans are out.

UHC - Medium PPO

Coinsurance 70%
Annual Deductible $800
Annual out-of-pocket Max $5000
Preventive Care 100%
Prescription Drugs 50%
Outpatient Services 70%
Inpatient Services 70%

UHC - Premium PPO

Coinsurance 80%
Annual Deductible $800
Annual out-of-pocket Max $5000
Preventive Care 100%
Prescription Drugs 50%
Outpatient Services 80%
Inpatient Services 80%

UHC - HSA Medical Plan

Coinsurance 70%
Annual Deductible $1500
Annual out-of-pocket Max $5200
Preventive Care 100%
Prescription Drugs 70%
Outpatient Services 70%
Inpatient Services 70%


In the end I'm comfortable sticking with the HSA Medical Plan. It's the cheapest and annual out-of-pocket maximum is about the same. So my health insurance monthly will be:

UHC - HSA Medical Plan $623.60
Dental Plan 2 $63.10
Vision Plan I $13.75
Total $700.45

Sat Nov 12 2022

Sleep 0400 to 0930. (5-1/2 hours)

• Read the packet about my 401k distribution and rollover rules. Pretty complicated though a bunch of it is kind of duplicate as it covers Roth IRA rules separate. I'll most likely just leave it in the current 401k plan company since it's a fairly good company and the web site has a good UI (the plan company for my first job has a worse web site though still functional).
• Jonathan sick again so Woo cancelled. Csr and I went to see Black Adam. It was ok.

Sun Nov 13 2022

Sleep 0300 to 1000. (7 hours)

• Healthcare plan changes for 2023, deadline in Nov 22 to make any changes otherwise my current elections stand. The HSA plan is already the lowest cost and the most logical one to me in that you are on the hook for $3k a year deductible which is higher deductible than other plans yet for major expenses you will pay less overall. That's kind of my feeling about insurance, it's for emergencies when you get expenses that will bankrupt you rather than for expenses that may be financially painful but doable.
• There was a little notice that in California if you are on a Kaiser health plan then at the end of the 18-month COBRA period you can get an additional 18-month coverage in Kaiser. The reminder is that if your COBRA ends in 2023 you might want to change plans to Kaiser while you can. I think we do annual elections so I can switch to Kaiser next year assuming I'm still unemployed or in a job with no health insurance.
• Another good week in my fantasy football league. Already won my game with one of my players left to play on Monday. I'll be 7-3, though the other two top teams won so it'll us three at 7-3, three at 5-5, six at 4-6. Top eight teams make the playoffs and three games left in the season so the 7-3 teams are most likely in.
• Received an express mailed letter from my company today. It's a notice that there are two open job positions (at my level) and if I want to apply I should email a résumé this week. Guess I'll work on my résumé over the next couple of days. Seems a bit weird since there must be a lot of laid off developers never mind regular applicants.

Mon Nov 14 2022

Sleep 2330 to 0730. (8 hours)

• Everybody streaming and didn't get much done today.

Tue Nov 15 2022

Sleep 0045 to 0700. (6-1/4 hours)

• I hate writing résumés. I already had a first draft and asked my brother to take a look.
• My Airpods Max keep switching to alternate audio config as if the button is being accidentally pressed. Might be a software issue though so I'll try rebooting my Mac when I have the chance.

Wed Nov 16 2022

Sleep 2115 to 0815. (11 hours)

• My Airpods Max stopped playing audio and wouldn't restart/reset even after following instructions (letting it charge for a few minutes). Eventually I removed the Airpods from Bluetooth, then let them charge overnight, then I was able to put them in discover mode and re-add them.

Thu Nov 17 2022

Sleep 2345 to 0715 (7-1/2 hours)

• HOA board dinner at Salt Yard Restaurant and Bar, Burlingame. It was nice.

Fri Nov 18 2022

Sleep 2330 to 0800. (8-1/2 hours)

• Finished second draft of résumé, incorporating changes suggested by my brother. Emailed it in.

Group A: #8 Netherlands, #18 Senegal, #44 Ecuador, #50 Qatar
Group B: #5 England, #16 USA, #19 Wales, #20 Iran
Group C: #3 Argentina, #13 Mexico, #26 Poland, #51 Saudi Arabia
Group D: #4 France, #10 Denmark, #30 Tunisia, #38 Australia
Group E: #7 Spain, #11 Germany, #24 Japan, #31 Costa Rica
Group F: #2 Belgium, #12 Croatia, #22 Morocco, #41 Canada
Group G: #1 Brazil, #15 Switzerland, #21 Serbia, #43 Cameroon
Group H: #9 Portugal, #14 Uruguay, #28 Korea Republic, #61Ghana

Some better teams that didn't make it: #6 Italy, #17 Colombia, #23 Peru, #25 Sweden, #27 Ukraine, #29 Chile.

I'll root for four teams, one from each group ranking (i.e. one from the top seeded teams, one from the second seeded teams, etc.).

1. Argentina - traditionally I root for Argentina and at #3 overall they have a fair chance
2. USA - got to root for my home country even if the second lowest ranking 2-seed
3. Ecuador - another South American team though the worst 3-seed
4. Canada - another North American team

DDO - Friends in Low Places - Reaper 10

Solo [Deep Gnome Wizard] (L32 R10 D19), no optionals, 7 hours

This one was a long one because the camps are far from the start point and the end fight is a bit over 2 minutes from the start point.

In the camps when you Dimension Door all the bad guys congregate on the crests so bunched up for an AOE attack.

In the final fight they kind of congregate on the far side of the room but don't remain there if they chase you around and then Dimension Door. I was able to set up the red guy at one end of the room, hit him with Meteor Swarm then retreat, hit him again with MS then run past with Master Illusionist on (15s of 95% displacement, I don't think he had True Seeing), hit him again with MS then Dimension Door and leave and he's set up for the next turn. In that way I could hit him three times instead of once before DD'ing out.

--------------------------

DDO - The Thrill of the Hunt - Reaper 10

Solo: failed, six or seven hours.

Nothing really tricky. There is an invisible NPC wall at the exit of the Rhyll room but it quickly goes down a landing and turns right so not easy to get bad guys to come up safely.

Unfortunately in the end fight, which is in a long enclosed area, the howlers spotted my healer invisible near the entrance and the howlers were on the far side of the cage, though maybe there was a howler closer. Still, the healer was far enough away I didn't expect that.

They fixed the "jump on the rafters" exploit by removing the boxes. Also couldn't damage the howlers in the cages with Meteor Swarm or Arcane Storm so they fixed that too. So I don't think I can win solo.

Sat Nov 05 2022

Sleep 2030 to 0130. 0715 to 0830. (6-1/4 hours)

• Peruvian breakfast: ham, cheese, bread.
• Jaime, Daniela, mom and dad went to Napa for wine tasting.
• We left early because Cjr had a birthday party to attend.

Sun Nov 06 2022

Sleep 0145 to 0545. 1245 to 1430. (5-3/4 hours)

• A day to relax. Maybe a day to get some good sleep but that was not to be.
• Fantasy football league: good win against the top team and now there are three 6-3 teams and I am one of them. Two 5-4 teams right behind us.

Mon Nov 07 2022

Sleep 2245 to 0600. (7-1/4 hours)

• Was thinking of going to Inca's Grill but it's kind of pricey so made lunch at home instead. The $42 (what I spent last time) I instead spent at...
• Black Diamond Games. Bought Savage Sisters RPG (a pamphlet book from 9th Level Games) and Traveller Explorer's Edition (the PDF is free).
• Dentist appointment. Kim is my new dental hygienist. She was a bit rough and not so good using the suction straw to suck the water out of my mouth. Dr Dowd said I will need a bit of dental work next visit for a cavity and an area that needs bonding (painting a protective layer over the area).
• On my iPad 5th generation Books app crashes reading the Annotated US Constitution, which is 2800-odd pages. Actually it reads it fine until I got to page 2260 or so and then it crashes. Easy fix is to create a PDF of the last 600 pages.

Tue Nov 08 2022

Sleep 2130 to 0200. 1130 to 1500. (8 hours)

• I think I mentioned this before that COBRA monthly payment deadlines extended a year so for example the Dec 09 payment (with 30 days grace period to Jan 08 2023) has a new deadline of Jan 08 2024. I suppose you could game it by not paying premiums until you need insurance for something big and then you do catch up premiums (they say they can deny benefits if you're not up to date on premium payments but they can't kick you out until you miss the payment deadline). Anyway a thought but not my style.
• Checking the COBRA web site looks like my employer did cover the first month for me as the initial payment I made is credited to Nov premium while Oct premium says I had $0 amount due.
• Activated my Mint Mobile account and initiated phone number transfer. AT&T is mostly easy as you just login and go to a page to generate a transfer PIN. The first time you try to transfer AT&T blocks it and sends you a text message to confirm... Had trouble login in to my Mint Mobile account (guess I didn't set password correctly) and if you do forgot login it wants to send a code to the temporary phone number so I need the SIM installed... Downloaded Mint app and it was easier doing it there and it shows that the password I set had an invalid character. Number port took a couple of minutes... Phone says No SIM which might be because it's not activated yet? Maybe I need to get closer to a T-Mobile cell node... Went to an Apple Support article and first fix was reboot phone which worked... Getting two/three bars sitting at my home desk which is better than AT&T (I think that was one/two bars so for hotspot I would move my phone closer to the window)... Still can't login to my account on browser (luckily I'm logged in on app) and when I try to get security code it doesn't recognize my phone number so I guess that's not quite in the system?... Ah, I got an email confirming my number is ported and now I can login using that phone number (you use your cell phone number for user name).

Wed Nov 09 2022

Sleep 2330 to 0330. 3 hour nap. (7 hours)

• Paid off my second and last month AT&T mobile bill. Two months of AT&T costs the same as a year of Mint Mobile.

Thu Nov 10 2022

Sleep 0030 to 0530. (5 hours)

• Fire alarm went off twice. First time at midnight and I had just gone to bed and not asleep. Walked for half an hour. Second time at 0530.
• Wanted to go to Backhaus. Read about it in the newspaper but never been there. Since I was awake early I drove there at 0745 (they open at 0730 and street parking is free until 0800) but a bit of a line so I skipped and went to Safeway for groceries. Drive by at 0805 and only a couple of customers. Guess I'll walk there about 0815 one day.
• DMV keeps sending me emails about renewing my vehicle registration, which I've already done and when I go to web site it says I don't need to renew.
• I finally redeemed my 2-month DDO VIP that came with I think Masterminds of Sharn expansion I bought like 3 years ago. So I guess no time limit for redemption.
• I've always said we moved to the USA when I was eight. Mom corrected me. We moved when I was 7-3/4 years old.

Fri Nov 11 2022

Sleep 2130 to 0630. 1 hour nap. (10 hours)

• Ice cream with CW3.
• Csr and I watched Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Quite good.

Humble Bundle - Give the Gift of Pathfinder & Starfinder (ends Nov 17 2022)

A fairly large tabletop RPG collection. For $25 you get:

Pathfinder Second Edition Beginner Box
Pathfinder Second Edition Core Rulebook
Pathfinder Second Edition Bestiary
Pathfinder Gamemastery Guide

Pathfinder Adventure: Malevolence

Pathfinder Adventure Path: Broken Tusk Moon (Quest for the Frozen Flame 1 of 3)
Pathfinder Adventure Path: Lost Mammoth Valley (Quest for the Frozen Flame 2 of 3)
Pathfinder Adventure Path: Burning Tundra (Quest for the Frozen Flame 3 of 3)

Pathfinder Bounty: Witch's Winter Holiday

Pathfinder One-Shot: Dinner at Lionlodge

Pathfinder Society Scenario 2-19: Seven Secrets of Dacilane Academy
Pathfinder Society Scenario 4-01: Year of Boundless Wonder
Pathfinder Society Scenario 4-02: Return to the Grave

Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Arcane Library
Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Forest Multi-Pack
Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Ghost Towns
Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Hamlet
Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Malevolence

Pathfinder Map Pack: Starship Decks

Pathfinder Gamemastery Guide NPC Pawn Collection
Pathfinder Pawns: Traps & Treasures Pawn Collection


Starfinder Beginner Box
Starfinder Core Rulebook
Starfinder Alien Archive
Starfinder Galaxy Exploration Handbook

Starfinder Adventure: The Liberation of Locus-1

Starfinder Adventure Path: The Reach of Empire (Against the Aeon Throne 1 of 3)
Starfinder Adventure Path: Escape from the Prison Moon (Against the Aeon Throne 2 of 3)
Starfinder Adventure Path: The Rune Drive Gambit (Against the Aeon Throne 3 of 3)

Starfinder Bounty: The Cantina Job

Starfinder One-Shot: The Great Grav Train Robbery

Starfinder Society Scenario 4-08: Precious Cargo
Starfinder Society Scenario 4-12: A Festive Operation
Starfinder Society Scenario 5-01: Year of Redemption's Rise

Starfinder Flip-Mat: Casino
Starfinder Flip-Mat: Forest Moon
Starfinder Flip-Mat: Ice World
Starfinder Flip-Mat: Undercity

Starfinder Flip-Tiles: City Starter Set
Starfinder Flip-Tiles: Space Station Docking Bay Expansion

Against the Aeon Throne Pawn Collection


It's a nice package but I think I am burnt out of buying more Pathfinder/Starfinder stuff. Just too much product.

Bundle of Holding - Weird Frontiers (ends Nov 14 2022)

A standalone role-playing game based on Old West + Cthulhu using the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG rules, though not published by Goodman Games.

For $21 the package includes all WF products published by Stiff Whiskers Press: core rules + judges screen + five adventure modules (there are a couple of third party adventures).

Weird Frontiers Role Playing Game (2021)
Weird Frontiers Judge's Screen (2019)

SWP-001 The Malevolent Seven (2022)
SWP-002 Nest of Snakes (2022)
SWP-003 Dig Three Graves (2022)
SWP-004 Not So Fast, Billy Ray! (2022)
SWP-005 Never Swallow the Worm (2022)

It's nice that this is a complete package. But I guess this is not really my genre and I have Deadlands to fill the same niche. The only advantage here would be for people who love DCC/D&D 3.5E system.

Sat Oct 29 2022

Sleep 0530 to 1000. 1600 to 1945. (8-1/4 hours)

• Library book is due in two days. So used to books being auto-renewed but there is one person waiting to check it out. Therefore I have about three days to read 380-odd pages.
• Read the first 165 pages in 3-1/2 hours today. Hopefully can do the same tomorrow.

Sun Oct 30 2022

Sleep 0330 to 0900. 1630 to 1830. (7-1/2 hours)

• Another 4 hours and finished the book.
• Updated to iPadOS 16.

Mon Oct 31 2022

Sleep 0145 to 0700. (5-1/4 hours)

• Scheduled COVID-19 booster day before Thanksgiving. Most likely will be feeling down during Thanksgiving.
• Sonic now has voice mail. Either it's new or I didn't notice before. And here I bought a cheap phone + voice mail for $17 (well $31 minus $14 Amazon credit).
• Went to the library to drop off a book but it was closed so couldn't check out more. Later online I found that there was an electrical problem and that's why it was closed today.
• Filled up on gas. $78 but last time I filled up was 3-1/2 months ago.

Tue Nov 01 2022

Sleep 2030 to 0130. 1200 to 1930. (12-1/2 hours)

• Upgraded to macOS Ventura.
• Two legacy system extensions:
• Soundflower, signed by "MATTINGALLS" (had to do a web search on the developer to find it was Soundflower). I use this to route audio to GarageBand for recording by using Soundflower to create a virtual input channel.
• Signed "Drobo, Inc." which I guess is the Drobo extension. Drobo sent an email saying macOS Ventura is currently incompatible and they cannot guarantee future compatibility (due to going bankrupt). Drobo Dashboard still seems to work and I only really use it to check on capacity remaining and to shutdown the Drobo via software rather than the power switch. At this point I hope everything is fine until the Drobo hardware dies and then I'll buy a different RAID storage.

Wed Nov 02 2022

Sleep 0030 to 0530. (5 hours)

• Now that I'm using macOS Ventura my Airpods Max switches between my Mac and iOS devices usually correctly. Not great if you're playing a video on the side. Hopefully some day Airpods can receive audio from multiple sources (may have to be a proprietary protocol not Bluetooth).
• If I'm watching Netflix on my Mac it won't switch. But if I'm not then going to play Raid Shadow Legends on my iPad it will switch even though I have sound off in Raid. And every time it switches there is a loud beeping to tell you that but the beep is quite louder than my normal volume.
• For now I'm turning auto switching off. How to Turn off AirPods Auto Switch [Lifewire] basically says go to Bluetooth > Airpods Max > Connect to This xxx = When Last Connected to This xxx.
• Wish there was an easy way to switch manually than going to Settings > Bluetooth > clicking on Airpods Max. On macOS I can use Bluetooth menu bar and on iOS/iPad a Control Center shortcut would be good if it existed. Was thinking a Shortcuts task but Settings does not have any applicable actions.
• Went to Lucky for a few groceries then Popeyes for a takeout lunch. Lucky does not require a savings card (any advertised discounts are always applied) but it is more expensive than Safeway. On the other hand the store is nicer.
• California State of Emergency is ending Feb 28 2023. I believe San Mateo County currently adheres to state guidelines; they don't have a separate declaration like at the start of COVID-19.
• US State of Emergency currently runs to Jan 11 2023, though there is a continuous 90-day renewal.
• Department of Consumer Affairs offers training for HOA board members. Last one for 2022 was October. No training dates for 2023 yet.
• Fidelity has been calling me, triggered by my change of employment status. I thought it was something important at first but last voice mail makes it seem like if I have any questions I can ask them. But I don't have any questions. I'm sure I can keep my Fidelity 401k accounts there and manage them like normal since that's what I do with my other 401k accounts at Empower and Fidelity. I'm not planning on doing a rollover when I get another job as I don't feel there's a good reason to do that.
• macOS Ventura Books app now much more like iDevice version. List view now only shows title and author, you can only sort by one of those two attributes, and you can't add more displayed attributes. It means I have to add category to title so they will sort correctly. Less of a problem with books since I don't store books in the Books app like I do audio books.

Thu Nov 03 2022
Sleep 2130 to 0130, 0430 to 0700, 1410 to 1640. (9 hours)

• My plan to fix Books audio book tags fails. Even after I delete the audio book and reimport with fixed tags it reuses saved value so I can't change audio book title. Guess we go back to putting them in Music app.

Fri Nov 04 20222

Sleep 2-1/2 hours.

• Car pool to parents. Had to pick up Cjr from school. One rest stop. 4-1/4 hours due to commute traffic and we used Google Maps to use back roads.
• Jaime (a first cousin) and wife (Daniela) had dinner with us. Tomorrow they and dad going to Napa.

Humble Bundle - World of Darkness (ends Nov 04 2022)

This bundle is World of Darkness 5th edition material, mostly computer games but a few table-top RPG products. For $10 you get:

Visual Novels - static images + narrative text + choices

• Vampire: The Masquerade - Coteries of New York ($20)
• Vampire: The Masquerade - Shadows of New York ($13)
• Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Heart of the Forest ($15)

Interactive Novels - fighting fantasy style text + choices

• Vampire: The Masquerade - Night Road ($10)
• Vampire: The Masquerade - Out for Blood ($12)
• Vampire: The Masquerade - Parliament of Knives ($10)
• Vampire: The Masquerade - Sins of the Sires ($10)

VR Adventures

• Wraith: The Oblivion - Afterlife ($20) [Windows]

Tabletop RPGS

• Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition Core Rulebook
• Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition Anarch Sourcebook
• Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition Camarilla Sourcebook

It's a good price but I think I'll skip. What I'm most interested in is the RPG stuff but it's three core/source books and no adventures. I think in the future there will be a VtM 5E Humble Bundle which will have much more RPG products for $10 or $18 or $25.

Work had life insurance from Metropolitan Life Insurance Company which cost me $233.14 per month for $856k life insurance + $856k accidental death and dismemberment insurance.

Continuing both with a preferred rate (age 51 is $0.296 per $1k coverage) would be $253.38 per month so I guess my work only gave me a bit of a discount and probably due to being group coverage. Coverage would rise to $398.04 at 55 and $594.92 at 60 assuming no price increases which there would be.

Do I really need that much coverage? I don't have dependents so really all my stuff goes to my brother and sister who are well off. I think what I'd like is enough coverage to pay off my mortgage and maintenance for a couple of years which then gives my siblings time to decide what to do with my condo.

I'm thinking $500k life insurance. After 30% taxes that would be $350k enough to pay off the current mortgage ($300k) and a couple of years of expenses (property tax is $12k per year, HOA is $7500, PG&E is $1000, Sonic is $750 = $21250 per year).

Age 51 is $0.261 preferred rate so $130.50 per month, rising to $215 at age 55 and $330 at age 60. On the other hand by age 60 my mortgage would be about $225k so $400k life insurance is $264 per month.

Researching a bit more, life insurance payouts are generally not taxable, in which case I want $350k life insurance which is $91.35 per month.

Addendum, Nov 2: After looking at the form I need to fill out I decided to decline life insurance. I don't have a primary care physician nor have I gotten a physical in over a decade so I bet they'll want me to do that and probably within like 30 days and I don't want that stress. Non-preferred rate would be $1.006 per $1k coverage so $351.75 per month which is a bit excessive. I'll just have to not die any time soon. I have until Nov 14 so maybe I'll change my mind before then.