October 2023 – Mark Pospesel (Coding and Other Stuff)

Rigi (left, closer) and Pilatus (right, more distant) in the early morning light

View across a green valley with two mountains in the distance, both illuminated by early morning light.

Sunrise hike up to the Weisses Kreuz yesterday morning. Today I went to the gym after a 2 week hiatus (I was in the U.S. for 10 days for Fall break).

View of a lake surrounded by hills and mountains at sunrise.

That viewpoint I hike to is on a ridge overlooking the north side of our valley, which also means I get to see the next valley over. It’s basically just farmland.

View of the rolling Swiss pastures of Hinterwyden with green grass, cows, and some farm houses.

Sun rising over lake and valley on a cloudy day. Hike up: 6km, 250m ascent, 1h23m, 13° C ☁️.

View of lake and distant mountains with the sun just over the horizon on a cloudy morning.

OK, this morning felt a bit more like Fall, mostly because I got out on the lake before the sun crested the hills. Probably my last SUP outing for a couple weeks as I’ll be on vacation in the U.S. next week.

View of lake and hills taken from a SUP just before sunrise with a golden glow where the sun will soon appear. The lake has a few ripples but otherwise reflects the sky, which has more contrails than natural clouds.

Golden light over lake and valley.

View looking into the newly risen sun that casts a golden sheen over the landscape. The occasional tree dots pastures in the foreground, the surface of a lake reflects the light in the middle distance, and hills form silhouettes in the distance. This was my view as I turned back towards home on my morning walk.

Swiss farm fields. Some of the farms have little self-service stores where they sell their products. On this morning’s walk I bought Lebkuchen (gingerbread) and fresh eggs.

Hilly green pastures with various farm buildings scattered about and higher wooded hills in the background all under a blue sky.

Spent three and a half hours today taking a Goethe B1 German practice test (or at least the reading, listening, and writing parts). I scored well. Two more practice tests to take before the real deal on 17 November.

Where’s my Fall weather? After the hottest September on record, I’m guessing we might be heading for the hottest October on record. In any case, took the SUP out on the lake this morning and was hot.

A blue lake with green forested hills in the background under a cloudless blue sky.

Purple Classic Space Minifig Math

In early 2022 LEGO released the Space Creature minifig as part of Collectible Minifigures Series 22, which featured a purple Classic Space torso. In early 2023 they released a single old-style Classic Space helmet in purple as part of the expensive Lunar New Year Parade set, but now in Fall 2023 they released a free-with-purchase Halloween Fun VIP add-on pack that contains two helmets.

LEGO minifigure math: Series 22 Space alien + purple monocolor minifig + purple helmet, smiley face head, and purple air tanks = purple Classic Space minifig.

Now I can make a purple Classic Space guy out of the alien minifigure (actually I can make four). The alien’s decorated arms and legs also look cool, so maybe I’ll also keep those for an officer.

Two purple LEGO astronaut minifigs. The left figure has printed markings on its arms and legs while the right figure is plain.