I really wished I had copyrighted certain things back in the 90's. Looking into some projects now that I should have done some time ago. But as they say, it's never too late.

After talking to Jesse and Sal, I decided to try some of the study tests from HackerRank. Yeah, I'm not as knowledgeable as I thought. Got stumped on the second question, about if/elif statements. After looking up the Discussions tab, I can see what was being asked for, and reading other peoples code I knew what was what and why. But getting it out in my own words was harder than I thought. I'm still not giving up, I just need to go back and reread what I've already read over till I can get it right.

Not having a good day today. Not sure it's one specific thing, but the lack of celexa is one aspect of "the mood". Other factors include not having gas which inhibits the ability to do dishes or even bathe, the stress of this house, and other anxieties abound.

Should I fall from grace, let it be known that corporate criminals such as People's Gas, and the Privatized Healthcare System are to blame and should FINALLY be held responsible. Remember, corporations are people too. They should have the same onus placed on them as much as the person shooting up a birthday party killing a random child in a drive-by.

Yeah, not in a good space.

So, Tuesday the boy and I went up to Chinatown to look for some things I am missing to make Shoyu Ramen. It was a waste of a day and showed me where I am lacking in regards to his care when we're out & about. When we finally got home, we arrived to find out that our gas had been turned off.

After notifying Erin, she called up to find out why. She was told that our autopay was out of date, which it wasn't. Our bill was paid in full, and up to date. When Erin inquired as to when our gas service would be returned to us, the operator said that it wouldn't be turned back on until sometime between now and the following Wednesday. That's 9 days without gas for an error on the company's part. Come to find out that this has been happening to people all over the south side for some time now.

So I've been poking around on line to see about what we can do to hold them legally responsible for their actions. The only options I'm finding are filing complaints with the BBB[1], ICC (Illinois Commerce Commission), Consumer Affairs, and ILAO (Illinois Legal Aid Online). Not one of these are going to be able to do anything in the immediate, and the chances of us getting anything substantial out of PG is non-existent, but I'm going to send complaints to all those AND to PG.

I want an investigation into People's Gas' actions, having done this repeatedly to the people of the south side of Chicago. I want them exposed for their illegal actions and I want them to pay for it. No more allowing corporations to get away with actions like this ever again. It's time to hold them accountable for their actions.


[1] - The BBB is not a source for proper business "ratings". Any business with any kind of negative rating (F) can have it removed and returned an "A" rating simply by paying a "membership" fee of some sort. By doing so eliminates the negative "grade" giving the less-than-honest company a shining positive one. I can say this For Fact having had an incident with a company that has done this before. They did so by changing the name of the owner or other nefariously misleading action garnering them the new rating after paying the aforementioned "membership fee".

So I've finally gotten into Python programming a few months back. Still in the Beginner/Novice category. Had a blast finding Anaconda Navigator, until I switched from the x32 version to the x64 version. That's when everything came crashing down. But first, a little background history on my journey.

Back in 2010/11 I d/l a folder containing .pdfs and other text docs of programming languages, largely because there were Python programming books in it. I sat on that folder for years, every once in a while poking my head in and then running away. Since I've been home-bound due to the pandemic and and having a child, I figured it was about time I did something with it.

I opened up that Python for Dummies book from 2006 (that'd be Python 2.5) and figured I'd go through it and highlight it like a textbook, even though it was so old by this point, it'd give me a foundation to work from. After going through it from cover to Appendix A, I went back and started to write down all the highlighted sections into a notebook. At some point I found a website (www.pdfdrive.com) and discovered free pdf files of more recent books on Python programming (as recent as 2019). I grabbed a copy of Python All-In-One for Dummies.

After finishing the older version I jumped into the newer one. The new book, aside from dealing with a more current version of Python (3.7), it covered topics the earlier one didn't; topics like Machine Learning/AI, Raspberry Pi, Robotics... It was pretty awesome to find. It's also divided up into 7 "books".

The first book was kinda boring, much like the first chapter or two of the older book. Basically rehashing some of the basic concepts of beginning Python programming. One huge difference was that, instead of using whatever version of Python directly and IDLE, it used a GUI called Anaconda Navigator, as well as VS Code. Navigator would install the most current version of Python within it, as well as some other useful packages like Spyder, a CMD.prompt and Powershell Utility, JupyterLab & Notebook and others.

Everything worked like a charm . Until I got to book 4, Machine learning & AI. That's where I started to run into issues with the x32 version I had. So I "tried" to uninstall everything and install the x64 version. Things went from frustrating to "Oh My God! Lord Kthulu couldn't have come up with shit like this!" Yeah, it was that bad.

Packages won't install and either won't give a reason, return a meaningless reason (ie., returns a basic example reason, not specific to the cause), or UnsatisfiableError/incompatible errors. It took over a week to give up trying to figure out why the Navigator base(root) environment was looking for a subfolder "anaconda3" that never existed, and just created it. I thought that that would fix everything, but it just created a lesser workaround environment, anaconda3.

I managed to get TensorFlow/Keras to install to run the Neural Network example, not before getting it to run from Jupyter Notebook, but now I'm having a compatibility issue with Seaborn and tensorflow.examples.tutorials.mnist in VS Code. It's enough to make me go native and just command line everything. So that's where I'm at now.

Part of what got me into all this was finding a podcast called Darknet Diaries. Absolutely fascinating. Definitely check it out. Another one worth mentioning is Malicious Life. All the ones I've been listening to revolve around the world of hacking. Awesome background storytelling while doing dishes, walking the dog, drowning out the outside world.

So, from now on, I'm going to have this opened while I'm sitting here trying to learn Python so I can kvetch about the issues I'm running into and if I'm able to solve them. Any help is always greatly appreciated.

I'm at a loss for words. I'm scared. My anxieties have ramped up. Bernie Sanders was this country's last hope of surviving this shitstorm Trump has created. It doesn't matter who wins now. We Are All Fucked. Biden isn't the knight in shining armor we need. He's another old white dude that can't keep his hands to himself. He may not be on the level of Trump, but he's not any better. Look at his speeches, his policies, his voting record. Again, he's not the con man Trump is. But I'm still scared.

I want to start a campaign to keep him in the running, to keep him on the ballot, or at the very least, convince people to vote for him via write-in. Any other outcome will only hurt us as a people worse.

I want to be ready for the inevitable. I NEED to be ready. I have a wife and a 6 month old son to worry about. And by inevitable I mean riots. Riots if Trump wins again. Riots if he loses and refuses to leave office. Riots if he tries to affect the process of order. Riots if he tries to appoint judges who fear him. Riots that should have happened when Moscow Mitch announced that the impeachment would die with him BEFORE it even started.

You don't have to agree with me, but don't tell me I'm wrong. Don't tell me I shouldn't fear the continuation of what has been happening for the last 3 years. Don't tell me that the CEO's of corrupt corporations (Wells Fargo to name one) or corrupt politicians like Dianne Feinstein, McConnell, Nunez, Kemp et al. shouldn't pay with their lives. No amount of fines will curb their greedy appetite. This is why I continue to call for the return of public executions. This is why I will continue to call for riots directly on these people. Not just workers coming together and walking out, to organize, to fight for their basic rights. It's time we take back what is ours.

Guess who's back? Once again. Toxic's back. Tell a friend.

Too many things have happened over the last few years. Found a new career working in kitchens, working at becoming a butcher. Dislocated my shoulder 4 times in 4 & 1/2 years. Got married. Moved to the Far South East Side. Tore my good knee. Had surgery on the knee and then had surgery on the shoulder. Haven't been back to work since. MiL passed away in the house while I was home, after taking her to her Dr.'s appointment. Grandmother (fraternal) passed a few months after at the age of 104. Had a baby. Fionnagán Balor. He is Nana's grandson. (They both love How to Train Your Dragons) (There should be an "a" fada before the "n" in his first name)

Finn was born on October 16th, 2019, three and a half weeks early; 5lbs. 13oz.; around 16 inches long. He dropped down to 4lbs. 3oz. his first week. He was so small and tiny that I could sit in the recliner and pass him to Erin on the couch an arms length away in the palm of my hand. Erin's FMLA maternity leave started on the 15th when the paperwork was handed in. Her water broke that night. That is also her mother's birthday. Thanks Nana.

He's 4 months old now, weighs 13lbs. and has outgrown his bassinet. He's been a relatively easy baby so far. Keeps to a feeding/sleep schedule. He doesn't fuss much except for when he's home with me for too long because he misses mommy. I love my son with all my heart.

I'll be trying to use this more. fb is a cesspool. I need to reconnect with old friends again. I miss having friends.

and i've already dropped a community. sorry lj_refugees, but you're entirely too boring and lots of bandwidth. and you're not exactly posting anyhting i want to read. thanks, buh-bye.

now it's back to packing, looking for money and general ignoring of other things. profile pics to be added later. yeah, and at some point i'll get around to reading up on how to properly defile, i mean use this.