My Parents Raised A Complainer, Not A Quitter

Summer.

I remember summers being fun. Well, there was work, of course. Dad was a bricklayer, and as teenagers it was expected we'd go to work with him.

Some mornings were easier than others. I recall, with some guilt, feigning sleep one morning in the bedroom I had at the back of the garage until I heard Dad's truck roar to life and disappear. Then my day began. Nothing was said when he got home, but I knew I'd done wrong. So days like that were rare.

I'm beginning to have days like that now. Just like Dad, I get the Sunday Scaries and don't want to go to work tomorrow.

But . . . 

I'm the only line of defense between our family and poverty. I don't say that in any way to complain; it's just how things are at the moment. Michelle has been offered a salaried job with a local nonprofit for about $40,000 a year, which isn't much compared to our needs, but it certainly would help us make a dent in things. I don't know as yet what decision she's made on the job, but will support her whichever direction she decides to go.

I have at least ten years until I can retire. I keep checking our retirement accounts to see how they're doing, and they're growing slow but steady, which is what you want to see in such accounts. Still, part of me wishes they were growing faster so I could retire faster, but I'm going to have to stick things out.

I often think the cure is time off work. But though I take a day off here and there -- not all that many of those -- it doesn't help. I feel like I need a good block of time, minimum two weeks, to get a reset. I'll get a little bit of a break for about seven weeks starting in August when the online teaching gig takes a breather. and while that's welcome it often doesn't feel like enough.

Yes, I did just whinge about this. It's a constant theme in my life.

Buncha Wordle Com-Plainers

First, read here the history of Wordle, so I don't have to repeat it.

Simply put, it's a fun daily, one-shot word game that was recently bought by (cue thunder and lightning) The New York Times.

I only started playing the game a few weeks before the purchase became public, so I'm not as vested in the "original" Wordle, nor have I seen much of a change in the New York Times version.

Others, on the other hand, have stronger feelings.

Some of the feelings include:

1. Wordle is getting harder.

2. Wordle is suddenly using double letters when in the past it avoided them.

3. Wordle is prioritizing American spelling (favor vs. favour) to British spelling. Nevermind that the key of the game is to guess a five-letter word.

These and other factors have causes no shortage of consernation and hubbub among the Wordle long-timers. Thus, and thus.

I'm only really here, of course, to share some Wordle theory. The columnist in the last link laments that others have proven "maths" is the best way to beat Wordle, and since she's terrible at maths and the NYT took over, she's outta here.

Maybe so.

But there are also sound linguistic strategies that come into play. My theory:

Step 1: Eliminate consonants early on. This pairs with

Step 2: Eliminate letter patterns. If, for example, the letter H doesn't appear in the word, it's not likely you'll see such parings as TH, SH, CH, PH, and probably others I've missed in the word. That eliminates consonants without ever having to type them in.

Step 3: Eliminating consonants and letter patterns also decreases your reliance on luck, though luck does still play a part.

And to all the complainers, I'll echo what good friend Dennis Gaunt shared with me about the complaints:

Some truly MAGNIFICENT pearl-clutching here.