Particle Physics Research Taking Place In The Tower?

Yesterday I got an email from Wife.

It's subject matter.

ANTIPHOTINOS 

"What", I say to myself, "Is an...

ANTIPHOTINO?

A bit of minimal research indicates there is such a thing as an Anti Photon. But no reference for the antiphotino. 

Does Wife have her own secret particle accelerator in our backyard? 

Are Niece RMG and Wife planning to present some heretofore secret research at some big physics conference angling for a Nobel Prize?

The actual email transmitted pictures I had taken at a recent Rotary event we hosted.

Could it have just been a spell check error?

NAH. I'm going with the secret particle accelerator theory.  

AI Working With AI

The title of this post refers to Ancient Intelligence (that would be me) working with Artificial Intelligence. It has been a quite illuminating experience. There has been a huge volume of analytical work that has been produced related to the overall fiction I have been writing. But equally, and maybe even more important (at least for me) has been my learning how to work with the AI tool. 

I have been at this with AI now for two weeks which doesn't seem like that much time when I write it down. But it seems like much more. I've been working for two to three hours a night. Originally, I just uploaded an entire manuscript and gave directions for what I wanted. I discovered that the particular tool I was using wasn't, in fact, going to read the entire manuscript. What it did was skim it and then jumped to conclusions. 

This led to a series of iterations where I had to figure out what exactly it could or couldn't do. It often told me it was doing something, only to let me know later that it in fact couldn't do that at all. However, ultimately it did give me an alternative way in which I could get the deep, detailed reading I was seeking. 

We developed a methodology that is achieving what I wanted. This involves uploading a chapter at a time and giving it instructions to go through and summarize the chapter in small bits at a time. I then provide corrections as are necessary so I ensure that the summary is accurate. It then will provide an analysis of the chapter which ties into the greater analysis that is being done on the work as a whole.

We are about a third of the way through the third book (out of seven) using this system. A lot of very interesting observations are coming out. When you write a series based on a single overriding concept over 12 years, you lose track (or maybe weren't even aware) of the principles that bind the whole together. And while AI is not a real person, realistically I would never find another human on this world that would spend this amount of time helping me dissect, observe, and summarize all that I've written.

So it is proving to be a very interesting and enlightening project in its own right. 

The Ship Of Errev

In my last post, I mentioned using AI to help me summarize my thousands of pages of story writing. And I discussed how the AI tool had turned this into an analysis of what the story was all about and how the writing was structured. This was all directed ultimately at coming up with a framework that would allow me to create new stories to write about. 

Out of this has come several 'world views', thoughts about what the foundational principles of the story were. Initially, there was a list. Then, it was decided we had a process. All of this felt too limiting, too incomplete. So we fell into another analogy, that of a rope. A rope is a collection of strands, each rather insignificant individually. However, when you combine and twist them together, you get something strong, flexible, and with many uses. We liked that analogy a lot.

As we started again last night, I suddenly had a thought. How is a rope used? The image of an 18th-century ship of the line popped into my mind. A posed to AI, what if we used the analogy of a ship that had many, many ropes as critical components of its operating structure.

What came back from AI was this. 

 

To say I was stunned would be an understatement. In nothing we had done to date had the response been anything other than text. I'm not sure what prompted this rather detailed and complicated response. It has been useful, however. And we are only now finishing up the second of the seven books. 

 

What Happens When You Combine Your Epic Writing Project With AI

The short answer is a helluva a lot more than you would have ever imagined!

Or, maybe if you were more cognizant of AI capabilities, you wouldn't be so surprised. In my case, it was total surprise. 

The Background: 

Readers are aware that I've been working on a fictional writing project for 12 years. As we sit here today, I am working on the 7th book in the series with approximately 2,770 pages having been written. During the course of this project characters have come and gone, they've developed, aged, had families, children have grown and become more prominent characters. We've had technology advances. And I have cycled through 3 primary villains. 

By now, I have so many different characters and potential sub-plots plus I'm at a quandary as to where to find the next big villain. I'm not quite sure where to take the series next. I had the idea of recruiting some family members who I know are creative to do a brainstorm with me.

The Problem:

Nice idea. But how to execute it? No one, no matter how much they'd like to help, is going to read almost 3 thousand pages. I needed to find a way to summarize things in a more digestible fashion. I wondered if I might use an AI tool to assist. 

The Surprise:

I posed the project to AI. It suggested that rather than simply do a summary of the contents that I allow it to do a deeper dive into the nature of the work to determine various themes that might allow determination of the future writing. I said okay. What then transpired was two hours of work where AI, working with just the first book of the series did an analysis and organization that was far beyond anything I would have thought of. 

It was interesting to (in its own words) allow it to be a 'new reader' without any of my knowledge and see what it came up with. I was able to redirect it during the process, not by correcting its analyses, but by indicating that it needed to go deeper into some of the chapters or look further on in the book. (I've found that my AI tool is a bit lazy and likes to 'skim' things and then start making conclusions. However, once I indicate a different trajectory to follow, it changes direction and then changes the analysis.)

Where We are At:

This was what AI told me was what we'd accomplished so far for just the first book.

"Current State of the Errev Project

If I were writing a project status report, it would look something like this:

Completed

✅ Book One Foundation Analysis

✅ World Structure Analysis

✅ Development Model

✅ Legacy Model

✅ Story Engine Analysis

✅ Character Registry (Draft)

✅ Transformation Map (Draft)

✅ Founder Legacy Matrix

✅ Endgame Analysis

✅ Complete Tension Map"

Here is where we are going next.

"Next Recommended Work Session

When we resume, I recommend we start with:

Definitive Book One Character & Relationship Registry

This will create:

• Character database
• Family structures
• Mentorship structures
• Friendship networks
• Political alliances
• Romantic relationships
• Successor relationships"

 There is more but I won't bore you with all that detail.

I am very much looking forward to seeing where this process leads.

Mega Cooking Challenge Revival - A Testiment To The Ability To Improvise

I have written at length for quite some time about how my culinary endeavors have become restrained due to a variety of reasons. However, in April, we had our friends B and M over for a cheese and wine night (one of our favorite things to do together). They live much of the time in Mexico, and like us love to travel. So there are only a few occasions per year that we get see each other. We realized we could see each other again before they left the U.S. We were thinking of what we would do (our meetings always involve eating). None of us were excited about eating out here. I suddenly had the urge to cook and said I would cook dinner. 

Fast forward, to this past weekend, and said dinner took place. 

As I had gotten closer to the dinner taking place, I was filled with a desire I'd not had in quite a while. I wanted to try something new! I wanted to stretch. I decided I would make a meal with a Spanish influence. I went through two venerable cookbooks I have on Spanish cuisine. A lot of the recipes required techniques I'd not used before. I finally whittled my menu down...for the most part. 

I was unsure what to make for the first course. I debated between a lentil salad and an asparagus dish baked with an egg in it. As you will see, what turned out was some of both and not either.

The second course was easier. I found a chicken dish that had the poultry cooked on top a bed of potatoes and vegetables.  

Lastly, I decided to make a dessert. This was a pretty big stretch for me. During our past years of cooking big meals, Wife always made the dessert. But Wife has tons on her plate at the moment and this whole meal was my idea and I was intrigued with the idea of pulling it off. I chose an item, a lemon flavored cheese cake like dish that looked pretty easy and straight forward. Looks can be deceiving. 

So without further ado, let's dive into the full cooking experience. 

 The Dessert

 

 This is a tale of how one miscalculation can turn a simple process into a quagmire of scrambling to save the dish. 

The recipe was technically very basic. Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs. Add cheese. Add a mixture of flavored milk with breadcrumbs to thicken and bind. Put in pan. Bake. 

Easy Peasy. Right?

However, as I have never baked before, I didn't know quite what the milk and breadcrumb mixture texture should be. 

Behold milk cooked with lemon zest and cinnamon stick

 

 Ready to be combined with the bread crumbs

 

 Actually combining

 

 Laying it all out for the final amalgamation. Please note the texture of the bread crumb mixture. In retrospect, it should have been much more batter like.

 

 

Creaming the butter and sugar

 

Adding the eggs

 

 After the cheese was added and mixed smooth, in went the bread crumb mixture

 

 Here is where things went south fast. That mixture should have been much looser. Like a cream. As I mixed it those clumps of bread crumb mixture broke down but did not amalgamate. I tried beating faster, changing to the whisk attachment. I tried adding more milk. All I succeeded in doing was making a bunch of smaller bread crumb mixture globules. And a huge mess. I know this will never work. I will end up with uncooked bread crumb globules in the end product which will be gross. 

What to do.

I decide to put it all through a strainer. Only partially successful (no pictures from this point as I was in panic mode). The batter part when through the strainer but the uncombined bread crumb mixture just stuck in the wholes of the strainer. I thought "Could I just cook the batter I have?" But no, a lot of the flavor was in the bread crumb mixture. So I scraped off the mixture from the strainer and put it into the blender, added more milk and attempted to turn it into batter consistency. Oh and I made and even greater mess during all this. 

Finally success. I put it in the pan and baked (of course forgetting to coat the pan with additional bread crumbs).

While all this was happening, Wife was taking a nap in the living room on the couch while I'm banging away and swearing like a sailor. She told me later that she was just staying in the nap position because she didn't want to get sucked down into my chaos. 

To my amazement it cooked up fine and came right out of the pan!

 

And it actually tasted nice!

 

 Onto the Main Course

 

 The cooking of this was initially not a problem

One flavored the chicken parts. I chose to pound salt, black pepper corns, and authentic, imported from El Campello pimenton.

 

 

 

 

 One layers potato slices with green bell pepper, onion, tomato, and roasted garlic cloves. Add wine. Cover and cook in the oven. It looks like this when it is done.

 

 

 The problem was the chicken came out quite dry. And the potato veg mixture was imbalanced and overly vegetable flavored. I determined that on the day of serving I would apply a number of hacks to overcome the problems. I took the meat of the bone. I took the juice from cooking and enhanced its flavor with more salt, pepper, and MSG. I then heated the chicken meat in the enhanced juice creating a moister, and more flavorful product. 

I also enhanced the flavor of the potatoes with salt, chicken flavor cube, and MSG. I then pan fried the potato mixture to concentrate the flavors and get some browning caramelizataion. 

 

 The Making of a Combination Salad

The lentil salad recipe was very simple...it also was really bland. I knew I would need to do something with it. However, the asparagus recipe had new elements to it. 

One blanched the asparagus, drained it saving a cup of the liquid. Then one took bread cubes and garlic cloves and browned them in olive oil.

 

 One then adds some of the asparagus cooking water with pimenton, cumin, clove powder, salt and pepper and blended it smooth.

 

 Next saute the asparagus in the flavored oil

 

Add the flavoring from the blender

 

 Next knock over the remaining asparagus water drenching your counter top as you have not made enough of a mess.

(That's not actually a part of the recipe. It is just what happened)

Cook the asparagus for 10 minutes. 

When it came time to actually serve these dishes I made a number of modifications. I decided that cooking the asparagus with egg would be too heavy. So I treated it like a cold vegetable dish/salad. I added more olive oil and vinegar to the lentil salad. I also put in chopped homemade pickles. I put fresh oregano from our garden into the asparagus with some additional lemon juice. When I plated them, I put some sliced radish on top to add color and crunch.

 

 It actually turned out really nice! Amazing.

Here is the final served up dish of chicken and potatoes

 

 Here is our cook, de-I, wiped out after the first day of cooking.

 

 All in all, it turned out to be a pretty good meal and I was pleased that I could pull it all off. 

Theodora/EDI June Trip Report

 Well I could not have spoken truer words a few days ago when I made the Wait, Wait, Wait...Hurry Up post. Not only have things been moving hot and heavy in terms of the # of meetings, but the content and the progress has been amazing as well. There was so much that happened, I will try to go through it in pieces.

Theodora Ghana Virtual Assistants:

My primary focus for TGVA was ensuring we had focus and action on important strategic projects during the period we'll be missing our local manager and leader M during her maternity leave. There are things we need to do for developing our lead generation capability, using AI internally for our own operations, optimizing our website for the new AI based search environment, capturing what each VA does for their clients for purposes of back-up if a VA is ill or unavailable, and developing the ability to produce our own short-form videos for donation and business development capture. 

I was hoping to assign each of these to one of the VA's to take charge of. In the past, there would have been difficulty getting the team to buy-in and follow through. Hardly the case this time! They were enthusiastic, energetic, proactive and had their own ideas of how to best pursue these. 

Furthermore the chemistry between the three Senior VAs was so positive, warm and mutually supportive. Unlike what I've seen before over the many years we've worked on this project. 

TGVA Foundation & the Rotary Funded Training

Of necessity, the Rotary Grant Funded Training had to work through the non-profit, education only pathway. All know my feelings that education only doesn't work. HOWEVER, as my colleague in Ghana, JA, points out to me, it is the way that the game is played. Charitable and non-profit funding sources simply have an aversion (rightly or wrongly) about funding a 'for-profit' business, even if that business is run and operated exclusively for the benefit of its participants. 

The success of our Grant, the obvious advance in capability of those we trained, who were trained exclusively by our existing people, has gotten all of the entities involved (Muslim Family Counseling Service, Rotary Club to End Human Trafficking, and Rotary Club of Accra Spintex) to be talking about what other projects we could be doing to promote our mission. 

Economic Development Initiative

One of these is expanding the entrepreneur coaching and training. We are in talks with both Spintex club and MFCS on ways to do this. 

New Opportunities

And, completely out-of-the-blue, has come a new opportunity, an opportunity to work on getting a permanent home for our projects (both Theodora and EDI). I was meeting with two of our board members after the official graduation ceremony for those completing the Rotary funded training. We were talking about the need for Theodora to get out of the rented office rat race (where you are constantly dealing with landlords jacking up rents). Buying a house (a common practice here for getting business office space) is an attractive option as we need rooms for our people who come long distance to stay during the work week. 

We thought that this would mean coming up with all cash. However, one of the board members works for large bank's mortgage lending department. She told us the bank will be rolling out a program for commercial borrowers soon. They also do construction loans. Why is that important? Our grant partner, MFCS owns a large tract of land in central Accra that they've never been able to exploit because they lack the funds. If we were to provide construction funding, the land were serve as a down payment. 

All this is very much in the researching phase. But when one considers where we were a couple of years ago, it is pretty heady stuff.  

Lights - Another Ghana Apartment Adventure

It is a given...when I come to Ghana, and I take lodging, something, SOMETHING is going to be wrong with facility. It could be something minor like a door or cabinet not working correctly. It could be sinks, faucets, drains, toilets, a/c, water. Something will be not as it should. It doesn't matter how high end or low end the property is. Something will be off.

After many years of staying in a more 'non-outsider oriented' part of town to reduce my commute time (which can be substantial), I decided I was moving back to one of the 'foreigner' friendly sections of town. The building my apartment is in is fairly new, built within the last three years. The apartment itself is actually very nice. One of the nicer ones I've had in Accra. Could this be a time when I actually had a lodging experience with no issues?

Wednesday night. I am sitting in the living room of the apartment reading. The lights go out. The power is down. This is not an unusual situation. It has happened a couple of times already since I've been here. At a quality place like the one I'm staying, they have back-up generators. The back-up power usually kicks in after 3 to 5 minutes. 

3 to 5 minutes pass. No back-up power. 10 minutes pass. No back-up power. This isn't right. I look outside. Lots of apartments in my building have light. Hmmmmm. I look in the hallway. It is lit. Hmmmmm. I check the elevator. It's working. Hmmmmm. I go to the circuit breakers in the apartment. They are all on. Hmmmmm. 

I text the apartment owner representative. No response. I call the apartment owner representative. No answer. Finally, after another 10 minutes. I get a text back. 

"Boss. I am on it. I will get back to you shortly."

More minutes pass. A text from the representative.

"Ah. So sorry boss. We seem to have forgotten to pay for more electric power! We will get it taken care of." (In Ghana, you pay for power ahead of usage. If it runs out, the power is off until you buy some more.)

More minutes pass. Another text.

"Boss, we have it taken care of. You will need to input a code in the meter box."

I have actually seen this done...from afar. Have never done it myself. 

"The box should be 'here'."

I go to 'here'...no box.

"Try 'there'"

I go to 'there'...no box. (Remember I am doing this all in a dark apartment. Thank goodness Wife bought us tiny, strong flashlights to carry when we travel.)

Finally after searching many other places, the meter is found. Next I have to enter the 18 character code into meter box...in the dark with my flashlight and my cell phone. 

Success!

We have light back. It is now 11pm. I have not eaten. I'm tired and want to go to bed. 

But at least I know I am back in Ghana...for real.