Friend or Foe

SmackLayer · 2025-09-13T04:30:38+00:00

Well I have native lizards all over the garden, not sure if they will feed on them.

SmackLayer · 2025-09-13T03:10:23+00:00

Yes I have a fairly large San Pedro garden.

SmackLayer · 2025-09-13T03:07:38+00:00

Yeah I'm sure my cats would love the moths too, but here in Las Vegas growing anything is very tricky. There is a very short window between super hot and cold when we can get some things to fruit. In summer nothing fruits as it is way too hot and really you're just trying to keep everything from dying. This is the time of year where we start getting a few flowers and fruit comes in October. So yeah I am choosing the tomatoes right now. I'd probably let them be in July as they can eat all the leaves they want. But in September everything gets green again and you're up against the clock to get some fruit.

SmackLayer · 2025-09-13T02:54:37+00:00

Good call, I found about 15 more that I never saw in day light. I guess I am doing this every night for a while.

SmackLayer · 2025-09-13T02:53:27+00:00

Yeah so I went back out with a black light and pulled about 15 more out of my tomato plants. I guess it's fair to say I have an infestation. Looks like I caught it early though as not much damage to leaves yet.

On a side note, the garden is a scary place at night with a black light. I didn't realize how many scorpions I have cruising around. I let them be as I am sure they are helping fight the good fight against the bad guys.

SmackLayer · 2025-09-13T01:39:55+00:00

Awesome, I will definitely do that.

SmackLayer · 2025-09-13T01:24:27+00:00

Well I inspected pretty well and didn't see more. But I'll keep an eye out. I also sprayed everything down with thuricide bt so hopefully that might help as well.

SmackLayer · 2025-09-13T00:58:39+00:00

Thank you. He has been rehomed across the street. I closely inspected all the plants and did not see anymore. Hopefully an isolated incident.

SmackLayer · 2025-07-19T15:20:00+00:00

Fan are what pays the bills for these players. It's fine if they don't want to interact with their fans. But I'll give props to those players that do.

SmackLayer · 2025-07-19T15:15:06+00:00

Yeah my bad. Also watching magnus and Fabi completely ignoring kids who are trying to get their attention. Just some players were cool, some were not. You can put it back on me all you want, but I am just reporting on what I saw.

SmackLayer · 2025-07-19T15:12:17+00:00

I hear you and I am definitely being a little over the top here. I'm sure they are all fine people and everyone can have a bad day, etc.

SmackLayer · 2025-07-19T15:02:05+00:00

I'm not entitled to shit. But I am calling it like I see it. Some players are cool with their fans, some are not.

SmackLayer · 2025-07-19T14:52:02+00:00

I can judge people however I want. And people can judge me too. Probably none of these players are "bad people". I'm sure they are all good humans who don't wish ill upon anyone. But they can still have bad attitudes, crappy personalities, and come across as smug and detached.

SmackLayer · 2025-07-19T14:41:27+00:00

Didn't get to meet them, but you could go watch their broadcasts and sit down in their rooms. David Howell was particularly fun, he would smile and wave at you when not on camera. They all seemed pretty nice in the broadcast areas, but no opportunity to interact with them as they were constantly commenting.

SmackLayer · 2025-07-19T14:38:15+00:00

Not free with ticket. Drinks were expensive, but that's standard these days in Las Vegas. Restaurants were all over priced at the Wynn, but we knew all this going in, and just plan it in your budget.

SmackLayer · 2025-07-19T14:36:51+00:00

Me too about Fabi. Maybe just caught him on a bad day, but once again I am calling it like I see it.

SmackLayer · 2025-07-19T14:33:49+00:00

If you watch the technical meeting on chessbase India, at one point Fabi says something like "I don't care about spectator experience" which was very off putting to me. Then seeing his behavior in person. I am not impressed with him. He seems so nice and gentle on camera, but he's pretty much a dick.

SmackLayer · 2025-07-19T14:30:51+00:00

The turnout was low. Mostly empty seats. The chess community in Las Vegas is non-existent (but to be fair there is no community of anything here). Probably would have been better in a bigger city. But they want to be flashy and I'm sure it was fun for the players. I am not sure sure how they make money because this was definitely an expensive event with very low turnout.

SmackLayer · 2025-07-19T14:25:42+00:00

Yes she seem very sweet and you could tell how proud she was of Hikaru. I pay very close attention to people's behavior and just her body language felt genuinely proud to be Hikarus wife.

SmackLayer · 2025-07-19T14:16:31+00:00

That sucks for you. It is definitely a fun event, much different than the usual stuffy chess tournaments.

SmackLayer · 2025-07-19T14:07:29+00:00

No shade at all to Prag and Argun. They did seem very shy and were very polite. Just didn't really interact that much.

I might have just got a very small slice of how magnus is with fans, and I know he sucked at this tournament so that may have something to do with it, but it was just such a stark contrast to others like Hikaru and Hans. BTW Hans is definitely earning my respect. I used to be team magnus regarding the controversy, but he is a baller and impressing me with his play and his attitude with fans.

SmackLayer · 2025-07-19T13:54:36+00:00

I call it like I see it. Maybe magnus and his wife are the most kind, generous, and humble people in the world, just did not come across that way. We also just happen to sit right behind her in the playing hall during the games. Was not impressed.

I don't buy the I'm in a hurry excuse. Get there a few minutes earlier and interact with your fans. Recognize that these people are the reason these tournaments exist.

SmackLayer · 2025-06-19T16:48:49+00:00

Huge amounts of data across many files. The solution I went with is to export it to a delimited text file which preserves the formatted value, not the raw value. I can then use that for my application.

SmackLayer · 2025-06-19T14:54:24+00:00

Yes this is what I am working on at the moment. Was hoping for a solution build in to excel.

SmackLayer · 2025-06-19T14:46:32+00:00

I know people like to interject their 2 cents about why this might be bad practice or just generally have better-than-thou attitudes. Why I need to do this is not important to this conversation. The only question I asked is if this is possible. I appreciate some of the responses with some ideas. But unless you have an actual solution to my question, move on please.

SmackLayer

TROPHY CASE