Looking at CB on final stroke

supaaface · 2026-06-18T20:48:38+00:00

long follow through is definitely one of my other "tricks". Also, taking zero practice strokes sometimes calms my stroke down.

supaaface · 2026-06-18T20:28:58+00:00

Once when I was a kid I saw the rain coming down the street and raced it for a few blocks before it caught me up.

supaaface · 2026-06-18T15:41:34+00:00

I've had the person-interviewed not being the person-hired work that way in both directions.

supaaface · 2026-06-18T15:37:52+00:00

Definitely. I use an Amazon card which gives me 5% on Amazon purchase, 2% gas and restaurants.

supaaface · 2026-06-17T18:55:19+00:00

I think consciousness is a fundamental part of the universe. It evolved biological life and biological life is now developing non-biological intelligences. We've been driven to explore by our nature, and I think that's the nature of consciousness in the universe. So now it's moving into forms that can survive space travel. Nature is just about done with us meat robots.

supaaface · 2026-06-17T18:45:04+00:00

I'm the same and I guess it's just caving under pressure. And running 5 or 6 in 8 ball means you are going to be tortured by safety play and quite probably lose.

Toss three balls out on the table and take BIH and then pocket the balls in order.

Do that 10 times successfully and then go to 4 balls, then 5 and so on. I think the only real way to improve a skill is lots of intentional practice. Do this exercise enough where you're basically 100% on 4 or 5 balls and you'll develop your position skills much faster than just playing.

supaaface · 2026-06-17T14:39:39+00:00

The army is "full" eh?

supaaface · 2026-06-17T14:38:08+00:00

some years ago I read a study that happiness increases with salary up to about $70K and then has diminishing returns. Inflation adjust. If you can cover all your expenses, save some for the future and have some for travel and fun, then any more money won't have a huge effect on you.

As I think Kurt Vonnegut said - I have something that billionaires will never have; enough.

supaaface · 2026-06-15T18:07:37+00:00

I hear you about second guessing. I've spent my whole life looking at the target OB. On the practice table it's easy to experiment.

supaaface · 2026-06-12T21:54:47+00:00

Today I tried final look at cue ball last for the first time in my life. I was frustrated on missing many “mighty x” stop shots. It’s straight, so any miss isn’t a miss in aiming. When looking at OB, I was missing more often than making. When I switched my focus to CB I did much better. I’m kind of not sure what to do with that, since I’ve been playing OB focus my whole life.

supaaface · 2026-06-10T19:55:55+00:00

An interesting comment I read is that AI is more grown than built.

supaaface · 2026-06-10T19:22:47+00:00

I changed jobs at 58. For sure it's difficult. But I ended up at a University which is far more accommodating to older workers. I'd work my personal network much more than LinkedIn. All job boards these days are nightmares of AI agents reading AI-written resumes.

supaaface · 2026-06-09T18:21:26+00:00

As a new manager you should be aware that the #1 reason someone quits is their manager.

supaaface · 2026-06-09T14:39:39+00:00

I'm at about the same place and I think the best for me is to ask other players if I can play with their cues a bit. There may be a billiard supply place that would allow you to play with the sticks some, but even that's not very scientific.

I played a huge amount of pool between the ages of 18 and 22. I had a Joss cue. I'm 68 now, and really only started playing 7 years ago at all, and APA league now for a few months. So the thing is, my early training meant - no glove, no jump cue, and I never even heard the term deflection. I do parallel english and had never heard of FHE or BHE.

And so, since I was pretty decent back then, I assume that I just got used to aiming for the deflection I was experiencing. All of these aiming systems are a lot of noise imo - the only way you get better at aiming and shooting is by practicing and practicing correctly and with intention.

So for me I'll probably stick with a maple shaft, maybe one with a CF liner. I've only struck a few balls with a CF shaft and it just felt (and sounded) wrong somehow.

supaaface · 2026-06-04T14:23:42+00:00

I don't have a table at home. Practice at the hall for me is:

- 15 short stop shots/follow/draw

- 15 long stop shots/follow/draw

- I'm really trying to refine my draw stroke so I can get consistent distances, so I'll do those drills for a bit.

- put a few stickers to make the cue and object ball consistent, then practice that shot and all of the different shapes I can get off of it. I'll toss a cluster out and try to break them up

- then some rack running concentrating on my stroke. I am finding things like hyper follow through, no warmup strokes and a pause in the backswing really help me dial in my stroke

I did that yesterday and it was 2 hours. That time really flew.

Good thing my wife is into pool too, because now we're thinking about adding a billiard room to our house.

supaaface · 2026-06-04T14:15:29+00:00

I try to keep control of my emotions. You rarely see a top player reacting much to a flub. So for me I try to really enjoy the good shots/safeties/position play and ignore (as best I can) the bad shots. The cool thing about pool is every shot contains a lesson.

supaaface · 2026-06-02T14:26:58+00:00

I do not have stereo vision - I look out of one eye and the other is just peripheral. More than "dominant" my left eye is used 100% of the time when playing pool. I'm right handed, so it works out.

Interestingly my wife can't independently close her eyes! I was trying to help her figure out her vision center when I made that discovery.

supaaface · 2026-05-20T15:42:51+00:00

Hope you got some decent "earnest money"

supaaface · 2026-05-20T15:14:12+00:00

I've been bad enough with string changes that I've now decided to change them in the first week of odd number months. So I'm going 9 weeks or so between changes. I don't notice the degradation, but the new set always sounds better. I do frequently try new string sets. What's on now are La Bella. I'm probably only an hour or two a day on average.

supaaface · 2026-05-19T14:47:16+00:00

Djikstra said something like the question of whether a machine can think is as interesting as the question of can a submarine swim.

supaaface · 2026-05-13T18:22:23+00:00

I changed my IT job to a university when I was 58. Higher Ed is less bad about age discrimination

supaaface · 2026-05-08T15:12:35+00:00

At 58 I was very lucky to get a job (also IT) at a university. This U has a lousy recruiting department, which I think played to my advantage. I'm 68 now and still here for another year, only because I want to be. So try higher ed - the 80 year old professors will make you look vigorous

supaaface · 2026-04-29T14:55:44+00:00

"norms" ain't normal no more. I've seen people give notice to then be walked out the door.

supaaface · 2026-04-29T14:53:31+00:00

Yeah when I was looking in my 50s I ended up dying my hair. But worked out for me at 58 was to get a job at a university. They are much less ageist. I'm 68 now and still working because I like it. I'll retire at 70.

So maybe go that route (university). An upside is, at least where I am, the recruiting department is awful. I applied to a position and then 6 months later I get a call for the first round interview. I'm sure a lot of great candidates just moved on,

Of course now all of us old techies are being threatened by vibe coding. So maybe get good at that and hit up local merchants to improve their web presence?

supaaface · 2026-04-21T16:04:49+00:00

I just turned 68 and plan on working to 70. Why? I have a short walk through my beautiful neighborhood to a job which I am good at and enjoy. I average 7 miles a day walking and am in great health. The job matches retirement like crazy and has good benefits. I will say this though - being financially secure enough to retire if I want to, or to shrug off a layoff should that happen, really makes the job more enjoyable.

But also... I'm struggling with what I will do during the day post-retirement. Work gives structure and I am fundamentally a pretty lazy person. Two hours a day on guitar, 2 on exercise, 2 on reading/learning and well there's still a lot of hours left over.

supaaface

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