It’s Lent & Pi

Happy Saturday. “As the first light of dawn crept through my window this crisp March morning, I found myself staring at a blank page, the cursor blinking like an impatient metronome. Writer’s block, that old nemesis, had settled in with a cup of coffee and a smirk, daring me to string together something worth reading. But then, somewhere between the steam rising off my mug and the distant chirping of birds shaking off winter’s last grip, a spark flickered—because isn’t that how it always starts, a quiet rebellion against the nothing, one word at a time?”

Okay, so I didn’t write the opening paragraph, Grok3 Ai was the culprit. I asked the system to do a short review of previous Ramblings and assess my normal attitude, etc. Seconds later you’re reading what it came out with. I promise that this won’t be a new normal, you’ll be getting my thoughts.

Please Dirk, stop! Get yourself a coffee!

Winter has long gone – All week the temperature has been in the 70s. With that change I’ve managed to get outside and do a daily 4 – 6-mile walk. I needed to get back into the routine after both winter and my dealing with a solid case of the ‘cruds’.

Earlier I did mention that our bearer of Spring, our nearby St. Bernard Dairy Queen ice-cream shop had opened and here is the proof seen on one of the walks.

Pi not Pie – Yesterday was national Pi Day. Started in 1988 it’s celebrated every March 14th. It’s quite easy to figure out why; March is the 3rd month and the 14th day are the numbers 1 and 4. See how easy, Pi starts with the numbers 314. Remember your high school math; Pi is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter, and we were all forced to remember this string of numbers, 3.14159?

Anyway, yesterday was Pi day. In celebration did you enjoy some Pie?

If yes, was it thrown or eaten?

A Lenten First – Right here in the ‘Nati. What in the world could be a Lenten first in this mid-west town. First we have to look back at the heritage of the German, primarily Roman Catholic, immigrant population which settled here. Add to that, the fact that while Ohio had the 60th McDonald’s franchise nationally, ours was the first one in Ohio. Now add lent.

Every Friday during lent this McDonald’s franchise stood near idle – people ate fish on Fridays.

The franchise owner, Lou Groen, came up with an idea and in basic terms, placed a piece of fish on a burger bun – this was a time where a McDonald’s franchise could still experiment a bit. After some refinement he shipped his idea to corporate.

But nothing is ever easy. McDonald’s founder, Ray Kroc, believed the Hula Burger, made with pineapple, would provide sales relief during Lent. Common sense (a contest) prevailed, and the Hula Burger and Groen’s Filet-O-Fish competed to see which sold more.

The newly named Filet-O-Fish turns 63 this year.

Quantum Computing – A previous Rambling had me mention my friend, Brian, a professor emeritus in Physics and his work in Quantum computing. I barely understand half of what he discusses on the subject.

However, it appears that there is more progress on the subject than I had realized. This past week a West Coast company, D-Wave, announced: “Outlining their work in a new study, the North American tech company argues their quantum computer performed a complex magnetic materials simulation in minutes, with a level of accuracy that would take nearly one million years to achieve with a supercomputer.” Tom Hale IFLScience

It sure looks like advances in Quantum work can now be measured in years rather than decades.

Ok, the end. Thunder and lightning are all around us and we’re expecting a couple of inches of rain. Already our condo’s front windows are being pounded by the rain. Marcia has the TV on and is channel surfing looking for weather updates. Here’s wishing that our annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade will find a dry spot to fit in as the day ticks on. It’s never had to be canceled.  For me, the plan is to post this and sit back with another mug of coffee.

The Coffee Call. Winslow Homer (1836 – 1910) Art Institute Chicago

Life is AMAZING!

Dirk

BONUS POINTS:

This for Pi Day: An elderly Bradenton, FL woman had ordered a Pizza pie. As the delivery guy walked up to the front door, he spotted this lurking under the parked car and refused to walk by to deliver the Pizza. A kind Police officer completed the delivery. What lurked under her car?

1) “Racoon”
2) “12’ Python”
3) “Florida Panther”
4) “Coyote”
5) “8’ Alligator”