The chess game last night went okay. My scheduled opponent had a last minute cancellation, which means he forfeited the game. I was already there and there was somebody available to play, though, so we played an extra rated game. It was a tough one, my opponent played the Marshall. That's a highly theoretical system with very sharp tactics. That means that it really pays to be familiar with it, because there are a lot of pitfalls. If you know the theory, it's like having a team of grandmasters analyzing with computers and experimenting in hundreds of games backing you. If you don't, it's like playing against a team of grandmasters analyzing with computers and experimenting in hundreds of games. I'm completely unfamiliar with the theory and I wasn't sure how much my opponent knew of the theory. So... anyway. I managed to survive and felt like I got a better position eventually and transitioned to an endgame which is probably won, or at least where I had all the winning chances. However, I made a mistake which flipped the evaluation, though I think I found the drawing method. However, I botched it and allowed him to simplify to an easily won pawn endgame, which he proceeded to botch as well, so I escaped with a draw. He was not happy.

I like being me.

Data issues all over the place. AAAH. AAAAH. AAAAAH.

I woke up in the middle of the night and had trouble falling asleep again. My guts were still mildly uncomfortable from the other day, but nothing was going on. Not sure if that was what kept me up. I left the bedroom and discovered that it was still friggin' hot (only the bedroom AC runs at night). Apparently it was still 86 degrees outside at 3am. It's cooled off this afternoon, apparently (still in the 80s), and I see fog coming off the lake. Tomorrow, though, it's supposed to be very hot again.

Man, I totally should have packed a sandwich for lunch this morning but didn't. Corporate America 1, gzt 0.

I finally called in to get the test results from the doctor's apptment a couple weeks ago. Apparently the cholesterol looks good (120LDL, 52HDL, tris 48, good but not optimal), the liver tests look better (bilirubin normal, ALP a bit better), but I still have a followup with the hepatologist in October and a physical in six months. I suppose that confirms that my slight fatigue lately is from sleep deprivation caused by the Day Star and isn't a possible symptom of bad liver happenings. Anyway, I suppose this means that my unhealthy lifestyle of the last few months - a bit of travel, a fair amount of boozing, plenty of meat, few vegetables, relatively little exercise, too little sleep - has meant an improvement in several of my key biomedical markers (note: resting pulse, however, has gone up significantly with relative inactivity - I think it was in the 80s!).

Man, I like playing chess. I think that experience of facing a completely unknown tricky opening and later sticking it out to pull a draw from the jaws of defeat was a good learning experience.