The Last Man

[Wayne23]

Kind of fun coming up with all of them.

[Wayne23]

5/1: Preseason #18.

We buy the national and international gold.

Preseason #18.

6/5: No one in the transfer pool.

6/26: 2 scholarships.

8/7: Center Marv Alph is #22 on the Norton list, and PG Ryan Town is #48.

8/21: We offer to a PG and a PF.

9/18: Got a PF, #9.

Tough schedule but no in season tournament.

9/25: Got our PG, #1 recruit overall.

10/2: 1st day of practice. This is a good team.

11/6: We have 3 very good guards. Junior juco Ryan Town and frosh Keb Wing start, with soph Dar Smay, who started last year, filling in.

Soph Troy Jory is moving from C to SF, but will play some inside.

Juco junior Art Moon and frosh Marv Alph start inside.

Senior Deek Blaq, junior Ban Dee, and frosh Jem Seal back up in the three inside spots.

The last preseason poll has us picked to win the PAC 12, and we’re #10 nationally. That may be asking a lot but I think it’s possible.

[Wayne23]

11/20: 2-0 start. In the opener we lost a back up forward, Ban Dee, for 10 days with a strained hammy.

Both recruits sign.

12/4: 5-1. We lost at Indiana. I try to be careful about saying things like this but the refs beat us. 2 of our starters fouled out, 2 wound up with 4. No one on their team had more than 3. They went to the line 39 times, we went 17. We lost by 7 points.

12/25: We end pre-conf. play at 9-1. That game the refs stole is our only loss. #9, RPI #5. +15.1 PPG, +8.2 RBs, +3.3 TOs.

Marv Alph is living up to high expectations.

Ryan Town is playing well, but I don’t think he’s really hit his stride yet. Our 3 guards are all in double figures, taking great care of the ball, and playing very good D.

Art Moon is doing a great job inside.

The SF spot is not as strong as it could be. Troy Jory is out of position there, and it shows. His D is more than solid though.

[Wayne23]

June, 2140: After my last post it occurred to me to consult my holoexperts regarding a way to “float the boat.” It took some time and some research but they came up with a way. Here’s what we’re going to do, starting next week: Over a period of- well we’re not sure how long, but at least several months, we’re going to sweep lasers across the top of the all of the glaciers we can reach. The holoexperts believe that the melt caused in
this manner will not affect structural integrity of the glaciers.

Well begin after making one last series of trips to Worcester over the next week to get everything we think we may need in terms of back up equipment that will fit on the boat. Then we’re going to stop plowing 1/16 of a mile from the house and bus garage. The roadway and shoulder between here and Worcester is the only place not enclosed by the glacier. Obviously, it will take some time for the snow to build up to any appreciable height, so we’re going to assist that as well, pouring water over the area via a very complex method involving 3D printers. It’s all really complex but the diagrams make sense and it looks like it will work. Given the very low outdoor temps the water will freeze pretty much on contact, so the spray pattern is vital.

So we’ll be in a little bowl that will fill with water, eventually floating the boat, and very eventually lifting it up as high as possible. The hope is to get it as high as the tops of the glaciers, which would provide a much greater possibility of surviving calving incidents. There can be no guarantees but this seems like our best option.

Will we be able to achieve all of this? Hard to say. Will we be able to achieve it in time? Harder to say. But again, I want to maximize my chances for survival.

Next time: Whatever floats your boat.

[Wayne23]

2/12: 20-4, 11-3. #7, RPI #4. Tied with #17 Oregon for 1st with 3 teams 2 games back. We play Oregon there this week.

Marv Alph is #8 on the Norton list.

2/19: 22-4, 13-3, #6, RPI #5. We beat Oregon by 14 there so we’re alone in 1st. They lost their other game so we’re 2 up with 2 to play.

2/26: We end the regular season 24-4, 15-3, #6, RPI #5, winning the PAC 12 by 2 games. +13.3 PPG, +8.1 RBs, +2.8 TOs. Marv Alph is our guy but he gets lots of help, from Art Moon inside, and from our three guards, Wing, Smay, and Town. The rest is all role players, 4 guys who fill in at SF and PF, and combine for some very nice numbers.

Big hopes for the post season!

3/5: Only Jem Seal decides to go pro. He’s about #8 in the rotation. I thought Alph, and maybe Town would go, so this is great!

[Wayne23]

January 2141: The water is deep. I sounded it and it’s about 180 feet. Of course the glaciers are a mile high or more so there’s a long way to go. The sun finally broke through three weeks ago, and the average temps are slowly rising. The sun isn’t all that strong so, thankfully, melting will probably be slow. I need to dress warmly when I’m out of the HC, which is about 4-6 hours a day, depending on circumstances. I like to be on deck during the warmest part of the day. I’ve said how much I love being on the water so I take advantage when I can. Other times I’m out there just checking on things.

The robots are functioning very well. I have enough of them to keep them on shifts so that they get plenty of down time to recharge and to not wear out.

I keep busy with my HC programs. No need to use the holoyacht any more but there are lots of others. I coach a hoops team, Michigan right now, and they’re doing well. I’m back to mountain climbing in the Andes. I’m breeding tropical fish, which my dad used to do a LONG time ago, and which I always wanted to try. I read a lot. I do some fiction writing.

I spend time with Stan and Ollie on the boat and with Dan and Hal in the HC. Gotta have my cats!

Not sure what lies ahead but this is a great life for now.

Next: Rain, snow, sleet, and melting.

[Wayne23]

3/9: #8 seed Wash. ST, 15-14, 8-10, won the play in. We have them in the quarter final.

3/10: 79-52. Never a game. 30 for Wing.

#4 seed USC, 20-9, 12-6, in the semis. They beat us by 8 there so we’re taking this seriously.

3/11: 65-67. Cold shooting all night long is what did us in. 32.8%, 16.7% on threes. We had the last shot and we missed it, which was the way the whole night went. The refs called it tight, and Moon, Alph, and Wing had to sit out way too much, but the same was true for USC and their starters. We just didn’t make shots.

Winning the tourney would have gotten us a #1 seed. This loss may drop us to a 3. I’m hoping for a 2 though.

3/12: USC won the tourney.

We’re 25-5, 15-3, #6, RPI #5 so a #2 is certainly a strong possibility.

#2 East. We play Oakland, 18-12. Tough bracket, the #1 is undefeated Duke.

3/16: 69-62. They wouldn’t quit, and we didn’t shoot much better than against USC. 24 and 8 for Alph and +10 TOs got us through.

#7 seed, #16 ranked Chattanooga, 27-8, is next.

3/18: 69-72. The shooting slump did us in. 6-33 on threes. They sat in a tight 2-3 and made us shoot the long shot and we couldn’t hit.

Disappointing end to a good season.

4/3: #5 Virginia wins it all.

4/4: Awards: Marv Alph makes 2nd team All American. In conf., Marv makes 1st team, and that’s it. We were robbed.

4/9: Texas really wants me but I’m not going anywhere.

4/23: We ask for money. We get $22,500.

26-6, 15-3. Overall, I’m 364-129, .738. We hope to challenge for the national title next season.

[Wayne23]

April, 2141: Three solid months of wet. Depending on temps it has been snow, sleet, or rain, but it is nonstop and heavy. This has accelerated the melting of the glaciers, of course, and soundings tell me the boat is in about 550 feet of water. That may be 1/10th as high as I need to be, but again, it’s progress. No sign of calving yet, not even the groans and cracking sounds that precede it. That’s good! This is an awfully small bowl I’m in.

Given the weather I am only on deck when I need to be there to check on things. That takes a couple of hours most days, and another couple checking below decks. I refuse to cut corners though. It’s too important to get everything right. I have had a few minor issues with robots and equipment, but nothing even close to serious. Things are running very smoothly. Stan and Ollie Want no part of being on deck, and they spend most of their time in the main bedroom. It’s not toasty warm in there, but they have fur coats and they seem fine. When I go into the HC they come with me. They still avoid Dan and Hal, who avoid them as well, but I set up spaces where they can do that.

My Michigan team got to the Sweet Sixteen, and 4 starters are back, so I’m hoping for a good season next year, but I’m taking a break from coaching for now.

I had a fall climbing a particularly tricky mountain in the Alps last week. I didn’t fall off the mountain but I dropped about 12 feet and got some really bad cuts and scrapes, contusions, abrasions. I had to call for the robotic ski patrol to get me out of there. I was too stunned to realize that saying “end program” would have gotten help to me quicker. Oh well. I’m on the mend. I’ll just need to take it easy for a week or so. Good time to catch up on reading and writing. It will be a challenge to do the check ups on the boat, but I’ll manage. If need be I can have a robot wheel me around in a wheelchair. I’ll definitely need to do that for at least the first couple of days. But, this fantastic body of mine always heals quickly.

Next: More weather, more melting. Signs of calving.

[Wayne23]

11/12: Somehow we’re only the #9 seed in the Coaches Classic. Makes no sense. We play #8 Stanford.

11/13: 88-71. We led by as many as 26. 29, 2, 6, 5 for Keb Wing. Our guards got 58 points.

#1 seed, #2 ranked Kansas in the 2nd round.

11/15: 85-75. We never trailed. 21 for Wing, 18, 6, 7 for Town, 13 for Calt, so the guards really came through again. The big guys are controlling the boards, so we have a lot going for us.

#4 seed, #15 ranked Cincinnati in the semifinals.

11/17: 79-63. More balanced scoring in this one. Sub guard Josh Calt, who has really played well, had 23 and 6, and our inside guys combined for 44 and 24. +13 RBs. Solid bench play.

#3 seed, #6 ranked Michigan for the title. They score a lot of points. We’ll need to slow them down.

11/19: 79-90. They’re a very good team, and can they score! We couldn’t keep up and we didn’t slow them down.

Oh well. It’s early, and we have plenty of time to get better at stopping a team that can light it up.

All 3 recruits signed, but still nowhere close to picking up that big man we’d like to find.

11/27: Great week. We beat #9 Seton Hall there by 13; Alph had 28 and 10. Then our bench had 38 in a home win vs. Miami. 5-1, #3, RPI #7.

12/4: 2 easy home wins against good teams. 7-1. We have a lot of weapons. Our 6th man, Josh Calt is a big time scorer, and #7 Ban New does a lot of things well. We’re #2 in the nation in RBs, and #4 in TOs.

Big test this week. #1 Virginia, here.

12/11: Another great week. We crushed KY here, and then beat #1 VA by 10, also here. 9-1, #2, RPI #3. Josh Calt is now going to start in place of Ryan Town.

12/25: 11-1, #2, RPI #3. +15.6 PPG, +12.7 RBs, +3.8 TOs. We have 7 very solid players and 2 more behind them who can get it done.

[Wayne23]

November, 2141: The wet weather is all but endless, still varying according to temp among snow, sleet, and rain. I suppose it’s gloomy, but that sort of thing never much bothered me. I ignore it, at least I ignore the psychological aspect. It makes the deck a slippery mess though and I am very careful. There’s a rescue program if I should fall overboard but I REALLY don’t want to need to use it!

The boat is in about 1400 feet of water, and the glaciers are shrinking.

There are sounds of cracking and splitting, which means calving will begin at some point. I’m hoping I can gain more altitude before that starts to happen but there’s really no way of knowing.

I’ve been paying a lot of attention to cooking lately. At 141 years old there are not a lot of interesting new recipes I haven’t tried, but variations on old themes help. I don’t focus on food, but it is a life pleasure and it deserves attention. I like to cook, and I like to experiment. Lately I’ve been craving the traditional dishes my mom used to make, and I’ve tried to recreate a lot of them. Some of them have been huge successes, and others I just can’t quite get right. She made a meat dressing as part of her traditional Thanksgiving dinner that was as good as anything I’ve ever eaten. I’ve gotten close, but I’ve never managed to duplicate hers, and I’d love to. I do a great job with her marinara sauce, though, and I have her meatloaf just as I remember it.

The fish breeding has been very successful. I’m concentrating on guppies and Siamese Fighting Fish (betas). The former are not that difficult to breed. It’s a matter of isolating the pairs I want. I have come up with some truly beautiful guppies.

The betas are very tricky, but I’ve succeeded there as well. Stan and Ollie would love to “help” with this project but somehow I find their motives suspect.

In a life this long it is important to keep coming up with new fascinations.

I keep physically active with my chores on the boat, but I exercise as well, mostly hiking and mountain climbing. I get banged up now and then, but as I’ve said, I heal quickly.

Next: Still more weather, first calving