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Well, I am still alive.. barely. Work has been stressful, as always, and the heat wave we’re on the tail-end of was miserable. I must be sure to get an attic fan installed this Fall! All of that aside, things are going pretty well really.

Over the past month or so I’ve been taking Go lessons with a 6 dan (the highest rank is 9 dan) from the UK and it’s been very helpful. My strength seems to be slowly on the rise, so long as I put time and effort into my games. My inconsistency comes from playing games too fast and without a lot of thought. These fast games are fun in thier own right, but they tend to have more luck involved.. For instance, if I was playing a 2 minute game with 10 seconds of byo-yomi then very shortly into the game I have to make a move every 10 seconds and that’s just not enough time to consider the good and bad of each move. If I make a serious blunder then my opponent wins, and vice versa. Typically, a game will last between 1 and 2 hours and that is about the right length for my level of play. I’ve been playing under another account on KGS when I only have a short time and plan to play these blitz type games.. Ranking doesn’t really matter so much overall, but I’d like for my ranking on ‘hal05′ to more closely represent my actual strength.

What a great game, it’s hard to believe that I’ve been playing this for just over 2 years now!