Community Gardens Germany

 http://www.cityfarmer.org/german99.html

https://www.treehugger.com/german-allotment-gardens-kleingarten-4859448

https://www.dw.com/en/a-brief-guide-to-german-garden-colonies/a-39133787

Birds

Updating list of birds sighted.
Page references are, unless specified otherwise, to Lars Svensson et alia Birds of Europe Second Edition, Princeton Field Guides

Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) (P p.84) before I bought the bird book in April 2021. Seen in the KGV behind my apartment.

Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) (P p.372) on my kitchen window ledge April 2021. Perhaps house sparrow. Flew away before I could fully confirm. But seemed too small for house sparrow, and crisper, higher contrast markings than the illustrations on page 373 for house - more like tree.

Pigeon

Egyptian Goose (Alopochan aegyptica) May 2021 banks of Nidda River. Brown eye circle.

Common Swift (Apus apus) June 6 2021 by bird call along Lorscher Strasse.

give up and publish.

Frame the Cards

 Task: create a rectangle with playing cards of any one suit from A through 10 such that the total count of pips on each edge is the same. Here is an example that does not meet that restriction.

The total across the top is 20, bottom is 19, left side is 23, and right side is 22.

Here is an example that does meet that restriction.

All edges in this example total 20.

According to the source where I found this problem, Teaching Through Problems Worth Solving version 3.0 by Alicia Burdess and a few others, problem #27, Frame the Cards, there are 10 unique solutions to this problem. By unique I assume simple rotations and reflections are out, as would be a solution that simply swaps the position of two inner cards on the sides with four cards. I wanted to find solutions and, if possible, figure out an easily articulated rule for generating solutions.

First thing I realized was that only certain totals for each side are possible. The total of all numbers from one to ten is 55 (cue the standard math teacher story about a young Gauss). But each corner card would be counted twice in a total. The highest the corner cards could be is 10, 9, 8, and 7, totaling 34. But 55+34 is 89, and 89 isn't evenly divisible by 4, so that can't be a solution. The highest possible corner card total is 33, which would make the total on each edge 22, if we can work it out right.

Similarly the lowest total for corners is 10 (1+2+3+4), but that also gives a total count of 65 which isn't divisible by four; same problem as above. So the lowest workable corner total is 13, making each edge 17, if we can work it.

Because we need a total that is divisible by four, the total for the corners can only be 13, 17, 21, 25, 29, and 33. This significantly narrows down the possibilities if I want to try brute force solving.

If we start at the high end, the only way to make 88 is with corners 10, 9, 8, 6. I know I am aiming for a total of 22 to an edge, I know if I try 10, 3, 9 across the top that leaves 8 and 6 in the bottom corners. I would need another 8 to make that 22, so this isn't possible. It also starts me thinking about what corners are possible. What if the top were 10, 4, 8 and the bottom is 9, 7, 6. That would force the left edge to be 10, A, 2, 9 and the right edge 8, 3, 5, 6.

Great! I know it is possible to find a solution. Is there any other solution with these corner values? The only grouping I didn't try is 10, 6, which needs another 6, so that isn't possible. This must be the only solution with 22 to an edge.

So I realize that I can filter possibilities for appropriate corner combinations. Once I filter for the corner there must be a way to filter for the corner placements as well. If I consider the low corner total of 13 there are only three combinations to make this total; {1,2,3,7}, {1,2,4,6}, and{1,3,4,5}. Remember that a corner total of 13 forces an edge total of 17.

Since there are two edges (which I'm putting on top and bottom) composed of three cards, I need to be able to make the edge total two ways with the grouping of cards. There are a low finite number of distinct corner placements. In the first case, of {1,2,3,7} I can only have 1,2 and 3,7, or 1,3 and 2,7, or 1,7 and 2,3. There is no third card to bring 1,2 up to the target 17. Same for 1,3. Same for 2,3. So I can conclude it is not possible to work this puzzle with an edge total of 17.

The analysis for the 17 edge case was fairly quick, because there are so few combinations of cards for the corners. But the number quickly increases with higher numbers. I need a better way to analyze this.

Next higher than the 17 edge is an 18 edge. This requires corner cards totaling 17, which can be made in nine ways, with {1,2,4,10}, {1,2,5,9}, {1,2,6,8}, {1,3,4,9}, {1,3,5,8}, {1,3,6,7}, {1,4,5,7}, {2,3,4,8}, and {2,3,5,7}. As before there is no third card to bring 1,2 or 1,4 or 2,4 up to the required 18, so the first combo is out. On the other hand, at first glance {1,2,5,9} looks like a possibility.

I'm not thinking of a good way to do this analytically, so I will use a Python script (running on my TI-84 Python Edition) to identify quintuples of interest. I will use for loops to run through all quintuples, and test for possibility of generating the desired edge total. I won't brute-force for all solutions this way, but rather will narrow down the possible corner combinations to look at. I'm hoping I will see some pattern in those numbers.

Weimar Food Memories April 2022

Food on Weimar trip, April 2022.

Tuesday 19 April

36 Pho 

Kaufstraße 5 order pho nam and a Saigon beer

I liked. Portion seemed small (is that possible for a bowl of noodle soup?) so I supplemented with their baked spring rolls and dessert of a tapioca/sweet potato/banana/and a few other ingredients. Perfect. 

Wednesday 20 April

Bratwurst stand

Formosa

Tofu with hundred year eggs. Beef soup with noodles. Buns with bean paste.

Thursday 21 April

Erbenhof breakfast buffet good variety.

Scharf Ecke

Rinder gulasche (Seiko schweine schnitzel)

Creperie du Palais

Adventures in Disability

 On Wednesday 4th of May while bicycling to work I had a mishap which toppled me. In the fall I apparently twisted my leg to the point that I was unable to walk. I immediately notified my employer that I would not be in due to a accident on my commute (I had been told several times over my stay in Germany that an accident during a commute is considered a workplace accident and has more extensive insurance coverage than any other routine mishap).

My wife had visited an orthopedist not far from the accident location, so using my (damaged) bicycle as a support I hobbled over there without an appointment. It's not their fault that my German is so weak, but the people in that office have minimal English, so communication was not free-flowing. At any rate, the doctor saw me.

At each stage I emphasized this happened during my commute to work. They took x-rays (which are called Röntgen, corresponding to the Japanese word for x-rays, so I understood) and after a while the doctor told me - the good news is no bones are broken; the bad news is there is damage to the medial collateral ligament (MCL) and perhaps the cruciate ligaments as well.

He prescribed an analgesic called Novalgin, had a nearby orthosis shop bring a pair of crutches, told me to get an MRI (called MRT in German, the T being for tomography), and said he would see me again after the MRT.

First problem. I tried to arrange the MRT, and the facility he suggested had no openings until early June. So I searched and found they had other branches, and one had an appointment the next day. Booked online, because that allows me to compensate for my language failings and translate things. But when I went for my appointment, it turned out I had booked a different branch. Yikes! But the receptionist was VERY friendly and rebooked me for that facility on Saturday. This place was relatively nice because it is so accessible by public transportation (my ability to walk was severely limited), so I went ahead.

Saturday the MRT went mostly as expected. Check in, and go to one waiting room. Later be ushered to another waiting room closer to the MRT machines. Dump all metal-containing objects in a locker and lay down on the MRT platform. They did not fully support my leg, so once the procedure started I could feel that I was trembling a little bit. After about ten minutes, done.

Tuesday I saw my orthopedist again. No surgery needed. Prescription for a knee brace orthosis. Instructions to put limited weight on the leg, if I don't feel pain.

This has been draft for three years. I'm fully healed. I may edit this later. I had to switch to an Unfal doctor (accident) because it was a work related injury. Found a good doctor in Bockenheim (not far from me) who was teach doctor for a few professional teams, and same building had a PT guy, Schmidt. They were good. Back in USA, not much from PT people, but on my own began regular Pilates and TRX work, and my knee is back as good (or better?) than before.