My Wordle Strategy With “M” Words

You might recall that my starting Wordle word is STEAM, that my strategy is to enter guesses that end in Y, and that I like to choose words that contain repeated letters.¹

If the letter M were flagged as correct but in the wrong position (STEAM), my next guess would be MOMMY.  After this, I'd know how many Ms were in the word and where they're located.

But what if M were in the correct position (STEAM)?; Then I'd probably choose OPIUM, which would determine what the vowel(s) would be.  I don't recall this ever happened to me; for this post I've relied on the Word Finder tool at Word Hippo.²

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¹ https://ludditegeek.blogspot.com/2023/11/introducing-my-wordle-strategy.html

² https://www.wordhippo.com/what-is/word-finder-unscrambler.html

The Tissue Paper IQ Test

Tissues that come in cube-shaped boxes, “aka “cubes,” cost at least twice as much per tissue than those in the rectangular-shaped boxes. Both boxes cost about the same. But the cubes usually contain less than half the number of tissues as the rectangular-shaped boxes.

And yet my wife insists that I buy cubes. They take up less space on tables and the toilet tank; this is true, I admit. But still, I buy the rectangulars and then transfer the tissues into two empty cubes.

She complains about this and tries to throw away the empty cubes before I can refill them. But I persist.

I just can’t bring myself to buy cubes. I imagine the folks that monitor the security cameras look for people who are too stupid to realize that cubes are a bad deal. And then they post pictures of their subjects on some special website, similar to “People of Walmart.”

Is there a website called “People Who Pay Two Times More Than Necessary For Tissues” out there?  I doubt it, but I’m not taking any chances.

Cybersecurity for Teachers

A kind reader suggested I share this cybersecurity resource for teachers:
https://www.vpnmentor.com/blog/teachers-guide-to-cybersecurity/

Here’s a brief overview of the topics it covers:

• How Students Put You in Danger
• The Internet in Your Classroom
• The Hazards of Cyberbullying
• An Educational Solution
• Tips and Lesson Plans for Teachers

Thank you, RM!

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LudditeGeek is not associated with vpnMentor, nor received any compensation for this post.

Excel VBA -- Named Range Automation

A few weeks ago, I was working with an Excel workbook that had 18 sheets that were similar in structure. Half the sheets had names L1_1, L1_2, … L1_9; the other half, R1_1, R1_2, … R1_9. They contained dimensions of structures on the left and right of a substrate.

I wanted to display a summary of a few averages from each sheet on a new sheet. I knew this would involve the tedious process of selecting a range of cells for each average, so I decided I would write VBA code to create a named range for each group of cells that I wanted averaged.

I turned on the Macro Recorder and then manually created the range so I could get some idea of what object and property to set. It recorded this:

    ActiveWorkbook.Names.Add "PGC_1”, "=L1_1!$D$3:$D$84"

This told me that the Add method of the Names collection would require the Name and the Address of the desired named range.  And so I wrote this subroutine:

Sub CreateNamedRanges()
Dim objN As Name
Dim i As Integer, s As String

For i = 1 To 9

s = CStr(i)

ActiveWorkbook.Names.Add "PGC_" & s, "=L1_" & s & "!$D$3:$D$84"

ActiveWorkbook.Names.Add "PGL_" & s, "=L1_" & s & "!$D$190:$D$376"

ActiveWorkbook.Names.Add "PTL_" & s, "=L1_" & s & "!$D$101:$D$173"

ActiveWorkbook.Names.Add "PGR_" & s, "=R1_" & s & "!$D$190:$D$376"

ActiveWorkbook.Names.Add "PTR_" & s, "=R1_" & s & "!$D$101:$D$173"

Next i

For Each objN In ActiveWorkbook.Names

Debug.Print objN.Name, objN.RefersTo

Next

End Sub

But the code crashed on the fourth Add method; it complained about an invalid address.

It didn’t make sense. I looked carefully at the fourth Add method. There were no illegal characters or trailing whitespace or other pitfalls. I found references to the error online, but none of the content pertained to what I was working on.

Eventually it dawned on me that perhaps Excel was confusing the “=R1_” & s as an R1C1 style address. Perhaps I needed to make sure it knew that “=R1_” & s was a sheet name. And so I placed two single quotes in each address: one right after the equal sign, and one right before the exclamation mark, like this: "=’R1_" & s & "’!$D$190:$D$376"

After this correction, the code ran quickly.

Results From the Cold Water Experiment

Soon after COVID-19 arrived in USA, infectious disease experts were motivating us to wash our hands. I’d hear (paraphrased) “It doesn’t make a difference if you use warm water or cold, just wash them.” ¹

Then oil prices rose, and it cost more to run the furnace for heat and hot water.

And the pièce de résistance was from a mental health webinar that said cold showers produce a rise in dopamine (among other feel-good neurotransmitters). ^{2, 3}

This trifecta of accolades for cold water motivated me to cut back on hot water use. Besides, I’ve always looked for ways to reduce my Carbon Footprint. ⁴

So I used only cold water to wash my glasses, hands and face and to brush my teeth. I still used warm water for showering and shaving, though.

One immediate benefit was that I spent less time at the sink – I didn’t have to wait for the warm water to reach the faucet.

Then, when the oil was delivered, I was amazed to see that we needed about 40% less to fill the tank.

As for my mood, I feel pretty good considering it’s the bleakest time of the year in New England.

However, one side effect was pointed out to me during a recent screening for skin cancer. I mentioned that my fingertips were “taking a beating” in the cold weather. The dermatologist diagnosed me with Raynaud’s Syndrome. She suggested that I see a cardiologist or vascular specialist who might prescribe a vasodialator. “In the mean time, keep your hands warm. You can get thin silk gloves to fit under your regular gloves.” I decided not to mention that:

• I do not wear gloves;

• I keep the house at 66 F (19 C);

• I wash my hands with cold water.

All of the above results in vasoconstriction.

I’ve had cold hands for as long as I can remember; my mother taught me to wash my hands with cold water. I believe she was trying prevent me from getting scalded if I accidentally turned on the hot water too much.

As a young adult I read about how Vitamin E is good for blood circulation; ⁵ I figured it would improve blood flow to my hands, so I started taking it when I was a young adult. It did help. As a less young adult, I switched my breakfast from cereal and milk to almond butter and blueberries on rice cakes. Almonds are naturally high in Vitamin E, so my hands continued to feel well. But I heard that almond trees require a great deal of water, and truckloads of bees were needed in order pollinate them. And then I jumped on the “supper is the new breakfast” bandwagon.

I just started taking Vitamin E again last week; already I feel some improvement in my hands. I wonder if it will keep my blood pressure down, too.

¹ https://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/faqs.html

² https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9953392/

³ https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4Q1s9Tyb9ZZmyqZhQk489FS/why-we-should-all-be-taking-cold-showers

⁴ https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/what-is-a-carbon-footprint-how-to-measure-yours

⁵ https://www.faim.org/the-great-antioxidant-vitamin-e

The Great Task

The best thing that Democrats and Independents can do to keep Trump out of the White House is to register as Republicans and vote for Nikki Haley in their states’ primaries. You don’t have to vote for her in the general election.

Learn about how to change party affiliation; the U.S. Election Assistance Commission describes how here:
https://www.eac.gov/how-do-i-change-my-political-party-affiliation

As of today, there are no statements on her website about where she stands on key issues.  But you can learn a little bit more about Nikki Haley here:
https://www.npr.org/2023/02/15/1157122486/nikki-haley-confederate-flag-race-president-2024

Her voting record is shown here:
https://justfacts.votesmart.org/candidate/key-votes/47879/nikki-haley

The Great Task, this post’s title, is the name of a recently created PAC that was formed to prevent Donald Trump from winning the Republican primary in 2024.

My Wordle Strategy With “A” Words

I wrote a few weeks ago about Wordle, and that my starting word is STEAM.¹

As well, I wrote that my strategy is to enter guesses that end in Y, and to choose words that contain repeated letters.

Suppose the letter A was flagged as correct but in the wrong position (STEAM). My next guess would be AGAIN.

But suppose the letter A was flagged as correct and in the correct position (STEAM). My next guess might be AURAL to check for the double A, or more likely FORAY to check for a trailing Y.  LUNAR also is tempting, since the letters L, N and R occur commonly.

I’ll follow up with more second guess words next week. Meanwhile, please let me know what your starting word is and why.

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¹ https://ludditegeek.blogspot.com/2023/11/introducing-my-wordle-strategy.html