Lexigame Community
General Category => Whatever => Topic started by: Jacki on March 17, 2020, 08:28:35 AM
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Alan, with unprecedented times, and so many people who will be quarantined, I am so grateful I've got Chihuhua to pass the time. I don't have the virus as yet, however I suppose it's pretty much inevitable. Perhaps we need a couple more games each day for say the next few months? I'd love a 3pm game and a 3am game!
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I'm not sure that there's a need for me to do anything to enable people to play more puzzles each day. Chihuahua already has two methods for players to create and play their own puzzles in unlimited numbers.
There are random puzzles, that you can create with the same selector used to go to a particular day's puzzle.
(https://theforum.lexigame.com/selectrandom.png)
Random puzzles are just for one player, but under the "Your Puzzles" tab players can create puzzles and "publish" them so other people can play the puzzle and compete on the scoreboard. There are full instructions on the Help pages (https://chi.lexigame.com/help02/yourpuz.html). Every day there are a number of puzzles created and shared, but currently only a few people play these puzzles. Perhaps I haven't done enough to publicize this feature.
You could create and publish several puzzles each day, at specific times, and, via the forum, encourage anyone who wants to to play these puzzles. Puzzles can be defined as running for 24 hours, or a shorter time if you wish.
Could this meet your wish for extra puzzles, Jacki? Incidentally, are you sure you should be playing puzzles at 3am?!
Anyhow, stay well, so far as it's in your power - and that applies to all forumites of course.
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Another puzzle or two would be most welcome, but I must add that we should not ignore our responsibilities to our friends and to our communities. Here in the US we have very little support for hourly workers who have no benefits, no sick days, nothing.
I met a friend this evening and overheard her immediate fears. She was in tears, being "just that close" to making rent for the month but if her workplace shut down she would be homeless. She dried her tears and got back with the rest of us. Others had also overheard, and they said she could "call if she needed anything". Alan, please pardon my language, but screw that. I slipped her enough money to make rent and buy some groceries. It didn't take much, but a small sum of money can be a big obstacle if you don't have it.
That gave me an idea. Andy's soup kitchen is open for business!
We should not disparage soup. This can be not only nutritious and cost effective, but breathtakingly delicious. No, these are not soups out of a can.
I had been scheduled to help teach at a music festival this coming weekend, but the festival was cancelled. I still have the time off, but nothing to do . . . maybe cook some food for people who need it? Probably not a bad idea.
- A
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Gosh Alan. I've been playing these games for many years and I never knew there was a "random puzzle" available below each of the daily puzzles. I've only ever played extra puzzles on the "Your Puzzles" tab. You live and learn. I deserve a good ticking off for not being more observant. I feel, therefore, that the current availability of puzzles is more than enough to keep us going all through this pestilence and into our next life. Thank you for enlightening me.
Good grief, Jacki. 3am? You must be an insomniac! Or a puzzle addict.
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The 3am was just in case I get Coronavirus and can't sleep! Although I do dream about words for Chihuahua! And I didn't know about the random puzzle either so that's great. Thanks and yes to everyone else, I echo Alan's sentiments "stay safe."
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Another one who didn't know about the random puzzle
took me a while to locate it !!
Hoping to avoid Covid 19, living in the sticks helps and and it hasn't reach
the Riverland YET
Hoping all Chi players stay well
What I want to know, why was there a run in Supermarkets on Cat Litter ???
Carol
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Really, Carol? Cat litter? Utterly bizarre. Perhaps it's the cat equivalent of toilet paper.
Yes, indeed, Chi friends near and far. Do stay fit and healthy and virus-free. As you say, Carol, living in "the sticks" does help. And, unlike the city folk with only supermarkets to choose from, we are fortunate still to have our local butchers, bakers and candlestick makers who are currently well stocked with supplies.
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I'm in Costa Rica on a birding tour at the moment, at the end of day 5 of a 24 day trip. There's a good deal of concern about getting home and no one seems to know what to do for the best. There must be thousands of tourists here so I imagine the airport is chaotic (and no doubt a great breeding ground for infection), but if we continue the tour to the end we might get stuck here. Not a good time to be out of one's own country!
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Oh Pat, that's not good.
Our Prime Minister has just warned all Australians to return home ASAP, so I don't know whether that means the government is contemplating closing the borders to all arrivals.
Stay safe, indeed.
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Pat, please stay in touch as you’re able. I know we’re all rooting for your safe journey. — Paula
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Enjoy your trip......love the experience....and deal with the consequences!!!!
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The entire medical profession recommends "social distancing". I guess you can never be too safe . . .
Photo taken by my lovely bride 15 March 2020.
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I'm in Costa Rica on a birding tour at the moment, at the end of day 5 of a 24 day trip. There's a good deal of concern about getting home and no one seems to know what to do for the best. There must be thousands of tourists here so I imagine the airport is chaotic (and no doubt a great breeding ground for infection), but if we continue the tour to the end we might get stuck here. Not a good time to be out of one's own country!
I'm in the opposite predicament: I'm still scheduled for the trip beginning April 16 and assume, but don't know if, it is going to be canceled. And I just learned today that our State Department is urging all citizens outside the country to return, just as the Australian government is.
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Photo taken by my lovely bride 15 March 2020.
What a beautiful view A :)
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Regarding the soup kitchen, I really messed up the first batch. I overcooked the onions. I later came to realize that it tasted better that way, with well browned onions like you would see in a French onion soup. I might have to mess up like this more often.
I also tried something new in the delivery. I baked some bricks at 200F (95C) and packed a picnic cooler with the bricks and the tubs of soup. The additional thermal mass of the hot bricks kept the soup hot, even for the last delivery across town. Food safety is important, with or without a virus.
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The trick is to undercook the onions. Everybody is going to get to know each other in the pot.
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Enjoy your trip......love the experience....and deal with the consequences!!!!
Easier said than done! The trip has been cancelled as of next Tuesday, 12 days early, and everyone except me has found a flight home. I'm really struggling - most of them seem to go via Canada which is not an option as I don't have a transit visa. Ditto the USA although I should be able to get one online. But then I have the problem of not being allowed into the USA within 14 days of being in the UK...
It's a real worry. If I don't get out within the next few days I might be stuck here indefinitely.
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Is it possible that you can stay in the airport transit area until your flight to UK departs?
That way, technically, you are not entering the US.
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Apparently airlines check if you have the appropriate visa when you check in and if you don't have it they don't allow you to board.
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Pat try Canadian visas. They are also available on line. We got those a couple of years ago. Keep you chin up!
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A long and expensive way out could be as follows:
[1] Santiago in Chile;
[2] Trans-Pacific flight from there to Sydney, Australia;
[3] Another long flight to Singapore;
[4] Flight from Singapore to Dubai;
[5] Flight from Dubai to Heathrow (on a nice comfy Emirates A380 with lots of leg room).
Doing it this way would probably blow a £3K hole in your wallet, and involve you in a logistical and bureaucratic nightmare, but if you're able to bypass the USA this way, at least it'll get you home.
The problematic bit might be Australia, which tends to be a bit strict about bringing unwanted micro-organisms with you, but I suspect if you're not intending to stop in Australia, you might be able to get around this.
The other way out is to find your nearest British Embassy, and see if they can dig you out of the hole. This webpage (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/how-to-deal-with-a-crisis-overseas) might be the first step in digging you out of that hole.
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The tour company I'm here with managed to find me a flight this morning at the princely sum of £2800! As I was feeling physically sick with worry it didn't really matter that it was so expensive - I was just relieved to have a flight home. Now I just have to hope that nothing drastic happens before Friday.
Ironically, staying here would be much safer than going back to the UK. Some places we were supposed to stay at have closed down and the national parks are all closed, but by and large Costa Rica seems to be continuing as usual. The most danger I'll be in will be on the flights.
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There's been some speculation about the role weather conditions play in the transmission of the disease. It does seem that the countries most severely affected so far are in a band of similar latitudes in the northern hemisphere. Tropical and southern hemisphere locations have got off relatively lightly.
If this is true it could mean countries like Australia will suffer the worst of the virus beginning in about June.
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Fingers crossed for a safe trip home, Pat. I hope you have some good memories of the tour to look back on, when you are able to relax. That was actually the sentiment behind my previous post....which came out sounding a bit heartless. Sorry, it wasn't meant that way. Moyra.
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Don't worry, Moyra. I took your comment in the way I think you intended it.
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I love the way we care about each other in this forum. See the worry about Mike in another thread. I trust you will get home safely without too much extra expense, Pat. Please keep us informed. We do care.
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Very well put Jack.
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Well I'm playing my first random puzzle and can report I'm still suffering from LWS (last word syndrome)!!
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That syndrome is probably not contagious, but is possibly endemic!
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With massive relief I got home last night, transiting through Madrid airport which was practically deserted. In fact the departures board showed only 5 more flights after mine so maybe it's closed now. I had several gut-churning moments in Costa Rica, worried that my flights would be cancelled at the last minute. I was reading today that Brits stranded in New Zealand are being asked for up to £40,000 for a flight back to the UK - my one-way flight for £2,800 was peanuts compared to that!
I took this photo as were were descending into Heathrow airport which was as deserted as Madrid. London roads have never been seen like this before.
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Pleased to read you're safely home Pat. What a huge relief. Can't believe that picture you took! It's all so unsettling & scary.
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Have a good rest and then look at the nice pictures of birds that you usually take.
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Happy to see you home Pat
Now all you have to do is avoid the virus and get some food in :-H
look forward to seeing your pics
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Add my best wishes to everyone else's, Pat.
Mike
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So pleased you made it home
Carol
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Great news, Pat
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Thanks for the well wishes, folks. It surely is a nice community here. I hope all forumites, indeed all Chi players, wherever they are, are looking after themselves and staying as safe as possible.
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Pat, I’m so pleased you got home safely. Now please stay safe!
Madeleine
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I always knew birdwatching was a precarious pastime, Pat! Glad to hear you are safely home. Keep safe.
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Linda, really! Actually it can be precarious if you're not careful. On one of my previous trips the tour leader told us that just after he'd advised some clients not to get too near the edge of a cliff he did just that himself and went over it. He was still suffering from the after effects of that fall. But thanks for the well wishes anyway, and thanks to you, too, Madeleine.
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It seems that people spending more time at home may be causing an increase in the number of Chi players. I've noticed there have been more than 700 players of the Standard puzzle on a few recent days, which is unusual. Here's a graph of the number of players of each of the daily puzzles so far this year. It looks like there's been an upward trend, especially in the past week.
(https://theforum.lexigame.com/dailyplayers2020.png)
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So glad to hear that you are home safe, Pat! My flight to Costa Rica still hasn't been cancelled, though I cannot imagine why. Maybe they are waiting to see if the country extends the anti-tourist ban (well, you can come if you want to stay housebound for 14 days). I can't imagine that they would let me in anyway since I'm coming from the epicenter in the U.S.
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I wonder if some businesses are playing the waiting game, Birdy. I don't know what the legal position is regarding refunds, but perhaps they hope that if the customer makes the decision to cancel they, the company, won't have to pay out. Birdquest, the company I went to Costa Rica with, at first refused to cancel the tour, even though people were looking for early flights home. It was only when they felt they had no option, presumably because some of our forthcoming accommodations were closing, that they finally cancelled it.
Apparently the rules are being changed to help prevent tour companies from going out of business. Birdquest seemed to be quite fair about calculating the amount of the refund but seized on the opportunity afforded them by the new rules to say that instead of returning the money they would keep it in lieu of (part) payment for any future tour with them, and if no tour is booked they would keep it for two years. The refund amount is $4700. They'd found and paid for my flight home and they at least agreed to deduct the cost of that from what they owe me, but refused to repay me the balance. It may be that I could pursue it through the courts but that would cost me even more. On top of that, should I be fortunate enough to get a refund for the return portion of my original flight it will also be in the form of a voucher. I believe you're within your rights to demand a cash refund but if you've booked through Opodo - forget it!
And needless to say, my holiday insurance, no doubt in line with all others, has a general exclusion for anything to do with a pandemic. Having said all that I do understand that compared with those poor souls who've temporarily lost their income or even lost loved ones to the virus I have nothing to complain about.
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It seems that people spending more time at home may be causing an increase in the number of Chi players. I've noticed there have been more than 700 players of the Standard puzzle on a few recent days, which is unusual.
Does that include 'Your Puzzles', Alan?
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Does that include 'Your Puzzles', Alan?
No, TRex, that's only the four daily puzzles. There doesn't seem to be such a definite trend in Your Puzzles or in random puzzles.
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I've been using the 'Your Puzzles' quite a bit recently. I prefer to set the length to 10 minutes.
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I didn't know you could set the length! That explains a few things.
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I didn't know you could set the length! That explains a few things.
???
What things?
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Actually I've just realised I was getting mixed up with the Random puzzles. I was playing one and left it and when I went back a few hours later it had disappeared.
How do you adjust the time in Your Puzzles?
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Jacki, a random puzzle you've started playing shouldn't disappear unless you look at the solution or bring up a new random puzzle. Maybe there's a flaw in the system. (Surely not!) Has anyone else had the experience of a random puzzle not being there when they try to go back to it?
When you create a new puzzle in Your Puzzles, there's a section down the bottom headed "Close puzzle:" where you can choose the life of the puzzle. See https://chi.lexigame.com/help02/newpuz.html.