YAP

Yet Another Procession. Hearing loud fireworks overhead for the better part of a half hour this afternoon, I was wondering what the heck was going on. When Laura got home from class, she said there was another procession going on. They do like their processions here in Sevilla.

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The Galilean thermometer was damaged in shipping, so I ordered a replacement:

It arrived today. It's all glass and a wonder that these items ever survive shipping. This one is intact. I'm going to ship the damaged one back tomorrow using the packaging that this one came in.

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The days are getting longer and longer here as we approach the summer solstice:

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Learned a bit about my clustering problem today. Turns out the clusters were mostly sorting the students by their grade point averages. I'm going to try a different approach tomorrow by normalizing the grade point vectors and hope for more interesting clusters.

Explore/exploit

I am enjoying the book Algorithms to Live By. The tension between exploring and exploiting is an interesting dichotomy. For example, you decide to go out for a meal. Do you go to a restaurant that you like and is familiar? (exploit) Or, try a new restaurant? (explore) In this context, the word exploit doesn't have negative connotations, it simply means that you make a decision by exploiting (using) information that you have. By contrast, the word explore means to intentionally choose an option about which little is known. There are a number of applications discussed in the book from studies of randomized medical trials to choosing the best slot machine in a casino. While a number of variations of the explore/exploit question, often it boils down to how much time you're willing to commit to gathering information. A young person with many years of life left, is more willing to explore. An older person, with perhaps only a few years of life left, is more apt to exploit. Or, to be less morbid, if you are going to move across the country tomorrow, you're more likely to go to the restaurant that you know and love than to try a completely new restaurant on your final night in town.

There are algorithms that help you balance the explore/exploit so as to maximize payoff. After all, you may like your regular restaurant, but if you don't explore, you may never learn about the restaurant around the corner that's 10 times better! The simplest, and one of the most effective algorithms, is the win-stay, lose-switch algorithm. Exploit until you "lose", then switch to something new. Of course, real life isn't so simple, but it's a fun problem to wrestle with mathematically.

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I had Spanish class today. I'm paid up through next week. I haven't decided whether I'll continue after that even though the class does continue. Right now I'm leaning towards buying two more weeks which would put me at the week when my sister and her family arrive for their week-long visit. After that, we only have two weeks left in Spain.

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I went down to the river to take a few pictures. The moon was almost full:

Lots of rowers out:

The (best) bridge and its shadows in the evening light:

The neighborhood trash and recycling center, haha:

Happy birthday pop.

It's been about 12 years since my dad died, but I always feel it a bit more on May 14th, his birthday. He would have been 83. It's hard for me to imagine what he would've been like as an 83 year old man, but I'm sure it would have been entertaining.

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On a whim, I took a selfie of me doing a side plank in the gym:

I like how weird my arm looks.

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As our time here nears its conclusion, I keep wanting to capture some of the sights I saw every day. This picture of San Jacinto as I walk out of our side street is a view I saw hundreds of times this year:

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Referring back to my homework assignment from Spanish class yesterday, I found this sign that prohibits public urination on our street:

The graphic is pretty clever.

Galilean Thermometer

This is a Galilean thermometer:

This column of liquid contains a few bubbles of different density. As the temperature drops, the bubbles float to the top. The lowest one at the top is the temperature. In this case, it's somewhat warm and only one bubble is at the top, 26 degrees centigrade.

I only mention this because, when we moved into the flat last July, there was a thermometer like this. Sometime in Feb, I knocked it over and broke it (it was a mess because the liquid inside is some kind of oil, luckily it only splashed on the tile floor). Regardless, I found a replacement today and this is it.

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Spanish class resumed today. My listening was pretty good. My speaking still sucks. I got to do my presentation on things one should do if they visit Walla Walla. We didn't get to the other exercise where I find pictures around town that prohibit, recommend, or permit various activities. Although I only found one anyway:

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Juli left around 2pm. She took an uber to the train station and a train to Madrid to spend a week with some other friends before returning to Walla Walla. Laura helped me to move my "office" back into the guest room. It's nice to be back in there--especially now that it's getting hot. The guest room has an air conditioner:

Take me to the river

It was hot and sunny here today going up to 95 degrees. Instead of the gym, I decide to test my foot and go for a brisk walk along the river:

A lot of trees and flowers are in full bloom and the pollen counts are very high. Laura has really struggled with hay fever these past few days. Hopefully it won't last too much longer.

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I talked to Rachel a bit this afternoon.

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Juli spent most of the day with her host family from her study abroad time here.

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Laura tried to avoid pollen. Sadly, that's nearly impossible.