Xiaoyan dropped Hamer at school before leaving for Handan on a business trip.

At work, I completed a major cleanup of our MCP server projects—adding tests, updating pyproject.toml, managing dependencies, and refreshing READMEs—wrapping it up by 8 p.m.

In the evening, I briefly reviewed Hamer’s math homework. She delighted in role-playing as the teacher and reading her Chinese characters aloud. Later, she practiced the Rubik’s cube—her finger movements growing more confident—even as sleepiness soon set in.

Tonight was my first real attempt this year to help Hamer with her homework. She pointed three enhancements after my requesting: no asking her to explain answers, no interrupting her snacks, and she’d prefer Mom help instead.

Her teacher had shared extra exercises and called to discuss her struggles—rushing through problems, getting distracted, or not fully grasping concepts. It made me realize I need to be more involved in her learning going forward.

In the morning, Xiaoyan took Hamer to school. Hamer joked, “Do you even know where my school is?”—a funny moment between them.

At work, I focused on MCP transport types, explored uv, and began organizing the project for long-term maintenance. Slow but satisfying progress.

This morning’s meeting felt dull—low energy all around, and I wasn’t in top form either. I hate feeling that way but haven’t figured out how to fix it yet.

I continued refining the MCP server based on ArcGIS Portal Service, uncovering more subtle issues as I went.

In the afternoon, I had the next stage of my root canal—cavity filling and crown prep. Thankfully, it wasn’t painful.

Evening was spent fixing Xiaoyan’s Line account. After trying and failing to recover it with a temporary number from sms-man, we had to start fresh—meaning re-adding all her contacts.

On the tech front, I signed up for WildCard, activated Anthropic’s API, and tested Claude Code. With Gemini available via Google AI Studio, I’ll hold off for now. Next up: exploring the llm CLI tool with its Gemini and Anthropic plugins. Looking forward to diving deeper.

I woke up early and dove back into the official MCP docs—so well written that re-reading them sparked new insights. It helped me refine some lingering thoughts from yesterday’s discussion, giving me more clarity moving forward.

The morning was filled with meetings. Our usual weekly session felt oddly quiet with few attendees, but the room filled quickly for Zhongzhi’s presentation on supplemental medical insurance—a stark contrast.

Before lunch, there is an update on the UC planning, maybe there still a chance.

In the afternoon, I focused on the Portal Service MCP server using Cursor and Claude 3.7 Sonnet. But this time, the generated results didn’t click. I spent hours debugging with little progress. It made me think: maybe it’s time to go back to basics and handwrite the logic based on the docs for deeper understanding.

After work, I joined a relaxed basketball session. No hard running, just fluid movement. It felt great—no back pain this time.

And yes, the Rubik’s cube craze is still going strong—I solved it in the bathroom, during my ping-pong break, while walking, resting, and again after getting home. Each solve is faster and smoother. It’s become my steady little ritual throughout the day.

Today, I felt deeply immersed in my own world, until my colleague came by in the evening to discuss some MCP-related matters. Although I didn’t have all the answers, our conversation clarified many things I want to explore with MCP. I felt like I had broken out of a closed-off state. When I later worked on the AI news, I found myself reenergized.

In the morning, I stuck to my plan and made steady progress, but by the afternoon, my energy dipped. I wasn’t sure if it was due to poor sleep or the slow performance of the local model, which started to frustrate me.

Throughout the day, I became completely absorbed in solving the Rubik’s cube. I practiced while waiting for Xiaoyan, during my midday walk, at lunch, back at the office, waiting at traffic lights, and even after dinner. The Rubik’s cube was my constant companion today.

This morning, Hamer and I headed out to watch the Beijing Half Marathon. She was fascinated by the huge crowd of runners, and we stayed until the 8km cut-off point.

Craving lamb offal soup, we went to Xiaoguan Market. Hamer curiously tried my lamb tripe and ended up eating the entire extra portion I had ordered.

At home, I practiced solving the Rubik’s Cube, following a tutorial. Xiaoyan tried to nap beside me while I made clicking sounds—she was not thrilled. Later, she took Hamer to a café with her math homework. They also discovered a massive playground near Side Park—definitely worth a revisit.

I kept practicing the Cube and finally solved it around 3 p.m.—an exciting moment. I continued practicing until I got faster, then watched a Korean drama that was underwhelming but passable. By night, I felt mentally drained and didn’t want to start anything new.

It was a vibrant Saturday.

We started the day with the Beijing Half Marathon Family Run, completing the 2km race hand in hand. After enjoying generous race packs and a relaxing brunch, Xiaoyan and Hamer went to dance class while I played goalie at football—earning praise for some solid saves.

Later, we explored Sanlitun, talked about DIY doll-making, drank in a riverside bar, had some late-night noodles, and enjoyed Reply 1988 together before bed.

A rainy day in Beijing set the tone for deep reflection and small emotional turns.

While fixing an AI build issue during work, I accidentally dampened a colleague’s enthusiasm by responding too formally to her design share—something she later kindly pointed out.

At home, Hamer’s mystery about being kept after school had us guessing until she finally confessed: she scored a bit low on her math test.

I ended the day with a slow jog and stumbled upon a riverside bar serving craft IPA—a peaceful, unexpected find.

I resolved client build and packaging issues and discussed two directions for integrating MCP with ArcGIS Earth—either as a server via Automation API or as a client to interact with other MCP services.

In the afternoon, I underwent a root canal after discovering severe decay under a previous filling—thankfully painless under anesthesia.