Of course, I didn’t make as much progress as planned. But, I still hope to have it done by dinner time tomorrow. Or Not. What can they do to me? Give the job to someone else?
I have been trusted to feed a cat dinner and breakfast. I told Alexa “Remind me about CAT at 4:45 this afternoon.” Alexa says “OK, I’ll remind you at 4:45 PM.” Then I said, “Remind me to FEED the CAT at 7 tomorrow morning.” Alexa says “Ok, I’ll remind you at 7 AM tomorrow. This sounds important would you like me to remind you every hour until you tell me to STOP”. Alexa has never considered any of my requests important. Alexa must really like cats.
Running around, taking pictures, trying to record sound, and hoping for the best.
The unsanctioned Wear Orange/Sensible Gun Laws “teach-in” was this afternoon. Since it is over 90° today, fortunately, it was indoors. Outdoors is a better venue. But we are mostly octagenarians. We don’t do heat well.
I collected 8 GB of photos, videos, and a couple of audio tracks. I copied all the files off the various devices: Pixel Phone, GoPro, iPad (used to capture audio), Olympus Pen-F to the Mac. I then backed up the Mac.
And, that I all that I am going to do today. Well, actually, I am going to enjoy an adult beverage at the saloon soon, then to a birthday party where there will be wine. And cake. And ice cream. And funny/risque cards.
Note to Julie: A couple of years ago you sent me a cowboy card done by one of your local artists. It is going to a good home this evening.
Tomorrow I will edit video. And, I will be finished by dinner time Sunday. This project doesn’t have to be perfect. It has to be finished. Maybe this is my last rodeo.
Did some multiprocessing this morning. Combined death cleaning with exercise. I stuffed a bag that was slated for Goodwill full of smaller things and a few items of clothing and took them to Goodwill. It’s good to get rid of things. My closet is overflowing. My possessions ended up possessing me.
I rode the bus some and I walked some. Walked enough, with that hefty bag to get my daily steps in. But, I had more than a little help from the bus.
There is a bus stop right outside The Asylum. I can go online and see exactly where the “next bus” is. I can get out of the Old Bat Cave to the bus with plenty of time to spare in 5 minutes if I take the stairs or 10 if I do the elevator. And buses are like men. If you miss one there will always be another.
Waiting for the ART 41 bus.
After dropping my stuff off at Goodwill, and looking around the store. Where I did not buy anything. I went out to wait on the bus to get me back to The Asylum.
Looking out the window.
In good time, the bus arrived. It took me to within 4 blocks of home. Another little exercise opportunity.
Note to those who are not old yet: Learn how to use all forms of public transit before you get old and have to stop driving. It’s too late then to really ever understand how urban bus systems work. And you will have to use Uber, taxis, friends, or a car service. I would love to be profligate enough to have a car service.
About the time I turned 60, I realized that I was spending $130 every month to just park my car. And that was when I embraced the “car-free” lifestyle. Of course, Carlton had a car, but he really didn’t want me driving his car. He didn’t think I was qualified to operate an automobile. After Carlton died I drove his car once and promptly sold it.
I like riding the bus. It provides a modicum of exercise. It’s very economical. It’s totally carefree – I don’t have to do anything except get on the bus and flash my card at the fare box. It’s great for reducing your carbon footprint. And, when you are on the bus you are not in charge of anything other than when to pull the cord to get off.
I fired up my “real” cameras for no apparent reason today. I should sell them before they get any older. The phone and the GoPro really do all I need done these days. But, knowing me, I’ll most likely keep them and my lawyer can dispose of them “later”.
Knoll Garden
Wonder what MidJourney can do?
imagine hazy DC skyline with Washington Monument, black and white digital photography
I like this one better than the real one.
imagine stack of 6 stones in a bird bath, black and white digital photography
Apparently, MidJourney hasn’t learned how to count yet.
“Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.” The Center for AI Safety
ChatGPT “thinks” of some of the potential threats that AI poses to humanity:
Existential risk: Some experts believe that AI could become so intelligent that it could eventually surpass human intelligence and capabilities, leading to a scenario in which AI could decide to eliminate humanity as a threat.
Autonomous weapons systems: AI could be used to create autonomous weapons systems that could kill without human intervention. This could lead to a new arms race, and could increase the risk of war.
Manipulation and disinformation: AI could be used to manipulate people and spread disinformation. This could be used to undermine democracy and social order.
I suspect that ChatGPT might be right on all points. But, we might end civilized society by #3 without any help at all from AI.
Actually, I think that AI will make my life much more amusing. But, I thought that back in 2015 I thought Donald Trump running for Prez was going to be amusing too!
Tested out the gear I need to use to support my friend and her Sensible Gun Legislation event later this week. Now I can only wait and see what happens. I have about 3 minutes of video space that I need to fill. Without boring people to death.
When Carlton and I were doing the Park Service thing, we were always on duty by Memorial Day. But after we retired and moved closer to DC, we always took in Ride for the Wall, Rolling Thunder, and Arlington Cemetary.
2009 – Ride for the Wall2009 – Lincoln Memorial/WW2 Memorial – The Mall
I did pretty good work back then. And I resisted the urge to do the post-processing over.
If asked, I would have said that I have about 50,000 photos in my archive. And, I would have been wrong. At this instant, there are 70,103.
Note to those who will clean up after me: Trash them all. I am not Ansel Adams.
Main activity today was NOT attending The Asylum Indoor Picnic and filling out two long online forms for my Northwest Passage trip. One of them took 3 goes before it went. But, hopefully, I will be allowed on the boat.
Also puttered around trying to decide how to get to Iceland. The obvious answer is to get on IcelandAir on Aug 12. Arrive in Iceland at 7AM on Aug 13. That gives me 11 hours to find the boat. But Icelandair isn’t reliable enough to do that. First world problem.
Spent too much screen time since last Sunday. So, after breakfast, I went into digital time-out.
Accomplished some stuff. Washed all of my wooly sweaters. And now my room smells like a wet sheep.
Also, wardrobe culling. Not as much as I should/could have.
Finishing up an audiobook that I bought early in Covid Daze. Earth Abides, a 1949 American post-apocalyptic science fiction novel by George R. Stewart. Since I am a huge fan of the SciFi of my youth – I remembered the story and it seemed too like 2020 to read then. To the non-SciFi readers. Almost the entire population was destroyed by a virus. That was strange for 1949 when the usual thing was for the world to be destroyed by nukes. But in Stewart’s world, almost all the people were the only thing that was gone.
Old books even in audio format are like old Levi’s. Nice to slip into on an almost summer afternoon.
The roses have been excellent this spring at The Asylum.
The swimming pool across the street opened today. And, of course, the water is freezing and the air is cool, but the kids are enjoying it to the max.
Worked on my video project today. Kept reminding myself that “perfection is the enemy of progress”.
This morning, at breakfast I noticed a table of “regulars” consisting of a doctor, a general, and a preacher. This leads me to ask ChatGPT for a joke about a doctor, a general, and a preacher.
ChatGPT: Sure, here’s a joke for you:
A general, a doctor, and a preacher walk into a bar. They sit down and order their drinks. As they start sipping their beverages, they notice a fly buzzing around their table.
The general, being a man of action, quickly pulls out his pistol and starts shooting at the fly. He fires round after round, but unfortunately, he only manages to shatter a few glasses and scare away the other customers.
The doctor, concerned about safety and health, grabs a nearby towel and starts swatting at the fly. He swings the towel with precision and finesse, but the fly proves to be too quick for him. He ends up knocking over a few chairs and causing a small commotion.
Meanwhile, the preacher has been silently observing the chaos. He raises his hands and starts praying, “Oh Lord, please guide this fly out of our presence and restore peace to this establishment.”
Just as he finishes his prayer, the fly suddenly drops dead on the table.
The general and the doctor look at the preacher in awe. They exclaim, “Wow, how did you do that?”
The preacher smiles and replies, “Well, I guess sometimes you just have to let go and let God handle it.”
Not willing to leave well enough alone I put the same test to Bard.
Bard: Sure, here is a joke about a general, a doctor, and a preacher who walk into a bar:
A general, a doctor, and a preacher walk into a bar.
The barkeep says, Is this some kind of a joke?
The general says, “I’m here to lead you to victory.”
The doctor says, “I’m here to heal you.”
The preacher says, “I’m here to bury you.”
The barkeep says, “You’re in luck. Because I am all out of beer.”
It’s a strange world. But, I still want my robot cat.
The MS Fridtjof Nansen. My room is down on the lower level of windows under the lifeboats.
This afternoon I booked and paid for my much cheaper Northwest Passage trip on the Fridtjof Nansen. The ship is not as cutting-edge as the earlier one. And there are fewer off-vessel activities by far. But, if the truth is known, I wouldn’t be doing two or three off-vessel treks per day anyhow. After a morning adventure off the boat and a nice lunch – well, in my world – it’s nap time.
Going from Iceland to Nome. And there is a charter flight from Nome to Vancouver, Canada. I get myself to Iceland. I know how to do that. Know how to get home from Vancouver too.
Boat leaves on August 13. Iceland is easy to get to. But IcelandAir is pretty unreliable. So, I’ll be heading out plenty early.
What seems to be the problem with stopping to smell the roses?
I got my social media video for our gun control rally setup. Next, I have to make a “video backdrop” for the rally which will not be outdoors but in our dreary auditorium. The long-range weather forecast looks unfriendly.
That’s unfriendly if you are old people.
I got rid of some stuff today. I donated my old PC monitor/TV, which had been taking up an entire drawer since I moved into The Asylum. I also finished cleaning out Carlton’s jewelry box. The only things left in the box of any possible value were his class rings. I took the rings to The Asylum to be melted down, and the rest went in the trash. It’s amazing how much crap old people accumulate.
I almost had a major meltdown over all of my accumulated crap earlier this week. That is not good. Getting rid of crap. That’s good.
Working on getting my grandkid slide show sort of settled today. Remembering that perfection is the enemy of progress.
But, along with working on the kids – I played with goats. It was a special request. I didn’t just wake up thinking about goats. The request: Using your AI, can you create a goat painting?
So I just ask for “a goat painting” and what should show up but the above painting of a goat.
imagine a goat painting a picture
Now, this is more like it. Which of course leads to Goat Yoga.
imagine a goat doing yoga
Just saying: that goat does lotus pose way better than I do these days.
Note to self: Never ask a bunch of old women for pictures of their grands and greats.
I successfully canceled my very expensive Northwest Passage trip today and got my deposit back. I found a clause in the fine print that said I could cancel for COVID-19, so I simply mentioned that I was recovering from the virus. I sent them a copy of my hospital report (which I could have easily faked), and they credited my deposit back to my credit card
I made this decision because one of the alternative options I had initially considered is currently offering a “zero single supplement” deal for their Northwest Passage voyage. It is priced at half of what I had originally paid. Although the replacement voyage may not be as luxurious and the ship may not be cutting-edge, I still have a serious frugal streak.
Before the week is out, I will book the new “economy” version of the Northwest Passage voyage. It will be just fine.
