https://adtunes.com/threads/ryze-mushroom-coffee-one-small-change.110243/
It's the new scapegoat.
Something goes wrong? It was AI.
Something misunderstood? It was AI.
Burned dinner? It was AI.
It is so much cooler in the basement. It might sound crazy, but I keep my A/C at 82 - 84 degree F. If I make it any lower I will freeze them out. They have all the registers turned off downstairs and have even taped cardboard over the larger one.
I am okay upstairs when I sit in front of my fans. I don't dare turn the oven on. (The dryer is in the basement, so it can run). If I absolutely have to use the oven, I have a small second one built into my stove - I will use that one. I just have to use certain casserole dishes that fit in there.
A/C does not just cool the air - it helps the humidity.
Surprise, surprise - I hardly hear my young neighbor's loud car when my windows/doors are shut, the A/C and fans running. So, he gets to live. For now.
And now, the fireworks. My young (other) neighbor is fifteen or so and I hope he gets out of the firecracker stage soon. He does this when his parents are not around and when he has a friend over. At least I think it's them. Again, I don't mind the occasional noise on the actual 4th and maybe the 2nd and 3rd if it doesn't go on too long. But the last Saturday in June pushed the limit for me. I can recall one year, they must have let off firecrackers a dozen times.
Along with thousands of other folks, I am staying indoors during this heat wave. It's funny. My daughter has two large dogs both with long, full fur. When I let them outside (they live in the basement) they lay out in the sun. Not so much the black one, but the gold one just stretches out like she is sunbathing. I let her stay out a bit, but not too long.
I got the car next to them and he and I were trying to fit her in the front passenger seat. The car door was the major obstacle. Halfway into the car she regained consciousness and perked right up and was able to maneuver herself in the rest of the way.
I actually just thought the reason she was so quiet and unresponsive was because she was in so much pain. We are very close to the hospital and so many people ran out to help me get a wheelchair and get her into it. Two people who were leaving the ER, two policemen (who just happened to be there gabbing with the security guard) AND the security guard.
The security guard looked at me and said "It's just dislocated. I've seen hundreds of these." I sighed my relief. Of course I was nauseas.
Once she was wheeled into a room, the attending nurse looked at it and said "Oh, it's broken alright." So much for the security guard. I didn't even think to tell him when I left that it was indeed broken.
Anyway, about four different females and four different men attended to her during the four hour ordeal in the ER. One male made the temporary cast (which he had to remove), one who admitted her (she left with us after 4 hours but she was put under anesthesia so they had to make a record of admittance). And two male doctors. I'm not even counting the orthopedic surgeon (I never saw/met him). Everybody was wonderful - no issues there. A total of 9 workers had the insurance machine in my head going ker-ching, ker-ching, ker-ching.
After the cast maker (he talked to my daughter and her husband about X-box games, etc...) made the temporary cast (while explaining ALL the new materials that are available today) the on-call doctor said the Orthopedic doctor was coming in to re-set the ankle and he needed to remove the cast. All that beautiful work!
They had to re-break the ankle so my daughter was put under for that. The nurse that came to get us said she was a hoot (she was high as a kite on pain meds) and had them all laughing. I taught her well and most of it probably comes naturally as my entire family loves humor. It is our lifeline.
To top it all off she was to start a new job today (Monday). She emailed the person that hired her. She is unable to drive. I believe I heard one doctor say they would probably operate sometime this week. Ugh, the heat! I really didn't want to go anywhere during our upcoming heat wave.
Oh, one more thing. On a Sunday morning in August 2025 we ran her to the ER for a dog bite on her hand. Her husband and I have decided we are not letting her out of the house on Sundays any longer.
As I mentioned in yesterday's comments I am tired of rude neighbors. I drove to Columbus and back yesterday (250 miles in the pouring rain) and I was a bit tired and grumpy by the time I arrived home. I went to bed around 10:30 and was just drifting off to sleep when somebody lit a firecracker. I jumped awake and sat up. Then another one. Very loud. I got angry. I went to my back door. I turned on my back porch light and back yard light. I saw my car keys. I grabbed them and hit the panic button. My alarm started and I turned it back off. Huh. No more fireworks.
I recall driving the Hornet in the summer of '76 to work at Ponderosa steak house. And, the mustang in the summer of '77 when I worked at the local ice cream stand. One time I started the mustang and realized I forgot something and ran back up to my bedroom. The bedroom window was vibrating. It was an old house but the car was loud.
I am 66. The neighbors to my right are in their 50s. Neighbors to the left, high 60's. Neighbors across from me in their 70's and 80's. Except one little house almost directly across from me. A sweet old lady lived there until about a year ago. A 26 year old man purchased the house. Why in the hell he would want to live on a street with a bunch of retired folks - well, I don't know.
He has a loud car. A very, loud car. When he first starts it I jump out of my skin. Then he let's it idle and he revs the engine. Okay. I get it. How can I complain when we had a loud car when I was young? Actually, I never had a loud car. I only drove one a dozen or so times.
I talked to one neighbor. She is directly to the left of his house. She said she doesn't mind it, and as long as he doesn't sit and rev it. I said "But, he does!" The other day was too much. It hasn't been hot enough to run the A/C so I've had windows and front door open letting fresh air in. He started the car (about 3 in the afternoon) and I swear he was idling it in my front yard.
I finally walked out on the porch and he was sitting in front of my neighbors house (they have a 16 year old teenage son). He and his friend were outside and this 26 year old wanted to show off. And, he did. He squealed the tires and revved the engine. All the way to the end of the street and then more when he turned onto the next street. It was so, so loud!
It might be the way the sound travels directly to my house. I may talk to more neighbors before I talk to him. I can tolerate it if he would start it up and go - then when he comes home, park it in the garage and shut it down. No, he has to rev it four or five times. Gah!
He drives a very quiet SUV during the colder months.
I just can't find a good tomato. I go to farmer's markets and they are selling the same hard, barely pink tomatoes you can get in the grocery store. The other day I did get a real tomato at a local farm store in the area. But, their bacon was gray when I fried it up. That was the second "bad" item I had purchased from that store, so I won't be going back there. Not even for a "real" tomato.
There is a farmer's market in my town every week. Rarely do I get a real tomato. Most stands are run by the Amish and it isn't their produce. They just get up early, go to a huge market miles away and bring it to our town. The produce is not picked out of their garden that morning. Years ago, I did come across a little produce stand. The lady was Vietnamese or similar and she said she had just picked the tomatoes that morning. They were delicious. But, I can't find any of those stands any longer. People are probably canning or freezing any tomatoes they grow.
My Mom would can (not sure why the call it can because we used mason jars). Towards the last years, she only canned tomatoes and that is the only produce I know how to can. She rarely let any of us help out in the kitchen. I think we just got in the way and she didn't have the patience to teach us. She would get mad and preferred to do it herself.
We even have a few "honor system" produce stands here and there. Not many, as they are getting ripped off and will stop eventually. I stopped at one a few years back and left my money in a box where the sign said to place it. I'm sure they got ripped off as they were near a busy highway and some degenerate certainly stopped and helped themselves to either produce or the money box or both.
The deer eat everything we grow in my neighborhood. My neighbors have become very creative as they continue to grow produce in their back yard. I have to sprinkle a powder (ox blood) around my flowers to keep the deer away. After it rains, I have to reapply. My sister planted 25 tomato plants when she first moved into her most recent house and the deer ate every one. A few years back she and her daughter had a big garden and the groundhogs went through and took a bite out of each tomato, leaving the rest on the vine. All that work.
I can remember one year we had SO many tomatoes that my brother, his friend and I had a tomato fight in the garden. It was the end of the season. The stalks were all brown and dried. We threw them at each other. They were rotting on the vine. I was a teenager. I didn't appreciate our garden fresh produce back then. I remember another year, my Mom made me take a big brown paper bag of vegetables and leave it on our neighbor's doorstep. Just to get rid of some of it.
My Mom never grew lettuce, onions, peas, radish or broccoli. I think those are the early plants? We had plenty of cucumbers, corn, tomatoes and green beans. I figure most young adults and children have no idea that a cucumber has prickly little bumps on it when first picked. I can still remember how it felt to pick a cucumber and rub the dirt and prickles off of it before putting it in the basket.
We never had a fence around our garden. It was huge compared to our neighbors. In fact most of our neighbors didn't even put in a garden (this would have been late 60s through the 70s). I only remember one time my dad was taking a gun down to the garden to shoot a pesky rabbit and I cried and asked him not to. If he did shoot the rascal, it wasn't when I was around.
One year we grew pumpkins. We never did that again. We had pumpkins coming out of our ears. I can remember them in our house lining up and down the upstairs hallway. They were everywhere. I'll probably go out and about today searching for a real tomato. Mayonnaise in the fridge ? Well, Miracle Whip. I grew up on Miracle Whip. Check. Bread in the cupboard? Check - fresh from the grocery store bakery (not the commercial loaf). Salt and pepper? Check. It probably won't happen. But, I can dream. I got lucky a few weeks ago but like I said - the other products in that store are questionable.
I return to my desk and I see this. I keep a glass of ice water on my desk at all times. I drink from it often as I am always in the kitchen refilling it. I know that I probably took a sip not long before taking the dog out.
I stare at the toy on my yeti cup for a minute. I go to the basement stairs and holler down to my daughter. "Did you put the plastic toy lizard on my water?" She walks over to the bottom of the stairs and looks up at me. "What?" I repeat my question. She says "I have no idea what you're talking about."
I walk back to my desk and look at my cat sleeping in the dog's bed. (He thinks he is a dog). I had Milton outside with me. Currently, nobody else in the house.
How did that toy get there? It didn't help that I was currently reading an article about quantum physics and how it may be related to a form of after life. (I don't know how I get down these rabbit holes. I just read something and I have to follow it up and pretty soon....I'm in way over my head.)
A few minutes later it hits me. I had JUST wiped my monitor down with a dust rag before taking the dog outside. The little toy must have been on the top of my monitor or somewhere that the cloth could catch it and deposit it right on the top of my cup.
I don't need any mysteries in my life. I'll spend all day until I get to the logical reasoning for it. If I don't figure it out, I'll lay awake at night wondering what the what.
On a lighter note. For the past 2 days I have had to put drops in my left eye. Pataday. I haven't used this medicine for months. My eye hurt. It didn't itch. It was blurry. But, instant relief. It gives relief for hours. My right eye is a bit dry (because I keep fans on me at all times, probably) but it does not ache like my left one is. Eye appt next month. I'll ask the doctor about it if I am still having issues.
I was always missing my eye when I put drops in. I don't do it often enough to do better. I have found out that NOT closing the other eye helps my aim.
I grabbed a photo just after the rain, once I made sure Mama was not in there.
I also have about six umbrella plants started from one original plant.
I have started with the golden ivy. It is not taking off, yet.
I have my outside flowers planted. I'll make sure I get a photo of them. I've spread the ox blood dust around in an effort to keep the deer from eating them.
I am so happy - my peach/orange lilies are blooming this year! I purchased them two years ago, neglected them that winter. Green plants came up last summer, but never bloomed. This year - beautiful! I'll get a photo of them, also.
Currently reading:
still, - the Viking book.
A biography of Zsa Zsa Gabor
and a book about Krakatoa.
The Viking and Krakatoa books are dry and detailed and hard to not fall asleep while reading them.
So, I only drink water when I order in a restaurant. I rarely order dessert or an appetizer. I also have started looking at the less expensive items on the menu instead of going for the filet mignon or fancy fish. Chicken is just as good and so is meatloaf. I always take cash - screw that plastic card charge.
I meet a group of women I worked with back in the late 80's to mid-90's. We average about once a month (mostly on a birthday, or holiday). I also meet with a group of retired ladies (from most recent job mid-90's to 2024). Once a month with them, also.
Family - always somebody wants to meet. About two times a month. Then my son-in-law's band plays at wineries, bars, craft brew houses and festivals. That is about three times a month. I do purchase bottles of wine, but that is for gift giving later at the holidays or special occasions.
So, dining out - is between five and seven times a month. That seems like a lot! I've started to keep a running tab of it and will start to make some changes where I can. I am not currently in dire straits, far from it. But, you never know what is right around the corner.
A few of them I use for doggy treats. I hate trying to re-zip dog treat bags (they never line up for me after I open them). If I can even get them open. I place the dog treats into a jar with a lid. Then, I can't get the lid off the jar. Big sigh.
Reminds me of the old Andy Capp comic strip.
I was lucky in the area of allergies growing up. But, I think I'm having some issues now. I was outside most of the evening at an event and my eyeballs hurt. They feel scratchy, swelled and I have some blurred vision. I've taken ibuprofen twice today for a headache so I'm just going to skip any meds, drink some water and go to bed. We'll see when I wake up.
I believe the first Agatha Christie book I was introduced to was "Ten Little Indians" or "And Then There Were None". I was hooked.
And three of the second batch of baby birds are still in the nest. I am keeping my distance because they are so big (I think the fourth one was pushed out to make room) I am worried they may try to fly to get away from me if I move any of the branches to get a picture. I will just peek at them through the branches and wish them well.
The Viking book is going slow. It is very detail oriented and my mind wanders. I have to keep going back and re-reading. I copied the map from the book so I can reference it and I also get on Google maps and look at the locations (well, how they look today anyway). Denmark, Sweden, Norway.
So, I watched a couple of her old movies from the late 30s. Ugh. No thanks.
The book only went up to 1940 when she became a star again with the movie "The Philadelphia Story". She went through a rough patch after the controversial Sylvia Scarlett where she portrayed a young girl passing herself off as a boy to help her father stay anonymous. Silly movie, really. I did like Julie Andrews though when she did it - Victor/Victoria. Perhaps it was James Garner that I liked. Ha!
In May I read the two that I have mentioned:
The Original by Priya Parmar
Esperance by Adam Oyebanji (posted about this one yesterday)
and:
Going There by Katie Couric
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt (movie on Netflix with Sally Field currently)
John and Paul by Ian Leslie
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (saw the movie years ago. It upset me so much I went outside and just went to town on my hedges with the clippers.)
and this one was interesting, had not heard of this person/story:
The Stranger in the Woods by Michael Finkel. This guy lived out in the woods by himself for over 25 years in the state of Maine (bitter cold winters and all). He stole supplies and food from a nearby camp site that housed over 100 cabins. The campers in the area who lived there for years all knew that somebody was stealing their food and stuff but he eluded capture for a long time. They all claim he had to have had help somehow, there was no way he survived without ever having a fire (because of the smoke would give him away).
I've cracked one open about Vikings. Only in a few pages, but it seems enjoyable. I have to keep re-reading as I get distracted since it is a history/fact-based book and my mind can wander on about every day stuff and I get mad at myself.
Most of my TV shows are finished for the season or have been canceled. I finished the season of 'Animal Control' but I won't be watching any more. I think it is going to be the same with 'Dark Winds'. Have lost interest. Bad Monkey was canceled as was 'The Last Frontier'. That one got silly anyway. Bad Monkey was different and the author had other books that I think the series could have continued - they weren't the same story line but who cares? One book a season. Dark Winds is just too dark for me. I liked it at first but it just got weird.
I have nothing new in movies except for the 'Remarkably Bright Creatures' on Netflix (book above). The movie was different in places than the book (of course). As was The Lovely Bones - movie wrapped things up quicker as expected.
I am looking forward to Monday, June 1st. My Mom's birthday. She would have been 106. All siblings and spouses are meeting at an Inn for lunch. My siblings range from Brother 1942 to me 1960.
This one pulled me in because it was a murder mystery. My morbid brain loves anything about murder, unsolved mysteries and serial killers. And biographies, autobiographies.
This author has written other books and I might have a go at them, hoping they hold my interest the same way. I couldn't stop reading this one.
I was resting the day after a huge family cook-out. Sister 1944 had 41 family members (six from her husband's side, three friends and the rest our family) at her house in the pouring rain. The ground was so saturated the swampy mud was sucking our shoes in. My "going visiting" tennis shoes now look worse than my outside only PUP (picking up "dog" poop) shoes.
My dog and cat are behind me being very vocal. Funny, they have exactly a whole other hour before it's feeding time but they do know when time is on the "hour". I guess time change will do that. Make them wonder is it this hour or that hour we get fed?
I had to break down and get my water squirt bottle back out because my cat is being SO annoying and vocal the past couple of weeks about his unhappiness. We gate off certain rooms and he keeps pawing at (rattling) the gate to the kitchen. I figure he wants a drink of water (even though there is water right next to him). I open the gate, he walks into the kitchen and just wanders around meowing, like "How about a treat, lady? This is the treat room, right?" Grrrrr.
My (old) dog, Milton stands behind my chair and shifts his weight from leg to leg (on a wooden floor his nails click). Bugs the hell out of me and he knows it! I let him outside to do his business. Back to standing behind my chair. I see if he wants water. Sure, always drinks water. Back to standing behind my chair. He wants a treat and he is not getting one. They have me trained so well! Grrrr.