Evie Day 315

Hi folks! It is a new day, Thursday, 25 January 2024.

I had a good time with the Wednesday night gaming group last evening. We didn’t engage in any “fight the bad guys” scenarios, but we did reap the rewards of some of our collective accomplishments, and that’s always nice. I still have some experience to earn before I level up, but now we have a path before us. It was a good time, and the group I play with is a lot of fun.

Today will be a good day to turn the news off. Everything seems to be centered on one particularly attention-needy 78-year-old candidate, and I really look forward to the day when there is something worth reporting other than his latest temper tantrum, or his latest court date, or his latest whatever. Some folks just don’t get tired of being lied to, I guess.

I had a productive workday yesterday, and I expect I’ll stay on top of things today as well.

The economy is doing well, with the DJIA (Dow Jones Industrial Average) closing above 38000 for the first time, and unemployment sitting at 3.8%. Both of those numbers are very good. Inflation has dropped below 4%, and gas prices have dropped 80 cents per gallon since last fall. The one complaint about the economy I came across was someone complaining that they had to wait in line for their latte at the coffee stop because they didn’t have enough employees. I would have explained to the person that the reason for that is a good economy – the reason they don’t have more people working at the coffee shop is that other employers are willing to pay more for a prospective employee’s services or provide other benefits, like health insurance, that this coffee shop was not willing to provide. That’s going to happen when unemployment drops to near-record low levels.

A lot of folks don’t understand certain aspects of our economy. The economy doesn’t weave through traffic like a sports car. Our economy is like trying to manage the turning radius of an aircraft carrier. I’m surprised at the number of folks that don’t understand that right before a change of administration, the outgoing administration sets the budget for the incoming administration’s first year. Then in the first November of a new administration’s first year, they set a new budget, and the real seeds of change are planted, but we still have to wait a while.

Some presidents love taking credit when they come into office riding a positive economic wave. Then, when their policies hit the proverbial fan, they’ll start blaming the opposition. It amazes me the number of folks that don’t “get” that.

OK, time to get this in the can, and get going on my day.

I hope the world is treating you better than you deserve.

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 314

Good morning, folks! It is Wednesday, 24 January 2024.

Today I’m going to focus on some AI-related work responsibilities. I have become rather fascinated with AI, prompts, and prompt writing. If I took a look at the number of prompts I wrote per day, I think I might surprise myself. I’ve already written two this morning – Lisa and I were curious about the number of people that died from COVID that had chosen treatment with hydroxychloroquine… and let’s just say that those folks would probably have been better off going with a Pfizer or Moderna vaccination instead. The other was more directly political, and let’s just say that it didn’t reflect well on a certain American demographic.

Based on the results of the New Hampshire primary and Iowa caucuses, it looks like we’re heading for a presidential contest between Trump and Biden. I find that amazing considering what we have learned since 2016.

I listened to a pretty good summary yesterday, and I might revisit it today. Here’s an AI challenge for you – go to Bing.com, click on the “Chat” , then try these two prompts…
“Summarize the book, “Deep Work” by Cal Newport”
“What are the key points of “Deep Work” by Cal Newport?”

I could regurgitate the AI output, but folks don’t click on my blog to read AI-generated output. I’m a real human being who uses AI, but I’m going to do my own thing, and there are aspects of my personality that AI just cannot capture… yet.

I keep wondering when there will be an AI chatbot that can be as snarky as an aged, somewhat educated, 60-year-old man.

My favorite AI prompts so far have been the image creation prompts on https://www.bing.com/create . Pictures of libraries, cabins by the lake, and fantasy settings with giant floating trees hovering over a fertile valley – all have been a joy and inspiration.

I understand that professional artists have concerns. I can guarantee you that I will not affect them financially. I’ll buy as much art in the future as I have in the past. I might appreciate the human artists more now… AI images have some consistent problems. Have you tried to create a wizard that has normal human ears? One thing that I find rather frustrating is this AI assumption that all wizards have long, pointy ears.

Explore on your own. It can be kind of fun.

In the meantime, I’m going to get this in the can and get on with my day.

I hope the world is treating you better than you deserve.

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 313

Good morning, and a happy Taco Tuesday to you. It is 23 January 2024.

Time to block out some time today for ongoing projects. I’ve got about four things I need to focus on today, and some others that will get some time when I get these other four things corralled. Applied Skill targets, AI, and Visio diagrams.

Last night, Lisa and I watched the local team play Cincinnati on ESPN. Kansas had some moments, and our freshman from Australia really shined as his parents were in Lawrence to watch him play before they travel back across the Pacific. Kansas gets back on the winning track, and it is welcome in this household.

Oh, look, the news is on and people are telling lies. Must be election season.

I had a pretty good day at work yesterday. It was an “in-service” day for the trainers, and we had a lot of sessions (it was worldwide, so the APAC crowd got us started). One of our managers drove the sessions, and that poor guy was in Australia, staying up until 4 o’clock in the morning his time to handle the schedule. He’s a great guy, but, man, those are some pretty brutal hours. I made a joke that trying to work hours like that would put me in the hospital… and I don’t know if it was really a joke.

Time for me to make a pot of coffee and have another round of chili and eggs for breakfast.

I hope the world is treating you better than you deserve.

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 312

Good morning, and happy Monday to you. Today is 22 January 2024.

Well… it was a weekend.

Sportsfan Bob had a mixed bag this weekend. The KU men and women both lost on the road, the women at K-State, and the men at West Virginia. Both of ’em hurt a bit, as the women lost a rivalry game, and the men lost to an opponent that they should have beaten, but it doesn’t help when the other team shoots way above their season averages. Teams get up to play Kansas… Kansas apparently doesn’t get up when it’s time to play teams with average records.

The good news (and a huge surprise to me) was the Kansas City victory over Buffalo. I thought Buffalo was going to take care of business at home, but Kansas City caught a couple of breaks, and Buffalo missed a couple of passes that should have been caught. Add in a missed field goal at the end of the game that would’ve tied the game, and I felt the ghost of Scott Norwood pasting a shadow on the city of Buffalo.

I’m not going to gloat. Kansas City had some lucky breaks. Buffalo’s defense was more than decimated. The word “decimated” has roots in losing 10% of a force, Buffalo’s defense was down 30% of their starters, and almost all of their linebackers. Kansas City has been there. There was a time that Kansas City couldn’t buy a win in the postseason… prior to Alex Smith leading the Chiefs to a postseason victory a few years ago, there was just about a 22-year gap between victories (1994-2016) and that was proceeded by another 22-year gap between 1969 and 1991. We have felt some of the pain that the Bills fans are feeling today. They might be an opponent, but the truth is I feel a bit of kinship due to their misery. The same can be said for a couple of other teams as well. There are other events in the Bills’ history that pain the fans… most notably when a former Chiefs’ coach led the Bills to four straight Superbowl losses from 1991 to 1994.

I’m going to be around my virtual classroom today, but more as an attendee than a leader. We’re having the equivalent of an “in-service” day, focused on new learning opportunities.

There’s other news, of course. Ron DeSantis dropped out of the presidential race this past weekend, so the GOP is down to two candidates, Trump and Nikki Haley, and Trump is leading by large margins. Trump is also dealing with a huge array of legal issues, and playing the victim card at every turn. It amazes me sometimes how the hard-right evangelical crowd can support a man who is the walking representation of the seven deadly sins.

It’s about time for me to get a pot of coffee brewing. Lisa made some chili this last weekend, and there are eggs in the fridge… my breakfast path is clear.

I hope the world is treating you better than you deserve.

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 309

Hi folks. It’s Bob, again. I wish you all a happy Friday, Today is 19 January 2024.

Man, oh, man. I’m watching the news and am very tired of seeing one face being plastered all over the news. No, I’m not talking about Rudy Guiliani.

I posted the other day on one social media platform that watching the news makes me appreciate my dogs more.

Topic shift…

Today is the last day of my security course. We’ve had pretty good interaction for a lecture-heavy course. I’ll start off the day today with some review, then a module and a half before I turn over to my training partner to close out with another module and a half and the course closing. The classes that focus on case studies always land slightly differently with our attendees. We can observe and track folks’ progress when there are labs. With the case studies, not so much.

I’ve been trying to cultivate a habit of listening to executive book summaries every day at lunch… and during the work week, I’ve done pretty well. I hope I’ll have gone through a couple hundred books by the end of this calendar year.

Right now I’m watching an opinion writer for the National Review, Rich Lowry, mansplain to a black woman what racism is and what her ancestors experienced. Rich Lowry reminds me of a product one might find in the feminine hygiene section of the pharmacy, perhaps something someone might want to use on a summer’s eve. I don’t care for his editorials, and now I care for them even less. The guy couldn’t keep himself from interrupting the other person… which I typically expect from insensitive types that are more concerned with saying their piece than listening to anyone who has had a different experience than he has… seems to me that in his mind’s eye, the only valid American experience is the one he has had.

OK, now I need to get away before I write something I wish I hadn’t written.

I hope the world is treating you better than you deserve.

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 308

Hi, My name is Bob. I try to write a little bit down every day during the work week. Today is Thursday, 18 January 2024.

Odine is currently at my wife’s feed begging for part of her breakfast. In the mornings, he can be 28 pounds of hungry, whiney, little baby boy. His vocal comments are just that close to being human… and it’s kind of funny.

The other three dogs hover around the dining room table as well, until they realize that Lisa isn’t giving up any food, and my lap is semi-available, and if they can’t get food, they can at least get some petting action.

Yesterday was a good day. The class I’m delivering this week with my training partner is lecture-heavy, so my mouth got a little tired of forming words yesterday afternoon. We got through it, but I’m grateful for the break from talking.

I got together with the guys last night for some gaming… keep in mind, what I call “gaming” is a bunch of folks sitting around a table, virtual or otherwise, playing a game with funny-shaped dice. The gambling industry has co-opted the term “gaming” to make their industry more palatable to the masses, but there is no term such as “gaming addiction” – that is reserved for folks that Tony Soprano would call “degenerate gamblers”.

So, anyway…. last night was enjoyable. We made one little corner of the world safer for humans by slaying the horde, and then we were successfully healed of a curse, which we had contracted in one of the last sessions. None of the other players had characters brought down to zero hit points, so all in all, it was a pretty good night.

OK, the coffee pot is looking at me from the kitchen, and there’s an inaudible siren’s song begging me to brew a pot, and I’m thinking a little peanut butter on toast might pair well with that… although there is a bit of cinnamon bread my wife baked recently.

I hope the world is treating you better than you deserve.

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 307

Good morning, and a happy Wednesday to you all. Today is 17 January 2024.

We had our first day of our security course yesterday. The class my training partner and I are delivering this week is theory, theory, theory. We had pretty good participation yesterday, but I also recognize that the structure of this class doesn’t always lend itself to classroom interaction, but we did OK.

Last night we did our Tuesday night thing. I ran over to Cascada la Golondrina for our regular Tuesday order of tacos. As always, the folks over there were friendly and welcoming. Today we have that rarest of rarities for me at lunchtime… leftover tacos. I may be cultivating a culinary romance with my air fryer around noon.

After our taco fest last evening, we settled in to watch a little college basketball. The KU women went to Texas, and the first half didn’t look good, with the Lady Jayhawks down 20 at the half. The eventual score was as one-sided as the first half foreshadowed, with the Lady Longhorns winning 91-56. We flipped the channel over to ESPN to watch the men’s team travel to Stillwater. When the men’s team travels to Oklahoma State, every Kansas fan in the country gasps a little bit because OSU is Bill Self’s Kryptonite. He has lost more than any other program to OSU, his alma mater. Last night, however, the Jayhawks looked like their ranking and delivered a thumping on the Cowboys, 90-66.

The news is filled with stories from the campaign trail. It’s such a weird mix of election and re-election messages that end up segueing into stories about one candidate’s legal troubles. It is funny how short some folks’ memories are.

Time to get going on the day.

I hope the world is treating you better than you deserve.

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 306

Hi folks. It is Tuesday!

I need to keep reminding myself of that… it always throws me off when there’s a holiday that lands on Monday.

It is 16 January 2024.

OK, so an update. We have propane. Were waiting on a plumbing tech to come take a look at our hot water situation and get the tanks working. I think we’ll be ok to take hot showers tonight. We made do with boiling water and washcloths yesterday, and we’ll be fine for the day – no meetings away from home, as I teach online, and my wife and son had classes canceled due to the cold weather up on the hill.

We watched some football yesterday, as the delayed Bills – Steelers was fun. The Bills went out on a 21-0 lead early, and the Steelers tried hard to get back into it, but they came up short. In the nightcap, The Tampa Bay Buccaneers sent the Philadelphia Eagles into the offseason with a surprisingly one-sided match. Jalen Hurts was hampered by a dislocated finger which he tried to overcome, but Baker Mayfield and the Buccs were just too much for them, and the Eagles ended up losing, a bad trend as they ended the season losing 6 out of 7 after starting the season 10-1.

Trump won the Iowa Caucuses. I think Trump is unfit to serve, but apparently, I do not think about Trump the same way Republicans in Iowa think. One woman working at a Trump booth was on the news and she said that God was behind Trump’s success. I have serious doubts that Trump is God’s candidate… but, as we have seen, there is a certain portion of the population that believes just that.

Time for me to buckle down and get ready for my day. I’m back in my virtual classroom in a couple of hours talking about cybersecurity. Later on, there will be much discussion of tacos.

I hope the world is treating you better than you deserve.

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 305

Hi everybody. Today is the MLK holiday in the US. It is 15 January 2024.

Let’s see… what manner of excitement have we experienced in our household since the last time I wrote.

Chiefs beat the Dolphins on a cold winter’s night on Saturday. For that I am thankful.

Most of the other games, I really don’t care about, but there is always a little schadenfreude that comes with certain teams losing. The Dallas Cowboys hired the Green Bay Packers’ old coach… and the Green Bay Packers put a whoppin’ on the boys yesterday. The game between the LA Rams and the Detroit Lions did not disappoint.

We ran out of propane on Saturday. I called for a delivery a week ago, depending on their 3-5 day delivery target. Today is day seven: no more hot water, or propane for the furnace. I ran to the hardware store to buy 5 space heaters yesterday morning, and those, combined with running the fireplace all day, eventually got our living room up to 62 degrees for a high in the house. I woke up to frozen water pipes this morning, so I’ll have to get that sorted. We can’t do a whole lot to solve that problem until we get propane, so I get to make another phone call when the Texas-based propane company opens in another half hour.

I spent a little time thinking about the meaning behind today’s federal holiday, but I’m thinking less about Martin Luther King, Jr., and more about Abraham Maslow and his hierarchy of needs. I think water and shelter are pretty high on that list.

I’m going to get this in the can before I start turning it into a whine-fest. I’m not in a great mood right now.

The fireplace is pretty though.

I hope the world is treating you better than you deserve.

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 302

Good morning, and a happy Friday to you. Today is 12 January 2024.

In a few hours, I have a work responsibility. I get to talk about Diversity & Inclusion, and the focus of my short talk will be “Introspection”.

As I have shared with you in previous posts, I spend a little time each day reading the news, and I try to keep myself informed about the events going on in my local, state, and galactic community. A disturbing trend has been the content of the comments related to certain stories. The comments reflect a rise in some beliefs that go against so much that I believe in. I do believe that diversity is strength, and all of our experiences have value. But, I tell you what, if the comments section is any indicator, many folks posting are bigots and nationalists who think that only people who think and look like them can succeed in leadership positions.

Here’s another aspect of this that I accept – a lot of these posts are from a small, very active group of white Christian Nationalists that have multiple profiles, and they intend to stir up trouble. They are chaos agents from internal groups like the KKK, neo-nazi organizations, and other groups that endorse a troublesome ideology. Group them all under the heading “domestic terrorists”, because that’s exactly what they are. They adopt terms like “anti-work” and blame all of their troubles on minorities, Antifa, immigrants, and the BLM movement… and they are ignorant and evil.

I look at the D&I component as two-fold. There is the external – the need for empathy, the need to listen and try and understand. I’ll never be a woman from Africa who has immigrated to the West – there are experiences that I will never have. But… I can make an effort to empathize. I can try to walk a mile in her shoes… small on my size 12 EEE feet as they might be.. but I can still try. We need to do a better job relating to each other and empathizing deeper, and to that end, we need to look inside.

“Introspection” to me means I need to think about my unconscious biases, the assumptions I make in passing, and attitudes towards others.

I often think about things as song lyrics. I have loved music my whole life, and there have been some words that pop up in my head daily…
“Every day is a winding road”
“All we are is dust in the wind”
“That’s just the way it is… but don’t you believe them”

Right now, there is one lyric that sticks with me…
“I’m starting with the man in the mirror”

I hope the world is treating you better than you deserve.

Peace y’all.