Tuesday, September 19, 2023

Yesterday at work, I was cutting keys for a couple while we chatted. They’re from Alabama and are here temporarily to help their daughter become established in her new home. We exchanged observations about the local culture and the unhappy extent to which this city is growing. They asked where I came from, and I in turn asked about them. (His wife had moved away, now in a lengthy phone conversation with their daughter).

He smiled, said his name was Parke, and that he was born in 1960 in New Jersey. He grew up in the era of emerging computers and software, eventually becoming a lifelong “computer guy.” He started by working for IBM, selling hardware, but evolved into selling software, which better suited his capabilities.

He was interesting and spoke about the beginning of the computer age and described the earliest machines. He also explained his methods of selling software, and suddenly became serious, shifting and exclaiming that the internet will become the ruin of everybody and of the whole world.

Before I could ask his opinion of artificial intelligence, he continued by making specific points: (1) the internet gave everybody unlimited opportunities to explore beyond previously dreamed-of reaches; (2) social media has been destructive, as a way of applauding, criticizing, bullying, and simply blabbing, and has caused great separations; (3) cell phones have become as complex and capable as any computers for reaching and exploring the internet, and now, people are constantly staring at phones; and (4) the entire world order is being arranged and disarranged by software technology that eventually will lead to the doom of everybody and everything.

I couldn’t disagree with him. So, I asked for his opinion of AI. Parke countered, however, by asking for my thoughts about it. I decided to paint a rosier picture. I explained that I’m a blogger and also have drafted a few short stories and one novel. While blogging practices have improved my writing skills, I can’t improve my stories because I can’t self-edit appropriately. To explain, instead of cleaning sections, I tend to start rewriting them, and the original story wanders out of hand.

AI technology offers a way to have my stories edited by an independent source. I’ve not paused to explore this for having too little time to spend on total creativity. However, I frequently use another AI asset, which is illustrating. For a blog, maybe I’ll request an image of someone daydreaming while relaxing in a beautiful forest, and AI technology will produce satisfying choices.

Parke acknowledged that the internet and AI technologies can be very helpful. We agreed that at the bottom line, all possible outcomes emerge from how what’s available becomes used and/or exploited by humans.

Dear Friends: So, you see, key cutting and tool selling aren’t necessarily boring. Diana

Monday, September 18, 2023

It’s crept up on me that my morning reading routine has changed. For almost forever, my days began with reading the Times, and then turning to the Post, and finally, glancing at the WSJ. That was my order of reading since my personal politics lean liberal. In the past weeks, however, I’ve begun reading by going to the WSJ and studying several of its articles. Afterward, I shift to other newspapers, but feeling decently informed, I read them lightly.

The WSJ isn’t a liberal rag by any means. I avoid its more conservative perspectives. The articles that make me pause are well-written with balanced perspectives. For example, today, a fascinating news story focuses on a massive South Korean munitions factory, its history of growth associated with the nation’s politics, and that manufacturer’s increasing global importance.

The story included elements of Korean history, the relationship between North and South, and the ways that technology and political awareness have altered weaponry and land fighting over the past many years. Today’s WSJ-highlighted South Korean manufacturer designs, builds and sells howitzers to many NATO countries, some of which send their howitzers on to Ukraine for use against Russia.

The Ukraine-Russian conflict has made us aware of the changing nature of wars. In a new wrinkle, now we wonder what might come from last week’s Kim-Putin meeting. If we understand better by learning more about the current world order, we will balance new questions more fully against other elements of the ongoing and hard-fought war.

As to the NYT and Post, they’re great newspapers and satisfying to read. My intense but pedestrian world interests find the WSJ speaking to political and economic conditions in ways that assist my knowledge and thinking processes.

Dear Friends: It’s another Monday which always sneaks in new energies. Diana

Sunday, September 17, 2023

Today and in the near future, I’m scheduled for earlier shifts at HD. It’s good, except that I’ve had a stretch of having to be at work by 4 p.m. and finally figured out how to get to do that. Now, I must toss that schedule and start figuring out how to arrive earlier at work (like today) at 10 a.m.

Doesn’t sound like a big challenge, huh? I’d like to agree, but I am predisposed to running the clock and arriving at places, especially work, in the bare nick of time. Horses to feed, dogs to feed, birds to feed and move around, repairs to make, and spaces to clean. If therapy were less expensive, I’d seek a shrink and try working through my time problems.

Of course, the problem isn’t about being too busy, for everyone is busy. It’s about ranking and organizing tasks, about arranging one’s time and activities. Many people who simply do that make the talent seemingly organic. Well, some of us who don’t organize well may appear slouchy.

I have caring friends with time brains who advise me to make lists and keep calendars. They’ve coached me on being time-savvy. Even knowing how, I can’t. I try to adopt advice by making lists but don’t follow them. I try organizing my time and quickly forget how it was arranged.

My problem is organic, early learned in a family that wasn’t time-focused. In fact, the big sister on whom I wished to model myself always considered it fashionable to arrive late. So, my problem evolved as one learned, embedded, and resistant to change.

I enjoy writing about aging and what the process may be teaching. Well, it’s shown me that changes are possible. An individual may decide to toss certain old habits or behaviors, Bingo!, and then fill in spaces with ways more pleasing. So, I’ll use that map to move ahead.

As of this moment, I’ll try tossing away my time confusion. I will pause to organize for what’s needed and when and to allow the space to achieve. As a side note for my Dear Big Sister: I have appreciated and emulated you, but now being on my own must become evermore my own.

Dear Friends: Fooey on therapy, let’s do our thinking and work to “get over it.” Diana

Saturday, September 16, 2023

Happy Rosh Hashanah!

I read the old letters my friend Linda had stashed, forgotten, and recently rediscovered. I wrote them when we were in our thirties after she had left Kansas City and was living in LA. Several months ago, she sent those letters. I had hesitated to read them but settled in to revisit a bit of my youth last evening.

Reading them brought surprises and was fun. My letters were full of conflicts about decisions facing me that created anxiety. I wrote of them to Linda, my mentor and encourager. Last night, I realized that, even back then, I was articulating some complex brain workings.

Perhaps that’s a direct line to today when I enjoy blogging. Writing those early letters taught me that thinking and writing can enhance the comprehension of what’s happening around and within oneself.

I had forgotten my mighty struggle over whether to study law. It turned out that I followed my preferences by taking another direction. I studied the humanities, becoming a scholarly expert on the management of organizations. I learned that sustaining viability directly involves managing people well at all levels while addressing larger goals.

Those days of youth are past. Today, my way-inner self sees a new good year beginning.

Dear Friends: I am on my way out now to address yet another failing fence post. Diana

Friday, September 15, 2023

My forever friend, Linda, recently moved to CA. While cleaning and rearranging, she happened across letters we had exchanged long ago in the days of snail mail. She re-read them and was excited to find them eager and bright with ideas. That was near my birthday this year, and Linda (big on birthdays) sent a packet of letters from me.

I was pleased and curious about the idealistic, younger me. I set the packet on a table beside my “evening recliner” but never opened it. Yesterday, Linda asked if I had read the letters. I admitted that part of me resists renewing an acquaintance with my long-ago self.

Because of possible issues to consider.

Might I feel disappointed by reminders of “those roads” not traveled? Or, perhaps, how my life has evolved–as hoped for or not? What emotions might accompany revisiting my past? Could those letters make me feel sad?

Through the years, Linda was my primary mentor and encourager. She’d not have kept our correspondence if it had disappointed. Okay, I will trust her and shoulder up. I’ll read and rediscover my earlier self and probably also blog about it.

Interestingly, I shrugged off a similar timidity yesterday by going to Wilco to meet with its stalwart co-manager, Donna. I left Wilco over a year ago and have missed Donna, one of the kindest and most honest individuals I’ve worked for. Plus, here’s a biggie: Donna is a horseperson! We talked, reconnected, and will go horseback riding. What a delight!

The pleasure of acting boldly yesterday helps me muster the courage to read my letters. Okay, Linda, I will this evening. Despite my emotions, I can anticipate fun in traveling down memory lane.

Dear Friends, my complicated brain often confuses the most straightforward choices. Diana

Thursday, September 14, 2023

Yesterday, my friend Mike Holmes showed up during his one-day pause between hunting trips and repaired my tractors. With them again running properly, I took off. I mowed the weeds growing alongside the roadway on the little lawn tractor. On my bigger machine, I tidied areas of the property by digging lava rocks and leveling pathways.

Always, this place needs work. Doing all that’s needed requires discipline. Usually, I must force myself to get going, but doing the work can be fun once in motion. Take the tractor, for example. I enjoy operating it to tackle the bigger challenges. My place isn’t a farm that needs lots of tractoring, so my machine often sits for long spells between startups. Regardless, it usually cranks up and goes right away.

Except when it doesn’t. And then, I call on Mike. He’s an experienced mechanic, now retired, with livestock and his own large property east of town. His professional work of repairing machinery acquainted us years ago. He still does repairs for me–if he’s not busy, planning for, or simply away on fishing and hunting trips.

Mike’s wife, Debbie, was my co-worker at Wilco. An expert at retail selling, she taught me about merchandising and remains a good friend. She works part-time at Lowe’s, and periodically, I go there to find her, and we catch up.

Speaking of Wilco, I must pay a visit to its associate manager, Donna. She gave me my first retail break by hiring and training me to be a cashier. After leaving Wilco, I disappeared from the store. Donna and I are FB friends, but not in closer touch, and soon I hope to fix that.

Today, my tractors are waiting, and I have plans for them.

Dear Friends: I might horseback ride today or tomorrow; it’s perfect weather. Diana

Wednesday, September 13, 2023

The plumber arrived yesterday to fix a frost-free hydrant, critical for filling horse troughs. He found messy pipe connectors and couldn’t reach them adequately. He called for backup support to correct the problems. I saw those plumbing trucks rolling toward my place as I was leaving it to keep a dental appointment.

Upon returning home and having missed the corrective activity, I immediately tested the newly installed hydrant. Water flowed from it perfectly–a huge relief after months of experiencing very low-flowing water. With just a little coming out and very slowly filling the horse troughs, I was forced to hang around, waiting and watching for the troughs to be topped. That might not seem as frustrating as it felt, but with other critical chores needing attention, waiting for slow waters created angst.

At the dentist’s, my hygenist Susan and I caught up with one another. She told me that her husband had been a career Safeway guy; he dreaded Kroger’s takeover. switched jobs and works now for another large retailer. She described some of his new headaches, like too few candidates for open jobs and great revenue losses from theft. My experience at Home Depot let me relate completely. She and I discussed our growing-up years and shared commitments to working and being productive.

“The Times, They Are A Changing.” (Bob Dylan, 1964)

Dear Friends: This one’s a-rambling about experiences that satisfy. Diana

Tuesday, September 12, 2023

I discovered today’s header photo while perusing photos saved on my iPhone. Weeks ago, I snapped the mountain as a throwaway test of the phone’s camera. An accidental capture–how about that?

This morning, a plumber will arrive here and replace a frost-free pump that fills the watering troughs. Right afterward, I must hurry to Redmond to keep a dental appointment. And then, on to a friend’s in that area; her son has shaken from their generous tree a bucketful of apples for my horses.

Lots of needed repairs occupy my mind this morning. On coming home, I’ll play addressing the rest of my needs list by ear.

Do you remember from years ago this once-popular line, “A summer cold is a different animal”? Well, I’m recovering from one, and thankfully, after an early couple of yukky days. Despite that, I continued going to work, wore a mask but spoke with the recognizable voice fogginess that heralds a cold. The one person who seemed to notice a difference was my coworker, Laurie. No surprise because she notices everything anyway.

Laurie’s career was in the fast food industry. She was a manager and accustomed to ensuring orderly processes, and she trained employees to perform in orderly ways. I have responded to her training skills by starting to focus on keeping our shelves full of products and placed correctly. It’s my tribute to her training talent, as never before have I paid attention to such needs.

It would be grand if I took home those skills to organize my household better. No dice, at least up to this point. I can hope in the future to discover myself doing better at keeping house. One of the wonderful things about learning is that it sometimes sneaks up and brings changes.

Dear Friends: Enjoy this beautiful fall day. Diana

September 11, 2023

Today’s the anniversary of an unspeakable horror that a madman and his henchmen wielded on the U.S. We remember that day today, while also focusing on more modern madmen. Some have nuclear weapons and are teaming with Russia to assist in pounding out Ukraine’s independence and turning that territory into a Russian-dependent state.

The horror of 9/11 is beyond description, and it might not have been the worst assault on humanity during my lifetime. Other unspeakable episodes include America’s destruction of unlucky citizens in WW II by bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki; McVehgh’s not-so-long-ago domestic destruction of Oklahoma City’s Federal Building; and Ted Krazinsky’s bomb sending through the mail.

McVeigh and Krazinsky’s exploits encouraged other madmen to act on their idealistic fantasies, and such craziness eventually brought us to mass shootings–now many and so often that newspapers no longer headline the “routine episodes.”

It’s old news, Stupid!

A continuing Russia vs. Ukraine conflict, aided by modern destructive technology, intensifies the world disorder, that on 9/11 re-awakened everyone.

“I just want to say, you know, can we all get along?” (Rodney King)

Dear Friends: This Wednesday, I’ll start learning to speak in Yiddish. Diana

Sunday, September 10, 2023

It’s getting close to my eldest sister’s wedding anniversary. She and her husband are gone, but the date stays in my mind. Back when they married, I was little more than a toddler and was their ring bearer. My bits of active memory from that occasion are few but strong enough to nudge me each September as their date draws near.

Memories are interesting, and I try to be very careful with them. When I was young, I seemed to remember accurately everything that happened and all associated details. However, over time I learned to recognize that wasn’t so, that memory is a very tricky business. I find that my memories often alter reality and slant more toward reflecting my wishes.

Right now, remembering that wedding and my role in it, I recall being dressed in a fancy white outfit and feeling pretty. However, years later, my mom told me that while I was marching that ring down the aisle, I obviously needed badly to visit the bathroom, causing viewers to chuckle. Well, that isn’t in my memory!

So, remembering always makes me pause for not being able to count on accuracy. Yet, I love having memories, slanting as they may toward whatever I might wish. Right now, remembering as best possible, my child-self at that long-ago wedding, I am seeing myself all gussied up in a fancy white dress and being completely adorable. Why not?

Dear Friends: Our memories age and alter in step with all else. Diana