Saturday, October 01, 2022

As of today, Pimmy’s Facebook page is reactivated. Yesterday, Bend Equine Veterinarian, Dr. Tyler and his vet tech came; they re-examined and re-wrapped Pimmy’s “boo-boo” hoof. They learned that Pimmy has a Facebook page, looked at its photos, and decided to start following Pimmy.

I’ve neglected this donkey’s page lately, but it has followers. People always ask about her. They’re interested in her temperament, how she bonds with the horses living with her, and whatever she might be doing beyond the barn. So, Pimmy again will be out and about on her own social media page.

That encourages me to work more with Pimmy. She’s fun, photogenic, and might again become active in the community. If there’s an upcoming Thanksgiving Parade, she might march. Our artist friend, Janet, created Pimmy’s Christmas costume and might help to ready her for a Thanksgiving event.

Pimmy’s recent hoof abscess is healing; she no longer limps. Yesterday, the boo-boo hoof received a final wrap. It’s minimal and Dr. Tyler said the entire wrap probably will “fall off” in a week. I’ll keep the healthy hoof clean so another pebble doesn’t settle into the crevice.

Dear Friends: This sweet and enjoyable donkey delights nearly everyone. Diana

Friday, September 30, 2022

I have a couple of days off from work with lots on my plate. My working days consume a lot of energy, and evenings after work are dedicated to basic needs at home.

In the days ahead, I have things to accomplish around the barn and inside the house. Otherwise, I’ll practice using Photoshop software. I’ll also go out and experiment more with my camera’s potential.

I’ve been unable to download photos to my computer for lacking a special gadget. That part is arriving soon to make sharing possible.

I hope to create computer-generated images that will illustrate a story I drafted years ago. It’s about a pony and needs illustrations. The DALL-E capabilities might help to finish it.

My days off are beginning, and everything’s happening ahead.

Dear Friends: Dreams can be energizing, and learning from them is fabulous. Diana

The research lab, Open AI, now allows the public to access DALL-E, its artificial intelligence platform which can generate imaginary images. I used it to request a cartoon, “A female blogger in the process of dreaming up a topic.” Thus, DALL-E has created today’s header photo.

So much is possible on DALL-E that it has the potential of blurring imagination and reality. Here’s another DALL-E image generated upon my request. “In the style of Chinese watercolor, a female strolling in a forest.”

Until now, the most creative imaging and manipulative opportunities available have been by using the giant and expensive Photoshop software. DALL-E is a worthwhile challenger, and besides, it’s almost free. One gets x-numbers of free images and afterward may purchase more of them.

I continued testing by requesting another: “A full moon slightly above a hunting wolf.”

I’m blown away by the possibilities of this AI. It has great potential for making one’s imagination come alive. It also has a downside. Tricksters could use this AI to generate fantasies and claim them as real. In near future, social media will provide evidence of the upsides and downsides.

A genuine plus of having a workable and teachable AI open to the public, is to explore and create. As a teaching tool, it provides insight into the amazing possibilities of using AI. It’s a powerful way of gaining insight to our uniquely personal ways of imaging and viewing.

A Washington Post article first introduced me to DALL-E and its potential. It’s fascinating to read, and here’s a link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/interactive/2022/artificial-intelligence-images-dall-e/?itid=hp-top-table-main-t-5

Dear Friends: Our awareness increases more quickly than we might realize. Diana

Wednesday, September 28, 2022

In my work as a supermarket checker, I see escalating food prices and watch for their effect on customer purchases. It’s a mixed bag. Some customers buy mostly organic and basic products, but most select products that mostly are pre-prepared for convenience.

I get it, too, for many moms come through my checkout line towing small children. Those moms work at loading a checkout belt and then hurry to the bagging side to bag their buys. (I work in a self-bagging market.)

Meanwhile, the kids are after their moms, demanding toys from nearby displays or crying to be picked up, or noisily fighting with one another. And, so much more! A mom with hands full knows that convenience foods make managing children easier and quicker.

Capturing widespread attention is the huge amount of highly processed foods on the market and popular. They’re labeled as “convenience” and “instant energy” and “plant-based substitute” foods. Those products pass my register in huge amounts.

I purchase, too, many easily available low-calorie, non-sugar, low-carb items. Now, I’m rethinking because many food products are too overly processed. This fast-food era with rapidly rising costs makes one reconsider how to buy, store, and prepare food products.

In my case, no small children are demanding attention. As a single person, I can change managing groceries and cooking without bringing down the roof. Nonetheless, fewer pre-prepared foods will make me spend more time storing, preparing, and cooking.

I’m disliking products with bunches of ingredients and still labeled as milk, bread, water, and such. They’re not, and such conveniences are expensive. Ahead, a jury will have much to say about the long-term healthiness of highly processed product users.

Today I’ll watch buyers and plan changes to some of my food-related habits. Ahead, more on this topic.

Dear Friends: Challenging the domination of mass marketing. Diana    

Tuesday, September 27, 2022

Yesterday, the mobile veterinarian, Tyler, at first wondered if laminitis were causing Pimmy’s lameness. On discovering only one front hoof painful, he focused on another possibility.

Pimmy’s hoof bottoms had been too tightly packed for my pitiful strength with a hoof knife. Tyler, digging into the painful hoof, found an embedded rock and infection beneath it.

That probably had been building up and causing pain for a while. Animals are amazing in that they’re stoic, and can “suck it up” long before a human sees anything unusual. That happened with Pimmy. One morning, upon seeing her, boom! She severely was limping with a front hoof too painful for support.

Regardless, Pimmy remained stoic, managing to hobble to the hay doles and eat. She even dodged a little faux kicking by her cool weather-inspired horse buddies.

Pimmy isn’t limping anymore. Tyler has packed her hoof with a “drawing medicine” and bandaged it. I’m instructed to re-medicate and re-bandage on Wednesday and Friday. He said that on Wednesday, the old dressing will come off damp, but by Friday should be dry, indicating a recovered hoof.

For years, Pimmy and my horses have been a tight trio. Pimmy is lovely and the only donkey I’ve known. Tyler at first approached Pimmy gingerly, in case she proved uncooperative and difficult to handle as donkeys often are. He was delighted to find an easy-peasy patient.

Small thanks to me for this donkey’s trusting nature. Instead, many kudos to Pimmy’s first humans, our kind friends in Eugene.

Dear Friends: Last night, unworried about Pimmy, I slept well. Diana

Monday, September 26, 2022

Early today, I’ll contact Bend Equine, a medical facility, and request a “farm call.” A veterinarian needs to come and examine Pimmy, my donkey.

Last week something happened that causes her to limp severely. One of the horses might have kicked her. That seems unlikely after the trio’s many years of healthy togetherness. Nonetheless, accidents occur.

I can’t find an outer sign of injury except for seeing her difficulties in moving around. It’s evident that Pimmy doesn’t set the hoof of her injured leg flatly on the ground. She struggles to move with the injured leg on its tiptoe.

I search for another outward sign of injury. She’s not bothered when my hands are moving up and down the injured leg, nor bothered when I am pressuring the injured leg’s hoof-bottom.

I hoped she’d improve but don’t see that happening. This weekend, I tried to find a mobile equine veterinarian who was working, without luck. Today, I’ll have someone competent come to examine her.

It’s sad seeing my usually tough donkey with problems. Maybe she did get caught by an accidental kick. This cooling weather makes horses exuberant, and periodically, they’re running about and kicking out.

Dear Friends: More ahead when I know why her leg hurts. Diana    

Sunday, September 25, 2022

Yesterday, there seemed fewer than usual customers in the supermarket where I’m a cashier. Sure, plenty arrived to keep we workers busy, but the overall volume was less than “Saturday as usual.” Maybe today the store will be double slammed.

Yesterday was a beautiful day. One could guess that most would-be Saturday shoppers were outside enjoying the fall weather. Today’s news carries stories about would-be campers, without campsite reservations, fighting with those having reservations. Apparently, “open first-come-first-served” campground spots can be reserved, and yesterday, forest area supervisors had their hands full.

Today is Sunday, usually busy with grocery shoppers, pushing full baskets in long lines for checking out. On average Sundays, cash registers ring non-stop from start to end. Today will turn into a real “whop-to-do,” if those who chose to play yesterday show up today for their groceries.

I can’t help mentioning inflation. Even in my cut-rate supermarket workplace, some loaves of bread now ring up in the neighborhood of $6 each. I’m noticing, too, more sales of do-it-yourself products, like those for baking bread.

It’s time to search for and dust off our long-stashed bread-making machines.

Dear Friends: “All politics (and [my insertion] economics) is local.” Diana     

Friday, September 24, 2022

Yesterday, I needed a little therapy and decided to roam Costco. My excuse was to replenish my dwindling supply of dog biscuits. My real reason was from a weird bit of restlessness making me want to wander in a big store.

Feeling “housebound” can be unsettling. My flooring person has stashed around tools and a large supply of vinyl flooring. He’s a friend, working on his own time and sometimes disappearing for periods. I get it, that’s our deal.

I’ve begun sleeping in the guest bedroom. Like most other spaces, it’s crammed with “stuff” needing removal from the floorer’s work areas. In disarray, I must search for items. No longer are comfortable areas for sitting, reading, and dozing.

Sometimes I need to wander. Not out walking through the streets, alone or with an animal companion, but roaming among other wanderers.    

As things turned out, Costco was a good call. I spotted the Pharmacy Department and managed to receive both a Covid booster and a flu shot. That wasn’t a conscious part of yesterday’s plan but was a key goal.

Exiting Costco with dog biscuits and a couple of on-sale items set me back a hundred dollars. That’s almost a non-issue in a store that easily can set one back hundreds of dollars. Best and accidentally, I received those boosters.

Dear Friends: That wander dissolved nervous energy and solved a need. Diana

Friday, September 23, 2022

Today, I will take Ranger, my aging hound dog, to the veterinarian who last week assessed my mini-Aussie, Louie. She was observant, knowledgeable, and supportive, agreeing that Louie, in old age, had fallen ill and was suffering. She helped me say goodbye to my brave and loyal little buddy.

Ranger, too, is aging. He needs an updated health baseline. My recent experience with Louie’s health issues alerted me to be more aware of the aging process. Ranger’s face now shows some gray and he’s also a bit stiffer and slower.

Twelve years ago, as a little lost puppy, he appeared on my doorstep. I advertised but nobody responded. Meanwhile, the puppy made it clear that I was “his person.” That’s never changed.

I always preferred working-type dogs, especially herding breeds. I never estimated hound-types as being smart, but Ranger changed my attitude. He’s been a devoted companion, dependable outdoors buddy, and is plenty smart. I’ve appreciated that he has what’s called “a cold nose,” referring to hunting types, uninterested in seeking or chasing the wild game.

For years, along with Louie, Ranger ran alongside me on horseback and over all sorts of terrain. On all trails, straight-arrow Ranger ran in the lead, and always, upon losing sight of me, he quickly backtracked and made sure my horse was following.

Dear Friends: Ahead, is watching over his senior years. Diana

Thursday, September 22, 2022

Each morning, I write a blog and try to publish it as close as possible to 8:00. For some irritating reason, my writing platform, Word Press, often dies around that time. After writing a blog on the WP site, it stalls and I’m unable to save and publish. I’ve tried many ways and failed to get a stalled WP up again and running. If the problem is that WP is a too-busy site, that’s not good.

Today, I’m taking a different approach and drafting my blog using a Word platform. I’ll save my draft before logging onto WP. Maybe, quickly, I can paste and publish before the site again fails.

Contacting a live site representative for help is like pulling teeth. Most internet sites refer questions about problems to topic lists with user questions and expert answers. Those rarely answer my questions.  

One alternative is to change my writing platform. I have loved Word Press, but earlier this year, the “stalling problems” had me beginning to do that. Before completing the switch, I installed a new computer which seemed to help. Recently, when WP began acting up again, I installed another new computer. This has allowed publishing until the same site problems recurred.

I will discover if this drafting method can work as I hope on the WP site. If all goes well, it’s a happy good morning to you all.

Dear Friends: The “Cloud” is just that, beautiful and often fuzzy. Diana