New Amazon Feature! (yay)

 It's something called "Rufus." Too cute, right? I found the link on the Amazon home page.  It said, simply, "Rufus." I was curious, and I clicked on it. A little window appeared with the following text in it:

Hi, I'm Rufus!

You can ask me all your shopping questions. My answers are powered by AI, so I may not always get things right. Learn more

(Emphasis mine.)

Where do I sign up?? I want to be able to ask questions knowing the answers may not be right. I'm tired of knowing stuff. This is huge!  And I want to know when Rufus will branch out into other segments of our lives. 

Sunset Over the Wide Missouri

 No pithy observations, nor acerbic commentary. This is the view out my west-facing window. We're very lucky to get to see a brand new sunset every night, even though it's the same old river. 

It's deceptive. Where you can see the river,
it's about a quarter-mile wide. 

Re-set of Sorts

I've been getting repeated reports of my blog's inability to allow visitors to comment. I SWEAR I have all the setting set to allow anybody to comment. "It's a GLITCH, a TECHNICAL MALFUNCTION!" -(Gus Grissom after the hatch blew and the capsule sank to the bottom of the ocean.)  

Having tried all sorts of things, I decided to change templates. They can be very sensitive and problematic, I know. Fingers crossed. 

Update on the weather here in Kansas City, which is in Missouri: summer heat and humidity has slacked off somewhat, and the forecast for the foreseeable future promises lower high temps and a more reasonable dew point, which is the measure of how big the puddle of water around your ice tea glass gets.

Furthermore, we are looking at cars. We have a 12-year-old car now which, while in good condition, is starting to show its age, plus it doesn't have a backup camera, and it's difficult to get in and out of, speaking of showing age. We're looking for a small SUV, just for the ease of use, ingress and egress, plus backup camera and a higher eye-point. Candidates so far: Toyota Rav4, Subaru Crosstrek, BMW X1, Ford Escape. 

Well, I drove an Escape yesterday, and what a piece of junk. A brand new car that was noisy, difficult to maneuver, and with a weak 3-cylinder engine with a quirky turbocharger. This thing would be hazardous to drive simply because of the hesitant and slow acceleration. 

The problem is that the car we have currently is a BMW 328i, which is pretty much a high-performance sports car. I've said before it's the best handling car I've ever driven, and possibly the fastest with the exception of a couple of motorcycles. I'm no hot-rodder, though you might say I used to be. I just recognize a good car when I see it, and the fact that sometimes the best escape strategy in dicey traffic situations on the Interstate is straight ahead. In fact, I kind of hate the idea of getting rid of the BMW, even though logic tells me to do so. 

The most exciting thing right now is our potential move from the Midwest to the San Francisco Bay Area. It sounds illogical, you say.  You may be right, but we have no ties here and no reason to stick around, and we are both getting tired of the crappy weather, not to mention the political and ideological strain.  How shall I put this?  No; never mind. Anyway, planning stages right now, so no hard commitments at this point. I'm excited at the prospect of returning to my old stomping grounds; we're zeroing in on a town of which I have many positive memories. I informed my son of the plan and he responded in his typical Yogi Berra fashion with, "That's great. This may be your last chance to be where you are." 

Really?

ID rejected by Facebook

1. You must send two non-government IDs.
2. Anything that you send us must include your name.
3. At least 1 of the 2 documents should include your date of birth and/or photo.
4. The name on the items that you send must be the same name that you want to show on your profile.

Two days ago I tried to reinstate my Facebook account since so many things are using it now and having an account makes it easier to get information. Got a bunch cryptic emails saying that I have to go through an appeals process. Not sure why that.  I had an account once and I deleted it. 

I have given up. The text, above, is from the FAQ. I ask again: who do they think they are? 

Campaign Strategies

 What is it with Republicans and cats? 

Discuss.

Already??

 I don't know what's happened to the sense of time. I'm having difficulty understanding that summer has just about passed, now that it's (already) Labor Day. I'm not complaining; fittingly, today the predicted high temperature is approaching the coveted room-temperature zone, and humidity is tapering off. Life is good. 

Labor Day has a long, convoluted history, but I'll just say here that it's worth noting that workers, like I was, now have at least some representation, and without getting all political, I'll just say this is the "level playing field" that corporations are always whining about when the playing field isn't tilted toward them. 

Enough of that. Downtown Kansas City is quiet. At seven this morning I looked out my window upon the I-70 "north loop" and I-35 north which are normally choked with a molasses-like flow of cars and trucks and saw just a handful of cars, some in each direction, below a clear horizon. I've been retired for 15 years so I can now just barely feel the relief of three-day weekends which now have little meaning, but there's nothing wrong with a nice, quiet morning. 

Yesterday morning I went for a walk, opting to make a circle spanning 10th street to 14th street, down Baltimore and back up Walnut. It was very quiet yesterday as well, and I saw only a handful of people walking, and just the occasional car. Typically, I saw a pickup truck pause briefly at a red light and while it remained red, proceed through the intersection to make a left turn. This is something I could veer off on, as blog fodder, but I'll just say that I see something like this almost every single time I go out and walk around downtown. There is zero police coverage, and it's as if everyone finally figured out that no one is watching them and they can do whatever they please. 

But, anyway, the walk. Here is me leaving the lobby to step outside, in my bowlegged redneck selfie pose and a couple of sights along the way, ending with a free cup of coffee out of a machine provided by the building management. I say "free," but if you break it down, figuring in the rent and various fees, and how often I partake, it comes to about a thousand dollars a cup. 

Have a great day! 

Why is this a mirror image,
yet the word EXIT is right?

This is on the corner where my building is.
Good sandwiches. 

"Free" coffee.

Rogue Thunderstorm Passing by Around Sundown