Our Mascot

This is our mascot, Roboguy. He hung out for a long while on the corner of 18th and Oak, just down the street from the Busy Bee Cafe, until he decided to come over and be my blog muse. Roboguy is not powered by AI, but instead has a genetically modified chipmunk brain installed in his stainless steel cranial cavity. The host chipmunk's name was Colin.  While Roboguy was originally designed to be an efficient, high-tech killing machine, part of Colin's psyche was apparently retained in the brain transfer, leading, ultimately, to Roboguy's problematic and ofttimes dysfunctional, people-pleasing behavior. 

The Cyclical Nature of Humans and Planetary movement

 Happy solstice, everyone!  This is the day that, despite your or anyone's religious, cultural or political affiliations, its raison d'etre remains the inevitable clockwork movements of the Cosmos. Congress cannot shut it down, or control it by moving it sooner or later, or render it irrelevant. Each and every human being on our planet can only experience it and note its passing. I find it humbling that this simple mechanism is so profound -- as life evolved, starting with the very first multi-cellular life forms, it has experienced this rhythmic day/night pulse and its variations that are punctuated by the solstices.  Enjoy the day and the season with any celebrations or traditions you deem most appropriate and satisfying, know that you are not alone, and brace yourself, those of you in the northern hemisphere, for the whiplash of winter weather yet to come. (There is hope. It will pass.) 

Now, as my neglected blog is at this point a vast, unfilled container for mundane trivia, I proceed:

I'm in Kansas City. Yesterday the Chiefs football organization posted a description and picture of Mahomes, our quarterback's clothing and accessories as he entered the stadium for the game. A white puffy jacket, black T, black pants, gold chain, whatever, with the caption, "Ice cold, QB 1."  OK, OK, I get it, but . . . just throw the ball, dude.

Don't I feel stupid. About three days ago I started thinking about an Internet friend from way back, someone with whom I've corresponded in the past, and thought I would try to re-connect with them. I did so in a casual email--a Christmas greeting and a general query about everyone's well-being. I got no response, but I'm not too upset. It's been that long ago.  But two days later in a conversation with someone about the Internet in general I said I get emails from people who never write to me with very generic messages in them like, "I thought you would recognize the people in this picture!" along with a long, weird looking link. It's phishing, I always think, and never respond. Then I thought, damn, that's what my email to my old Internet acquaintance must have looked like, because I didn't include anything specific in the body of the text. Duh. 

Then, unrelated, yesterday I got a strange text. It said, I know this is going to sound strange, but are you the XXX XXXXXX who lived in the old house on Liberty Street?  Well, I am, but that was 44 years ago. The text continued: if you are, please contact me! 

I was immediately suspicious, but curious.  I googled the phone number and saw it connected to someone with the last name the same as the buyer of the old house when I sold it back then. Further googling connected the first name the texter gave me. I pondered for awhile and figured, I gotta respond just to find out what this is about. I'll be careful!  

Turns out it was the buyer of my house, still living there after all these years, and she only wanted to ask me what I knew about the history of the house. We had a pleasant 15 minute phone call, gossiped about the neighbors (still there on either side) and the call ended with an invitation for me to come by and see the place any time. 

So, I was glad I overcame my natural paranoia, and my faith in people is somewhat restored, if only provisionally. 

And around we go. 

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

 

For the Birds

 No commentary, no hint of political ideology, no real meaning. 

Campaign 2024

 Trump: Under Crooked Joe Biden, the world is in flames, our border is overrun, inflation is raging, Europe is in total chaos, the Middle East is exploding, Iran is emboldened, China is on the march, and the worst, most incompetent, most corrupt president in history is going to drag us into World War III,

This is the sort of discourse we are going to have to endure for the next several months. For better or worse, it will have this effect: there will be no reason to enter into an argument with any Trump supporter, as their persistent existence has proven that they are too stupid and too childish and of too narrow an intellect to engage in any kind of meaningful discussion. 

I generally try to avoid any kind of political statement on my blog(s) but I have to go on record, in case anyone was wondering, that I'm not buying this garbage.  In typical irony for the Trump era, making America great again means getting past Trump and getting things back to what we once regarded, perhaps loosely, as normal, or at least not coarse, stupid, ignorant, self-serving, destructive and insulting. 

Sunset

 So the advantage of digital photography over film is the immediate satisfaction of seeing your picture right away. This is yesterday's sunset. I must have taken a dozen pictures, but only at the last did I think to turn off the lights inside the apartment so I wouldn't see their reflections in the window glass. Duh. 

(And even then you can see a slight reflection of a window with the blinds turned open, in the upper right corner.) 

A Few Pictures

 I've been on this film kick for a little while, because my son got into it and I jumped on board--I used to shoot film all the when that's all there was. I switched to digital cameras when they got more or less affordable, some time in the 2Ks, and I have a couple of nice digital cameras at the moment. 

I know this isn't a photography blog. Suffice it to say that pictures made from a film camera have a different quality than those made by a digital camera. You might say, there's less quality, but I believe there's something psychological going on that renders a certain charm to film photography. They say it's the grain, or the colors. To some, there's probably not enough difference to fuss over. It's certainly different, as the photographer, to take pictures knowing that you won't see how they come out for a few days to a couple of weeks. The act of taking pictures then takes on a certain mystery and requires some deliberation--things that just don't happen with a digital camera. Not in my experience. 

Anyway, below are some pictures from a roll I shot a couple weeks ago. They were all taken in Kansas City, in and around downtown, where I live. 

Recalling Stupid Things I Once Said

 Once while under the influence of cheap beer in a crowded bar one Friday night I bumped into a very tall lady. I said something stupid, like, "wow, you're as tall as I am." She looked down at me disdainfully and said, "I'm TALLER than you," to which I replied, "yeah, but I know Karate," which was a mistake because she really was taller than me and I really didn't know Karate.

But What About Autonomous Vehicles?

Over here at the blog,  Jewish Young Professional, JYP brings up one of my favorite rant like topics: What do I think of autonomous vehicles? 

[rubbing hands together gleefully]

Where to start. The story goes a building developer once asked Gene Rodenberry what kind of tech did he use to make the bulkhead doors on the Enterprise slide open the way they did. The answer: two guys behind the scenes pulling them open on cue. 

 I'm trying to say there is a mythology of technology that gives technology more credit than it deserves. This is where we're at with autonomous vehicles. Obviously there is money to be made, so the forces that be are leaning hard in that direction, but it's all BS. 

 Please don't say, well, it's going to get better and better over time. The same can be said of a ten-year-old driving a raised 4-wheel drive pickup. The reality is, we're just not ready, the tech is just not ready, etc. I can imagine a scenario where autonomous vehicles would be a real help. One is on freeways/Interstates. With the right software, traffic flow could be optimized and it would all be faster (probably) and much, much safer--provided only if every car on the road was autonomous and under the control of an overseeing AI entity, (yikes,) let's say. 

As an aside, let me say here that under any scenario, if only some cars are autonomous, and not all, regular human drivers are going to mess with them. Big time. They'll resent them, fear them, and ultimately get the best of them. We are clever monkeys, make no mistake. Anyway, implementing this angle seems to be far in the future. Mixing in AVs with humans just doesn't seem like a good idea. 

 Some perspective is needed. This is all about scaling down employee numbers for a number of services involving transportation. Safer? Maybe, if the tech actually catches up. This economic driver is behind AI in general, despite all the gee-whizz stuff that catches our attention. 

 One last thing. I'm not buying the notion that AVs are OK and safe enough, since it is required a human drivers sit behind the wheel, at the ready, in case he or she needs to step in and take over. This is such BS. I don't need to see reaction time test results to already know this is not a good strategy. Not to mention, if one was to actually monitor the computer's driving and actually be ready to take over, every moment, that would undoubtedly be much more fatiguing than just driving the damn thing yourself.

Pre-caffeine Thoughts

I know some people who are "religious," who go to church, and who actually do believe in the existence of God and of the Devil, but I think they are outliers. In my own life, the vast majority of people do not believe in God as defined by the Bible, whether they go to church or not. It's hard to be educated and (supposedly) well-informed and still believe in a magic friend, as Bill Maher would describe God. So, I think it all makes some sense, at least among those of us in the 1st world, and with Internet and media access. At the same time, we are still humans with brains that have evolved to kind of like the existence of the spiritual, so our religions keep on, but only to become more evolved and "technical." Look at Panpsychism. The whole universe might be conscious --- sounds like God.

Greetings

Going out for breakfast in a few minutes, and I have yet to shave. Stay tuned for stunning photography and pithy, insightful observations on the modern world and the human conditon in general. Then, when that doesn't work, read my blog some time. Later...