Monthly Archives: March 2023

Will they take a six-month pause?

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Cactus blooms

A cactus beginning to bloom. This is either a fish hook or hedgehog cactus.

Did you hear that Elon Musk, Andrew Yang and Steve Wozniak signed a letter asking artificial intelligence labs to put a pause on their development? Around 1,000 tech gurus signed the letter asking for a pause on development until shared safety protocol could be developed, implemented, and reviewed by independent experts.

What do they know that we don’t?

Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, who released ChatGPT-4, admitted he was a little scared of what they’ve created. But he didn’t sign the letter.

A headline popped up on my phone stating what jobs would be lost first to AI. Accounting, mathematics and writing. It’s predicted 20% of jobs will be wiped away. That’s 20% of our workforce with no insurance or income.

I’m reminded of a freelance writing job that kept me busy during the early days of the pandemic. I featured small businesses for a trade magazine and another magazine highlighted parks and rec. I’d receive an email from the editor with a list of contacts and questions to ask. Each story had to include several things, like the square footage of the business and revenue. The assignments began to feel robotic because it was so formulaic. What kept it interesting were the people I interviewed. They had unique stories of how they created their businesses and what they were doing to make things work during the pandemic.

If you take people out of the equation, what do we have left? What are your thoughts?

Spring is in the air

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Sitting in our backyard, I’ve noticed a change. Flowers are beginning to bloom!

Leaves are beginning to sprout on once bare branches. Color catches my eye as I rest in the backyard, enjoying the sun and soft breeze.

Springs is officially here. Time to get rid of the styrofoam cups protecting our cacti from freezing.

Here are a few photos of flowers in my backyard:

yellow flowers
honeysuckle

I love the honeysuckle climbing our wall.

I used my plant app and it said this is an aloe vera. It’s wrong about 50% of the time, so I’m not sure.

I’m working on identifying the flowers and plants, but I had very little luck! I have a wildflower guide from the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, but I bet the plants in my yard aren’t wildflowers found in nature, but plants bought in nurseries.

If you have any idea what these plants are, please let me know!

What is in bloom in your neck of the woods?

All my plans

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View of our pool from my gravity recliner.

I had so many plans for this week. Oh well. Life doesn’t always work out as planned.

Here’s what I was excited to do this week before Covid hit:

It is finally be warm enough to get back into the pool. I made lap swimming reservations at the YMCA for this week after it was too cold to swim for months.

I was going to a driving range by myself or with a friend.

I wanted to hike the trails across the street because wildflowers are in bloom.

I got a call from the City of Scottsdale that I got bumped off the waiting list of three months for pickleball lessons today. They had a coveted spot for me.

I was going to a Casino Night fundraiser for the Dream Center which is a residential facility for trafficked girls and boys. I wrote about it HERE.

My husband and I would resume our daily walks morning and night.

I realize it’s not the end of the world that my plans changed. I’m content to sit in the backyard for a few minutes and enjoy the warm sun. Next week, I may feel stronger and be able to enjoy a few of the activities on my list, if not all of them. Notice most of my activities had to do with good weather, sunshine and moving outside?

What are you excited to do because Spring is in the air?

Not for wimps

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Cardinal in tree
A beautiful site of a cardinal in a tree.

It’s been over a week since I got COVID and I thought today would be a good day.

Both my husband and I commented this morning that we were feeling better. He’s attempting to work and I got up feeling well rested. I even felt hungry which is a first. I’ve been having trouble eating.

But then I took my final Paxlovid dose and things went from good to worse. First, I can’t stand the metallic taste and was thankful this was the last dose. I was feeling weak and tired, so I decided to take a hot shower and change into a fresh pair of pajamas and go back to bed.

That was my goal for the day. Then I began vomiting the nasty Paxlovid and I had to sit up or I’d get sick lying down. I coughed mouthfuls of phlegm. I felt like I couldn’t swallow because there was a lump in my throat that I can’t stand.

All I wanted was to get snuggled in bed next to kitty Olive and feel better. But I coughed and spluttered all over the duvet and I had another load in the washer.

Many people had Covid and it wasn’t a big deal. I guess in the big scheme of things it isn’t for me either.

I know people who took Paxlovid and didn’t have my reaction. I know a few who did, but more who didn’t.

I don’t remember feeling so awful in years, but as Scarlett O’Hara would say “Tomorrow is another day!”

If you took Paxlovid or know somebody that did, what was the experience like?

About getting hacked

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Rainbow in the back yard
View of a rainbow from the backyard.

It was the day before I left for Seattle when I was folding laundry and making the bed. I was listening to podcasts on Spotify on my laptop. I set the laptop on the nightstand. Suddenly, the podcast stopped.

I didn’t think much about it. Huh, I thought. Did my screensaver stop it? I tried to start up the podcast again. No luck.

Later, I was looking at my email and I got one from Spotify telling me that a new email was associated with my account, or some such words. They asked me to click on a link if I didn’t change my email.

Well, I didn’t fall off the turnip truck and I wasn’t going to click on their link.

At that moment my son called to chat and I told him what happened.

“What’s the new email address?” he asked.

“Something @Yandex.com.”

“Mom! That’s Russian!”

Yikes! I spent the next hours changing passwords to everything. My son told me I needed a password manager like Last Pass and a VPN. He said in today’s world, those two things are a necessity.

I quickly installed the needed items and felt better.

I copied the body of the email from Spotify and found a link on their website to send in the info that “No. I didn’t change my email address and now I was blocked.” I still wasn’t going to click on their link. But Spotify got back to me quickly and told me they’d secure my account. I had trouble accessing it for several days. Again this week I was logged out.

I wonder why my Spotify account was hacked? What was the purpose? Was it to gain access to my laptop and passwords?

This was not how I had planned spending my last day at home before my trip to Seattle to spread Mom’s ashes and reminisce with family.

Have you been hacked? Was it email or an app?

Do you have VPN or a password manager?

Happy birthday to my dear son!

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Robert at the beach
My son at the beach when he was younger.

Today is my son’s birthday. It was also our big yellow lab Angus’s birthday.

The following story was first published in the Los Angeles Times Sunday paper in the Kids’ Reading Room section. It’s the true story of my son’s second grade birthday party. I repost this story each year in honor or my son and Angus.

Robert with the Easter Bunny
My son with the Easter bunny.



A Birthday for the Dogs

“MOM, I’m inviting 50 kids to my party.”

“What, Robert?” Mom said. “That’s too many. Do you know 50 kids?”

I sat in the back seat while Mom drove home after school. My eighth birthday was in two weeks. 

“There’s my class, plus Cub Scouts, and playgroup.”

“I can’t afford to take 50 kids skating or bowling. And I don’t want 50 kids in my house. What about the city pool? It’s heated, open year-round, and it’s only 50¢ a kid,” Mom said.

“A swim party, that’s cool!” I said.

“I’ll say yes to the party, but no to presents. Fifty presents are too much for one eight-year-old. It’s decadent.”

“What’s decadent?” I asked. Mom used words I didn’t know.

“Self-indulgent, corrupt.”

I sat silently and thought I’d be sad with no presents. Then I remembered Angus. Mom got him for me as an early birthday present. We were on a waiting list for two years with Guide Dogs of the Desert. He was being trained as a companion dog for people who couldn’t see. We got him because he had poor hips and couldn’t be a working dog. Angus was big, yellow, and I loved him. We shared the same birthday.

“I have a great idea!”

“What?” Mom asked, glancing at me in her rearview mirror.

“I’ll ask for money for Guide Dogs of the Desert.”

“Ah?” Mom made a weird swallowing noise.

“It’s Angus’s birthday, too.”

Big yellow lab
Angus

In the rearview mirror I watched Mom dab at the corner of her eyes with a tissue, and nod her head in agreement.

Two weeks later, I had a great birthday. Fifty kids came with bathing suits, towels and money. Instead of opening presents after cake, we counted dollars they had stuffed into a large licorice jar decorated with photos of Angus. 

Together, we raised more than $1,600 for Guide Dogs. Mom called me a “philanthropist” – whatever that is.

Angus and Robert

Happy birthday, son! We miss you, Angus!

Covid recovery

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Olive in bed
I’m hanging out with Olive in bed.

This morning I had two tasks. Take a shower and change the litter box.

I accomplished my tasks and I’m ready for bed. I feel like I scaled Mt. Everest. I had planned to write about a recent hack from Russia. That’s right, I got hacked by Russia.

But I’ll save that for next week when I have more energy.

Happy weekend! Do you have any exciting plans?

Have you been hacked? What have you done to protect your phone or computer?