OMG WTF - For many people, in the US and elsewhere, that was their reaction on the morning of November 6th. It was a Wednesday, Hump Day, which was appropriate as many of us thought we w’d been f*cked. We’d watched the polls teeter back and forth around 50-50, and assumed people would come to their senses in time. It was just a question of pointing out the risks of another Trump presidency, risks not just to democracy, but to the economy, healthcare, racial equality, education, everything. When Trump was voted in, the response then was “How could they be so stupid?”. I think some of his supporters did ignore the facts, but many - about 50% of them - felt that Trump reflected their values and depended on him to lead their America. A sobering thought.
Now we are watching a clown car of appointments filling the circus ring with some truly unbelievable choices for important government positions. Up here in Canada, we are dealing with the threat of flat 25% tariffs on everything that we sell to the US. A threat we are meeting with a Team Canada approach, in name only, as it’s a team filled with preening prima donna Premiers that are more eager to score political points locally, rather than to address the real issue.
AI Jesus, AI Gran - Artificial Intelligence seems to be spreading like a virus. A Swiss Catholic Church tried out an AI Jesus in a confessional. 900 people visited over two months, asking advice on a variety of topics - the conversations were transcribed anonymously afterward. I assume some penitents took the opportunity to confess some sins too. Was this interaction any less realistic than one with a priest who would intercede with God on their behalf? As for AI Gran, she was not developed to read you bedtime stories or nag you about your job. Daisy was created to deal with phone scammers, rambling on like a slightly deaf and slightly confused little old lady, tying them up in conversation. Rather than them talking to real people. Being AI, she could vary her responses enough to string them along, and being a program, she could of course talk to as many as she had digital phones to answer.
Vibe-cession - Financial experts here in Canada are telling us that the economy is not doing that badly, that the concerns real people feel about it are based more on vibes than on facts. Sort of a “there now, don’t you worry your little head, mummy will look after things”. Or something like that. I listened to an excellent interview from the Herle Burly covering much of this, with Frances Donald, VP and Chief Economist for the Royal Bank. She had some great explanations, with interesting analogies, of why traditional macroeconomic indicators are giving way to more focused numbers. Why if the economy is doing so well do so many have less money? What is the magic bullet to increase our productivity? How can a country use bonds? I learned a lot of good background information before we get an economic dump the Final Freeland FES on Monday. (That’s the Fall Economic Statement.)
Falling asleep - According to this article, if you spend the last hour of the day ramping down in preparation for bed, your routine should not wrap up with you standing in front of the bathroom mirror, bright lights on, scrubbing your teeth with an invigorating minty toothpaste. Do that earlier. Finish up, at a regular time, with some light reading, some gratitude journalling, some quiet music. And avoid that last minute “I’ll just check my phone”. I‘m trying a new approach for myself.
I have a topology problem. I washed my duvet and cover last week. Separately, for some reason. Now I can’t seem to get it back together. I watched the videos, spread it all out, rolled and stuffed, and failed. I’m missing something.
In desperation, I asked my Guardian Angel to reassemble my duvet and cover for me. I was baptized Catholic, so he was assigned to me way back then and has stuck around, in spite of everything - which is a whole other story. Anyway, I figured he had the skills, or powers, or whatever, and plus would have plenty of time while I was sleeping.
Stanley informed me today that he can't help, as he's busy. Apparently he does other shifts, so when I'm sleeping he's off somewhere "protecting and guiding" in another time zone. Or at least he tries to be, as his problem is that sometimes I'm in bed at 11, sometimes not until 3, and my wake-up times slide about too. He's not at all pleased with how that messes up his schedule. He admitted that he's been giving me an energy boost each day when I do follow a schedule, and a drain when I don't, all in an effort to 'retrain' me. I didn't realize that was him, sly little devil. Even worse, he was getting annoyed enough to start piling on a bit of bad luck.
We had a talk, and have reached an agreement. If I can do five nights in a row on schedule for bedtime, he’ll give me a hand. I’m three for three so far.
😂😂😂😂 so your guardian Angel doesn't do shift work? Oh oh!